Elizabeth King, the Queen of Sacred Soul returns with her third long-playing collection for the Memphis gospel outfit Bible & Tire Recording Co.. Soul Provider finds Elizabeth in her element while exploring new ground and compositions composed and arranged in house. Weaving in and out of secular moods but keeping it all sacred, King always finds a way, using her voice as a vessel to convey the message.

Amy Grant brings together a heavy-hitting group of friends to sing a collection of contemporary worship songs on Songs From The Loft. With appearances from Wes King, Gary Chapman, Michael James, Amy Delaine, Kim Hill, and more, this is essential listening!

Anchored by its titular sermon, “God’s Newspaper” is a showcase of Detroit’s Greater Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. Recorded in the church’s sanctuary, the album includes a sermon by then-pastor Reverend J.D. Montgomery, as well as selections by the Greater Mt. Carmel Choir. Dropping the listener right into the excitement of Sunday service, the album opens with an energetic rendition of the traditional praise and worship song “Jesus,” arranged by Gospel Truth label head and Detroit native David Clark.

Directed by Southern California–based minister and radio show host Rev. Willie Bernard Avant, Jr., the St. James Gospel Choir’s sound isn’t far removed from the sound of gospel in the American South. Likely a holdover from Avant’s upbringing in Pierce County, Georgia, as well as his years studying in Florida at Bethune-Cookman College and Florida A&M University. It was at the latter institution where he met his soon-to-be wife, Dolly, who is granted a frequent spotlight as a soloist on the St. James Gospel Choir’s album.

Before his songs would be incorporated in the creation of Kanye West’s “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and before being charged with encouraging his members to participate in a pyramid scheme, Rev. T.L. Barnett, Jr., was riding the rippling momentum of his 1971 debut album ahead of a 1973 release on Gospel Truth. On “I Found the Answer,” Barrett boasts that in his Youth for Christ Choir he’s “made something from nothing,” finding his own talent for music without any formal training and harnessing his leadership enough to shepherd a sprawling, young choir to success in the recording industry.

Live in New Orleans is an uplifting fusion of gospel, blues and soul from one of the longest-running groups in the world, The Blind Boys Of Alabama. Their rousing performance included favorites like ‘Free At Last’, ‘Down By The Riverside’, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘People Get Ready’. Special guests include Susan Tedeschi, Dr. John, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Henry Butler and Marva Wright.

The magic of Bob Hemphill and the Commanders’ “Everybody Will Be Happy” is its sheer commitment to simplicity and good cheer. The peaceful stillness of the record is reflected in its packaging: an overtly non-descript cover, invoking a calm blue sky and a soaring white dove.

“Assisted by the Fenkell Avenue Baptist Church Congregation & Choir” might seem like an odd addendum for Reverend Lee Jackson’s 1971 release “At Calvary,” as congregations aren’t often billed as performers on records. But the stray, echoing hums of churchgoers, calling out in testimony in concert with Jackson during this sermon, render mention of the members of the church necessary.

Founded as a side group including members of the Harrison Johnson Los Angeles Community Choir, the Henry Jackson Company centers on Jackson, a prominent soloist and songwriter in performances by the larger choir. Personnel for the album included jazz keyboardist extraordinaire Joe Sample, Operation Push band leader and saxophonist Gene Barge and auxiliary percussionist Bobbye Hall, whose ubiquitous session work appears multiple times within the Gospel Truth canon.

In their third outing, Steve, Thomas and Rance Allen are joined by their brother Esau Allen on congas for a family affair. Less bombastic than their previous efforts, Rance leads the group in a manner that speaks to the brothers’ comfortability within their own range, their familiarity with one another and their reverence for the material.

In a time when the gospel world was reckoning with the 1972 passing of gospel titan Mahalia Jackson, Detroit singer Louise McCord leaned into her legacy. Accompanied by the Rance Allen Brothers in engineer Richard Becker’s Pac-Three Studios, McCord, in actuality, broke away from the conventions of Jackson’s more traditional gospel. She opts instead to charge forth toward a deeper, funkier path, most glaring on the album’s single “Better Get a Move On,” written by Stax staff writer Bettye Crutcher.

With over 2.5 million albums sold, she is the best-selling Danish female artist of all time. For over 30 years, Hanne Boel, the award-winning artist with an unmistakable soulful voice, has been at the top of the Danish soul-pop scene. Including BLACK WOLF, her 1988 debut, she has released a staggering 21 albums.

Comprised of brothers Tom, Steve and Rance Allen (occasionally featuring brother Esau on congas), the Rance Allen Group was discovered by Gospel Truth president Dave Clark and producer Toby Jackson at a Detroit talent show. Hailing from nearby Monroe, Michigan, the group wasted no time introducing their crossover gospel sensibilities with their eponymous debut album in 1972.

The opening measures of “Are You Ready,” track one of the Marion Gaines Singers’ “This Too Is Gospel,” are a manifesto for a group vying to be unchained. What begins as a bar of metered, tame gospel, breaks away ever so slightly as guitarist Rance Allen teases the listener with the tickle of his strings. By the time the accompanying quartet of singers joins in, the natural order has tipped back into balance, and the gospel is back as the listener should expect. But moments like these, in little pockets, peak out throughout the record, which bore a title that suggests the old guard of gospel music was headed in a radical direction.

The Marion Gaines Singers open “Leaning on Everlasting Arms” by leaning into a bluesy, hard rock-esque soundscape. Gaines’ hazy lead vocal tips its cap in the direction of Joe Cocker and Creedence Clearwater Revival, instead of that of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi or Mahalia Jackson. Save for “Open Your Heart,” the album’s sole straight-ahead gospel song, Gaines and his group relish in the realms of deep, heavy funk.