For this the month of May we take a look at one of the Legendary groups in the quartet industry. With well over 50 years of recording to their billing this new project by "The Gentlemen of Song" is superb. With the arrival of Charles Johnson to the group during the 1970's the Nightingales underwent a drastic change in their sound. From the hard leads of the late Rev. Julius Cheeks the group shifted to a much softer sound. No longer were the backgrounds highlighted by falsetto cries in the style of the Violinaires. From hard driving songs such as "Somewhere To Lay My Head" the group took on more traditional arrangements of hymns such as "Beams From Heaven". Since then Charles Johnson has left to form his own group The Revivers. The Nightingales have maintained the sound of Johnson's era having had a series of leads sing songs in his style. The current Johnson sound alike is Larry Moore who does a wonderful job on all of his leads. His Johnson tinged cords seem to give hints of a more powerful rougher edge waiting to be uncovered. If you are looking for a project with great harmony and songs with a clear message this one is for you.

The project includes 12 selections with varying ranges in time from 3 minutes to 5 and a half. Like many other Nightingale projects this one has their patented sound. In other words you will hear the down home guitar playing of long time group member Joseph "Jo Jo" Wallace. However unlike their recent projects this recording seems to have a little harder edge. Horace Thompson handles about half of the leads along with the aforementioned Larry Moore. After listening to many of Thompson's leads it is almost amazing how similar his sound is to the late Willie Banks. As was mentioned earlier the highlight of this and almost all Nightingale projects are the messages that are in the selections. You can not go wrong when you present the Word of God in song. Not only do the Nightingales present God's Word but there are no fancy synthesizers and blaring keyboards to distort the message.

The are many songs of note on this project. The project beings with the heavy bass guitar runs of Sam Scott similar in sound to something from the Jackson Southernaire camp. The selection is entitled "You Got To Do Something" and is a powerful exhortation for Christians to work in the Lord's vineyard. The simple strum of Jo Jo's guitar introduces one of my all time favorite songs "Christians, We Are The Ones". This song takes quartet fans back to the Nightingales 1973 album "Heart & Soul". If you really want to hear a message then you must hear this powerful song. "Saints Never Deny God" is basically just a write off from the Nightingales previous hit "Saints Hold On" but the message and sound is still great. Other songs of note include the classic "Golden Streets", and a part II of the classic "Come Unto Jesus" invitation song the Gales normally sing in concert. If I had one complaint with this project I would have to say that the same mid-tempo beat employed on most of the songs does get rather repetitious. On a whole this project is just as well rounded as their previous release. For fans of true traditional, and I stress Traditional quartet I recommend adding this project to your quartet collection. I give The Sensational Nightingales "Wasted Years" a 8.5 out of 10.