When the books of quartet music history are written there will definitely be a section on the Williams Brothers of Smithdale, Mississippi.  Not only have they become a household name in the music industry, but they are also known for their accomplishments with Blackberry Records. Under the title of “Good Time Gospel” these quartet geniuses have presented a two day recording session featuring various artists from the Blackberry camp.  In fact, they even managed to cross both racial and music genre lines, introducing quartet and country music.  Well, if any of these pieces of information have caught your attention let as walk together on a two day journey in Morton Mississippi.  

As I look back on this great event, I can’t help but think about the huge amount of work that must have gone into making such a recording possible.  From the sound to the lighting, Blackberry Records went first class all the way.  The recording facility was the beautiful yet quaint Livingston Performing Arts Center in the Roosevelt State Park in the small town of Morton, Mississippi.  How small is Morton you might ask?  Well, Morton is so small that all the Concert attendees and group’s had to stay 7 miles away in Forest Mississippi. In other words, there are no hotels in Morton. 

Arriving early at the Performing Arts Center I was able to attend the closed recording session of “Songs Mamma Used To Sing Volume III”.  Without giving away to much information I must say that we are all in for a treat when this new project hits the streets. Soloist Neal Roberson, The Texas Boyz, and The Williams Brothers all recorded songs on this new compilation.  Neal Roberson was the first to hit the stage with his 6 voice ensemble.  The song to look out for in this session was his interpretation of the late Rev. James Cleveland’s “Get Right Church”.  Boy did they drive this song home. From the Williams Brothers you’ll want to keep your ear open for a great Old Time Gospel Medley featuring such songs as “This Little Light”, “Bye & Bye”, and a short tribute to the Sensational Nightingales with “I Want To Be At The Meeting”.  The Texas Boyz represented well with fan favorites like “A Faithful Few” and the killer drive song “Until I Found The Lord”. 

On Saturday Night the recording session was blessed to have the talents of Rick Joyner of the nationally syndicated Radio network The Light.  His comical style was just the right touch to keep a calm yet focused mood in the building.  After a spirited devotion we had a great moment of tribute to our soldiers in Iraq as a special version of the Star Spangled Banner by the Williams Brothers was plaid.  The first to record on Saturday was the up and coming soloist Neal Roberson.  All that can really be said about this Man of God’s Ministry is awesome.  While his current CD release really does not do justice to his “Live” Ministry, you will be blessed by picking up a copy of “Delighted” on Blackberry Records.  His style is that of an individual that is comfortable with his Ministry.  In fact, Bishop Roberson stated himself that he was in his element just being who God made him to be. 

While his faster songs were good it was the host of praise & worship and ballads that really were phenomenal.  Songs like “Press My Way”, “I Ain’t Living Without You”, and the old standard “Hallelujah” were definitely high points in his set.  Probably the most unusual song came in Bishop Roberson’s second set when he explained his Blues background. This introduction eventually lead into some down home harmonica playing on “Don’t Let The Devil Ride”. Special guests during Neal Roberson’s session included Melvin Williams on the old Williams Brothers tune “I Found A Solid Rock”, and Mighty Clouds of Joy 2^nd lead singer Ron Staples on a beautiful ballad called “God Is Still There”.  As Neal closed his set out he shared a heart-wrenching story about his deceased brother while sitting down and ministering on a song called “I Really Miss You”. 

Also on Saturday The Williams Brothers presented part I of their “Live” recording.  In classic Brothers fashion the fellas opened with a song that pushed the button on what we traditionalist call “Quartet”.  “No In The Middle” featured some real heavy instrumentation and with a thick contemporary groove.  Following that the brothers came with the old standard “Walk With Me” featuring a nice mid-tempo feel.  While the aforementioned songs were lead by Melvin Williams, Doug took the front on his beautiful new composition “Heaven Is Waiting”.  This song ministered to the people in a very powerful way and was backed with the killer ballad “What’s My Purpose”.  Melvin poured his self into this number which also featured a mixed Choir called The N-Praise Singers.  The Drive songs on this first set were “Tell Somebody” featuring Doug & Melvin, and “Send It On Down” which the group also recorded earlier during the Song Mamma Used To Sing session.  This song featured some great crowd participation as Melvin left the stage to mingle in the audience during the drive portion. 

As the time for day two inched closer and closer the threat of tornadoes and heavy downpours called into question the likely hood of a smooth recording session.  It seemed as if the lightning storms camped out all around the city of Morton.  With rain still falling we made our way into the auditorium for night two of “Good Time Gospel” in Mississippi.  On this night, the Texas Boyz of Dallas, Texas would kick things off with their 2 part recording session.  However, they took the stage after a very special event.  Once again the Williams Brothers (Doug & Melvin) were about to make history.  After speaking about their new song the curtains opened to reveal a Caucasian Country band called Hip Boot Joe out of Louisiana.  The brothers joined them on a bluegrass/country version of a song called “Let’s Go Get Saved”.  All in all it was an interesting combination with some great singing. After this performance, television and gospel pioneer Bobby Jones came to the stage as the night’s MC.

After a rousing introduction the Curtains opened once again to reveal the Texas Boyz. Lead singer Cecil Washington took fans back to their 1995 release “It’s God’s Decision” with “You Can Depend On Him” and one of my favorites “Only The Strong Shall Survive”.  Sensing the crowd’s readiness to really get with the singing, Cecil jumped into their latest Blackberry release with “Two-Faced Church Folk”. This radio/crowd friendly song served the great purpose of loosening the atmosphere.  Cecil then shifted into one of the group’s favorite drive songs from their “Do Right My Child” album “I Found The Lord”.  Other high points from the first set included a rockin’ version of “I Still Love You” featuring Melvin Williams and the powerful song “Gave Me Joy” featuring Glen Washington. 

While the first set was good I do have to say that the fellas really came strong in their second set.  They hit the floor with a great 3 song medley of some of their best known songs like “I Need Your Help”, “I Don’t Have A Friend Like Jesus”, and “Victory Shall Be Mine”.  While every song up to this point was received well by the audience the crowd was primed and ready for The Texas Boyz all-time favorite song “One More Time” better known as The Texas Kick song.  The fellas obliged the audience and really gave us some fancy foot work to match.  Personally I was overjoyed to see the choir enter as Cecil prepared to sing my favorite song from their latest release “Forever Together” called “Lord We Praise You”.  This song features Cecil’s daughter Jazz and boy does she sang, yes I said SANG this song!!  However, I did notice that just as the song started there was a power outage due to the storm outside.  I can only hope that this great performance was not lost.  The fellas closed their concert with their newest drive song “Don’t Stop” which really can be termed KILLER!!  Just as things were set up just right Cecil closed the program out with a new ballad entitled “Pray The Devil Away” leaving the house in an uproar.

After a short intermission audience members returned to their seats ready to hear what The Brothers had in store for this the last set of the weekend.  Once again Melvin kicked things off.  However, on this set things began in a more traditional style with a mid-tempo song called “Come As You Are”.  The real hit song came half way into the brothers set when a seemingly impromptu call for Paul Porter took place during a soul stirring version of their classic hit “I Felt A Change” aka “I Couldn’t See Nothing”.  With cane in hand Paul Porter testified like only he can supported every step of the way by Melvin Williams.  With the atmosphere just right for worship, Doug moved flawlessly into the Praise & Worship song “You Are Lord”.  Other songs of note included the Katie Sankey remake of “Bye & Bye”, and the revised Racy Brother hit “Been Good To Me”.  The Brothers closed the night and the weekend with an interesting version of “Cooling Water”.  In classic Keith Wonderboy fashion the Brothers even had some crowd participation including a dancing young boy from the front row.  On the whole the weekend was a Blessing to all that attended.  Notable attendees included Roy Wooten of Malaco Records, Mark Ballard of Marxan Records, Jerry Mannery of Malaco Records, Memphis Radio personality James Chambers, and James Bullard of MCG Records to name a few.    

(All Song Titles mentioned are not official)