The Best Of Dorothy Love Coates And The Original Gospel Harmonettes

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Total Tracks: 24   Total Length: 62:44

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Gospel 101 - Lesson 1

groovelikeuluvparis

Coates wrote most of the group's material and was lead soloist. Mildred Miller, the contralto who traded leads with Coates on a couple of songs featured here, was the group's manager. Evelyn Starks and Pee-Wee Harris traded piano duties. Vera Kolb and Odessa Edwards were the powerful altos, and Willie Mae Newberry was the soaring soprano (only Marion Williams (then of the Famous Ward Singers)was more famous for the high "whoooo" phenomenon of the 50s). Other members came and went but these ladies were the mainstays of the group. Check them out. You won't be disappointed.

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Great Gospel

Palomino-Royalle

I've owned this on CD for a few years. Great stuff -- lively, rockin' gospel. Coates has a wonderful alto voice -- a little rough-edged, but that just makes it more emotive -- and she definitely knows how to use it. The Harmonettes are excellent too. I don't kow who the lead soprano is, but she could have been a star on her own. Recommended!

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They Say All Music Guide

One of the cornerstones of golden age gospel, this set compiles two vinyl discs originally compiled by Barret Hansen (Dr. Demento). It includes all of the famous Dorothy Love Coates songs: “That’s Enough,” with a searing vocal that makes Aretha sound like a poetry reciter; “99 and a Half,” the model for Wilson Pickett’s secular version; “Get Away Jordan” and “I’m Sealed,” which kicked off the group’s career; “No Hiding Place,” a purely fearsome blues; and “(You Can’t Hurry God) He’s Right on Time,” later to become the Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love.” As a writer and performer, Coates expresses complete conviction in the message of the social gospel; she literally believes that her musical ministry has a crucial role in saving souls and the world. (No one who hears her can doubt it much.) Remastered by Kirk Felton in 1991. The cover art and Hansen’s rudimentary notes, unchanged since the late ’60s when the LPs came out, could use an update, but those are minor flaws next to music of such great emotional power and lyric intelligence. – Dave Marsh

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