Golden Gate Quartet Vol. 2 (1938-1939)

Elvis Presley's favorite gospel group, this band of forceful voices from the Tidewater community of Virginia (also home to the Silver Leaf Quartet and the Harmonizing Four) is the link between the Fisk Jubilee Singers — who tried to assimilate, but always killed with the old "Negro spirituals" — and the Motown-inventing Soul Stirrers. Though their definitive version of "Swing Down, Chariot" is not included here, there are 23 tracks that find the Gaters — the Mills Brothers of gospel — at the top of their game. Their vocal arrangements are impeccable.