Artist:The Canton Spirituals
Song:Glad I've Got Jesus
Album:Living the Dream: Live in Washington, D.C.
The gospel group The Canton Spirituals have been around since the 40s. The most popular version of this group had a big hit with the 1997 single Glad I've Got Jesus. It mixes traditional and contemporary gospel. The Canton Spirituals were formed in 1943 in Canton, MS. led by Harvey Watkins Sr. Though they performed in churches throughout the south, they didn't record until the late 60s. Harvey Watkins Jr. joined in 1973 and they signed with J&B Records in 1976. They recorded for J&B until the early 90s. After recording two albums for Blackberry Records owned by The Williams Brothers, they signed with Jive Records' gospel label Verity for the 1997 album Living the Dream. Meanwhile Harvey Watkins Sr. died in 1994. Harvey Watkins Jr. is now the leader of The Canton Spirituals and the lead singer. He also wrote Glad I've Got Jesus which was a big hit on the gospel charts. In the studio, They write and produce themselves. Watkins writes a lot of the songs. The other main songwriter is Victor Allen who also plays keyboards and leads the band. Others include Pharis "June Bug" Evans Jr. on keyboards, Merlin Lucious on bass, Quincy McCullum on drums, Wallace Strictland on keyboards and Cornelius Dwayne Watkins on lead guitar. This album was recorded live in Washington and released on home video. It is available as a budget CD. This album won two Stellar Awards. After five albums for Verity, The Cantons Spirituals moved to Malaco. Their latest album Hallelujah Anyhow was released last year and features a guest appearance by Al Green. Here's the video for Glad I've Got Jesus by The Canton Spirituals.
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