Sunday, May 07, 2006

Madame Melissma

Madame Edna Gallmon Cooke - You've Got to Love Everybody

Madame Edna Gallmon Cooke (the "Madame" an honorific bestowed upon Cooke by the Church of God in Christ) brought strong songwriting and impressive melissma to her Republic and Nashboro sides of the '50s and '60s. Many of her songs featured sermonettes (one of her most famous recordings, "Stop Gambler," took T. Texas Tyler's "Deck of Cards," stripped it of its original story and went straight to the cross of Calvary to discuss Christ's crucifixion) and she mainly used a male background group to provide support (almost like a gospel Gladys Knight & The Pips setup). "You've Got to Love Everybody" has a bluesy lope and Cooke and group handle it well.

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