While the Dixie Hummingbirds and Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC’s made moderate shifts from the exclusive use of traditional gospel quartet sonorities to the inclusion of sounds that reflect contemporary musical trends, Darrell McFadden and The Disciples represent a more radical shift toward the latter. New York native Darrell McFadden began his professional career with Willie Banks and the Messengers from Mississippi. After less than a year with the Messengers, he returned to New York and reformulated the Golden Sons, a gospel quartet group. However, realizing that the group’s members did not share his commitment to successful progress in the industry, McFadden left the group in 1992 and formed a new group in the same year: Darrell McFadden and The Disciples.

While maintaining characteristics of traditional gospel quartet music such as triadic harmonies, raspy vocals (particularly in the lead vocals), the rhythm section (bass, guitar and trap set), and internal call and response structure, I’ve Got A Right further expands the genre’s expressive boundaries by adding new instrumentation and musical vocabulary, more rhythmic movement, extended harmonies, and a broader use of technology. Paralleling the previously highlighted gospel quartets, the Disciples’ lyrical content is in keeping with the traditional gospel quartet message of spiritual redemption through Jesus Christ.

The 10-track disc presents this eleven-member group (the cover shows only 10 members) performing music written by the three core members: Darrell McFadden, Gene Peoples and Spanky Williams (T. Arrington also co-wrote “I Believe,” track 4). Beginning with the first track (“Be Ready”), it is clear that this disc is different from the usual gospel quartet project. It incorporates a higher degree of syncopation in the rhythm section, the harmonic foundation is reminiscent of the R&B group, Tony Toni Tone, and the background vocals reflect early doo-wop groups of the 1940s and ’50s. Track two (“Calling Me”) demonstrates the extremity of this group’s style with their usage of a drum machine, the talk box (popularized by the funk group Zapp in the ’80s), and a bridge section that extends the harmonic foundation and form (while the Disciples perform songs in standard verse-chorus form, they also commonly employ the 32 bar form). “Hold On” (track 6), a reinterpretation of the hymn “Hold On To God’s Unchanging Hand,” demonstrates how gospel artists frequently transform pre-existing songs into new compositions. The original hymn consists of four verses and a refrain. The Disciples only use the refrain section, and the wah-effect guitar style on this track clearly reflects the group’s funk music influence.

I’ve Got A Right illustrates an expressive cycle in gospel quartet music. It begins with the traditional gospel style, then advances to more contemporary elements in the middle section, and finally returns to more traditional gospel music styles in “Shackles” and “O How I Love Jesus/Further Along,” tracks 9 and 10 respectively. While several gospel quartets demonstrate the secular music influence in this genre, Darrell McFadden and The Disciples best illustrate the relationship between the secular and sacred aesthetic practices.

Posted by Tyron Cooper

Filed under: Gospel Music and Spirituals