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The Sensational Saints

1950s-1970s gospel group from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in the early ’50s under the watchful eye of Tuskegee, Alabama, transplant Charles Chambliss, the Sensational Saints were handpicked from a clothing store, a pool room, and from a group of friends singing from a third story window. The quartet cut their first four sides for Harvey Fuqua and Gwen Gordy's Detroit-based Message label in 1962, under the Sensational Saints of Ohio banner. A 45 for Checker would follow in 1966, but It wasn't until the group connected with Reverend Melvin Kenniebrew at the close of the decade that they'd make good on their "Sensational" boast. Beginning with 1970’s "I'm Glad He Knows (My Heart)" b/w "Jesus In The Morning," the quartet of Kenniebrew, Jimmy Hughes, Albert Chisolm, and Eddie Walker went on a recording tear. Where the pre-war Saints relied heavily on the pre-war gospel songbook, Melvin, formerly one of Five Blind Boys of Alabama, brough with him a penchant for infusing gospel songs with the sounds of current secular music, with obvious references to the Staple Singers, Bill Withers, and Sly and the Family Stone. The Saints' soulful take on the negro spiritual “Walk Through The Valley” turned up as the B-side of their second BOS single, while the topical “The War Is Over (My Brother)” found its way to the A-side of the group’s third and final BOS 45. In 1973, the Sensational Saints delivered their crown jewel: “You Won’t Believe It” (Try It You’ll Like Us) LP on BOS's sister label King James, before dropping the front half of their name in 1974, when they upgraded Kenniebrew to "Preacher" for KJ-103—"The Mailman Cometh" b/w "Jesus Rhapsody Part 1." Preacher & the Saints disbanded shortly thereafter, and Kenniebrew would return to the pulpit. Twenty-five years later, the Sensational Saints would reunite and issue Consecrated Service, a favorably-reviewed compact disc for a new generation of devotees.