THE LAURA LEE STORY, PART 1: The Meditation Singers (1938-1965)

Laura Lee is a remarkable singer. She has one of the most soulful voices in our music, an expressive and emotive style, and there’s practically not a gospel or soul music fan that doesn’t hold her in high regard. Her recording career can be divided roughly into four parts. First there’s the ten-year gospel school and academy with the Meditation Singers, secondly her first secular recordings in Detroit with Golden World and in Chicago and Muscle Shoals with Chess Records, which lasted about four years. Her third stint covers practically the 1970s: first with Atlantic already in 1969 and after that the rewarding and productive spell with Holland – Dozier – Holland and still singles on Ariola and Fantasy. Finally in the 80s Laura returned to gospel on such labels as Myrrh and Tyscot. The first part of my Laura Lee Story deals with her dynamic period with the Meditation Singers.

 At the start, let me list some of the other high-profile Laura Lees out there. There’s one 37-year-old Laura Lee, who’s living in New York these days and plays bass in a musical trio called Khruanbing. There’s one YouTuber/blogger/make-up artist by that name, one author of romantic books, one actress and even in Finland we have one osteopath named Laura Lee.

Unfortunately, at least in this first part of the story we have to cope with no quotes from Laura. Discussions were made within her camp, but repeated attempts to direct contacts were unsuccessful, although I’m still working on it and haven’t given up hope in terms of upcoming parts of the article.

“MOTHER RUNDLESS”

According to the Bureau of the Census, Laura Lee Newton was born in 1938, on the 9^th of March, in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County Hospital. She lived her first years on South Michigan Avenue and her first public appearances took place in a local church called the First Church of Deliverance, founded in 1929 and it’s still working today in southern Chicago. Her mother Helen and her father separated, when Laura was seven years old, and two years later Helen took Laura and her siblings, the four-year older Barbara and two-year younger Nathan to Detroit.

Helen got seriously sick and was forced to give Laura to Ernestine and Edward Allan Rundless II, who adopted her, so Laura Lee Newton became Laura Lee Rundless. Affectionally known as “Mother Rundless”, Ernestine – spelled also Earnestine - was born in Egremont, Mississippi, in 1914. At the age of twenty-two she moved to Chicago, where she married Rev. E. Allan Rundless II in 1944.

 Edward Allen Rundless, Jr. had since 1929 been the second tenor in the New Pleasant Green Gospel Singers in Houston, Texas. Later that quartet, led by Walter La Beaux, was renamed the Soul Stirrers after Silas Roy Crain had joined them in 1934. Crain had led his Soul Stirrers out of Trinity, Texas, since the mid-1920s but that group had fallen apart. When joining Walter’s group, Crain wanted to put the name of the Soul Stirrers on this new group as well. Their first recordings for the Library of Congress date back to 1936. Edward Rundless, however, had quit singing in the group before he and Ernestine moved to Detroit, where Edward accepted the pastorate of the New Liberty Baptist Church and pastored there from 1945 till 1989.

 Subsequently they formed the Voices of Meditation Choir in 1947 for the church, and Ernestine became the lead soprano. Other members included DeLillian Mitchell (soprano), Marie Waters (contralto) and Deloreese Patricia Early (first soprano), better known later as Della Reese. The group was soon renamed the Meditation Singers, and in the beginning the line-up included also Herbert S. Carson (baritone) and Emory Radford (piano, organ). Prior to the Meditation Singers, Della (1931-2017) had sung with Mahalia Jackson, the Ward Singers and the Roberta Martin Singers.

ROYAL TELEPHONE

 The group grew more and more popular as a result of not only singing in local churches, but also of regular radio appearances, and later on TV as well. The very first single by Meditation Singers was released in 1953 on Joe Von Battle’s J-V-B label (22) in Detroit. Titled Royal Telephone, the dominating element on this fierce stormer was Ernestine’s strong and emotive singing. On this record James Cleveland played the piano. In the same session Joe recorded also a song called We’re Marching to Zion, which had an unauthorized release on DeLuxe, and that release came as an unpleasant surprise to the group. Irritated, they turned to their friend Alex Bradford, who advised them to do a demo tape for Specialty Records’ Art Rupe in California.

 The 4-song session for the tape took place on January 27 in 1954, but it didn’t lead into any releases on Specialty, yet. The next session took place on April 25 in 1954 in Detroit, and this time out of the seven tracks that were cut two were released as a single in July: the slow I’m Determined to Run This Race and the fast-paced Promise to Meet Me There (Specialty 866). The singers, who attended this session, were Ernestine Rundless and Carrie Williams on lead, Marie Waters, Herbert Carson - who leads on Promise - and still Emory Radford on piano. That remains the only single released during their first Specialty stint.

 Soon after that Carrie quit the quartet and established a beauty salon in Detroit, whereas Herbert carried on in other quartets, and in the late 1950s married Dorothy McLeod, his co-member in the Herman Stevens Singers. Della Reese was still in the line-up of the Mediation Singers, when they cut the demo tape for Art Rupe in January, and her delivery on the mid-tempo Jesus Is Always There is especially powerful. She dropped out right after that and in the very same year of 1954 cut her first solo recording for the Great Lakes label and then switched over to Jubilee a year later. Alongside her solo career, she would, however, perform with the Meditation Singers on and off all through the 1950s and occasionally still in the 60s.

HARD TO GET ALONG

 Della’s second solo album, Amen! (Jubilee LP 1083), is actually subtitled “Della Reese Presents her Meditation Singers with Ernestine Rundless.” Recorded in Detroit and released in 1958, this is the first release, where you can enjoy also Laura Lee’s singing. She even wrote one song for the LP, a slow and heart-wrenching Hard to Get Along, and on this track she’s the co-vocalist with Della and Ernestine. Other voices belong to Delillian Price – earlier DeLillian Mitchell – and Della’s sister, Marie Waters.

 Laura had every now and then sung as Della’s replacement in the Meditation Singers after Della had launched her pop and jazz career and become a vocalist with the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra in 1954. Laura was referred to as “the little girl with the big voice.” Besides singing, in Detroit Laura attended the North Eastern High School and did also some modelling and at one point even had plans to become a dress shop owner and interior decorator, but her father Edward put a stop to those worldly ambitions. After she dropped out from a Business College, she became a permanent member of the Meditation Singers in the latter part of the 1950s.

 The second Specialty stint for the Meditation Singers started in 1959, when the quartet was signed together with James Cleveland, who had now become an essential part of the outfit. The first record by the Meditation Singers that Laura sings on was released on Specialty (919) in October 1959. On the slow and intense My Soul Looks Back and Wonders, James Cleveland talks his way through the song that he wrote and is backed by the quartet consisting of Laura, Ernestine, Lorraine Vincent (soprano) and Marie Waters. Sam Cooke’s Ain’t That Good News is on the flip, and in the Chicago session in July 1959, where that single derives from, they cut altogether seven songs. Laura Lee leads on two of them: the lively One River to Cross and the downtempo You Don’t Know How Blessed You Are. The best way to get acquainted with those Specialty sides is to purchase the 23-track CD titled The Meditation Singers: Good News (Specialty, SPCD-7032-2). It was compiled by Lee Hildebrand and Opal Nations (https://www.discogs.com/release/13285113-The-Meditation-Singers-Good-News").

 Still in 1962, Della cut one single with the Meditation Singers for RCA-Victor. Written by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the spiritually rocking Ninety-Nine and ½ Won’t Do was coupled with E. Patterson’s tender ballad, You Don’t Know How Blessed You Are. Hugo & Luigi were the producers. The Meditation Singers with Laura on lead had cut this song already three years earlier, but it stayed in the can till the early 90s.

ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS

 Carmen Murphy established a beauty salon called House of Beauty in 1948 in Detroit. Ten years later she founded a record company by the same name, and a recording studio and rehearsal space for that label was found in the basement of the salon. Some of the early artists on that label included the Peppermints, Leon Peterson and the Mel-O-Dees, Herman Griffin and the Rayber Voices, and among the first gospel quartets there were James Cleveland’s Voices of Tabernacle, and… the Meditations - now with no “Singers” at the end anymore. After only a couple of years, In the early 60s, Carmen sold her gospel recording activities to Florence Greenberg for Scepter Records to distribute the HOB gospel catalogue.

 The first HOB release by the Meditations is a jumpy mover titled One More River to Cross (HOB 117), composed by Morris McGee. On the label it reads “Under the direction of James Cleveland”, and James indeed was a big inspiration for Carmen and one of the reasons why she decided to record gospel music in the first place.  The single was released in January 1961, and on the A-side strong lead voice belongs to Laura Lee Rundless. The traditional His Eye Is on the Sparrow is on the flip, and now Ernestine is on the lead.

 For the follow-up James Cleveland wrote a slow testimony called He Has Done Something for Me, and here Laura’s delivery is amazingly powerful. On the flip, Sam Cooke’s mid-tempo song, Jesus, Be A Fence Around Me gets an equally strong interpretation, and here both Laura and Ernestine share the lead. Other members of the Meditations at that point were Verline Rogers (soprano), Marie Waters, Donna Hammond and Cassietta George, who is best remembered as a member of the Caravans. Cassietta passed in 1995 in Los Angeles and Verline passed in 2020 in Las Vegas.

 Ernestine wrote the slow and intense It Must Be Jesus and James Cleveland the “spirit filled” I’m Determined for the third HOB single (123). After one EP in March 1962, HOB finally released a Meditations album in 1962 titled He Has Done Something for Me (HOB LP 241). Of the ten tracks on display, Laura and Ernestine lead on six, Ernestine alone on two and Cassietta George on the rest two: the swinging Building a Home and the self-written, slow and intense I’m Ready to Serve the Lord

THERE MUST BE REST

 Interestingly, for a minute the Meditation Singers had a connection with Sam Cooke, as in May 1963 on his Sar label they released one single: the waltz-time There Must Be Rest, written by Ernestine Rundless and Marie Waters, coupled with If He Holds Your Hand, cut earlier by Lou Rawls and the Pilgrim Travelers and composed by Zelda Samuels and J.W. Alexander. On the Sar label that single # 143 was squeezed between releases by L.C. Cooke (141), Patience Valentine (142) and the Valentinos (144).

 Those days Frank Sinatra wanted to record Laura, when she performed with Della Reese and the Meditation Singers in Las Vegas, but Laura’s stepfather was against the idea of her daughter switching over to secular music. Laura, on the other hand, was about to turn 25 at that point. Incidetally, the Meditation Singers became the first gospel group to play in Las Vegas, where they backed Della Reese at the Flamingo Casino in 1962.

 One division of Savoy Records out of Newark, New Jersey, was Gospel Record Co., which existed for sixteen years starting from 1958. In their impressive roster they had, among others, the Caravans, the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Imperial Gospel Singers. In August 1963 the Meditation Singers in the line-up of Ernestine, Laura Lee, Verline, Marie and Donna Hammond recorded for that label an album’s worth of music. As a taster they put out a single consisting of Ernestine’s and Laura’s blaring number called Sanctified Lord, backed with Ernestine’s and Laura’s slow and emphatic testimony, Every Knee.

 The ensuing album was similarly titled Sanctified Lord. Fred Mendelsohn was the supervisor and the producer was Rev. Lawrence Roberts, a renowned gospel figure and two-time Grammy Award winner out of Newark. He worked closely with James Cleveland and his own quartet was called the Angelic Choir. Lawrence passed in 2008 at the age of 77.

 The songs were written by the two lead singers of the group, Ernestine and Laura Lee Rundless. Among slow and intense deliveries like The Storm, Heaven, My Home and Troubles of the World, there were more rhythmic numbers, such as Building a Home and Standing Invitation. Both It Must Be Jesus and He’s Done Something for Me were first heard on HOB Records two years earlier.

LOOK WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE

 The same personnel is responsible for the sophomore Gospel Record Co. LP by the Meditation Singers titled God’s Going to Trouble the Water. Recorded in January 1964, the album was released in late summer but the single came out earlier. Both sides written by “E. & L. Rundless”, Look What the Lord Has Done is a very fast and almost ecstatic performance, while Mercy Lord is a downtempo number.

 This time there are a lot of slow and intense songs on display: the melodic Don’t Turn Around, the dynamic Working for the Lord, the strongly improvised Let Thy Will Be Done and He Purchased My Salvation. The title tune, God’s Going to Trouble the Water, refers to the traditional Wade in the Water, and You’ll Never Walk Alone really is the familiar Rodgers & Hammerstein tune, and although it grows, it quite doesn’t hit the heights of Patti LaBelle & the Blue Belles’ version from 1963.

 The group’s third Gospel LP, I’m Holding On, was released in 1965 and is just as powerful as its two predecessors. Again, recorded at the Medallion Studios in Newark, New Jersey, in September 1964 and supervised by Rev. Lawrence Roberts, mostly Ernestine and Laura share leads on these ten songs. The one single off the album featured Ernestine’s slow and impassioned My Soul Looks Back, and is backed with the mid-tempo, big-voiced I’ve Been ‘Buked.

 He’s Alright proceeds like an express train, whereas I Know You’re Gonna Miss Me and I’m Holding on are more mid-tempo numbers. The downtempo Don’t Forget to Pray, Today, We Must Go Back, Lord I’ve Tried and the melodic Since I Met Him are all powerful and majestic deliveries, simply awesome.

SONGS OF INSPIRATION

 The second HOB album, Songs of Inspiration (HOB LP 243), was released only in 1965, three years after the preceding He Had Sone Something for Me. “All songs written and arranged by Ernestine Rundless & “Belong to Hob Music”, - as it reads on the label - among the speedy jubilee numbers there are the quick-tempo Get Ready, the fierce Sanctified Lord and the Verlene-led Glory to His Name. Ernestine excels on a slow swayer titled Sweet After While as well as on We Just Stopped to Pray, and Laura distinguishes herself on Let It Be Me and the slow but ecstatic Every Knee Must Bow. The latter as well as Sanctified Lord had already appeared on the Gospel label.

 Still in 1965 two singles by the Meditations appeared on Mike Hanks’ Detroit-based D-Town label, in the Devotional series. In his secular roster Mike had in the beginning Cody Black, Dee Edwards, Lee Rogers and the Fabulous Peps, just to name a few. The Meditations sides included the hymn Farther Along and LeRoy Crume’s The Love of God, which the Soul Stirrers originally recorded in 1958 with Johnnie Taylor on lead. Ernestine wrote both My Soul Got Happy and Is Your All on the Altar.

 The Meditation Singers continued to record, and their next three albums were released on Checker: Don’t You Want to Go (1966), I Feel it (1967) and The Bad Apple (1968), and after that still on Jewel. Laura, however, wasn’t a permanent member anymore. She sings on some tracks – e.g. I Want to Be a Christian – but since 1965 she launched her secular solo career… and what an amazing career it was! More about it in upcoming parts of the story.

DISCOGRAPHY

- included are the recordings by THE MEDITATION SINGERS and DELLA REESE with LAURA LEE RUNDLESS singing on them -

DELLA REESE:

Jubilee JGS 1983)Amen! (1958) - LP

Amen! / Jesus Will Answer Your Prayer / Last Mile of the Way / Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen // Rock a My Soul / Hard to Get Along / Up Above My Head I Hear Music in the Air / I Know the Lord Has Laid His Hand on Me / Jesus

NOTE: Laura co-leads on Hard to Get Along (and sings background on other tracks on the LP)

RCA Victor 47-7996) Ninety-Nine and ½ Won’t Do / You Don’t Know How Blessed You Are (1962)

THE MEDITATION SINGERS

Specialty 919) My Soul Looks Back and Wonders / Ain’t That Good News (1959)

NOTE: unreleased at the time, but Laura on lead: One River to Cross / You Don’t Know How Blessed You Are (from the same 1959 session as above)

THE MEDITATIONS

HOB 117) One More River to Cross / His Eye Is on the Sparrow (1961)

HOB 122) He Has Done Something for Me / Jesus, Be a Fence Around me

HOB 123) It Must Be Jesus / I’m Determined

HOB-EP-301) He Has Done Something for Me / Jesus, Be a Fence Around Me / I’m Ready to Serve the Lord (1962)

HOB 241) He Has Done Something for Me (1962) - LP

He Has Done Something for Me / Building a Home / I’m Ready to Serve the Lord / His Eye Is on the Sparrow / I’m Determined // Jesus Be a Fence Around Me / He Will Take Care of You / It Must Be Jesus / One More River to Cross / The Storm Is Passing

THE MEDITATION SINGERS

Sar 143) There Must Be Rest / If He Holds Your Hand (1963)

Gospel 1081) Sanctified Lord / Every Knee

Gospel, MG-3024) Sanctified Lord (1963) - LP

It Must Be Jesus / He’s Done Something for Me / Troubles of the World / Standing Invitation / He Will Take Care of You // The Storm / Heaven, My Home / Every Knee / Building a Home

Gospel 1091) Look What the Lord Has Done / Mercy Lord (1964)

Gospel, MG-3028) God’s Going to Trouble the Water (1964) - LP

Don’t Turn Around / God’s Gonna Trouble the Water / Working for the Lord / You’ll Never Walk Alone / Willing to Run // Mercy Lord / Look at What the Lord Has Done / Let Thy Will Be Done / He Purchased My Salvation / My Testimony

Gospel 1112) My Soul Looks Back / I’ve Been ‘Buked (1965)

Gospel, MG-3038) I’m Holding On (1965) - LP

I’ve Been ‘Buked / I Know You’re Gonna Miss Me / We Must Go Back / Lord I’ve Tried / Since I Met Him // He’s Alright / I’m Holding On / My Soul Looks Back / Don’t Forget to Pray / Today

HOB 243) Songs of Inspiration (1965) - LP

Get Ready / Sweeter After While / Let It Be Me / Glory to His Name / Wait Til My Change Comes // We Just Stopped to Pray / Him I Would Wait on / Almost Anytime / Sanctified Lord / Every Knee Must Bow

THE MEDITATIONS

D-Town 201) Farther Along / My Soul Got Happy (1965)

D-Town 203) The Love of God / Is Your All on the Altar

Acknowledgements to Ducky Lucas, David Washington, and Billy Wilson. Sources: Colin Dilnot’s article in David Cole’s “In the Basement” magazine # 31 (in 2003), Opal Louis Nations’ article in "Big City Blues" (in 2002) titled “The Angel from Detroit”; Bob McGrath’s book “Soul Discography”, “Gospel Discography 1943-1970” by Cedric J. Hayes and Robert Laughton and Joel Whitburn’s Billboard charts books.

© Heikki Suosalo