Sterling Jubilee Singers: Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb CS

At the heart of the Sterling Jubilee's success and longevity is their weekly highly-structured rehearsal. Following an agenda formed early in the group's history, they open with a reverential song such as "Did You Stop to Pray This Morning?" or "One Morning Soon," recite the Lord's Prayer in unison, then individually quote Bible verses. A second song precedes a business meeting, which is conducted in the formal language of parliamentary procedure. Rehearsals are often intense. John Alexander says, "You have to get into it like you are going to eat it. When you get ready to go out, it ain't hard to do right. If you did it right before you leave rehearsal, you've got it." Before leaving, the Sterling Jubilees hold hands in a circle and sing the group's traditional benediction, with both reverence and humor, invariably closing the meeting with laughter. This recording, originally produced by the Alabama Folklife Association, documents the Sterling's rehearsal at Straight Place in Bessemer on Wednesday, April 20, 1994. It includes all the elements of a traditional Sterling Jubilee rehearsal - even the sound of trains passing by the hall intermittently - and differs from an actual meeting only in the omission of the business meeting and in the nature of the opening song. Wanting their first number to have impact, they selected "Atom Bomb" rather than one of the more worshipful numbers with which they normally begin.