Supreme Jubilees

If God had a disco, the DJ would be playing California gospel-soul group The Supreme Jubilees. “We won’t have to cry no more,” the tuxedo-clad group would sing in high, angelic vocals over smooth grooves. “It’ll all be over.” Prepare to dance and contemplate death all at the same time.

A band of brothers and cousins, the band was founded from two families: brothers Joe and Dave Kingsby with Dave’s son David Kingsby Jr. and keyboardist Leonard Sanders alongside his brothers Phillips (drummer), Tim (bassist), and Melvin (tenor). The Sanders family grew up singing together in the Witness of Jesus Christ church in Fresno, CA, where dad Marion was pastor. Guitarist Larry Price–who belonged to neither family–completed the line-up that recorded the group’s first–and (prophetically) only–album, It’ll All Be Over.

After the LP was pressed, the group took their music on tour–first in California, where they played with acts including the Gospel Keynotes, The Jackson Southernaires, and the Mighty Clouds of Joy, and then on an ill-fated trip to Texas. A follow-up album was planned for 1981, but it never materialized; having slept sometimes a dozen to a room in Texas, the men in the band were reluctant to leave jobs, wives, and kids for the hardship of the road. The group simply fizzled out, even if the friendships never did.