After posting, I started to get curious about Tindley and the church which bears his name, and went on a search. It is somehow comforting that the Tindley Temple United Methodist Church is still there, and according to their own website, doing well. Check the links entitled History and Charles A. Tindley for more information. (note also that the CD notes have his middle initial wrong) More interesting info about him and his hymns here

Here is a very brief summary from the church's site: "In 1885, a man by the name of Charles A. Tindley became janitor of the Church. Born a slave July 26, 1856, Tindley taught himself to read and write and eventually rose to become Pastor of the Church in 1902." To summarize the rest, Tindley who by all reports was a dynamic preacher as well as a hymn writer, guided the church for many years, culminating in the building in 1924 of a 3,200 seat church, which the parishioners renamed for Tindley, though he was not in favor of the name change. He died in 1933. No mention was made of the Tindley Quaker City Gospel Singers on the site. Do take note of the fact that one of the singers was Albert T. Tindley, almost certainly a relative, I would think.

Well, that is a bit of a side step from the subject matter (Hallelujah Side, wasn't it?), but I found it to be fascinating reading about someone I previously had never heard of but who certainly deserves the attention. Among his best known compositions were I'll Overcome Some Day (better known today as We Shall Overcome!), We'll Understand It Better By and By, and Stand By Me. Apparently he also was a direct and profound influence on hymn writer Thomas A. Dorsey who wrote such classics as Peace In The Valley and Take My Hand Precious Lord.