When that record came out, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, I probably wore out--it was on an LP, of course, so I probably wore out two or three of those, and I always wanted to play it, even in person, but I couldn't come up with a way to do it without the voices.
They were my band - I remember getting the LP for Christmas in the 60s and the front cover was them sitting in a big Rolls Royce with their infamous white suits on!!