rupe had a love of gospel music, and in 1947 he began recording gospel quartets such as the soul stirrers, the swan silvertones, the pilgrim travelers, alex bradford, dorothy love coates and sister wynona carr. his taste for gospel carried over into secular music and influenced his choice of artists to record, such as guitar slim, don and dewey, lloyd price, larry williams, and little richard. it led him to value feeling over technique in the recording studio. concerns about religious objections to the secularization of gospel music, combined with a contract dispute, resulted in his decision not to put out a pop record with gospel singer sam cooke. he recorded but ultimately chose not to release two songs that later became big hits, "you send me" and "summertime".