In 1962 these were new kinds of songs which sing of a real world, of real people, of the universal dilemma we all are living here: Between Heaven & Hell. It includes twelve original compositions, two of which are the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks and Paul Laurence Dunbar to which Oscar composed music. This turned out to be rare in that, throughout his long and prolific songwriting career, there are only a handful of instances where OBJ took inspiration from another writer's poetry, and composed music; making it a song in his repertoire.

“When OBJ sings, he reveals a complete human being. Struggling with tenderness and turmoil, hostility and heart, clarity and confusion. You hear and see real people.”

-- Billy James