Search - Chuck Wagon Gang :: Higher: Complete 1940 Dallas Session

The ORIGINAL Chuck Wagon Gang!!

88 Keys | West Virginia, USA | 07/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This landmark project, recorded at Burris Mills Studio, Saginaw, Texas, in April of 1940, marks the Chuck Wagon Gang's first all-gospel recording session. Originally released on the Okeh label, the tracks offered here reflect the work of not only the original group (D. P. "Dad" Carter, daughters Rose and Anna, and son Jim), but material by some of the best known southern gospel writers of the time.



All of the songs recorded during this session were written between 1933 and 1939, and for old-time southern gospel fans, it doesn't get much better than that! Songs by the immortal Albert Brumley, J. R. "Pap" Baxter, Jr., Marion Easterling, Luther Presley, and others, make this a truly legendary offering. The vocal arrangements are strictly Stamps-Baxter Singing School four-part harmonies, and unlike later recording projects by the Gang, instrumentation is beautifully simple -- Jim Carter's 6-string acoustic guitar.



I can't say enough good things about this project. I've played it over and over since purchasing it about a month ago, and the only problem I've found (if it can be called a problem) is the opening line of the second half of the second verse of "Higher"... Anna started to sing the second half of the third verse, but recovered very neatly. That the recording engineer left that minor slip on the master cut is mute testimony to the stark harshness of the late Depression years. No unlimited budgets for platinum-bound mega hits back then...



This one is a keeper. Bob Terrell's commentary and vintage portraits of the group are worth the cost alone. If you're old enough to remember, these songs are a precious trip down memory lane. And if you're not old enough, they provide a rare glimpse of a time when Americans depended on God and on each other."

The Real Thing

88 Keys | 07/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having grown up on Chuck Wagon Gang 78's, I can tell you that finding this CD was like being instantly transported back in time. This is the original Chuck Wagon Gang -- Dad Carter, Rose, Anna and Jim. If you're familiar with the Chuck Wagon Gang, nothing else needs to be said. If you don't know them, it's all about the harmonies. The instrumentation is only an acoustic guitar. The focus is all on the vocals and, again, the wonderful harmony. This is gospel music in its simplest and rawest form. It's also gospel music in its most powerful form. There isn't a weak track on this CD."