Search - Various Artists :: Spreading the Word: Early Gospel Recordings

So many styles, from gracefully delicate, to INTENSE

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 11/18/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First I want to list all the artists here. The first time I saw this box listed here (before the release-date) it had full information, but when I came back to buy it there was no artist/track info. As I write this review, this info is listed, but in case it disappears again you can at least use my review to see who is here. Arizona Dranes, Sister Mary M. Nelson, Holy Ghost Sanctified Singers, Louisville Sanctified Singers, Washington Phillips, Bessie Johnson w/ her Sanctified Singers, Brother Williams Memphis Sanctified Singers, Texas Jubilee Singers, Elder Richard Bryant, Luther Magby, Rev. Johnny Blakey, Southern Sanctified Singers, Prof. Johnson & His Gospel Singers, Sister Lottie Peavy, Rev. E.S. "Shy" Moore, McIntorsh & Edwards, Jessie May Hill, Goldia Haynes, Laura Henton, Rev. Joe Lenley.



I hadn't heard of any of the artists on this box before I bought it. Being a 4-disc JSP box that I felt had potential, I bought it. I knew that even if I didn't like alot of it, with JSP's low prices I was almost sure to get $25 (2 discs) worth of stuff I liked/loved. I was right.



I know you may see 3 stars and think I don't like it, but I do. I give 3 stars because it is uneven, at least to me. There is stuff here I love, and stuff I don't really like at all so far. Having said that, this box is essential for the best stuff. I won't speak about everyone since there are so many people, but some need to be mentioned. Aside from Goldia Haynes and Prof. Johnson (1950s), all tracks here are from the 1920s and '30s.



Sister Lottie Peavy has an interesting style, as her music is basically retro Dixieland music over which she sings in 1950s Honky Tonk style. You're thinking how could that work?? But it does.



Bessie Johnson is curiously interesting in that her voice is highly affected. Honestly, she sings like Animal from the Muppet Show, but her music grooves. Her Got The Keys To The Kingdom is gooey, molasses swamp-gospel. Very cool in its own grooving way, though it doesn't have the delicate innocence of Lillie Knox's lovely version on the Got The Keys To The Kingdom: South Carolina disc (part of the Deep River of Song series on Rounder Records).



Arizona Dranes at times reminds me of Bahamian guitar-killer Joseph Spence because sometimes she really rolls her "R"s, although she remembers the lyrics and doesn't have that seemingly emphysema-ridden lung gurgle that Spence had.



Sister Mary M. Nelson is a total growler with great back-up singers, and her Isaiah is one of the standout sides of the whole box. Wow!



Washington Phillips, my oh my, I've never heard anyone like him before. He plays the dulcolea. I'd never heard of it before, but it sounds like a cross between a hammered-dulcimer and an autoharp, and his style is so soft and delicate that his music has a music-box quality to it. His songs and delivery are singular. So personal. I can't imagine him singing to a congregation. It's as if he is singing only to God and you. He is fantastic.



If later gospel styles are what you're more familiar with, Goldia Haynes may strike you sometimes as semi-Mahalia-ish, and sometimes like a pre-Aretha shouter. Good stuff!



And for pure intensity, Rev. E.S. "Shy" Moore. Okay this is where it's at, folks. There are only 2 tracks of him and his singers but they are incredible. This took me back in time. You close your eyes and listen to him and you're in the dark, night woods, huddled with the congregation at a brush-arbor church because master didn't allow this in The Quarters. This stuff is bone-chilling, and has brought tears out of me every time I've listened so far.



I give this one 3 stars because it isn't as start-to-finish even and excellent as other JSP boxes I own, but it is certainly essential because the best stuff here is fantastic.





"

Bye and bye

Lauren White | Keosauqua, IA United States | 03/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, this compilation is like a great revival with numerous tents. The earlier reviewer pointed out some of the highlights, and perhaps after return visits would rate it higher. I have listened to each disc at least once a night for a week before moving on to the next, there is so much power in each "tent." After hearing only two discs I was ready to give it five stars, so consistently memorable is the material. Certain songs totally captivate on first hearing, others come along. So much joy, despite the uneven recording quality spanning the decades from 1926 to 1950. Arizona Dranes's piano playing like a ragtime Chopin or Beethoven or Monk. Washington Phillips's quasi-African sweetness must have found its way onto some forgotten soundtrack before this. Goldia Haynes's "There's a Hand Leading Me" sounds breathtakingly fresh and timeless, with exquisite balance of her vocal prowess with guitarist Gene Phillips and bassist Eddie Davis. Only wish some of the lyrics were easier to decipher since most I have not found in the same form elsewhere. It's well worth the effort, though. "Bye And Bye We're Going To See The King!""

Great cds

Sanctified | Virginia Beach,Va | 08/31/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been very, very happy with these cds. Some of the words to a few of the songs are hard to understand, but there so many songs that it more than makes up for it. There is so much spirit and feeling in these songs and these groups!!!"