Customer Reviews

Gospel Music

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

4 big stars and one raspberry for this gorgeous new collection of America's greatest underappreciated musical treasure - the great field of Black Gospel from the 30's to the 60's - which was the birthplace of R&B, Soul and much of rock and pop through church rooted singers like Ray Charles, Sam Cooke (represented on this album singing an uncredited lead with the Soul Stirrers), Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, etc., etc.. If you like Ray Charles and Aretha, then you will LOVE this music, which is worthy of them at their best!

The music that Dorn and Friedlander have collected here is rarely less than stunning. Some of it would make my "all-time best" CD of great American music. Even if you know a little about Black Gospel, you will probably be as surprised and delighted as I was at some of the choices here. You may have known about the Golden Gates, but had you ever heard of the Trumpeters, who sing jubilee style well enough to be right at home on the same CD as the masters? You probably knew about the Swan Silvertones and the Dixie Hummingbirds, but, honest now - had you ever listened to the Consolers or the Violinaires before this album? Did you think that "Jagger and Richard" had written "Last Time", like it said on the old Rolling Stones album? Here you will find two very different takes on the original "Last Time" by the Five Blind Boys of Alabama and by the Staple Singers. This is a CD that you should probably not listen to for the first time while driving - too many "pull off the road" moments here.

Ok, now the raspberry. The incredible artists here deserve liner notes that at least acknowledge their presence! Not even the unmistakable Sam Cooke is credited for his beautiful lead singing with the Soul Stirrers here. Was that a very young Wilson Pickett singing with the Violinaires (probably, but no one tells us)? And how can you let the jaw dropping bass lead singer of the Harmonizing Four on "Motherless Child" remain nameless? (It was almost certainly Jimmy Jones). Black gospel singers have gotten precious little money or recognition for their tremendous contribution to American music. Reissuers have a duty to do better, as Tony Heilbut did with his wonderful "When Gospel was Gospel" on Shanachie, and with the seminal "The Gospel Sound" collection that he and John Hammond put out on Columbia.

Speaking of "The Gospel Sound", which for 30 years has been the 2 CD gold standard of Black Gospel collections and is still available here at Amazon - Dorn and Friedlander generally are admirable in giving us different selections for the giants of the field (Golden Gates, Mahalia, the Staple Singers). But they do stumble twice, duplicating the Dixie Hummingbirds "One Day" and Dorothy Love Coates "Strange Man", which are also on the earlier collection. Of course these two cuts are so fantastic, really pinnacles of passionate American singing that everyone should hear, that it's probably mean spirited to even mention it. Still, two guys with the expertise to introduce us to the Trumpeters and the Consolers could probably have used the space to dazzle us with two other lesser known gems. God knows, there is enough untapped great music out there.

So what are you waiting for? Buy "Gospel Music" (AND "The Gospel Sound" AND "When Gospel was Gospel") and find out exactly where Ray and Aretha and many of America's greatest singers came from . These are all American classics that no one should be without.

This is a very frustrating CD. I've read some great reviews of this CD but when I purchased it I was disappointed to find that it has extremely weak packaging. There is no information about the performers and there is no information as to when the various recordings were made (I like the year tagging in my iTunes to be fairly accurate). There is 1 page of sparse notes by co-producer Joel Dorn explaining why he thinks liner notes are not needed (something about the music being so good the liner notes are not needed). Baloney!

As for the music, many of the later recordings are a little too noisy/rambunctious for my tastes. The opening and closing live snippets are annoying because they offer only fragments of songs. Don't get me wrong, there is some great, great music here, some of it very obscure, but in purchasing this CD be prepared to be disappointed with a less than stellar project.

I much prefer the great new single CD collection on Shanachie titled "When Gospel Was Gospel" (which isn't hurt by its 22 pages of liners notes/discography) and the older, first 2 volumes in Rhino's "Jubilation!" series (regrettably now out of print).

Here are possible/probable years of the recordings:

1. Precious Lord (excerpt) - Slim & The Supreme Angels - 1972?

2. Go Where I Send Thee - The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet - 1937

3. Oh Mary, Don't You Weep - The Swan Silvertones - 1959

4. Strange Man - Dorothy Love Coates - 1968

5. The Last Mile of the Way - Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers - 1955

6. Motherless Child - The Harmonizing Four - 1958

7. What He Done For Me - The Violinaires -1965?

8. Waiting For My Child - The Consolers -1963

9. Where Shall I Go - The Trumpeteers -1954?

10. Stand By Me - The Staple Singers -1961

11. This May Be The Last Time - The Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama - 1957

12. This May Be The Last Time - The Staple Singers - 1961

13. Trouble In My Way - The Swan Silvertones - 1953

14. Get Right Church - Reverend James Cleveland -1974?

15. My God Is Real - Mahalia Jackson -1954?

16. One Day - The Angelic Gospel Singers & The Dixie Hummingbirds - 1951

17. By The Power of God - Troy Ramey & The Soul Searchers - 1977?

18. He Decided To Die (excerpt) - Reverend James Cleveland - 1977?

This compilation is purely divine. For anybody, who's not already familiar with gospel greats like Mahalia Jackson, The Staple Singers and The Swan Silvertones, these 18 tracks are a great introduction. Personally, I'm a big Gospel fan and had heard most of the artists before, but what's amazing about this anthology is that there's not one bad track. From beginning to end, it's absolutely amazing. I can't recommend this highly enough to both longtime gospel fans and the previously uninitiated. You'll be swept away by the pure soul power and spiritually revitalized by the beauty of the music here.

I first read about this CD, amazingly enough, in the Wall Street Journal and had to smile at the thought of all those financial market folks rushing out to buy gospel music. Regardless of the source of the info, it was spot on. I'd sit in churches 24/7/365 if it consisted of nothing more than this glorious music. There's a variety of styles, tambourine dancing to burdened ballads, and in every one you'll find mercy, pain, revival, power and -- most of all -- joy in the songs and the evocative voices that sing them. To hear a young Sam Cooke, so many years gone, in the Soul Stirrers, it's just a gift. Most -- not Mavis fortunately -- of these singers are certainly dust now, but here they've got a deserved resurrection. Yes, I've laid on the superlatives, but this is one CD that deserves it. It is soul nourishment of the highest order and easily one of my favorites of the year thus far.

P.S. I downloaded it, so didn't get any liner notes anyway, but agree with everybody else that a collection like this -- and it's a historical document, make no mistake -- absolutely deserves it. Let's hope the record company corrects that deficiency in a reissue or whatever the industry's equivalent of a second edition is.

The voices are truly wonderful to behold.This is the type of music which will keep you within hearing range of the CD player for hours !! And I am not at all religious.

I'm going to be less forgiving about the non-liner notes. The music is close to impeccable but the explanation of having no liner notes because "the brain will write its own liner notes" is an absolute insult to the buyer/listener and, more significantly, to the artists and the music on this disc. To suggest that this music, as moving as it is, does not deserve any serious scholarship is indefensible. You may as well burn someone else's copy because there's absolutely no information to be gleaned from the packaging.

This is the single best album I have heard in years. Its moving and emotional from top to bottom. Amazing selections. If you dont crack a smile and tap your feet while listening to this, chances are you no longer have a pulse........... OR...........you might be related to the current president of the UNITED STATES Of AMERICA. Highly,highly recommended.There isnt a clinker in here. Highlights include "OH MARY DONT YOU WEEP" by the SWAN SILVERTONES, MY GOD IS REAL by MAHALIA JACKSON , STRANGE MAN by DOROTHY LOVE COATES and GO WHERE I SEND THEE by THE GOLDEN GATE JUBILEE........just get this album! Its stellar.

Is this ever a great listen! Song for song this is as good as it gets. One fast & fun hour! No use pointing out highlights cuz the whole thing plays like a classic long play record or a cool old-time radio show. Each song builds upon the previous, the sequencing is perfect. The porous liner notes added to the experience for me, giving the music a mysteriousness - it felt like in the old days when I'd bring a new lp and play it over & over. We used to like album covers but notes were oftentimes absent so I'd just soak in the music. Besides, you can always gather information about the tracks from the internet.

Bookended by a couple of prayer excerpts, this cd statrs rolling with the Golden Gate Quartet's Go Whither I Send Thee (from like the 1930's!) and doesn't let up. A marvelously sequenced cd! It's almost like a contemporary mini-psalter (cries, whoops, invocations, regret).

This is a terrific mix of the familiar (Mahalia's My God Is Real; Oh Mary, Don't You Weep; the bluesy Strange Man; Last Mile Of The Way; One Day; Motherless Child) and of the where-did-they-find-this variety (By The Power of God, Trouble In My Way, What He Done For Me, Where Shall I Go). The middle section of the cd is simply breath-taking with Mavis Staples's Stand By Me followed by 2 versions of the Last Time - done fast by the Blind Boys of Alabama, and then slow by the Staples' Singers.

You cannot tire of listening to this!