Customer Reviews

Preachin' the Gospel: Holy Blues { Various Artists }

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I never knew this music existed -- until I got this CD. What great stuff! I especially like the "Denomination Blues" played on the rare pianola. It has an amazingly delicate sound, with lyrics sometimes funny, sometimes quite poignant. Also great is "City of Refuge" (what a gruff voice!), the fabulous harmonies of "Stay on the Right Side" (did Take 6 study the Blue Chips?), and the calmly confident "Jesus Gonna Make up my dying Bed." This is "religious" music sung by people who really believed what they were singing - and it shows!

It's real! It's raw! It's gut-level! There is no slick production work. They didn't clean it up so it'll go down easy. It's down home cookin' - none o' this fancy white tablecloth eats. It's from the soil and you can taste the dirt! You ain't gonna like it at first, but it's gonna become part o' yo' soul an' then you gonna crave it.

Preachin' The Gospel/Holy Blues: This is a great introduction to the genre. This CD contains some of the finest examples of Gospel Blues from the 1920's and 30's. Here you find such great artists as Blind Willie Johnson, Joshua White, Washington Phillips and more. One of the songs here ("Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed") was covered by Bob Dylan very early in his carrier and it's great to hear the original. There ain't much fooling around in these songs...they have a message to tell and they tell it straight. They want folks to make a decision "While the blood runs warm in your veins". These are raw recordings, but fascinating ones.