Customer Reviews

Southern Journey, Vol. 8: Velvet Voices - Eastern Shores Choirs, Quartets, And Colonial Era Music

5 star:		(3)
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Of the excellent Southern Journey series, this is my favorite. The Bright Light Quartet, singing work songs and gospel in close harmony are extraordinary, and I believe that these and the few other pieces on three other Southern Journey albums are their only recorded songs. Many other pieces on the CD are also outstanding, but the BLQ...

The sound is amazingly good; the remastering was done masterfully. (Sorry.) It's very hard to believe that these were field recordings.

I bought several of the Southern Journey series when they were on Prestige, and I bought them again immediately when the CD's became available.

I consider this an absolute must have, and it would be a desert island treasure.

I bought this collection on the strength of the song "Christian Automobile," by the Bright Light Quartet, which was played on an NPR show recently. The commenter said something like, "I can't get enough of this four-part harmony. If anything could make me come to religion, this would be it." I agree. And I would add: Not a dud on this collection, and all flow together well. Mostly pretty upbeat stuff, even though it's called "Velvet Voices." This collection is one of many collections gathered together by Alan Lomax. I look forward to checking the others out.

Let me start by saying I greatly dislike modern gospel music. I think the genre has been dumbed down and turned into a polished and soulless copy.

The time period that this music was created however shows a deep and honest connection to the music. The songs are raw. They are relatively simple in construction, yet have more power and soul than any modern gospel musician could ever hope for.

I'm not a very religious person. But I love good music. I implore ANYONE who loves music, even the most hardened athiests, to check this album out. It has changed my entire perception on what gospel music COULD BE. It balances wonderfully catchy melodies with a deep understanding of music theory.

When you listen to these songs, you become transported to an older time when life and times were very difficult. The album starts in stark and raw manner. You can feel the pain in the singers voice. And through the entire album you're bombarded with arguably the most honest and raw reflection of the life and times of these performers. You can almost hear the creeky wooden floors that they are likely to be standing on while recording.

This album is a mirror onto the souls of a generation filled with incredible pain met with an unrelenting optimism. Just from the music you can tell that these artists have seen their share of tragedy. The mix of pain and optimism shines on nearly every song on this album. Forget what you've heard from modern gospel "music," and buy this to start your journey into the REAL WORLD of gospel music