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CHRISTLAND SINGERS: Am I Too Close/ Someday, Somewhere/ Keep Me Parts 1 & 2; SOUTHERN TONES: It Must Be Jesus/ The Dying Sinner/ Be What You Are/ Just A Closer Walk With Thee/ I'm Going On In His Name/ My Mind On Jesus; SUNSET TRAVELERS: My Number Will Be Changed/ Yes Yes I've Done My Duty/ I'm Building A Home/ Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down; MID SOUTH SINGERS: Lord Come On And See About Me/ Will Meet You In The Morning; HEAVEN BOUND FOUR: I'm Giving Up This World/ There's A Hand Gone Before; SOUTHERN WONDERS: How Much More Can I Bear/ I'll Fly Away; CHRISTIAN TRAVELERS: Make More Room For Jesus In Your Life/ Well Done/ Oh What A Saviour/ Only A Pilgrim In B&R 204, I concluded a review of volume 1 (ACMD 4209) with the advice to 'buy and enjoy while eagerly awaiting volume two'. I wasn't envisaging having to maintain my enthusiasm through quite such a long interval, but here is volume two at last. Worth the wait? Yes indeed. As I noted when discussing the earlier release, the content of this disc is really 'gospel recorded for a Texas record company (Duke-Peacock)', rather than ' Texas gospel'. The Christland Singers were Chicago-based, the (pre-O.V. Wright) Sunset Travelers and the Southern Wonders were Memphians, the Christian Travelers were from St. Louis , and the Mid South Singers came - as their name doesn't convey - from Detroit. Again as before, there's a sense in which it doesn't much matter: the sound of gospel quartet was becoming relatively more homogeneous, thanks to the influence of records, and the gospel highway, both of which introduced groups from all parts of black America to audiences and each other. Gospel was relatively big business in those days: the recordings here date from 1953 and 1954, and as Opal Louis Nations points out, the weight of numbers indicates that religious recordings were more important to Don Robey's bottom line than secular, even with the likes of Bobby Bland and O.V. Wright on board. Paradoxically, the corollary of increased homogeneity was increased diversity; all those different groups were bumping up against each other, and taking note of different approaches and arrangements, and there was pressure on to stand out from the pack in a competitive arena. So, for instance, one can hear the great R.H. Harris pushing his golden tones towards a harder-edged sound, somewhat lessening the contrast when he and Leroy Taylor switch leads. The Christlands' 'Am I Too Close', later memorably covered by Marion Williams, is still a church-wrecker, mind you. The Southern Tones, who had masqueraded as the unable-to-tour Bells Of Joy to promote the latter group's recordings, are most heavily represented with six tracks. These are also the best illustration of the way that versatility was both an asset and a necessity. The Tones' rendition of the title track is one of quartet's great, hard-rocking masterpieces; it's followed by an utterly different, and ludicrously operatic, rendition of 'Just A Closer Walk With Thee', featuring a countertenor who reminds me why I can only take small doses of Rev. Claude Jeter. Instrumental accompaniment, still usually fairly discreet, had become the norm by now; but this being, as all times are in art, a time of transition, there are several tracks with pumping jubilee vocal basses - hear the Southern Wonders' 'I'll Fly Away' for a prime example, with Artis Yancey and the guitarist trading bass riffs at one point. This reworking of a much-loved old number can stand as a paradigm of the ferment of change and continuity that characterised the music at this time. I mentioned 'Just A Closer Walk' as a disappointment; it's the more so because it's quite untypical of the disc as a whole. Nothing else is less than good, and numerous tracks are much more than good. Among many possible instances, I'll single out 'Will Meet You In The Morning', for its joyous anticipation of reunion with loved ones, and the awesome blend of power and control on the testifying intro to 'Only A Pilgrim'; ultimately, though, it's the consistency, imagination and strength in depth of gospel quartet in the golden age that most impress. Opal refers readers of his notes to volume one for discussion of the Southern Wonders and the Christland Singers, and in truth, it's unlikely that there'll be many casual purchasers of 'Texas Gospel Volume 2'. It's uninitiated readers of this review, therefore, who should heed my advice to acquaint themselves with this glorious music; the initiated will have already placed their orders. Chris Smith
Elmore James Jr.: Daddy Gave Me The Blues Van Hunt: Blues At Home Vol. 1 - Field Recordings from Memphis, Tennessee (1976-1982) Yet More Mellow Cats 'n' Kittens: Hot R&B And Cool Blues 1945-1951 John Work, III: Recording Black Culture Big George Brock: Live At Seventy Five The Earls Of Duke: Bobby 'Blue' Bland and Little Junior Parker Downhome Blues Classics 1949-1954: Volume 5 - Memphis & The South Waters, Winter & Cotton: Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down Downhome Blues Classics 1948-1954: Volume 4 - California And The West Coast SAMPLE ARTICLES James Armstrong's Story - by Mike Stephenson The Stomp Gordon Story - by Dave Penny Remembering Ike - Ike Turner by Alan Swyer The Blues Yodeller: Cliff Carlisle - by Tony Russell "All music is constantly evolving, why not blues?" - Jimmy Burns Interview - by Mike Stephenson Louis Jordan Memorabilia from the Dan Kochakian Collection "I've Got Those Pre-War, Public Domain, Box Set Blues - Again" - by Byron Foulger "You Know I Come To Please" - Big George Brock In The UK - by the B&R team The Curtailed Eddie Bo Interview - by Mike Stephenson, Tony Watson & Phil Wight Boogie Woogie Stomp - by Michael Hortig |
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