Negro Religious Field Recordings 1934-42 (Document)
Don’t like gospel, eh?
Fine, you still need this, though...but, lest you also be thinking
that this sounds far too scholarly for your stereo, just let me -
briefly - run through the highpoints of this outstanding release:
1/- the three most awesomely powerful recordings of neo-African music
ever made in the USA. That is, the 1934 ring shouts by Austin Coleman
& group, which're mentioned in every detailed discussion of the roots
of African-American music. And they're brilliant! Pounding feet, vocal
masking, polyrhythms & heterophony. Turn it up & you are guaranteed to
frighten the neighbors. This, I promise you…
2/- the best examples of deep Southern roots Pentecostal rhythmic
interplay you'll ever find. In particular, you've got the Church of
God in Christ - complete w/thee funkiest acoustic rhythm guitarist
you'll ever hear. Despite the fact that he seems to be playing the
ancestor of all those fucked-up, stove in & just plain rooted old
guitars that feature so prominently in all blues biographies - just
after they finish w/the cigar boxes - this unnamed genius is one of
the purest masters of rhythm I've ever heard…And then, if that wasn't
enough, there's the raucous stomping and radically archaic jazz of
Rev. McGhee's bunch from just down the road.
3/- Not to mention Bozie Sturdivant. Part falsetto angel, part
strained & growling testifier - and all passion - his [definitive]
version of “Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down” has been legendary
in gospel circles since it first came out in the late forties. And it
can still raise the dead…
I've carefully eschewed hyperbole here.
Because, these performances are, quite simply, that good. And the rest
isn't much weaker. From the grassroots quartet stuff of the Four Stars
& the Union Jubilee Quartet, to Junior Turner Johnson's aching solo
vocal/harmonica improvisations, there's not a weak track here.
And that's even more remarkable when compared to the unstructured
group black religious recordings made in the twenties. Because - w/a
few glorious exceptions - they just don't compare. Whilst Blind Willie
Johnson [and several of the other street performers] can still tear
down anyone's building, the bulk of black church recordings from the
20s just fail to connect w/modern ears. Not so with this stuff. Miss
it, and you may just imperil your very soul…
John Henry Calvinist
