Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

In the '40s and '50s Fern Jones played churches and tent meetings in the southern USA and wrote plenty of songs. Though she recorded during that period what people called vanity records and what we'd call today independent albums, it wasn't until she signed to Dot Records in the late '50s that she got a proper album down. It's now considered a bit of a classic and has been re-released on CD. Backed by guitarist Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland, pianist Floyd Cramer, bassist Joe Zinkan and drummer Buddy Harman, these top Nashville sessioners had just completed some recordings with Elvis Presley before getting these tracks down. Mixing her own compositions with well chosen covers including some songs from another singing sister, Rosetta Tharpe, this album swings! Mixing blues, country, Southern gospel and rock'n'roll together, this is raw and yet topped by Jones' forceful voice, it's really something. Highlights include Tharpe's "Strange Things Happening Every Day" which rocks and "You Ain't Got Nuthin'" which has a Saturday night bluesy feel. The most famous song here is "I Was There When It Happened" which was covered by Johnny Cash on his debut album for Sun Records. A couple of years after these recordings, having failed to have a hit, Jones retired from making music. This is a brilliant period piece of rockabilly gospel music.

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