Reviewed by Andy Cooper

Yes, these really are recordings from 1926-1927, re-mastered onto CD. So it is no surprise that hiss and crackles feature quite heavily, sometimes sadly making it difficult to hear the content of the sermons. You can feel the passion and sense the urgency of the preacher, but it's just impossible to understand every word. At least the long song titles give a clue: "The Downfall Of Nebuchadnezzar" and "The Gospel Train Is Leaving" for example. Each track has a similar structure: a couple of lines sung from a hymn, then the preaching begins, sung with a rasping gravely deep blues vocal. It rises in intensity as the two ladies moan and yelp "amen", "hallelujah", "that's right" and so on. And if there's time (there's very limited space on 78s), a bit more singing at the end. Apparently Fats Waller plays piano on a couple of the 1927 tracks, but it doesn't seem to work out too well to be honest. These recordings are more interesting than entertaining: it shows how such gospel musicians influenced the whole blues genre during the next 30 years, and this could even be considered to be the beginnings of rap: telling a story with music, using colloquial language to appeal to a broader audience. It's a slice of history worth tasting again, and it's worth seeking to download a few of the tracks from somewhere, but this compilation as a whole is really only one for the serious collector.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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