Reviewed by Tony Cummings

One wonders how many people who today enjoy the slick, MOR-infused Southern gospel of Bill & Gloria Gaither & Their Homecoming Friends will ever get to hear this fascinating box set. They should. 'Sacred Harp Shape Note Singing' takes the listener back to the roots of Southern gospel and on the four CDs here one gets to hear fascinating rural harmony which although crudely recorded still has the power and appeal of all great folk art. The emergence of New England's singing schools of the 18th century and the publication, in 1844, of the seminal songbook The Sacred Harp were the foundation stones for the proliferation of hundreds of homespun groups based in America's southern states. The ultra low fi sound of these recordings is no better indicated than on the three tracks by the Original Sacred Harp Choir - the superlatively researched annotation and sleevenotes by Pat Harrison having to admit that the tracks are "probably unaccompanied." But, of course, instrumental accompaniments are not what shape note singing is all about and though the record companies who made these tracks would occasionally add a pianist, organist or, as on the rather splendid tracks by the Moody Bible Sacred Harp Singers, a country fiddle player, they wisely left most to stand unadorned in all their acappella harmony glory. And what harmonies! Folkorists have long swooned over the eerie, other worldly sound of shape note harmonizers in full voice and there are some magnificent examples here. Whit Denson from Alabama was a seminal composer and singer in the development of the music and the six tracks here when Whit was part of the Denson-Parris Sacred Harp Singers are very fine. Equally impressive are the 15 tracks featured on CD C that Allison's Sacred Harp Singers recorded for Gennett Records in 1927 and 1928; the Fa So La Quartet whose three tracks show that even African American groups would sing shape note style; and the four sides on CD B by the Alabama Sacred Heart Singers. One should explain that the latter had nothing to do with Catholic sacred heart theology and it seems they were given their nomenclature for other reasons. All in all, the 80 tracks here give historians and folk, country and Southern gospel fans a fascinating glimpse into American music history.

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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