Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

This 15-track sampler from popular UK music mag MOJO is a companion piece to the December issue of the magazine that honed in Bob Dylan's religious music output of the late '70s and early '80s recently given a boost by the 'Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol 13 1979-1981'. In fact, MOJO have used an exclusive and previously unreleased rehearsal version of the Dylan song "Slow Train" as its main selling point and have chosen to pad out the release with gospel blues numbers from yesteryear. Excellent though they are, a number of predictable and compiled-to-death choices have been selected - ranging from the Swan Silvertones' "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" and Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Up Above My Head" to BB King's version of the Thomas Dorsey classic "Take My Hand Precious Lord". Having said that, contributions from less familiar artists such as the wonderfully raw black gospel trio The Como Mamas and country music star Porter Wagoner make the set worth a listen. And it's refreshing to hear Mahalia Jackson sing something other than one of her greatest hits. Selection choices aside, something must be said about the premise for this compilation. MOJO's acting editor Danny Eccleston suggests in his liner notes that the listener doesn't need to be "washed in the blood" to enjoy this kind of music and, whilst that is certainly true, his surmising that gospel music is predominantly about the feeling more than anything else effectively rubbishes the life-changing Gospel message found in most of the songs. The inclusion of Charlie Rich's flippant "Big Man" and an unhelpful parody about a drunk preacher in "The Sermon" by the Original Five Blind Boys Of Alabama (who should have known better) detracts from the more worthy numbers that feature on this odd hotchpotch of a compilation. I know it came free with the magazine but it's a shame more thought and expertise couldn't have been shown in the choice of tracks.

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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