Reviewed by Andy Cooper

The three all male quartets featured (Bright Moon Quartet, Capitol City Four and Moore Spiritual Singers) may be unknown to all but the most well-informed ethnomusicologist, but the sleevenotes by Ray Funk provide an amusing and interesting narrative. The Bright Moon Quartet provide the first eight tracks, and they are the most talented of the groups (deserving eight squares if considered separately), with a particularly strong bass singer seldom matched these days. The hiss and crackles from the rare 78s providing the sound get a bit annoying at times, but the passion, energy and faith of these pioneers can still be experienced 70 years on. It's good to be reminded that there were no overdubs and second takes in those days, showing just how cool and skilful these guys were. Shame the Moore Spiritual Singers don't match up: they lack a solid bass and get rather repetitive with their backing singing (well, more of a monotonous drone really). The Captiol City Four are in the middle in terms of running order and quality: good harmonies, but not quite such solid rhythm and a more nasal quality. However, the gospel content throughout is refreshingly pure and well defined: "Leanin' On The Lord", "Let The Church Roll On" and "I See The Sign Of Judgement" . . .and "Dying Gambler (O Save Me Lord)" is perfectly relevant in these National Lottery obsessed times.

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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