Harvey Watkins Jr - It's In My Heart: Live In Raymond, MS
STYLE: Gospel RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 9507-9200 LABEL: Verity 012414322425 FORMAT: CD Album RRP: £4.99
Reviewed by Philip Crawley
Before James Brown, Sam & Dave and a thousand more misappropriated the call and response sound of the black churches our brothers and sisters in the African American church knew there was power in this style of worship. Harvey Watkins Jr (ex of The Canton Spirituals) proves it is still the case by serving us up 14 tracks of raw gospel power. For the most part these are songs recorded in a worship meeting with numerous other vocal talents including Doug and Melvin Williams, Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson and Paul Porter, "the miracle man" of The Christainaires. Others such as Rev MJ Williams, The Spring Hill Centre Choir and the quartet Purpose also join in. You'll find no surprises in the orchestration with the mighty Hammond featuring heavily bringing great power and tenderness. The opener "You Brought Us" sets the tone with the vocalists taking turns to lead the congregation. My highlight is "Be More Like You" with its message of reliance on Jesus but there's no way you can listen to any of these songs without stomping your feet, clapping your hands or nodding your head. The vocals are tight and each song is filled with love for the Lord. The recording is so obviously done in church with the ambient mics picking up plenty of congregational shouting and crying but that is where an album like this is set apart from some of the sterile recordings you hear from other "live" events. As if to confirm this the penultimate track is a studio version of "It's In My Heart" and it sounds a bit lame next to the live cut. "Live gospel worship like only black Americans can do - can I get a witness?"
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Product Description
From Harvey Watkins Jr comes 'It's in My Heart - Live in Raymond'. Inludes the tracks 'Everything I Need', 'God Kept Me' and 'Be Careful'.