R H Harris & The Masonic Quintet - R H Harris & The Masonic Quintet
STYLE: Gospel RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 29972-CAS1272 LABEL: Ichiban 4033 FORMAT: 12 inch vinyl Album
Reviewed by Tony May
Well don't blame me, I didn't name them! Whether the "Masonic" tag should cause us serious tremors in this case is anyone's guess. In fact it's not so much a case of funny handshakes as "shakin' all over" as R.H. and the boys wring out the emotion from these old tear jerkers which are all traditional except that the Gaithers managed to get one in namely their classic-of-sorts "Because He Lives". Of course ole R.H. is a genuine pioneer of these things, grooming such stars as Johnnie Taylor, and the young Sam Cooke when he passed through his Soul Stirrers days en route to the heights. This time young Frankie Adams takes out the smooth frontman role, and fills the famous footprints adequately. Mainly it's suave four-part harmony with basic rhythms support. Nothing special to report really, everything's nicely in place, at times they produce an almost Dixie Hummingbirds sound but it's hard to counter the shallow insincerity which comes through as lack of genuine conviction throughout.
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