Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

Rounder Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, specialise in archive material and this CD is part of The Library Of Congress Archive Of Folk Culture, 15 pieces of authentic Southern black gospel music recorded on location in the Deep South of the USA between 1936 and 1942. In those pre-digital (and pretape) days, the songs were recorded direct onto acetate discs, hence there's plenty of snap, crackle and pop, but the timeless quality of the music transcends the lo-fi quality of the recordings. As is usual with archive material from Rounder, the sleevenotes are superb, giving details of locations and dates of recordings and who did (he singing and playing, and it's fascinating to hear these songs performed in such stark, raw, passionate simplicity. Anyone who's got any interest in the history of US gospel music will enjoy this.

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