Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Christians will no doubt consider it slightly odd that today there are white collectors of blues and black religious music who enjoy the preaching of pre-war African American preachers and, as in the sleevenotes here, will enter into learned dissertations of the varying preaching styles adopted by these early church figures yet seem oblivious to the messages of the sermons themselves. So, despite in-your-face sermonising on recordings like "Will You Spend Your Eternity In Hell?" (the title of one sermon here recorded in 1931 by Black Billy Sunday) it's the perceived folk art of the ministers which fascinates today's 78 collecting specialists. No matter, for it should be stressed that there are some creatively engaging and surprisingly diverse preachers doing their stuff here. Rev Jim Beal demonstrates a subtle progression from speech to chant to song; Rev James Beard recorded his four sides here with The Biddleville Quintette whose slick harmonies make a nice change from the usual ragged congregational responses; and Black Billy Sunday is actually Rev Dr J Gordon McPherson (not to be confused with Calvin P Dixon who also used the same pseudonym) and is a hoarse "straining" preacher. The same straining style can also be attributed to Rev Johnny Blakey and TNT Burton, both punctuating their messages with rhythmic markers, Blakey with a sharp, audible gasp of breath and Burton by smacking the back of one hand into the palm of the other. Rev W M Clark has a primitive chanted style with moaned lines harkening back to earlier times while Rev Benny Campbell has much later recordings (1938) and went on to record in the post-war period. Yes, all in all an impressive batch of preachers and the spiritual messages deserve some attention too.

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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