Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

A budget line compilation you'll find in your local HMV, this pulls together recordings, largely from the '60s, from two diverse fields, black gospel music and country gospel. The packaging is cheap and cheerful with no sleevenotes and typos in the track listing but if you're interested in either genres it's an intriguing, if erratic, dredge through the archives. With 40 songs on two CDs there are some legendary names here: Johnny Cash, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Pat Boone, The Blackwood Brothers, George Hamilton IV, The Sons Of The Pioneers, Mahalia Jackson, The Carter Family, Patsy Cline, Carl Perkins, Ricky Scaggs and Kenny Rogers; even jazz immortal Louis Armstrong gets a look in. Time hasn't been too kind to some of the recordings, but if you overlook some surface imperfections and lo-fi technology, not to mention some pretty twee material (Dolly Parton's "A Letter To Heaven" is very cringeworthy) there's plenty to reward enthusiasts of sanctified oldies and goodies.

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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