Gospel — LPs  

Amazing sounds from the hinterland of gospel music – tracks pulled from vintage 45s issued by tiny local labels – often featuring artists who never cut a full album of work on their own! The tunes are nice and tight, and packed with plenty of soul – echoing some of the secular sounds of the time, which no doubt was something of the agenda for issuing the music on a 7" single – although other numbers are definitely gospel, and evoke more of a sermon-like approach! The package features an insert with notes on the music, and a nice hand-assembled cover – and titles include "He Got His Eyes On You" by Brother Sidney Harris, "Jesus Is Living Today" by Linston Triplett, "I Heard A Prayer (parts 1 & 2)" by Elijah Thurston, "He Will Fix It" by Sam Williams, "All Wrap Up In One" by Otis Wright, and "Send The Holy Ghost" by Brother Clark & His Trio.

An unexpectedly great batch of funky gospel tunes from Brother Vernard Johnson – most of which are done with a choppy little groove that goes way beyond the usual spiritual bag! Johnson plays sax on all numbers, and is often working alongside vocalists as well – but the main attraction to our ears is the burning rhythms on the tunes, which often have a fair bit of Texas funk in the mix! A surprising number of these tracks actually have some nice breaks – a real surprise for a gospel record – and even when the vocals kick in, things are still plenty darn righteous and soulful – a style that we're always looking for when crate-digging for 70s gospel albums, but which is always hard to find! Titles include "I Love To Praise His Holy Name", "I Surrender All", "Good To Me", "Soul Metamorphosis", "Awesome God", "Thank You Lord", "Soon & Very Soon", and "What Is This".

Rare hillbilly gospel, bluegrass and Good Word treasures in other styles from the 30s onward to around the mid 70s (though skewing largely to the period between) – great stuff from a couple recognizable acts and many more that are fresh to our eyes and years! Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies features both fun and more profoundly righteous numbers alike by The Delmore Brothers, Rev Harold Smith, Curt & Faye Bartmess, Blue Sky Boys and many more. Includes "Dust On The Bible" by The Blue Sky Boys, "Where The Soul Of Man Never Dies" by The Anglin Twins, "No Drunkard Can Enter There" by The Delmore Brothers, "Joy Bells In My Soul" by Charlie Monroe's Boys", "I Want To Rest" by Brother Claude Ely, "Electricity" by Jimmy Murphy, "Set Your Watch" by Curt & Faye Bartmess, "Crying Holy Unto The Lord" by Martha Carson and more.

A slew of vintage gospel material from the 78rpm generation – some of it with a definite country tinge, some of it a bit more bluesy – and all of it great! The package really lives up to the shellac-digging strengths of other compilations on Mississippi – and really opens us up to a world we might never have experienced otherwise – wonderful rare material that already great on its own, but which resonates strongly in the company of all the other tracks on the set – pressed up on vinyl, which furthers the classic feel of the music too! Titles include "I Had A Dream" by Lottie Bracy, "I'll Be Rested" by Blind Roosevelt Graves, "I Can't Tarry" by Two Gospel Keys, "You Can't Hide" by Mother McCollum, "Where The Soul Of A Man Never Dies" by The Anglin Brothers, "Gods Little Birds" by Sister OM Terrell, and "No Drunkard Can Enter" by The Delmore Brothers.

A killer killer compilation – the sort we've been dying to own for years! It's a well known fact that there's plenty of funky nuggets hidden amidst 70s gospel recordings – massive grooves and break-heavy tracks that rank right up there with the best indie funk from the same time. Yet tracking down these tunes has always been plenty tough – given that most gospel records sold in different circles, had different distribution, and often are less easy to decipher for the crate digger than more conventional funk and soul. Enter the folks at Numero – who have really gone all out this time around, and dug through piles and piles of rare gospel records to come up with a whopping batch of great tracks! This set is definitely ground zero for getting into funky gospel – and it's filled with far more obscure work than the Soul Gospel set on Soul Jazz – all indie numbers from small labels that only got minor distribution at the time. As usual with Numero, the notes and package match the soulful depth and righteousness of the music – and the set is one of the most perfectly wrapped-up genre compilations we've ever seen! 18 tracks in all – with titles that include "I Thank The Lord" by Mighty Voices Of Wonder, "This Old World Is Going Down" by The Modulations, "Look Where He Brought Us" by The Apostles Of Music, "Thoughs (sic) Were The Days" by LaVice & Company, "Bad Situation" by 5 Spiritual Tones, "God Been Good To Me" by Mighty Walker Brothers, "O Yes My Lord" by Voices Of Conquest, "We Don't Love Enough" by Triumphs, "Heaven On Their Minds" by Sam Taylor, "God Will Dry My Weeping Eyes" by Horace Family, and "I Call Him" by Masonic Wonders.