Gospel Blues Essentials: Recent Episodes
Delta Vibe
[2:56] 19. Sister Matthews - Stand By Me [2:43] 20. Rev. Charles White - How Long [2:19] 21. Willie Mae Williams - Don't Want To Go There [2:23] 22. Willie Mae Williams - Where The Sun Never Goes Down [2:54] 23. Brother Willie Eason - There'll Be No Grumblers There [2:55] 24. Brother Willie Eason - I Want To Live (So God Can Use Me) [2:57] 25. Sister Elizabeth Phillips - A Little Old Fashioned [3:05] 26. Sister Elizabeth Phillips - There's Nothing Like The Holy Spirit
The Complete Recorded Works Of Blind Benny Paris And Wife : Rev I.B. Ware With Wife And Son : Blind Willie Harris : Eddie Head And His Family : Mother McCollum : Dennis Crumpton and Robert Summers : Sister Matthews : Rev Charles White : Willie Mae Williams : Brother Willie Eason : Sister Elizabeth Phillips. Willie Mae Williams accompanies herself with adept and precise slide guitar on 'Don't Want To Go There' and 'Where The Sun Never Goes Down', in the meantime cleaving to older principles. As does Brother Willie Eason, his gruff voice lending emotion to There'll Be No Grumblers There' and 'I Want To Live (So God Can Use Me)', his slide completing some of the vocal lines. Sister Elizabeth Phillips is impressively accompanied by Estis King's acoustic guitar, her music indeed 'A Little Old-Fashioned' but, a quarter century later, keeping faith with Benny Paris. Fascinating. To gain some insight into the background of this music, read Michael W. Harris' excellent book The Rise Of Gospel Blues'. Apart from charting Thomas Dorsey's transition from Georgia Tom to Choir Director of the Pilgrim Baptist Church of Chicago, Harris also describes the clash between formal Christian worship and the old-time gospel music of the evangelists. Benny Paris, Rev I.B. Ware (whoever he may be), Eddie Head and Mother McCollum sang simple call-and-response gospel themes like “I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me”, “ I Wouldn't Mind Dying (But I Gotta Go By Myself)”, “Lord I'm The True Vine” and “Glory Glory Hallelujah”. Slide guitar was a favoured accompaniment, as Paris and McCollum's sides reveal.
Track Listing [2:59] 11. Mother McCollum - I Want To See Him [2:55] 12. Mother McCollum - When I Take My Vacation In Heaven [2:37] 13. Mother McCollum - You Can [3:20] 14. Mother McCollum - Jesus Is My Air-O-Plane [3:03] 15. Mother McCollum - Oh Lord I'm Your Child [2:55] 16. Mother McCollum - Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! [2:40] 17. Dennis Crumpton - Go I'll Send Thee [2:41] 18. Dennis Crumpton - Everybody Ought To Pray Sometime
[2:48] 1. Blind Benny Paris - I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me [2:37] 2. Blind Benny Paris - Hide Me In The Blood Of Jesus [3:00] 3. Rev. I.B. Ware - I Wouldn't Mind Dying (But I Gotta Go Myself) [3:27] 4. Rev. I.B. Ware - You Better Quit Drinking Shine [2:57] 5. Blind Willie Harris - Does Jesus Care? [3:15] 6. Blind Willie Harris - Where He Leads Me I Will Follow [3:07] 7. Eddie Head - Down On Me [3:08] 8. Eddie Head - Lord I'm The True Vine [3:07] 9. Eddie Head - Tryin' To Get Home
Track Listing
01. A letter from father
02. Gods riding through the land
03. Men dont forget your wives for your sweetheart
04. If my saviour holds my hand i will go
05. Jesus went on man`s bond
06. I heard the angels sing
07. I shall not be moved
08. The wrong way to celebrate Christmas
09. This time another year you may be gone
10. I have a home in the sky
11. Just beyond the jordan river
1. Precious Lord 2. Jesus Gave Me Water 3. Army Of The Lord 4. I'm Working On The Building 5. I'm Willing To Run All The Way
Track Listing
01. Bye and bye when the morning comes
02. Jesus is sweeter than honey in the comb
03. With my Saviour I shall be
04. O lord, im in your care
05. Everybody ought to treat their mother right
06. Then well need that true religion
07. You never will know who is your friend
08. In time of trouble Jesus will never say goodbye
Trak Listing 01. Your enemy cannot harm you 02. The gospel train is coming 03. Let that lie alone 04. Let that lie alone 05. There`ll be glory 06. Death is only a dream 07. Let Jesus lead you 08. Jesus will make it all right
1. It's A Mean Old World To Try To Live In (02:15) 2. What A Time (01:44) 3. Pure Religion (02:33) 4. Help Me to Understand (04:47) 5. How About You (02:22) 6. Nothin' But Joy (02:17) 7. Another Child of God Gone Home (02:58) 8. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burnin' (02:02) 9. Please Mommy Stay Home With Me (03:42) 10.Peace Will Prevail (02:23) 11.Goodbye (02:28)
Quite possible the last of the great blues street singers, Rev. Pearly Brown was born August 18, 1915, in Abbeville, GA. Blind from birth, he grew up in Americus, GA, where he reportedly learned to play guitar at the age of seven. As a young man he began to busk on the streets in Americus, eventually moving on to Macon, where he was a fixture on the streets for several decades.
His repertoire drew heavily on Blind Willie Johnson, whose slide style he made his own. Like Johnson, he played a kind of blues gospel, singing spirituals and what Brown called "slave songs," along with country songs like "Great Speckled Bird" that had a strong spiritual content. He tasted a good deal of success in the 1960s, frequently playing large jazz and blues festivals, even opening for touring rock bands, and he was the first black performer to play on The Grand Old Opry. Rumor has it that he mentored both Duane Allman and Dickey Betts on the slide guitar. A solid singer and an often brilliant guitar player, Brown's discography is small but of high quality. Henry Oster recorded him in Macon in 1961 for the album Georgia Street Singer, which was released on Oster's Folk-Lyric label. In 1973 Bill Nowlin recorded It's a Mean Old World to Try to Live In for Rounder Records. A documentary on Brown called Mean Old World was filmed by John English in 1975, and eventually was combined with a film about bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup entitled Born in the Blues and released on video in 1997. Rev. Brown continued to sing on the streets of Macon until 1979, when poor health forced him to retire. He died in 1986.
1. Rev Lonnie Farris - It's a blessing to call his name (02:31) 2. Rev Lonnie Farris - Peace in the valley (02:49) 3. Rev Lonnie Farris - I'm so happy and free the lord save me (02:32) 4. Rev Lonnie Farris - They are ringing them bells (02:39) 5. Rev Lonnie Farris - Walk around (03:04) 6. Rev Lonnie Farris - In your kingdom (02:48) 7. Rev Lonnie Farris - In that clover field (03:06) 8. Rev Lonnie Farris - A night at the house of prayer (02:20) 9. Rev Lonnie Farris - Wondering child mother is dead (02:26) 10. Rev Lonnie Farris - His love (02:20) 11. Rev Lonnie Farris - The holy spirit (02:03)
Track Listing 1. Rev Utah Smith - I want two wings (03:00) 2. Rev Utah Smith - God's mighty hand (02:49) 3. Rev Utah Smith - Two wings (02:31) 4. Rev Utah Smith - Take a trip (02:51) 5. Rev Utah Smith - I got two wings (03:27) 6. Rev Utah Smith - Glory to Jesus, i'm free (03:45) 7. Rev Lonnie Farris - Rev Lonnie Farris - Walk to thee (03:07) 8. Rev Lonnie Farris - Soldiers of the cross (02:55) 9. Rev Lonnie Farris - What mother can do (02:52) 10. Rev Lonnie Farris - golden street (02:41) 11. Rev Lonnie Farris - A closer walk to thee (02:50)
Track Listing 1. Samson and Delilah 2. I Heard the Angels Singing 3. Children of Zion 4. Lord I Wish I Could See 5. Down By the River 6. You Better Get Right
Track Listing 1. Praise God I'm Satisfied (03:12) 2. Dark Was The night Cold Was The Ground (03:21) 3. I'm Gonna Run To The City Of Refuge (03:26) 4. Keep Your Lamo Trimmed And Burning (03:05) 5. Bye And Bye I'm Goin To See The King (02:55) 6. Sweeter As The Years Go By (02:49) 7. You'll Need Somebody On Your Bond (03:12) 8. When The War Was On (03:03) 9. Take Your Stand (03:02) 10.Trouble Will Soon Be Over (03:09) 11.The Soul Of A Man (03:15) 12.The Rain Don't Fall On Me (03:21) 13.Go With Me To That Land (03:07) 14.John The Revelator (03:20)
Track Listing 1. Meeting at the Old Camp Ground 2. Jonah and the Whale 3. That Ole Ship o' Zion 4. Jesus is a-Listenin' 5. Keep Yo' Lamp Trimmed and Burnin' Taken from "Roosevelt Charles - Blues, Prayer, Work and Trouble Songs (1964)".