Oh well, read the postscript before going any further ...
My car stereo has a curious feature: if a song starts playing (CD or mp3), you can push the main button during the first 20 secs or so. What then happens is that the song will stop and the previous tune (not the tune just started) gets repeated. You may ask what's it good for? Listen to the song below. It's this song that keeps me pushing this button on my car stereo for days now. I am actually waiting for the moment I get annoyed. It hasn't happened so far. BTW, it's Esther Phillips with Eddie Floyd's song »Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone« (first done by William Bell in 1971, I think) - from her first Kudu LP:
POSTSCRIPT, the day after: I wondered whether I had a scotch or two when I wrote the above lines yesterday! Well, I hadn't ... but you wouldn't guess it from my meandering mumblings. I think I just wanted to say that I love that song !!!
As it is, I still don't know more about the Holmes Sisters than I did when I posted two of their songs in November (look up the post here). So I really can't tell you nothing new about this remarkable duo of singers. What I can confirm, with reasonable cer- tainty, is that one of their 45s, Nashboro # 796 (»By His Word« / »Set Your House In Order«) was released in November 1963 (Billboard lists the previous and following Nashboro releases between Oct. and Dec. '63). And this tells us, with little sagacity needed, that the songs were recorded sometime before, probably in summer '63 (Hayes-Laughton's Gospel Discography tentatively puts forward »c.1964« which is too late). They're just so heartwarming to listen to. Hope you feel the same.
Holmes Sisters: »Set Your House In Order« on Nashboro # 796B (1963):
Folks, there'll be no fussing around today because I'm pretty tired. Just two plain old classics, »I'm Satisfied« and »Something You Got« by Maxine Brown & Chuck Jackson. Famously, »Something You Got«, recorded in NYC in February 1965, was rushed out in March or early April and proved to be their biggest hit (r&b # 10) ever. »I'm Satisfied«, released later that year on Wand # 1109, didn't chart. In order to capitalize on the success of »Some- thing You Got«, Scepter put together (and in July released) an entire album (Wand LP # 669) which at least had the memory word »Something« in its title.
The strategy worked better than expected but eventually backfired: at the end of August '65 only »something« had caught the general attention, with Billboard announcing the LP wrongly as »Say Something« (see excerpt). So it was, it seems, something like a »Something Something« album. In the meantime, Maxine Brown was pictured in the contemporary press together with -- no, not Chuck Jackson but Jackie Wilson! (See the photo from Jet magazine, July 29 issue, below).
Chuck Jackson & Maxine Brown: »I'm Satisfied« / »Something You Got« from the Wand LP # 669 (1965):
LaVern Baker did it in 1959 (Atlantic), Dee Dee Sharp in 1962 (Cameo). In the '70s it became a widespread phenomenon. Involved were, most famously, Aretha Franklin (several LPs), but also Big Mama Thornton (Pentagram, 1971), Mitty Collier (several LPs, 1972 and after), Ike & Tina Turner (UAS, 1974), Faye Adams (Savoy, 1976) or Fontella Bass (Soulnote, 1980). In 1983, Etta James did it. As you will have guessed, I am speaking of female singers who had become famous in the r&b field and then turned to gospel. Some of them, like Mitty Collier and Fontella Bass, were converted for good after that and didn't return to secular music, others just moved on, like Tina Turner and Etta James.
Etta James did record her only gospel or »inspirational« album in 1983. Actually, it is a sad affair. The LP is entitled The Heart and Soul of Etta James, yet there is neither the heart nor the soul of Jamesetta in it. She sounds tired (not bored), and her voice is flat compared to previous years. I guess it is safe to say that she wasn't much into it. Truth is, she did it for the money, as she tells us in her autobiography:
»My career was in the toilet. ... People tried to help, but I was hell-bent on getting high. In 1980, I'd met a man named Lupe De Leon, a wonderful jazz-loving Mexican American, who was a probations officer. ... For a few years, Lupe did his best to find me work and acted as my manager. But I was hardly manageable. Especially as I got deeper into coke.
I remember when I was really low on bread - no gigs, no recording contract. I hadn't been paying my mortgage ... But Lupe was resourceful, and he mana- ged to locate a little label in Minnesota who paid me to sing gospel. I cut a record called The Heart and Soul of Etta James, and a TV station in Holland was prepared to fly me over to perform the songs live. Well, me and Lupe flew from L.A. to New York, where we had a two-hour stopover. I was fresh out of blow and not about to hit Europe without some stash. ... We scored, made it back to the airport, and snorted our way across the Atlantic. I was still a mess.« (Rage to Survive, p. 236*)
This is what Etta says in her splendid autobiography (which for its frankness and no-bullshit attitude is arguably among the best and most impressive books in its genre). And what she told about how her gospel album came about (and what the circumstances were) is reflected by what you hear on this LP. There is a version of Dylan's »Blowin' In The Wind«, where Etta sounds particularly tired, and a great number of commercial gospel tunes, mainly those much in vogue in modern gospop (»Oh Happy Day«, »Down By The Riverside« etc.), have Etta sounding worn out. On the production side, the album betrays little creative spirit, and Etta's voice is frequently drowned out by the choir. It remains a mystery to me why this album has been re-released on CD no less than five times during the last ten years, in one instance even split into 2 vols. Let's hope nobody discovers Etta James nowadays by one of these CDs because he'll likely not be impressed.
There is just about one song which, to my mind, shows Etta James approaching, if only remotely, her former (and later recovered) self. You can hear the tune below, »Walk All Over God's Heaven« (aka »I Got Shoes« or »I'm Gonna Shout All Over«, an old standard). But even though Etta is here not up to her natural talent as she could have been in better times, this song, as well as the entire LP, is an important document nevertheless: it does remind us that Etta's life was no walk through the land of milk and honey. Not unlike Esther Phillips, she often struggled along and was just making it, ravaged by 30 years of intermittent but incessant drug abuse and unfortunate personal choices. In the end, she overcome all difficulties and was even able, most remarkably, to reflect upon her life as self-critically and sincerely as she did in her autobiography. This made her quite an outstanding personality in the music business and a formidable human being ... of the don't-mess-with-me type, you know, those with the soft core.
Etta James: »Walk All Over God's Heaven« from the Arrival LP # NU 5600 (1983):
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* Etta James and David Ritz: Rage to Survive. The Etta James Story, New York 2003 (second edition; 1995 1st ed.)
In December 1963, Chess released the most exciting live recording of the '60s by any female artist. Famously, it was taped on two days in September 1963 in Nashville's New Era Club. And also technically it was way ahead of what other record companies were putting out at that time (listen to Motown's live albums for comparison!). There is not a second on that album that isn't worth hearing. It's a smash from beginning to the end.
Etta James: »Seven Day Fool« / »Baby What You Want Me To Do« from the Argo LP # 4032 (1963):
Note: The b/w photo at the beginning of this post shows Etta James at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC, Jan 30, 2009. Agency/photographer: UPI Photo / Heinz Ruckemann. You can access the photo in original size and colour here.
His greatest victory is the humility he was strong enough to learn and share in the second part of his life. This makes him a hero if ever there was one.
Today's tribute song »Boxer« comes from Carolyn Franklin. The song was the A-side of her first 45-release (which didn't chart) and then featured on her first LP, Baby Dynamite! (released in May 1969).
Carolyn Franklin: »Boxer« from the RCA LP # LSP-4160 (1969):
Once again are the Loving Sisters and their vocal marvel, Gladys Givens McFadden, back on this blog ... and it was about time! The ob- vious occasion for today's post is their 1969 (?) album Peacock LP # PLP 162 A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King. As always with the Loving Sisters (and you can read about several of their '70s albums in earlier posts), this LP contains mainly material written by Gladys McFadden and, in some cases, her son Leonard Givens. Leonard is also supposed to play piano and organ on these recordings (though this remained uncredited), in one song, »What My God Can Do«, you also can hear him singing.
This LP offers material so varied that I'd like to play it from beginning to the end. Alas, this isn't possible. There are some deeply-felt hymns showing Gladys McFadden at her very best (»Trials Of Job«, »Go Down Moses«) and, of course, one song dedi- cated especially to MLK, »Tribute To Martin Luther King«. However, the last-men- tioned tune focuses on the assassination of MLK and thus might not be fitting when celebrating his birthday. So I chose two »freedom« songs from this LP for today's (actually tomorrow's) occasion: »Time Is Winding Up« and »Freedom Isn't Free«.
»Time Is Winding Up« is an uptempo sing-and-shout tune; it culminates in the message we gotta have freedom! It is correctly listed on the back cover but appears as »Time Is Almost Up« on the label. »Freedom Isn't Free« is completely different: laid back, with the voices of the entire group much in evidence. There is even a second (soprano) lead voice apart from Gladys's, but I don't know to whom of the Sisters it belongs.
In memory of Martin Luther King.
The Loving Sisters: »Time Is Winding Up« / »Freedom Isn't Free« from the Peacock LP # 162 (1969):
This post was written with Mitt »We-Don't-Need-Europe« Romney's
recent babblings in mind ...
Today's featured album: Curtis Jones, Now Resident in Europe(Blue Horizon # 7703).
Curtis Jones (piano): »I Want To Be Your Slave« from the Blue Horizon LP # 7703 (1968):
The album was recorded at Tony Pike Studios, London, July 2, 1968.
Curtis Jones, from Naples, Tx, died 1971 in Munich, Germany. He had been living since 1962 in Europe and also spent a couple of years in Morocco.
His most famous song is »Lonesome Bedroom Blues« (1937) which is accessible on CD (see here).
His grandparents were slaves. There is a piece on the Blue Horizon album that has Curtis Jones speaking about his life, followed by the song »Soul Brother Blues«:
Curtis Jones talks about himself and plays guitar (1968):
She was very classy and wanted to become a Billie Holiday type of pop singer. But she met Willie Mae Ford Smith and that changed everything
(J. Lowe)
I must say Madame Edna Gallmon Cooke was one of the most devoted, religious artists I ever encountered. Very few that I ever found were really true, and as the gospel song says, "I'm Gonna Live the Life I Sing About." Edna would go into the studio, and while the musicians were rehearsing or there was time out, she would be reading the Bible and praying. She was the only one I ever knew that did that
(Nashboro's Shannon Williams)
I think she and Mom liked the same preacher
(Clara Ward)
Bessie Griffin, for example, was very underrated; ... Edna Gallmon Cooke was unique. These were ladies who sang with every fiber in their being. These were the exponents of what I now call traditional gospel. Stick-to-your-ribs gospel
(Aretha Franklin)
One of the smoothest, jazziest of church singers
(Bil Carpenter)*
She has many fans, and many singers considered her an example to follow. Yet her name does not ring out like those of, say, Clara Ward or Mahalia Jackson. (Bil Carpenter quotes the dry remark by J. Lowe that »just as Mahalia was the biggest soloist for the white audience, Madame was the biggest star for the black world« - Uncloudy Days, p. 102). I am speaking of Edna Gallmon Cooke, known in her early days as »Sweetheart of the Potomac« and reportedly given the honorific epithet »Madame« by the Holiness Church. You'll find some info about her life and career scattered over the literature and the net but she hasn't received substantial treatment yet (see also below); the best, and most sympathetic, account of Edna Gallmon (»Cooke« was actually the name of her first husband) offers Bil Carpenter's Uncloudy Days (p. 101 f.).
Madame Edna was, together with Martha Bass and Joe May, one of the protégés of known singer Willie Mae Ford Smith (1904-94). (You can hear them all on the LP Mother Smith and Her Children.) She started recording in 1949 and from 1952 onwards (and until her untimely death in 1967) was under contract to Nashboro, quickly becoming one of the biggest stars of the label. Legend has it, and it is most probably true, that she switched to »talk-chanting« when she felt that her fragile soprano voice couldn't match the forceful style of deep-voiced Sister Smith. The sermonette-style, adapted from her father Eddie J. Gallmon's preaching, then became her trademark; it was described as »semi-recitative style« (in a BB review from Nov. '58) and some saw her as a progenitor of modern rap, others called her
»a transcendent moaner«. Apart from that, her penchant for »note-bending« or melisma was most often noted, and justly so.
You'll hear all of this clearly on Nashboro # 705, released in late autumn 1961 (the 45 is reported as new release in a mid-November Billboard issue). This single contains one of Edna's most famous songs, »Stop Gambler« (which also provided the title for her 1961 Nashboro LP # 7009). This curious song has often been remarked upon: It roughly falls in two parts (separated by the dramatic sound of lightning!), the first introducing the scene (the soldiers sitting at the foot of the cross and gambling for Jesus's coat) and the second counting down the cards and linking them to Christian motifs. (On the Stepfather of Soul's blogspot I read that Edna in this song »took T. Texas Tyler's "Deck of Cards," stripped it of its original story and went straight to the cross of Calvary to discuss Christ's crucifixion«.) The song ends with the message Stop right now, gambler! I wouldn't use those cards anymore! and has shook many into abandoning gambling. Accompanied by an organ, Edna talks herself through that remarkable sermonette. Horace Boyer felt that Edna in this song »dis- cusses the gamble in the contemporary parlance of a radio sports announcer and begins the countdown from the deuce to the ace like someone familiar with casinos«
(The Golden Age of Gospel, p. 238).
Edna Gallmon Cooke: »Stop Gambler« on Nashboro # 705 (1961):
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Note: Apart from the sources mentioned in the text above, you'll find information about Edna Cooke in the Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music edited by W. K. McNeil (New York 2005, p. 88 f.); in Antony Heilbut's classic study The Gospel Sound her name appears throughout. The gist of Hayes-Laughton's Gospel Discography entry on Edna Cooke is accessible over at the Record Connexion; there also is kind of a honorary post on the Nashboro Gospel blogspot.
* * *
*Sources for the introductory quotations: (1) J. Lowe's (who was one of the male background singers on many of Edna's recordings) quote from Bil Carpenter's Uncloudy Days, p. 101. (2) Shannon Williams's quote from John Broven: Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers, Urbana 2009, p. 110. (3) Clara Ward's quote from Willa Ward-Royster's How I Got Over, p. 192. (4) Aretha's quote from Aretha Franklin and David Ritz: From These Roots, New York 1999, p. 77. (5) Bil Carpenter's quote from his Uncloudy Days, p. 101.
In mid-March 1962, Gene Chandler's »Duke Of Earl« topped the r&b charts and Etta James's »Something's Got A Hold On Me« was climbing upwards; »I Know« by Barbara George and »Letter Full Of Tears« by Gladys Knight & The Pips had just left the r&b Top Ten. In the midst of all this, Tarheel Slim and Little Ann had one of their last Fire 45s out. Fire/Fury hyped their single as »breaking and selling nationally« but they even mis-printed the number and anyhow the record didn't chart in the end.
Tarheel Slim (legally Alden »Allen« Bunn) and his wife Anna Lee Sanford (sometimes spelled, mistakenly, Sandford) performed (and recor- ded) together since 1957. In 1959, they inaugu- rated the Fire label with their second most successful release, »It's Too Late« w/ »Don't Ever Leave Me«. They stayed with Fire until 1962 and kept recording as a husband-and-wife duo until 1965. You can hear most of their '50 and early '60s recordings on the Collectables CD The Red Robin & Fire Years (Coll # 5159). You'll find a lot about their recording career on TheHoundBlog, including a nice photograph; you might also look over at The Devil's Music blogspot where you can listen to one of their Fire 45s (# 1009).
Allen Bunn changed his name to »Tarheel Slim« after he and Ann quit calling themselves »The Lovers«. Famously, »tarheel« is the nickname applied to the inhabitants of North Carolina (and that's where Bunn hailed from). I had no idea, however, what the term means and then discovered that nobody really knows. Wikipedia states that the »exact etymology of the nick- name is unknown, but most experts believe its roots come from the fact that tar, pitch and turpentine created from the vast pine forests were one of North Carolina's most important exports early in the state's history«. (Check out the Wiki article, it's very detailed and worthwhile to read!)
As for many discographies and the 45 itself, »Forever I'll Be Yours« is considered the A-side of Fire # 506. Billboard (see the March 10, 1962, issue, p. 32) and the Fire promo ads of the epoch seem to consider »Can't Stay Away From You« as the A-side (or at least as the potentially charting side), and that's what I'll do. »Can't Stay Away From You« is an infectious dance tune in which Little Ann appears not as a duet partner but only as chorus voice - and there seem to be other backing voices in there as well. »Forever I'll Be Yours« is a slow blues waltz ... and a real duet. I love these tunes! Be warned, though, my copy of Fire # 506 isn't completely mint, and there is even a noticeable needle jump in »Forever I'll Be Yours«(at around 00:45) which I wasn't able to remove or cover up; have to get me another copy some day. For now, I have to go with what I got:
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann: »Can't Stay Away From You« / »Forever I'll Be Yours« on Fire # 506 (1962):
Today some more saxophone on this blog! Played by Clarence Wheeler, who in 1972 recorded his Atlantic album The New Chicago Blues (Atlantic LP # SD 1636, released in January 1973).
ad from Jet magazine, Feb. 22, 1973
Although entitled The New Chicago Blues, there is little on this album that would qualify as »blues« in the more conventional sense; most of the tunes on this LP are actually jazz numbers. Two songs, however, stand out: »Oblighetto« featuring Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, and »How Could I Let You Get Away«, featuring Brenda Lee Eager & Peaches as background vocal group. It's just the right song for a relaxed evening (in case your life offers any of those, mine does rarely ...).
»How Could I Let You Get Away« was recorded at Paragon Studios, Chicago, on Sept. 19, 1972. Brenda Lee Eager was at that time still teamed up with Iceman Butler (before they broke up, with considerable noise, in autumn 1973). »Peaches« was a female quartet orga- nized by Jerry Butler whose line-up consisted of Brenda Lee Eager (billed separately), Carolyn Johnson, Diedra Tig and Mattie Butler (Butler's youngest sister). The names are quoted in an article in JET; over on Sir Shambling I found the following: »David Cole ... kindly writes to say that in his interview with Brenda Lee Eager she gave the names of the women in Peaches as Mattie Butler (Jerry's sister), Diedre Tigs and Carolyn Johnson. Davie Gordon has written to confirm the group members and by reference to an interview with Jerry Butler in Blues & Soul in 1972 adds that Butler said ""I formed the group about two years ago because I found I needed to use background singers all the time and that if I were to use the same girls all the time I could create a definite sound."«
A number of known session players took part in recording The New Chicago Blues; the group normally appeared as »The Enforcers«. I'd like to single out here organist Sonny Burke and bass player Louis Satterfield who in the '60s was one of the musicians associated with »The Chess Sound«. (You can hear him also on the Checker albums of the Meditation Singers.)
Clarence Wheeler (feat. Brenda Lee Eager & Peaches): »How Could I Let You Get Away« from the Atlantic LP # SD 1636 (1973):
Four days of the new year have passed and I feel already the need to calm down and relax. I expected it only for the sixth day or so. Whatever.
There's been little piano playing on this blog lately (in truth, there never was that much).
I gonna change this today. And I am happy to announce that the fabulous Olivia Branch Walker of Houston, TX, will enrich this blog pianowise. I couldn't think of anyone better, really. I have no idea to how many of you she is known because I know her only from a (relativ- ely spurious) album from 1986, entitled New Life (Shurfine Gospel LP # 55031). I can say without exaggeration that this is one of the albums that still impresses me immensely and I've been very fond of it ever since. The songs on it are much varied in style, and Olivia is just such a terrific singer and ... piano player.
One of the highlights of this album (yes, there are several of them!) is Olivia's 5-minute-plus version of »Po' Pilgrim« (aka »Poor Pilgrim Of Sorrow« or also »A City Called Heaven«). But it's such an intense experience that you'll need kind of a prelude. So listen before to Olivia's version of »Tell It«, a stomping blues-boogie. Both songs were recorded live (not all songs on this album were). Hit it, Olivia!
Olivia Branch Walker: »Tell It« / »Po' Pilgrim« from the Shurfine Gospel LP # 55031 (1986):
Some weeks ago, in November, I played two songs from Stax's double album Boy Meets Girl, this final LP experience of soul duets. However, among the plethora of duets which Stax was experimenting with in 1968 and 1969 one singing pair is, conspicuously, missing from the said LP set, viz. the pairing up of Judy Clay and William Bell. And yet this duo proved to be most successful Stax came up with during the late '60s.
Judy Clay we met on this blog as part of the Drinkard Singers, way back in the '50s. She then stayed with several labels until 1967 when she recorded her first 45 for Stax. Roughly at the same time, she teamed up with Billy Vera (on Atlantic). And finally, in spring '68, she recorded her first two songs with William Bell which were released as Stax # 0005 in July, »Private number« with flip »Love-Eye-Tis«. The A-side of this single proved to be the biggest hit of her entire career.
Rob Bowman in his Soulville U.S.A. has told the story of »Private Number« in detail (see pp. 152 f.). Like »Love-Eye-Tis«, the song was written by William Bell (based on a personal experience) and then worked out, musicallywise, with Booker T Jones. Both planned that Otis & Carla should record the song but the untimely death of Otis put an end to that. According to Bell, quoted by Bowman, it was then by chance that Clay and Bell recorded this song, mainly because both happened to be in the studio at the same time: »She completed the session early and she needed something to record. So we said, 'Give us an hour.' We sat there and completed 'Private Number' in the studio.« Anyhow, Bell was still thinking at that point to give the song to Judy, but then someone suggested that Bell's vocals should be added to Judy's demo. »Neither one of us had any idea that it was gonna be a duet« said Bell later.
Supposed that this story is true, there would've been thus no »grand« strategy at Stax, at least not yet at this point, to find a post-Otis/Carla duet. Rather it all happened by accident. But, if »Private Number« came about coincidentally as a duet, »Love-Eye-Tis« in all probability did not (Bowman is silent on this point). After all, they needed a B-side for »Private Number«. The A-side has remained the famous song of that 45, but I don't like it at all: it's too poppish for my taste and lacks the right hook. So only thing I gonna play here is the B-side which has some semblance of Memphitian origins left in it. As Bowman further explains, all newly numbered Stax singles from May '68 onwards (i.e. nos. 0001 ff.) were cut on the freshly acquired Scully 8-track recorder. I personally think that this hasn't increased sound quality compared to the earlier recordings. And we can hear on Stax # 0005 what we cannot but notice also in numerous recordings on the Boy Meets Girl album: the voices are mixed way too much in the background. They just don't stand out properly, lack force and get sub- merged by the bass line - it's a pity. Listen here:
Judy Clay & William Bell: »Love-Eye-Tis« on Stax # 0005B (1968):
Well admittedly, put like this it doesn't sound like a profound truth in need to be spelled out explicitly. But it makes for a great, great song! It was recorded by the Lane Relation Singers of Philadelphia some time in 1969 (or shortly before). In any case we have it on their Songbird LP # 214 which was announced as a new release in August 1969. (They had been with Peacock's Songbird label before that, from around 1967 onwards and their name appears in a Peacock-Songbird ad from Oct. '68.)
The Lane Relation Singers are another gospel family group about which it's hard to find out anything of substance. The did a 45 for HOB and then recorded for Arctic. Finally they ended up at Songbird, and their 1969 LP is their debut album (and as it seems, their only one). The group was composed of Ida Ida Lane Agard (called »Mother«, founder and manager of the group, probably the lady standing to the left on the group photo), Chris Flowers (baritone), Mike McFadden (female lead singer), Sissy and Mozelle (backing vocals). The back cover of the LP also mentions the pianist Leonard. (No family names for the last- mentioned persons are known.)
The only one among the group to be fairly known is Chris Flowers, for he was formerly part of The Holy Wonders and The Highway Q.C.s. He also features (together with a certain »E. Flowers«) as composer of several songs from their LP. One of those songs, »Last Year«, is also credited to him. It not only fits today's occasion but is beautifully arranged, beautifully performed and, well, just so nice I've been hearing it all over recently. Chris Flowers does his part somewhat Conley-ish (or Redding-ish or Pickett-ish, if you like) as he peppers his lines with some look- a-here! and good-God! shouting - a traditional gospel element crept back here into gospel via Soul. Yet certainly the most striking of this song is the complex blend between lead voice and chorus which goes beyond harmonic intricacies and also involves the lyrics. This is no call-and-response here, rather something like two voices flowing along separately but constantly referring to and picking up on each other. A bit like in a fugue. I tried to show the patterns by way of below's transcript (don't know whether this renders the idea though). Anyhow, listen here and be taken away:
The Lane Relation Singers (feat. Chris Flowers on lead): »Last Year« from the Song Bird LP # 214 (1969):
* * *
* * *
LAST YEAR last year LAST YEAR last year IT WAS DIFFERENT different than the year before THIS YEAR this year I KNOW HE BLESSED ME this year AND SHOWED ME showed me the way to go
LAST YEAR last year LAST YEAR last year IT WAS DIFFERENT different than the year before THIS YEAR this year GOD HAS BLESSED ME this year AND SHOWED ME showed me the way to go
HE TOLD ME TO PRAY Hallelujah
FOR THE SICK Hallelujah
AND HELP Hallelujah
THE POOR Hallelujah
YES HE DID this is the way to go
SAID IF YOU BENDS (??) Hallelujah
AND PRAY Hallelujah
I SHOW Hallelujah
YOU MORE Hallelujah this is the way to go
LAST YEAR last year IT WAS LAST YEAR last year IT WAS DIFFERENT different than the year before BUT THIS YEAR this year
GOD HAS BLESSED ME
this year AND SHOWED ME showed me the way to go
HE TOLD ME TO WALK Hallelujah
UP RIGHT Hallelujah
AND KEEP HIS Hallelujah
COMMANDMENTS Hallelujah this is the way to go
HE SAID I Hallelujah
GIVE YOU Hallelujah
POWER Hallelujah
IN YOUR HAND Hallelujah this is the way to go
YOU CAN TOUCH Hallelujah
THE SICK Hallelujah
AND THEY SHALL Hallelujah
BE HEALED Hallelujah this is the way to go
HE SAID I'LL MAKE Hallelujah
MY WORLD KNOW Hallelujah
THAT MY POWER Hallelujah
IS REAL Hallelujah this is the way to go
HE SHOWED ME THE WAY He showed me the way
YES HE DID showed me the way to go
EARLY ONE MORNING He showed me the way
GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY showed me the way to go
ONE DAY ONE DAY He showed me the way
I WAS WALKING ALONE showed me the way to go
I HEARD A VOICE
He showed me the way
I SAW NO ONE showed me the way to go
YOU KNOW THE VOICE I HEARD He showed me the way
SOUND SO SWEET showed me the way to go
IT MUST'VE BEEN JESUS He showed me the way
TALKIN' TO ME showed me the way to go
HE TOLD ME TO GO He showed me the way
SHALL I GO WITH YOU showed me the way to go
OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH He showed me the way
AND I SPEAK FOR YOU showed me the way to go
I am interested in the music, not in the relative rarity of discs. I also listen with great pleasure to Aretha Franklin, because she has the voice of the century. Music is no Faith and therefore has no heretics.
* * *
No music downloads on this site. All mp3s (with very few exceptions where noted) are ripped from original vinyl discs. If something on this blog is objectionable to anyone or should, for valid reasons, be re- moved from the net please let me know; it will be removed. And to reiterate: This is a non-profit blog.
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