Who?

Nazarene Congregational Church Choir Of Brooklyn - Who'll Join This Union (from VA - How Can I Keep From Singing? vol 1 rec late 20s, released 1996)

Beautiful ghost howls from the grave and to the pulpit. A real scratchy one from the late 20s from a great compilation on Yazoo records. So much of my gospel collection is rather obvious and available but this one seems to have gone out of print, maybe a while ago. I guess I tend to enjoy the more possessed end of Jesus music where I question my own heathen self, but great things can happen when the human voice is the only weapon of prayer.

A Holy Ghost Kiss

Reverend Julius Cheeks - If Servin God is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right

Woke up this morning with my mind on Jesus, but when I reached out into the darkness all I could hear was Luther Ingram. The good lord told me not to worry and that the good Reverend Cheeks would be my guide. Rather than white collar he wore sun glasses with a Stax sharpie shirt, and there was a Black Moses poster on the wall in place of the cross. "Are you an angel?" I asked. "Angels don't sing like this, they never had trials and tribulations like us" he said. We talked about the Soul Stirrers and sports over coffee and cigarettes and I got the feeling he was a little bothered by the fact he never got any of that Soul Jazz money. Servin had become more popular in his church than any traditional ever had been, and when asked about it all he had to say was "if Memphis soul is wrong, I don't wanna be right". I was sent off with a recording that he claimed was "an hour and a half long version of If There's a Hell Below, Were All Going to Go", which I unfortunately left on the bus. If you find a CD-R with Jesus in a yellow leisure suit and a guitar on it, holler at me.

My Day was Thursday

Mississippi Fred McDowell - I'm So Glad I Got Good Religion (from Amazing Grace 1966)

Hearing Amazing Grace for the first time about 4 years ago was like one of those corny record collector stories about music that changed your life. Like "the first time I heard White Light White Heat I knew I wanted to start a band", or "I got my first kiss to DJ Funk", or "I lost my virginity to Schlachthofbronx". Well it wasn't really, I just happened to put it on as the sun was rising after being up all night from partying or something. Fred McDowell is often lumped in with the rest of the Delta Blues musicians, although he is actually from the northern Mississippi region, and if you ask me better than them all (save Blind Willie Johnson, Son House maybe). These recordings were made with his wife and the Como church choir and are some of the best these ears have ever heard. Not really into his later electric stuff, but I'm not into much of that anyways. And there aren't many things that bother me as much as college kids ranting about Robert Johnson or Leadbelly. Maybe it's just as bad listening to a collage graduate ranting about Ghetto House? I can't even listen to other versions of a lot of these songs, namely this track. They just aren't as convincing.

Halleluyah Niaroka

DOWNLOAD (password afroslabs.blogspot.com)

An awesome gospel tape from Africa via Ylowek Scavel-Cronek. Kenyan singer Gladwell Kinuthia sings twee Swahili Jesus songs, sometimes with some serious Reggae vibes (see Halleluyah Niaroka, which for some reason appears twice on side a?). A Duppy conqueror attempt in the form of magnetic tape; a mistake as that's where they are most prone to find shelter.

Where All Good People Go to Pray

The Orioles - Crying in the Chapel (from From Where I Stand recorded 1953)

Some dudes from Baltimore who are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a silo singing a country gospel song. Really, I'm pretty sure they just brought a shitty guitar and some mics into a church and used some bells they found. About 90% just vocals with the reverb turned up to 11. Sometimes I think I hear a frog in the background, it's great.

This is probably one of my favorite songs ever.

Someone is Friendless

New York Community Choir - I'll Keep a Light in My Window (from Soul Gospel vol 2 rec 1978)

A gospel group from Harlem probably not down with doing blow off silver spoons and riding white horses through Studio 54, but their music back in the 70s definitely had some cocaine sheen to it. I mean I'm not wanting to break out the dollar bill in the pews but damn, talk about Sunday morning fever. This is the Soul Glo of Christ, shed for you.

Today Was a Good Day

I went looking for Ghetto House singles today and walked out with these. I had been looking for a copy of The Bell Album on plastic for some time now, and found it at Reckless today for $3.99 along with these under 5 dollar rap records. I didn't even know Monster was on wax. Looks like I'm gonna have to hike it out to Barney's on the Westside to find those Dancemania joints.

Happy 2009

Rev. Edward Clayborn - This Time Another Year You May Be Gone (from American Primative vol 1)


Best wishes for 2009.


Sorry for uploading such a depressing song.


Expect some interviews, some guest blogging, and maybe better writing this year.


My best and worst of 2008 will be up this weekend.

Shaking The Rafters and Geeking to The Pulpit

"He is rumored to have seen unidentified flying objects in the area of west Atlanta known as Bankhead"

Shape Notes Everywhere

13th Floor Elevators - May The Circle Remain Unbroken(from Bull of The Woods 1968)

Obviously one of the most haunting covers ever recorded, The Elevators sans Roky let this Carter Family joint drift into oblivion by way of delay. Happens to also be the final song on their final album, being one of the better ways for a band to die off. My only complaint is that its not atleast 20 minutes long. Compairsons to Dadamah's "High Tension House" are proof of a look into what was to come circa 1989 during the summer of love.

"...It's You That I Want But Him That I Need"

Al Green - Beware(extended mix)

"Carlotta was in another part of the house listening to music. I then decided to take a bath. After I got in the tub, I soon heard a noise, I looked up and Mary was standing with the steaming pot in both hands. In the next second, my world exploded into a thousand splatters of pure agony. Mary had added grits to the water, making a thick, boiling hot paste. With all her strength, she hurled it at me. The grits scorched my naked back. The pain was so intense that I started screaming.

Carlotta burst in. "Al!" she screamed. It was then that I saw the egg sized blisters rising on my burned flesh. Mary rushed out of the bathroom.

Carlotta called a ambulance and was tending to me as best she could-when suddenly, we heard a gunshot. Despite being in pain, I rushed to Mary, she lay on the floor dead, clutching a gun."

Twas this rather unfortunate incident which caused for one of the greatest albums of all time.