Feed Your Ears

[Luigi]

Mississippi John Hurt with the classic "Lonesome Valley" played in Hurts classic Delta guitar style. 

 

[Luigi]

This is a quiet reflection by Andrew Peterson - I told you I really like him and I was going to post more of his music! He mentions "a monastery in Kentucky" - that would be the Trappist monastery of Gethsemane. 

 

[Luigi]

The Grascals (that is, the Bluegrass Rascals) have been around since 2004, and they've had some success, but they remain mostly under the radar. They have a pretty typical bluegrass sound, although this song, "Come Jesus Come" is slower than most bluegrass numbers. They sing some interesting harmonies, too, and the melody takes a couple of twists and turns you don't often hear in bluegrass. 

 

[Luigi]

Madame Edna Gallmon Cooke was popular all through the Fifties and a little while longer. She didn't have one of those big voices like a lot of the singers at the time, but she sings with intensity nonetheless. Her song "Nobody But You, Lord" is basically a translation of St. Thomas Aquinas' response 'Non nisi te.' 

 

[Luigi]

Marion Williams had a big voice, but she doesn't show the power of it in this song, "Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go," which seems appropriate  for the post-election mood of a lot of people I know. She does, however, show her full vocal range, backed by just a piano and organ. 

 

Edited November 13, 2024 by Luigi

[Luigi]

This is The Carter Family from 1932 singing "I Wouldn't Mind Dying If Dying Was All." They apparently learned the song from the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet who had begun recording for Okeh records in 1921. There's also a recording by Washington Phillips, from Texas. The structure is characteristic of Black folk songs - three repeated lines and fourth line that completes the thought. I'm posting the Carter Family version because it's a clearer recording, with fewer voices, so the words are easier to understand. As a Carter Family recording it's unusual because A.P. sings lead, Sarah sings harmony, and Maybelle doesn't sing at all. You can find other versions on YouTube, and Wikipedia has an entry about the song itself. My favorite line is "I wouldn't mind dying, but I got to go by myself." 

 

[Luigi]

Downhere was a rock Gospel group from Canada. This is their "Cathedral Made of People." 

 

[Luigi]

I'm in the mood for some Fontella Bass, so here's "(I Don't Feel) No Ways Tired." It's a standard, and she gives it a good straightforward treatment, with the intensity increasing throughout in volume or in key. 

 

[Luigi]

The Maddox Brothers and Rose (their sister) typified the Bakersfield sound of country music. Rose had a longer career than her brothers did. She was usually their singer, and she had a distinctive voice - alto, somewhat brassy, somewhat rough, and a twang in her pronunciation. This is a popular Gospel song, "Drifting Too Far (from the Shore)." If you have trouble with her twang, the lyrics appear in the upper right corner of the video. 

 

[Luigi]

Dottie Peoples is originally from Dayton, OH but has been living and working in Atlanta for a long time now. She was mentored by Dorothy Norwood, a couple of whose songs I've already posted. This song is called "Oh Lord, Let Me Lean on You." It's a live recording in which she was going back to her roots, that "old time Gospel" style - you can hear her make reference to it about two-thirds of the way through the song. A good many other Gospel singers do that do - a lot of them might record in the newer styles, but they never lose their appreciation of the older style, either. 

 

[Luigi]

Today's Gospel tells of Jesus healing the blind man sitting by the side of the road outside of Jericho. Luke's Gospel doesn't tell us the man's name, but the other Gospel's say his name is Bartimaeus. This song retells the story, but what makes it interesting to me is the style. It's country, and it reminds me of the trucking songs that were so popular for a while - the instrumentation and the almost funky bass remind me of the them from "Smoky and the Bandit." And the singer, Jonathan Wilburn, has similar kind of voice, too. And then there's the fact that he Americanizes the man's name from Barti=MAY-us to BART-imus. Anyway, here ya' go. 

 

[Luigi]

I think Woody Guthrie was not religious at all, but he did record "Little Black Train." It's another song that uses trains as a metaphor, but this is the train of death rather than the train that's bound for glory. It's a sung warning. I originally heard this song from The Carter Family, and Guthrie's guitar playing is similar to Maybelle Carter's, but he sings this song solo. 

 

[Luigi]

Today's responsorial psalm is 150, Praise God in His Holy Dwelling. This is a setting by Jan Vermulst, a Dutch composer who produced many works just before and just after the Second Vatican Council. It was recorded with a good full choir at St. Anthony's parish in Milwaukee. 

 

[Luigi]

And now for something completely different (from yesterday). Johnny Cash wrote and sings "When the Man Comes Around." It is arguably his last masterpiece. He was old when he recorded it, so he's not in great voice, but it's still impressive. It's a collage of apocalyptic images from the Book of Revelation and lots of other places in the Bible. It fits well with this week's first readings, all taken from the Book of Revelation. Musically, it's part recitative and part sung, and the piano part includes one of the lowest notes that instrument is capable of producing. Again, very impressive. 

 

[Luigi]

This is The Sensational Nightingales with "Give Me a Heart Like Thine" from their 1975 album It's Gonna Rain Again, but I think that was a 'greatest hits' album; I believe it was originally recorded in the 1950s. It's a slow song, a personal prayer. It was written about 1900 by Judson Van De Venter. 

 

[Luigi]

Here's the Marshall Family again with a country Gospel song, "The Baptism of Jesse Taylor." Simple instrumentation, good harmony, and a conversion narrative. A number of other, better known, country singers recorded it, but I like the Marshall Family's version better. 

 

[Luigi]

Chuck Girard was one of the pioneers of Contemporary Christian Music, beginning in the early 80s (not the hairstyle on the album cover). This is one of his best-known songs, "Sometimes Alleluia" from his first album. It features him on piano and vocals, with an 'angelic' backup choir, which builds to a congregational sing-along. It's somewhat dated, but it's still very good. 

 

[Luigi]

"Because He Lives" is a classic written by Bill & Gloria Gaither, who have been an industry and an empire is Gospel music. But this version is by Celtic Worship, a Scottish group that sings classic Gospel songs in Celtic musical style with Celtic instruments. So you get a little bit of Gospel tin whistle with this one. 

 

[Luigi]

I've posted one two other songs by the Roberta Martin Singers. This is "God Is Still on the Throne," which ties in to today's the first reading. It's a slow Gospel song, but it's got some feel of a military march because of the drumming. 

 

[Luigi]

This is going to be my last regular post in this thread. I've tried to post one song a day (or let someone else post one), and I've been pretty consistent, although I've missed a couple of days. This is Day 366 - a full year, and a leap year, at that. I feel like I'm pretty well played out now - I think I'm getting repetitive. I may post occasionally in the future, but not daily. Others, of course, are more than welcome to post their own favorites. 

This being my last regular post, I'm going out with a bang. I've posted a number of songs by Sister Shirley Caesar, but this is her masterpiece, her crowning glory, and what I consider the best song in this year's repertoire. It's called "Hold My Mule," but some people call it "Shouting John." It features: one of the best Gospel singers this nation has ever seen; a large back-up choir in the 'mass choir' tradition; a good narrative that hearkens back to the agricultural roots of Gospel music; a preached recitative that seamlessly transitions to singing; excellent musicians; a (very short) mostly a cappella section; a couple of false endings (when it's over, it's not really over, because the Spirit inspires another chorus); something like an altar call; audience participation; and it addresses the long-standing tension in the Black church traditions between more formal worship and more expressive, Pentecostal-style worship. (Catholics aren't the only ones who have "liturgy wars.") It's got everything from Black Gospel music except the kitchen sink! Enjoy. (Lastly, there are a couple of live versions on YouTube, and they're also worth watching.)