"South Carolina Gospel", Gospel Friend CD, PN-1506:
"This is a CD of black quartet gospel (13 songs) by the Original Golden Stars of Greenwood, S.C., and solo singing with a choral group (13 songs), by the exciting lead voice of Reverend Norris Turner. Here is more than 76 minutes of soulful, vibrating gospel singing from the black southern church, recorded between 1958 and 1979.
The music was originally released on local South Carolina record labels like Pitch and HSE and was then exclusively distributed in the black community. It is now reissued, for the first time, for the benefit of gospel lovers all around the world. This has been possible after the producer's visit to South Carolina in 2005 and after almost five years of research, to which some of the leading authorities of the genre have helpfully contributed."
Bob Marovich, gospel DJ, author and editor at www.theblackgospelblog.com:
"The Golden Stars' high, tight harmonies, propelled by insistent electric guitar work ... are excellent examples of how gospel quartet's influence on pop music boomeranged in the late 50s and early 1960s to bestow its parent with the street-corner rawness of rock and soul ... What the 1970s tracks demonstrate, more than anything, ist that [Norris] Turner's voice remained amazingly vibrant after more than three decades on the gospel highway ... Notini's liner notes are fascinating and informative, assisted greatly by personal reminiscenses he collected while visiting [Reverend Norris] Turner and other members of the Original Golden Stars, such as Alphonso Devlin and Rev. George Devlin... Five of Five Stars.
Chris Smith, Blues & Rhythm reviews editor:
“...this is a splendid release ... the sort of record we used to buy long ago: outstanding music by artists one was unfamiliar with, accompanied by thoroughly researched, authoritative notes ... Everything on this release is very much worth hearing ... “.
7 comments:
http://www.embedupload.com/?d=11DBUBYTMI
hi - appreciate these scarce blue/soul/gospel sounds - keep em coming please
I'm listening to Reverend Norris Turner and absolutely agree with the above reviews. At the same time I'm thinking of my own upbringing in church and all of the times my mother admonished my siblings and me to sit still. There's no way we could ever had succeeded had this music been sung during our masses. The standard answer to why we had to go to church every Sunday was that it was "our duty and obligation" even if it was boring and insufferable especially in the Summer in a church without air conditioning or fans. Better yet, until I was ten or so, the service was in Latin, a language we did not understand and for which the church offered no classes to learn. Latin also raised the question for us children of whether our prayers were even understood. After all, if the priest had to address God In Latin, did he also understand English or would he be insulted that we didn't pray in Latin? Listening to these gospel posts has helped me understand why, unlike, my siblings, friends, and me, my African-American friends enjoyed church so much; something that was simply incomprehensible to me when I was younger. A great post!!!
KingCake, your posts make me feel I have only been familiar with the equivalent in gospel music to the pop chart's "Top Ten"! Thank you for giving us yet another rare recording. Gospel is so full of musical geniuses who understood when people needed to be uplifted or whether their voices could be a warm blanket of comfort...So many wonderful voices! So much contributed to American music.......LOLness
Thank you for all the great music you have on this site;....
Wayne
Oh, KingCake, it is impossible to turn this music off! Varying the tempo of some familiar standards (genius) gives an entirely new listening experience. And, of course, the choir and the harmony are soulful yet angelic. This is P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Thank you again. Someday I will come up for air.......LOLness
I completely agree - this is by far my favorite of the Gospel Friend Series so far even tho the previous issues are terrific - I am floored by the fact that Rev. Turner spent more than 30 years on the Gospel highway without diminishing his voice to any significant degree.
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.