Overcome!: Preaching in Rhythm and Funk/Sanctified Soul and Holy House

A re post by request...

 OVERCOME, subtitled PREACHING IN RHYTHM & FUNK, is a fine set of raw and gritty gospel by a variety of modern gospel artists. But this these aren't the reserved hyms of your typical Sunday service; the songs here bump, grind, and get down in the name of the Lord. Germany's Trikont is one of the most exciting record labels on the planet. They are certainly among the most eclectic, issuing compilations of everything from field recordings of music in Vietnamese street markets to hillbilly music, German music in Texas to killer gospel, blues, and klezmer music. All packages are handsomely done with well-detailed liner notes in German and English. What's more, these records are available from many sources on the internet and in stores -- though they may have to be special ordered. They don't carry import prices, either. The first volume of Overcome! Preaching in Rhythm and Funk features familiar names and some only hardcore gospel geeks will be familiar with, but no matter: the music is all certifiably killer. First there's the moaning, groaning, punch-drunk gospel of Rev. Cleophus Robinson. A well-known gospel singer in that circle lays out his sermon-style singing by bringing the blues in deep in his moan on "Morning and Evening." Next up is the early Staple Sisters with a snare drum and Roebuck "Pops" Staples' snaky guitar doing "Going Away," which sounds more like a John Lee Hooker boogie than a gospel tune until the vocals kick in. Mavis and Cleotha, Pervis and Pops drive the beat and the message home with a seductive bluesy funk. And speaking of the funk, it is impossible to forget the Campbell Bros. With Katie Jackson's "I Feel Good," driving the sexy vocal into the greasy with their pedal steel guitars choogling through an off-tempo backbeat and a bassline that comes out of Motown's Funk Bros. But the best cut on a compilation that also includes Prince Dixon, the Crownseekers, Rev. Julius Cheeks, Sensational Harmonizers, the Gospel Hummingbirds is by the Reverend James Overstreet. "Prayer, I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord" is a sermon in the great Southern Baptist tradition with a full choir clapping and chanting their assent to Overstreet's growling preaching while playing the hell out the blues on an electric guitar accompanied by washboards and a drum kit's bass drum from his sons. This sounds as if Overstreet is playing the "Devil's Music" as a way of stealing it from Satan and giving it to the Lord. And the man can play the guitar like Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. This is one of the most exciting, soul-drenched, deeply grooved gospel collections ever issued. ~ Thom Jurek

Dirty Laundry - The Soul of Black Country

A repost for Lou the C, I've included both volumes: 

I figure this is a good time to bring this forward for those who missed it. Another unusual compilation from Unky Cliff! More black county and we are not talking Charlie Pride here either! Look at the names and you can see that this one belongs right here!

"Today's country and soul worlds seem increasingly divided not by style so much as by race. Although modern white country singers have obviously been influenced by the vocal approaches of black soul singers, we have been led to believe that country music is the almost exclusive purview of white artists, Charley Pride notwithstanding. Luckily, Dirty Laundry: the Soul of Black Country, a new release from the German label Trikont, explores the long connection and crossover between soul music and country music, addressing the misconception that black music has evolved along a branch completely divorced from the country music that has come to be associated with white America.


 Beyond musicological considerations, though, is the music itself. And Dirty Laundry is an absolutely terrific collection of country songs performed by black artists. Many of the performers give soul and black gospel settings to songs by Hank Williams or Harlan Howard or songs best known as hits for artists like Tammy Wynette or Johnny Paycheck. Others, like Stoney Edwards (whose "She's My Rock" comes complete with vocal scoops a la George Jones), give the full-on country treatment to classic country tunes both famous and less well-known.

There are too many fantastic tracks to mention here, but check out Earl Gaines' version of Jimmy Davis' "You Are My Sunshine"--it's a total funky sixties makeover. Candi Staton does a great soul version of "Stand By Your Man" and Etta James delivers chills with her gospel-tinged take on "Almost Persuaded," a Billy Sherrill/Glen Sutton hit written for David Houston in 1968. Johnny Adams recorded "In A Moment of Weakness" in Nashville and, although that town's influence is more subtle here, this is a cheatin' song whose lyrics stand with the greatest of country hooks: "What she don't know won't hurt her / But the hurt is killing me." Otis Williams' "Shutters and Boards" is classic radio honky-tonk with the requisite modulation and steel guitar and fiddle whining behind the honest vocals.

The accompanying booklet, by producer Jonathan Fischer, is a treasure trove of information about the age-old exchange between soul, gospel, and country, as well as about the individual artists. When asked why he put out a country album, legendary R&B producer Andre Williams (Bobby Blue Bland, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner) reminds us (at the beginning of Fischer's liner notes) that there's scarcely a great soul singer who hasn't recorded Country songs. While the connection may be less in evidence today, to artists of the generation represented on Dirty Laundry the link was natural and obvious.

And the Pointer Sisters and James Brown at the Opry?

Well, the Pointer Sisters wrote a crossover country song called "Fairy Tale" that garnered them both their first Grammy and an invitation to play on country music's hallowed stage, the first black female act to ever grace it. Anita Pointer remembers, "When we first performed at the Grand Ole Opry, the audiences loved us. But at the hotel where there was a party for us, the staff assumed we were the hired help and directed us toward the back door." James Brown was invited onto the Opry by Porter Waggoner, and after playing a medley of country songs, including "Your Cheatin' Heart," launched into his funk set. Some felt the Opry had been "desecrated" and James Brown recalled his reception this way, "I felt I got as much praise as a white man who goes into a black church and puts $100 dollars in the collection plate."

While issues of race may have always attempted to draw hard musical lines in the sand, Dirty Laundry is a potent and uplifting reminder that such divisions are arbitrary at best and do not represent the true and ongoing organic flow between genres of music." • Judith Edelman

Nice review Judy. Hats off to the Trikont folks, this is a real winner of a compilation. One of these days we will come up with volume 2.

Motel Lovers Southern Soul From The Chitlin' Circuit (expanded and even more nasty!)

Just so I have done my moral duty thang:::DO NOT PLAY THIS WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THE ROOM...Have I made myself clear? This here is the deep NAASTY stuff from the the jukeboxes of the Chitlins Circuit bars; NOT something to casually throw on when the Mother-in-Law is visiting for example. Extremely White Folk Beware! This may not be your cup o' tea.

Motel Lovers - Southern Soul From The Chitlin' Circuit
Label:Trikont – US-0363
Format:CD, Compilation, Dig
Country:Germany, Released:2007

Actually this is all pretty damn great stuff with surprisingly good production values and just wonderful fun but I can certainly imagine some uncomfortable conversations with your younger children should you be less than discrete when checking this out. HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR? 

Wait for the adult party for this one and then you will rock the house. If these songs don't make you smile, shake your shoulders and bob your head at the very least, then I suggest you make plans for your final demise because Baby you must be just about dead!

Since I started this blog with this compilation, I think it is fitting that I bring it back and roll out my own 2 compilations that were intended as follow-up volumes to this theme - you will notice that there are three links - the two major themes of modern Chitlin Circuit Soul are sex and partying in the club till dawn - my volume two is all about sex, volume three is more about the club (there's still some dirty stuff too). 

Perhaps this is a strange Valentines present for some, but it sure as hell fits this blog now don't it? Your baby may be more of a freak than you think, play her some of this stuff and see....send the children to bed first tho.

More Dirty Laundry - The Soul of Black Country

Don't know about you but I figure THAT cover deserves an extra large image! It is Mardi Gras my friends and you should not expect much in the way of sober communication from moi until next Wednesday; it's how we roll down heya!

"That sexy sepia-toned cover on More Dirty Laundry is so alluring it just might seduce you into thinking that this second set of soul-country from German label Trikont is filled with classic forgotten sides from the '60s and '70s, an impression certainly bolstered by the list of names on the back cover: Johnny Adams, Joe Tex, Arthur Alexander, Ike & Tina Turner, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Clyde McPhatter, Ruth Brown, Bobby Womack, and James Brown all pop up among the 24 tracks here. There is some prime period soul here, but there are just as many high-gloss tunes from the late '70s and '80s as there are thick grooves from the '60s or smooth sounds from the early '70s. Such a mingling of eras only helps muddle further a compilation that often seems to stray very far from the concept, spending as much time with generic soul as with tunes that blur Southern borders (and apart from Vicki Vann's recent "You Must Think My Heart Has Swinging Doors" and Stoney Edwards' vintage "Honky Tonk Heaven," there is no straight-up country here). As most of this music is pretty good, it's easy to excuse this jumble even when it strays into Sammy Davis, Jr.'s smarmy reading of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" or, worse, Andre Williams' flat-out hammy rendition of "Pardon Me (I've Got Someone to Kill)," and this does shine a spotlight on many terrific records that usually get overlooked: Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "I Told My Pillow," whose easy roll is unmistakably from the Crescent City, not the Music City; Bobby Womack's version of Jim Ford's "Point of No Return" (miscredited to Jim White in the notes); Joe Tex's slinky spin on "King of the Road"; O.C. Smith's funky "The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp"; Margie Joseph turning Dolly Parton's "Touch Your Woman" into feminist soul; a jumping "I'm Movin' On" by Clyde McPhatter; and most especially, Junior Parker's slow, soulful strut on Ernest Tubb's "Walkin' the Floor Over You," which is the most imaginative reinvention here. These are the reasons to pick up this disc...well, that and the cover, of course. "

Early Black Rock 'N Roll Vol. 1 & 2

Shakey Jake

This post is born out of a couple things. 

Firstly, I took an interest in the Trikont label after KC's most unusual post of Black Country.  As a result I picked up more than a handful of incredible comps.  This is a label which select tracks meticulously and remaster them to perfection.  All have been a real joy to listen to and worth every cent.

More recently, KC and I were discussing how to incorporate some of the more rock type figures into Chitlins.  Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley were discussed and I was basically tasked with bringin these heavys to all of you followers.




Well, I thought to break the ice I would share these two amazing comps - guaranteed to have your media player on repeat.  We are revisited by more than a couple of artists which KC has profiled extensively;  Little Willie John, Howlin Wolf and Ike Turner to name a few.  But we are introduced to many seminal figures in the birth of rock like Shakey Jake, the Bill Davis Trio, Lazy Lester and Slim Harpo.



Vol. 1 1948 - 1958

 These two stellar mixes are mostly important for us at this juncture for the women they feature.  I'm certain KC has some greats comin down the line, so for now we get a taste of Big Maybelle, Etta James, Ruth Brown and several others.

The music here is so infectious, it's a guarantee that you'll be boppin around once you are into it.  It's easy to see why rock took off like it did, there's nothing but fun to be had listening to this stuff.  Even lyrical themes of love lost, aging and other downbeat subjects are given the uptempo, dancable treatment.

Translated from the Trikont site:

Long before Elvis had rolled his pelvis, or the Rolling Stones tapped into the Mississippi-Blues, and the legions of white bands made their electrified guitars roar, black Blues-Gospel & Jazz artists had laid the cornerstone for the musical revolution known as Rock n Roll! Besides well-known names like Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, or Bo Diddley. This comp also features many unjustly overseen musical pioneers.



Vol. 2 1949 - 1959

 From gospel singer Rosetta Tharpe, to Jimi-Hendrix-idol Johnny Guitar Watson, from Ike Turners early Rockabilly-blueprints, to the Doo-Wop-Rock of Ruth Brown. Other artists, including Magic Slim, Andre Williams, Big Maybelle, Rufus Thomas, Lazy Lester, Etta James, and Jesse Stone are featured on this release.

Big Maybelle

“Whatever you call it, it’s wonderful, spirited stuff, ranging from the primal blues spirit of Howlin’ Wolf to the rocking gospel of cover star Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the most influential female guitarist since the legendary Memphis Minnie. Fischer’s selection focuses on the seamier R&B which swept away the eunuch sentimentality of 1950s white pop “like a window being opened to let out the stale air”, as Nik Cohn characterised it: the lascivious snarls of Big Mama Thornton and Little Esther Phillips, the latter’s complaint of “Hound Dog”; the lothario charm of Johnny Guitar Watson; the automotive sex metaphors of Chuck Berry and Billy The Kid Emerson; the hypnotic-exotic rhythms of Rosco Gordon, John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley; the black rockabilly of Tarheel Slim; and the downright weird, borderline tasteless fantasies of Andre Williams and Sly Fox.”    

(4/5 Stars, The Independent, UK)



Trikont Records
US-0392 / 0412
released 2010