VA - None But The Righteous - Chess Gospel Greats 1

Chess Records was never particularly noted as a gospel label; it's probably better known for Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, etc. In the early 1950s, however, the company released more than its share of great gospel recordings, and this 18-track set stands as a testimony to some of the rawest ones that the label put out.

While big names like Aretha and Reverend C.L. Franklin, the Soul Stirrers, and the Original Five Blind Boys from Alabama are accounted for, the real gems come from lesser-known acts like the Meditation Singers, the Norfleet Brothers, the Bells of Joy, Sammy Bryant, Elder Beck, and the Southern Stars.

The best known of them all is the daughter of the preacher whose sermons were already being issued by the label and luckily they did not only record the sermons of that preacher but also some of the singing of his young teenage dauhter - Aretha Franklin. Her singing was just beginning to show the maturity that would make her "the Queen of Soul". On "Never grow old", perhaps her greatest early recording, you hear her unhurried approach driven by the claps and hollers of a responsive congregation as she sings of the joy of heaven, the "land where we never grow old." A marvelous set of raw gospel music that should be in everyone's collection.

Tracklist:

01 Don’t You Want To Go [The Meditation Singers]
02 None But The Righteous [Norfleet Brothers]
03 Anyway You Bless Me Lord [Bells of Joy]
04 Never Grow Old [Aretha Franklin]
05 Oh What A Meeting [Soul Stirrers]
06 I’ve Been Weeping For A Mighty Long Time [Original Five Blind Boys of Mississippi]
07 When My Time Comes [Rev. Alex Bradford]
08 Resting Easy [Soul Stirrers]
09 Two Wings [Rev. Utah Smith]
10 Your Mother Loves Her Children [Rev. C.L. Franklin]
11 Old Time Religion [The Violinaires]
13 Walk In The Light [Evangelist Singers of Alabama]
14 The Angels Keep Watching Over Me [Sammy Bryant]
15 Floods Of Joy [Windy City Four]
16 I’m Gonna Tell God [Elder Beck]
17 You’ve Got The Jordan To Cross [Martha Bass]
18 Don’t Give Up [Southern Stars]

VA - None But The Righteous - Chess Gospel Greats 1
(256 kbps, front cover included)