Things are getting well Jesus-y this week.
Yesterday we posted news about a reissue of Lamont Butler’s Ungodly World.
Today I’ve started listening to a new compilation called the Sacred Soul of North Carolina.
- Its James Brown, after he’s been asked to calm down a bit.
- Its the guy you see down the high street, on Saturday morning, repeating the same religious mantra.
- Its big band gospel.
- Its dreamy light night soul, with funky guitar licks.
Big Walt’s Ask God in Faith stood out.
Big Walt offers words of comfort, sang with real feeling, with a soft but incessant drum pounding in the background. The pounding sounds like the heart beat of a man, reeling from an attempted lynching. Big Walt sounds like the priest at the bedside, leading the vigil.
“If your body,” sings Big Walt, “has suffered pain and your health you cannot regain, Jesus knows all the pain that you feel. He can save you and my God can heal”.
This is music to comfort.
This is an expression of care from the community, expressed through the figures of God and Jesus.
All in all, a nice collection (if the tracks can feel a little formulaic).
Here’s a documentary about the thing.