Search - Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir :: Shakin' The Rafters

MASSIVE CHOIR WITH MASSIVE SOUND AND FEEL

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 07/02/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"65 minutes in length approximately. This release contains 3 unreleased tracks of equal worth. The digitally remastered sound is clean and warm, with a real feeling of being in the room while this was being recorded. The booklet has 13 pages on what gospel music (as opposed to spiritual music) is and what it represents in the (then) black movement/experience. There are several (small) b&w photos of the choir and one with John Hammond.



This album, the only one made by the choir, was recorded half a century ago, in 1960. The renowned talent scout John Hammond (Dylan, Springsteen, among many others) was behind this stirring set of gospel music. Hammond hoped that this style of music (through this album) would eventually become popular commercially. It didn't. While other gospel albums became relatively popular (and commercial), this album went nowhere. I can remember seeing it occasionally in vinyl record (remember those?) stores, and then later on as a CD. But thinking it was just another gospel album with nothing to really recommend it, I passed it by. What a mistake.



This album is so full of righteous, electrifying, singing/shouting, hand-clapping, preaching fervor, that its difficult to understand why this didn't grab gospel music listeners back then-or in subsequent years. This is honest to the roots, uplifting, real-deal gospel music-the kind that they don't really record anymore. The massed vocals, the call-and-response singing, the preaching, the piano or organ accompaniment, the sounds of church members shouting out in ecstasy-its all here. The choir was based in New Jersey, and was under the direction of Alex Bradford, a man who knew what he wanted in gospel music (he wrote the tracks heard here), and went about it meticulously, even if his methods were a bit unorthodox.



The album is a combination of fevered up-tempo songs ("I Want To Ride The Glory Train", "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell", "The Lord Will Make A Way"), and deep slower songs ("I Can Call Him") , and the combination makes for some powerful listening. Besides the massive choir (120 voices), the only instruments are piano, organ, bass, and drums-all which are used sparingly as rhythm/foundation instruments. Add in the occasional shouts from the congregation, and the intensity is, at times, overwhelming-especially at a slightly higher than normal listening level.



This is authentic, heartfelt, uplifting, god-fearing music-plain and simple. Thanks to Alex Bradford, this choir delivers some of the best, most convincing gospel music, by a massed choir, you'll probably ever get the chance to hear. While the album was recorded 50 years ago, and while the church is still there, all the participants have more than likely passed on. But no matter-the music they sung is still relevant, still moving in its convictions. And that's what real music is all about. Listen and let this wondrous sound of 120 voices draw you into somewhere special."