Search - Nat King Cole :: Every Time I Feel the Spirit

Always the musical chameleon, Nat King Cole seemed tailor-made for a gospel album. In the event, though, this 1959 offering falls a little flat. Despite the best efforts of Chicago's First Church of Deliverance Choir, which provides inarguably lush accompaniment to these songs, Cole himself comes across as if he phoned in a lot of his leads. The recording itself oddly distances Cole's vocals from those of the choir, and yet a few supremely gorgeous tracks result. "Go Down Moses" and "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" outshine the rest by far, yet other, stranger cuts ("Ain't Gonna Study War No More," "The First Baseball Game") nevertheless chronicle memorable compositions via serviceable takes. Thorough collectors will revel in this first ever CD release of bonus tracks "Lighthouse in the Sky," "Easter Sunday Morning," "This Holy Love," and "Peace of Mind" (the latter two from the super-rare Where Angels Gather LP). Elsewhere, "Steal Away" and "I Found the Answer" boast Cole's laudable articulation, and upbeat numbers like "Believe" and "Oh Mary, Don't You Weep" at least approximate the pulse and thrust of divine inspiration. Yet the overall effect is one of dubious reverence. Would that Cole had felt the spirit a little more. --Jason Kirk