Search - Various Artists :: Mountain Gospel

Important overview of early Southern Gospel

Kevin Fontenot | New Orleans, LA United States | 01/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Few genres of music have been so shoddily reissued as Southern Gospel, the white style of religious music that began in the early 20th century. This impressive four CD box sets out to correct some of that oversight. The groups here are mostly country groups, singers that also had careers in the hillbilly field as it was then known. There are some impressive gospel sides on this set, most importantly the Phipps singers and Alfred Karnes. (The Document cds of these artists were recently deleted, so it nice to have the sides back in print.) Very welcome are cuts by the Laurel Firemen and Vaughan quartets, though much more of the white quartet material needs to be reissued to have a fuller appreciation of the genre. If you enjoy country style gospel and are interested in the history of early Southern Gospel, this is a set you need to add to your collection."