For the Easter season, William Dart looks at a compilation release of classic 1970s black American gospel, and a new album of devotional music from Harry Connick Jr.
Rance Allen Group Photo: Concord Records
Harry Connick Jr's lockdown project, Alone with my Faith, was made possible through his prowess on a prodigious range of instruments. He's described it as an act of comfort for himself and for those who listen to it. It was written in times of unexpected isolation, when he wasn’t sure that anyone would ever get to hear it.
William contrasts that one-man one-studio album with The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection.
This labour of intense love is a signing off of a major reclamation project: last year's digital release of 25 albums from the Gospel Truth label, originally released during its three short years of life in the early 1970s under the Stax umbrella.
Music Details
'Song title' (Composer) – Performers
Album title
(Label)
'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' (Ellington, Russel) – Harry Connick Jr
It Had to be You
(Columbia)
'Alone With My Faith' (Connick) – Harry Connick Jr
Alone With My Faith
(Verve)
'Because He Lives' (Connick) – Harry Connick Jr
Alone With My Faith
(Verve)
'Benevolent Man' (Connick) – Harry Connick Jr
Alone With My Faith
(Verve)
'Amazing Grace' (Trad) – Harry Connick Jr
Alone With My Faith
(Verve)
'The Weight' (Robertson) – The Staple Singers
Soul Folk in Action
(Stax)
'The Magnificent Sanctuary Band' (Burnette) – Reverend Maceo Woods & The Christian Tabernacle Choir
The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection
(Crest)
'Just My Imagination (Just My Salvation)' (Whitfield, Strong) – The Rance Allen Group
The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection
(Crest)
'Vacation In Heaven' (Buffum, Winsett) – Brother Joe May
Thunderbolt of the Middle West
(Specialty)
'Keep My Baby Warm' (May) – Charles May and Annette May
The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection
(Crest)
'At The Feet Of The Master' (Bridgford) – Blue Aquarius
The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection
(Crest)
'If I Had A Hammer' (Seeger, Hayes) – Jimmy Jones
The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection
(Crest)
