Sacred Steel – Live! – Various Artists CD 472

Description

CD 472

Featuring the Campbell Brothers w/ Katie Jackson & Denise Brown, Willie Eason, Calvin Cooke, Ted Beard, & Robert Randolph.

Sacred Steel guitarists and singers recorded “LIVE” in two House of God Churches and at other gatherings, in 1998 and 1999.

1. God Is A Good God – Katie Jackson/Campbell Brothers
2. Storm Is Passing Over, The – Denise Brown/Campbell Brothers
3. By And By – Katie Jackson/Campbell Brothers
4. No Ways Tired – Calvin Cooke
5. Train, The – Ted Beard
6. Without God – Robert Randolph
7. When The Saints Go Marchin’ In – Willie Eason/Campbell Brothers
8. Celebration In Giving – Campbell Brothers/Bishop Charles Campbell
9. Take Your Burden To The Lord – Willie Eason/Campbell Brothers
10. Sit Down If You Can – Elwood Haygood/Campbell Brothers
11. He’s Sweet, I Know – Brother Sam Baldwin/Campbell Brothers/Bishop Larry Boston
12. While The Spirit Is Moving – Darick Campbell
13. Calvary – Katie Jackson/Campbell Brothers
14. Don’t Let The Devil Ride – Denise Brown/Campbell Brothers
15. Hollering – Reverend Craig Pringle/Campbell Brothers/Jem Pagan
16. Near The Cross – Willie Eason/Campbell Brothers

REVIEW

“…’Sacred Steel ‚ Live!’ may be the supreme exposition on ‘steelin’ in the name of the Lord.’ The 16-track set was recorded in 1998 and 1999, at a House of God church in Rush, N.Y.; a coffeehouse in Rochester, N.Y.; a House of God assembly in Crescent City, Fla.; and the Straberry Spring Music Festival in Yosemite, Calif….

The album once again features Eason, on of the great originators of sacred steel work, and the Campbell Brothers, as well as the Campbells’ mentors, Calvin Cooke and Ted Beard, and steel prodigy Robert Randolph. Vocalists include the Campbells’ splendid partner, Katie Jackson; Denise Brown; Elwood Haygood; Brother Sam Baldwin; Cooke; and Eason.

While Arhoolie’s studio recordings of sacred steel players have been magnificent, it’s in a live setting that the full fire of the style comes alive; the tracks recorded in Southern churches on the first ‘Sacred Steel’ were the unquestionable highlights of the album. The current volume offers some of the most divinely inspired guitar playing you’re ever likely to hear.

Arhoolie’s promotional materials for the set note, ‘this is not just for gospel fans,’ and we can attest to that statement. We were listening to ‘Sacred Steel ‚ Live!’ at our desk recently, when one of our colleagues wandered up, listened to a few bars of a rocking Randolph performance, and began doing an impromptu dance. The ‘Sacred Steel’ collections aren’t just a major achievement in folkloric research ‚ they’re also an exhilarating musical experience that hits the listener in the heart, soul, and feet simultaneously.

-Chris Morris, Billboard