The Jackson Southernaires: "Save My Child"

Further forays into the world of gospel-funk.  What I’ve found about many of the records in this genre is that, for the most part, there are usually only two or three truly funk-oriented cuts, and the rest of the material is more straight soul and/or traditional gospel.  That standard remains the case on this LP, with the heavy funk tunes being “Don’t Let Him Catch You (With Your Work Undone)” and “The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow.”  However, if you’re open to it, there are other treasures to be discovered as well, like the mostly secular ode to the Southernaires’ hometown of Smithdale, Mississippi—“Community Of Smithdale (Calls Me Home)”—a shimmering deep soul track that immediately transports the listener to the place the song is describing.  Now, you may ask, as I did, why the Jackson Southernaires are called the Jackson Southernaires if they’re from Smithdale, but then again, Smithdale Southernaires doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.  Gospel records really are an entity unto themselves, and I think what makes them so exceptional is that, opposite of most any other musical genre you can think of, this is not music that was made with any focused intent on commercial success.  Instead it is music of praise and worship, and even though I’m not much for religion myself, it is very moving, and if you spend time with it, the passion and verve with which the musicians and singers are performing is palpable.  For me personally, passion and feeling are far more important to music than any sort of calculated, more studied approach could ever be, and that’s the reason, I think, that the whole gospel sound appeals to me so much.