E - Music Zone

After combing through their large vaults, the compilers at Smithsonian Folkways collected 22 performances -- largely from the late '50s and early '60s -- by a raft of Southern gospel artists to produce an excellent disc, Classic Southern Gospel. Southern gospel, in most contexts, means country or bluegrass-gospel as performed by whites, and these performances are no different. Opening with a live 1956 performance by Bill Monroe, the collection includes tracks by familiar names (Dock Boggs, Doc Watson, the Country Gentlemen) and many that are less familiar. It is the obscure performances, many released on CD for the first time, that shine here, including "Away Over in the Promised Land" by A.L. Phipps and the Phipps Family, "No Tears in Heaven" by Kilby Snow, and "Old Country Church" by Tom Morgan. Appearing in the liner notes is an essay, "Modern Southern Gospel Music," that may be educational for listeners, although it can't escape the dry academicism of a museum. Even the comments on the songs are rather pedantic too, adding four parenthetical commas to an earlier Bill Monroe quote.