He's using some fancy techniques, sure, but what's more important about them is that they all create heavy duty drama: jumping into falsetto, repeating the same line with a more glottal tone.
Add the steady beat of the congregation, a few oooh-oooh-oohs, and lines that could be about the resurrection or a zombie movie, and you get something pretty damn spooky.
With regular music caveat in place, I can't see what's so special about the recording. It sounds like normal gospel to me.
Ogged, I think you'd like this movie I saw the other day. I can't remember the name, but it involves George Clooney and a lot of water. It was, I believe, an exactly-encyclopedic survey of the terrain and landscape from which this music sprang.
Are you making a Michell Shocked joke, arthegall?
In that case, yes, you mean O Brother Where Art Thou, and it's a good movie with a lot of great music.
You should start a joke-explaining blog, Ogged.
Also, thank you for the link. It was a very nice song -- I enjoyed it very much.
If you liked the song, there's a movie you might be interested in...
For an encore, please explain who Mitchell Shocked is.
There's also the movie about the concert inspired by the movie O Brother Where Art Thou
You're not that much older than Ashton Kutcher, and he's not too old for all that meta.
Anyway, 11 was in not-jest. 4 confused me, and I've been playing catch-up since then.
I was thinking of Songcatcher, obviously.
Also, I'd love to see outtakes from the behind-the-scenes footage of the movie linked to in 13.
It's not gospel, it's the blues. Sheesh, white folk ain't got no soul.
At least I wasn't thinking of Dreamcatcher. I'll never be able to re-watch Band of Brothers in the same way, again.
Also, 15 "obviously" s/b "obscurely."
19 "I" s/b "you."
17 "white folk" s/b "ogged".
I'll reprogram this thread alone, if I have to.
Well, I thought it was awfully good. Have any of you heard the Joseph Spence version? It might not be as pure as to the vocals, but his guitar playing really transports me.
I'm pretty sure 3 meant "The Perfect Storm."
I started reading the book
Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music and I am really liking it. The chapter on Mississippi John Hurt is particularly good.
The book states that there was a lot of mixing between old timey/country and blues music and musicians in the south and the split between these musics was largely enforced by the record companies. Mississippi John Hurt is given as a example because his singing is largely of the country style (lots of people hearing the smith anthology thought he was white) and he commonly played in a group with a fiddler. The fiddler recorded old timey records for and recomended Hurt to the record company. The record company tried to make Hurt seem more bluesy by song selection, giving him the nickname "missisippi" and keeping the fiddler off of the recordings.
Michelle Shocked is Michelle Schacht, a Texas mental patient. Another Texas mental patient is Roky Erickson.
Joeo, Charlie Christian came from Oklahoma and worked a lot in the Dakotas, and his guitar often has a Texas Swing kind of sound.
This song is very good. I didn't hear anything particularly weird in it, until the falsetto at the very end. It's amazing how he maintains the rhythm with no accompaniment through most of it.
Thanks, O. Any idea how I can acquire this for permies?
Hey young Michael, it's on this collection (and almost all the songs on it are amazing).
ogged, you might want to check out two Yazoo compilations called HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING. You might want to check out samples from it on Amazon; there's a mixture of both black and white gospel, though, which may not be to your taste (but have you heard sacred harp music, white or black?).
I particularly like the quite background singing of the congregation members in the song you recommended.
While on the subject of Yazoo comps, and the "authenticity" book mentioned above (which I've mixed feelings about), there are also three Yazoo comps called BEFORE THE BLUES that are partly designed to highlight similarities between white and black music before blues. The don't completely make the point, but they have have some amazing music.
Ogged might like Diamanda Galas's cover of "Won't You See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" from Defixiones, Will and Testament.
Tom, I was just looking for some music to put on and how can I keep from singing is on Rhapsody, so on it goes.
I second Tom's (and Ben's) recommendations and add Get Right With God, the most amazing gospel album I know.
Tom, I'm hearing Weeping Pilgrim by Allison's Sacred Heart Singers now. It's beautiful. Natalie Merchant does the same song, and does it very well, on House Carpenter's Daughter (which is a great album).
Have you tried "He's Got Be Better Things For You"?
Phew. The leader is a truly great screamer. I'd assume the Memphis Sanctified Singers brought down many a house.
Have you ever heard the church bells' tone?
Did you get both vol. 1 and 2? "Memphis Flu" off the second one rocks spectacularly hard.
I'm not finished with the first one yet, but let me check out Memphis Flu.
Ben, that's a little over the top for me, but let me listen to it a few more times.
It's Diamanda Galas—of course it's over the top.
It's awesome. I caught a show of hers a few years ago, and she totally raised the roof. Is that whole album as great?
Memphis Flu is a great song. Thanks, Tom.
Have you heard Wasn't That a Might Storm from the album I linked in 28? It'll bowl you over.
I'm biased, Jesus, because what I mostly like are her covers of blues tunes, and much of that album is original material (which also means I haven't listened to it very frequently). But I'm listening through now again and so far it's good.
35: Wow that actually rules a lot. I could sample the tar out of that piano riff.
Not gonna get excommunicated for that, though.
I didn't know that one, Ogged, and didn't know Sin-Killer Griffin either. I don't have that Smithsonian compilation although I almost picked it up at a convention a couple of months ago.
Diamanda Galas is new to me, w-lfs-n. I thought the piano interesting and the voice less so. She sounds, uh, pretty dramatic reading about her on the web. It might take a couple of listens to sink in.
I'm going to upload that song, Tom, because it's amazing.
41, 44: Agreed about the blues covers; "25 Minutes To Go" was definitely the most memorable bit from the performance I heard. I haven't heard much of her recent original material, but "Litanies of Satan" and "Wild Women with Steak Knives" are well worth a listen, both fairly terrifying.
I like the foot-stomping. Also the words "with water" stuck on the end of the 2nd repeat in the chorus--
Wasn't that a mighty storm
Oh, wasn't that a mighty storm with water.
This is one recording where the implication from the fade out (it just keeps going and going after what we get to hear) is probably the truth
Yeah, I think we don't hear the real beginning or the end. I hadn't realized, until tonight, that the song was credited to one guy, because the foot-stomping and the chorus are what were stuck in my head.
I was about to make a request for a song upload (one mentioned earlier today), but I don't think that's in keeping with the kind of forum this is/I want it to be
If we're sharing on the trad side, here's a classic from the auld green'n'lovely.
Cool stuff, Kieran. Sounds a little cheery for anything from the Outer Hebrides.
re: 41
Diamanda Galas did a whole album of gospel-ish tunes. It, Singer is probably the most mainstream thing she's done [although I am not familiar with her more recent stuff].
It's still pretty full-on in places. The track, 'Where you there when they crucified my lord?' is pretty spine-chilling. She does 'I put a spell on you' on it, too.