Spiritual Albums

wharf rat

Well-Known Member
Like most of us music is more than listening. It moves us. Allows us to reflect. I was listening to VM's "Hymns For The Silence" today. I think this album has the tone and color that moves me like few others. Got me thinking about other albums which are really spiritual. JC's "A Love Supreme" probably tops the list. What are some others?
 
Any Negro Spiritual or "Soul" Gospel LP discs. Examples. Soul Stirrers, Mahalia Jackson, Dixie Hummingbirds, Staple Singers, 5 Blind Boys Of Mississippi, 5 Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Sensational Nightingales, The Consolers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and so much more from this era. Just some to get you started. Any time I feel frustrated, or down, or beaten, any of the above will get me focused on what matters.
 
... and, of course, Bruce Cockburn.
Most of his early albums; Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws is a fine place to start.



FWIW, Hills of Morning was the first song I was able to listen to after 9/11/2001... for several days afterwards, I had no appetite to listen to anything.

Underneath the mask of the sulphur sky
A bunch of us were busy waiting,
Watching the people looking ill-at-ease,
Watching the fraying rope get closer to breaking

Women and men moved back and forth
In between effect and cause
And just beyond the range of normal sight
This glittering joker was dancing in the dragon's jaws


Let me be a little of your breath
Moving over the face of the deep --
I want to be a particle of your light
Flowing over the hills of morning

The only sign you gave of who you were
When you first came walking down the road,
Was the way the dust motes danced around
Your feet in a cloud of gold

But everything you see's not the way it seems --
Tears can sing and joy shed tears.
You can take the wisdom of this world
And give it to the ones who think it all ends here

source: http://cockburnproject.net/songs&music/hom.html
 
A favorite...
moody-blues-in-search-of-the-lost-chord-1968.jpg
 
Neither a whole album, but two of my absolute faves along this line -- either of them rarely fails to bring tears to my eyes when I listen to them.


 
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Another great source is the Alan Lomax field recordings. If you are not familiar with him, get busy. He and his father recorded many live recordings in the south for the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. Many greats were rediscovered during his travels, among them Fred McDowell. His library is available online
http://research.culturalequity.org/audio-guide.jsp

Speaking of FM, This one is available for little money and it's very moving. It was released under a few different titles.
https://www.discogs.com/Fred-McDowell-Amazing-Grace/release/1340315

 
Blind Willie Johnson
The Complete Blind Willie Johnson
(Columbia, 1993)

*If there is any artist I could "time travel" to meet, this cat's @ or near the top of the list. Talk about "soulful".. oh my.
 
Any Negro Spiritual or "Soul" Gospel LP discs. Examples. Soul Stirrers, Mahalia Jackson, Dixie Hummingbirds, Staple Singers, 5 Blind Boys Of Mississippi, 5 Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Sensational Nightingales, The Consolers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and so much more from this era. Just some to get you started. Any time I feel frustrated, or down, or beaten, any of the above will get me focused on what matters.

Kent's pretty well summed it up re: The Gospel Crowd. I'll add The Reverend James Cleveland.
 
This is an oddball I ran across a few years back -
A european album unknown in the us (non-English) somewhat like Enigma

Solyma.jpg
 
Or - for something out there ... The Hilliard Ensemble - I believe i first heard them on NPR many years ago with the Lassus music -
Its choral chant music, but with tender harmonies unlike the usual "Chant" music you may know ...
crazy as it sounds, think Beach Boys or similar harmonies ..
You really want to get out there, try either of their two albums with Jan Garbarek - the reeds floating in and out of the vocal harmony of the band - whew.
It drives Emma crazy but its deep stuff!

lassus.jpg mnemosyne.jpg
 
And I do agree with the spiritual side of Santana ...
a Huge fan of this album!

Caravanserai-gatefold.jpg
 
While I'd love to add Muddy Waters, The Wolf, and Hound Dog Taylor, all of whom are spiritually elevating pour moi @ A LOT of their ouvre, they also lean @ a bit toward the profane here 'n' there; The Wolf not so much (he was genuinely pious, a good Southern Baptist who eschewed womanizing and liquor (ask Hubert Sumlin and other HW Band members who were sacked over the years for "smellin' of likker"), but HD and Muddy, whoa Nellie...
 
While I'd love to add Muddy Waters, The Wolf, and Hound Dog Taylor, all of whom are spiritually elevating pour moi @ A LOT of their ouvre, they also lean @ a bit toward the profane here 'n' there; The Wolf not so much (he was genuinely pious, a good Southern Baptist who eschewed womanizing and liquor (ask Hubert Sumlin and other HW Band members who were sacked over the years for "smellin' of likker"), but HD and Muddy, whoa Nellie...

Son House must be amongst those....
 
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