Goodbye, Babylon

It’s hard to imagine a more interesting, thorough, and informative overview of American gospel music than this. Consisting of six CDs and a 200-page book all packaged in a wooden box (alongside decorative cotton bolls), the original release caused something of a sensation when it came out in 2003. (Its content is now available from Dust to Digital’s Bandcamp page as a 1GB download.) The music was transferred from 78rpm recordings made between 1902 and 1960, and includes recordings by artists both famous (Blind Lemon Jefferson, Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, Hank Williams, etc.) and obscure (Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, anyone?), and importantly it presents a rich mix of traditions both black and white, from shape-note hymns to a cappella quartets to bluegrass ensembles to African AME church congregations. And the final disc actually consists of sermons rather than of songs strictly speaking – though the line that separates preaching from singing in some of these traditions is very fuzzy. This collection is not only an invaluable historical document but also an utterly fascinating and enjoyable listen.