The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi

This compilation of 23 tracks the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi recorded for the Peacock label between 1950 and 1964 is effectively a combination of two LPs they issued on Peacock in the early '60s. The first of those, 1961's Precious Memories, was actually an assortment of 1950-1959 cuts; the other, Father I Stretch My Hands to Thee, was recorded as a stand-alone album in 1964. It's not exactly a two-for-one combo CD, as it presents the material from the 1964 LP first, and changes the original running order of the songs. Nor is it a best-of covering their 1950-1964 recordings, since the group also did some recording for Vee Jay and Chess during the period. What's important, however, is that it's good earthy gospel music, though the presence of five different lineups means that the sound and style do vary throughout the disc. Those traits are pretty consistent, though, on the first 11 tracks (which comprise the entirety of Father I Stretch My Hands to Thee), all of them cut in 1964 with the same lineup, and most of them featuring recent new recruit Henry Johnson on lead tenor vocals. Though these are the most contemporary-sounding of the recordings on the CD, there's still a holdover '50s R&B feeling to the arrangements (in a good sense), almost giving you the impression at times of hearing an early Ray Charles or James Brown record with a different singer and a spiritual focus to the lyrics. Four different lineups are represented by the 1950s recordings that occupy the rest of the compilation, varying between stark arrangements that highlight the organ to, again, near-R&B with a backbeat. Though it's not the most stylistically even of gospel compilations, the singing is uniformly impassioned, and the package is enhanced by Clive Richardson's informative historical liner notes. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide