Where the roses never fade

INDIAN BOTTOM ASSOCIATION OF OLD REGULAR BAPTISTS "I'm Going to a City"

Lined-out hymnody really floats my boat when I'm in the mood for it. It's so spooky and slow and rad, like a group of old stoners sitting down to start up some sacred harp singing but they get lost and never divvy up into different parts, you know?

A Folkways blurb relating to the awesome second volume of lined-out hymnody from Southern Kentucky informs us that "the oldest English-language religious music in oral tradition in North America, the lined-out, congregational hymnody of the Old Regular Baptists is heard in the heart of the coal-mining country of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. In this rare, beautiful, and heartfelt music lie the roots of the high, lonesome mountain sound of elaborate melodic turns and graces."

This track is from the budget-priced Smithsonian disc Classic Southern Gospel, one of those rare entry-level samplers with enough slight obscurities (the Poplin Family's version of "River of Jordan" is aces! -- gotta hear more by them) to satisfy the snob and the newcomer. Remember, the newcomer is the most important person in any record store... (OHH I'm so glad I crack myself up with my AA humor! Get me some more coffee wil you?)