I Am Born to Preach the Gospel

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Texas-born singer Washington Phillips did a limited amount of recording between his first sessions in 1927 and his last, which were completed in 1939. What little recording the unique solo gospel performer did can be found on this wondrous 16-track collection. Accompanying himself and singing with gentle resolve, Phillips created serene music that really did feel touched by grace. (Until recently, it was thought that Phillips played a rare autoharplike instrument called a dolceola. But Austin American-Statesman writer Michael Corcoran's research points to a zither as the probable source of the celestial sound on these recordings. Corcoran also found that Phillips didn't die in 1938, as was generally believed, but lived until 1954.) Early in his career, Ry Cooder revived a couple of Phillips's best numbers ("Denomination Blues" and "Tattler"), but the singer is largely a forgotten figure these days. I Am Born to Preach the Gospel makes that seem like an unpardonable sin. --Steven Stolder

Tracks:

I Am Born To Preach The Gospel
The Church Needs Good Deacons
I Had A Good Father And Mother
Take Your Burden To The Lord And Leave It There
A Mother's Last Word To Her Daughter
Paul And Silas In Jail
Denomination Blues (Part 1)
Denomination Blues (Part 2)
Lift Him Up That's All
Jesus My Friend
Mother's Last Word To Her Son
What Are They Doing In Heaven Today
I've Got The Key To The Kingdom
Train Your Child
You Can't Stop A Tattler (Part 1)
You Can't Stop A Tattler (Part 2)

Amazon.com

Texas-born singer Washington Phillips did a limited amount of recording between his first sessions in 1927 and his last, which were completed in 1939. What little recording the unique solo gospel performer did can be found on this wondrous 16-track collection. Accompanying himself and singing with gentle resolve, Phillips created serene music that really did feel touched by grace. (Until recently, it was thought that Phillips played a rare autoharplike instrument called a dolceola. But Austin American-Statesman writer Michael Corcoran's research points to a zither as the probable source of the celestial sound on these recordings. Corcoran also found that Phillips didn't die in 1938, as was generally believed, but lived until 1954.) Early in his career, Ry Cooder revived a couple of Phillips's best numbers ("Denomination Blues" and "Tattler"), but the singer is largely a forgotten figure these days. I Am Born to Preach the Gospel makes that seem like an unpardonable sin. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

Truly outstanding.......2004-03-17

This man was an amazing performer! His music is pure, raw, powerful, and beautiful, all at once. His lyrics span from heart-wrenching to openly and hilariously judgmental. The one that raises the hair on the back of my neck is "Key to the Kingdom", a dreamstate performance featuring an almost chant-like vocal rendition. His instrument sprinkles single notes, some fat and plunky, some high and sparkling, over the foundation of a grinding, relentless drone. The total generates a half-real atmosphere. But then, there isn't anything weak on the whole CD.

Incidentally, it appears that Phillips's instrument was in fact two zithers, joined together to make one big one. This information is from:

http://www.angelfire.com/country/fiddlin/clips.html#wp

At this site, the instrument Phillips is pictured holding in the photo on the back cover of the CD is investigated and approximated, successfully in my opinion. The Dolceola is also investigated, and this site offers comparative sound clips of both instruments. (This is a non-commercial public service-type site that offers nothing for sale.)

Of course for any of this to mean anything you will need to buy the Phillips CD, which you need to do anyway if you haven't yet. You've never heard anything like it, guaranteed.

This music speaks for itself, and you will be left speechles.......2003-04-16

I feel that it is extremely difficult to prattle on about an album like this. All I can do is write to you and hope that this album becomes part of you and will not be forgotten. It is of such a high caliber that when it finally ends, you may find it fitting to pay the musician respect with silence and stillness.

Far More than a Novelty Dolceola Act.......2002-04-21

A beautiful album in the way that early folk art is beautiful --spare and simplistically powerful. It ranks alongside Blind Willie Johnson's work as the most heartfelt and relevant early gospel/blues recordings on the market. A question that begs to be answered is whether or not the novelty value of the dolceola propels these recordings toward a unwarranted degree of reverence in the gospel/blues genre. I've attempted to transcribe some of these works (the original Phillips works only) for guitar and while they I'm convinced that the dolceola is central to the delivery of the material on this album, the music and the messages translate surprisingly well to other instruments. See Ry Cooder's version of Denomibation Blues

The sound of simple truth.......2001-12-19

Washington Phillips sang and played with the utmost skill. His music was simple and his message was clear, no one ever sounded like him, and no one ever will.
This CD is one of relatively few who feature the guitar evangalists, most famous of which is Blind Willie Johnson, and which also include Blind Joe Taggart, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Rev. Gary Davis and others. Those are all exceptional musicians, making the music that expresses the life of the society they were part of.
Phillips plays the dolceola, a strange instrument that produces angelic sounds when played by him. This is enough to make him sound original. But the originality is in the man himself, and not in the instrument he uses. Phillips has to be one of the most sincere sounding artists ever recorded. His sincerity was spectacular even for his time, and today it is unheard of. He does not have the emotional raw power that Blind Willie Johnson posessed, but in his mellow way he may be just as effective.
I cannot think of any serious music lover who should not listen and enjoy this music.

the TRANSCENDENTAList's Gospel Blues, A-Man..........2001-12-14

'TRANSCENDENTAL'--- is the only (& HOLY) word to describe The Holy Boast of Texas Gospel Blues: Washington Phillip's & the 16 tracks he recorded (Thank God) circa 1927-1929 (Amen).
This watery-eyed Preacher doesn't so much need to sing as more often he spoke in a sacerdotal manner under the steeples of the South, while accompanying himself on one of the rarest string instruments the world has ever known, of which there are about 14 still existing in the world: a Dolceola: "A miniature grande piano" says an old advertisement Yazoo has included in the liner notes to testify to their historical devotion to American Music (God Bless Them).
What makes Phillips even more unique is that he plays this Germanic Zither-ish---Harp in a Box---by taking the little harpie's chordal construction apart and playing it with his fingers to achieve some of the most beautiful tonals and sustained melodics that has ever rung out under the House of God (where the party always was on the Sun'S day).
I bought my MoM (closest creatures to Angelical Guardians when they're good-hearted) this CD after hearing the song "I Had A Good Mother And Father" (as the song goes that moved the Palace Bros. of Alabama enough to record a good acoustic version on their famous first album), which is one of the most heartfelt song in all the Gospel Blues only a few rarities like Blind Willie Johnson's piece of guaranteed immortality can light a candle for---that provided the soundtrack for Paris, Texas (Ry Cooder's best)---and is this veriable second floating out in space on the first deep space probe sent out decades ago as a human museum to contact other species, along with several 100 other piece's of Earth Music: "Dark Was The Night/Cold Was The Ground"...Washington Phillip's music holds the same amount of light as the other sainted Musician mentioned, Blind W. J.
Who were these ALIENS OF UNIVERSAL CHARITY (to quote Eliphas Levi) that they could in one or just a few sessions record music of such intimacy it will long outlast 99% of today's music, which there is no end of recorded materials too...?
The sound quality to me is besides the point so long as the music is still clear enough to discern, and most all of what Yazoo issues are clear enough to be able to discern even the subtle intricacies of without sacrificing the original's honesty by cutting the music in half to get rid of half a man's soul...Austrian Blues converts such as Document are even more traditional Purist's in that although they issue just about every single Blues recording from that bygone era in chronological completeness (virtually 1000's of cd's are issued by these dedicated SoulS who seem to care more about American Musical heritage more than America does?!---if it weren't for Yazoo and some much smaller outfits we'd, or I'd at least, be lost in a life devoid of beautiful music).
Besides the bitternesses I display worthy of a Crumb's, it's not worthy as the music contained on this magical cd which I would suggest all to at least listen to just so to hear the possibilities even a poor black preacher in Texas in the 1920's could do when moved by the spirit that all the old music seems to exemplify a tradition that has been lost through a technological trade I'm not so sure was worth the price Humanity has paid in spiritual taxes without ever seeing the bill?
And out of all the magic in the music of the old south ( and ALL AmericA) only about a century ago, Washington Phillip's is surely one of the rarest of a breed already rare enough. the Man's heart can be heard weeping on this record, and no music will make one as solemn and serious about Sunday mornings say, than this...a mood instantly transcendent is established in the first minute. Just listen to it, that's all any music asks. You may fall in love and never leave it...?

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