"Numero 010: Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal"

Proof that Jesus must have had soul sits in this collection of "gospel funk" songs. The grooves on these songs are as thick and rockin' as anything any secular performer put to wax, but they're all songs of praise, tolerance, hope, brother/sisterhood, redemption, and soul-fueled love. If the churches around here played this stuff at their Sunday service, I'd be there every weekend, ready to communicate with God.

 

The Numero Group
 
By this time Numero Group may not need an introduction. To be clear, however, the folks at Numero go deep-record diving and release music from the prisons of unused 45 singles and geographically confined locations. They've released music from across the world, spanning genres that have nothing to do with each other and, with the advent of Good God!, they've now pulled together a collection of music from a "genre" that never really existed. The notion of funky gospel might not be entirely alien to everyone, but the second this record comes on and "Jesus Rhapsody" by Preacher and the Saints starts up with a low-end groove and a pounding drum track, it's pretty evident that this collection is something special. There's more than just funk here, there's a sexy soulful delivery at work in these songs of praise. Imagine that, a little something special in the ecstasy of religion.

There's not a cut on this compilation that doesn't deserve to be talked about. The push of congo lines, the heavy thump of a drummer going crazy beside the chants and cries of a choir, a completely out of this world cover of the classic "Wayfaring Stranger," the movement of a wah-wah pedal through the shouts of a preacher, and many others make every song feel extra special. The albums that some songs were pulled from weren't as funky as what's represented here. Numero is careful to detail (in their excellent booklet) that gospel funk wasn't really a movement or a genre. These are choice cuts from records most lovers of funk probably wouldn't have ever bothered listening to. Every track on here is bursting with an energy that's has no comparison, but it's just as likely to make people dance and sing as it is to bring people to the light of their Lord.

No matter how much I feel religion is responsible for some of the worst atrocities the world has ever seen, this disc reminds me that love, compassion, concern, peace, and happiness all have some kind of spiritual root or that the spiritual must participate in those things somehow. It's hard not to feel good, not to move along to the funk that these worshippers threw up to the heavens. This is funky and soul, not doubt, and all at the same time there's an extra spark, and I'll dare to call it divine, that pushes these songs over the edge and into a high-class division that's all their own.

Any sort of discrimination shouldn't keep anybody from tuning in to something that represents a good portion of the American landscape and of American musical history. This is the stuff that the USA is made of (at least, in part) and, happily, there's as much joy in these songs as there is sadness. For every seemingly crushing event there's that bit of hope and celebration in this music that makes it utterly priceless. Besides all that, every song on here is incredible: a perfectly balanced blend of rhythm and blues, soul, and songs of praise. It makes all the gospel that's selling at the local major chain stores sound dull, like the product of some helpless and unimaginative individuals who don't really know how they feel or what they believe. The message that bleeds out of the speakers on this collection is unmistakable: "Music can cure us of our ills! Praise Jesus!" Be it right or wrong, it is a powerful and beautiful thought and it drives some of the most fun and upbeat music I've ever heard. Hallelujah and amen, then: for once I feel like those words are appropriate.

samples:

• Voices of Conquest - Oh Yes My Lord!
• Trevor Dandy - Is There Any Love
• Shackleford Singers - God Is All Over Me