::ALBUM REVIEW::

The wise and popular proverb that states "a picture is worth a thousand words" best describes the innovative drive, tenacious support and sacrificial love sown into the super triple-disc CD/DVD compilation Gospel Legends; solely supported by the Malaco Music Group. This labor of love, led by the visionaries Rev. Milton Biggham and former Malaco executive director Jerry A. Mannery, assembled some of the greatest and well beloved gospel artists into a television studio with the idea to capture these legends all at one time - doing what they do best. The end result is nostalgic heaven - as gospel commanders-in-chief like Kirk Franklin, Joe Ligon, Edwin Hawkins, Dottie Peoples, Shirley Caesar, Albertina Walker, the Pilgrim Jubilees, Harvey Watkins of the Canton Spirituals and Dr. Bobby Jones journey through some of their most treasured classics. And with background support from the legends, along with many of the personnel from the renowned Mississippi Mass Choir, Gospel Legends flows like a musical encyclopedia filled with blossoming classic revisions and hearty live impromptu and unrehearsed work birthed by some of gospel's living superheroes. And it's hard to believe that an anthological effort like this is even assembled with much rehearsal time and with super, hard-to-believe overdubs. But it is the enjoyable nature of these musical offerings, being entertained by the artists themselves, that gives you an idea of how beloved and precious this art form is to them. But don't things twisted - this isn't just a mix compilation of mumbo-jumbo that aims to underscore the artists' original versions. It's more of a colorful portrait, aimed with the same tenacity of PBS's high-profiled concert specials, of gospel's glorious history and best describes its evolution from the blues to crossover R&B.

The first disc opens up with a timely prayerful devotion from Rev. Benjamin Cone, Jr. and serves as a word of blessing for the musical experience to come. The album unearths lively and unforgettable live performances from Albertina Walker (along with the Caravans) on "Lord Keep Me Day By Day" and a vibrant soulful celebration from Joe Ligon on Marvin Yancy's "Heavy Load." Margaret Allison revisits her 1947 hit "Touch Me Lord Jesus" and finds her Southern traditional drawl, gutsy soulful deliveries and piano skills still in tact. Rev. F.C. Barnes duets with Lillian Lilly (lead singer of the Mississippi Mass Choir) on the 80's classic "Rough Side Of The Mountain" and is highly supported by a quicker pace of tempo, background harmonies and Rudolph Stanfield's keyboard touches. The Dixie Hummingbirds, guided by Ira Tucker and the group's versatile harmonies, journey through their classic theme song. An obvious delight and one of Gospel Legends strongest highlights is Neal Roberson's take on Oris May's bluesy "Don't Let The Devil Ride." The audience's overjoyed responses, initiated by Roberson's juke-joint vocals and his impromptu harmonica solo, bring about a zesty Memphis blues flavor to the reworked classic. Other favorable tracks on the first disc include Dr. Bobby Jones' vocal on the church standard "Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody," V. Michael McKay's "The Redeemed Praise" (originally recorded by Joe Pace & the Colorado Mass Choir as "I'm Grateful") and Shirley Caesar's engaging "I Feel Like Praise Him" - spiced with a smooth blues-oriented groove.

Disc Two, continuing in the the first disc's tradition, yet focuses more on the progression of contemporary gospel music from the 70s to the early 90s. Kirk Franklin's "Joy," a revisit to the Georgia Mass Choir hit, opens up the second installment and finds Donald Malloy on lead vocals while Franklin, using his directing ad-libs, jumps in towards the tail end. Edwin Hawkins and Evelyn Turrentine-Agee relives the joyful sounds of the modern contemporary hymn "Oh, Happy Day." The arrangement of Dottie Peoples' "On Time God" is much different, yet well seasoned with zesty background hand claps and Paul Porter's ad-lib contributions. The second disc highlight, without any doubt, is Inez Andrews' spirited performance and hair-raising soprano squeals with the legendary Caravans on "Mary, Don't You Weep." Just hearing Dorothy Norwood and Shirley Caesar backing Andrews, after all these years, is a Caravan fan's dream come true. The remake here, probably rivaling most renditions of the renowned gospel standard and even testing Aretha Franklin's version on her 1976 Amazing Grace project, solidifies the great reputation and legacy of the Caravans after all these years. "Living Testimony," featuring Melvin and Doug Williams with Joe Ligon, is new school quartet merged with the more seasoned pipes of Ligon's old school. Dorothy Norwood's churchy congregational cut, "Victory Is Mine," and its merging with her rekindling flashback of hymns including "Shine On Me" and "I Need Thee." Other highlights on this round include the James Cleveland reworking of "Lord Help Me To Hold Out," the late Howard "Slim" Hunt's homage to "Amazing Grace" (closing with a spunky praise break) and the trip down memory lane on "Touch Me" - led by its original singer, the late Rev. Charles Fold and GMWA's chairman Bishop Albert Jamison. The only big moment of awkwardness here surrounds "Fix It Jesus," a Canton Spirituals quartet classic. This time, the song is sung with a choir on this round and looses the magic tough of the original.

The final disc opens up just right with Evelyn Turrentine-Agee's "God Did It;" a spirited jamboree juiced up with traditional gospel spice and powering instrumentation. This version pairs Turrentine-Agee's zealous vocals with Carolyn Traylor and equally complement one another. When Agee finally exits, the background singers jump right into a chorus of"whoo-whoo's" and seals the song with immense gospel energy. The same energy is dispensed on Lee Williams' vocal entries found on the Charles Nicks' hit "Jesus Will Fix It (Trouble In My Way)." The song is aptly tuned to Williams' favorable quartet uptempo style, but it is his ad-libs on the looping chorus , atop the Ray Charles rock-n-roll arrangement, that drives listeners into a spellbound charismatic frenzy. Rev. Milton Biggham throughout the project leads a number of tracks, but it his added lead vocals on James Cleveland's "Everything Will Be Alright," with its encouraging lyrics and upbeat rhythm, that sticks out the most. The Sensational Nightingales "takes the cake" on the closing disc with their heartfelt and on-time narrative opener, dealing with "the days of playing church being over," on "At The Meeting." When the song finally enters the scene, the guitar licks and the Nightingales' cool harmonies overtake the entire album's other offerings. But the closing tracks fair out well including Mosie Burks' Sunday-morning vocals on "This Morning When I Rose," the Luther Barnes' revisit of "So Satisfied," and the big Caravans' finale' from a robustious Shirley Caesar on the six-minute track, "Sweeping Through The City."

Of course, much of the arrangements here are well planned and are successfully delivered by an all-star band led by Rudolph Stanfield, Derrick Lee and Jerry Smith. But some of the magic of the moment tends to seep out from the lack of needed overdubs and studio polishing. It makes the unnecessary mistake of reduplicating the formula used on Bill & Gloria Gaither session-to-record monthly Southern Gospel Homecoming album releases; using the same fiber and instability from the lack of post-production. But maybe - just maybe - that would have hurt the moment. The moment itself, without precautionary overdub action, reveals the true handiwork of the artists; with results revealing raw unadulterated excellence from great talent when performed live. Gospel Legends nostalgic value, enforced by the once-in-a-lifetime reunion of these powerful forces upon one album, is as important as any already assembled gospel compilation and may have never been attempted before - at least at this level. Overall, this is not an excellent collection, but it is without a reasonable doubt a memorable one.

This triple-disc collection, presented by Malaco, is only available with the companion 3-disc DVD collection and should not be confused with the Gospel Treasures or the single disc Gospel Legends compilation.