PRAYING TIME

Featuring the powerful lead vocals of Clarence Fountain, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama are usually only the twist of a lyric away from being a straight secular soul group, and the best of their work draws freely from pop nuances even as it remains solidly in the gospel camp. Here tracks like "Sacrifice" and "Praying Time" are hard Southern soul pieces in all but name, "Spirit of the Lord Is Coming Down" is plain old aisle-filling gospel testifying, while "He's Got What I Want" is nothing short of sanctified funk. Listeners looking for a historical retrospective of the group's 50-year career should probably pass this one by, but for a straight-ahead set of organ-driven deep soul gospel, with no frills or fills, look no further. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide