Today's SMG has been rescued from cassette--see the left side of the cassette card for the track list. I taped this back in 1994, and the LP has since left the piles. No on-line info about the group or label (Shield Records of Columbus, Ohio), and I don't recall anything beyond what I recorded on the tape card. (I know--what good am I?) But I do remember that this group was a big hit with both me and John and Bev (with "John and Bev" a single unit for the sake of this discussion), and listening to this again, I can hear why. Bare-bones, down-home in the extreme, minimal "production"--what's not to love? And they sing all the old songs, an adjective approximately as precise as "authentic." Inside the Eastern Gates may be a typo on my part, or very possibly it showed up that way on the jacket. By any other name, it's the mega-classic gospel number, The Eastern Gate.
Again, maybe too bare-bones for some, but it works beautifully for me. If anyone knows anything about the Shield label, please share. (I'm nearly certain it's not the Rite Records label Golden Shield.)
I'm surprised by how very good this sounds for a 17-year-old normal-bias cassette. It helps that the source recording wasn't state of the art, but it's also a tribute to the excellence of TDK cassettes, even middle-quality TDKs. Buying a decent brand is always the smart choice. (Update: it's a Memorex dBS-60!)
Click here to hear: Jordan Family--Throw Out the Lifeline.
Track list above.
Lee
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