Wednesday afternoon gospel: The Valley Voices--What Will Your Answer Be (Riverside Records 102; 1975?)

I originally posted this wonderful LP by the West Virginia gospel quartet The Valley Voices back in February 2019, and someone just wrote me about it--and... that's when I noticed that the link was long gone (Good ol' Zippyfile--how I don't miss it).  No problem, I thought to myself--I'll just re-upload the zipfile from my hard drive.  Except, no zip file.  So, I did a new rip.  And here it is.

I need to note that there is a big and deep crosscut on Side Two (spanning two bands) which I managed to mask over when with a maximum declicker setting, plus some "manual" sonic surgery. So, when you hear what sound like brief tape drop-outs during the first four tracks on Side Two--2 and 4, especially-- you're actually hearing splice points that I connected with rapid fade-ins and fade-outs.  A lot of work, but the affected tracks sound a lot better.  Whoever previously owned this LP had a heavy home stereo tonearm and accidentally (I'm assuming) knocked it across the disc when setting down the needle.  How well I remember the days when a simple slip with the tonearm meant a partially ruined record!

Lovely a cappella singing in pure straight-from-the-hills fashion, and be prepared for a sameness of sound from track to track--it's a stylistic thing and not at all a flaw in the performances.  I'm just noting this for anyone not used to the "mountain" gospel sound.  Don't let the seeming monotony put you off--there's actually a good deal of variety in the material and vocal arrangements, and be assured that this kind of smooth and professional musicianship is anything but off the cuff or casual--these folks are superbly together in their performances, and the listener knows, from the first measure, that the Valley Voices believe every word they're singing.  Cyber-wise, this is a very obscure LP, its only on line mention being my own post of last week, plus a library listing at the Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.  My blog is earning its title today.

Two more LPs by this quartet are presently at eBay, plus a "Valley Voices" singing fake-hit Bill Joel covers, plus a sacred choir (?) directed by Merrill Staton.  Neither has anything to do with these folks, I'm sure.

Enjoy!  Zipfile link follows...




LINK:  The Valley Voices--What Will Your Answer Be




What Will Your Answer Be
I Am on the Road
Hard Working Pilgrim
I Know I'll Feel at Home
Lord I Want to Go Home
You Can Take My Place
When I Get Home
When We Gather by the River
Sinner You'll Miss Heaven
Who
I want to Hear Little David Play
Let Me Go Down to the River

The Valley Voices--What Will Your Answer Be (Riverside Records 102; recorded in Crum WV)


Lee