Reviewed by Tony Cummings

This wonderful 2 CD compilation is long, long overdue. During their heyday the Harmonizing Four from Richmond, Virginia were among the greatest groups ever to travel the Gospel Highway and achieved a huge amount: best selling records, performing at the White House at the funeral of President Roosevelt and in October 1990 playing a concert in their hometown, celebrating becoming the oldest continuous black gospel ensemble clocking up a staggering 63 years. Yet despite their achievement hardly anything is in catalogue featuring these groundbreaking close harmonizers while until the brilliantly researched sleevenote by Opal Louis Nations accompanying this 54 song set, scant information had ever been published about the group. So this lovingly compiled set featuring dubs from rare 78s offers six recordings the Harmonizing Four recorded for Decca (1943-51), four for Coleman (1948) and the 40 cut for Philadelphia's Gotham Records between 1950 and '54. What immediately grabs the listener about these tracks today is the harmonic density of the vocals. Accompaniments gradually moved from acappella, to acoustic guitar (the sleeve reveals that the Harmonizing Four's singer/guitarist Lonnie Smith was the father of jazz luminary Lonnie Liston Smith) to organ - but it was always the rich blend of booming bass, underpinning baritone and wistful tenor which gave the group their unrivalled sound. Also striking is the group's versatility. On "Thank You Jesus" (recorded live in Washington in 1951 at Sister Rosetta Tharpe's wedding ceremony) the group could do the church wrecking bit as flamboyantly as any of the "hard" quartets while on a song like "Keep Inching Along" they had an old style jubilee sound that could have been recorded in the 1920s. Not every song is a gem "Protect My Loved Ones" is a pop song masquerading as a gospel number while occasionally the organ (or the stupidly overdubbed chimes on "The Lord's Prayer") intrude on the Gotham sides. But there are true classics here - "Mother's Prayer Has Followed Me" features lead singers Thomas Johnson and Joseph Williams getting sanctified and soulful as the song gets more and more intense; "Amazing Grace" which though not using the familiar melody is truly wonderful encouraging Nations to boldly declare that it "is an interpretation unmatched by anyone to this day"; "Leads Me" with harmonies as smoothly luxurious as polished glass; and "Come Over Here" where the dazzling basso profundo of Jimmy Jones is showcased in all its awesome speaker-shaking power as the man reaches for and achieves G below G. Nations elegantly describes "Come Over Here" as a "dirge at funeral tempo, dragged over the cobbles of Jones' bottomless basement like wet cement through a wind tunnel." So, this impeccable reissue addresses a crucial chunk of Christian music history, too long ignored by music historians. Now all we need, Charly Records, is a similar release of the Four's sublime years with VeeJay Records.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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