Reviewed by Tony Cummings

A gem of an album that snuck by us in 1993 but which can be picked up at hipper record shops. The Steeles are a family group which you might care to pigeon hole somewhere close to the Staples. On the seeringly funky "I Don't Wanna Be Without You" they come on like an updated version of the Staples during their Stax era, where elsewhere the sounds are older, rawer, at times recalling the fiery call-and-response passion of those 50s quartets and on the tracks like the soulfully satisfying acappella version of the old Stevie Wonder song "Heaven Help Us All", a bit like some of those smouldering Sounds Of Blackness cuts. Not a commercial album and hats off to Warner Communications for recording and releasing it. Let's hope Fred, JD, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steel get an opportunity to cut another one.

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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