God's Got It: The Legendary Booker and Jackson Singles (Remastered) [Expanded]

After wading through the shallow molasses of Spiritualized's agnostic gospel slop, I was in need of a true church catharsis. And here I will give praises to the usually jazz-specific AUM Fidelity label (home to many William Parker projects), Lynn Abbott, Kevin Nutt, and 50 Miles of Elbow Room writer/editor Adam Lore for their efforts to bring to light these privately pressed singles of Southern gospel done by Fender Mustang-slinging preacher, The Reverend Charlie Jackson, from 1970 to 1978.

Picking up the guitar at age ten, and learning a few blues tunes, Jackson was given an ultimatum by his mother which turned him away from secular music and towards a career of preaching and playing for his church. Using donations collected from parishioners on Sunday, as well as some of his personal funds, Charlie Jackson performed and preached a 15-minute radio show, which in turn led him to recording sides for the tiny New Orleans label, Booker.

This collection's title track is true testament, formed from the simple sound of strummed strings and handclaps. The good Reverend belts over the din about the mighty benevolence that can never be depleted, and the three parishioners that clap along sound far more infinite than their ranks would hint. "God's Got It"'s guitar tone lands somewhere between Sterling Morrison's late-period VU chug and the irresistible thrust of stomping and clapping that-- with a bit of open listening-- could easily mix into T.Rex's Electric Warrior, any sort of jangly garage thump, or even some Kompakt shuffle-step. All share a persuasive, percussive force that gets the body moving with ecstatic fervor, believer or no. Like all earthly pleasures, though, its three minute run is a bit too short.

The remaining sides follow that same raw sound pattern, of floorboard stomp, powerful yet gentle vocal testimony, and that ether-shimmying guitar. The sanctified, low key numbers like "My Eternal Home" and "Lord You're So Good" even show a glimmer of that cast-out blues. A bit of preacher hollering pushes and pulls the fine rural metaphor of "Wrapped Up and Tangled Up in Jesus". Starting out with the seemingly nondescript talk of fishing, every simple action of that relaxing sport turns to motions of overwhelming spiritual import, the preaching portion turning into a motivational musical stomp.

"Testimony of Rev. Charlie Jackson" is a tour de force, along the lines of Rev. Gary Davis' "There Was a Time That I Went Blind" in terms of debilitation as redemption. Detailing his first stroke (his second, in 2002, has left him unable to speak, although he still performs), the track goes into harrowing detail about how he could not speak, frequently interjecting-- along with his congregation-- a frightening wordless cry to the Lord that rattles the rafters. As he mentions his loss of speech, he turns to the guitar as an instrument of speech, voicing a vibrato-laced solo that's so intimate and spiritually satisfied as to be a bedside prayer by "Pops" Staples (or even Loren Mazzacane-Connors), an aural nimbus all about it. A real hit in the soul.