music clip of the day

four takes

“Woke Up this Morning with My Mind on Jesus”

Earl Washington (and congregation), live, Newark Church of Christ, Newark, N.J., 2007

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Fred McDowell, live, Como, Miss., 1959

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On the first day of fall, 1959, in Como, Mississippi, a farmer named Fred McDowell emerged from the woods and ambled over to his neighbor Lonnie Young’s front porch with a guitar in hand. Alan Lomax was there recording the Young fife and drum ensemble, as well as the raggy old country dance music of their neighbors, the Pratcher brothers, and he had no idea what to expect from this slight man in overalls. He certainly didn’t expect that Fred would soon become internationally known as one of the most original, talented, and affecting country bluesmen ever recorded.

—Alan Lomax Archive, YouTube

*****

Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother, recording, 1936

(This illustration isn’t BRG—it’s Charley Patton.)

*****

Richard Coffey Jr. (and congregation), live, Sweetwater Church of Christ, Jacksonville, Fla., 2012

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lagniappe

art beat

Danny Lyon (1942-), Albany, Ga. (Mt. Zion Baptist Church), 1962