![]() ![]() Of the range of musicians included on Goodbye, Babylon-Baptist and Pentecostal, urban and rural, black and white-the Texas singer and preacher Washington Phillips was both one of the best-known among gospel enthusiasts and one of the most mysterious. They spoke of devils and temptations, of communities in decline, of pleas for divine salvation that might not be answered or heard. But many others were dark and doubt-haunted. Walker and released in pairs on 78 rpm records designated for specific markets (in the case of the set’s many recordings by black musicians from the South, “race records”). ![]() Hellfire sermons, choral “sacred harp” songs, energetic group sing-alongs, solo performances of great fragility, swaggering performances by singers who flitted between spirituals and the blues: these were for the most part commercial recordings, often arranged by talent scouts like Columbia’s Frank B. The territory of that music was dauntingly varied and wide. In 2003, the Atlanta-based record label Dust to Digital released a six-CD anthology of prewar American gospel music called Goodbye, Babylon. ![]()
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