Maceo Woods – In Concert (1970/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:35 minutes | 1,42 GB | Genre: Gospel, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Originally recorded in 1969 and released the following year on the Volt label as “Hello Sunshine,” Reverend Maceo Woods’ “In Concert” highlights the talents of Woods’ Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir. Woods founded the Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church in 1960 in his native Chicago with just 14 members. It’d soon grow to 2,000 members, and Woods would gain prominence as both singer and organist.

The optimistic title track “Hello Sunshine” interpolates Wilson Pickett’s 1968 song of the same name, written by saxophonist King Curtis and Ronald Miller. The mainstream-leaning appeal of the song was in line with Woods’ philosophy for joining the Stax Records’ family: to reach ears that otherwise would not have been in tune with the catalogs of traditional gospel labels. “The Gospel Truth label is an answer to my prayers,” he stated in a press release for the label. “I feel that gospel and other religious-oriented music have a rich reservoir of talent which has been left to deteriorate or to be corralled only in the church. This talent needs exposure.”

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Maceo Woods – Goodbye Loneliness, Hello Happiness (1974/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:11 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Gospel, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

If only judged by its guitar introduction, handled by Morris Dollison, Jr., Maceo Woods’ “Good-Bye Loneliness” could be characterized as a blues song. Like the majority of the album which bears its name, the track bears enough musical resemblance to the music of juke joints and parlors to provide an unmistakable contrast to its richly sanguine content.

Relying heavily on organ, guitar and bass, the album may, at points, sound downtrodden. But its messaging constantly reminds the masses to look to the sky for inspiration. As is customary with Woods releases with his Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir, soloists are given opportunity to extend the ensemble’s reach. None rise to the occasion with the same effectiveness as Alfredia Burton and Doris Sykes, who ring every bit of their fervor on consecutive songs “More and More Like Jesus” and “Through It All.”

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Maceo Woods – A New Dawning (1973/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 48:09 minutes | 1,88 GB | Genre: Gospel, R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Maceo Woods and the Tabernacle Gospel Choir’s “A New Dawning” presents itself with the conditioned poise that only Woods and his choir could have afforded during Gospel Truth’s lifespan. Already regarded as a sought-after organist and showman prior to the label’s founding, Woods and close collaborator George Jordan return for another outing deploying marksman-like consistency.

Doris Sykes begins the record with “He’ll Make Everything Alright,” a traditional praise and worship selection among many album cuts pulled directly from hymnals. Once again, Jordan makes his bid for supremacy in the realm of arrangement, contributing three originals to the album and overseeing the charts of the remaining interpretations of gospel classics.

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