(Harp, Blues, Gospel) Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Just A Closer Walk With Thee 1957 - 1991, FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

Recorded at Jenny Lind Hall, Oakland, California in 1957.
Originally released on Fantasy (LP 3296).
Includes original release liner notes by Orlando Cepeda.
Recording Engineer: Stan page
Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1991, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

Review
by Cub Koda (AMG)
Here's Brownie and Sonny's gospel album, recorded in 1957 at Jenny Lind Hall in Oakland, California. Those used to hearing this duo stomp and hoot the blues will be surprised as they tackle material like "What a Beautiful City," "I Shall Not Be Moved," "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray," and Gary Davis' "Get Right Church" in their own inimitable style. But an even bigger surprise comes with the liner notes, penned by major league baseball player Orlando Cepeda! By far the most interesting of all the many recordings this twosome made during their time together.
amazon.com customer
# Just about every time I pick up a harmonica, I happen to listen to a recording of Sonny Terry and I figure, what's the point? And Brownie McGee had a voice like great whiskey. Smooth and intoxicating.
Here, these two legendary bluesmen play gospel. And you will never hear a better version of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" in your life. Get it if you love blues or gospel.
# I've never been a big blues fan, but I developed a special interest in Sonny and Brownie because of their long friendships with Woody Guthrie, Cisco Houston, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and other folkies active in NYC in the '40's and '50's. Brownie and Sonny were raised in the hills of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Each had a handicap, and when they were brought together as singers with harmonica and guitar, they clicked, at least on stage. This album was recorded in Oakland, California in 1957, and the men are in good form. The 38 minutes of religious songs here are as done in the rural black churches of the Depression years. Some of them, like "Some of These Days" and "I Shall Not Be Moved" were also staples of the white Southern churches (and were recorded by the Carter Family in the late 1920's.) I only knew five of these dozen hymns before hearing this record. If you have an interest in this kind of music, this CD is going to please you. Both men sing, solo and together, and Sonny's famous harmonica is a highlight of every track. Brownie's guitar licks were not half-bad, either. This may be their only recording for Fantasy Records, a Berkeley, California outfit, but it is good 'un.
concordmusicgroup
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, on-and-off partners since 1942, were in the cast of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof when they made their first official recordings as a duo in March 1957 at Jenny Lind Hall in Oakland. The marathon session produced three albums. The first two are currently available as California Blues (Fantasy FCD-24723-2); this reissue completes the trilogy. It is unique in that it is composed entirely of religious songs, some of which they had performed during the play’s first act. The original liner notes described this material as “uninhibited cries of praise, many of them quite rough compared to some of the relatively polished pieces that one hears at a typical McGhee/Terry concert.

Sonny Terry (harmonica, vocals)
Brownie McGhee (guitar, vocals)