VARIOUS - Jesus Rocked The Jukebox

"A fantastic collection of postwar gospel – one that really keeps the spirit of the "jukebox" in the title! The tunes here are all upbeat, and often share a lot with R&B material of the 50s – especially the vocal group numbers, which often echo more secular modes of early doo wop, but rise the lyrics towards more heavenly aims – while often imbuing the tunes with lots of earthy energy! All the tracks here are from the Vee Jay and Specialty Records labels – and in the case of Vee Jay especially, the well-chosen selection of tracks provides a long-overdue focus to tunes that have mostly been reissued for the spiritual market, and haven't gotten the kind of exposure in the soul scene that they've needed over the years! This collection really corrects that – handled by the excellent Craft division of Concord who've been giving us some great Stax reissues – and the package is overflowing with rare singles, a total of 40 tracks in all – accompanied by great notes in a really well-done package." - Dusty Groove