Heavenly Heat

It may be too early to start choosing 2009's most impressive reissue packages, but the Fire In My Bones: Rare + Raw + Otherworldly African-American Gospel 1944-2007 (Tompkins Square) collection of post-war spirituals is sure to appear on a few year end lists.
Compiled and annotated by Mike McGonigal, the founder of Yeti magazine, former editor of Chemical Imbalance and tireless evangelist of emotionally-charged music of all stripes, the fabulous three disc Fire In My Bones set sidesteps the popular golden era quartets well-represented elsewhere to uncover the amazing one-off regional chillers and thrillers that have too often been overlooked by gospel historians and anthologists. The strength of this compendium lies in it's diversity.
What you get is nearly four hours of powerfully shouting preachers, guitar-slashing street singers and the soul-stirring harmonies of amped-up congregations all high on the Lord. Even if you've never been to church and don't plan on it, you can't help but get caught up in the heartfelt passion of it all. It hits you hard. Remember, this music was made to move mountains, not to make money.
Because these uniquely gifted artists are largely unknown outside of their parish or city block and they're all thrown together out of chronological sequence, McGonigal is able to impart a small sense of that digger discovery excitement, the wonderful feeling you get when stumbling onto some amazing lost artifact that can make the long hours crawling on your hands and knees for one seven-inch seem entirely worthwhile.
Audiophiles should note that the sound quality varies from track to track and these are mostly DIY productions and field recordings – sometimes sourced from decades old records salvaged in less than pristine shape from dollar bins, yard sales, dusty basements and second-hand furniture shops – so you may hear some slight imperfections now and again.
Where Fire In My Bones comes up short is not in sound reproduction but the visual component. The package could've been made much more engrossing had a little more effort been put into enhancing the accompanying booklet with more artist photos, sleeve art and label images. Tossing in four measly label shots for an 80-track set doesn't really cut it. Of course that would've made the three-disc package more expensive than the incredible $14.98 it's selling for at Soundscapes in Toronto at the moment but I don't think most serious roots music fans would've balked at spending a couple of extra bucks if it meant getting proper documentation.
Still, it's an amazing archival study at a phenomenal price. If you buy one gospel release this year, make it Fire In My Bones – you'll thank G... er... you'll just be glad you did.

Links 
Tompkins Square  www.tompkinssquare.com
Soundscapes  www.soundscapesmusic.com
Yeti Magazine http://yetipublishing.com/