Fred McDowell Amazing Grace: Mississippi Delta Spirituals By The Hunter's Chapel Singers Of Como, Miss. (180 Gram Vinyl)

This spellbinding blues-gospel blend from 1966 is one of the best (albeit not particularly broadly celebrated) revivalist records of the '60s. Tennessee-born Mississippi Fred McDowell was 64 when he cut the 16 tracks found here. Still, he was only a half-dozen years into a recording career that would end with his death in 1972. For this outing, the Delta bluesman explores his reverent side with assistance from his wife, Annie Mae, and their church choir from Como, Mississippi. With McDowell's assured guitar and fiery but friendly vocals in the fore, the choristers wrap themselves around the songs with enraptured ebullience. A few of these tunes will feel familiar to pop fans; "Jesus on the Main Line" was covered by Ry Cooder, while the Rolling Stones adopted "You Got to Move." Everything here, however, makes a deep connection. --Steven Stolder