Artist:   BLACK GRASS                             

Title:   “Black Grass”

Label:   SHELTER ~ SW-8916.  Original stereo pressing.  Label is red with black text.

Year:   1973. 

Condition: 

DISC:  Vinyl is NEAR MINT with 100% of original gloss, as clean as can be found.  Appears to have been played one or two times at most, and handled with care.  Labels are clean.  Fidelity is superb.  A gorgeous disc you will never need to upgrade.

JACKET:   Jacket is nice VG+.  Front artwork is clean and bright, with some ring wear.  Nice seams and spine.  Light wear on seams, spine, and corner tips.  Reverse is clean with no writing or stickers; has some ring wear.  Round punch hole at upper right corner indicating that the album was originally sold as a cutout.  Overall a very nice jacket to accompany the beautiful disc.     

Track Listing: 

Side One:

Sweeping Through the City Come Across Your Bridge Early Morning Rain I’m So Grateful for You Great Day 

Side Two:

Lock, Stock, and Barrel Going Down to the River Give, Give, Give Burnin’ Love Morning Train

Review:

“This is a magnificent heavy soul/gospel rock album by vocal group Black Grass, a relatively obscure gospel outfit similar to the Staple Singers and signed to Leon Russell's Shelter label.

Russell's unmistakable boogie woogie piano style is all over this disc; it joyously opens the feelgood, uptempo gospel vamp "Sweeping Through the City" and retains much of its revivalist spirit on other traditional gospel tracks as "Great Day" and "Morning Train".

The vocals here are amazing. It really sounds like the Staple Singers, with the female lead singer belting and wailing uncannily like Mavis Staples while still holding her own. The male lead takes over on a few cuts and rips through 'em with Southern Soul stompin' zeal.

The mid-tempo "Come Across Your Bridge" is a fair strutter adding distorted organ riffs on the chorus, whereas "Early Morning Rain" catches Black Grass at its most melancholic. The female lead surges through this tender ballad, with Russell adding a shimmering, gentle organ melody.

The country funk for which Russell was renowned reappears on the passionate, lazily groovin' "I'm So Grateful to You", which also stars Carl Radle's fat poppin' bass loops.

"Lock Stock and Barrel" was the group's most commercial effort; a delightfully arranged ballad (beautiful strings) riding a hesitating groove brilliantly demonstrating Leon Russell's niche for melodic, haunting country soul hybrids. For more of this brand of contemplative, rustic soul searching, also check out the truly infectious "Give, Give, Give".

Black Grass goes for the funk the hardest on the devastating jam "Going Down to the River," with Leon plunkin' away at the clavinet, while blues titan and guitarist extraordinaire Freddie King (at that time also signed to Shelter) gives away a frantic, piercing solo on the rollickin' rockin' soul gem "Burnin' Love".

Can't recommend this LP enough. It's Southern drenched soulful boogie-gospel-blues-rock at its finest.”

(From an online review courtesy of the rateyourmusic web site.)

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