I’ve been trying to confirm, for twenty years, where the historic Dallas sessions of 1927-1929 took place. These annual December recordings, by Columbia producer Frank B. Walker, include “Dark Was the Night,” “If I Had My Way,” “Motherless Children” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” by Blind Willie Johnson, as well as every track Washington Phillips […]
Remastered CD of 1920’s gospel curiosity from East Texas, with 77 page booklet by Michael Corcoran. (The sole of Washington Phillips is not included.) Grammy-nominated. “Corcoran has few rivals for following a story to its logical conclusion, then refining it into a seamless narrative. Even the means of reporting become part of the stories.” Michael […]
His gospel points to a higher power, for how could man alone make music for the angels?
New York Review of Books calls Manzarene Dreams “the authoritative new edition of Phillips’s music.” Creative Loafing (Atlanta): This was the cover story by Chad Radford.“When Phillips died, a secret history of pre-war gospel blues was born; a mystery shrouded in speculation and mistaken identity. But through the legwork and dedication of semi-retired Texas music […]
The box of books came today. I’ve been waiting two years for them. Gospel music’s great re-appearing act Washington Phillips taught me patience. His musical prowess on a homemade instrument was the subject of a newspaper article in the home paper in Teague in 1907. But it would be 20 years later until this self-made […]
