The blues and the gospel have more to do with each other than most realize; Mighty Sam McClain has built his career upon that truth. It is still something I find difficult to grasp, so when I hear and read the lyrics to his latest album Journey, I am sometimes taken aback by the facility with which McClain reaches both poles. Extracted from the context of the album, some of these songs would be right at home on any inspirational radio program. Others, like my personal favorite "Hanging on the Cross", take hold at a level of longing and pain that all understand and few wish to experience. The tight juxtaposition of both of these poles causes me to wrestle with my own tendencies to dwell in one camp to the exclusion of the other. As such, it can be an uncomfortable album. Of course, such discomfort is much needed sometimes, and Journey is a good place to find it.
This album is essentially flawless from a musical perspective. One would expect no less from one so experienced in this musical form, and with such an accomplished cast of supporting musicians. The only thing more I could ask from a blues album would be some wicked harp solos.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Steven S. BaldwinSoul is not as hot of a musical commodity these days as its wayward children dance and rap, but if it were, Mighty Sam McClain would be on top of the world. Regardless, his latest album, Journey, finds him at the top of his form, playing that old red-clay deep soul music with gutsy, unsurpassed vitality. Sam McClain was born and raised in Louisiana back in 1943. When he sings about picking cotton…Similar sounding releases
1988Janice Harrington / Kenn Lending Blues BandMagic
1994Larry HowardBright Side of the Blues
1996Sleepy RayWhere The Highway Turns
2002Van MorrisonDown the Road
2000Etta JamesMatriarch of the Blues
2002The Blind Boys of AlabamaHigher GroundMore from Mighty Sam McClain
2002One More Bridge to Cross
1999Soul Survivor: The Best of Mighty Sam McClain
1998Joy and Pain - Live in Europe
