The Stovall Sisters
Not going to sugarcoat it: this is a gospel album, do what you will with that info. It is also wildly funky, featuring singers whose voices could stand side-by-side with any of the greats of the era. One of the most exciting things about gospel music is its power. Not the power to make believers out of non-believers, but its power to convey just how much the singer loves the subject. Just like you believe with everything in you that Aretha has truly never loved a man the way she loves the one she sings about, or that Stevie’s heart is broken and questioning why his love would leave in summer, you believe that these songs of praise are authentic, real. Love is love, after all. And whether that love is the physical or the spiritual, there’s something electric that happens when it just feels true, when it sounds true, when all the pieces fall into place.
The Stovall Sisters made their musical mark as background singers. They provided backing vocals for songs by William Truckaway, formally part of the acid-rock band Sopwith Camel, they were Ikettes, backing Ike and Tina Turner in 1970 (“There were about 18 sets of Ikettes over the years. We were probably some of the last ones,” Lillian Jackson nee Stoval told the East Bay Times in 2006.) and maybe most famously, for Norman Greenbaum’s 1969 song “Spirit in the Sky.” The trio tries on their own version on this album, but the less said about that song, the better. Instead focus on the album’s incredible opener, “Hang on in There,” with a drum beat that should have spawned 1000 samples (only two according to WhoSampled. Bummer), or “I Come to Praise Him,” which is just a perfect piece of funky R&B. The group was also indirectly responsible for the success of a much bigger group of the era when their musical director, Phillip Bailey, headed to Earth, Wind, & Fire.
At the time of its release, Reprise records put out three singles, which all went nowhere. The 70s loss is our gain. This record is one of those fantastic little pieces of music history that gets rediscovered generation by generation, each one marveling at the endless musical treasures that have been lost over the years, and thankful they’ve recovered at least one piece.