Gospel-boogie is a style overridden with more tepid one tracker LPs than regular non-gospel boogie, which is quite an accomplishment. It is all too often that these records step over the bounds of cheesiness outweighing any small nugget of that certain sound we all look for. There are still some quality tunes out there waiting to be rescued from a wasteland of Savoy and Light label junk. Black Shag already posted one of the uncontested heavyweights of the genre.
I found another cheap copy of Kenny Smith's Witness LP a few days ago, a record I hadn't touched since I made this mix nearly a year ago. At that time I was pulling things out on the fly and the first track sounded good, so in the mix it went. This weekend I spent a little more time with the record and realized its actually pretty solid, there are several strong tracks which in my mind automatically places it in the upper 10% of any boogie type record. The title track "Witness" is possibly the best. If you can hang past the sax solo at the beginning you'll be treated to some shimmering 1986 production and vocals that are mercifully subtle in their Jesus-related subject matter.
Kenny Smith - Witness
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