A fortunate result of the recent attention paid to American “roots” music is that several classic artists of traditional gospel have been able to maintain and even expand their legacies, producing albums that rank among the best of their material.
The Dixie Hummingbirds can now join the list of traditionally minded gospel groups, such as The Fairfield Four, The Blind Boys of Alabama and others, who have made new contributions well after most of their contemporaries have ceased to exist. Their contribution, the new album Diamond Jubilation, celebrates the group’s 75th anniversary and finds the Hummingbirds collaborating with a selection of musicians (Dr. John, The Band’s Garth Hudson and Levon Helm, and Larry Campbell and Tony Garnier, two members of Bob Dylan’s touring ensemble) that combine with their expert harmonies to give life, resonance and deep emotion to a top-notch group of songs.
The fierce, driving “God’s Radar” opens the album with an insistent zydeco-style push. Rocking like a freight train, the track is an immediate reminder of how righteously rowdy the best African-American gospel can be. The second track, “He Watches Out For You And Me,” gently sways with soul-inflected guitar work from Larry Campbell, while the rich baritone lead vocal caresses each assertion of faith and security.
Deep blues follows, as “Take It All To The Lord” finds the group joining together in a united lead vocal that rips every bit of feeling from the lyric, a lyric that — in classic gospel fashion — manages to simultaneously be both sorrowful and rejoice-ful. The sprightly handclaps and shuffling rhythm of “Someday” almost disguise the cautionary tale of doing too little, too late. Particularly memorable is the verse about the “man down on Wall Street” who finds, like everybody else, that “someday always comes too soon.” The relevance is assuredly not coincidental.
The beautiful “When I Found Jesus Christ,” on which the group is backed only by mournful guitar from Campbell, perhaps best calls to mind the classic quartet recordings of black gospel’s golden age.
The slow majesty of that track gives way to the fiery celebration of “When I Go Away,” the album’s best song. With Helm laying down a pounding backbeat, the Hummingbirds find their way through the darkness to a brighter day in the Promised Land. Featuring a bridge characterized by insistent call-and-response, and possessing the best performance by the backing band on the record, “When I Go Away” is filled with funky, righteous intensity, a four-minute encapsulation of what the best black gospel has always been. “When I Go Away” is so memorable that the near-rockabilly groove of “I’ve Been Born Again,” the next track, can’t help but pale a bit in comparison. Luckily, “City Of Gold” is next. Penned by Bob Dylan, this restful, organ-based prayer is sung as beautifully as it is written and serves to center the troubles of the world on the promise of the future.
Those troubles are front and center on the stomping version of “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” classic gospel-blues that finds the Hummingbirds accompanied sparingly by a slide guitar and hands-and-feet percussion that serves their purpose most appropriately. Unadorned and unsweetened, it is concentrated soul power. “I Bid You Goodnight” is a sweet near-lullaby that acts as a benediction for the service the Hummingbirds have been presiding over, as the group reminds us — in gorgeous harmony — of the assurances that faith can provide.
The album does not end there, as may have been expected given the song’s tone. Instead, the Dixie Hummingbirds, one of the great institutions in American music, return for the spirited encore of “Rasslin’ Jacob,” and the album ends making a truly joyful noise.
Diamond Jubilation aches with the deep rumble of the soul, searching for the answers and the higher ground while never failing to address the problems and complications of day-to-day life on this planet. With voices joined in exquisite harmony, the Dixie Hummingbirds — backed by a crack ensemble that never disappoints or drops the ball — continue their three-quarters of a century quest to find redemption, both for themselves and anybody else. When so much modern Christian music (both black and white) seems so devoid of the recognition of the burdens of living, work like this must be cherished.
