Rev. Utah Smith & Rev. Lonnie Farris - Slide Guitar Gospel 1944-1964 (1995)

1. The Holy Spirit [Rev. Utah Smith][2:04]
2. I Want Two Wings [Rev. Utah Smith][3:00]
3. God's Mighty Hand [Rev. Utah Smith][2:49]
4. Two Wings [Rev. Utah Smith][2:31]
5. Take a Trip [Rev. Utah Smith][2:51]
6. I Got Two Wings [Rev. Utah Smith][3:27]
7. Glory to Jesus, I'm Free [Lonnie Farris][3:45]
8. Walk to Thee [Lonnie Farris][3:07]
9. Soldiers of the Cross [Lonnie Farris][2:55]
10. What Mother Can Do [Lonnie Farris][2:52]
11. Golden Street [Lonnie Farris][2:41]
12. A Closer Walk to Thee [Lonnie Farris][2:50]
13. It's a Blessing to Call His Name [Lonnie Farris][2:31]
14. Peace in the Valley [Lonnie Farris][2:49]
15. I'm So Happy and Free the Lord Save Me [Lonnie Farris][2:32]
16. They Are Ringing Them Bells [Lonnie Farris][2:39]
17. Walk Around [Lonnie Farris][3:04]
18. In Your Kingdom [Lonnie Farris][2:48]
19. In the Clover Field [Lonnie Farris][3:06]
20. A Night at the House of Prayer [Lonnie Farris][2:20]
21. Wondering Child Mother Is Dead [Lonnie Farris][2:26]
22. His Love [Lonnie Farris][2:20]

Musicians:
Rev. Utah Smith (The Traveling  Evangelist), vocal, electric guitar. (1-6)
Rev. Lonnie Farris, vocal, electric steel “Hawaiian” guitar. (7-22)
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Rev. Le Vol Franklin, vocal, electric bass guitar. (11,12)
Rev. Grimes, washboard.
Deacon McMillian, drums.
Thelma William, vocal. (17,18)
Rev. Elliott Keyes, tenor sax. (15,16)

One of the most animated of the post-war crop of gospel evangelists was Shreveport, Louisiana’s Elder Utah Smith. Known as the “Two-Winged Preacher”, Smith began performing late in the 1920s and was using an electric guitar by 1942. Smith’s masterpiece was undoubtedly Two Wings which he recorded on each of his three released discs with varying degrees of intensity. The flip sides exhibit a considerable amount of diversity, with God’s Mighty Hand apparently modelled closely on Elder Curry’s “Memphis Flu” from 1930, and Take A Trip reminiscent of the Carter Family’s popular “Gospel Ship”. This evangelistic dynamo whose volatile guitar pyrotechnics are enough to distract a discerning listener from the fact that none of it is affected with a slide.

The dynamic Hawaiian guitar of Reverend Lonnie Farris should be proof enough of the resilience and adaptability of modern gospel music. He began his recording career when a disc-jockey asked him to record some background music that Farris claimed became a hit record for which he was not paid. He started his own record company in 1962 (Farris Records), and this is the source of the recordings herein, which are all quite interesting and eclectic performances as likely to draw from a booting R & B saxophone style (They Are Ringing Them Bells) as popular C & W hits like Ted Daffan’s “Born To Lose (I’m So Happy And Free The Lord Save Me).

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