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Andrew Wartts And The Gospel Storytellers
There Is A God Somewhere

(Champ, 1984)

Soothing, early '80s Curtis-style gospel. Good for hangovers, spiritual rebirth etc

Andrew Wartts And The Gospel Storytellers

On the day after the MOJO Honours, with some delicate dispositions being nursed in the office, requests were made that we only listen to spiritual sounds, hushed, mollifying sides that would provide a soothing balm for sore heads. Thankfully, one of the albums we had in the office was this lost offering of dreamlike gospel funk. According to the good people at the Numero group label, Wartts was an aspiring songwriter from Greenville, MS who grew up singing in church choirs, moved to St Louis, Missouri, worked for the police department and sang in the Southern Wonders gospel group between 1961 and 1967. In 1983, while living in Bloomington, Illinois (a next-door neighbour and good friend of the late Donny Hathaway) Wartts formed the Gospel Storytellers, hoping to interest other artists in his heavily scriptural compositions.

"I wanted to do something different with gospel music and still make people feel good about life," says Wartts. "The truth is that all of the songs on that album were written for the express purpose of getting some major group to record them. I wanted to be a songwriter. However, no-one was interested. I mean we sent those songs out to so many people and couldn't get anyone to record a single one. Now, as life goes, shortly after we recorded the album I was approached by a representative for a major Rhythm and Blues star who is now deceased. But he was a big star. Everyone knows his name. He was interested in doing a gospel album. He liked what he heard and wanted me to write the material for him. I began to think that maybe the songs were pretty good."

The songs are good. Wartts holds hard to a then-outmoded JB's/Curtom sound, with funky drums, soft, wailing organ, golden harmonies and Oliver Sain guitarist Earl Wright laying down a minor-key chicken-scratch soul groove. Wartts burrows into the far corners of the Bible (The 37th Psalm, 25th verse; Luke, Chapter 16; John 14; the third chapter in the book of Acts), his sweet harmonies making these dusty, forbidding words sound like the mesmerizing entreaties of Curtis Mayfield. A silvery, euphoric sound, that is also effortlessly funky, it comes close to convincing you that the way of the Lord is a joyous one, not merely the mean choice between being a sinner or a winner.

Andrew Male

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 17/06/2010

Further Listening

Various – Good God! Born Again Funk (Numero Group, 2010)

Various – Fire In My Bones (Tompkins Square 2009)

The Mighty Knights – Run And Tell That (Mainstream, 1974)

Related MOJO content:

Andrew Wartts And The Gospel Storytellers

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  • that's what i like about the several tracks i've heard from this album - it doesn't give you some false tv-evangelist sense of what being a christian is like - it paints a canvas of the tensions and uncertainties of the christian walk - what seems like a fragile walk of faith - but in that walk is the mystery of interacting with the creator.

    Posted by henryah at 3:06 PM GMT 08/10/2010 Report Abuse

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