The Harold Smith Majestics - Lord, Help Me To Hold Out

It's Sunday folks and I'm gonna drag your ass to church! Time for some more good old gospel. Today we have the mighty Majestics and their fabulous choir. Another fine presentation from James Cleveland. This song was a 'hit' for Mr. Cleveland and the Majestics, although that's hard to say that when gospel music is so separated from the mainstream. Those in the gospel recording biz know that they've been searching for their 'own' voice and challenged with reaching wider audiences. And, being subject to easy dismissal.
As many of us that have been digging through piles of soul, funk and blues from the 1950's until the mid 1980's for a long time, we're starting to feel like every stone has been turned and all the good stuff is already exposed. This is NOT true of course, but it does justify opening newer and alternate doors. Gospel is an epic oasis of great soul music. It's a mostly untapped chapter in soul and American rhythm and blues. It's been sitting patiently right along side commercial and pop offerings for as long as any us can remember. For me, it's been a great source of amazing stuff and I'm heading more and more in that direction.
This tune was in fact one of the very first gospel tunes that really opened me up. I sat in a empty three bedroom house, all alone, and grieving over the loss of a girlfriend. There I was shedding tears and realizing that the records surrounding me floor to ceiling couldn't exactly give me a hug. So, I learned a hard lesson at that young age, never place your obsessions for music, collecting or making music higher than your actual 'personal' connections with people. So it was for me. That's how it was. Record shows very early in the AM, on the phone talking about trading, hunting records down, trading at people's houses and then DJ'ing until 2am. Nothing wrong with all this mind you, but for me, I needed to apply the e-brake.  But, in my moment of grieving, records did come to my aid. In particular I turned to the healing powers of Al Green. We all know he made 'make-up' music, but he was also the perfect author for 'break-up' music. Then, I flipped through a pile that I had picked up for free some where, just because they looked like they might be good. Harold Smith, The Violinaires, James Cleveland, Highway GC's, Rance Allen, and The Clark Sisters were all in this pile. All of them had the right components, similar to the funk records I was picking up, so why not?
I remember that 'Lord, Help Me To Hold' sunk deep into my chest with a potato sack full of truly moving soul. It's funky, that's a plus. Slow moving, heavy, thunderous soul music. When the singer (still not sure if it's James Cleveland or Harold Smith) comes in, it's in a commanding voice, sturdy and solid like a battle tank. This is exactly how I like my gospel...thick throated, a handful of soul claps and little tickle of B-3.

The Harold Smith Majestics - Lord, Help Me To Hold Out