Universal South
2005
Souls' Chapel
About This Album
On the surface, Marty Stuart's Soul's Chapel is a gospel album -- but only on the surface. Certainly all of the tracks here, whether covers or originals -- and the album is divided neatly between the two -- the topical considerations come from the Southern church. Stuart has always been adventurous in reinterpreting the music he holds most dear, from bluegrass to honky tonk to rockabilly. His take on gospel is no less ambitious. Here, blues, soul, R&B, hard country, and early country-rockabilly -- along with gorgeous four-part harmony -- wend and wind around one another to create a tapestry so rich, so utterly full of honest emotion and joy, that it transcends the intended genre; not by subverting or bastardizing it, but by showing how gospel music is inherent in all of the other traditions that Stuart employs. The album opens with Pops Staples' "Somebody Saved Me." The song is reverent, and contains gorgeous backing vocals provided by the Fabulous Superlatives (Harry Stinson, Brian Glenn, and Kenny Vaughn), while Stuart apes that snaky, spooky guitar Pops played. But this is no mere cover job -- Stuart and friends bring out some of the bluesy wildness in the song without revving it up.
Track List (try tracks 1,4,6,7 and 11)

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