2021 – Bible & Tire
By Phillip Smith; April 4, 2021
It’s been forty-five years since Elizabeth King walked away from the recording business to raise her fifteen children. King has returned to the studio to share her dynamic voice with a brand-new album of uplifting sacred soul called Living in the Last Days. With Bruce Watson producing, King is backed by The Sacred Soul Sound Section comprised of guitarists Will Sexton (Dale Watson, Nicki Bluhm, Amy LaVere) and Matt Ross-Spang (Al Green, Jason Isbell, John Prine), bassist Mark Stuart (Alvin Youngbood Hart), and drummer/percussionist George Sluppick (Albert King, Chris Robinson Brotherhood). Also appearing on this record are The Vaughn Sisters Vocals, The D-Vine Spiritualettes Vocals, organists Al Gamble (St. Paul & the Broken Bones), and Rick Steff, vocalists Chris and Courtney Barnes, with Art Edmaiston and Jim Spike on horns, and William Graves on vocals and Wurlitzer electric piano.
This eleven-track album leads off with “No Ways Tired”. King’s steadfast vocals are accented with a deep buttery bass, and a sweet twangy guitar. I love the title-track “Living in the Last Days”. Complete with hand-clapping and beefy organ accompaniment, it becomes quite the glory-hallelujah hymn. “Call on Him” is an exquisite taste of Sixties soul wrapped around southern gospel. It’s musical gold. Drenched in a swampy Mississippi blues, “You’ve Got to Move” brings the album to a close. With a superb performance, King expresses just how closely the musical paths are between the blues and church music.
The world could use more music like the ones Elizabeth Kings brings to Living in the Last Days.
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For more information about the artist, visit this website : www.bibleandtire.com
