1. I Believe I'll Go Back Home
2. Down on Me
3. Honey in the Rock - Graves, F.A.
4. I'm Gonna Cross the River of Jordan Some O'These Days
5. Oh Death - Patton, Charley
6. You Better Quit Drinking Shine
7. Been Listening All the Day
8. Sinner You'll Need King Jesus
9. This Time Another Year You May Be Gone
10. Lord I'm the True Vine
11. Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus) - Traditional
12. Holy Mountain
13. I Wouldn't Mind Dying (But I Gotta Go by Myself)
14. Everybody Help the Boy Come Home
15. Everybody Ought to Pray Sometime
16. Tryin' to Get Home
17. I'll Be Rested (When the Roll Is Called) - Traditional
18. I'm on My Way to the Kingdom Land - Traditional
19. Troubled 'Bout My Soul
20. When That Great Ship Went Down - Traditional
21. I Am in the Heavenly Way - Traditional
22. Good Lord (Run Old Jeremiah)
23. Jesus Is Getting Us Ready for That Great Day
24. I Believe I'll Go Back Home - Traditional
25. Prayer of Death, Pt. 1
26. Prayer of Death, Pt. 2
Amazon.com
Ignore the low fidelity of this 26-track compendium, and you have one of the most interesting gospel compilations ever released. Most of these songs were recorded among a variety of "race" labels between 1926 and 1936, mostly for Paramount and Vocalion. Copious liner notes provide the needed details for each track, along with an essay by label chief/folk legend John Fahey. Soundwise, some of these tunes are indeed primitive--there are more hisses and pops than a Mongolian BBQ. But underneath the surface noises, in tracks by Elder J.J. Hadley (a.k.a. Charley Patton), Washington White (a.k.a. Bukka White), and Blind Roosevelt Graves, there's something magical. Apparently, '26 to '36 saw a newfound interest in sacred street singers that, in turn, inspired record labels to hire blues artists to work under aliases. Whatever the motivation, these tracks are testimonies to a nearly lost era of great musicianship. --Jason Verlinde
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American Primitive, Vol. 1: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926-36)
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1997-10-21)
- Publisher: Revenant Records
- Label: Revenant Records
- Studio: Revenant Records
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 7 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #38327
Avg. Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: a thrill 2007-02-13
Comment: A fine selection of gospel, most of which was probably sold through the "race" market, and I've never seen any of these, even in the vintage sellers. Buy it!
14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just buy it, you'll life will be better for it... 2004-09-30
Comment: Albums like this make me feel great and really bummed out at the same time. Great because this music is as pure, raw and unpop as you can get, just amazingly real, but bummed because real music like this is gone and dead. At least we have these records of a time before proffesionalism and corporations destroyed music (and everyother art form).
I don't beleive in god or religion, but this is still one of my fave cds, heck if there was music like this in churches nowadays, i'd be going to church all the time. So don't let the term Gospel turn you off, this doesn't sound like Gospel, it's only gospel cause they mention jesus once and a while.
22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The music's great, find better copies of the 78s to transfer 2002-03-28
Comment: Obviously the music presented here is really great. My only beef is the really poor condition of some of the 78s used. I know this stuff is really rare, but I bet there are cleaner copies of these records out there. Is it supposed to be important that these are John Fahey's 78s? It's not to me. I don't have much music of this type, but I found a much cleaner copy of the Jaybird Coleman track on an old Biograph LP called "This Old World's In A Hell Of A Fix." Even dubbing the version off this LP would have been better that the severely damaged copy of the 78 used for this CD. I wonder if their Charley Patton CD box set was also produced with poor condition 78s like these?
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another Outstanding Revenant Compilation 2001-08-18
Comment: Revenant has issued some of the best old music compilations: Dock Boggs' "Country Blues," the Stanley Brothers' first recordings, the Anthology of American Folk Music Vol. 4 (not to mention the upcoming super-definitive collection of Charley Patton recordings: "Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues). Great, obscure music, and inventive, eye-catching packaging.This compilation is no exception. This is the most astounding collection of old-time gospel and sacred music ever compiled. From the bone-shattering sacred songs of Charley Patton (as the Elder J.J. Hadley) to the sublime Blind Roosevelt Graves to the strange Rev. I. B. Ware.....there is simply no weak tune here. The title isn't misleading: this is as raw as you can get. Sanctified and rockin' and spine-tingling, this is simply one great album!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Listen to the L.A. guy 2001-07-10
Comment: I did. If this one might be better than "The Half Ain't Never Been Told" then it must be essential. It is. This disc will snap your head back. Powerful no nonsense music. American roots music, oh baby that's one thing we did absolutely right.
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American Primitive, Vol. 1: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926-36)
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