Ain’t That The Gospel Truth? - a podcast by Ace of Spades PDX

A focus on the brief, soulful, funky and amazing period in the early 1970’s when Black music had no bounds, including reminding us all that it not only came from the Blues, but also the church. #gospel #soulgospel #stax #gospeltruth







If you are like me, you find that Christmas music misses the point many times, as much of it has forgotten what the reason for the season is truly all about. Recently, here in the Portland, OR area, a radio station calling itself the “best variety adult contemporary” programs nothing but Christmas music throughout the season annually. Oddly, their version of “variety” almost never includes Gospel of any kind as part of the mix.















Now, I was raised Catholic, and I am probably the farthest thing from you might call a “man of the church”. However, regardless of affiliation, I can be and am incredibly moved by religious music that speaks to my core values of charity, community, togetherness and peace, especially when that music feels like it’s coming from a deep respect and understanding of unconditional love.







It also doesn’t hurt if I can sing along, clap and dance to it, either.















Just like much of what the season has become, which seems to be about the sale of things we probably don’t need in an attempt to, probably unintentionally at times, but more often than not intentionally, draw us away from the birth of Jesus Christ and his teachings. We can argue all day about whether he was born in the spring with the birthing of the lambs, and the politics of why the date was moved; as old as I am, I wasn’t there, and here we are just before the beginning of winter to mark this occasion. Work with me here…















As soon as I turned on the station, there was the standard “O Tannenbaum”, which translates to “O Christmas Tree”. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t pine trees in the Middle East. However, since this is an educational program, let me tell you that the pines that grow in that part of the world are of the species Pinus halepensis, commonly known as the aleppo and brutia pines, look nothing like the department store tree that is commonplace. Seriously, even the foliage in these “Christmas songs” can’t get it right.















And of course, don’t get me started on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, a song about an arctic animal body shamed and bullied by his his own kind for being different until he is exploited by an old white man.







Sorry, I digress; let’s get back to Jesus.















In show 46, season one, back in February of this year during Black History Month, I did a show on The Women of Stax/Volt. In that program, the spotlight was on all of the different types of women artists on history’s greatest Soul label, based out of Memphis, TN. What wasn’t covered in depth were the multiple other labels Stax founded, including Ardent, which was a rock label, Laff, which was a comedy label, and The Gospel Truth, a religious imprint.















But this was no ordinary religious label: primarily it focused on a new sub-genre called Soul Gospel. Stax had previously flirted with the sound via the mega-selling Staples Singers, who had crossed over to the mainstream with then-in-vogue message songs, who were also a group that never gave up their gospel roots.

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