Living in the Last Days

by Elizabeth King

Overview

Elizabeth King is a septuagenarian gospel singer based in Memphis, Tennessee. She began her career in 1969 with the single "Testify" for the Designer label and issued a few others. From 1970 to 1973, she fronted the all-male Gospel Souls, who cut a handful of singles -- including the hit "I Heard the Voice" -- for Juan D. Shipp's D-Vine Spirituals label. King retired and spent the next 48 years raising 15 children, and singing in church and on a weekly gospel radio program. In 2019, Bible & Tire Recording Company issued The D-Vine Spirituals Recordings by Elizabeth King & The Gospel Souls. Watson and Shipp invited King to meet at Memphis' Delta-Sonic Studio. When Watson asked if she wanted to record again, she responded in the affirmative. Her first recording in almost 50 years, Living in the Last Days, is the result. King is backed by the Sacred Soul Sound Section, the label's studio band. Led by guitarist Will Sexton, it includes drummer George Sluppick, guitarist Matt Ross-Spang, and bassist Mark Edgar Stuart. Famed session organist Al Gamble also appears. Singers Christopher and Courtney Barnes -- the Sensational Barnes Brothers -- lend their voices to these proceedings, as do King's former labelmates the Vaughn Sisters and the D-Vine Spiritualettes. The set opens with a stirring read of Rev. James Cleveland's Civil Rights-era anthem "No Ways Tired." At 77, King's voice is lower in range, but she has lost none of her power or control. The band plays swampy and loose, and she commands them with her massive contralto. Her voice embodies unshakable faith and hope that she in turn imparts to the listener. "He Touched Me" is not the staid Bill Gaither hymn, but a raucous cover of the Shaw Singers' gritty gospel-blues classic. King's version is fueled by reverbed guitars, brushed snare, and the angelic voices of the Sensational Barnes Brothers. She underscores the lyric with joyous conviction. The title track is a choogling soul-blues with bumping Hammond B-3, slide guitar, and clattering snare all riding a slip time groove. The chorus responds to King emphatically with exclamations, affirmations, and thunderous handclaps. King recut three of her early Designer sides here. "Testify" joins rowdy gospel to roadhouse rockabilly, making it tough to know whether it's Saturday night or Sunday morning. "A Long Journey" is an exuberant sacred soul number that recalls the Staple Singers, and "Walk with Me" finds the band offering King a filthy, strolling, rhythm & blues as she croons above them. "Call on Them" sees King and the band joined by swinging horns, and she sings "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" in a haunted a cappella. Closer "You've Got to Move" is a spooky yet hopeful reading of Mississippi Fred McDowell's blues-gospel classic. The throaty grain in King's voice reassures even as it warns. Living in the Last Days is immediate, powerful, and unforgettable. It took her almost 50 years to record it, but it was worth the wait. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	04/02/2021
Label:	Bible & Tire Recording Company
UPC:	0854255000106
Rank:	136753

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elizabeth King   Primary Artist
Mark Stuart   Bass
Jim Spake   Horn
Rick Steff   Organ
Will Sexton   Guitar
Art Edmaiston   Horn
Al Gamble   Organ,Wurlitzer,Piano (Electric)
George Sluppick   Drums,Percussion
Carolyn Brown   Vocals
Angela White   Vocals
Matt Ross-Spang   Guitar
Mae Hicks   Vocals
Courtney Barnes   Vocals
Michelle Carter   Vocals
William Graves   Vocals,Wurlitzer,Piano (Electric)
Audrey Fuller   Vocals
Cora White   Vocals
Deborah Ballard   Vocals
Chris Barnes   Vocals

Technical Credits

Will Sexton   Assistant Producer
Bruce Watson   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Matt Ross-Spang   Mixing
Kerri Mahoney   Graphic Design
Juan Shipp   Assistant Producer
Clay Jones   Mastering
Matt White   Photography