The Lee Boys – Testify

The Lee Boys

Evil Teen (2012)

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

The sacred steel tradition developed out of the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, the Keith and Jewell Dominions.  In the hands of the right musician, the pedal steel as a gospel instrument can become another voice, just like the Hammond B3, electric guitar, or the brass instruments in the United House of Prayer.

Listening to his sacred steel work on the Lee Boys’ Testify, Roosevelt Collier is one of those right musicians.  He pulls a full range of human emotions from the strings, everything from mournful moans (“Wade in the Water”) to holiness shouts (“We Need to Hear from You”). 

Testifyis a collection of original and classic gospels.  The opening track and debut single, “Smile,” is a cheerful anthem of encouragement, while “Going To Glory” demonstrates how steel and the sanctified beat go together like bacon and eggs.  A funky rhythm section, the warm warble of a B3, and Collier’s pedal steel make “Always By My Side” sound like it emanated from Rick Hall’s Fame Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  Actually, much of the album was recorded in Louisiana.

In gospel, the focus is often on the singer, but here the ear is squarely directed to the musicians.  Not that the Lee Boys can’t hold their own vocally—they do—but Collier is particularly potent when combined with electric guitarists Alvin Lee, Warren Haynes, and Jimmy Herring.  The endings of tracks such as “I’m Not Tired,” “So Much To Live For,” and the title track are all-out jam sessions.

Born and raised in Miami, the Lee Boys grew up in the House of God, where Elder Robert E. Lee was pastor and also a steel player.  The group is comprised of brothers Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals), and their nephews Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy Jr. (seven-string bass), and Earl Walker (drums).

Picks: “Testify,” “Wade in the Water.”