TBGB Pick of the Week: December 11, 2006

“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
Rev. Timothy Flemming, Sr.
From the CD Go Tell it on the Mountain
God’s Strength Records 2006
1-866-683-5388

In the 1960s, Timothy Flemming was known throughout his home state of Georgia as “The Boy Preacher.”

Today he is Rev. Timothy Flemming, the venerable Pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Atlanta, a post he has held for 29 years. Although lauded for his oratory skills, which are laced with a healthy dose of mother wit, Rev. Flemming also sings. He sings very well, too, as demonstrated most recently on his Christmas release, Go Tell It on the Mountain.

The title track is appropriately old-school. Flemming’s interpretation owes a great deal to Mahalia Jackson’s own – he punctuates syllables almost exactly where she does – and his open throat singing and shouting remind the listener of another fan of the Christmas hymnbook, Rev. Cleophus Robinson.