Archie Dale and the Tones of Joy – Don’t Worry About Me

Don’t Worry About Me
Archie Dale and the Tones of Joy
Meltone/NuSound Entertainment Group 2008

While they have not received anywhere near the attention they did during the Golden Age, gospel quartets are still out there and ever faithful to the gospel highway. They do what they have always done: put on their uniforms and travel from town to town, mostly during weekends, to sing in churches and auditoriums large and small for a gathering of true believers who bless them as generously as they possibly can. Few singers were able to quit their day jobs to sing quartet professionally even back in the day, and fewer still have that luxury today.

As for recordings, if it weren’t for labels such as Malaco & AIR, 4 Life Miracle and Meltone, more quartets would be left to their own devices in capturing their sound on record. Like Malaco and AIR, Meltone has kept the faith ever since vinyl was fashionable, and its latest release is by a group well known among the quartet fold, Archie Dale and the Tones of Joy.

Archie Dale and the Tones of Joy is a quartet that has been around for 40 years. Those who appreciate the quartet sound of the 70s and 80s – known by the familiar if not industry-sanctioned descriptors “gospel soul” and “gospel funk” – are especially fond of the group. The Tones’ original personnel is nearly intact, with all but one current member an original. Today, Willie Glover, Chris Mathews, Daniel Grant and Anthony Hudson sing along with Dale, who does most of the lead work.

The Tones of Joy’s new project, Don’t Worry About Me, carries on their deep groove tradition. The second half of the CD is superior to the first half because the latter cuts feature gutsier singing by Dale and more robust quartet harmonizing. The sound balance is better on the second half, too, with the quartet not as buried behind the instrumentation as they are on the opening tracks.

“Christian Journey,” “The Lord Will Make a Way” and “Around the Pearly Gates” are the album’s finest cuts, and the group’s rendering of Kenneth Morris’ “God is Real” is most deserving of radio spins.

Plenty of quartet enthusiasts will be pleased that a new Archie Dale and the Tones of Joy recording is available. Melvin Couch’s Meltone made it so.

Two and a Half of Four Stars