The Woods BrothersWake Up in the Morning
Sharp Records (2014)
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog
If I had not seen the front cover of the Woods Brothers’ new CD, Wake Up in the Morning, I would have thought I was listening to a much older quartet. The traditional style in which the group sings suggests an ensemble that honed its harmonies in the 1960s and 1970s.
But lo and behold, the Woods Brothers from Atlanta, Georgia, are young men with old souls.
The seven-selection CD for Tony Sharper’s Sharp Records imprint demonstrates the Woods Brothers’ fealty to the old time way, especially on “Lift Jesus,” an electrifying performance with a cymbal-crashing tempo and driving vamp. Proclaiming the soul freedom of being born again, “How Blessed I Am” is another up-tempo song (is any “born again” gospel song not up-tempo?). The title track rekindles two familiar gospel tropes—“If I don’t wake up in the morning” and “Just hold on to God’s unchanging hand.”
If “The Name of Jesus” wanders into prosperity theology in that the vocalists seek a new home and new car, the charming “Black Eyed Peas” celebrates just the opposite: simple Southern living. “My mother raised me on cornbread and black eyed peas,” the Woods Brothers assert, and that was “sure good enough for me.”
If Wake Up in the Morning is any indication, the production quality of Sharp Records is improving. Producer Fred Standfers’ balance between vocals and music is just right and the harmonies have a depth that is rich and rewarding.
Three of Five Stars
Pick: “Lift Jesus.”
Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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