
Roy of Roy & Revelation
“Will You Be Ready”
Roy & Revelation
4 Winds Records / Malaco (2016)
www.malaco.com
On their new single, “Will You Be Ready,” Stanley Roy Ladson and his group, aka Roy & Revelation, give Christian eschatology a 1960s party dance beat, making the strong medicine more palatable.
Implicit in the Hopkins, South Carolina, gospel quartet’s expression about “my Jesus” is that they are beckoning others to follow from within salvation’s inner circle. They are saved and want you to be, also.
While the radio edit has all the ingredients to sell the song over the air-lanes, the eight-plus minute extended version provides listeners with the true live experience. On the latter, the quartet vamps incessantly on the main motive, stopping and starting to the congregation’s delight.
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.