Gospel

Hallelujah! How better to respond to this wonderful documentary than with some measure of the joy and passion displayed by the participants? Filmed at Oakland, California's Paramount Theater, this 1982 film brings together some of gospel music's heavy hitters (including the Rev. James Cleveland, Shirley Caesar, the Hawkins Family and the Mighty Clouds of Joy). And folks, there is some serious testifying going on here, both onstage and in the audience, as one performer after another does his or her best to tear the roof off the sucker. Don't be deceived by the gospel moniker. Take this music out of the pew and into the pub, and you've got Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, James Brown--that's how good some of these singers are. And if righteous rave-ups like the Hawkins' “Right On” and Cleveland's “Determined to Make Heaven My Home” don't get you moving, consider investing in a defibrillator. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (S. Graham)