Rance Allen

Infusing traditional gospel music with Memphis soul, Detroit-based singer Rance Allen helped pave the way for the secularized gospel sound of the '80s and '90s. After signing with Stax in 1969, Allen and his group proceeded to bring their hip brand of gospel to the masses by scoring several chart hits and opening concerts for the likes of Isaac Hayes. This hits package covers the group's successful run in the '70s, spotlighting Allen's incredibly flexible and powerful voice (one listens to cuts like "Ain't No Need of Crying" and "Gonna Make It Alright" and it's easy to figure out where Prince picked up his misty falsetto from). The selections include Allen's biggest Stax hit, "I Got to Be Myself," the spiritually reconfigured cover "Just My Imagination (Just My Salvation)," and modern gospel pioneer James Cleveland's "That Will Be Enough for Me." Allen contributes a handful of slick and spirited groovers, like "I Give My All To You" and "I Belong to You," and even goes in for a little disco on another original, "Smile" (considering Allen's devout nature, it's hard to tell if the more commercial elements in the music came from him or hit-minded producers).

Craft Recordings honors the music of The Gospel Truth Records, a subsidiary of Stax Records, with the first-ever complete collection of all 34 singles issued by the imprint between 1972 and 1974. The compilation features in-depth liner notes by Jared Boyd, a Memphis-based journalist and NPR radio host, who captured new interviews with Stax Records executive Al Bell, trailblazing gospel artist Rance Allen, and Mary Peak Patterson, who helped establish the label. The Gospel Truth stands as an essential part of Stax’s enduring legacy and marks a landmark moment in gospel music history.

The concept of a compilation of Bob Dylan's gospel songs is certainly an idea whose time has come. That this does not feature Dylan performing the original versions of these songs is yet another. Executive producer Jeffrey Gaskill assembled a wide-ranging assortment of the hottest talent in the gospel arena, both past and present, to perform the songs from Dylan's Slow Train Coming and Saved albums, and producer Joel Moss extracted phenomenal performances from Shirley Caesar, the Fairfield Four, the Sounds of Blackness, Rance Allen, the Chicago Mass Choir fronted by Regina McCrary (who sang backup for Dylan on the 1978 and 1979 tours when these recordings were originally done), the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Helen Baylor (with Billy Preston), Aaron Neville, Dottie Peoples, Lee Williams & the Spiritual QC's, Mavis Staples, and Dylan himself (performing a duet on a completely rewritten version of "Gonna Change My Way of Thinkin'").

Ronnie McNeir is an American singer and songwriter born Lewis Ronald McNeir on December 14, 1951 in Camden, Alabama. As a solo artist, he recorded for the De-to, RCA, Prodigal, Motown, Capitol, Expansion and Motor City labels, recording his first song when he was seventeen. His friendship with Kim Weston, for whom he was musical director, led to his recording for RCA, then for moonlighting Motown Vice-President Barney Ales, the owner of the Prodigal label. When Ales went back to Motown, McNair became a Motown artist, recording the 1976 album "Love's Comin' Down". He would later duet with Teena Marie on the song "We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This" from her 1984 Epic album, Starchild and serve as the musical director for The Four Tops for several years. He became an official member of the Tops in 1999 when lead singer Levi Stubbs was too ill to continue singing with the group. He has been with the group ever since. He also was nominated for a Grammy in the Gospel Music category in 1981 for his collaboration with Rance Allen and in 2007, he released “Ronnie Mac & Company,” which features collaborations with Kirk Whalum, Kathy Lamar and fellow Four Top Theo Peoples. Throughout his career, Ronnie has also worked with Bobby Womack, David Ruffin, Smokey Robinson, Angela Winbush, the Whispers, Carrie Lucas and Eddie Kendricks.