If you are a non-believer, then 60-something singer Naomi Shelton is likely to have the power to convert you to the ways of the Lord. And for all you believers out there,
if Shelton happens to turn up at your church, you'd better get ready to rock.
This is old school gospel music that's rooted in soul with flourishes of funk. You can tell she's sung in just as many pubs and clubs as she has churches during a singing career spanning more than 50 years.
Remarkably though, this is her first album. Shelton's story goes something like this: she started singing as a child in church, and after high school in the late 50s she moved to New York and sang in clubs where she met organist and band leader Cliff Driver. Shelton kept gigging, but it wasn't until the late 90s that she started fronting the Gospel Queens with Driver as musical director. And finally, after 10 years, they've recorded an album and what a beauty it is. It starts off slow and stripped-back on What Is This?, but with the first smoky stabs of organ on What More Can I Do? you'll be dancing in perfect unison like the Temptations, and singing along with the Queens in their pleas to the Lord.
Lift My Burden channels Curtis Mayfield's People Get Ready both in sentiment and song; the mid-60s Motown mood of I'll Take The Long Road and I Need You To Hold My Hand also has a down-home country lilt to it; and on the staunch title track Shelton shows her muscle with a tough yet soulful vocal performance. Which leaves you wondering: what have you done to me, my sister?
Scott Kara
