They've changed it into a deep and slow blues number that sounds for all the world like the Animals singing "House Of The Rising Sun". At first I was really taken aback because not only didn't it sound like any version of the song I'd heard sung before, but also because it sounded unusually dark and brooding for a gospel song. However, once I got over the initial shock and began listening to it carefully, I was able to appreciate what an amazing job they done with it. Instead of being a joyful celebration of faith, they had turned it into a song that reflected the mood of struggle the song's lyrics depict. For the first time I was able to understand what it meant to be lost, and just how hard the struggle to be found really could be.
The first guest to join the Blind Boys on stage was blues guitarist Susan Tedeschi. Now, I've always thought of Tedeschi as a guitarist first and a vocalist second, but after hearing her on this disc I've changed my mind. When she first joined them it was to sing and play guitar on "Free At Last" and "People Get Ready". While she didn't have much opportunity to cut loose on her guitar like she would normally, she did have the opportunity to sing a verse or two on each of these songs, and then again during the grand finale of "I'll Fly Away" that closed the show. Each time she opened her mouth to sing, she absolutely blew me away with her power and the quality of her voice. She has one of those wonderful throaty voices that sound raw with passion without sounding affected. You could tell by her performance that she was just loving every second she got to spend on stage with the Blind Boys and enjoying the opportunity to sing these songs.
That was universal among all the guests, and you couldn't help but be carried away by everybody's enthusiasm. While Dr. John, Marva Wright, and Henry Butler were all equally as good as Tedeschi in their own rights, none of them were able to match what the Preservation Hall Jazz Band brought to the proceedings. "Down By The Riverside" is probably as old a chestnut as you're going to find when it comes to gospel songs, having been played to death by everybody from folk groups to school choirs. So it's quite some feat to make that song sound like you've never heard it before, but that's exactly what the combination of the Blind Boys and Preservation Hall manage to do. They imbue it with so much life and style that every other version I've ever heard before paled in comparison. You felt that if you could only get everybody singing along on "I ain't going study war no more" we'd have peace in our time before you knew it.
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