Dedicated to the life of Clarence Fountain.  Well done good and faithful servant and now the gates of heaven have opened wide for your arrival home.

Full Gospel Tilt
by Michael Romani

A master of early hard gospel innovation
The singer is assured of his final destination
Standing center stage microphone in hand
Hand on hip, he speaks to the audience he commmands 

He did not come there seeking Jesus that night
He had brought God with him that shining night
With a tremulous shake, the Blind Boys worked the ground
With a look of mirth, he was quietly loud

There is a long journey in finding his obscurity
But even the in-fighting couldn't stop the history
Starting off the journey as a happy land jubilee
The rest, as they say, was no great mystery

With all the fire of a Pentecostal preacher
Fountain's lyrics often made him a teacher
Growling low in his often raspy growl
His shrieking falsetto reached out like a howl

The Blind Boys of Alabama have their legacy
The kind of a blessing that lives into posterity
It was Southern gospel sung soulful and old school
Stepping up, full-stop to become the genre's living rule

(c) June 16, 2018  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserved