Although
Ella Jenkins
' records were in large part intended for educational use, collections such as this one also endure as strong
folk
music on its own merits. Frequently accompanied by the
Goodwill Spiritual Choir
of the Monumental Baptist Church in Chicago, these are strong and committed renditions of African-American
songs. Plenty of these tunes are well known by both
fans and the general public, and plenty of listeners may well have heard
"Wade in the Water"
(the album's standout),
"Old Time Religion,"
"Hammer Song,"
and
"Cotton-Eyed Joe"
for the first time here. While the call-and-response interplay between
Jenkins
and the choir is good, she could also be effective on solo numbers like
"Who's Gonna Be Your Man?,"
on which the only backing to her voice is supplied by minimal percussion that sounds like a stick and hollow drum being tapped. There's also a version of
"No More Auction Block,"
sung by
Bob Dylan
in the early '60s (although he may have learned it from
Odetta
's rendition); its melody was adapted for
Dylan
's
"Blowin' in the Wind."
~ Richie Unterberger