And The Good Book

Personnel includes: Louis Armstrong (vocals, trumpet); Sy Oliver Choir (vocals); Trummy Young (trombone); Hank D'Amico, Edmond Hall, Dave McRae (clarinet); Billy Kyle (piano); Nickie Tragg, Harry Mills (organ); George Barnes (guitar); Joe Benjamin, Mort Herbert (bass); Johnny Blowers, Barrett Deems (drums). Producers include: Mort Gabler. Recorded in June and August 1938, August 1950 and February 1958 in New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Martin Williams. All tracks have been digitally remastered. An unusual album in the Louis Armstrong canon, this collection of gospel songs, spirituals, homilies, and comic vignettes was the only religious album this determinedly secular musician recorded. Backed by a gospel vocal group led by the celebrated jazz arranger Sy Oliver, Armstrong performs a variety of religious-themed favorites, including "Ezekiel Saw De Wheel," "Going to Shout All Over God's Heaven," and "Didn't it Rain," as well as "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" from GUYS AND DOLLS. There's an affecting version of the traditional spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," and a particular highlight is the inclusion of two comic sermons by the musician's alter ego, Elder Eatmore.