Humble Gathering "Humble Gathering" 1970
With Stang Records best known for soul acts such as The Moments, Humble Gathering isn't exactly the kind of act I expected to hear on this label. Not only that, but I've looked all over the place and found nothing on this outfit ... This doesn't even show up in Ken Scott's "Archivist" reference work.
Produced by Michael Burton, I've had a tough time deciding how to classify 1970's cleverly-titled "Humble Gathering". In strictly musical terms this set is a mess, with tracks such as 'Hometown Beggar' and 'Lora' seemingly trying to meld overt Christian themes with a combination of Blood, Sweat and Tears styled horn rock, folk-rock moves and soul influences. Sound weird? Well it is. The good thing here is that most of the material (mostly written be Denny Betz, John Garber and B. Humble), is surprisingly tight and on occasion ('Mr. James') it actually rocks out with considerable conviction. Also, vocalists B. Humble (great name) and Jack Vallati both have strong and attractive voices, that injected considerable energy into even the most secular lyrics ('Hymn #2000'). Mind you, between the lyrics and the horn arrangements, this won't be for everyone, but I've got to admit that once I got over the weird hybrid of styles, the set's grown on me. I can even hum along with some of the tracks..
- Phillip Grover Betz - vocals
- Denny Betz - guitar
- Ray Brown - sax, flute
- Wally Hippensteel - trombone
- B. Humble - vocals
- Bob Keller - trumpet
- George Kenney - drums
- Joel Levine - keyboards
- Wally Nye - guitar
- Derek Parsons - bass
- Jack Vallati - vocals
