Various Artists

The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection features all 17 singles issued by Stax Records imprint Gospel Truth between 1972 and 1974 - 34 songs on 2 CDs or 3 LPs - including both non-LP singles and samplings of the imprint's album catalogue.  Among the highlights are numerous tracks from Gospel Truth's first signing, Michigan's The Rance Allen Group, who specialized in reworkings of secular songs into spiritual ones.  Also featured are four sides from Joshie Jo Armstead including her rendition of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' "Ride Out the Storm" which she introduced onstage in the pre-Broadway tryout of Seesaw.  New liner notes have been penned for the collection by Memphis-based journalist and NPR host Jared Boyd, incorporating fresh interviews with Al Bell, Rance Allen, and Mary Peak Paterson.  While both editions are handsomely packaged, the LP is housed in a triple gatefold, with the vinyl pressed at Memphis Record Pressing.