Some Mississippi Sunday Morning

Ever since the Lomaxes discovered Lead Belly in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1933, prison has earnt itself a vaunted position in recorded music. In recent times that extraordinary producer of modern day field recordings, Ian Brennan, worked with prisoners in the Zomba maximum security prison in Malawi on a Grammy-nominated album (Zomba Prison Project). Now Brennan has journeyed with his tape recorder to the American Deep South to capture the mostly Black prisoners at Mississippi's Parchman Farm during the Sunday gospel service in the prison chapel. Like all of Brennan's productions, it's recorded live without overdubs and the atmosphere is electric. There are solo a cappella songs such as ‘You Did Not Leave Me, You Bless Me Still’ sung movingly by a 63-year-old prisoner named J Sherman and ‘Break Every Chain’ powerfully emoted by the 52-year-old M Kyles. Then we get the full prison choir over drums and organ on ‘Jesus, Every Day Your Name is the Same’ and the entire congregation clapping along to ‘Step into the Water’. The service ends with a spontaneous, full band and choir free-for-all on ‘Lay My Burden Down’. Many of the singers are genuinely talented and the effect is surprisingly moving, whether you’re a true believer or not.