Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Subtitled Authorized Biographies Of Cecil Blackwood & James Blackwood, this attempts to tell the story of one of THE groups in the evolution of Southern gospel music. The Blackwood Brothers began in the '30s and by the '50s were hugely popular before a tragic plane crash threatened to wreck their ascendancy. Most of the major facts are documented here, including the group's contacts with early Sunday school buddy Elvis Presley though the work is too fragmentary to give all the info we still need to understand this important era of Christian music history. Also, the author putting up his son's name as the arranger of a heap of public domain hymns smacks of nepotism while the writing style throughout is often laboured. But when one considers how little has been written on Southern gospel, even a flawed volume like this one is to be welcome.

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