Photographed by [Wes Frazer](https://www.instagram.com/wesfrazer/).
If the year was 1979 and you were living in Birmingham, Alabama at the time, and if it was 5:30 AM and you’d just sat down with your morning cup of coffee and flipped on the _Country Boy Eddie_ morning show, well, you might’ve just switched on to Willie Scott & The Birmingham Spirituals bringing quite the sanctified ‘Good Morning’ to your city. While the tune these guys are performing carries the honeysweet harmonies of any classic hymnal quartet, backing these voices is a funky jangle taught from the Church of James Brown and the Book of Sly Stone. It’s a blending of the timeless messages of old with the sounds of today; the pious and the P-Funk.
David Byrne’s [Luaka Bop](https://luakabop.com/) is a label famed for reissuing a variety of global musical treats. Now, they’re releasing a divinely funky collection entitled _The Time For Peace Is Now._ A treasure trove of groovy gospel deep cuts, the comp is focused on later ‘70s bands as likely to be riffing on an Earth Wind & Fire tune as a Staple’s Singers testimonial. And why not? If the church is supposed to lift your soul, shouldn’t it lift your feet as well?
Photographed by [Wes Frazer](https://www.instagram.com/wesfrazer/).
The compilation’s fourth track, “Keep Your Faith To The Sky,” recorded by the very same Willie Scott and The Birmingham Spirituals, is a breezy soulful ode to optimism. One of the many bands on here who ran the church circuit, they’ve played together for decades and continue to this day. The three members I’d caught up with (Reginald Lofton, Glenn Butler and Bill Curry) grew up and sang in churches together before Scott was in touch with them. “Yeah, we were just trying things out amongst ourselves,” recalls Curry. “We was singing but we wasn’t singing properly ‘til Willie Scott. Then we learned how to use notes and blend.” And as the Spirituals learned how to layer their voices together, they also learned how to mix the sounds of contemporary soul with traditional gospel.
Growing up in Birmingham, there was no shortage of gospel music. “Many, many quartets coming through town, all very good in my opinion,” remembers Butler. As those sanctified sounds would continue to be a presence, the natural flow of time would bring all the heavy hitters of soul and funk into the mix as well. “I grew up listening to the Temptations,” adds Butler. “And when I was younger I thought I could dance like James Brown!” Wherever they were asked to play, they were happy to be there. Ever any pushback for the songs being too funky for church? “I never heard any complaints.”
Photographed by [Wes Frazer](https://www.instagram.com/wesfrazer/).
Willie Scott had been playing both rock and holy music but had decided to follow his heart over to the stained glass aisle. Now, he had the vision, the songs, and most definitely the look. “He was a shaaaaaarp dresser,” The Spirituals reminisce. He also knew that as a performer, it’s up to you to be able to reach through to your audience. “Willie had that special gift,” Lofton says. “He knew what songs to sing.” Any preacher worth his salt knows: if you want your audience to hear your message, sometimes you’ve got to adapt to get their ear.
But The Spirituals themselves grew up during segregation times. “It was taught to us at a young age how to cope with life, so you know, if you live in the South, you have to deal with it. I think we adapted to the world very well,” says Butler. Of course, Alabama has been home to many pivotal episodes in the ongoing Civil Rights struggle, with some of the darkest spells of violence and some of the clearest voices of justice ringing out from Birmingham. Naturally, some members of the band also found themselves drawn to the clarion call of justice. “I marched from 7th to Montgomery and then Jackson, Mississippi, Washington twice, Birmingham, Selma,” recalls Butler. “I was in the 7th grade when we was integrated,” Lofton adds. “Birmingham turned a corner in the ‘60s; we’ve come a long way, we still got a long way to go. We have still not yet arrived.” The same could be said for the rest of the country.
Photographed by [Wes Frazer](https://www.instagram.com/wesfrazer/).
Photographed by [Wes Frazer](https://www.instagram.com/wesfrazer/).
And the timeless truth remains that steadfast love is the soul power that can transform on a foundational level. Our age is plagued by cynicism. Yet that’s precisely why a compilation like this is so revelatory. Hearing these earnest songs of brotherly love and compassion is the right kind of message for our country during this time. The lyric “Keep Your Faith To The Sky” isn’t a wide-eyed passive request, but an intentional act of dedication, an ongoing vow of goodness. It doesn’t hurt that you could slap it on at a barbecue or slip a track onto a slow-jams mix, either.
Water follows the path of least resistance. People adapt to their times. Black and white live together. Soul blends with Gospel. The Holy Father becomes “Good God!” And a band from Birmingham gets a phone call forty years after releasing an LP and finds their message just as vibrant and welcome as ever. The Spirituals are grateful to see the universe shine back at them, but mostly, they’re happy for Willie Scott. “He’s always been a man of integrity and he’s ventured far for his beliefs,” beams Butler. “So I was really happy for him more so than myself, he could live his dream.”
Sometimes Scott will talk to God about the band. He says he wants to play for at least another ten years. I think he will. He’s thankful for where he’s been and happy with where he’s at. “God blessed us, look what happened,” Scott says. “We didn’t have any idea that all that time went by and somebody would come and pick us up. And God did. He promised me that He would do a little bit more.”
Amen.
Photographed by [Wes Frazer](https://www.instagram.com/wesfrazer/).
