Dorothy Love Coates & The Original Gospel Harmonettes - The Best Of Dorothy Love Coates & The Original Gospel Harmonettes (1991)

One of the cornerstones of golden age gospel, this set compiles two vinyl discs originally compiled by Barret Hansen (Dr. Demento). It includes all of the famous Dorothy Love Coates songs: "That's Enough," with a searing vocal that makes Aretha sound like a poetry reciter; "99 and a Half," the model for Wilson Pickett's secular version; "Get Away Jordan" and "I'm Sealed," which kicked off the group's career; "No Hiding Place," a purely fearsome blues; and "(You Can't Hurry God) He's Right on Time," later to become the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love." As a writer and performer, Coates expresses complete conviction in the message of the social gospel; she literally believes that her musical ministry has a crucial role in saving souls and the world. (No one who hears her can doubt it much.) Remastered by Kirk Felton in 1991. The cover art and Hansen's rudimentary notes, unchanged since the late '60s when the LPs came out, could use an update, but those are minor flaws next to music of such great emotional power and lyric intelligence.