Rating: NNN
On the soundtrack of the latest Coen Brothers film – The Ladykillers, a remake of the classic Brit caper comedy, starring Tom Hanks – the shrewd T-Bone Burnett attempts to do for old-school gospel what his O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack did for old-time folk music. It just might work, although perhaps not on the same scale. Like the music featured in O Brother, the selection of gospel here leans heavily toward vocally driven performances in which the singing is gently engaging, as with the vintage material by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers and the relatively obscure Bill Landford and the Landfordaires. Burnett seeks to encompass a broader range of gospel by including contributions from both pre-war bluesman Blind Willie Johnson and contemporary Christian artist Donnie McClurkin, but makes the mistake of tossing some hiphop in the mix. The Nappy Roots stuff just doesn’t fit.
