Conway Twitty Gospel Spirit CD

Unlike the other three entries in Universal's 2004 discount-priced series of albums titled The Gospel Spirit, those by Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, and the Statler Brothers, this one is not a specially assembled collection of tracks from separate LPs and singles. Rather, it is a straight reissue -- the first CD version -- of Conway Twitty's 1973 album Clinging to a Saving Hand. The ten-song set consists largely of newly written Nashville originals, and reached the Top 20 of the country charts on Twitty's career momentum. ~ William Ruhlmann

Unlike the other three entries in Universal's 2004 discount-priced series of albums titled The Gospel Spirit, those by Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, and the Statler Brothers, this one is not a specially assembled collection of tracks from separate LPs and singles. Rather, it is a straight reissue -- the first CD version -- of Conway Twitty's 1973 album Clinging to a Saving Hand. Although it reached the Top 20 of the country charts on Twitty's career momentum, it is not one of the more memorable moments in that career. The ten-song set consists largely of newly written Nashville originals, some of which are notable mainly for their cringe-worthy campiness. Even (perhaps especially) the most devout Christian is likely to be put off by "The Third Man," a first-person, spoken word account of the crucifixion, and "Jesus Is a Soul Man" is not exactly the most clever pun ever applied to the Savior. Worst of all, however, is another spoken word effort, the maudlin "Steal Away," which is set in an African-American church and concerns a funeral sermon over a dead child. Twitty's Mississippi accent has an unfortunate effect on the word Negro, which comes out in a way many would find offensive, and his approximation of black dialect isn't much more acceptable. Universal might have been better advised to leave this one in the vault. ~ William Ruhlmann

Arranger: Kathy Jenkins.

Personnel: Conway Twitty.

Recording information: 02/01/1971-04/??/1972.