The Rance Allen Group | The Live Experience II | TheUrbanMusicScene.com

The Rance Allen Group | The Live Experience II
By Peggy Oliver
(Coming Jan. 25th, 2011)

There
are only a few singers and vocal groups who have strongly impacted
gospel music for over four decades. Though raised by strict
grandparents, Rance and his brothers were encouraged to experiment with
different genres while playing gospel. After releasing an independent
single in 1969 entitled “Let’s Get Together & Love” and winning a
talent contest in Detroit, Michigan, Rance, Steve and Tom Allen began
their groundbreaking journey. The Rance Allen Group (RAG) started with a
bang on the legendary soul company Stax Records under the Gospel Truth custom label. Their appearance in the 1972 documentary film Wattstax was an opportunity for a gospel group to share the stage with artists on Stax
Records roster in a Woodstock-type format. Though there have been
some bumpy roads along the way which is the norm for the music industry,
the Allen brothers have not looked back since.

RAG’s incorporation
of disco, R&B, soul and rock with scriptural lyrics may have turned
purists’ heads. But when their longevity, innovativeness and
uncompromising faith come into play, those are solid reasons to secure a
place in The International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, which they accomplished in 1998. After their tenure with Stax (the group actually returned again to the label in the nineties), RAG recorded with Capitol, Myrrh/Word, Bellmark and currently with Tyscot.
Through their discography, the Allen brothers crossed over to the
R&B charts on numerous occasions (“I Got To Be Myself,” “Ain’t No
Need of Crying,” “Something About The Name Jesus,” “Miracle Worker,” and
“I Belong To You,” to name just a few). RAG also had an uncanny
ability to translate several soul covers such as The Temptations’ “Just
My Imagination (Just My Salvation)” into effective preaching moments.

With a previous Live Experience under RAG’s belt in 2004, surely there is room for more. So on July 16^th, 2010, RAG and a stellar cast of gospel musical messengers came to Detroit and rocked the building for the sequel, The Live Experience II.
A classy intro by Melissa Scott briefly chronicles the Allen brothers’
impressive history, including appearances at the Apollo Theatre and The
Arsenio Hall Show.

The Live Experience II
jumps into high gear with the pounding disco rhythms of “Let the Music
Get Down In Your Soul” from RAG’s early Stax Records days. The tune is
composed by Frederick Knight, who produced several of Malaco Records’
finest dance music including Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell.” “Livin’ For
Jesus,” one of several tracks co-written by the L.E. II co-producer
Chris Byrd, delivers uplifting exchanges between RAG and Shirley
Caesar. Byrd, a multi-gifted talent in his own right, is certainly
attuned to Allen’s explosive and soulful style. RAG takes a break from
the soul gospel format to a more mainstream contemporary worship teaming
with vocal quintet Called II Worship on “Holy One.” The woman that
Rance affectionately called The Voice, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, goes
right to work on “It’s Your Time.” It is truly indescribable how she can
flex her voice in so many ways. A gentleman who knows a thing or two
about harmonizing with others on a regular basis – Paul Porter from The
Christianaires – joins RAG on You That I Trust. Leaning more towards a
traditional quartet style covering several decades, there is “He
Delivered Me” from the nineties, “Hear My Voice” (from the Word Record
era in the mid eighties) and “What He’s Done For Me” representing the
millennium. “United We Stand” is one of the better multi-star
collaborations I have heard recently with Armstrong, Caesar, RAG and
co-producer Chris Byrd. Frankly, I never had a chance to hear Byrd, the
vocalist, and he has that charismatic flair, a wonderful fit for RAG’s
musical presence. Wrapping up The Live Experience II, “Smile” and “Feel Like Going On” takes another disco train trip from the late seventies Stax period.

It is hard to have everything click most full-length releases, even though The Live Experience II has
only one wart. RAG puts in a good performance on “Love Train” (not the
O’Jays major hit) but this song tries to borrow on the same concept as
the original O’Jays song. But overall, Rance and his brothers are
always electrifying on stage and have taken traditional gospel into
delightfully soulful territory. And they are still convincingly
handling their business after forty plus years.

Peggy Oliver

The Urban Music Scene