• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Blues Scene about music & art.

Debra Devi, Danielia Cotton, Katie Henry, The Outcrops to Play at Bowery Electric NYC

March 28, 2023

Eric Bibb’s Latest Masterpiece Exudes Humility, Courage, and Truth

March 27, 2023

Tom Leadon, Founder With Tom Petty of Mudcrutch, Dies Aged 70

March 27, 2023

New York Illustrator, Singer & Songwriter David Heatley Releases Sophomore Album With Elite Of Louisiana’s Avant-Garde Musicians

March 24, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»Featured»Exclusive Video Premiere: Elder Jack Ward’s Sacred Soul Song, ‘The Way Is Already Made’
Featured

Exclusive Video Premiere: Elder Jack Ward’s Sacred Soul Song, ‘The Way Is Already Made’

American Blues Scene StaffBy American Blues Scene StaffJuly 12, 2021Updated:July 12, 2021No Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Bible & Tire Recording Co. — the label founded in 2019 by Bruce Watson, also of Fat Possum — has an epic streak of Memphis sacred soul archival and newly recorded releases that have earned a ton of love, from Elizabeth King to Dedicated Men of Zion. Also among them is Elder Jack Ward‘s new album, Already Made.

Watson feels that Already Made is one of the best albums he’s ever produced , and after re-defining the dismal blues scene of the ‘90s with the Delta juke joint sounds of R.L Burnside and Junior Kimbrough for Fat Possum Records, that’s saying quite a bit. Ward might have been right there with them were it not for that trip to Memphis back in the late fifties.

I have pretty good talent; I can just about sing anything anyone else sings. I never bragged on myself but this was a gift from God and the Bible says, ‘A gift comes without repentance.’ In other words, you don’t have to be a Christian to be able to sing. If you’ve got that God-given gift you can do it — your choice if you want to sing rock’n’ roll, blues, gospel — but I choose the right side.

Premiering exclusively today is the official music video for the title track from Already Made, out August 20th. 

Until now, Memphis’s own Ward has been best known for his 1964 hit with the Christian Harmonizers, “Don’t Need No Doctor.” Ward grew up in Itta Bena, MS, in the Delta, home to B.B. King, picking and chopping cotton and driving a mile. Coming up, he listened to Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Howlin’ Wolf. His mother forbad him from singing blues but he didn’t listen, heading to Memphis open to singing on any style of recording. That brings us to the 1964 hit.

Ward briefly replaced soul sensation O.V. Wright in the Sunset Travelers during one of Wright’s secular sabbaticals. The Harmonizers followed up “Doctor” with a series of singles on Peacock Records’ Song Bird imprint. In 1968, Ward formed the Gospel Four and joined the D-Vine Spirituals label founded by Memphis DJ/producer Juan D. Shipp, recording another series of singles. Bible and Tire’s Watson was transferring Shipp’s tape archive for an ambitious D-Vine Spirituals reissue project (to come in 2022) when he asked Shipp how many of the artists from his old label were still  around and active. Aside from King, Elder Jack Ward was one of the first he named.

Watson and guitarist extraordinaire Will Sexton (Luther Dickinson, The Greyhounds, Danny Schmidt, Charlie Sexton, Alejandro Escovedo, Dedicated Men of Zion) co-produced Already Made. Ward made his Folk Alliance Int’l debut this winter. GRAMMY-winner Matt Ross-Spang (Margo Price, Jason Isbell, John Prine) played guitar.

 

Pre-order Already Made via Big Legal Mess and Bandcamp.

 

Bible & Tire Blues Elder Jack Ward Exclusive Gospel Nick Loss-Eaton Media Roots Video Premiere
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleUnreleased George Harrison Recording ‘Cosmic Empire’ From Famed ‘All Things Must Pass’ Sessions Released Today
Next Article Margo Price Performs for Colbert, Announces Live EP ft. Adia Victoria, Allison Russell & More
American Blues Scene Staff

Related Posts

Exclusive: Big Al and the Heavyweights ft. Jason Ricci Premiere Video for ‘Alright With Me’

March 23, 2023

Mary Lee Kortes Shares Video for ‘Green Sand’ ft. Joe Jackson

March 22, 2023

Gunning and Cormier Cross The Border, Strings Attached 

March 22, 2023

Exclusive: NRBQ Co-Founders Terry Adams and Steve Ferguson Premiere ‘Dutchess County Jail’

March 21, 2023

Comments are closed.

Advertisment
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.