Pastor Champion

★★★★ I Just Want To Be A Good Man LUAKA BOP. CD/DL/LP

Raw gospel from the little known Louisiana born preacher man, who died in December 2021.

Pastor Champion was a touring preacher and carpenter. He was also the brother of soul singer Bettye Swann. With his electric guitar and bible, he travelled the West Coast singing hymns of struggle and devotion and this sole album, recorded live over two days on two-track in 2018, captures his spirited sermonising. Luaka Bop, who discovered him on the YouTube channel of the 37th Street Baptist Church in Oakland, California, had intended to add extra tracks to the LP before release, but Champion wanted none of it and got his way – a good thing, as the sparseness lends a quiet power and intimacy to proceedings, especially on the title missive, where Champion, with fire in his bones, is on his knees and laid bare.