The piece on the gospel collection was good too (Thomas Dorsey?).
Yep, Precious Lord: The Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey. I think Tom Carson wrote the essay. (My copy of Stranded is in storage -- I think I have a stored copy of The Savage Rose, too! Never found Hackamore Brick; I didn't listen to it much but as I recall you aren't missing much on the Savage Rose.) Precious Lord is in print, or was within the last couple years when I found a copy for $8. In addition to providing a valuable overview of gospel's pre-eminent songwriter it's an easy way to hear many of the music's greatest performers in one spot. Not every big name is on it (no Mahalia Jackson or Sam Cooke) but Cooke's mentor, the founder of the Soul Stirrers, R.H. Harris is here, as are the Dixie Hummingbirds, whose lead, Ira Tucker, is considered by many to be the greatest gospel singer of all, and Marion Williams, Mahalia's great rival whom Dave Marsh considers the greatest American singer in any genre. As is often the case, I don't agree with Marsh about that, but she is quite a singer. I really prefer male gospel singers by and large. If you think oversinging and overreliance on melisma (American Idol singing) started with Whitney or Mariah or Celine, well it didn't. And to these ears it doesn't sound like Marion was just filled with the Spirit and cutting loose; it sounds like she had a stock set of tricks and liked to push the crowd's buttons. But YGGMV (GG=gospel great). It's not Emmett mix-related but I'm going to send "Precious Lord" (Marion Williams with a really moving intro from Thomas Dorsey), "Peace in the Valley" (R.H. Harris, a GIANT of American singing -- read Anthony Heilbut's The Gospel Sound) , and "When the Gates Swing Open" (The Dixie Hummingbirds; Ira Tucker can sing as sweet or as rough as he wants to.) ETA: I hope that's okay, Hayden. If not, sorry, I won't do it again.
I think my favorite Stranded discovery from the Marcus list was Ray Charles' Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul. Christgau pick: The Essential Tom T. Hall: Story Songs. There were many more in each case, but those two are among my most treasured and two very very very strong arguments for why critics can be valuable.