Some Mississippi Sunday Morning by Parchman Prison Prayer
Monday, October 12, 2026
"Parchman Prison Prayer"
Bringing this over from EarShot today! Originally shared earlier this morning, I wanted to drop this here on BCR as a prime example of lo-fi DIY recording. The raw texture and intimate energy fit the vibe of this venue perfectly. Let me know what you think!An Introduction...
I recently read Colin Asher’s The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music, a fascinating look at the ways prisons and the people held inside them have shaped American music. Moving through blues, country, jazz, soul, and hip-hop.
Asher tells the stories of musicians whose lives and music were deeply connected to incarceration.
While reading the book, I came across “Parchman Prison Prayer - some mississippi sunday morning" and had to share it. Recorded at Mississippi State Penitentiary, better known as Parchman Farm, it offers a remarkable glimpse into the music that came from inside one of America’s most notorious prison systems.
There is something especially powerful about hearing this music in its original setting—not as a later interpretation, but as voices coming from behind the walls.
Parchman Prison Prayer is a critically acclaimed musical project and recording collective featuring unnamed male inmates performing a cappella and sparse-band gospel and spiritual music inside the maximum-security Mississippi State Penitentiary. The recordings capture something raw and immediate, preserving voices and music that might otherwise have been lost.
According to multiple reviewers.....
“From a cappella and delicately inflected tenor ornamentation to a hypnotic basso profundo chant; from an urgent rap about a singer’s remorse to a hopeful choral outburst: this is inspirational music, triumphant rather than beaten down and defeated.”
— BBC Music
“Captures radiant voices rejoicing in the freedom of creative expression.”
— MOJO
“A rare document that plunges straight into the heart of another America.”
— Libération (France)
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शान्ति εἰρηνικός سلام 和平 ☮︎ शांति 평화 ſíot͡ʃáin ሰላም pax
rêvasser c'est la seule façon de s'envoler