Rev. Louis Overstreet

Louis Overstreet entered the world in 1921 near Lakeland, Louisiana, where his musical beginnings took shape through early performances with gospel quartets. While employed at a turpentine plant in Dequincy, Louisiana, during 1958, he received a divine summons to serve as a full-time minister. The Rev. Louis Overstreet, whose ferocious, deep singing voice was paired with simultaneous playing of electric guitar and bass drum, joined forces with a gospel quartet formed by his four sons to deliver his distinctive street evangelism across Louisiana and onward through Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arizona, Nevada, and California, eventually assuming the role of pastor at St. Luke's Powerhouse Church of God in Christ in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1961. Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records captured Overstreet, his sons, and the congregation on tape at that location, yielding the 1962 LP Rev. Louis Overstreet. A 1995 CD reissue expanded the original release with further tracks recorded at Overstreet's home along with a selection drawn from his 1963 appearance at the Cabale Coffee House in Berkeley, California. Overstreet passed away in 1980.
~ Steve Leggett