ospel music is a label that sends some music fans straight for the exit. It’s a bit like people skipping the beauty of the Cologne Cathedral or Istanbul’s Blue Mosque because they don’t like the belief systems that inspired the work. But for those who can set aside such prejudices, there’s a world of deeply moving, soul-stirring creations waiting to be heard. A case in point is the exhilarating Whatever You Need by gospel singer Johnny Ray Daniels.

With a sound reminiscent of Muscle Shoals’s “funky and greasy” recordings, this album presents a tight set of sacred-soul music, a particularly spicy flavor of gospel that’s popular in Daniels’s home base of Eastern North Carolina. Like a good family barbecue recipe, Daniels’s approach to the genre contains some tasty twists. A vital component to this musical dish is his simmering voice. The heat he applies is perfectly balanced, with equal measures of pain and praise. The result is an emotional wallop that’s meant to bring out the handkerchiefs and fill up the aisles.

The album’s title track highlights the rhythmic tightness of his ensemble and provides a quintessential example of the call-and-response style that can inspire even the most taciturn listeners to join in with passionate refrains. Daniels’s back-of-the-throat vocal delivery works best when he’s not pushing the volume but lingering over the nuance of a song’s lyrics. The best example of this occurs toward the end of “I Shall Not be Moved.” His clipped, Pentecostal-preacher-style emphasis on the “t” in “not” adds an additional power to a well-worn gospel standard that can sound a bit perfunctory in the hands of a lesser singer.

Like the best church services, Whatever You Need is carefully paced; calls to worship are followed by moments of introspection, which then lead to vivid depictions of inner suffering accompanied by heartfelt reminders of hope. This careful planning is exemplified when the gentle rock-and-rolling alter call of “Church Get Ready” is followed by the soaring, organ-filled “Thank You Lord” recessional-style hymn that finishes out the album.

Even though Whatever You Need is a solo debut, the record was a long time coming. At 76, Daniels spent several decades working a day job while moonlighting as a road manager and backup-band member for the Glorifying Vine Sisters, a well-regarded gospel trio known for playing with Sam Cooke and the Blind Boys of Alabama. After retirement, Daniels came to the attention of Memphis-based roots-music producer Bruce Watson, who chose to feature him on last year’s widely acclaimed compilation Sacred Soul of North Carolina.

Watson’s contribution to Whatever You Need can’t be overstated. His decades-long passion for this form of gospel music is reflected in a production style that’s polished enough to bring out the best in performers, while raw enough to let the sweat and tears come through. Watson’s excellent curation of Mississippi blues singer Wilburt Lee Reliford’s field recordings last year breathed new life into music that might have otherwise languished on the shelf of a blues archivist.

For Whatever You Need, Watson continues his collaboration with guitarist and co-producer Will Sexton (Alejandro Escovedo, Roky Erickson) to create an intimate and relaxed atmosphere. The two are joined by organist Rick Scheff (Lucero, Cat Power), Grammy-winning guitarist Matt Ross-Sprang, bassist Mark Edgar and drummer Will McCarley. This hand-picked ensemble provides a firm foundation for Daniels's undulating voice and makes plenty of room for the heavenly choruses of Daniels’s son, Anthony “Amp” Daniels (The Dedicated Men of Zion), and granddaughter, KeAmber Daniels. While Watson’s recording and mixing of these performances is very solid, the sound quality has slightly less bottom-end weight and midrange presence when compared to what he achieved on the previously referenced Reliford album and on some of the Sacred Soul of North Carolina tracks.