Gospel music may refer to the religious music that first came out of African-American churches in the first quarter of the twentieth century or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and to the religious music composed and sung by predominately white Southern Gospel artists. While the separation between the two styles was never absolute — both drew from the Methodist hymnal and artists in one tradition sometimes sang songs belonging to the other — the sharp division between black and white America, particularly black and white churches, kept the two apart. While those divisions have lessened slightly in the past fifty years, the two traditions are still distinct.
In both traditions, some performers, such as Mahalia Jackson have limited themselves to appearing in religious contexts only, while others, such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Golden Gate Quartet and Clara Ward, have performed gospel music in secular settings, even night clubs. Many performers, such as The Jordanaires, Al Green, and Solomon Burke have performed both secular and religious music. It is common for such performers to include gospel songs in otherwise secular performances, although the opposite almost never happens.
Gospel singer, songwriter, guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great star of Gospel music, surfacing on the pop music charts in 1938. She remained popular through the 1940's, continuing to hit the charts and drawing tens of thousands of fans to see her perform live in venues across the United States. She lost the support of some of her church fans, now and then, when she performed in secular venues as well, as when she recorded songs not recognized as 'Christian'. The fans she lost were somewhat forgiving, as she remained true to her faith, for the most part, throughout her recording career which spanned the remainder of her life.
Although predominantly an American phenomenon, gospel music has spread throughout the world including to Australia with choirs such as The Elementals and Jonah & The Whalers and festivals such as the Australian Gospel Music Festival. Norway is home to the popular Oslo Gospel Choir and most importantly The Ansgar Gospel Choir. Gospel is also really popular in the province of Quebec, Canada, where important gospel choirs such as Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir and Québec Celebration Gospel Choir are famous.
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Contents
- 1 Black gospel
- 2 White gospel
- 2.1 Associations
- 2.1.1 Gospel Music Association
- 2.1.2 Southern Gospel Music Association
- 3 Gospel choirs appearing in other genres
- 4 See also
- 5 Further reading
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Black gospel
The music popularized by Black gospel pioneers had its roots in the freewheeling forms of religious devotion of 'Sanctified' or 'Holiness' churches, who encouraged individual church members to 'testify', speaking or singing spontaneously about their faith and experience, sometimes while dancing in celebration. In the 1920s Sanctified artists, such as Arizona Dranes, many of whom were also traveling preachers, started making records in a style that melded traditional religious themes with barrelhouse, blues and boogie-woogie techniques and brought jazz instruments, such as drums and horns, into the church.
White gospel
Often called Southern gospel or Country gospel to distinguish it from black gospel, white gospel music has followed a different trajectory during the past eighty years. Some of its roots are found in the publishing work and "normal schools" of Aldine S. Kieffer and Ephraim Ruebush. It was promoted by traveling singing school teachers, southern gospel quartets, and shape note music publishing companies such as the A. J. Showalter Company (1879), the James D. Vaughan Publishing Company and the Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Company.
Some early country gospel artists, such as The Carter Family, achieved wide popularity through their recordings and radio performances in the 1920s and 1930s. Others, such as Homer Rodeheaver, George Beverly Shea or Cliff Barrows, became well-known through their association with traveling evangelists such as Billy Sunday or Billy Graham.
Associations
Gospel Music Association
The Gospel Music Association is a major group of gospel artists who maintain a hall of fame covering all aspects of gospel music.
Southern Gospel Music Association
The Southern Gospel Music Association (SGMA) focuses on Southern Gospel specifically and has a physical Hall of Fame and Museum located in the Dollywood theme park at Pigeon Forge, TN.
Gospel choirs appearing in other genres
One trend in modern music is to use a gospel choir occasionally in the middle of a song in a different genre, such as alternative or rock. The following are examples.
- "Tender" by Blur
- "Downfall" by matchbox twenty
- "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
- "I'm Alright" by Jars of Clay
- "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers
- "I'm Wrong About Everything" by John Wesley Harding
- "Dead Soul Men" by Freak Kitchen
- "Cry Me A River" by Justin Timberlake
- "Through With Love" by Destiny's Child
- "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner
- "Will You Be There" by Michael Jackson
- "Purple Rain" by Prince
- "Like a Prayer" by Madonna
- "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones
- "Somebody to Love" by Queen
- "Ribcage" by Elbow
- "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel
