Gimme that Good Ol’ Gospel Music

As we enter the 21st Century, it is good to look back and see where the music industry began.

In researching a Saga called Kickin’ Up Dust, about the history of the entertainment business, I began to discover that, at one time in the history and evolution of the music business in these United States, there was a time that gospel music was on a main track. You will have to remember that in the colonial days there were not yet medicine shows, vaudeville, theaters, or MTV. Most music was in people’s homes and sung at camp meet­ings. Many of the songs were old folk songs from across the seas. Slowly new songs were written about the times that people were experiencing, laced with these old experiences of Europe and stories from the Bible.

During the 1800s, as the church movement grew and there were more and more con­gregations, revivals and camp meetings, this organized music was probably the number one place in the new nation to enjoy music. This fellowship at the camp meetings and revivals offered folks a place to sing. Music grew and became a big part of the religious movement and the growth of this country, especially in the South where black people brought much of their culture from West Africa, where singing was a big part of their life.

Religious music was central to the lives of the rural southerners. It was in the church where most rural southern folks first learned to sing. In the early days of the colonies, the “British religious” groups were moving throughout the land, influencing folks and being very supportive of music in their churches. The Church of England was becoming very estab­lished throughout the Eastern United States. The Baptists and the Methodists were the dominant religions moving into the rural areas of the country and promoted religious music. It was the singing that was giving most of these people the good feelings that kept them coming back to the revivals and camp meetings.

It is said that this music was first called “gospel” in 1875 when Ira Sankey and P.P. Bliss’s GOSPEL HYMNS was published. The word gospel is defined as the teachings of the Christian church as originally preached by Jesus Christ and the apostles. The “gospel” is said to be any of the first four books of the New Testament attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The importance of gospel music was that it moved its listeners and con­tained many of the teachings of Christ. So, in the early days it was considered church music, but became more and more popular as the years passed. As gospel took music to the public in a more commercial format, in the form of hymn books and sheet music, its popularity grew even more.

As the times began to very rapidly change in the new world, due to inventions like the steam engine, the train and the growth of the religious freedoms that were to be practiced in this new land, the music also began to change. The church and gospel music began to spread even more with the Pentecostal movement in the South and the huge rise of black churches, where poor and rural folks would gather together to sing and praise the Lord. This wonderful music was part of the urban revivals, sung in organizations like the YMCA and the Salvation Army. As this form of music grew, the market began to grow. Soon there were hymn books and everybody was learning the songs, the published sheet music was beginning to sell, and the early days of the music business began.

Sources seem to agree that the Father of gospel music is Thomas A. Dorsey (1899­1993). It is said that “no one has had a greater influence on gospel singing; no one has been quite as prophetic; no one spans the entire history of gospel music quite like Dorsey.” He wrote religious music with jazzy rhythms mixed with blues. The churches did not re­spond positively to Dorsey’s music. It was called “devil’s music.” His music was in fact banned from many churches. He wrote, however, 800 songs that became popular in many churches throughout the country. Dorsey sang with Bessie Smith in his early days. He was later joined by pioneer singers such as Sallie Martin and Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith, who help spread his music and the gospel music scene. In 1932, he founded the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, which is still in existence.

Following Dorsey, a gospel great by the name of Mahalia Jackson emerged. She is considered to be one of the most famous of gospel singers. She had big success with Columbia Records in the 1950s. Her classics were, “City Called Heaven,” “Salvation is Free” and “What Could I Do?” James Cleveland is considered to be the King of Gospel. He won four Grammys and established the largest gospel convention in the world in 1968. Looking back, there were the Angelic Gospel Singers, the Martin Singers, the Pilgrim Travelers, the Ward Singers, Five Blind Boys, and the Bells of Joy. Gospel also had fa­mous groups of quartets. These were popular from the late 1920s through the 1940s. It is said that these quartets were what most affected American pop culture. The Swan Silvertones, the Dixie Hummingbirds, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and the Fairfield Four. There were also a few women groups that were popular such as The Davis Sisters, the Harmonettes and the Caravans.

You cannot tell the story of the history of the music business and the growth and popu­larity of the world of music itself, without going down the gospel musical track. What is now often seen as a sidetrack to mainstream music, was in its day mainstream itself. Most other music styles originated from the music that was being sung at the camp meeting, revivals and church during the past two hundred years. Many of the blues, rock and roll and country music stars today will tell you that they had their first music experiences and learning in the church. Jerry Lee Lewis tells the story that, when he was a boy, he would sneak up to the window at the churches in the south and listen to the gospel music that the blacks were singing and rejoicing. Little Richard, himself a preacher at one time, says he grew up being influenced by this style of music in his life. Aretha Franklin, Della Reese, Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, Rickey Skaggs, Hank Williams, and many others also were influenced by this mu­sic. Music legend Sam Cooke was greatly influenced by the music and once had a very hot gospel group called the Soul Stirrers, before he took the mainstream track to pop music.

Pages could be written on the connection between church and gospel music with the country music world of Nashville. The story goes that, in 1892, riverboat captain Thomas Ryman vowed to build a tabernacle for all denominations after hearing the inspiring preach­ing of southern evangelist Sam Jones. Little did Ryman know that, 100 plus years later, that tabernacle would remain as a thriving entertainment venue. Known to the old timers of the great traditional to this day as The Mother Church, also known as the Ryman Audito­rium, in 1943, The Mother Church became the home of The Grand Ole Opry. “And now you know…the rest of the story.”

Not only does gospel music stand on its own as a mainline track down the music trail that this country has been cutting for the past two centuries, but it gave the inspiration that became country music and rock and roll. It is the roots of blues and gave a good bit to the men that became the jazz greats of this country. Dick Clark has said, “Music is the soundtrack of our lives.” Back in the 1800s, before the wireless (radio) and the talking machine (phonograph), before Jimmie Rogers began to sing famous blue yodels, gospel was as big as any music style known, while at the same time it was giving inspiration to the pioneers of the music industry.

Funny how time comes around. Just in the last decade, gospel music has seen new interest and the phenomenon of Kirk Franklin’s “Why We Sing,” which went platinum, and the success of William Becton’s “Be Encouraged,” which has become a mainstay on Billboard’s gospel chart for over 28 weeks, all attest to gospel’s growing resurgence in the last decade of the past millennium. There is also the success of Amy Grant.

So, the next time you hear ol’ Willie Nelson singing “Amazing Grace,” or the Doobie Brothers sing “Jesus Is Just Alright With Me,” be reminded of the incredible influence that the Christian church has had on the music of this nation as we laser beam into the new millennium with the grace of God.

MOVIEGUIDE ® EDITOR’S NOTE: For more on the history of the music business in these United States, visit TheStudioClub.com and go to KICKIN’ UP DUST on the Music Stage.