AMST 371.01
Songs of Protest, Songs of Praise
Roger Williams University
GHH 301
M, W, F, 9:00-9:50
Fall Semester 2015
Michael R. H. Swanson, Ph. D.
Office:  GHH 215
Hours: T, TH 9:00 - 11:00
M, W, 1:00-2:00
mswanson@rwu.edu
(401) 254 3230
For Monday, September 21
For Wednesday,
For Friday, September 25
Read, in The Gospel Sound, Good News and Bad Times
*1.  "Sallie Martin's Outta Sight"  pp. 3-19
*2.  "I get these Special Vibrations"  pp. 21-35

As it developed, due to popular demand, I showed the whole film (or at least the music parts of it) in class Monday or Wednesday.  There was no time left over for any discussion of the book or the film.  I'll begin to remedy that on Friday, using the time to discus the film, and to show some of the goodies in my resource folder (hopefully to inspire you to get more active in adding resources to yours.  I'll use part of Friday class to give a demo of just how easy it is.  Come Monday, we'll discuss the book, and I want you to be prepared to give your sense of these two chapters, and raise questions as necessary.  I would also like to emphasize the importance of your task--to upload links or images, to your individual resource folders, not because I think you're making me work too hard, but because doing this is good training for you and also provides a wider variety of resources for everyone.  We'll dig out some of your treasures today and throughout the week.
*The Bookstore sold more than one edition of Heilbut's book"  The page numbers maybe slightly different
Read, in Heilbut,
This chapter will introduce the idea of the Gospel Quartet, and especially the male Gospel Quartet.  Among these, probably the earliest to have a national reputation were the Dixie Hummingbirds.  Male Quartet singing goes back quite a ways--at least to the days of the barbershop quartet (see below).  Contact with the Black community was first satirical--vaudeville singers in blackface.  But the possibilities were quickly seen.  If we look a bit ahead (say to the 1950s and 1960s, we'll see that white male quartets come to be very important in the popular music field.  I suspect everyone has heard of the Beatles.  How about the Lettermen?  The popularity of quartets didn't  necessarily limit small groups to groups of four.  Sometimes trios and quintets formed as well, or the number in the group might change.   Anyhow, we'll discuss this chapter, and look through some of your findings--make sure you have some in your resource folder.
Read, in Heilbut,
When Heilbut's book came out, nobody had to be reminded that "Mahalia" was Mahalia Jackson--greatest gospel singer of her era, and perhaps of all eras.  Through her, we'll reunite praise and protest music.  She performed when Martin Luther King marched on Washington, for instance. 
How I got over
How did I make it over
You know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over
How I made it over
Going on over all these years
You know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over

Tell me how we got over Lord
Had a mighty hard time coming on over
You know my soul look back and wonder
How did we make it over
Tell me how we got over Lord
I've been falling and rising all these years
But you know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over

But, soon as I can see Jesus
The man that died for me
Man that bled and suffered
And he hung on Calvary

And I want to thank him for how he brought me
And I want to thank God for how he taught me
Oh thank my God how he kept me
I'm gonna thank him 'cause he never left me
Then I'm gonna thank God for 'ole time religion
And I'm gonna thank God for giving me a vision
One day, I'm gonna join the heavenly choir
I'm gonna sing and never get tired

And then I'm gonna sing somewhere 'round God alter
And I'm gonna shout all my trouble over
You know I've gotta thank God and thank him for being
So good to me, Lord yeah
How I made it over Lord
I had to cry in the midnight hour coming on over
But you know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over

Tell me how I made it over Lord God Lord
Falling and rising all these years
You know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over

I'm gonna wear a diamond garment
In that new Jerusalem
I'm gonna walk the streets of gold
It's the homeland of the soul
I'm gonna view the host in white
They've been traveling day and night
Coming up from every nation
They're on their way to the great Cognation

Coming from the north, south, east, and west
They're on their way to a land of rest
And they're gonna join the heavenly choir
You know we're gonna sing and never get tired
And then we're gonna sing somewhere 'round God alter
And then we're gonna shout all our troubles over
You know we gotta thank God
Thank him for being so good to me

You know I come to thank God this evening
I come to thank him this evening
You know all all night long God kept his angels watching over me
Early this morning, early this morning
God told his angel God said, "touch her in my name"
God said, "touch her in my name"

I 'rose this morning, I 'rose this morning, I 'rose this morning
I feel like shouting, I feel like shouting, I feel like shouting
I feel like shouting, I feel like shouting, I feel like shouting
I feel like shouting, I just gotta thank God, I just gotta thank God
I just gotta thank God, I just gotta thank him
Thank God for being so good, God been good to me
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/mahalia-jackson/how-i-got-over-lyrics/#FRB1rT1JzHQGP5GE.99