On the left, a video of a concert from a Fire Baptized Holiness Church--this one in Gastonia, North Carolina. The Google Street View at the upper light shows the church itself--quite modest outside and in. Look around the neighborhood to get a sense of the environment.
With our brief look at "The Traveling Saints" we take another look at persons who made the transition from Gospel Praise Songs to secular music. The featured singer of the chapter is Sister Rosetta Tharpe, sometimes called "The Godmother of Rock and Roll, as you will see in the documentary to the right. As you'll read, the Holiness churches were not ready to accept singing secular music in a near rock 'n roll style. This explains why so many singers traveled to Europe, where they had much better economic success. The documentary to the right was first produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation, better known as the BBC.
If James Cleveland was the "Crown Prince" of Gospel, then who was the King? We've seen a couple of people nominated for that position by Anthony Heilbut. Is the first video of this playlist a sermon or a song? Perhaps a bit of both. The words are quite important for us...listen twice, if necessary. What are the problems the "backslider" encounters, and how does the "Christian" respond to him? Is this a good example of "Good News and Bad Times?
I don't often quote an author, but I can't resist this one after Friday's class when you introduced me to Beyonce. Writing of Marion Williams, he wrote: "If she's saved to the utmost, she's also as worldly as any other gospel singer. And that means pretty worldly. She's a fat sweet-faced women, whose physical graces belie her size. When she sings, she may strut, run, suzy-Q, sashay, sit, or kneel, and she can sing softly in a way that evokes erotic goosebumps. Maybe someone can find a video which meets that description. Pay attention to her biography presented here...it isn't without reason that Heilbut says the greatest gospel singers were children of the depression. They are no longer singers--some are no longer with us. I'm hoping to surprise you with a little video, but just in case I can't/don't/change my mind. Keep hunting up resources.
To the Left, Marion Williams--a rather complete playlist. Listen to a few, if only in part, to get a sense of her style, or rather her styles. She can sing loud enough to break glass, and soft enough to break hearts.
To the left, Shirley Caesar, No easy life for her-- take a look at how Heilbut describes her early years, and you'll see what I mean.
To the right, a sample of Elbertina "Twinkie" Clark--nothing small about either talent, personality, or body. Note something new: the electric organ becomes part of the gospel sound. The sound variations allow for experimentation, but, more importantly, the price is a lot cheaper than pipes.
And above, Lil Blair and the Violinaires. Click to hear them.
So we come to the end of the road--as far as we're concerned. We also come to a bit of confusion. Not all of us have the same edition of this book. If your book has sections entitled Epilogue and Postscript, read them. If not, that material was probably covered in one or another of the book's revisions. I think I mentioned in class that when I was in college (and in graduate school) I used to listen to FM stations which featured black gospel music every Sunday. Of course at the beginning of the gospel music radio didn't exist--and phonographs barely did. Heilbut is not quite fair to Gospel Disc Jockeys, MHO. For one thing, many whites, including myself, were introduced to this kind of music through the radio. Churches were, and still are, largely segregated--now at least partly because neighborhoods are segregated by social class as well as by color. Gospel Radio still exists, both in the traditional radio form and also as Internet stations. You can try find a list of them by clicking here.
Chapter 18, reiterates some of the themes of the book, this time through the stories of the Barrett Sisters. This chapter brings us to Chicago, which we've visited several times before, and one of the most vital centers of Praise music to this day. In my version of the book, Heilbut or his proofreader gets the name of the lead singer wrong: it is Delois, not Deloris. Regardless of the name, we can see that their lives were not easy. Delois died at the age of 85 back in 2011. Her sisters I believe to still be alive. Shortly I will be asking you to do some reflection on what we've learned so far, and I'm eager to see what you've provided in your resource folders.
