Why gospel's heroes go unsung

This week's Church Times has an excellent article, extracted from Steve Turner's newest book An Illustrated History of Gospel, which if you're not a subscriber you won't be able to read until Friday.

Turner's main point - that the gospel roots of r&b and rock 'n' roll are as strong as those of the blues - is one that I made in my God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You series of posts. His secondary point - that these gospel roots are played down in a way that rock's blues and country roots are not - is similar to that which I am documenting in relation to modern and contemporary art through my Airbrushed from Art History series of posts.

Turner begins with the Dixie Hummingbirds at the 1966 Newport Folk Festival before commenting that:

"Hearing them gave plenty of clues to where American popular music had found a lot of its inspiration. You could hear the beat of Motown, the vocal tricks of people like Otis Redding and James Brown, and the guitar licks of Bo Diddley. You could also see the dance moves of Mick Jagger and the suave uniforms of groups like the Temptations and the Impressions ...

Gospel music, along with country, blues, and jazz, was the main tributary flowing in to rock and roll ...

Yet, of all these forms of music, gospel is the least known about and appreciated by lovers of rock."

As demonstration, Turner points to the way: rock magazines "regularly celebrate the legends of country, blues, and jazz, but almost never the legends of gospel"; the Glastonbury Festival has "featured the country star Johnny Cash on the main stage, as well as the blues guitarist Buddy Guy, but never one of the greats of gospel music"; documentary-makers "go in search of the ghosts of Robert Johnson, Hank Williams and Charlie Parker, but never the ghosts of Thomas Dorsey and Clara Ward"; and when Rolling Stone compiled its list of 'The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time' there was not a single gospel performer:

"Yet, of the artists selected, a third either sang in gospel groups as teenagers or were profoundly affected by gospel. Ray Charles loved the voice of Archie Brownlee of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi; Aretha Franklin originally modelled herself on Clara Ward; Little Richard copied his vocal swoops from Marion Williams; and Elvis was inspired by the on-stage antics of the Statesmen Quartet's James "Big Chief" Wetherington, who used to quiver his legs."

Charlie Gillett, in The Sound of the City, observed:

"Between 1948 and 1952 the potential connection between the emotions of gospel singing and the expectations of adolescent listeners of popular music occurred to various singers, record-company executives, and composers. Indirectly and directly gospel styles and conventions were introduced into rhythm and blues - and constituted the first significant trend away from the blues, as such into black popular music."  

The downplaying of gospel, Turner argues, has ideological roots:

"People outside the Church can appreciate its authenticity, excitement, vocal skills, and musical inventiveness, but they are left cold, or possibly even offended, by the point of view of the lyrics. If a singer is expressing passion for Christ, uninitiated listeners cannot relate to it in the way they could if the passion was for Johnny or Diana."

Gospel , he suggests, as a result "seems completely opaque to someone unfamiliar with the worship, praise, and instruction that it was intended to promote." Yet he notes that rock musicians themselves often have "a much more informed appreciation of gospel" with Brian Eno, in particular, having argued that gospel recordings "absolutely vibrate with life" and concluding: "My feeling about gospel is that it's about time there was a music that actually moved you enough to make you shed tears again."

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Clara Ward Singers featuring Marion Williams - Packin Up.