The changing nature of gospel music: a Southern case study

African American Review, Summer, 1995 by Joyce Marie Jackson

After the Civil War and through the turn of the century, small vocal ensembles and quartets became increasingly popular among African Americans. Some originated at educational institutions and others in the communities. They were referred to as "jubilee" singers.(4) These groups' repertoire consisted of folk spirituals, jubilee songs, hymns, and classical compositions. The university ensembles, such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers, performed in front of white audiences for profit, and some community-based quartets also performed for white audiences in minstrel shows. The jubilee quartets, however, developed into gospel quartets in later years.

Gospel's Second/Transitional Period: 1930-1945

The year 1930 launched the second historical period in the development of gospel for African Americans. The demise of the Harlem Renaissance and the crash of Wall Street ushered in the Depression in 1929, and African Americans endured poverty and deprivation on a scale unprecedented since the abolition of slavery. It was inevitable that they began to look once more to their religion and music for consolation, and it was also inevitable that the music would change.

It was in the context of the Depression era that gospel music came to fruition; its major catalyst was Thomas A. Dorsey, a blues pianist known as "Georgia Tom" who wrote and accompanied performers such as Ma Rainey and Tampa Red. However, after surviving a serious illness and the death of his wife, Dorsey dedicated his musical talents to the service of God and the church (Boyer, "Thomas" 23; Heilbut 21; Levine 182).

Dorsey's gospel songs were not accepted at first because of his background and the obvious influence of the blues on his music. But Dorsey established his own publishing company, utilized persistent promotional methods aimed at church congregations, and composed songs that communicated hope to the masses in difficult times, and this eventually led to his being accepted. As Dorsey states it, the songs communicated "good news in bad times" (qtd. in Broughton 48). Not only were African Americans suffering from a lack of jobs, food, and clothing during the Depression, but also from a lack of hope and dignity. Dorsey's gospel music directly addressed these needs.

The music was not only noted for what the lyrics communicated, but also for its lively rhythms and instrumental accompaniment. Bluesmen were sometimes hired to play in Pentecostal churches. Zora Neale Hurston, while collecting folklore for the Works Progress Administration in Florida in the 1930s, observed that

in Jacksonville there is a jazz pianist who seldom has a free night; nearly as much of his business comes from playing for Sanctified church services as for parties. Standing outside of the church, it is difficult to determine just which kind of engagement he is filling at the moment. (qtd. in Levine 180)

Because of the spirited and emotional characteristics of the music, it was immediately accepted by the Holiness churches and gained acceptance gradually with the more orthodox denominations.