is a musical genre characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. Subgenres include contemporary gospel,
Urban Contemporary Gospel (sometimes referred to as "black gospel"), and modern Gospel music (now more commonly known as praise and worship or Contemporary Christian music). Most forms of gospel music use piano and/or Hammond organ, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar.
Gospel music is believed to have first come out of
African-American churches in the first quarter of the twentieth century or more loosely, to both
Black Gospel Music and to the religious music composed and sung by predominately white
Southern Gospel artists. The sharp division between black and white America, particularly black and white churches, kept the two apart. While those divisions have lessened slightly in the past fifty years, the two traditions are still distinct. In both traditions, some performers, such as
Mahalia Jackson have limited themselves to appearing in religious contexts only, while others, such as
Sister Rosetta Tharpe ,
The Golden Gate Quartet and
Clara Ward , have performed gospel music in secular settings, even night clubs. Many performers, such as
The Jordanaires ,
The Blackwood Brothers ,
Al Green , and
Solomon Burke have performed both secular and religious music. It is common for such performers to include gospel songs in otherwise secular performances, although the opposite almost never happens.
Gospel singer, songwriter, guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great star of Gospel music, surfacing on the pop music charts in 1938. She remained popular through the 1940s, continuing to hit the charts and drawing tens of thousands of fans to see her perform live in venues across the United States. She lost the support of some of her church fans, now and then, when she performed in secular venues as well, as when she recorded songs not recognized as 'Christian'. The fans she lost were somewhat forgiving, as she remained true to her faith, for the most part, throughout her recording career which spanned the remainder of her life.
Although predominantly an American phenomenon, gospel music has spread throughout the world including to Australia with choirs such as
The Elementals and
Jonah & The Whalers and festivals such as the
Australian Gospel Music Festival . Norway is home to the popular
Ansgar Gospel Choir , the only true Norwegian Gospel choir. Gospel is also popular in the province of Quebec, Canada, where important gospel choirs such as
Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir and
Québec Celebration Gospel Choir are famous.
The music popularized by urban contemporary gospel pioneers had its roots mostly in spirituals sung by southern slaves during the 18th and 19th century but also in the freewheeling forms of religious devotion of 'Sanctified' or 'Holiness' churches, who encouraged individual church members to 'testify', speaking or singing spontaneously about their faith and experience, sometimes while dancing in celebration. In the 1920s Sanctified artists, such as Arizona Dranes, many of whom were also traveling preachers, started making records in a style that melded traditional religious themes with barrelhouse, blues and boogie-woogie techniques and brought jazz instruments, such as drums and horns, into the church.
Christian Country Music , sometimes referred to as Country gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair, is also known as Inspirational Country.
or Country and
Shape Note music publishing companies such as the A. J. Showalter Company (
1879 ), the James D. Vaughan Publishing Company and the
Stamps-Baxter Music And Printing Company .
Early gospel artists such as
The Speer Family ,
The Blackwood Family (
The Blackwood Brothers ),
The Lefevre Trio and
The Carter Family achieved wide popularity through their recordings and radio performances in the
1920s ,
1930s ,
1940s and
1950s . Others such as
Homer Rodeheaver ,
George Beverly Shea ,
Cliff Barrows or the
Cathedral Quartet , became well-known through their association with popular
Evangelist s such as
Billy Sunday ,
Rex Humbard and
Billy Graham .
Progressive Southern Gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern Gospel over the past couple of decades.
Bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music.
ds
- Boyer, Horace Clarence, ''How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel'' Elliott and Clark, 1995, ISBN 0-252-06877-7.
- Broughton, Viv, ''Too Close To Heaven - The Illustrated History Of Gospel Music'', Midnight Books, 1996, ISBN 1-900516-00-4
- Albert E Brumley & Sons, ''The Best of Albert E Brumley,'' Gospel Songs, 1966, ISBN na-paperback Amazing Grace
- Darden, Robert, ''People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music'' Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0-8264-1752-3.
- Heilbut, Tony , ''The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times'' Limelight Editions, 1997, ISBN 0-87910-034-6.
- Zolten, Jerry , ''Great God A' Mighty!:The Dixie Hummingbirds - Celebrating The Rise Of Soul Gospel Music,'' Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-19-515272-7.
