Gospel Music

Origins of Modern-Day Gospel Music

During the 17th century, spirituals, the precursors to gospel music, developed from the Christian hymns and sacred music imported from Europe, and the oral traditions that survived the Middle Passage, brought to the Americas by the enslaved peoples of West Africa. Because many practitioners were illiterate, first spirituals (and later gospel music) utilized repetition and call-and-response sections to facilitate memorization and participation. The lack of instrumentation available to African Americans at the time allowed for the development of complex rhythmic and harmonic elements.

By the 1870s, the music that had developed out of spirituals was known as gospel. The revival movement of the late 19th century facilitated the exportation of gospel music throughout the United States and made famous early gospel singers and songwriters, including Fanny Crosby, P. P. Bliss, and Charles H. Gabriel. In 1930, the National Baptist Convention formally endorsed [Page 981]gospel as the music of the church. Mainstream acceptance of black gospel occurred in 1950, when Joe Bostic produced the Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. Mahalia Jackson, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and Thomas A. Dorsey were among the successful performers of traditional gospel music.

Contemporary Christian Music

Contemporary Christian music, or inspirational music, as it is sometimes known, is represented on Billboard Magazine's Top Christian Albums and Hot Christian Songs charts. This genre has been exemplified by a group of artists that includes Amy Grant, Jars of Clay, and dc Talk. A reaction to the libertine counterculture of the era that embraced radicalism, substance abuse, and sexual exploration, contemporary Christian music developed from the so-called Jesus music of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The genre's two foundational albums, Larry Norman's Upon This Rock (1969) and Mylon LeFevre's Mylon—We Believe (1970), evince its roots in folk and rock music. Initially, the music's secular sound was off-putting to some audiences. However, younger listeners gravitated toward the music, which facilitated the acceptance of more contemporary-sounding religious music. Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, contemporary Christian music grew into a financially successful genre that received consistent airplay on mainstream radio stations. By the 2000s, contemporary Christian music was outselling classical, jazz, and Latin recordings.

Christian Country Music

Christian country music is closely related to secular country music, sharing artists, instrumentation, and content. The genre is an outgrowth of both southern gospel and country music, developing in the southeast and midwest during the 1950s and 1960s. The work of disc jockeys like Bob Wilson helped cement the genre's popularity. Christian country music has been featured prominently on television on shows like Grand Ole Opry, Hee Haw, and Ozark Jubilee. Among the most popular Christian country performers are Barbara Mandrell, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Allen Frizzell. Several Christian country music songs have had considerable mainstream success, including Dolly Parton's “The Seeker” (1975), Cristy Lane's “One Day at a Time” (1980), and Carrie Underwood's “Jesus, Take the Wheel” (2005).

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