Spiritual Songs: A Brief History of Gospel Music

Gospel music is often traced back as far as the late 1700s, but it was more than likely truly born in the 1930s in America’s deep south. It probably had its beginnings on the slave plantations as a combination of church hymns and work songs. The African slaves were unable to read and thus passed on many of the songs through oral tradition. This also formed the basis of the call and response style of chorus often present in gospel music. The slaves were unable to read hymn books so the preacher would call out the chorus and the congregation would repeat it. A lot of early gospel music was sung a-cappella due to a general lack of available instruments. Because of this, vocal harmonies were emphasized and they continue to be a dominant factor in today’s gospel music.

It was in the 1930s when gospel music attained the form it has today. From the American south, a blues musician named Thomas A. Dorsey began the first stirrings of gospel music. Known today as the “The Father of Gospel Music”, Dorsey was a minister’s son, but he originally composed blues songs and was known for his bawdy lyrics. Eventually Dorsey began combining the spirituals he was familiar with as a Baptist and secular music, such as blues and jazz. Needless to say, his efforts were not immediately applauded. Most of the religious conservatives of the day did not like the idea of Christian music being blended with secular music. They called Dorsey’s songs “the devil’s music” and rejected it. When Dorsey realized how stubborn his fellow Baptists were being to this new gospel sound, he vowed to carry the torch and bring it into the mainstream. Many years and 800 songs later, Dorsey’s vision became a reality.

Dorsey began the movement, but it was the extraordinary singers of that time and beyond that continued the gospel music revolution. Women, in particular, took up the gospel torch. In the church, they were freed from many gender barriers of the time, and many welcomed the opportunity to become gospel singers. Mahalia Jackson was one of the most famous singers of the time. Her strong alto moved listeners and made other singers, then and now, strive to emulate her. Despite this, it was the male quartets with their smooth, rich harmonies that most affected American pop culture between 1920 and 1950.

The 1960s were the golden era of soul and that is when gospel music began to take firm mainstream roots. Beginning with a woman who eventually became known as the “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin. The daughter of a famous Pentecostal minister, Franklin began her career singing gospel before turning to a more popular R&B sound. But gospel was never far from her heart and she returned to her roots frequently with gospel album releases.

Today, gospel music has branched into various sub-genres and the sub-genre with the closest resemblance to the gospel of old is usually considered to be either Black Gospel or Southern Gospel.

To listen to free music downloads from a variety of genres including rhythm and blues, soul and gospel, please visit the provided links.

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