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ARSCLIST  February 2005

ARSCLIST February 2005

Subject:

Re: Gospel preservation

From:

David Lewis <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:56:05 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (114 lines)

There are at least three less exalted sets of Early Gospel on the Fremeaux
and Associates label of France, and there are some internet only CDRs as
well. Most of the Gospel artists that recorded for Specialty or Peacock have
had some presence in the CD market, even if those particular discs are no
longer with us.  

Agreed, it's slow to get going, and there's a TON of research to be done in
the field of both Black and White Gospel in terms of recordings,
publications, personalities, etc. But it seems to be at least underway now,
whereas ten years ago I think it was a different story. And of course, you
don't necessarily want the majors to give the field a lot of attention when
you are looking into a historical genre, because then the barriers go up.


The main thing that impressed me about the article is that for a professor
of English this Op-Ed piece isn't written so well. Sorry to be so nit-picky.

David N. Lewis
Assistant Classical Editor, All Music Guide

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dick Spottswood
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 10:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation

A pity the writer doesn't acknowledge Gooodbye, Babylon, the 6 cd boxed
archival gospel set that was nominated for two Grammy awards.
Dick





Matthew Barton <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
02/15/2005 08:58 AM
Please respond to Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List

        To:     [log in to unmask]
        cc:
        Subject:        [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation


>From today's New York Times--a familiar tune.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Gospel's Got the Blues
By ROBERT DARDEN

Published: February 15, 2005


Waco, Tex.

AT the Grammy awards on Sunday, viewers saw the marriage of old-time
gospel
and new: the classic artists Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of Alabama
performed a medley with a young musician, Kanye West, that included Mr.
West's gospel-tinged hip-hop song, "Jesus Walks."

Blessed with a rock-solid foundation, contemporary gospel is thriving. In
the past decade, new releases have been selling copies in the millions - a
major milestone in a musical genre that emerged in the 1930's, when the
songwriter Thomas Dorsey set the words of Sunday morning to the music of
Saturday night. But the early gospel may soon be lost forever. Although
albums by the legendary Mahalia Jackson are easy to find on CD, of the
thousands of tracks recorded by less known greats like Clara Ward, the
Sensational Nightingales, the Roberta Martin Singers, Sallie Martin, the
Georgia Peach and the Spirit of Memphis, only a few are available.

Why is this music so difficult to find, or even hear, today? Although
small
gospel labels still release classics, and reissue labels like Document
Records and Collectables have repackaged some Golden Age music, these
companies don't have the wide distribution of the major labels and mostly
depend on mail and Internet orders. In fact, catalogs of early gospel
labels are mostly owned by the large corporations that dominate the music
industry. For the most part, these companies have released only a few
classic albums on compact disc.

For an unabashed fan like me, it's a painful situation. I realize that no
corporation is going to put out albums just to please a few aficionados,
but they may not realize that many people want to hear this music. Each
time I do a radio interview and play a classic gospel song, the phone
lines
immediately light up. The callers need to discuss what this music has
meant
to them. They invariably ask where they can buy it and most of the time I
have to tell them they can't.

Classic gospel can experience the same success that major-label reissues
of
jazz and blues have enjoyed in the last two decades. It was once difficult
to find the jazz masters, but reissues of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker
and
dozens of others have brought labels renewed sales, a new audience and
critical acclaim. These reissues came about because of the aggressive
lobbying by jazz lovers and the foresight of a few label executives. The
same can happen with early gospel.

Music historians should also get involved: major record labels can form
alliances with archivists like the Smithsonian, Rounder Records and the
Library of Congress. Each day, irreplaceable master tapes deteriorate, get
lost, or are simply tossed out.

It would be more than a cultural disaster to forever lose this music. It
would be a sin.


Robert Darden, an assistant professor of English at Baylor University, is
the author of "People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music."

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