Some time ago, I was reading a couple of album reviews on Amazon. The first, by Buddy Miller was titled “Universal United House of Prayer” and is a musical exploration of gospel roots. The review, by a listener from Alabama, consisted of three sentences, the last two summed things up with “The first song on the CD is good and not gospel. The rest of the CD is gospel which I dont(sic) enjoy “. The other review took on Jorma Kaukonen’s “Stars In My Crown” and its reviewer hailed from somewhere out in the Alaskan wilderness. The album is also a study of early century gospel roots music. The reviewer titles his missive “If You’re Not a Christian, It’s Not For You” and sums up his feelings thusly: “it was disheartening to hear messages of exclusion and righteousness–great gospel music brings all people in as it embraces the human condition and our yearning to become better people. In this CD unfortunately one must believe that Jesus is the only way to have a spiritual life.” Well, I’m no Christian, but that album’s a fine piece of work. I guess when it comes to religious discussions around the dinner table, even if that table is set on the internet, it still draws passion.
My show, Deeper Roots, occasionally digs into gospel music not because of its ‘message’ but because its litany of Christian sanctification goes back to an almost prehistoric time where, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the only ‘folk’ music that was allowed was that of the church. Rhythm, righteousness, and holiness created a pattern and ways to extol Christian virtue because it gave folks structure in their lives. No more. No less. Contemporary music that interprets this music often does so as a means of reverence for its contributions as I’m sure Messrs. Miller and Kaukonen would agree with.
The show explores the works of numerous artists who come from the Deep South and were exposed to the sacred sounds of the Baptist and Pentacostal churches; in fact, much of the blues and country artists that broke through in the 20th century owe a great debt to the music they either performed in church or learned in church. Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Thomas (Georgia Tom) Dorsey, Nappy Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke…well, you get the idea.