People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music
by Bob Darden
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bob DardenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-30
ISBN: 0826417523
Number of pages: 424
Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group
Book Reviews of People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music
Book Review: A great story and a great read
Summary: 5 Stars
I came to this book as I imagine a lot of people will. I've heard some of the classic gospel songs. I've been at a few gospel church services. Most of all I know the classic soul and r'n'b tracks laid down by artists who learned their craft in churches: singing and playing Gospel.
I bought this book on the off chance. Thinking - hey - I'd like to know some more about this music.
Robert Darden deserves to be congratulated for producing a very fine history of Gospel music indeed. His in-depth knowledge, his delight in detail, and his easy flowing prose come together to suck the reader into the story. A few pages and you will be hooked.
He goes back, right back to the days of slavery to reveal the roots of the music. To the way themes from the Bible were chosen for songs for the hope and liberation they promised to the oppressed. It was particularly interesting to read how some songs were coded route maps by which slaves could head north from the plantations to freedom in the northern states.
The route to `Gospel' is charted musically through the `Spirituals', Jubilee Singers, Minstrels and Barbershop Quartets; through the evolution of black churches; and through the ever developing ways of getting the music out to the people - from sheet music through Gospel record labels to the age of the CD.
Robert Darden loves personal detail, and so the evolution of the music is described through the lives and careers of key players. Like gifted pioneer and self publicist Thomas Dorsey, great female characters like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson, and groups like the Soul Stirrers and the Sensational Nightingales.
The book was published in 2004. The scene at the time of publication is represented by six singers: John.P.Kee, Vickie Winans, Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin.
As I'm posting on amazon.co.uk I should note that this is a purely American history of gospel music. No voices from the UK here and no story of music in British Black churches. That would be another book. Fans of the soul and R'n'B that grew out of Gospel roots should note that artists who crossed over into the mainstream are included only when their stories are important in the evolution of Gospel music itself. This is a history of Gospel music. No doubt Robert Darden could write another fine book on the music that Gospel gave birth to, but that would be another book.
The book ends with a generous list of key Gospel records, but books like this beg the question. Can words really tell us anything about the music? Oh yes, the history - oh yes, the analysis - but can a book tell you what this music feels like? Probably not, but page after page Robert Darden manages to brew up the atmosphere of the times he is talking about, and his warts and all descriptions of people bring them to life. Of course you need to put the records on, but with this book in your hand you'll appreciate the music a lot more.
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