The golden age of gospel / text by Horace Clarence Boyer ; photography by Lloyd Yearwood.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boyer, Horace Clarence, 1935-2009.

Series:

Music in American life

Standardized Title:

How sweet the sound

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gospel music--History and criticism.

Gospel music.

Physical Description:

272 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First Illinois paperback [edition].

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2000.

Summary:

Professional gospel performer, composer, and scholar Horace Clarence Boyer presents the first definitve history of the vibrant, visceral tradition of black gospel music. Originally published as How Sweet the Sound, this authoritative work is beautifully illustrated with Lloyd Yearwood's arresting photographs of gospel's greatest performers backstage and in the heat of performance.

Skillfully blending music history and social context, Boyer traces th ddevelopment of gospel from its earliest beginnings through the Golden Age (1945-55) and into the 1960's when gospel entered the concert hall. He introduces dozens of the genre's most gifted contributors, from Thomas A. Dorsey and Mahalia Jackson to the Soul Stirrers and Aretha Franklin, evoking their distinctive styles and distingushing among the characteristic sounds of gospel music in Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, and other locations.

Capturing the essence of a thrilling performance tradition, The Golden Age of Gospel clearly establishes gospel's importance as an authentic American art form.

Notes:

Originally published: How sweet the sound. Washington, DC : Elliott & Clark, 1995.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 260-263) and index.

ISBN:

0252068777

OCLC:

42753407