Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as (in terms of the varying music styles) to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music.

Like other forms of Christian music, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of Gospel music varies according to culture and social context.

Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the marketplace.

However, a common theme of most Gospel music is praise, worship or thanks to God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit.

There is no exact starting date for urban contemporary Gospel but it started during the slave trade when the Africans were introduced to the Christian religion.

They used their way of worship and praise, that they did in their native land to help them conform more to the Christian religion. Back in their homeland they sang songs, gave testimonies as a form of worship and praise to their cultural gods and deities.

During slavery, there were three types of Gospel music: work songs, jubilees and social Gospel. These types of Gospel are still around today.

Work songs were songs the slaves would sing while working on the fields or plantation. These songs referred to slavery in the Bible but at the same time had a message of hope and freedom. Jubilees are songs that are sang in the church. This type of music really shows the adaption of slaves to the regular Christian form of music of that time period.

Social Gospel is music that has a social message with biblical references. Gospel artists, who had been influenced by pop music trends for years, had a major influence on early rhythm and blues artists, particularly the “bird groups” such as the Orioles, the Ravens and the Flamingos, who applied gospel quartets’ a cappella techniques to pop songs in the late 40’s and throughout the 50’s.

Individual Gospel artists, such as Sam Cooke, and secular artists who borrowed heavily from Gospel, such as Ray Charles, James Brown, and James Booker, had an even greater impact later in the 50’s, helping to create soul music by bringing even more gospel to rhythm and blues. Elvis Presley was less known for his Gospel but he was a gospel artist. His Gospel favorites were “Why me Lord,” How Great Thou Art, and “You’ll never walk alone.”

Many of the most prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett and Al Green, had roots in the church and gospel music and brought with them much of the vocal styles of artists such as Clara Ward and Julius Cheeks.

During the 70’s artist like Edwin Hawkins with the 1969 hit “Oh Happy Day”, and Andre Crouch’s hit “Take me Back” were big inspirations on Gospel music.

Secular songwriters often appropriated Gospel songs, such as the Pilgrim Travelers’ song “I’ve Got A New Home,” or the Doc Pomus song Ray Charles turned into a hit “Lonely Avenue,” or “Stand By Me,” which Ben E. King and Leiber and Stoller adapted from a well-known gospel song, or Marvin Gaye’s “Can I Get A Witness,” which reworks traditional gospel catchphrases.

In other cases, secular musicians did the opposite, attaching phrases and titles from the Gospel tradition to secular songs to create soul hits such as “Come See About Me” for the Supremes and “99 1/2 Won’t Do” for Wilson Pickett.

The local AME churches are a good place to experience gospel music locally.

A great deal of the jazz, funk, soul and rock players in the area got their start playing in church. A good example is Wyatt Garey. At the age of 11 Wyatt (along with his dad Ranny) joined Reverend Palmer and the  The Messengers of Hope. Rev. Ed Palmer has been bringing his message of hope to audiences for more than 30 years.

The musicians have come and gone but the spirit of the music and the message has remained the same. The styles of music in the band are very diverse for a Gospel group. There are the traditional songs but their music ranges from Soul, Blues, Jazz and even Rock. Besides Rev. Palmer, the group is also blessed with two other reverends on vocals. Rev. Steve Breland (the longest lasting member of the group) and Steve’s wife Ruthie. Also Rev. Johnny King (from Philadelphia Pa.) who can be heard on WGNI on his own radio show.

Next week: We will dig deeper into local gospel and I’ll tell you about a big event that is coming soon. I’ll also give you an update on The March Madness Battle of the Bands along with a review of the six preliminary rounds and the line up for the two semi-final shows on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28.

Contact Stu: Sjohnson@allnightkungfu.com.

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