The Slave Gospel Music of the American South

A blog about the history and meaning of Slave Gospel Music of the American South.

Origins

The slave gospel music of the American south can be traced back to the early 18th century. African American slaves were brought to the south from Africa to work on plantations. They brought with them their own music and religious traditions. Slave gospel music is a mix of these African traditions and Christian religious music.

Work songs

The term work song is used to describe a kind of music that was sung by slaves while they were working. The songs were often about the hard work that the slaves had to do, but they sometimes also contained messages about freedom.

Work songs were an important part of slave culture, and they helped to keep the slaves motivated and encouraged. They also served as a form of communication between the slaves. When one slave sang a work song, the other slaves would often join in, and this would help to spread news or information between them.

Work songs continue to be popular in the American South, and they have also been adapted by other cultures around the world.

Field hollers

Field hollers were the most prevalent type of slave song, and were likely the origin of blues and gospel music. These songs were sung while working in the fields, and often included improvised lyrics that related to the singer’s current situation. Many of these songs were work-related, and would include instructions for performing a certain task, or warnings about dangerous animals or plants. Other field hollers were more general, and simply expressed the singer’s emotions or views on life.

Lyrics and Themes

Lamentations

Lamentations, songs of bereavement and mourning, were an important part of the slave gospel tradition. Though they were often adapted from white sources, these songs took on new meaning in the hands of black singers. Lyrics about death and dying were imbued with double meanings, serving as both expressions of personal grief and as commentary on the harsh reality of slavery.

One of the most famous lamentations is “I’m So Tired of livin’, I don’t wanna live no more.” This song was reportedly sung by a slave named Fannie Crosby shortly before she was sold away from her husband and children. The lyrics express both her personal anguish at being separated from her loved ones and her resolve to “die with my head up high.”

Lamentations were not always sad songs, however. Some, like “Oh, Mary Don’t You Weep,” took on a more defiant tone, celebrating the eventual triumph of the righteous over their oppressors. In this song, Mary is told not to weep because “Pharaoh’s army got drowned” and “God gonna trouble de waters no mo’.” These lyrics alluded to the story of Exodus, in which the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. The song offered hope that just as Moses led his people to freedom, so too would a new Moses come to lead slaves out of bondage.

Testimonials

One of the earliest and most important genres of African American music is the slave gospel song. These songs were created by slaves in the American South as a way to express their religious beliefs and experiences.

Slave gospel songs often Include testimonials, which are first-hand accounts of the singer’s religious conversion or of a miraculous event that has occurred. Testimonials were an important part of African American religious life, and they were often shared orally before being written down and sung as songs.

The following are two examples of slave gospel songs with testimonial lyrics:

I once was lost, but now I am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

This popular hymn was written by John Newton, a former slave ship captain who converted to Christianity. The lyrics tell the story of Newton’s personal journey from sin to salvation.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home.
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

This song was sung by slaves who were escapees from bondage or who had been freed from slavery. The lyrics express the hope and yearning for freedom that was felt by many African Americans in the South.

Spirituals

Spirituals were religious songs created by African Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries. Though they were originally created as hymns and spiritual songs for worship, many of them became popular as folk songs and were eventually adapted by white musicians.

The lyrics of spirituals often deal with themes of freedom, hope, and resistance. In many cases, the lyrics are based on biblical stories, particularly those from the Old Testament. For example, the song “Go Down Moses” is based on the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

The music of spirituals is characterized by its use of call-and-response patterns and its repetitiveness. This was likely due to the fact that many spirituals were created as work songs, to be sung while performing tasks such as chopping wood or washing clothes.

While spirituals are no longer as popular as they once were, they continue to be an important part of African American culture and tradition.

Influences

The Slave Gospel Music of the American South was born out of the convergence of two different cultures. The first was the music of the African slaves who were brought over to the Americas. The second was the music of the white European settlers. These two cultures mixed together to create a new genre of music.

White gospel

White gospel music is a subgenre of gospel music originating in the United States. It is characterized by countermelodies, harmony vocals, and a piano or organ accompaniment. Historically, white gospel artists have drawn inspiration from African American gospel music, but more recently they have also been influenced by Contemporary Christian Music (CCM).

While there are many white gospel artists who sing traditional hymns and draw inspiration from the black gospel tradition, there are also white artists who create their own unique sound. In recent years, white gospel artists such as Kirk Franklin, Mandisa, and Michael W. Smith have achieved crossover success, appealing to both Christian and secular audiences.

Blues

The blues is a emotion-filled music genre that is commonly associated with the American South. The genre got its start in the late 1800s by black slaves who were working in the cotton plantations. These slaves would sing work songs to pass the time and to vent their frustrations. The lyrics of these songs were often improvised and they typically had a call-and-response format.

The blues eventually made its way to the mainstream in the early 1900s when black performers began playing it in nightclubs in New Orleans. From there, the blues spread throughout the United States and became one of the most popular genres of music. The blues has influenced many other genres of music, including jazz and rock & roll.

Jazz

While the term “jazz” was not coined until the early 20th century, the music to which it refers has its roots in the music of the American South, particularly in the blues and gospel traditions. These genres were developed by African Americans who were enslaved or living in poverty in the South. They used music as a way to express their joys, sorrows, and hopes, as well as to resist their oppression.

The gospel tradition was particularly influential in the development of jazz. Gospel music is characterized by its own unique form of call-and-response singing, as well as by its use of “testimonials,” stories about personal religious experiences that are sung instead of spoken. This style of singing was brought north by African American migrants in the early years of the 20th century and can be heard in the works of such jazz legends as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Notable Performers

The slave gospel music of the American South is a genre that is little-known but has produced some incredible performers. Fannie Lou Hamer, Mahalia Jackson, and James Cleveland are just a few of the incredible performers who have come out of this genre. Let’s take a closer look at some of these performers and their contributions to the music world.

Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer. She is credited with helping to shape the sound of post-war gospel and shaping what is now known as the black church. Called “The Queen of Gospel”, she became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as “the single most powerful black woman in the United States”, due to her vocal ability and political clout.

She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career, and her 45 rpm records were some of the first gospel music to achieve widespread popularity with mainstream audiences. Jackson influenced many other gospel singers, including Rosa Parks, Bob Dylan,Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston, and Stevie Wonder.

James Cleveland

James Cleveland (December 5, 1931 – February 9, 1991) was an American gospel singer, composer and arranger, and one of the originators of the black gospel sound. He was sometimes referred to as “The King of Gospel Music” and is credited with bringing stacked harmony singing to the world of gospel music. He was one of the first black gospel artists to have a major crossover impact; his songs were popular among both black and white audiences.

The Fairfield Four

The Fairfield Four is an a cappella gospel group founded in 1921 in Fairfield, Tennessee, by Rev. Sam McCravy. The group’s best-known lineup consisted of bass singer Walter Byrd, baritone Isaac Freeman, lead singer Leroy Carr, and first tenor Aaron Williams.

The Fairfield Four gained national attention in the 1940s with their recordings for RCA Victor, which included the hit songs “Lonesome Road” and “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray”. The group toured widely throughout the United States and Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, the Fairfield Four’s career was revived by their appearance in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which featured their performance of the song “I’ll Fly Away”.

The Fairfield Four was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000, they were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.