Re: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation

[Scott Smith <SDSmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve,

Thanks for the info. Sounds interesting, I'll see if I can track it down. Do
you remember the day and time it aired?

--Scott

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Smolian" <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation


> I think it was on WHUC, Howard University's TV outlet in DC.  I thought it
> was really well done for the most part, integrating (if that's the right
> word) the dvelopment of Gospel with the rise and fall of Jim Crow and the
> emergence of the Civil Rights movement.  I missed about an hour of it but
> enjoyed what I was able to catch.  For the most part, it was done with
much
> understanding, little of the "I'm the producer and have my own song to
sing"
> and even less of the "I'm black and this project belongs to us- not you,
> whitey" approach of the following show, about a group going back to slave
> sites in the US and eventually to Africa  to look for "the ancestors."
>
> Steve Smolian
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Smith" <SDSmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 5:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation
>
>
> > Hi Steve,
> >
> > Do you remember what outlet it aired on? I wasn't aware of too much
> > additional material on Dorsey.
> >
> > --Scott D. Smith
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Steven Smolian" <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 11:11 AM
> > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation
> >
> >
> >> Saw a piece of a Dorsey interview this past weekend on TV, part of a
> > "Where
> >> Gospel Came From" type series (6 episodes.)
> >>
> >> Steve Smolian
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Scott Smith" <SDSmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 10:33 AM
> >> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation
> >>
> >>
> >> > Which reminds me...buried somewhere deep in the Disney archives is
one
> > of
> >> > the last filmed interviews done with Thomas J. Dorsey (the father of
> >> > gospel
> >> > music), which we shot for a documentary called "Chicago on the Good
> > Foot"
> >> > back in the early eighties. In addition, the film also contained
> > material
> >> > with Willie Dixon (filmed in his studio), Junior Wells, Big Twist,
> > Pinetop
> >> > Perkins, Koko Taylor...the list goes on. Would love to get my hands
> >> > back
> >> > on
> >> > that material again.
> >> >
> >> > I'm sure no one at Disney even knows it exists.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Scott Smith
> >> >
> >> > Chicago Audio Works, Inc.
> >> >
> >> > ----- Original Message -----
> >> > From: "Matthew Barton" <mbarton@xxxxxxx>
> >> > To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> > Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 7:58 AM
> >> > Subject: [ARSCLIST] Gospel preservation
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >> From today's New York Times--a familiar tune.
> >> >>
> >> >> OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
> >> >> Gospel's Got the Blues
> >> >> By ROBERT DARDEN
> >> >>
> >> >> Published: February 15, 2005
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> Waco, Tex.
> >> >>
> >> >> AT the Grammy awards on Sunday, viewers saw the marriage of old-time
> >> > gospel
> >> >> and new: the classic artists Mavis Staples and the Blind Boys of
> > Alabama
> >> >> performed a medley with a young musician, Kanye West, that included
> >> >> Mr.
> >> >> West's gospel-tinged hip-hop song, "Jesus Walks."
> >> >>
> >> >> Blessed with a rock-solid foundation, contemporary gospel is
thriving.
> > In
> >> >> the past decade, new releases have been selling copies in the
> > millions -
> >> >> a
> >> >> major milestone in a musical genre that emerged in the 1930's, when
> >> >> the
> >> >> songwriter Thomas Dorsey set the words of Sunday morning to the
music
> > of
> >> >> Saturday night. But the early gospel may soon be lost forever.
> >> >> Although
> >> >> albums by the legendary Mahalia Jackson are easy to find on CD, of
the
> >> >> thousands of tracks recorded by less known greats like Clara Ward,
the
> >> >> Sensational Nightingales, the Roberta Martin Singers, Sallie Martin,
> > the
> >> >> Georgia Peach and the Spirit of Memphis, only a few are available.
> >> >>
> >> >> Why is this music so difficult to find, or even hear, today?
Although
> >> > small
> >> >> gospel labels still release classics, and reissue labels like
Document
> >> >> Records and Collectables have repackaged some Golden Age music,
these
> >> >> companies don't have the wide distribution of the major labels and
> > mostly
> >> >> depend on mail and Internet orders. In fact, catalogs of early
gospel
> >> >> labels are mostly owned by the large corporations that dominate the
> > music
> >> >> industry. For the most part, these companies have released only a
few
> >> >> classic albums on compact disc.
> >> >>
> >> >> For an unabashed fan like me, it's a painful situation. I realize
that
> > no
> >> >> corporation is going to put out albums just to please a few
> > aficionados,
> >> >> but they may not realize that many people want to hear this music.
> >> >> Each
> >> >> time I do a radio interview and play a classic gospel song, the
phone
> >> > lines
> >> >> immediately light up. The callers need to discuss what this music
has
> >> > meant
> >> >> to them. They invariably ask where they can buy it and most of the
> >> >> time
> > I
> >> >> have to tell them they can't.
> >> >>
> >> >> Classic gospel can experience the same success that major-label
> > reissues
> >> > of
> >> >> jazz and blues have enjoyed in the last two decades. It was once
> >> >> difficult
> >> >> to find the jazz masters, but reissues of John Coltrane, Charlie
> >> >> Parker
> >> > and
> >> >> dozens of others have brought labels renewed sales, a new audience
and
> >> >> critical acclaim. These reissues came about because of the
aggressive
> >> >> lobbying by jazz lovers and the foresight of a few label executives.
> > The
> >> >> same can happen with early gospel.
> >> >>
> >> >> Music historians should also get involved: major record labels can
> >> >> form
> >> >> alliances with archivists like the Smithsonian, Rounder Records and
> >> >> the
> >> >> Library of Congress. Each day, irreplaceable master tapes
deteriorate,
> >> >> get
> >> >> lost, or are simply tossed out.
> >> >>
> >> >> It would be more than a cultural disaster to forever lose this
music.
> > It
> >> >> would be a sin.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> Robert Darden, an assistant professor of English at Baylor
University,
> > is
> >> >> the author of "People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel
Music."
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
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> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
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>
>
>
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