Ah, the good ol’ days(Pt. 2)
I found the title of the book I referenced in my last entry here.
The book is called, "How Nashville Became Music City, USA...50 Years Of Music Row", by author and songwriter(heard of him? I haven't!)Michael Kosser.
If you like reading about the music industry, the book is a fascinating study of how a quiet Southeastern U.S. city(Nashville, TN)became the eventual headquarters of the ENTIRE recording industry(NOT just country music)by the 1970s.
The book does an admirable job of discussing how the music industry as a whole found a hospitable, comfortable place to center itself in Nashville...the first hand anecdotes from all the hitmakers and those behind the scenes as well are worth the price of the book to me as a reader.
I would love to see a similar look at the involvement of gospel music in those famous recording studios that not only it used, but all the other genres of popular music as well. Maybe someone will do one someday.
I'm very pleased with the response my initial post on the subject got...thoughtful comments by three people that I respect a great deal for their knowledge, insights, and input.
I don't normally respond in the comments section...but since I enjoy the fact that my blog is now interactive, I chose to enter into dialogue with my esteemed readers.
But that's not quite fair...because I always have the final word here. And if I have anything pertinent to say in response to what others contribute, then I should merely post a new entry...so that's what I'm doing now.
First, Daniel Mount(whose own blog is an excellent read for gospel music fans)pointed out that there is a group today on the scene that recreates the excitement and fervor that the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen did in their heydays(as I quoted one anecdote in the book as alluding to)...and thus, there was no reason to despair at the fate of gospel quartet music.
To respond to Daniel, I assume he is referring to Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, who assuredly are creating quite a stir and excitement among fans of gospel music, both with their recordings and their stage presence.
For my part, I cannot deny that SSQ indeed has done a fine job doing all that in the gospel genre. However, I don't feel there is a similar excitement about them among non-gospel fans as there was over both the Blackwoods and the Statesmen)or some other quartets)in their heydays. Certainly in my experience, those older quartets got a LOT of respect and praise for the music and legend they created. While not intending to take away from SSQ one bit, their influence and impact hasn't quite reached that far, IMHO, yet.
My good friend Neil Enloe commented on the difference in the message between gospel music and its' country counterpart, and posited that perhaps THAT was the reason that the gospel quartets made such an impact upon fans of music back in the day.
Ultimately, I agree with Neil...the inherent superiority of gospel music lies in the message of life and hope it offers, as opposed to the message of many country songs being one of darkness and failure. This is the main reason why I choose to listen to gospel music most of the time rather than its' secular brethren.
But I'm sure Neil doesn't mean to impugn all secular music out of hand...in fact, I KNOW he doesn't! Neil is a fan of much of the well-crafted pop music of the 1940s and 1950s, and he likes similar types of songs written after that! He has long maintained that songwriters(of which Neil is one of the better gospel ones)are storytellers, and a good story makes for a good song, regardless of its' musical trappings.
In any case, my comments were directed more toward the sheer musical abilities of the classic gospel quartets, rather than the lyrical basis of their work.
In my own case, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, it was the musical proficiency of groups like the Blackwoods, the Statesmen, the Rebels, the Oak Ridge Quartet, and Neil's own Couriers that first drew me to gospel music. At the time I first fell in love with it, I was too young to understand the message fully that the songs were communicating, not having grown up in a church atmosphere to have that as a frame of reference for the lyrics I was hearing. All I knew was, I liked the harmony, the high tenors and the low, low basses, and I loved the enthusiasm and conviction they all sang with. My guess is that those factors played a part in the reaction to it of those quoted in Kosser's book as well.
Now, as I matured, the message likewise grew in my mind, and the seeds likewise grew. And when it came time for me to make that eternal decision, it was that very gospel music(especially that of the Couriers!)that became the new anthem for my life...which it remains to this day.
But like many others(I would guess), I was first attracted to gospel music because of its' quality, and its' musical power.
Then Norm Graham commented and attempted to explain the historical context behind audiences of the 1950s and 1960s being moved by gospel quartets when they heard them. I agree essentially with most all of Norm's conclusions in that regard. Norm is a very knowledgable and perceptive poster on a number of gospel music message boards, and he knows a lot about quartets and records as well...and I always welcome whatever contributions to my posts he cares to make.
Norm pointed out how different times are now from those days...and maybe that is part of the rub. Certainly the world of music is so compartmentalized by comparison today that audiences are less likely to hear the variety of music and appreciate it in the way that people like Neil, Norm, and I did when we were growing up.
I still remember the days when Top 40 radio played ALL the top songs that were popular at the time...there was none of this "well, it doesn't fit our format" kind of stuff we have today. I can remember as a boy hearing the likes of the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Marty Robbins, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong ALL being played on our local top 40 station when they had hits. That kind of stylistic diversity will NEVER occur on a regular basis again in today's radio. I think that that sort of approach keeps our youth from having the kind of music appreciation they ought to have.
Maybe Norm is also right when he infers that in the structure of today's gospel music industry, it'll be tough for gospel music to have the kind of impact on the general record buying audience than it did in the days Kosser's book speaks of.
And THAT makes me a bit sad.
Posted on Mar 14, 2007 - 07:04 PM | [0]
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