Gospel: The Root of Popular Music

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The foundation of twentieth-century black popular music is rooted in the sounds of several folk styles, including black minstrel and vaudeville tunes, blues, and ragtime. The music of the African-American church, however, has played one of the most significant roles in the evolution of black popular music. Inextricably bound to the spirituals sung by slaves, the gospel style came to dominate the black religious experience in America. By the turn of the century, gospel music had reached popularity as black religious songwriters began to publish their own compositions. One of the earliest and most influential of these writers was Charles Albert Tindley, a Maryland born Methodist preacher, …