HAPPY JUNETEENTH!
I’m currently watching a documentary about Black Gospel music on TCM, “How They Got Over.” This film evoked memories of my Sunday mornings, watching Jubilee Showcase with my mom and grandmother. The film is in black and white, and I thought “I been Black a long time.” What?!
The Dixie Hummingbirds, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Barrett Sisters, the Hutchinson Sunbeams (also known as the Emotions), the Norfleet Brothers, and the Staple Singers, as well as The Soul Stirrers, with Sam Cooke, all traveled the church circuit to sing harmonies unheard of today.
A story…
During his days as a chauffeur, my brother had the honor of driving Little Richard. Back then, we had CDs. Little Richard was talking with some of his entourage when my brother popped in a CD from the Blind Boys of Alabama. Little Richard cried.
This documentary highlighted the creativity and the challenges that Gospel groups faced on the road, as well as their resolve to take their audiences on a “spiritual epiphany.” One of them recalled that success was proven by how many of their audience were “laid out” as a result of their performance. What?!
Like every other genre of music, this genre evolved from the era of slavery. It was the music we created to sustain us during our arduous work and joyful play. We even “waded in the water” in song to signal how to escape from plantations. You had groups like The Mighty Clouds of Joy that took you beyond the strife of Black people. Within their style, they screamed, “I Ain’t Got Long to Stay Here.”
Gospel groups made little money, which is why many crossed over to secular music. Many, like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Lou Rawls, made the transition, and today, we know that almost every R&B singer began their career in the church.
Today, we watch and hear Gospel in a wide variety of venues, but I will never forget the Jubilee Showcase on Sunday mornings in Chicago before I attended church. We didn’t pass out in our family room, but we clapped and sometimes sang with the performers. You see, this gospel music infusion was before we headed out to Sunday Mass at St. Martin’s Catholic Church.
There was no explosion of soul in our pews. What?!
#music #Juneteenth #Gospel #survival #memories
Joy Juice
Music has always been a refuge for us, as a people. We continue to explore all genres of music as expressions of our affirmations. My playlist is vast, including gospel to classical. We create, therefore we are.
“It’s all good/love/God” – Victorine
© 2025 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.
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Author of Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.
“…the book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by connecting with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of God’s protection.”
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