How are you doing?  I’m back.

My sincerest apologies for the delay, but I was lucky enough to get some work so I’m sure you will forgive me for “taking the money”.

Anyway, here I am delivering as promised the second part of “the Origins of Gospel – part two”.

It’s quite a long one so I am going to split it over two blogs. Let’s start by picking up from where we left off in the last blog.

Blak civil war solider

We are about to enter 1865 where slavery was official abolished in the United States (by the enactment of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution)^*2 although many states had chosen to abolished it from 1777 onwards. Thankfully the transportation of new slaves from Africa to the Americas was stopped as early as 1808.^*3

The change began with the advent of the US Civil War which commenced on 12 April 1861 at 4:30 am when confederate forces in Charleston, South Carolina, fired on Union forces located in Charleston Harbor.^*4

It’s a scary thought that my father, Mr. Superbad, aka Freddie Mack and to whom I dedicate this blog, would be born in North Carolina, the neighboring state 73 years later.
 

The history of gospel 1865 and 1930

So here we are in 1865 when the last shot was fired on June 22^nd ending slavery at least officially.  This new found liberty gave black educational institutions and universities the freedom to promote blacks as singers. It also enabled travelling’s groups such as the ‘Jubilee Singers” and quartets to take their form of Negro spirituals to the masses.

In my last blog I mentioned one of the most famous was the ‘Jubilee Singers from Fisk University’ who still perform today.^*5  Unfortunately there are no recordings from this era but for a sense of the sound try the “1994 Smithsonian/Folkways recording called: African American Spirituals: The Concert Tradition SF40072”^*1

These groups were mainly ex slaves now well trained and professional performers.  A welcome change from the “blacked up” white minstrel musicians who usually performed.

The name ‘Jubilee’ was taken from the Jewish celebration the ‘Year of Jubilee’ and the ancient Hebrew law which promised all slaves would be set free during the celebrations^*6. I think it’s an appropriate name for the singers who would be remembered for introducing the legacy of spiritual music, the origins of gospel to the masses.

Gospel music roots are also attributed to the mass revival Holiness- Pentecostal movement started in the cities by Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey around 1875. This development moved spiritual music away from the rural and camp style status it had previous occupied and continued its transformation.

Around 1870’s the term “gospel” was used for the first time with many popular song writers and singers emerging such as Fanny Crosby and P.P. Bliss whose works are still around today.

So that it’s for now check back on Monday for the second half of this blog “The Origins of Gospel “ – part two and to find out about other influences with helped to grow Gospel music from the Negro Spiritual.

Take care

See you all later Alligators

Superlady

Source: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/513212/jewish/When-is-the-next-Jubilee-year.htm  *6

Source: http://www.fiskjubileesingers.org/ *5

Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_the_Civil_War_start#ixzz1Zky3Hbt4 – *4

Source: http://histclo.com/act/work/slave/ast/ast-atle.html *3

Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_year_was_slavery_abolished_in_america#ixzz1ZkxI78GQ – *2

Source: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/jubilee.html*1
Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/gospel-music#ixzz1WWYitxmD

Source: http://negrospirituals.com/

I hope you’ve all been trying to catch as many of the last rays of sunshine this dreadful summer has provided.

I,  however can’t complain having just spent the last week taking it easy in Greece celebrating the wedding of Mr Superbad’s son Freddie Mack to Dawn Sodden – who  is now the new Mrs Mack by the way – Sorry Jan!

This is my poor excuse to you for the late post of the “Origins of Gospel part II” but added to the strategic attack Greek mosquitos executed on my poor self makes me hope you will forgive me.

 It will be posted instead on Monday 19th September.

I am happy however to post as promised my dedication to my father Mr Superbad on what would have been his 75th birthday. I think it’s quite a landmark and I am only sad he didn’t make it.

So until the 19^th take it easy and see you Crocodiles in a while!

To Mr Superbad

His arrival in a room had the attraction of a magnet drawing all eyes to him

Gravity surely controlled his hugs

They squeezed the breathe from your lungs which then filled as if for the first time.

The rumble of his voice was music to my ears

The memory of its sound still fills me with tears

He wasn’t a perfect man

He used say to me perfection died on the cross

Yet he was my Superdad

Alas all too human, and I still feel his loss

Happy birthday Daddy, I miss you every day.

Love your only Superlady

A slave’s life was harsh, cruel and restrictive. They were forbidden to read, write, speak in their native tongue or even to play musical instruments for fear they would exhibited pagonistic attributes. However, many were forced to go to church and would have been exposed to the King James Bible.

These are the natural building blocks for creating a form of music that required no hymn books, was spiritual in origin and steeped in pain, repression and strife. Throughout the 1800’s African Americans gathered together in the modern equivalent of a “jam session” creating spiritual songs. The phrase “sperichil” (spiritual) is first seen in the book “Slave Songs of The United States” (by Allen, Ware, Garrison, 1867)^*1. This period also saw the first printed descriptions of slaves performing spirituals activities in gatherings.

The bible has constantly been reinterpreted by individuals and then repurposed to suit a specific religion such as Catholism or Evangelism. The bible is full of references to slaves and their expulsion from the ‘Promised Land’ but God is always there in the background promising to save them. Promising hope!

So it’s easy to see how “negro spirituals” evolved.  Their exposure to churches with Christian based lyrics created a new strain of music that incorporated elements from both cultures whist remaining distinctively African American. This is because the ‘negro spiritual’ song is unique to African American culture being a combination of African music and religion and European religions.

However, spiritual music had messages of its own. It helped field slaves get through days of back breaking work, allowed solo singing for comfort or more ingeniously it is believed it contained hidden meanings that allowed Christian slaves to secretly communicate. They were apparently coded so they could only be interpreted by another Christian slave and became synonymous with the Underground Railroad. Though there is a lack of evidence^*3 messages may have aided escapes to freedom by transmitting lyrically words such as “home” meaning a safe place to be free. 

The words “riding a chariot” or “train” were identified in the songs “The Gospel Train” and published by the travelling Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1872, and “Swing low, sweet chariot” are the sort of lyrics that may have helped the organisation free hundreds or thousands of slaves.

Ironically, I also discovered in later years the Jubilee singers were criticised for being “too commercial”. Apparently nothing has changed in over 100 years as we still often hear modern groups accused of selling out.

Here is an instrumental version of Swing Low Sweet Chariot with images from the period which captures the feel of the times I believe.

“Swing low, sweet chariot” refers to Ripley, a “station” where fugitive slaves were helped over a difficult river in Ohio by the townspeople from a hilltop town so the words were written as “Coming for to carry me home/A band of Angels”

It seems that spiritual music not only helped the slaves survive one of the most difficult periods in black American history but out of it sprang a way of communicating that has inspired numerous other forms of music.

Clearly there are no singers from this period that I can let you hear but if anyone knows of a decent modern recording of a song from that era I would be happy to add it to the blog.

So that’s it for now I hope you’ve enjoyed our look at the origins of gospel. Check me out on 13^th September, when I will be adding an extra dedication for the anniversary of Mr. Superbad’s birthday and following up this blog by covering 1865 to 1930 when spiritual music began to metamorphose into Gospel. 

It saw the emergences of artists such as Thomas A Dorsey, Sister Rosetta Thorpe and Mahalia Jackson often referred to as the ‘Queen of Gospel’^*2.

As always keep safe and well

See you later Alligators

^*1 http://negrospirituals.com/

^*2 http://www.answers.com/topic/gospel-music#ixzz1W88D8i1y

_*3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_(music)

I hope your well and managing to catch some sun in between all the wet weather. Thank you to anyone who commented on my last post.

For the next month or so I’ve decided to take a quick look at gospel music and I think the best place to start is by examining its origins (or the genesis stage if you don’t mind the pun) which is in my opinion the spiritual music of the early 1900s in America.

I’ve done some research to try to discover what dropped the acorn that grew into gospel music and inspired so many of the loved music genres including soul and rock. What I discovered was “Spiritual music” which began as a result of the slavery which darkened early American history.

I have decided to break it down into periods and look at each individually over the next six weeks via my bi weekly posting. Hopefully this will allow plenty of time for you to feedback and if you can offer your own interpretation of these historical events I would love to get your comments, feedback, ideas or favourite music.

I’ll begin by splitting the history of Gospel into 3 sections

• Pre 1865
• 1865 to 1930
• 1930 to now

So keep a look out for it in my next posting on 29th August.

Keep safe and well

See you later Alligators

Superlady

Sadly, she now joins the long list of singers who have died from complications associated with abuse.  Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix, and Elvis the list goes on and on.  What is equally saddening is that apart from Elvis not one of them reached their 30 birthday.

Many of her songs have at their core dark reflections on drug abuse, relationships and defiant life choices. All fertile ground for creating soulful and atmosphere lyrics.  However, her death feels like the final verse of a previously unfinished song. I wonder in the future if Amy will merge with fantasy and forever become her songs “heroine!”

Fortunately, it is not the only thing that will live on.  

Amy’s obvious love of music, her effortless emotional performances and let’s face it just plain, raw and unique talent will never be forgotten.  Then there is Amy’s unique look achieved through a combination of her adapted Fred Perry dress style (another iconic crossover figure) a 60’s beehive and her Cleopatra makeover.  

These are for me further connection to my father Freddie Mack’s who had the same passion for all types of music, an equally unique sense of fashion and the ability to create energetic and moving performances.  His career also saw him working with Burton and Rex Harrison on the Movie Cleopatra.

So for all these reasons I dedicate this post to the artist that was Ms Winehouse.  I hope like the Phoenix her legacy lives on forever.  

 If you have a favourite song I would love to hear it. Mine is Valerie!

Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Ray Charles are often credited with spawning the sound of soul with Aretha Franklin therefore personifying its birth mother as one of its most commercial successful artists. (source Wikipedia).

Who do you think are the parents of Soul Music?

Soul Deliverers

These guys with the sultry, soulful voices are Luddy Samms, Rohan De’Lano Jay Washington, and Andre Espeut.
Individually they have performed in all the greatest venues in the world and at all the top festivals alongside the Superstars of the Music Industry.

Sought after by Kings, Presidents and Princesses they bring a truly international experience to their audiences worldwide including doing a saxophone rendition of e.g. “Lady in Red” which is always a show stopper.

This really is a vocal group with a different twist.

Expect Phenomenal Entertainment from this London based band with songs and greatest hits of the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Drifters, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles.

Look forward to dancing and grooving to the worlds most loved hits and classics like “Twisting the Night Away”, “Soul Man”, ”Working My Way Back to You”, ”Sugar Pie Honey Bunch”, ”Just my Imagination” and “Up on the Roof” to name but a few.

And they look good too; modern styles of clothes from smart suits to leather jackets, well presented and branded, polished and above all people friendly. And don’t underestimate the slickest, choreographed sexy dance routines that everyone loves and expects from a Motown group. The moves are there in abundance.

Check out recent video of charity performance in Scotland at You Tube by clicking here and book them for your next big event.

To book Soul Deliverers please contact:

Superbad Promotions
Jan McLaughlin Mack
www.mrsuperbad.co.uk
janmack2005@yahoo.co.uk
(044) 01236842428
(044) 07724034095

1st June 2011

This is the man who can please the crowd with his magnificent rendition of “Lady in Red” on the sax, It will bring tears to the eyes.

His career spans more than 20 years in the music industry singing in all of the top live music venues in the UK and Europe. He has performed in many diverse situations before audiences of as many as 56,000.

Jay has featured on many TV and radio shows, most notably when he won through to the Grand Final of ‘Stars In Their Eyes’ in 2005 performing the hit ‘Let’s Stay Together’ as Al Green. Since then his career has found new heights and horizons.

Flexibility and versatility are his strong points when it comes to pleasing audiences of all ages. From being an outstanding Soul & Motown vocalist, Jay also sings hits from most other genres of music with the same powerful and emotional enthusiasm.

His true professionalism shines when it comes to performance, reliability and communication and his easy going attitude helps towards making any event a most memorable occasion.

Jay puts the ‘Fun’ in Function. He is without doubt a truly professional performer with a proven track record.