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Gospel Lyrics
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What most people would identify today as 'Gospel' began very differently 85 years ago. The Gospel music that Thomas A. Dorsey, Sallie Martin, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, Willie Mae Ford Smith and other pioneers popularized had its roots in the more freewheeling forms of religious devotion of 'Sanctified' or 'Holiness' churches — sometimes called 'holy rollers' by other denominations — who encouraged individual church members to 'testify', speaking or singing spontaneously about their faith and experience of the Holy Ghost and "Getting Happy", sometimes while dancing in celebration. In the 1920s Sanctified artists, such as Arizona Dranes, many of whom were ... traveling preachers, started making records in a style that melded traditional religious themes with barrelhouse, blues and boogie-woogie techniques and brought jazz instruments, such as drums and horns, into the church. It is also important to note that gospel music is not just a form of music. It is an intricate part of the religious experience for many churchgoers.
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Gospel, from the Old English god-spell "good tidings" is a calque of Greek eu-angelion used in the New Testament. In Christianity, the term gospel can be used to mean different things.For example: 1. to denote the proclamation of God's saving activity in Jesus of Nazareth 2. to denote the agape message proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth.
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It's important to point out that while Southern Gospel is different from 'black' Gospel, that doesn't mean one is just in the domain of the white folks while the other is for black folks. Many of the early quartet groups had some or all black members. In fact, as Black Gospel did not gain popularity outside of black culture until many decades later, these quartets were one the earliest opportunities for black entertainers to gain mainstream attention and recognition.
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Like other forms of music the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of urban contemporary Gospel varies according to culture and social context. It is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. However, a common theme as with most Christian music is praise, worship or thanks to God and/or Christ.
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Gospel Lyrics