Keta
—  District Capital  —
Fort Prinsensten on the beach of Keta in 1985
Keta Location in Ghana
Coordinates: 5°55′N 0°59′E / 5.917°N 0.983°E / 5.917; 0.983Coordinates: 5°55′N 0°59′E / 5.917°N 0.983°E / 5.917; 0.983
Country	Ghana
Region	Volta Region
District	Keta Municipal District
Population (2012)
• Total	22,739
• Density	1,829/sq mi (706/km2)
	Ranked 63 in Ghana
Time zone	GMT
Area code(s)	+233 (3626)

Keta is a city in Volta Region, Ghana. It is the capital of the Keta Municipal District.^[1] Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and late 20th century via a port and fort built by the Dutch in 1784. Parts of the city were devastated by sea erosion between the 1960s and 1980s. It is the sixty-third most populous in terms of population, with a population of 22,739.

References[link]

v t e District capitals in Ghana Ashanti Region Agona Ashanti Akomadan Asiwa Bekwai Effiduase Ejisu Ejura Ofoase-Kokoben Fomena Jacobu Juaso Kodie Konongo-Odumase Kumasi Kumawu Kuntanase Mampong Mamponteng Mankranso Manso Nkwanta New Edubiase Nkawie Nsuta Nyinahin Obuasi Offinso New Town Tepa Brong Ahafo Region Atebubu Bechem Berekum Busunya Dormaa Ahenkro Drobo Duayaw Nkwanta Goaso Jema Kenyasi Kintampo Kukuom Kwame Danso Nkoranza Nsawkaw Odumase Sampa Sunyani Techiman Wamfie Wenchi Yeji Central Region Abura-Dunkwa Afransi Agona Swedru Ajumako Apam Assin Foso Awutu Breku Breman Asikuma Cape Coast Diaso Dunkwa-on-Offin Elmina Nsaba Nsuaem Kyekyewere Saltpond Twifo Praso Winneba Eastern Region Abetifi Akim Oda Akim Swedru Akropong Asamankese Asesewa Atimpoku Begoro Donkorkrom Kade Kibi Koforidua Kwabeng Mpraeso New Abirem Nkawkaw Nsawam Ofoase Odumase Krobo Somanya Suhum Greater Accra Region Abokobi Accra Ada Foah Adenta Amasaman Ashaiman Dodowa Tema Teshie-Nungua Weija Northern Region Bimbilla Bole Buipe Bunkpurugu Chereponi Damongo Gambga Gushegu Karaga Kpandae Saboba Salaga Savelugu Sawla Tamale Walewale Wulensi Yendi Zabzugu Upper East Region Bawku Bolgatanga Bongo Garu Navrongo Paga Sandema Tongo Zebilla Upper West Region Funsi Gwollu Jirapa Lambussie Lawra Nadowli Tumu Wa Wechiau Volta Region Adidome Agortime-Kpetoe Akatsi Dambai Denu Dzodze Nkonya Ahenkro Ho Hohoe Jasikan Nkwanta Kadjebi Keta Kete Krachi Kpandu Kpassa Kpeve Sogakope Western Region Agona Nkwanta Asankragua Axim Bibiani Bogoso Daboase Ellembelle Enchi Essam Half-Assini Juaboso Sefwi Akontombra Sefwi Wiawso Sekondi Shama Takoradi Tarkwa Wassa-Akropong index Regional capitals in bold Regions of Ghana — Districts of Ghana — List of cities in Ghana

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since September 2008. It includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Tagged since March 2009.

Harold Faltermeyer (born Harald Faltermeier; October 5, 1952) is a German musician, keyboardist, composer and record producer.

He is recognized as one of the composers/producers who best captured the zeitgeist of 1980s synthpop in film scores.^{[citation needed]} He is best known for writing and composing "Axel F" electronic theme for Beverly Hills Cop and the Top Gun Anthem from the soundtrack for Top Gun—both often imitated, highly influential instrumental hits that to some extent practically redefined action film scoring in the '80s.

As a session musician, arranger and producer, Faltermeyer has worked with several international pop stars including Donna Summer, Amanda Lear, Patti LaBelle, Barbra Streisand, Glenn Frey, Blondie, Laura Branigan, La Toya Jackson, Billy Idol, Jennifer Rush, Alexis, Cheap Trick, Sparks, Bob Seger, Chris Thompson, Bonnie Tyler, Valerie Claire and Pet Shop Boys.

He has won two Grammy Awards: the first in 1986 for Best Album of original score written for a motion picture or television special, as a co-writer of the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack; and the second in 1987 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance with guitarist Steve Stevens for Top Gun Anthem from the soundtrack.

Background[link]

Faltermeyer was born in Munich, Germany, the son of Anneliese (née Schmidt), a homemaker, and Hugo Faltermeier, a construction businessman.^[1] Encouraged by his parents (the owners of a civil engineering firm), he started playing piano at the age of 6. At 11, a Nuremberg music professor discovered that Harold was gifted with absolute pitch. His boyhood years combined training in classical music with a developing interest in rock 'n roll. He played organ in a rock combo and studied trumpet and piano at the Munich music academy. While waiting to begin university studies he found work at a recording studio. Within three years he was engineering major classical sessions for the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. Then in 1978, Giorgio Moroder recognized his promise and brought him to Los Angeles to play keyboards and arrange the soundtrack for the film Midnight Express. Moroder and Faltermeyer continued their collaboration the next decade, producing Donna Summer albums and several hits for various artists. Soon Faltermeyer was earning an international reputation for both precise workmanship and trendsetting creativity in his use of synthesizer technology.^[2]

Soundtrack work[link]

Alongside a busy schedule as a record producer, he became increasingly involved in soundtrack work on Moroder's scores (Midnight Express, American Gigolo and Foxes) and was soon hired as composer in his own right—usually composing, performing and producing the complete score as well as a number of pop songs penned for various artists. Early on he created arguably one of his finest works for 1984's Thief of Hearts—a highly sought after CD with noteworthy electronic scoring and songs for Melissa Manchester, Annabella Lwin, Elizabeth Daily and others. Then came his big break with the landmark Hip hop / Breakdance influenced score for Beverly Hills Cop featuring the worldwide hit, the "Axel F" theme (referred to by Faltermeyer himself as the banana theme^[3] as it was originally written for a specific scene where Detroit policeman Axel Foley gives a pair of Beverly Hills police officers the slip by shoving bananas up their exhaust pipe, causing their car to stall when they try and tail him).

The year after, the Fletch theme expanded on his trademark electronic soundscapes with experimental phase modulated percussion effects woven into the largely analog synth melodies. He also composed the theme song, "Bit by Bit", sung by Stephanie Mills.

The full scores of these films were not released on album. Only a handful of additional score tracks complemented these hits on vinyl: "The Discovery" and "Shoot-out" from Beverly Hills Cop and "Memories" from Top Gun, and only ever as B-sides on singles. However, The Running Man and Kuffs were graced with full score albums and the Thief of Hearts and Fletch scores also received reasonably good coverage on their respective soundtrack albums. In January 2007, La La Land Records finally released a limited edition soundtrack (3000 CD copies) for Tango & Cash.

In 1987 Faltermeyer recorded an album called Harold F with vocal tracks featuring various guest singers plus "Axel F" which appears as a bonus track. The song "Bad Guys" is based on the (otherwise unavailable) main theme for Beverly Hills Cop II.

In 1990 he co-produced the album Behaviour with Pet Shop Boys at his studio near Munich after Neil and Chris were looking for his "sound", being long time fans. The album was released later the same year and is considered by many to be Pet Shop Boys' best album.^{[citation needed]}

Influence[link]

The highly recognizable "Axel F" theme was recorded using five instruments: a Roland Jupiter-8 (lead), a Moog modular synthesizer 55 (bass), a Roland JX-3P (chord stabs), a Yamaha DX7 (bell/marimba), and a LinnDrum drum machine. It has been covered by numerous artists and in May 2005 a re-recording of the classic reached number one in the UK singles chart after being remixed with the Crazy Frog ringtone.

The theme changed the sound of contemporary urban action/comedy, just as the Top Gun Anthem became synonymous with seductive depictions of working class heroes striving for the top (like Bill Conti's "Rocky theme" did 10 years earlier).

The music for 1988's flight simulator computer game F/A-18 Interceptor from Electronic Arts was obviously inspired by the "Top Gun Anthem" and many film scenes, spoof or serious, have been scored in a faux-Top Gun fashion.

In 1991 Sylvester Levay (himself a past Moroder collaborator) faithfully re-created the theme's atmosphere in his Hot Shots! parody score (paradoxically, this score was released on CD by Varese Sarabande while the original Top Gun score has still not been released officially, although in 2006 a bootleg appeared in small circulation among collectors.)

In many ways, Faltermeyer's work on action films during the 1980s presaged the work that Hans Zimmer would embody and perpetuate during the mid 1990s. Faltermeyer's style defined the 1980s style of action scoring, heavily synthesized, very tuneful and rhythmic. Zimmer and his many protégés redefined it for the 1990s and beyond, but embodied the same kind of hybrid textures that Faltermeyer first laid down in the 1980s.

Later career[link]

"After Tango & Cash I made a decision to go back and raise my children in Germany, where I was born", Faltermeyer said in a 2006 interview for the Tango & Cash soundtrack CD. From his Red Deer Studios Estate in Munich, Germany, he has continued producing hit records and soundtracks mainly for the German market.

In 2002, he went to Vienna and wrote a musical with Rainhard Fendrich, Wake Up, which played for nearly two years in Vienna's famous Raimund Theater. The following soundtrack CD employed Copy Control technology and features an orchestral ouverture as well as 16 songs.

"But now I think it's time to come back where I started from." Faltermeyer has become re-associated with his Los Angeles agency, Creative Artists Agency, and is looking forward to getting involved again in Hollywood film scoring. Earlier in 2006, Faltermeyer wrote the in-game soundtrack music for the computer game, Two Worlds.

In late 2009, Faltermeyer was approached by Kevin Smith, director of the action comedy Cop Out starring Bruce Willis, to do the soundtrack score. Faltermeyer's return to scoring was for this film, which opened in February 2010.

Discography[link]

Soundtrack albums[link]

As composer

• Didi – der Doppelgänger (1983) (with Arthur Lauber)
• Thief of Hearts (1984) (with Giorgio Moroder)
• Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
• Fletch (1985)
• Top Gun (1986) (with Giorgio Moroder)
• Fire and Ice (Feuer und Eis (1986) (with Hermann Weindorf, one song)
• Fatal Beauty (1987) (one song)
• Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) (one song)
• The Running Man (1987)
• Starlight Express (1987)
• Formel Eins / Formula One (1986)
• Blaues Blut / Blue Blood (1989) (with Hermann Weindorf)
• Tango & Cash (1989, released 2006)
• Fire, Ice & Dynamite (Feuer, Eis & Dynamit) (1990)
• Kuffs (1992)
• White Magic (1994)
• Zeit der Sehnsucht (1994)
• Asterix Conquers America (1994)
• Frankie (1995)
• Der König von St. Pauli (1997)
• Jack Orlando (1997) (computer game score)
• Wake Up (2002)
• Two Worlds (2007) (computer game score) (Collector's Edition inclusion)
• Cop Out (2010)

As arranger only

• Midnight Express (1978)
• Foxes (1979)
• American Gigolo (1980)

Albums[link]

As songwriter / producer / arranger / musician / remixer

• Amanda Lear: I am a Photograph (1977)
• Suzi Lane: Ooh, La, La (1978)
• Roberta Kelly: Gettin' The Spirit (1978)
• Dee D Jackson: Cosmic Curves (1978)
• Giorgio Moroder and Chris Bennett: Love's in You, Love's in Me (1978)
• Giorgio Moroder: Battlestar Galactica (1978)
• Janis Ian: Night Rains (1979)
• The Sylvers: Disco Fever (1979)
• The Three Degrees: Three D (1979)
• Donna Summer: Bad Girls (1979)
• Donna Summer: The Wanderer (1980)
• Sparks: Terminal Jive (1980)
• Giorgio Moroder: E=mc² (1980)
• Donna Summer: I'm a Rainbow (1981, shelved until 1996)
• Al Corley: Square Rooms (1984)
• Laura Branigan: Self Control (1984)
• Laura Branigan: Hold Me (1985)
• Richard T. Bear: The Runner (1985)
• E. G. Daily: Wildchild (1985)
• Billy Idol: Whiplash Smile (1986)
• Donna Summer: All Systems Go (1987)
• Jennifer Rush: Heart Over Mind (1987)
• Jennifer Rush: Passion (1988)
• Pet Shop Boys: Behaviour (1990)
• Dominoe: The Key (1990)
• Chris Thompson: Beat of Love (1991)
• Falco: Jeanny (Remix) (1991)
• Falco: Emotional (Remix) (1991)
• Chaya: Here's to Miracles (1993)
• Marshall & Alexander: Marshall & Alexander (1998)
• Bonnie Tyler: All in One Voice (1999)

Selected singles[link]

As songwriter / arranger / producer

• Camino De Lobo: "Carmen Disco Suite" (1983)
• Valerie Claire: "I'm a Model (Tonight's the Night)" (1984)
• Valerie Claire: "Shoot Me Gino" (1985)
• John Parr: "Restless Heart (Running Away with You)" (1987) (not available on the Running Man soundtrack album)
• Kathy Joe Daylor: "With Every Beat of My Heart" (1990)

Selected singles including instrumental themes[link]

• Artists United For Nature: "Yes We Can" (1989) (7" & CD including instrumental version)
• Harold Faltermeyer: "Axel F" (1984) (7" including "Shoot Out")
• Harold Faltermeyer: "The Race Is On / Starlight Express" (1987)
• Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens: "Top Gun Anthem" (1986) (including "Memories")
• Glenn Frey: "The Heat Is On" (1984) (7" including "Shoot Out")
• Patti LaBelle: "Stir It Up" (1984) (7" including "The Discovery")
• Marietta: "Fire and Ice" (1986) (7" & 12" including instrumental dub version)
• Chris Thompson: "The Challenge (Face It)" (Wimbledon 1989 theme, 7" & CD including instrumental version)

Solo releases[link]

• Harold F (1987)
• Worldhits (1988?) (Instrumental disco arrangements of various well-known songs)
• Harold Faltermeyer featuring Joe Pizzulo: "Olympic Dreams" (1992) (CD single)

Collections[link]

• Portrait of Harold Faltermeyer: His Greatest Hits (2003 double CD)
• Movie Greats (1986) (only CD to feature the Fletch theme)
• Stephanie Mills: The Collection (1990) (CD including "Bit by Bit (Theme from Fletch)", otherwise LP-only track)

Audio sample[link]

	Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F excerpt noicon An excerpt from Axel F
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Further reading[link]

• Kuffs soundtrack, liner notes (unknown author), Milan 10151-2 (1992 CD)
• Tango & Cash soundtrack, liner notes by Randall D. Larson, La-La Land Records LLLCD 1052 (2006 CD)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Harold Faltermeyer at the Internet Movie Database

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as (in terms of the varying music styles) to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music.

Like other forms of Christian music, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is composed and performed for many purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for the marketplace.

Style[link]

	"How Great Thou Art" Yolanda Adams performs "How Great Thou Art" at the White House's Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement in 2010. "How Great Thou Art" audio only file
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. Subgenres include contemporary gospel, urban contemporary gospel (sometimes referred to as "black gospel"), Southern gospel, and modern gospel music (now more commonly known as praise and worship music or contemporary Christian music). Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or Hammond organ, drums, bass guitar and, increasingly, electric guitar. In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a statelier measure, the gospel song is expected to have a refrain and often a more syncopated rhythm.

Many attempts have been made to describe the style of late 19th and early 20th century gospel songs in general. Christ-Janer, et al. said "the music was tuneful and easy to grasp . . . rudimentary harmonies . . . use of the chorus . . . varied metric schemes . . . motor rhythms were characteristic. . . . The device of letting the lower parts echo rhythmically a motive announced by the sopranos became a mannerism . . ."^[1]

Patrick and Sydnor emphasize the notion that gospel music is "sentimental", quoting Sankey as saying, "Before I sing I must feel", and they call attention to the comparison of the original version of Rowley’s "I Will Sing the Wondrous Story" with Sankey's version.^[2] Gold said, "Essentially the gospel songs are songs of testimony, persuasion, religious exhortation, or warning. Usually the chorus or refrain technique is found."^[3]

History[link]

One can pursue the roots of gospel music through the academic discipline of ethno-musicology (going back to Europe and Africa), through a study of the 2,000-year history of church music, and through a study of rural folk music traditions. When it comes to the African American experience, gospel music can be traced to the early 17th century.^[4]

Coming out of an oral tradition, gospel music typically utilizes a great deal of repetition. This is a device to promote group participation.^{[citation needed]} And the repetition of the words allowed those who could not read the opportunity to participate in worship. During this time, hymns and sacred songs were lined and repeated in a call and response fashion, and the Negro spirituals and work songs emerged. Due to the enslaved Africans attending their masters’ worship services, the 17th-century influences on Negro spirituals and work songs were the traditional hymns which the enslaved had heard in worship services. Worship services served several purposes; not only were they a means by which the Africans could be monitored, but they also served as a reinforcement of the slavery indoctrination.^{[citation needed]}

Quite often, readings were from the Apostle Paul's writings which outlined being good servants and loving, obeying, and trusting one’s master. At this time it was also illegal for more than a handful of blacks to congregate without supervision. This meant that the black people were not free to worship on their own and had to attend worship services with their master. At these services, their understanding of Christian doctrine grew, and music played a role in that experience. The worship music (hymns) of the whites became the backdrop for the music that the enslaved Africans would use at their eventual worship meetings.^{[citation needed]}

Most of the churches did not have musical instruments to use. There would be guitars and tambourines available every now and then, but not frequently. There were not regular church choirs that existed at this time, and they did not use a piano very often. Most of the singing was done a cappella.^[5]

Gospel also lends some of its more modern roots to the mass revival movement (starting with Dwight L. Moody, whose musician was Ira D. Sankey) and the Holiness-Pentecostal movement.^[6] Prior to the meeting of Moody and Sankey in 1870, there was an American rural/frontier history of revival and camp meeting songs, but the gospel hymn was of a different character, and it served the needs of mass revivals in the great cities.^[7]

The revival movement employed popular singers and song leaders (starting with Ira Sankey) who used songs by writers such as George F. Root, P. P. Bliss, Charles H. Gabriel, William Howard Doane, and Fanny Crosby.^[8] The first published use of the term “gospel” to describe this kind of music was apparently in the 1870s. In 1874, P. P. Bliss edited a collection titled Gospel Songs, and in 1875 P. P. Bliss and Ira Sankey issued Gospel Hymns, no’s. 1 to 6, an extension of the 1874 Gospel Songs.^[9] Sankey and Bliss’s collection can be found in many libraries today.

The popularity of revival singers and the openness of rural churches to this type of music (in spite of its initial use in city revivals) led to the late 19th and early 20th century establishment of gospel music publishing houses such as those of Homer Rodeheaver, E. O. Excell, Charlie Tillman, and Charles Tindley. These publishers were in the market for large quantities of new music, providing an outlet for the creative work of many songwriters and composers^[10]

20th century[link]

Exemplification of gospel music: The Bible, which is the word of God for Christians and a CD that represents the music in general.

The holiness-Pentecostal movement, or sanctified movement, appealed to people who were not attuned to sophisticated church music, and holiness worship has used any type of instrumentation that congregation members might bring in, from tambourines to electric guitars. Pentecostal churches readily adopted and contributed to the gospel music publications of the early 20th century. Late 20th century musicians such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mahalia Jackson, Andrae Crouch, and the Blackwood Brothers either were raised in a Pentecostal environment, or have acknowledged the influence of that tradition.^[11]

The advent of radio in the 1920s greatly increased the audience for gospel music, and James D. Vaughan used radio as an integral part of his business model, which also included traveling quartets to publicize the gospel music books he published several times a year.^[12] Virgil O. Stamps and Jesse R. Baxter studied Vaughan’s business model and by the late 1920s were running a heavy competition for Vaughan.^[13] The 1920s also saw the marketing of gospel records by groups such as the Carter Family.

The first person to introduce the ragtime influence to gospel accompaniment as well as to play the piano on a gospel recording was Ms. Arizona Dranes.^[14]

In African-American music, gospel quartets developed an a cappella style following the earlier success of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The 1930s saw the Fairfield Four, the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Five Blind Boys, the Swan Silvertones, the Charioteers, and the Golden Gate Quartet. Racism divided the nation, and these groups were best known in the African-American community, but some in the white community began to follow them.^[15] In addition to these high profile quartets, there were many black gospel musicians performing in the 1920s and 30s.

In the 1930s, in Chicago, Thomas A. Dorsey (best known as author of the song, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"), who had spent the 1920s writing secular music, turned full time to gospel music, established a publishing house, and invented the black gospel style of piano music.^[16] He had many trials in his life that he overcame concerning his health and his wife died. He dedicated all of his musical talent to the service of the LORD. Thomas gained knowledge of his religion from his father who was a Baptist minister and took up on piano from his mother who was his teacher. He started working with lack blues pianist when they moved to Atlanta.^[17] It has been said that 1930 was the year when modern gospel music began, because the National Baptist Convention first publicly endorsed the music at its 1930 meeting.^[18] Dorsey was responsible for developing the musical careers of many African-American artists, such as Mahalia Jackson.^[19]

Meanwhile, the radio continued to develop an audience for gospel music, a fact that was commemorated in Albert E. Brumley's 1937 song, "Turn Your Radio On" (which is still being published in gospel song books). In 1972, a recording of "Turn Your Radio On" by the Lewis Family was nominated for "Gospel Song of the Year" in the Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards.^[20]

Following the Second World War, gospel music moved into major auditoriums, and gospel music concerts became quite elaborate.^[21] In 1950, black gospel was featured at Carnegie Hall when Joe Bostic produced the Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festival. He repeated it the next year with an expanded list of performing artists, and in 1959 moved to Madison Square Garden.^[22] Today, black gospel and white gospel are distinct genres, with distinct audiences. In white gospel, there is a large Gospel Music Association and a Gospel Music Hall of Fame, which includes a few black artists, such as Mahalia Jackson, but which ignores most black artists.^[23] In the black community, James Cleveland established the Gospel Music Workshop of America in 1969.

Gospel music genres and subgenres[link]

This article is a part in a series on Gospel music

Roots and Beginnings  Christian Hymns Negro Spirituals Sacred Harp Shape note

Genres and Subgenres  Southern Gospel Gospel blues Bluegrass gospel Christian country music Country Gospel Progressive Southern Gospel Urban contemporary gospel Christian hip hop

Related Music Genres  CCM

Associations and Groups  Gospel Music Hall of Fame Gospel Music Workshop of America National Gospel Singing Convention National Quartet Convention Australian Gospel Music Association GMA Canada

Gospel Music Awards  GMA Dove Awards Stellar Awards Covenant Awards Singing News Fan Awards Australian Gospel Music Awards

Related WikiProjects  Christianity Wikiproject Gospel music Wikiproject Southern Gospel Wikiproject

Category  • Musicians See also: Christianity: Portal  • Category Christian music: Portal  • Category

This box: view talk edit

Urban contemporary gospel[link]

Urban contemporary gospel (sometimes still marketed as "Black gospel" to help distinguish it from other forms of Christian music) is a subgenre of contemporary gospel music.^{[citation needed]}

Gospel blues[link]

Gospel blues is a blues-based form of gospel music (a combination of blues guitar and evangelistic lyrics).

Southern gospel[link]

Southern gospel, is sometimes called "quartet music" by fans due to the original all male, tenor-lead-baritone-bass quartet make-up. This type of music deals with the everyday problems of life and how God answers those problems. Southern gospel depends on strong harmonies, often with extremely wide ranges (i.e. extremely low bass, falsetto tenor.) Flavors in Southern gospel range from ultra-traditional early quartet music (i.e. the Statesmen Quartet, circa 1940-50) to very cutting edge sounds (i.e. current Signature Sound quartet discography).

Progressive Southern gospel[link]

Progressive Southern gospel is an American music genre that has grown out of Southern gospel over the past couple of decades.

Christian country music[link]

Christian country music, sometimes referred to as country gospel music, is a subgenre of gospel music with a country flair, is also known as inspirational country. Christian country over the years has progressed into a mainstream country sound with inspirational or positive country lyrics. In the middle 1990s, Christian country hit its highest popularity. So much so that mainstream artists like Larry Gatlin, Charlie Daniels and Barbara Mandrell, just to name a few, began recording music that had this positive Christian country flair. These mainstream artists have now become award winners in this genre.^[24][25]

Bluegrass gospel[link]

Bluegrass gospel music is rooted in American mountain music.

Celtic gospel[link]

Celtic gospel music infuses gospel music with a Celtic flair, and is quite popular in countries such as Ireland; the Dublin Gospel Choir has had over 10 years' success with Celtic gospel music.

Controversies[link]

Some proponents of "standard" hymns generally dislike gospel music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For example, Patrick and Syndor complain that commercial success led to a proliferation of such music, and "deterioration, even in a standard which to begin with was not high, resulted."^[26] They went on to say, "there is no doubt that a deterioration in taste follows the use of this type of hymn and tune; it fosters an attachment to the trivial and sensational which dulls and often destroys sense of the dignity and beauty which best befit the song that is used in the service of God."^[27]

Gold reviewed the issue in 1958, and collected a number of quotations similar to the complaints of Patrick and Syndor. However, he also provided this quotation: "Gospel hymnody has the distinction of being America's most typical contribution to Christian song. As such, it is valid in its inspiration and in its employment." (Robert Stevenson, Religion in Life, Winter, 1950-51.)^[28]

Today, with historical distance, there is a greater acceptance of such gospel songs into official denominational hymnals. For example, the United Methodist Church made this acceptance explicit in The Faith We Sing, a supplement to the official denominational hymnal. In the preface, the editors say, "Experience has shown that some older treasures were missed when the current hymnals were compiled,"^[29] a diplomatic way of saying, "It's all right to sing these songs in church."

See also[link]

• Gospel Music Hall of Fame
• Gospel music WikiProject
• List of gospel musicians
• Museum of African American Music
• Phillip Paul Bliss House
• Soul music
• Stellar Awards

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Blackwell, Lois. The Wings of a Dove: The Story of Gospel Music in America. Norfolk: Donning, 1978.
• Boyer, Horace Clarence, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel Elliott and Clark, 1995, ISBN 0-252-06877-7.
• Broughton, Viv, Too Close To Heaven - The Illustrated History Of Gospel Music, Midnight Books, 1996, ISBN 1-900516-00-4
• Albert E Brumley & Sons, The Best of Albert E Brumley, Gospel Songs, 1966, ISBN na-paperback Amazing Grace
• Cleall, Charles. Sixty Songs From Sankey. London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, Ltd., 1960.
• Darden, Robert, People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0-8264-1752-3.
• Downey, James C. The Gospel Hymn 1875-1930. University of Southern Mississippi, MA, 1963.
• Eskew, Harry. “Gospel Music, I” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980), VII, 549-554.
• Goff, James R. “The Rise of Southern Gospel Music,” Church History, v. 67, no. 4, Dec. 1998, pp. 722ff.
• Hanson, Kenneth, The Hymnody and Hymnals of the Restoration Movement. Butler University, BD, 1951.
• Heilbut, Tony, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times Limelight Editions, 1997, ISBN 0-87910-034-6.
• McNeil, W. K., Ed. Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-94179-2.
• Stevenson, Arthur L. The Story of Southern Hymnology. Roanoke, VA: Stone Printing and Manufacturing, 1931.
• Zolten, Jerry, Great God A' Mighty!:The Dixie Hummingbirds - Celebrating The Rise Of Soul Gospel Music, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-19-515272-7.

External links[link]

Professional organizations[link]

Firebird Arts Alliance - Encourages all races and religions to join

Gospel Music Association - Acknowledges all forms of Gospel Music

Gospel News Today - Primarily Gospel News

Gospel Viu - Gospel Without Borders

Gospel Wire - Primarily urban contemporary gospel

Pacific Gospel Music Association - Known for Southern Gospel

Southern Gospel Music Association - Known for Southern Gospel

Media outlets[link]

Black Family Channel

Bobby Jones Gospel

Gospel Music Channel

The Inspirational Network

Christian Broadcasting Network

Daystar Television Network

Trinity Broadcasting Network

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