Question: Gospel Gal, Gospel Gal, Where Have You Been?

Answer: Writing this.

I haven't been able to blog as much as I've wanted to over the past few months, largely because this and other projects have taken huge chunks of time. Still, some of the interviews I got to do for this piece made it almost worth it. Today, The Gospel Truth. Tomorrow, the next fabulous memoir. Enjoy!

Pope John Paul II, (1920-2005)

"There is no black church, no white church, no American church, but . . .a church. . . a home for black, white, Americans, and people of every culture."

--Pope John Paul II, (1920-2005)
(quoted by Bishop Edward K. Braxton)

Amen.

A Shout-Out

If you love gospel music--and you stay up late/early on weekends--you'll want to check out Bob Marovich's "Gospel Memories" program, featuring vintage gospel, spiritual and jubilee recordings. His program is usually on the first Sunday of the month from 2:00-6:30 a.m. CST on Chicago's WLUW (88.7 FM)

Bob's based in Chicago, but even if you can't listen to WLUW, you can listen to the live webcast at www.wluw.org. Because of the time change, this month's program will run from 3:00-6:30 a.m.

This month's program will feature recordings from the following artists:

Vera Copeland
Harmonizing Four
Soul Stirrers
Isaiah Owens
Radio Four
CBS Trumpeteers
Hardeman Singers
Princess Stewart
Five Singing Stars
Georgia Louis
Mighty Kings of Harmony
Clefs of Calvary

His website is www.gospelmemories.com.

Music of the Movement

Here's a really neat story about "The Club From Nowhere"--a group of women who baked and sold cookies, cakes and pies to raise funds for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The story is great on its own, but the music is also cool. You can hear the following songs in the story:

1. "Tupelo," by Pop Staples, Albert King and Steve Cropper. From the CD The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 2, 1968-71. Fantasy Records.

2. "God Is a Battle Axe," by Sister Wynona, recorded Feb. 11, 1949. From the CD Women of Gospel's Golden Age, Vol. 1. Fantasy Records.

3. "Can't Sit Down," by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. From the CD The Complete Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Vol.1, 1938-1943. Fremeaux.

4. "Black Woman," by Brownie McGee. From the CD The Best of Harry Belafonte's Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music, 2001. Buddha Records.

5. "Rainy Night in Georgia," by Brook Benton. From the CD The Best of Brook Benton, 2000. The Island Def Jam Music Group.

For me, this is another of those sweet moments where my interests intersect. In this case, that's Civil Rights history, music, public radio and baking. Mmmmm.

A Couple of Scandals

No ministry or organization or business is exempt from the possibility of scandal. Here are a couple of recent ones related to the gospel music industry. I probably won't do much related to the first one, but am intrigued by the second:

First, a payola dust-up:

Payola Probe Leads to Gospel Radio Firing (Chicago Sun-Times)

WGRB/Chicago PD Robinson Out Over Alleged Payola (Radio News Roundup)

Clear Channel Fires Gospel PD over Payola Scandal (Billboard Radio Monitor)

Chicago PD Fired Over Payola Allegations (FMQB Radio Industry News)

The Mike Robinson (no relation to Sandra Robinson) mentioned in these stories has now replaced Sandra Robinson as program director at WGRB, according to RadioNewsWeb.com

Second, a pretty interesting one:

Lawsuit: Sony-BMG Blacklisted Agent to Keep Gospel Singers Underpaid (Associated Press)

This is worth watching. Some big names are listed here, and if it's true that Verity Records president Max Siegel (a lawyer himself) intimidated artists into dropping their agent--artists as significant (and, one would assume, business-savvy) as Dr. Bobby Jones, Donald Lawrence, Hezekiah Walker and Twinkie Clark--that's No Small Thing.

More on Verity Records--which celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year-- can be heard here.