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When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras
Gospel music evolved in often surprising directions during the post-Civil Rights era. Claudrena N. Harold's in-depth look at late-century gospel focuses on musicians like Yolanda Adams, Andraé Crouch, the Clark Sisters, Al Green, Take 6, and the Winans, and on the network of black record shops, churches, and businesses that nurtured the music. Harold details the creative shifts, sonic innovations, theological tensions, and political assertions that transformed the music, and revisits the debates within the community over groundbreaking recordings and gospel's incorporation of rhythm and blues, funk, hip-hop, and other popular forms. At the same time, she details how sociopolitical and cultural developments like the Black Power Movement and the emergence of the Christian Right shaped both the art and attitudes of African American performers. Weaving insightful analysis into a collective biography of gospel icons, When Sunday Comes explores the music's essential place as an outlet for African Americans to express their spiritual and cultural selves.
- GenresMusicHistoryNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
Published October 27, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2024
An informative, if a bit dry, read. I was expecting more cultural analysis involving the world outside Christian circles based on the byline and the summary, and this particular line in the summary, "At the same time, she details how sociopolitical and cultural developments like the Black Power Movement and the emergence of the Christian Right shaped both the art and attitudes of African American performers." definitely made me think this was going to be an analysis of the music industry at large. And while there certainly is discussion of gospel music and artists in secular spaces in terms of cross over attempts/critiques, I don't really think this delivered on any kind of analysis on the Black Power Movement or the emergence of the Christian Right, or really gospel music within the Hip-Hop era.
This collection starts very thorough and in depth on each artist and gets sparser as we move through time. The last few chapters in particular felt very rushed - the attention to detail and nuance of the artists is lost by the time we get to the "hip hop" portion of the timeline, and I was disappointed by that considering its mention in the title.
This is a great read if you're looking to learn more about the history of Black gospel music. The focus is a bit insular, though, and won't do much in terms of helping you understand how Gospel artists were functioning in the midst of anything else going on in the country, though.
This collection starts very thorough and in depth on each artist and gets sparser as we move through time. The last few chapters in particular felt very rushed - the attention to detail and nuance of the artists is lost by the time we get to the "hip hop" portion of the timeline, and I was disappointed by that considering its mention in the title.
This is a great read if you're looking to learn more about the history of Black gospel music. The focus is a bit insular, though, and won't do much in terms of helping you understand how Gospel artists were functioning in the midst of anything else going on in the country, though.
November 17, 2020
My initial introduction to gospel happened one Sunday when a fellow keyboardist (he was an organist) offered to take me to his church on Easter Sunday. There were two services, with roughly 75-100 people in each. My organist friend and a pianist handled all the backing music, with the voices of all the people in that small church providing the body and soul of each song. It became one of those rare life experiences that one seldom forgets. Unfortunately, it did not cause me to further investigate the world of gospel music until I read “When Sunday Comes;”
The Internet was my friend during this reading and I periodically stopped to perform deeper research, primarily so I could listen to the music the author described. The initial song I pulled up was “Peace Be Still,” by the Reverend James Cleveland. One can feel the raging waters spoken about in the song, and his masterful handling of the lyrics and as well as the choir’s musical arrangement fully explained his phenomenal success. To say this song is moving would be a vast understatement.
Over and over I was awed by author Claudrena N. Harold’s skillful descriptions. Even though listening to the actual recording was enjoyable, the book offered the next best thing. If I wouldn’t have been able to find the recording, I would still have had a pleasant and accurate experience. These descriptions were the author’s five-star element. Ms. Harold’s ability to weave words into a musical tapestry seemed effortless, and even if I could not physically hear all the different songs mentioned, the author ensured that I would have a full understanding.
I knew very few of the artists in the book. I had seen Andrae Crouch on television a few times and appreciated his music, and while I knew Al Green from his first career he was not a musician who caused me to wait breathlessly until his next album came out. It was interesting to learn that he built a second career for himself. Others were new names to me: The Clark Sisters, Commissioned, Milton Brunson, BeBe and CeCe Winans, and the rest.
However, even though I had never heard of these folks nor listened to their music, Ms. Harold kept me interested throughout the entire book. I wished that there would have been longer stories of the artists featured in this book rather than the short chapters that skimmed through the artists’ lives. I also wished that I would have investigated gospel music right after receiving that first taste on a Spring day. While I could have been enjoying it all this time, I am glad to have found this book and reawakened a desire and passion to return to that day. Four stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and the University of Illinois Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.
The Internet was my friend during this reading and I periodically stopped to perform deeper research, primarily so I could listen to the music the author described. The initial song I pulled up was “Peace Be Still,” by the Reverend James Cleveland. One can feel the raging waters spoken about in the song, and his masterful handling of the lyrics and as well as the choir’s musical arrangement fully explained his phenomenal success. To say this song is moving would be a vast understatement.
Over and over I was awed by author Claudrena N. Harold’s skillful descriptions. Even though listening to the actual recording was enjoyable, the book offered the next best thing. If I wouldn’t have been able to find the recording, I would still have had a pleasant and accurate experience. These descriptions were the author’s five-star element. Ms. Harold’s ability to weave words into a musical tapestry seemed effortless, and even if I could not physically hear all the different songs mentioned, the author ensured that I would have a full understanding.
I knew very few of the artists in the book. I had seen Andrae Crouch on television a few times and appreciated his music, and while I knew Al Green from his first career he was not a musician who caused me to wait breathlessly until his next album came out. It was interesting to learn that he built a second career for himself. Others were new names to me: The Clark Sisters, Commissioned, Milton Brunson, BeBe and CeCe Winans, and the rest.
However, even though I had never heard of these folks nor listened to their music, Ms. Harold kept me interested throughout the entire book. I wished that there would have been longer stories of the artists featured in this book rather than the short chapters that skimmed through the artists’ lives. I also wished that I would have investigated gospel music right after receiving that first taste on a Spring day. While I could have been enjoying it all this time, I am glad to have found this book and reawakened a desire and passion to return to that day. Four stars.
My thanks to NetGalley and the University of Illinois Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.
May 8, 2021
When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip-Hop Eras (Music in American Life) by Claudrena N. Harold is a biography of the many who have contributed to contemporary gospel music over the last fifty years.
Written against the backdrop of the Charlottesville, Virginia white supremacist rallies in 2017, the book explores the commercialisation of gospel music, as soul and hip-hop dominate the radio over the last three decades of the twentieth century. The book is subtle in its opinion that when gospel strays too far into being similar in style to secular music.
Nostalgic despite my not being raised in the US, but being so influenced by the US on this side of the Atlantic, the African-American gospel culture has crept over to the Black British experience and I recognised names of many of the artists referred to in the book. The book also introduced me to artists such as James Cleveland who wrote the totemic song Peace Be Still. It is testament to him that his influence remains on the gospel music world today. This is not only down to his creation of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, but also down to the collaborations he had as well as the songs he created. For example, his recording of Amazing Grace with Aretha Franklin achieved both gospel and secular success.
The book was thoroughly researched, and I had to pause reading as I also curated a playlist on Spotify based on the songs referenced throughout the book. Listening to the songs mentioned through the book brought it alive, as you could imagine choirs singing along. They also reawakened aural memories, as I realised I had heard some of these songs as they have featured heavily in films about the Black struggle in the USA, as well as general American cultural references.
As someone who grew up on Motown, it was really interesting to learn that Detroit was also a cultural home of gospel, as it was also the home of the Clark Sisters, the Winans and Commissioned. Consequently, it would be fair to say that Detroit is the spiritual and soulful home of African American music.
The influence of the artists mentioned in When Sunday Comes on secular musicians such as Beyonce, Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey and Xscape is not to be ignored. Consequently, for anyone who is a fan of hip hop and RnB I would definitely recommend this book, even if you are not familiar with gospel music.
*** Thank you to Netgalley and University of Illinois Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for this honest review.***
Written against the backdrop of the Charlottesville, Virginia white supremacist rallies in 2017, the book explores the commercialisation of gospel music, as soul and hip-hop dominate the radio over the last three decades of the twentieth century. The book is subtle in its opinion that when gospel strays too far into being similar in style to secular music.
Nostalgic despite my not being raised in the US, but being so influenced by the US on this side of the Atlantic, the African-American gospel culture has crept over to the Black British experience and I recognised names of many of the artists referred to in the book. The book also introduced me to artists such as James Cleveland who wrote the totemic song Peace Be Still. It is testament to him that his influence remains on the gospel music world today. This is not only down to his creation of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, but also down to the collaborations he had as well as the songs he created. For example, his recording of Amazing Grace with Aretha Franklin achieved both gospel and secular success.
The book was thoroughly researched, and I had to pause reading as I also curated a playlist on Spotify based on the songs referenced throughout the book. Listening to the songs mentioned through the book brought it alive, as you could imagine choirs singing along. They also reawakened aural memories, as I realised I had heard some of these songs as they have featured heavily in films about the Black struggle in the USA, as well as general American cultural references.
As someone who grew up on Motown, it was really interesting to learn that Detroit was also a cultural home of gospel, as it was also the home of the Clark Sisters, the Winans and Commissioned. Consequently, it would be fair to say that Detroit is the spiritual and soulful home of African American music.
The influence of the artists mentioned in When Sunday Comes on secular musicians such as Beyonce, Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey and Xscape is not to be ignored. Consequently, for anyone who is a fan of hip hop and RnB I would definitely recommend this book, even if you are not familiar with gospel music.
*** Thank you to Netgalley and University of Illinois Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for this honest review.***
September 29, 2022
I enjoyed this book and learned a lot; much of the music written about is new to me cause I didn’t grow up in church. And listening to the songs highlighted in the book really enriches the reading experience.
The chapter on Al Green was my favorite cause it made me think about the lines between the spiritual/sacred and the sexual. the author describes how women audience members reacted when Al Green performed secular music & gospel music. The reaction was similar; both types of music brought them to the state of ecstasy. What does it mean that songs about both romantic love and Jesus brings out the same types of response in people? I also find interesting some gospel song titles (Jesus is a love song, falling in love with Jesus); this idea of being “in love” can apply to the spiritual as well as the romantic.
Overall it’s a good book that provides an overview of the evolution of gospel music from the 1970s through the 2000’s. After the Al Green chapter though, the chapters get shorter and provide less in-depth info about the artists covered, as if the author was reaching a page limit & had to cut a lot of material. The chapters on the artists and trends that emerged in the 1980s could’ve been longer, to highlight more of the debates around how gospel’s sound was evolving. The last chapter especially needed to be longer to get really in-depth about the debates & impact of Kirk Franklin on gospel’s sound.
The chapter on Al Green was my favorite cause it made me think about the lines between the spiritual/sacred and the sexual. the author describes how women audience members reacted when Al Green performed secular music & gospel music. The reaction was similar; both types of music brought them to the state of ecstasy. What does it mean that songs about both romantic love and Jesus brings out the same types of response in people? I also find interesting some gospel song titles (Jesus is a love song, falling in love with Jesus); this idea of being “in love” can apply to the spiritual as well as the romantic.
Overall it’s a good book that provides an overview of the evolution of gospel music from the 1970s through the 2000’s. After the Al Green chapter though, the chapters get shorter and provide less in-depth info about the artists covered, as if the author was reaching a page limit & had to cut a lot of material. The chapters on the artists and trends that emerged in the 1980s could’ve been longer, to highlight more of the debates around how gospel’s sound was evolving. The last chapter especially needed to be longer to get really in-depth about the debates & impact of Kirk Franklin on gospel’s sound.
April 11, 2025
I wanted to love this so much! The book reads like a documentary transcript, at best, or a textbook at worst. It's boring... something that gospel music is not. It's missing something that would connect the reader to the story in a human way versus listing a bunch of facts on specific performances. A documentary would play the songs to connect the dots, but reading this is like reading the genealogy section of the Bible or Numbers - everyone skips those parts.
If you can get that far, then the chapter on Shirley Caesar is exceptional if you start around page 70. She writes about her experience growing up in the thriving Black Wall Street of Durham, NC, and there are some Black history pearls included. Also, noteworthy was the chapter on John P Kee, also a Durham native and the part about Walter Hawkins.
If you can get past the fluff and just scan for the good parts, then it's worth the read, but I don't like the academic tone.
If you can get that far, then the chapter on Shirley Caesar is exceptional if you start around page 70. She writes about her experience growing up in the thriving Black Wall Street of Durham, NC, and there are some Black history pearls included. Also, noteworthy was the chapter on John P Kee, also a Durham native and the part about Walter Hawkins.
If you can get past the fluff and just scan for the good parts, then it's worth the read, but I don't like the academic tone.
December 3, 2025
Was not a big fan of the subject matter of this book, so could not enjoy it very much.
October 3, 2020
In this insightful study of gospel music Professor Harold begins with a personal introduction explaining how family and community influences shaped her experience and understanding of gospel music.
From Reverend James Cleveland through the 1960s the author traces developments and debates in the gospel music industry to BeBe and CeCe Winans and Take 6 in the 1990s.
Cleveland signing with the Savoy record label for a rumoured 6 figure annual salary with a contract requiring several albums a year was a clear indication that it really had become an industry. It saw him have popular and commercial success to the extent of regularly having several songs concurrently in the top ten in the gospel charts. The Gospel Music Workshop of America, which he founded to develop and promote young talent, is an organisation that now numbers some 75,000 and features throughout When Sunday Comes.
Cleveland's criticism of Mighty Clouds of Joy when they had a "rock gospel" hits with the ABC label, arguing that in rock gospel the music takes precedence over the message is another recurring theme of the book.
The criticism of those who were perceived to have "sold out" by gospel purists for their collaboration in the secular realm continued to be a theme with Andrae Crouch and his involvement in film and TV. The uneasy relationship between Gospel Music and Contemporary Christian Music is considered in Crouch who often performed to predominantly white audiences. His appeal was due in part to the rise of the culturally radical Jesus Movement but it wasn't always a neat fit leading him to announce to one crowd "to those of you from the First Church of the Frigidaire, you don't have to do nothing. But if you come from the other side of the tracks ... we want you to clap your hands and join in with us" which seemed to break the ice.
Chronicling the careers of artists including Shirley Caesar, Walter Hawkins brother of Edwin Hawkins of the crossover hit O Happy Day, Reverend Al Green who started in pop music and made the transition into gospel, the Clark Sisters and groups such as Echoes, Commissioned and the Winans, Harold also considers the Detroit sound and classic black record labels such as Savoy and House of Beauty and their relationship with predominantly white labels Benson, Sparrow and Word.
In When Sunday Comes Professor Harold combines extensive research with access to first hand sources to produce a masterful documentary written from the perspective of a fan and an insider.
From Reverend James Cleveland through the 1960s the author traces developments and debates in the gospel music industry to BeBe and CeCe Winans and Take 6 in the 1990s.
Cleveland signing with the Savoy record label for a rumoured 6 figure annual salary with a contract requiring several albums a year was a clear indication that it really had become an industry. It saw him have popular and commercial success to the extent of regularly having several songs concurrently in the top ten in the gospel charts. The Gospel Music Workshop of America, which he founded to develop and promote young talent, is an organisation that now numbers some 75,000 and features throughout When Sunday Comes.
Cleveland's criticism of Mighty Clouds of Joy when they had a "rock gospel" hits with the ABC label, arguing that in rock gospel the music takes precedence over the message is another recurring theme of the book.
The criticism of those who were perceived to have "sold out" by gospel purists for their collaboration in the secular realm continued to be a theme with Andrae Crouch and his involvement in film and TV. The uneasy relationship between Gospel Music and Contemporary Christian Music is considered in Crouch who often performed to predominantly white audiences. His appeal was due in part to the rise of the culturally radical Jesus Movement but it wasn't always a neat fit leading him to announce to one crowd "to those of you from the First Church of the Frigidaire, you don't have to do nothing. But if you come from the other side of the tracks ... we want you to clap your hands and join in with us" which seemed to break the ice.
Chronicling the careers of artists including Shirley Caesar, Walter Hawkins brother of Edwin Hawkins of the crossover hit O Happy Day, Reverend Al Green who started in pop music and made the transition into gospel, the Clark Sisters and groups such as Echoes, Commissioned and the Winans, Harold also considers the Detroit sound and classic black record labels such as Savoy and House of Beauty and their relationship with predominantly white labels Benson, Sparrow and Word.
In When Sunday Comes Professor Harold combines extensive research with access to first hand sources to produce a masterful documentary written from the perspective of a fan and an insider.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews