Christian Rock Music, as we study in the following pages, emerged as a distinct entity during the late 1960s,
when various artists and visionaries began to record Jesus Music and early God Rock songs.
Interestingly, in Western Culture, the historical roots of this growing and branching genre are intimately tied to the
progression of other genres that evolved over the past 300 years...especially in the United States, England, and Canada.
When Europeans first colonized America, their music could be divided into two main categories -
Folk, which was based on oral tradition and used by the lower classes and slaves, and
Art, which was
written music, usually only available to the wealthy.
All of the European and African cultures brought their music with them, and they all fused into the big melting pot of
America. Dozens of new variations developed as people mixed and played. Church music was everywhere and a continuous
source of inspiration and entertainment.
European Church music was fairly conservative and reserved until more African-Americans converted to Christianity.
Negro Spirituals made their way into the frontier, adding a soulful flavor to a new Christian music genre that permeated
the South and the North.
This early fusion of European and African sounds on American soil laid the foundation for American pop music.
The Second Great Awakening of the early 1800s really brought the new spiritual music to the forefront, as millions of Americans attended massive Christian
revivals and tent meetings throughout the new country. Meetings of 20,000 tent revivalists would last for
days and weeks, birthing new local churches in many states, especially Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, New
York, and Pennsylvania.
During the pre-Civil War era, the most famous musician in America was Stephen Foster from Pennsylvania, who described
his tunes as "Ethiopian melodies played to the lyrics of the pioneering folk spirit. Foster paved the way for a unique
American music tradition, one that had to break out of the British Empire stronghold.
During the Reconstruction Period, military bands evolved into concert performers across the land. Along with traveling
minstrels and theater troupes, these bands took popular songs to new heights, and a more unified American sound emerged.
The Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s led to urbanization, a larger middle class, and more time for common leisure.
The upper classes still enjoyed the Victorian and European song, piano, and spinet of parlors, but printed music spread to
the rural communities, where stringed instruments ruled the scene. A flood of American themes invaded the worlds of
music, art, poetry, and books.
Also during the late 1800s, musical theater developed on Broadway, intended for the common man and ushering the pop music
industry. Tin Pan Alley in New York City became home to hundreds of songwriters, who contributed to the constant sounds
of typewriters and pianos, thus creating the nickname.
In Appalachia, the old folk tunes and ballads flourished. The Scottish, Irish, English, and German settlers of
the poor rural region utilized the affordable fiddle as the lead instrument for dancing. As the production of more instruments
became possible, the country people adapted to the more versatile guitar.
Black folk music began to appear on the big concert stages of New York and New Orleans after the Civil War. One
of the most popular artists was Scott Joplin, who began his career in piano parlors. He helped create a new musical
genre called Ragtime, traveling with his brass band.
Ragtime became the precursor to Jazz, but the most popular sound around 1900 was the Blues. During the first decade
of the 20th century, the piano (found in all churches) and the guitar (played in standard and non-standard ways) were blended
into a musical genre that praised lament and hope.
Birthed from the hardships of slavery and the rhythmic passions of Negro Spirituals, the Blues distinguished itself by
the so-called "blue note", with its flattened or indeterminate third as the crucial element. This element had already
existed, but the Blues (as a codified form), most frequently with the lyrics taking an AAB structure...was a 20th Century
invention.
In the early years, Blues was restricted to rural communities and played only a small role when Blacks played in
front of Whites. But big Blues artists emerged and fused with the popular Folk Music scene and were making a huge impact
by 1910. In Memphis, W.C. Handy introduced a harmonically, metrically, and lyrically cleaned-up version of the Blues
that was more suitable for the White audiences, thus earning him the title "Father of the Blues".
Another significant movement that occurred at the turn of the century and impacted American society and music was the
Pentecostal Revival. Birthed in California, it spread like fire across the country and globe, affecting Blacks and Whites.
The vibrant and energetic movement not only introduced more lively worship, it brought together folks of different races like
no other public sector of the time. This fusion of cultures resulted in great changes to the overall American musical
landscape.
As well, a parallel development to the Blues occurred in New Orleans during this time. Almost overnight, Jazz
became the first, pure, musical invention of the United States. By 1910, it took every state by storm. By 1920,
it was the most popular style in the land - a fusion of classical, ragtime, blues, and gospel music. They all existed
simultaneouly...and they all intermingled in the melting pot.
And the whole process was aided by some revolutionary technologies - the phonograph and the radio, which were vastly
improved and available to more of the masses during the 1920s. It was a prosperous time for popular music in America,
as records could be bought and played at home. And people could hear their favorite music played over the young airwaves
of AM radio.
By 1922, a recording industry for gospel, blues, jazz, folk, classical, and country-western had emerged. The first
recorded gospel music took place in 1902 with the Dinwiddle Colored Quartet. By 1920, pioneers like the Reverend McGee
and Blind Willie Johnson took their unique style to the streets and tent meetings of the Pentecostals. Johnson was an
itinerant preacher with a folksy-blues guitar style.
In 1922 Mamie Smith recorded the first jazz record, while Louie Armstrong and the Hot Five stood next in line.
That year, the first country-western song was put on a 78-rpm platter as well. Technology resulted in cultural cross-pollenization,
and new hybrids evolved when people from different parts of the nation heard the music of other regions in their living rooms.
During the 1930s, the Great Depression may have slowed the nation down, but music and Hollywood continued to grow,
as citizens sought relief from the suffering. Country-Western music grew rapidly during this era, and all major styles
of music continued to be recorded despite the economic chaos.
During World War II, big bands and orchestras became popular as America turned its attention to saving the planet.
It was also the time when Tommy Dorsey (a converted Blues-man) established a Gospel Music circuit called The Gospel Highway,
which unified a large portion of the African-American communities.
Dorsey initiated a Gospel Music convention and established his own publishing company. he became known as the "Father
of Gospel" and he coined the term "Gospel song". Once the war had been won in 1945, all forms of music exploded into
more American homes, as great prosperity and innovation hit the nation.
