MUSICIANS ON THIS PAGE: FISK JUBILEE SINGERS * MOSES HOGAN * PAUL ROBESON * MAHALIA JACKSON * WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY CHOIR * BIRMINGHAM SUNLIGHTS * JOHN LEGEND / COMMON * BOB DYLAN * BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON * WASHINGTON PHILLIPS * MISSISSIPPI FRED & ANNIE MCDOWELL * STAPLE SINGERS * LEONARD COHEN * THOMAS A. DORSEY * STANFORD TALISMAN * THE COMO MAMAS * KINETRA DIXON
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Fisk Jubilee Singers, longtime accapella interpreters of spirituals:
Moses Hogan Chorale, one of the best groups for spirituals:
Paul Robeson, extraordinary bass singer:
The great Mahalia Jackson sings Gospel like nobody else:
Great choir from Winston-Salem State University:
Birmingham Sunlights rehearse “Somewhere to Lay My Head”:
John Legend sings and Common raps in this song featured in the film “Selma”:
Early 20th-century itinerant bluesy gospel singer Blind Willie Johnson:
“Voyager [satellite], in case it’s ever encountered by extra-terrestrials, is carrying photos of life on Earth, greetings in 55 languages and a collection of music from Gregorian chants to Chuck Berry, including “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground” by ’20s bluesman Blind Willie Johnson, whose stepmother blinded him when he was seven by throwing lye in is his eyes after his father had beat her for being with another man. He died, penniless, of pneumonia after sleeping bundled in wet newspapers in the ruins of his house that burned down. But his music just left the solar system.” –Joshua Lyman
East Texan Washington Phillips was one of the founding fathers of American gospel music. He recorded 18 songs between 1927-1929, singing and playing the dolceola, a rare keyboard instrument:
Mississippi Fred McDowell, another early gospel/blues singer, performs with his wife Annie Mae:
Staple Singers featuring the incomparable Mavis:
Civil Rights classic by Staple Singers:
A documentary:
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Leonard Cohen performs his song “Hallelujah”:
Here’s another version:
Bluesman “Georgia” Tom Dorsey became Thomas A. Dorsey, writer of many Gospel classics. Here’s one featuring Marion Williams:
National collegiate a cappella champions and Stanford University choral group:
A trilogy consisting of two African American spirituals, “Oh, Freedom!” and “Hold On,” and “Find the Cost of Freedom,” a protest song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young:
Deeply soulful singing from rural Mississippi:
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Excellent alto singer:
Jeff Grinnell's Poetry Platform 