Author: Portia K. Maultsby
Source: FROM HIP HOP TO JUBILEE: Readings in African American Music, 2010 (Sample Chapter, 23)
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” During the twentieth century the complex relationships between black secular andsacred music were addressed by a wide variety of writers ranging from Peter Guralnick to Paul Oliver. These articles, record notes, and essays have noted that these relationships are more complicated than simply a divide between the devil (secular music, often theblues) and god (sacred music, often gospel). In this article, Portia Maultsby, a professor of ethnomusicology and folklore at Indiana University–Bloomington, focuses on an extremely interesting and important topic: the transformation of gospel music into popular styles during the years following the close of World War II. ”