Comprehensive and richly illustrated,
Close Harmony traces
the development of the music known as southern gospel from its
antebellum origins to its twentieth-century emergence as a vibrant
musical industry driven by the world of radio, television,
recordings, and concert promotions.
Marked by smooth, tight harmonies and a lyrical focus on the
message of Christian salvation, southern gospel--particularly the
white gospel quartet tradition--had its roots in nineteenth-century
shape-note singing. The spread of white gospel music is intricately
connected to the people who based their livelihoods on it, and
Close Harmony is filled with the stories of artists and groups such
as Frank Stamps, the Chuck Wagon Gang, the Blackwood Brothers, the
Rangers, the Swanee River Boys, the Statesmen, and the Oak Ridge
Boys. The book also explores changing relations between black and
white artists and shows how, following the civil rights movement,
white gospel was influenced by black gospel, bluegrass, rock,
metal, and, later, rap.
With Christian music sales topping the $600 million mark at the
close of the twentieth century,
Close Harmony explores the
history of an important and influential segment of the thriving
gospel industry.