Brief extract:
Robert Darden, Baylor University and author of "People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music, bemoans the scarcity of old gospel, including Clara Ward, the Sensational Nightingales, Sallie Martin, the Georgia Peach and others (NY Times, Feb. 15, 2005).
Document, Collectables and other small labels have released a few, but these companies lack the wide distribution of major labels and depend mostly on mail and internet orders. Early gospel labels are mostly owned by the large corporations, who have released only a few classic albums on compact disc.
Prof. Darden asks that music historians get involved and encourage major labels to form alliances with archivists like the Smithsonian and Rounder, and the Library of Congress.
Each day, master tapes deteriorate, get lost, or are simply tossed out. "It would be more than a cultural disaster to forever lose this music. It would be a sin."
"Each time I do a radio interview and play a classic gospel song, the phone lines immediately light up. The callers need to discuss what this music has meant to them. They invariably ask where they can buy it and most of the time I have to tell them they can't."
OP-ED Contribution