From the Publisher
[Jackson's] book, for all its brevity, is the clearest, most searchingly analytic and thoroughly contextualized telling yet of black gospel music's great storyits move, often led by women, from social, theological, and musical margins to the center of the entertainment industry and of African-American accomplishment.Arkansas Historical Quarterly
If you enjoy Gospel music, you'll enjoy this book. . . . From Thomas A. Dorsey . . . to contemporary icons, the author offers profiles and insightful research.Gospel Today
Those of us who enjoy blues- and jazz-inflected Gospelclassic or contemporaryowe a debt of gratitude to Jerma A. Jackson for writing this book.Sing Out!
Documenting the intersections of race, gender, and culture, as well as the traditions of the church and the community as they relate to black gospel music, makes Jackson's work a rich contribution to the music history of African Americans.Journal of African American History
[Jackson] traces [gospel music's] history, tersely telescoping information gained from archival work, historically important participants, and the sources listed in the splendid bibliography. . . . Highly recommended.Choice
Jackson's treatment of black gospel music, particularly the struggles over style and context, is especially valuable because it demonstrates the degree to which American Christians, regardless of race, fretted and debated over the same fundamental issues. . . . Singing in My Soul fills a void in the scholarship of religious music and reminds scholars that the context within which gospel music emerged and developed is crucial to our understanding.Florida Historical Quarterly
Jackson thoroughly explores largely uncharted territory. The souls of scholars, historians and students of gospel music will surely sing at work that not only moves the spirit, but also educates the mind.Black Issues Book Review
Emphasizes the fascinating connections between sacred and secular forms of black music. . . . Enlightening.Ethnomusicology
Engaging for its fresh approach and solid evidentiary base.Journal of Southern History
I heard Sister Rosetta Tharpe sing for the first time as a youngster in 1949 when she and Madame Marie Knight gave a concert in the ballpark of Sanford, Florida. Little did I know at that time that as surely as Thomas A. Dorsey, the 'Father of Gospel Music,' by organizing gospel choirs in churches and schools, was carving out a gospel world, Sister Tharpe, the first gospel superstar, by singing gospel in ballparks, stadiums, and even New York's Apollo Theatre, was forging a highway to that world by creating sacred space wherever she sang. The complete story is in Singing in My Soul. Read it and discover the truth.Horace Clarence Boyer, author of The Golden Age of Gospel
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