Hosted by Grammy award-winning gospel singer Cece Winans and produced by WXPN, Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul to celebrate Black History Month. This limited-run series is the culmination of a 15-month project that included field research in Memphis, Nashville, and Chicago, building a content-rich website, live events in Philadelphia with gospel legends The Fairfield Four, The Dixie Hummingbirds, the Fisk Jubilee Singers and numerous interviews with musicians, historians and scholars. Each hour of Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul will illustrate the influence of gospel on secular music, celebrating the roots of black gospel and its impact on major artists.
This episode features music from Sam Cooke and The Soul Stirrers, Aretha Franklin, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Rance Allen, Al Green, Mahalia Jackson, The Golden Gate Quartet, The Swan Silvertones, and live performances from The Fairfeld Four, Dixie Hummingbirds, and The McCrary Sisters.