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"Move on Up a Little Higher" Changes the Gospel Game

Season 1 Episode 2 | 4m 47s

Until the 1940s, male quartets dominated gospel recordings. But, in 1947, Apollo Records, a small independent label decided to take a chance on Mahalia Jackson, an accomplished singer on the Chicago gospel scene. The success of "Move on Up a Little Higher" proved that Gospel music could be both spiritual and profitable.

Corporate support for GOSPEL was provided by Bank of America. Major funding support was provided by the Lilly Endowment Inc., Gilead Sciences, Inc., the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Emerson Collective and the Ford Foundation. Funding was also provided by members of The Inkwell Society and by public television viewers like you.
Extras
GOSPEL explores Black spirituality in sermon and song.
Dionne Warwick weighs in on what was special about Mahalia Jackson's voice.
GOSPEL’s hour 1 follows the sonic influences of blues and jazz music.
Thomas Dorsey co-founds the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses in 1933.
Rev. Dwight Andrews discusses C.L. Franklin and what Black preaching is.
Rev. Franklin recorded more than 70 albums of sermons
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. visits the Hampton University Ministers' Conference.
GOSPEL’s hour 4 explores how gospel and preaching achieved platinum-selling success.
In GOSPEL’s hour 3, gospel goes mainstream, taking the good news everywhere.
How do you spread the gospel to young black millennials motivated by digital activism?
GOSPEL’s hour 1 follows the sonic influences of blues and jazz music.
GOSPEL’s hour 4 explores how gospel and preaching achieved platinum-selling success.
GOSPEL’s hour 2 traces the Golden Age of Gospel from the Lord’s music to the mainstream.
In GOSPEL’s hour 3, gospel goes mainstream, taking the good news everywhere.