WEXT Radio is pleased to broadcast a special four-part radio series, Gospel Roots of Rock and Soul celebrating Black gospel music’s profound and under acknowledged influence on early rock and soul music. The series airs February 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th at 8pm.
Hosted by Grammy award-winning gospel singer Cece Winans and produced by WXPN, the 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 illustrates the influence of gospel on secular music, celebrates the roots of black gospel and its impact on major artists. The series will include three one-hour documentary pieces, and a fourth hour of original music.
Saturdays at 8pm
Part One, Sat. Feb. 6: History of gospel found in of Black spirituals
Part Two, Sat. Feb. 13: How rock, soul, and R&B grew out of gospel
Part Three Sat. Feb. 20: Elvis Presley's gospel music influences and how he brought gospel to White audiences
Part Four, Sat. Feb. 27: Gospel music today, from Aretha Franklin and Paul Simon, to the Golden Gate Quartet and Al Green