eMusic Review 1
Like our divided souls, the separation between church and state — for pop music, that would be gospel and secular — is often crossed. So it was when an unidentified “Male Quartette” held a “Camp Jubilee Meeting” on the aptly-titled Little Wonder Records in 1910 and used the words “rock n’ rollin’” in their sermonizing; so it was when Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin ferried across the River Jordan and into the pop charts; and so it is today, when I am side stage at a gospel shout-out in Cleveland featuring Kirk Franklin, courtesy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s induction week.
He’s not an imposing figure, but he packs a lot of dynamo into his deliverin’-the-word preacher’s stance. He doesn’t so much sing as exhorts, accompanied by tightly wound dancing and driving his backing band — a full complement of muscular bass and drums, male and female back-up singers — into ever more ecstatic grooves, akin to a soul revue. From my point on the compass, he could testify with James Brown or Prince, all no stranger to fire-and-brimstone.
But the key to Franklin is salvation. His early life — and he shares it freely with the audience when… read more »
