Rejoice and Shout

Documentary Feature, 24 Beats per Second
D: Don McGlynn; with Smokey Robinson, Mavis Staples, Andraé Crouch

Madalyn Murray O’Hair herself (may her pieces rest in peace) could toe-tap to this evangelical shout to music’s higher power. Far beyond Gospel 101, Rejoice and Shout digs deep to the fleshy roots of gospel music and, consequently, the roots of R&B and American popular song, airing not just snippets but complete, glorious cuts of historic and rarely seen live gospel throwdown. Lines between pop artists and their gospel ancestors are not only dotted but carved in stone. Claude Jeter’s falsetto informed the sound that is Al Green; there’d probably be no Temptations had there been no Dixie Hummingbirds. Mahalia, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Wards, James Cleveland, and the Staples are finally acknowledged as the crucial soul power generators they are – the highlight being Mavis Staples, shown today in interview and back in the day on vintage gospel TV clip, belting out the lead to make her Pops and the big man upstairs proud.

Saturday, March 20, 1pm, Carver

This article appears in March 19 • 2010.

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