Gospel Gold - Great Women of Gospel Pt.6

Great Women of Gospel

Tonight we continue the series of the great contribution african american women played in the gospel recording industry.

Bessie Griffin (née Arlette B. Broil; July 6, 1922 – April 10, 1989) was an American gospel singer. From junior high into the late 1940s, she sang with the Southern Harps, who were better known later as the Southern Revivalists Of New Orleans, then performed with The Caravans for a year and toured with W. Herbert Brewster Jr. Mentored by Mahalia Jackson, she moved to Chicago in the early 1950s and then relocated to Los Angeles at the end of the decade. She performed in theaters and night clubs, and appeared on popular televisions shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Dinah Shore Show.

Africa is where it all began. Of all the lavish gifts Africa has given the world, the richest and most unique combination of music and religion: religion with rhythm. With the first African slaves landing on American shores around 1619 came African rhythm, work songs and field hollers - the basic elements for the spirituals. It is rhythm that drives American music: the spirituals, and by extension gospel, the blues, jazz, ragtime and rock n'roll.
The Gospel Music experience cannot be told in a short story, or even in a one hour melody of songs, for it is far too rich, far too harmonious and deliberately stimulating.  It is a living experience, always changing, always giving, and always becoming the foundation that gave moral, physical and spiritual support to a great and powerful people.

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