The history of gospel music dates to the beginning of the 20th century. Composer Tommy Dorsey is considered by many to be the “Father of Gospel Music.” Dorsey’s music was a combination of blues, jazz and spiritual lyrics. In the 1950s, artists began to incorporate the rhythm and harmonies of gospel with country, blues and swing to create a new style of music. This music later was dubbed rock and roll.
For the most part, rock and roll dropped the religious overtones of gospel in favor of lyrics about romance or other subjects of everyday life. Rhythmically, rock and roll was heavily influenced by gospel, incorporating trademark techniques such as call and response and wailing. Rock and roll took the passion of gospel and gave it to a secular audience.
Many fans of gospel were outraged when rock and roll altered their style. Some people considered it blasphemous to take spiritual music and apply secular lyrics, particularly if those lyrics had a sexual connotation.
Soul artist Sam Cooke is one of the only artists to have started as a gospel singer before becoming successful as a pop artist. Cooke’s gospel background can be heard prominently in many of the pop songs he recorded before he died in 1964.
The 2004 film “Ray,” about the life of singer Ray Charles, features a scene in which Charles turns a gospel song into a pop song. The song in the movie is “I Got A Woman.” The song was recorded in 1954 and was based around the gospel hymn “Jesus Is All The World To Me.”