Introducing Hallowed Sound: How Black voices from the South made American music what it is today - The Daily Advertiser

The Blues. Jazz. Gospel. Soul. R&B. Funk. Rap. So much of the greatest music ever made was born and raised in the American South. It grew out of the soil in the Mississippi Delta, careened off liquor-soaked bars in New Orleans, and echoed out of juke joints from Alabama to Arkansas. Studios in Memphis and Muscle Shoals spread the sounds, and Motown polished them for the masses. As OutKast's Andre 3000 would eventually and eloquently declare — a full century after Tennessee's Fisk Jubilee Singers began exporting American Black music across oceans — "The South got something to say." 

Last month, the National Museum of African American Music opened its doors in Nashville, to honor and preserve the legacy of Black artists. Some of that history has been forgotten. Black-owned and patronized clubs where Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Muddy Waters, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye and hundreds of other brilliant artists nurtured their careers have been closed, gentrified, bulldozed over in the name of progress.

The stories that follow — reported and told by more than a dozen USA TODAY Network journalists around the country — are not an exhaustive or definitive picture of the indelible contributions of Black musical artists to American culture. We hope rather, in the spirit of Black History Month, to illuminate a few stories, a few places and some of the people who helped make music what it is today. 

Hallowed Sound: How Black artists influenced American music

Mike Fant, Nashville Tennessean

In cities where Black musicians were forcibly told where they could and could not play, artists perfected songs that stand today among the most important contributions to American musical canon.

A "juke joint" in Macon, Ga., on Feb. 26, 1943.

Photo: Rudolph Faircloth, Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

In cities where Black musicians were forcibly told where they could and could not play, artists perfected songs that stand today among the most important contributions to American musical canon. Read the story

In 1871, Fisk Jubilee Singers introduced the world to “slave songs” or “negro spirituals” — music Black Americans made for themselves. A century and a half later, the group still endures.

The famed Jubilee Singers of Fisk University rehearse May 10, 1952, for an upcoming concert.

Photo: Robert C. Holt Jr., The Tennessean, Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

In 1871, Fisk Jubilee Singers introduced the world to “slave songs” or “negro spirituals” — music Black Americans made for themselves. A century and a half later, the group still endures. Read the story

Mississippi may be the birthplace of the blues, but as it grows and evolves, its impact is becoming more global.

Muddy Waters

Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

Mississippi may be the birthplace of the blues, but as it grows and evolves, its impact is becoming more global. Read the story

Jazz was born in New Orleans. The music still echoes through the city, where young players continue to shape the century-old genre.

Louis Armstrong

Photo: Library of Congress, Illustration: Brian Gray/USA TODAY Network

Jazz was born in New Orleans. The music still echoes through the city, where young players continue to shape the century-old genre. Read the story

The Alabama-born, Detroit-bred R&B singer cut a series of classic hits at Stax Records in Memphis and FAME Recording in Muscle Shoals. The studios became beacons for artists seeking the signature sound.

Wilson Pickett

Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

The Alabama-born, Detroit-bred R&B singer cut a series of classic hits at Stax Records in Memphis and FAME Recording in Muscle Shoals. The studios became beacons for artists seeking the signature sound. Read the story

Soulful sounds from the South were polished for the masses in Motown. It wasn’t a fluke that Motown Records took flight in Detroit, part of a surge of creative energy that transformed the city into one of the world’s music capitals.

Berry Gordy Jr. outside the Hitsville USA on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.

Photo: Tony Spina, Detroit Free Press, Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

Soulful sounds from the South were polished for the masses in Motown. It wasn’t a fluke that Motown Records took flight in Detroit, part of a surge of creative energy that transformed the city into one of the world’s music capitals. Read the story

As rappers on the East and West coasts battled for superiority in the 1990s, a new wave of hip-hop came out of Atlanta.

Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, left, and Andre “Dre” Benjamin are the Atlanta-based hip-hop duo OutKast.

Photo: Michael A. Schwarz, Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

As rappers on the East and West coasts battled for superiority in the 1990s, a new wave of hip-hop came out of Atlanta. Read the story

Black artists have shaped country music for nearly a century, from DeFord Bailey setting the world “on fire” with his harmonica to Charley Pride’s 29 No. 1 songs to Mickey Guyton’s vital Grammy-nominated 2020 single “Black Like Me.”

Country music trailblazer Charley Pride

Photo: Ricky Rogers, The Tennessean, Illustration: Brian Gray, USA TODAY Network

Black artists have shaped country music for nearly a century, from DeFord Bailey setting the world “on fire” with his harmonica to Charley Pride’s 29 No. 1 songs to Mickey Guyton’s vital Grammy-nominated 2020 single “Black Like Me.” Read the story

From the days of slavery through the Civil Rights Era to the BLM movement, Black music has emboldened American protests with songs so intertwined with events that they’ve become part of the country’s history themselves.

Bobby Rush plays music on his front porch in Jackson, Miss.

Photo: Eric Shelton, Clarion Ledger, Illustration: Briay Gray, USA TODAY Network

From the days of slavery through the Civil Rights Era to the BLM movement, Black music has emboldened American protests with songs so intertwined with events that they’ve become part of the country’s history themselves. Read the story

Even as future legends like Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix cut their teeth on the stages along Jefferson Street, Nashville’s R&B scene was all but invisible to the rest of Music City.

Jimi Hendrix in 1970.

Photo: AP, Illustration: USA TODAY Network

Even as future legends like Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix cut their teeth on the stages along Jefferson Street, Nashville’s R&B scene was all but invisible to the rest of Music City. Read the story

After more than two decades in development, the National Museum of African American Music features seven galleries dedicated to genres including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip-hop, plus a 200-seat theater and rotating exhibits.

The National Museum of African American Music resides in the 5th and Broadway development in Nashville, Tenn. Visitors will be able to enjoy the museum when it opens to the public in late January 2021.

George Walker IV / The Tennessean

After more than two decades in development, the National Museum of African American Music features seven galleries dedicated to genres including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip-hop, plus a 200-seat theater and rotating exhibits. Read the story

Blues. Jazz. Gospel. Soul. R&B. Funk. Rap. Share Hallowed Sound with the music lover in your life.

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Published 11:23 am UTC Feb. 1, 2021 Updated 12:51 pm UTC Feb. 1, 2021

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