“HEAVEN’S REALLY GONNA SHINE”: AFRICAN AMERICAN NOTE SINGING IN THE NEW SOUTH by JARED W. WRIGHT A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of West Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts CARROLLTON, GEORGIA 2014 “HEAVEN’S REALLY GONNA SHINE”: AFRICAN AMERICAN NOTE SINGING IN THE NEW SOUTH by JARED W. WRIGHT Approved: ______________________________ Dr. Ann McCleary Thesis Advisor ______________________________ Dr. Keith Hebert Thesis Committee Member ______________________________ Dr. Larry Rivers Thesis Committee Member Approved: ______________________________ Dr. Randy Hendricks Dean, College of Arts and Humanities ____________________________ Date ABSTRACT JARED W. WRIGHT: “Heaven’s Really Gonna Shine”: African American Note Singing in the New South (Under the direction of Dr. Ann McCleary) This thesis project explores various uses and interpretations of shape-note singing in the twentieth century American South. The essay investigates the history of a particular form of shape-note singing practiced by African American groups throughout the twentieth century. A group that still gathers to ‘sing the notes’ in west Georgia, the United Shape Note Singers, serves as an entry point. Oral histories with members of the group reveal a once-wide network of singers supported by songbook publishers and conventions that drew attendees in the thousands. Though changes in musical taste and church structure mean that the style of singing has faded in popularity, groups like the United Shape Note Singers still meet to sing from their well-worn songbooks for the spiritual pleasure and sense of community that it provides. In doing so, they continue the tradition of a unique singing style that is rooted in sacred hymn singing and influenced by modern gospel, yet cannot be easily classified as either. A few existing recordings that span the course of the twentieth century are used to show how the style changed to suit the needs of singers and chart a vibrant – but often overlooked – history of African American note singing. The thesis essay is accompanied by an online exhibit produced through a partnership between the University of West Georgia’s Center for Public History the Georgia Music Foundation. Fa-So-La and Do-Re-Mi: Shape-Note Singing in West Georgia places African iii American note singing in context with other forms of music that employ shape-notes to teach and sing, including Sacred Harp and Southern Gospel. The exhibit provides a chance to showcase fieldwork collected as part of the thesis project and allows an immersive look into the sights and sounds of shape-note singing that goes far beyond the written word. It is available at http://fasola-doremi.businesscatalyst.com or via the QR codes located in appendix A. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you first and foremost to my family for their generous and unwavering support; to my friends for their encouragement and advice – they now know much more about shape-note singing than they ever expected to learn; to my professors – especially Ann McCleary and Keith Hebert in the Center for Public History – for their kind guidance over the last two years; and to the many singers who graciously welcomed me into their homes and churches to share their music and stories. v VITA 2006 B.A. History Mercer University, Macon GA 2007-2009 Education and Programs Coordinator Georgia Music Hall of Fame Macon, GA 2009-2011 Curator Georgia Music Hall of Fame Macon, GA 2012-2013 Curator, Regional Music Project University of West Georgia Carrollton, GA 2008-2013 Camp Director Otis Redding Singer-Songwriter Camp Macon, GA 2013-2014 Director of Collections and Exhibits The Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House Macon, GA 2013-Present Guest Curator Tubman African American Museum Macon, GA 2012-Present College of Arts and Humanities University of West Georgia Carrollton, GA FIELDS OF STUDY History, Public History, Museum Studies, Music in the American South vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. iv VITA ..................................................................................................................................... ivi LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. viiii THESIS ESSAY: “HEAVEN”S REALLY GONNA SHINE” ............................................ 1 Four or Seven?: The Development of the Shape-Note Hymnal ........................................ 4 Beyond the Notes: African American Interpretation of Shape-Note Hymnals ................. 10 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 28 PROJECT NARRATIVE: FA-SO-LA AND DO-RE-MI .................................................... 33 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 40 APPENDIX A: MAIN EXHIBIT HEADING SCREENSHOTS ......................................... 48 APPENDIX B: EXHIBIT TEXT AND SELECTED ARTIFACTS .................................... 54 APPENDIX C: VISUALIZATIONS CREATED FOR FA-SO-LA AND DO-RE-MI .......... 84 APPENDIX D: GEORGIA ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL PRESS AND PHOTOS ............ 87 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Fa-So-La and Do-Re-Mi homepage ...................................................................... 49 Figure 2: “A History Through Songbooks” section homepage. ........................................... 50 Figure 3: “Sacred Harp Singing” section homepage. ........................................................... 51 Figure 4: “United Shape Note Singers” section homepage. ................................................. 52 Figure 5: “Gospel Convention Singing” section homepage. ................................................ 53 Figure 6: J.L. White’s New Sacred Harp .............................................................................. 57 Figure 7: Mason’s Sacred Harp, 1846 .................................................................................. 57 Figure 8: Sacred Harp, James revision, 1911 ....................................................................... 58 Figure 9: Sacred Harp, fourth edition ................................................................................... 58 Figure 10: Sacred Harp, Cooper Revision, 1902 ................................................................. 59 Figure 11: Sacred Harp, 1848 edition. ................................................................................. 59 Figure 12: The Southern Harmony, William Walker’s four-shape songbook ...................... 60 Figure 13: The New Harmonia Sacra, Joseph Funk ............................................................. 61 Figure 14: The Christian Harmony, William Walker’s seven-shape songbook ................... 61 Figure 15: The Temple Star, Aldine Kieffer ......................................................................... 62 Figure 16: Class, Choir and Congregation by A.J. Showalter ............................................. 64 Figure 17: Showalter songbooks in the ‘tall’ format. ........................................................... 64 Figure 18: Showalter songbook catalogs and songbooks ..................................................... 65 Figure 19: James D. Vaughan and Stamps-Baxter songbooks ............................................. 66 Figure 20: Convention songbooks by James D. Vaughan and Stamps-Baxter ..................... 67 viii Figure 21: Paine Denson sings in the bass section ............................................................... 69 Figure 22: Paine Denson’s handwritten notation for “Wondrous Cross,” 1932 ................... 69 Figure 23: Chattahoochee Sacred Harp Convention, 1956 ................................................... 70 Figure 24: Sacred Harpers onstage at Samford University ................................................... 71 Figure 25: Hugh McGraw leads at the NEA Awards, Washington, D.C. ............................ 72 Figure 26: The 1990 Revision Singing ................................................................................. 73 Figure 27: Charlene Wallace leads at the 1990 revision singing .......................................... 74 Figure 28: Proposed additions to the Sacred Harp 1991 revision ........................................ 74 Figure 29: Holly Springs historical marker .......................................................................... 75 Figure 30: 1978 Sacred Harp singing at Holly Springs ........................................................ 76 Figure 31: United Shape Note Singers songbook suitcase. .................................................. 78 Figure 32: United Shape Note Singers at Jackson Chapel Baptist Church ........................... 79 Figure 33: Group onstage at a gospel convention. ................................................................ 80 Figure 34: Showalter’s rudiments in shape- and round-notes .............................................. 81 Figure 35: Rudiments used in gospel singing schools .......................................................... 82 Figure 36: The many shapes of shape-note singing .............................................................. 85 Figure 37: Shape-note singing’s spread to