When Sunday Comes charts the explosive growth of the gospel music industry between 1968 and 1994. It contextualizes the genre’s sonic innovations, theological tensions, and political assertions within the larger framework of the socioeconomic and cultural transformations taking place in black America during the post–civil rights era. Through an examination of such gospel legends as James Cleveland, Andraé Crouch, Shirley Caesar, the Clark Sisters, the Winans, Al Green, and Kirk Franklin, among others, the book explores the ways in which gospel music has provided an outlet for African Americans ... More

When Sunday Comes charts the explosive growth of the gospel music industry between 1968 and 1994. It contextualizes the genre’s sonic innovations, theological tensions, and political assertions within the larger framework of the socioeconomic and cultural transformations taking place in black America during the post–civil rights era. Through an examination of such gospel legends as James Cleveland, Andraé Crouch, Shirley Caesar, the Clark Sisters, the Winans, Al Green, and Kirk Franklin, among others, the book explores the ways in which gospel music has provided an outlet for African Americans to express their spiritual, cultural, and regional identities. Organized chronologically, When Sunday Comes pivots around six principal questions: What were the major sonic transformations in gospel music between 1968 and 1994, and to what extent were those transformations reflective of creative shifts within other musical genres, particularly R&B, soul, funk, disco, and hip-hop? In what ways were gospel artists shaped by larger political developments in the United States, i.e., the rise and fall of the Black Power movement as well as the growing influence of the Moral Majority? To what degree were the soundscapes of gospel music reflective of regional dynamics? How did the political economy of the entertainment industry affect gospel artists’ commercial opportunities? And did the end of de jure racial segregation alter black artists’ relationship with the predominantly white contemporary Christian music industry?