The new PBS documentary "Gospel" explores Black gospel music, and Penn State professor emeritus Jerry Zolten contributed to the film.
Zolten studies American Roots Music and has written about gospel, blues, country, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. He worked with the Dixie Hummingbirds and wrote a book about them. He also produced the Fairfield Four’s comeback album out of Mount Union, PA in the 80s.
Zolten has also worked with WPSU on several music history programs. Here is a transcript of his conversation with WPSU's Sydney Roach.
You can watch "Gospel" here.
WPSU will host a free advance screening of highlights from the documentary on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the WPSU studios in Innovation Park in State College. At the event, Jerry Zolten will talk about his experience with the film. Two members of the Unity Church of Jesus Christ will perform gospel music.
The national television premiere of “Gospel” on WPSU-TV will be Feb. 12 and 13 at 9 p.m.
Here's the conversation about "Gospel."
Sydney Roach
Jerry Zolten, thanks for joining us.
Jerry Zolten
My pleasure.
Sydney Roach
You appear as an on-screen expert in the documentary, "Gospel." Could you explain how else you contributed?
Jerry Zolten
One of the things I did with a production was provide them with a lot of the visual images that you'll see in the documentary film.
Sydney Roach
We're sitting here in your house. At this table, you have pictures of these artists sheet music; could you talk about some of the stuff that you have here on the table?
Jerry Zolten
Sure, I have, you know, rare recordings like this, that go back to the 1920s. So they use a lot of these. And you'll see images of album covers, and record labels, and things like that, that really bring a visual dimension, you know, to the production. But then, of course, they needed, you know, other kinds of images as well. And I drew from my collection of photographs, some of them are really rare and historic. You know, this is probably the only existing copy of the kings of harmony, you know, from the 1930s. So this kind of thing was a big part of what I contributed to the documentary.
Sydney Roach
Can you talk to us a little bit more about what your experience with gospel music is?
Jerry Zolten
So I'm a Pittsburgh kid, you know, I grew up there. I was a rock and roll fan. And of course, in Pittsburgh, I would hear coming over radio station WAMO out of Homestead, you know, and I really kind of got into the field and the spirituality of it, and the positive message. [It] kind of made you feel good about things. I had heard of the Dixie Hummingbirds because in 1973, they had collaborated with Paul Simon on one of his biggest hit records called "Loves Me Like a Rock." We still hear it, you know, on the radio or here or there. And I got very closely involved with them personally. They asked me to write their story. And of course, that would result in my book called, you know, "Great God A' Mighty, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music. So that's kind of how I got in deep. I also made a similar connection with a group called the Fairfield Four out of Nashville, Tennessee. They had gotten their start in the 1920s and had retired. And when I met them in the mid 80s, they were ready to get back into it. You know, much older but wiser. I produced their first comeback album in nearby Mount Union, PA in a small black church. And that record of took off and landed them a contract with Warner Brothers. And they're now two Grammy Awards into their career and still going strong. So my involvement has been more than just as a bystander; I've really got a hand in it and worked with some of the most important historic groups in the nation.
Sydney Roach
Let's take a listen to one of the [Fairfield Four] songs in that album you produced out of Mount Union. This is "Noah" from the album, "Wreckin’ the House (Live at Mt. Hope)."
Music plays here.
Sydney Roach
I want to put on a gospel album now on my drive back.
Jerry Zolten
Well, I'll give you one of mine. One of the ones I've produced, anyway.
Sydney Roach
How exactly did you get involved in this documentary?
Jerry Zolten
Well, a few years ago, I was a co-producer of a film called "How They Got Over." The subtitle was "Black Gospel Quartets and the Road to Rock & Roll." It had a national release in theaters around the country and is actually currently streaming on HBO Max. And I not only co-produced the film, but I'm in that film is one of the principal narrators. And I think that between the film and the book about the Dixie Hummingbirds kind of put me in view of the people that Henry Louis Gates Jr. was working with to make this new documentary. But the point is, I got an email out of the blue asking me if I would come and be interviewed and it was a no brainer. I was very excited to be called.
Sydney Roach
Now how does it feel that it's going to be a nationally told story and you're playing a part in it?
Jerry Zolten
Well, obviously I'm flattered, honored, nervous, but more importantly, I think the gospel music has not always gotten the attention it deserves. I think that perhaps because of its religious connotation, I think secular music probably gets more attention in the media. But I think that gospel and black gospel in particular needs to be recognized as the important bedrock music that it is to American popular music. I watch TV shows today, [like] "America's Got Talent" or whatever, and you hear vocalists doing all kinds of things with their voices. And I hear that, you know, in the gospel tradition, this is where it comes from. The idea of ringing every drop of emotion out of a musical note, improvisation, screaming and shouting. All of these things are from the world of black gospel. So I think that it'll be a value to anyone interested in American popular music to be educated about to get a sense of where it all came from.
Sydney Roach
Even beyond its impact on American popular music, in the hour that I watched, I remember they were talking about [Gospel's] historical impacts as well. A part that really stuck out to me is they were talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. They were talking about how during his speech, he was pulling a lot from what he would have heard in gospel in church, like the way he was speaking the way [and] he was giving that speech.
Jerry Zolten
Yeah, absolutely. There's a whole dimension of gospel that will be treated in the documentary about, I call them the folk preachers, in the 20s and 30s. These preachers were recording sermons, and they had all the earmarks of hip hop, and talking over rhythm and music and the cadences and the phrasing that you'll hear in preachers like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Aretha Franklin's dad, Dr. Franklin... all of these things are rooted in the gospel tradition for sure.
Sydney Roach
Is there anything else you'd like to share about the film or your time working on it?
Jerry Zolten
Only that it's an honor.
Sydney Roach
Jerry Zolten, thanks for talking with us.
Jerry Zolten
My pleasure.
WPSU will host a free advance screening of highlights from the documentary on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at our studios in Innovation Park in State College. At the event, Jerry Zolten will talk about his experience with the film. Two members of the Unity Church of Jesus Christ will perform gospel music.
The national television premiere of “Gospel” on WPSU-TV will be Feb. 12 and 13 at 9 p.m.
