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How They Got Over
Director - Robert Clem Educational Interests- African American Studies, American Studies, Biographies/Profiles, Christianity, Civil Rights, Cultural Studies, History (U.S.), Media Studies, Music, New Releases, Performance, Religion Institutional DVD Price: $295 Educational Streaming Information »
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How They Got Over celebrates the spirit of gospel performers and how they helped usher in a musical revolution that changed the world forever. Beginning in the 1920s, Black singers across the country took to the highways as the new technology of radio and records made it possible to reach a wider audience. Intense competition brought new ways to entertain, first with guitars, later with full bands, then with a performance style that would inspire Mick Jagger and a host of other rock and rollers. Their music was infectious, wrecking many a house on the chittlin' circuit, then graduating to the Apollo and other major auditoriums across the country. The success of gospel quartets inspired record labels to form "doo-wop" groups that enticed gospel singers like Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett to cross over to greater fame. How They Got Over features classic performance footage of the Soul Stirrers, Dixie Hummingbirds, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Blind Boys of Mississippee, Sensational Nightingales, the Davis Sisters and many more. Some of the greatest names in quartet music are interviewed in the film, giving vivid accounts of how they "got over" in their performances: shouting, bending over backwards, dancing, jumping off the stage: what came to be known as "gospel drama" - and a huge influence on future rock 'n' rollers. "Smile-Inducing! With a trove of archival performance footage and the wisdom to let those images breathe, the film leans into the maxim about showing not telling. Among the highlights: the Blind Boys of Mississippi joined by the Barrett Sisters in a hand-clapping rendition of 'I'll Be Singing Up There' and Inez Andrews pressing hard on the peddle of her wail and prophesying the rock to come." - Lisa Kennedy, The New York Times "The essential story of the cross-fertilization between quartet gospel music and rock 'n roll." - Billy Price, R&B/Soul singer "How They Got Over is a revealing and inspiring look at the massive contribution of gospel music to the spirit and vitality of rock 'n' roll: an invaluable documentary which combines historical scholarship with thrilling glimpses of gospel singers, both superstars of the genre and some you'll probably be experiencing for the first time."- Robert Hilburn, former pop critic of the Los Angeles Times "If you love music and want to know about the origins of rock and roll, you must see this film!"- Terre Roche, The Roche Sisters |
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