Gospel

- We will be able to speed up that day, when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last, free at last.

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

(applause) - America discovered Black preaching on mass scale with Martin Luther King.

Because all of a sudden with "I Have a Dream," they could feel the color of your skin, the content of your character, this intellectual, powerful depth.

I mean, the imagery is all of it there, and the compassion that Black people have given white people based upon outrageous, inhumane treatment and still talk about we and us and being a part of America.

(siren) - Less than a month after the march, on September 15th, four little girls were murdered at a Sunday school in Birmingham.

Four days later, a gathering of musicians would offer a powerful message of resilience.

- The gifted choir master, James Cleveland, met with members of the Angelic Choir from Nutley, New Jersey.

They recorded an iconic anthem based on the Book of Mark, Chapter Four, Verses 37 to 39.

It tells the story of a raging tempest that Jesus calms simply by commanding three words: "Peace be still."

Master the tempest is raging The billows are tossing high - This song seemed to speak not only to people who loved God, but to people in the world because at that time people needed peace.

And so, that song just spoke to the mood of the nation and the culture.

No shelter or help is nigh Thank you Jesus Carest thou not that we perish?

- Reverend Cleveland's voice was somewhere between a growl and the sound of sandpaper, and yet, it was something that was free about his performance.

- It was that sincerity.

It was that authenticity that people felt.

It's just absolute genius.

You can be a demon or an evil man or whatever ye be - It's a song about peace, but it's dramatic arrangement underscores the violent truth of Black life in America, but it also was a sustaining reminder that no matter how stormy the seas, no one has to battle the wind and the waves alone.

Of earth and skies They all shall sweetly - Why is it so important for music to be participatory?

Why is it so important for music to be communal?

Because it was helping people to understand the sound was actually more powerful than what was, than what they were up against.

- It's as if James Cleveland's on stage singing with an army, not just a small band, right?

With an army.

It changes the sound of Black music.

Master, - The commercial success of the live church recording of "Peace Be Still" established an innovative template for the next generation of gospel artists and producers.

- The goal is to capture what happens on Sunday morning in the Black church, the worship atmosphere.

People who are churched, you understand that that resonates directly with you.

People who are unchurched, this is a new experience.

This is what's going on inside those four walls.

The hollering, the hand clapping, the foot stomping, the call and response.

All of the elements of demonstrative behavior that goes into this Sunday morning atmosphere is refashioned on these live recordings.

That's why that recording is so important.

That shifted the whole terrain of gospel music production.

Oh peace be still