Nothing but Love in God's Water: Volume 1: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement

Robert Darden is Professor of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media at Baylor University. He is a former gospel music editor for Billboard magazine.

A must read for any lover of spiritual music Wonderful book. Full of great information. A must read.. Robert L. Gersztyn said Eye Opening and Fascinating. Robert Darden's book "Nothing But Love In God's Water" is a historical document that is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the roots of American Black gospel, blues and jazz. The book's subtitle is "Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement," but the creation of that music pre-dates the civil war. The period of time from the arrival of the first African slaves to North America until the end of the American Civil War was the incubation period that produced the genes. D. Corl said I was not disappointed.. Darden has done it again! Having read Darden's history of gospel music, People Get Ready, three times, I came to this book expecting an exuberance for the topic, a synthetic use of source materials, and a lively writing style. I was not disappointed.

Martin Luther King Jr. Nothing but Love in God’s Water reveals black sacred music as a liberating expression, a tool for liberation, and the most important chronicle of the liberation experience. While previous Pulitzer Prize–winning books have definitively covered the movement’s leaders, politics, strategies, philosophy, and impact, the literature related to the influence—actually, the importance—of the music to the movement has barely been addressed in meaningful, systematic fashion. The author is knowledgeable about the literature on the sub

From the spirituals of southern fields and the ringing chords of black gospel to the protest songs that changed the landscape of labor and the cadences sung before dogs and water cannons in Birmingham, sacred song has stood center stage in the African American drama. The first of two volumes chronicling the history and role of music in the African American experience, Nothing but Love in God’s Water explores how songs and singers helped African Americans challenge and overcome slavery, subjugation, and suppression. Myriad interviews, one-of-a-kind sources, and rare or lost recordings are used to examine this enormously persuasive facet of the movement. Nothing bu