House Wrecking

“In gospel music, a progenitor of [soul music], a singer is often described as ‘worrying’ the audience, ” teasing it, working the crowd until it is on the verge of exploding, until strong men faint and women start speaking in tongues. This is commonly referred to as ‘house wrecking. ‘ In soul music, perhaps the last of the great vocal arts, there is this same sense of dramatic structure, even if the message does not always provide the same unambiguous release.”

-Peter Guralnick, Sweet Soul Music

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