From Doo-Dah to Doo-Wop When the Gods No Longer Spoke

Abstract This chapter reflects on the legacy of the sacred dance arena known as the ring shout, a legacy which stretches to include both jazz scat singing and speaking in tongues. The ring shout was a sacred praise-ritual that was danced, originating in the enslaved African American communities of the blackbelt South. It involved the formation of a counter-clockwise rotating circle of devotees who danced using restricted foot movement. “The Shout,” as it was also known, retained many of the African cultural elements that were transferred into African American fundamentalist Christian practice such as head shaving and spirit possession. Ultimately, the ring shout institution would impact upon the forms of music and dance that would come to be hallmarks of African American culture and identity. African Sacred Voice (ASV), as it evolves through scatting and doo-wop, is one source informing the rhythmic, staccato scatting style observed in hip-hop’s turntable scratching.