Spiritual (music)
A spiritual is a African-American song with a religious text. Traditionally monophonic and a cappella, these songs are antecedents of the blues. They began on Southern slave plantations as work songs, sometimes with hidden messages of rebellion and escape from the slaves' owners.
Samples
of "My Good Lord Done Been Here" spiritual song from the Library of Congress' John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip; performed by Aunt Florida Hampton on May 29, 1939 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. P.W. Tartt in Livingston, Alabama