Their a capella singing took the service away from established control by either the preachers or the organist. The spirit of the songs could sweep up the crowd, and the young leaders realized that through song they could induce humble people to say and feel things that otherwise were beyond them. Into the defiant spiritual “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” Sherrod and Reagon called out verses of “Ain’t gonna let Chief Pritchett turn me around.” It amazed them to see people who had inched tentatively into the church take up the verse in full voice, setting themselves against feared
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