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A 40-Year Friendship Built on 'Gospel Music'

Mahalia Jackson performs. Enlarge image i

Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson performs.

Lee Friedlander
Mahalia Jackson performs.

Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson performs.

Lee Friedlander
Joel Dorn and Lee Friedlander, surrounded by recording equipment. Enlarge image i

Joel Dorn, left, and Lee Friedlander met at Atlantic Records 40 years ago.

Joel Dorn and Lee Friedlander, surrounded by recording equipment.

Joel Dorn, left, and Lee Friedlander met at Atlantic Records 40 years ago.

Record producer Joel Dorn and photographer Lee Friedlander grew up listening to gospel and blues. They met 40 years ago at Atlantic Records, where Friedlander was photographing many of the artists Dorn produced.

Now they've put out a compilation of their favorite gospel songs from the 1950s and 1960s. The 18 tracks on the aptly and simply titled Gospel Music show the roots of rock 'n' roll alongside the sanctified power of gospel.

Dorn and Friedlander tell Debbie Elliott about their love for the music and their experiences listening to it.

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