Published in The Journal of American History Martin thus locates in phonograph religion the roots of several of the most significant developments in African American Christianity over the last century. For most readers, the names of black celebrity preachers such as T. D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, and Juanita Bynum will be far more familiar than that of James Gates. Yet, for a time, Gates's recorded sermons outsold even popular entertainers such as Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith.