Jamall Badry - Kum Ba Ya

Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
The tension between the Now Generation and its parents and grandparents was not unique to Lutherans. Many denominations let their youth groups atrophy in the late 1950s. Mark Senter said Youth for Christ [1] meetings devolved from exciting rallies that featured popular music in the 1940s into SMOTS or Secret Meetings of the Saints [2] where Bible quizzes were the main activity.

When denominations failed to provide interesting materials for their members, entrepreneurs moved into the vacuum. Jarrell McCracken founded Word Records in 1951 when he was a student at the Baptist’s Baylor University in Waco, Texas. [3]

His first releases were influenced by his Baptist background. He probably began with 78-rpm records by local artists. They may have been sold through Bible book stores. [4]

By 1954, McCracken was producing albums that were being listed by the Schwann catalog. [5] This made his selections available to record stores, though most outside the Texas-Oklahoma area may not have been interested. In that year, he released albums by the Oklahoma Baptist University choir [6] and by Frank Boggs, [7] a 1948 Baylor graduate. [8]

Word was producing so many records by 1957 that it could start a record club. [9] The choices tended to be hymns, and many were by Baptists. Baylor’s Religious Hour Choir made its first album that year. [10] That may be when McCracken met Buryl Red, who was then a member of the choir. [11]

Elvis Presley ushered in the revolution in taste that began to alienate adults from their children. In 1959, McCracken hired Kurt Kaiser as a producer. [12] He recorded several soloists backed by the London Concert Orchestra. [13]

The expansion of Word’s business reflected a growth in the audience for religious music. Jamall Badry had been hired by Sunnyside Baptist Church in Oklahoma City in 1959 as its minister of music. Two years later, in 1961, he was able to leave steady employment and work full time as a musical evangelist. [14]

Youth for Christ leaders had rebelled against popular music trends in 1956 by firing Ralph Carmichael because his productions for its annual conventions were too worldly. [15] Word issued an album by Carmichael in 1961, [16] then bought his former employer in 1963. [17]

Sacred Music had been founded by the man who was working for Aimee Simple McPherson when she died in 1944. Earle E. Williams was the director of music and youth programs for the Pentecostal preacher. [18]

With the addition of Sacred Music, Word offered"the largest catalog in the religious field." [19] Russ Reid, Word’s vice-president, said they "know what religious people consider religious music" and offered a wide range of styles "from high church music to contemporary religious music." [20]

Generational and sectional differences were growing. Rather than turning Word into a "big tent" label like RCA and Decca that recorded all sorts of music under one imprimatur, McCracken created separate labels for different markets. In 1965, he introduced Canaan Records with the Goodman Family for fans of Southern gospel music. [21]

The repertoire offered by Word remained rooted in the hymn, rather than gospel tradition. [22] There was no room in the Word catalog for the music of the Now Generation. [23] The closest it came was an album by Badry that included an arrangement of "Kumbaya" by Red. It didn’t use guitars. Instead, Red alternated a hand drum and shakers with a flute.

Many of the other songs were in the Methodist tradition, including Charles Wesley’s "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" [24] and the title song, "Fill, My Cup Lord." [B] Although "Cup" was published by Word, [25] some were from other publishers like Walter Ehret’s "Jacob’s Vision" [26] and Bickley Reichner’s "If You Know the Lord." [27] Many of the rest were public domain.

Despite the inclusion of "Kumbaya," it was not a collection to disturb the equanimity of the older generation. The liner notes assured listeners they would find Badry’s "singing style easy listening."

Performers
Vocal Soloist: Jamall Badry
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: flute
Rhythm Accompaniment: hand drum, shakers
Instrumental Conductor: Buryl Red

Credits
(arr. Red) P.D.

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: kum by YAH
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, come by here

Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none

Basic Form: 4-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: final iteration hummed
Unique Features: none

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5

Rhythm: marked down beats, with my Lord pronounced "mi LORD"

Basic Structure: strophic repetition after first verse
Singing Style: one syllable to one note except for final Lord

Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: Introduction was a flute solo. First verse was a capella with hand drum beaten on single note at the end of each phrase. Thereafter, the drum and shaker were played while he was singing, and the flute was heard at the ends of vocal lines.

Ending: fade away during humming; no change in tempo

Notes on Performance
The album cover showed Badry standing with his hand on a chair. He was wearing a brown suit, white shirt, and patterned red tie.

Notes on Performers
Badry’s father was a Syrian immigrant who moved to Houston in 1914, where he became a peddler. [28] The family moved about when Jamall was young: his older brother Jimell was born in Lubbock in 1932, [29] he was born in Enid, Oklahoma, in 1935, [30] and his sister Selma was born in Seminole, Oklahoma, in 1941. [31]

Both Jamall and Jimell graduated from high school in Norman, Oklahoma, and entered the University of Oklahoma School of Music. Jimell dropped out before he graduated to become a music minister in Wewoka, Oklahoma, while Jamall finished school. [32]

Red was born in Little Rock, and graduated from Baylor in 1957. [33] He later studied music at Yale. [34] In 1969, the year after he worked on Badry’s album, he organized The CenturyMen chorus for the Southern Baptist Convention. [35]

The conflicts between generations within the Southern Convention accelerated when conservatives took over the group’s annual meeting in 1979. [36] Like the Lutherans earlier in the decade [37], the new leaders purged anyone who disagreed with them.

Badry started an independent ministry in Colorado Springs in 1981. [38] His memorial was celebrated at the local conservative Presbyterian church. [39] Red’s service took place in a similar Presbyterian church in New York City. [40]

Availability
Album: Jamall Badry. "Kum Ba Ya." Fill My Cup, Lord. Word Records W-3422-LP.

End Notes
The history of Word records can be deduced from the multi-part "Word Album Discography" compiled in 2001 by Mike Callahan, David Edwards, and Patrice Eyries for the Both Sides Now website. It included:

Part 1. "The Early Years (1952-1955)." Last updated 16 November 2003.
Part 2. "W-3001 to W-3099 mono (1955-1960)." Last updated 17 April 2003.
Part 3. "W-3100 to W-3199 (1960-1962)." Last updated 17 April 2003.

1. The founding of Youth for Christ was discussed in the post for 15 December 2017.

2. Mark Houston Senter III. "The Youth for Christ Movement as an Educational Agency and Its Impact upon Protestant Churches, 1931-1979." PhD dissertation. Loyola University of Chicago, March 1989. 293.

3. Hannah Elliott. "McCracken, Founder of Prominent Christian Music Company, Dies." Associated Baptist Press. 9 November 2007. Published by Sam Hodges. "More on Jarrell McCracken, Baylor Grad and Christian Entertainment Giant." The Dallas Morning News. 10 November 2007.

4. "Like Texas, Word Records Is Big, Big, Big." Billboard. 21 September 1963. 13, 16. 13. The company also sent salesmen door-to-door in rural areas.

5. The monthly Schwann catalog was begun in 1949 by a record store owner, William Schwann. It listed all the currently available albums. [41] Mike Callahan indicated his group used the catalog to compile its Word discography. [42]

6. Bison Glee Club of Oklahoma Baptist University. A Mighty Fortress. Word W-2003. [43] The group’s director, Warren Angell, arranged Badry’s version of "The Lord My Shepherd Is."

7. Frank Boggs. The Old Rugged Cross. Word W-2000. [44] He was the first artist to be given a contract by Word. [45]

8. Jenna Press. "Co-Writer of the Baylor Fight Song Returns to Waco as Director for Georgia Festival Chorus Performance." Baylor University website. 8 April 2016. McCracken would have been a freshmen when Boggs was a senior.

9. Billboard, 21 September 1963.
10. Baylor Religious Hour Choir. Songs in the Night. Word W-3022. 1957. [46]
11. "Buryl Red." Hymnary website.
12. Kurt Kaiser was the subject of the post for 15 December 2017.

13. Claude Rhea and London Concert Orchestra. Majestic Themes. Word W-3087. 1959. [47]

Fague Springman and London Concert Orchestra. Time to Sing. Word W-3077. 1960. [48]

14. Articles about Badry were vague about dates. One said he "spent two years as minister of music at Sunnyside Baptist Church in Oklahoma City before entering full-time evangelism." [49] Another, published in 2010, said "Next year he would have celebrated 50 years in music evangelism." [50] Fifty years from 2011 is 1961; two years from 1961 is 1959. He received his ROTC commission in June 1958. [51]

15. This was mentioned briefly in the post for 15 December 2017. My source was Thomas E. Bergler. "‘I Found My Thrill’: The Youth for Christ Movement and American Congregational Singing, 1940-1970." 123–149 in Wonderful Words of Life. Edited by Mark A. Noll and Richard J. Mouw. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004. 125–126.

16. Ralph Carmichael. A Carmichael Concert. Word W-3149. 1961. [52]
17. "Word May Buy Most of Sacred." Billboard. 2 November 1963. 6.

18. Patricia Clary, United Press International. "Hollywood Film Shop." Published by Santa Maria [California] Daily Times and Courier. 30 June 1947. 9. Copy posted to internet by terry_e_gordon on 5 December 2018.

19. Billboard, 21 September 1963. 16.
20. Billboard, 21 September 1963. 16.

21. Wikipedia. "Canaan Records." The Goodmans were mentioned briefly in post for 21 December 2017.

22. On Badry’s album, Word advertised itself as "The Finest Name In Sacred Music."

23. Many colleges, including religious ones, had groups performing in the tradition of the Kingston Trio. None may have been unique enough to appeal to McCracken, or he may have been aware of the resistence to such groups by older people. Del Delker recalled the reaction of many to the Wedgewoods when she toured Seventh Day Adventists camp meetings with them in the summer of 1967. This was discussed in the post for 3 December 2017.

24. Charles Wesley. "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." In John Wesley and Charles Wesley. Hymns and Sacred Poems. London: Strahan, 1740. [53] This version was arranged by Red.

25. Richard Blanchard. "Like the Woman at the Well I Was Seeking." Waco: Word Music, 1959. [54] Blachard’s parents were Methodist missionaries in China; he became a Methodist minister. [55] Jim Garvey said "His music combines the chords and harmonies of the Big Band era with the Christian message of southern gospel music." [56]

26. Walter Ehret. "Jacob’s Vision." Copyrighted by Theodore Presser Company in 1960. [57]

27. Bickley Reichner. "If You Know the Lord." Copyrighted by Malvern Music Company in 1951. [58]

28. Ed Jackson. "Sing Along with Me: Jimell Badry." 165–180 in Life Verses Alive! Garland, Texas: Hannibal Books, 2007. 168. The immigrant ancestor changed his name from Salah Badrya to Sam Badry.

29. Jackson. 169.
30. Jamall Badry. Obituary. Norman [Oklahoma] Transcript. 3 September 2010.

31. Selma Sue Badry. Obituary. Norman [Oklahoma] Transcript. 8 October 2010. "Selma loved Christian music and singing with her brother, Jamall." There were three other children in the family, Farris, Elizabeth, and Freda. [59]

32. Jamall Badry obituary, Norman Transcript. Information on Jimell from Jackson. 174.
33. "Buryl Red." Hymnary website.
34. "In Memoriam: Composer and Conductor Buryl Red, 77." Yale University website.

35. "Founding Musical Director – Conductor Buryl Red, 1969-2013." The Centurymen website.

36. Wikipedia. "Southern Baptist Convention."
37. The split in the Lutheran’s Missouri Synod was discussed in the post for 21 June 2020.
38. The organization was the Music Evangelism Foundation. [60]

39. Village Seven Presbyterian Church [61] is affiliated with the conservative Presbyterian Church in America. [62]

40. Central Presbyterian Church [63] is associated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. [64] That synod is more conservative than the Presbyterian U. S. A., and more tolerant of charismatic congregations. [65]

41. Wikipedia. "Schwann Catalog."

42. Callahan, Part 3. It said a particular album was "listed in the July 1965 Schwann catalog."

43. Callahan, Part 1.
44. Callahan, Part 1.
45. Press.
46. Callahan, Part 2.
47. Callahan, Part 2.
48. Callahan, Part 2.
49. Jamall Badry obituary, Norman Transcript.
50. Jamall Badry. Obituary. The [Oklahoma City] Oklahoman. 3 October 2010.
51. Item. The [Oklahoma City] Daily Oklahoman. 9 June 1958. 17.
52. Callahan, Part 3.
53. Tiffany Shomsky. "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." Hymnary website.
54. "Like the Woman at the Well I Was Seeking." Hymnary website.

55. Jim Garvey. "History of Hymns: ‘Fill My Cup, Lord’." The United Methodist Church Discipleship website.

56. Garvey.

57. United States Copyright Office. Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third series. July-December 1960. 1190.

58. "[If you know the Lord]." Hymnary website.
59. Jackson. 169.
60. Jamall Badry obituary, Norman Transcript.
61. Jamall Badry obituary, Norman Transcript.
62. Village Seven Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado, website.

63. Laura Erlanson. "A Memorial Tribute Concert Is Planned for April 29 at Central Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. - Composer, Hymn Writer Buryl Red Dies." Baptist Press News website. 3 April 2013.

64. Wikipedia. "Central Presbyterian Church (New York City)."
65. Wikipedia. "Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)."