Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
The emergence of contemporary Christian music was facilitated by the development of an infrastructure that made recordings profitable. As mentioned in earlier posts, Kurt Kaiser [1] and Bob MacKenzie [2] improved the quality of recordings, both aesthetically and technically, so radio stations were willing to air them. The publishing houses of Word [3] and Benson worked to get paid royalties for their copyrights, and then instituted accounting procedures that ensured their writers actually got their money. [4]
Distribution remained a problem until Pat and Bernie Zondervan opened their first religious book store in a strip mall in 1960. [5] Songbooks no longer were crammed into the small section on the back wall of a general book store with Bibles and inspirational tomes. They had a section unto themselves.
Records no longer were dumped into a single bin near the discounted ones in record stores that were playing the current hit records over their in-house speakers. They were given an area devoted to them, separated by types.
The Zondervan brothers began as sellers, then publishers of religious books to Calvinists who had migrated to the Grand Rapids, Michigan, area from the Netherlands. [6] They had no particular proclivity for music. The Christian Reformed Church had separated from the Dutch Reformed Church when the latter began singing hymns, not just psalms.[7]
In 1941, Bernie went to a revival meeting held near Grand Rapids by Billy Graham. [8] The mother of Graham’s song leader had immigrated to New Jersey with her father from the Netherlands. [9] Al Smith had a collection of choruses that he asked Zondervan to distribute. [10] Two years later, Smith founded Singspiration. [11]
The market for religious music grew in the early 1950s. Zondervan’s changed the name of its newsletter from Book News to Book and Record News in 1952. [12] Its relationship with Smith expanded, when it began distributing recordings by Singspiration artists. [3]
Smith became less reliable in 1954, when he hinted he might move his business to Wheaton, Illinois. The Zondervans responded by forming their own music publishing company in 1955. [14]
Smith’s wife had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1947, [15] and one suspects the burden of her care was draining him both physically and financially. He had moved back to this native New Jersey in 1953, [16] where his parents still lived. [17] In 1955, he hired John Peterson as an editor. [18]
The financial health of Singspiration deteriorated, and in 1957 Peterson alerted the Zondervans. [19] The next year, they entered a partnership with Smith to incorporate Singspiration. [20] In 1960, Smith’s wife died, [21] and the following year, Smith sold his remaining interest in the company to the Zondervans and Peterson. [22]
About this time, Peterson hired Norman Johnson as his assistant. Peterson had been born in the Swedish community of Lindsborg, Kansas, [23] where members of the Evangelical Covenant Church lived. They had left their homeland because they were being persecuted for meeting privately to sing gospel songs with secular instruments. [24]
Peterson’s family had left Lindsborg [25] by the time Johnson was born in nearby Smolan, Kansas, in 1928. [26] When Johnson entered the Covenant church seminary in Chicago in 1949, [27] he sent Peterson a note of introduction. Peterson then was working for the Moody Bible Institute radio station. They remained friends. [28]
Peterson acknowledged the emergence of the Now Generation in 1970 when he hired Don Wyrtzen as his youth director. [29] Wyrtzen had written the popular "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" in 1966. [30]
That same year, 1970, Peterson and Johnson published a Folk Hymnal that was marketed to "the Now Generation." Half the material was copyrighted by Singspiration. It included a few songs from the Roman Catholic folk-mass composers, [31] and one each from Ralph Carmichael [32] and Kurt Kaiser. [33]
Its claim to "folk" lay in the use of "old historic folk melodies" like "I Know Where I’m Going." Unlike versions reported from tradition, including one recorded by Weavers, it was not a love song. [34] Instead, the chorus included the line: "the love for which He died Is all I need to guide me."
Four songs in the Folk Hymnal were from African-American traditions: the recently popularized "He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain," the older "Jacob’s Ladder," and "Kumbaya." The last, however, was identified as Angolan.
One reason so few Black religious songs were used was Peterson applied a very strict definition of scriptural accuracy. When he reviewed Singspiration’s copyrights in the early 1960s, he discarded many songs because, while they may have had "nice tunes," the lyrics "didn’t measure up." [35]
"Kumbaya" was unchanged. It was placed between Charles A. Buffham’s "Feed My Lambs" and Peterson’s "Shepherd of Love." The index suggested it was appropriate as a prayer.
The Folk Hymnal’s most important innovation was not its rather conventional leavening of new religious songs with a few well-known contemporary ones, but its format. The spiral binding allowed it to lay flat on a piano music stand or a table beside a guitar player. Both piano and guitar chords were provided.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano, guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
From Angola, Africa
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: kum is pronounced "koom"
Verses: kumbaya, cryin’, singin’, prayin’
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: verse-burden
Verse Repetition Pattern: repeat Chorus after each stanza
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: very slowly
Key Signature: two sharps
Guitar Chords: D G A A7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note except for final "Lord"
Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: piano chords struck at the beginning of each measure and the beginning of each "kumbaya" phrase
Ending: none
Notes on Performance
The cover was black, cerise and tangerine. It featured a photograph of two young men wearing fisherman-knit sweaters and a woman with bangs. One man was holding a guitar.
On the inside cover, Peterson wrote "a basic keyboard harmonization—upon which free improvisation is recommended—has been provided in most cases. However, the ideal accompaniment is guitar. Of course the addition of string bass and percussion, at your discretion, is appropriate too."
Audience Perceptions
An advertisement in a later songbook, claimed a Folk Hymnal was a "phenomenal best-seller" and "a must for all churches and coffee houses." [36]
Notes on Performers
John Willard Peterson spent World War II in the Air Force. He used his GI Benefits to study at Moody Bible Institute long enough to take all their music classes. [37] Then he transferred to the American Music Conservatory, where he graduated in 1952. [38]
He recalled his mother played piano, her sister the guitar, and her sister’s husband the mandolin. "At family reunions there were sure to be several stringed instruments and an accordion and the singing was something to hear." [39] He added, he loved the Covenant church. "The music was thrilling — great congregational singing, accompanied by a pump organ and piano, at which my sister Marie presided." [40]
His oldest brother Rudy became a choir director in Seattle, [41] while the intermediate boys had radio programs as the Norse Trio. Ken and Bill played guitars, and Bob the steel guitar. After Bob moved to Colorado, Peterson took his place. [42]
Despite the emphasis he placed on lyrics, Peterson found, with time, "the text may be fuzzy or lost to memory, the tune will still be fresh in my mind. The harmonies will fall into place and the orchestration will be as crystal clear as it was when I heard it this afternoon in rehearsal." [43]
Norman Eldon Johnson created the piano arrangement. He had graduated from Bethany College in Lindsborg in 1949, [44] then enrolled in the North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. [45] While working as a youth pastor and minister of music in California, he earned a masters in church music from the University of California. [46] In Grand Rapids, Johnson served as music minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church. [47]
His sister remembered Johnson "was always known for his music. Whether playing the organ for chapel in Old Main, or his amazing ability at the piano, he was known for incredible chords and the ability to enhance the soloist or congregation in their performance." [48]
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah (Come by Here)." Folk Hymnal. Edited by Norman Johnson and John W. Peterson. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Singspiration, 1970. 9.
End Notes
1. Kurt Kaiser was the subject of the post for 15 December 2017.
2. Bob MacKenzie was the subject of the post for 26 July 2020.
3. Word was the subject of the posts for 5 July 2020 and 12 July 2020.
4. John T. Benson. A History 1898-1915 of the Pentecostal Mission, Inc. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1977. 209. "Among the good things coming out of the Company are the royalties paid to Christian writers, composers, arrangers, and artists. Accurately, the Company with its computerized bookkeeping honestly distributes royalties per year amounting to one and one-quarter million dollars. This makes it possible for those receiving royalties to continue their religious work."
5. James E. Ruark. The House of Zondervan. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006. 109–110. Willis Cook was responsible for the expansion. I bought collections containing camp songs in them in the early 1970s. It may have been the one in East Lansing, which was one of the first after the one in suburban Grand Rapids.
6. Ruark.
7. Wikipedia. "Christian Reformed Church in North America."
8. Ruark. 50. Graham was then a student at Wheaton College. Smith was his roommate.
9. VickiO. "Gerrigje ‘Carrie’ Junte Smith." Find a Grave website. 5 October 2010. Smith’s mother.
VickiO. "Aalt ‘Albert’ Junte." Find a Grave website. 21 March 2009. Smith’s mother’s father. He was a member of the Holland Reformed Church, according to the obituary reprinted by VickiO from The [Patterson, New Jersey] Sunday Chronicle. 11 July 1920. 12.
10. Ruark. 50. The collection was titled Singspiration.
11. Dr. Alfred B. Smith. Obituary. [Binghamton, New York] Press and Sun-Bulletin. 12 August 2001. One of Smith’s sons lived in Binghamton.
12. Ruark. 100.
13. Ruark. 101.
14. Ruark. 67.
15. "Mr. Singspiration." Living Hymns website.
16. Living Hymns website.
17. Carrie J. Smith. Obituary. The [Scranton, Pennsylvania] Times-Tribune. 12 March 1983. 9. Reprinted by VickiO. It said she was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Montrose, Pennsylvania, where Al had moved.
18. John W. Peterson. The Miracle Goes On. With Richard Engquist. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976. 162.
19. Peterson, autobiography. 180–181.
20. Ruark. 89.
21. Living Hymns website.
22. Peterson, autobiography. 182.
23. Peterson, autobiography. 33.
24. Wikipedia. "Evangelical Covenant Church." It was organized in Chicago in 1885 after Lindsborg was settled.
25. Peterson, autobiography. 37.
26. sister7a. "Norman E. Johnson." Find a Grave website. 4 June 2007. "Smolan was named after the Swedish province of Småland, the native home of a large share of the early settlers." [49]
27. The date deduced from the year he graduated from Bethany College. That was provided by Ruth Peterson. "Norman E. Johnson." Lindsborg150th website. 19 June 2019.
28. Peterson, autobiography. 184.
29. Ruark. 147.
30. Jack Wyrtzen and Don Wyrtzen. "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow." Copyrighted by Singspiration in 1966. It was included in Word’s Sing In, [50] Benson’s Now Sing Now, [51] and Hope Publishing’s A Time to Sing and A New Now. [52]
31. It included Ray Repp’s "Allelu!" and James Thiem’s "Sons of God." Both were published be F. E. L. Publications in 1966. Repp is mentioned in the post for 16 August 2020.
32. Ralph Carmichael. "The Savior Is Waiting." Waco: Sacred Songs, 1958. He was mentioned in the post for 15 December 2017.
33. Kurt Kaiser. "That’s for Me." Waco: Sacred Songs, 1969. He was the subject of the post for 15 December 2017. Peterson admitted that he began to feel threatened by these songwriters, but overcame his jealously through admitting his envy was a sin. [53]
34. The Weavers. The Weavers At Carnegie Hall. Vanguard VRS-9010. 1957. [Discogs entry] Their version was 16 measures long. [54] One published by A New Now was 30 measures. It replaced "I know who I’ll marry" with "I know why there’s music" and added a section that began "where are you going?" Peterson’s version was 45 measures. The origins of the song are obscure. [55]
35. Peterson, autobiography. 195.
36. John W. Peterson. Singing Youth. Grand Rapids: Singspiration Music, 1966; 1973 edition. Inside back cover.
37. Peterson, autobiography. 148.
38. Peterson, autobiography. 154.
39. Peterson, autobiography. 34.
40. Peterson, autobiography. 40.
41. Peterson, autobiography. 76.
43. Peterson, autobiography. 11.
44. Ruth Peterson. Bethany College was founded by Lutherans from Sweden. [56]
45. Emily R. Brink and Bert Polman. Psalter Hymnal Handbook. Grand Rapids: CRC Publications, 1989. 470.
46. "Lois (Solie) Johnson." Heritage Life Story website. She was Johnson’s wife.
47. Brink. 470.
48. Ruth Peterson.
49. Wikipedia. "Smolan, Kansas." Its source was John Rydjord. Kansas Place-Names. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972.
50. Sing In, 11, was the subject of the post for 12 July 2020.
51. Now Sing Now, 2, was discussed in the post for 26 July 2020.
52. A Time to Sing, 8, and A New Now, 45, which is described in the post for 9 August 2020.
53. Peterson, autobiography. 141.
54. "I Know Where I’m Going." The Weavers Song Book. Edited by Ronnie Gilbert with musical arrangements by Robert De Cormier. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960. 16–17.
55. "Katie Cruel (The Leeboy’s Lassie; I Know Where I’m Going)." The Traditional Ballad Index. California State University-Fresno website.
56. Wikipedia. "Bethany College (Kansas)."
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Bob MacKenzie - Kum Ba Yah
Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
The founder of the John T. Benson Publishing Company died in 1930. [1] John 1’s youngest son, John 2, [2] assumed his role as song leader in the local Nazarene church. [3] His older sons ran the printing company, which produced high school yearbooks. [4] John 2 spent most of the 1920s and 1930s as its traveling salesman. [5]
John 2 said he learned the elements of the printing trade in the Depression. [6] His work in his church and on the road brought him into contact with people who kept him informed on their preferences in religious music. [7] With the revival of the economy in 1940, the music publishing company began issuing new song books. The first may have been Camp Meeting and Revival Songs. [8]
World War II and material shortages halted that business resurgence.
At the end of the war, Youth for Christ began holding its rallies. [9] John 2 sensed a new market was developing, and left the printing company in 1948 [10] to devote his energies to publishing songbooks.
The business grew in the 1950s. John 2 signed Elmo Mercer as a songwriter in 1951, [11] and, like Lynn Rohrbough, was producing customized versions of his songbooks for private groups by 1952. [12] He also expanded into sheet music sales. [13]
The emergence of Elvis Presley coincided with an increased interest in gospel music. John 2 published Ira Stanphill’s Heartwarming Songs in 1956 in a spiral-bound format. [14] His All American Church Hymnal was marketed to churches. [15]
Benson’s oldest son, John 3, went to work for his uncles in the printing company. [16] The younger boy, Bob, was ordained as an elder by the Nazarenes, [17] and served congregations in Florida, Missouri, California, and Tennessee. [18] He left the church to join John 2 in the publishing venture in 1961. [19]
Soon John 2 and Bob launched a music label for southern gospel music. [20] To support the increased demand, the company hired Mercer as a full-time music editor in 1961. [21] In 1966, they hired Bob MacKenzie as creative director for Heartwarming Records. [22]
When the Now Generation emerged, MacKenzie began experiments to reach it. In 1968, he had the youngest member of the Rambos [23] record a solo album titled On the Folk Side of Gospel. [24] At the same time, he produced The Now Sound of Ed Lyman. [25] It included two uplifting songs from Broadway musicals ("Climb Ev’ry Mountain" [26] and "The Impossible Dream" [27]), along with a spiritual popularized by Peter, Paul, and Mary ("All My Trials" [28]). The rest were contemporary religious songs.
John 2 retired in 1969, [29] and John 3 moved over to the publishing house from the printing company. [30]
In 1970, MacKenzie sponsored two projects that included "Kumbaya." One was the record by The Bill Gaither Trio that was discussed in the post for 17 December 2017. The other was the Now Sing Now songbook. Its version of "Kum Ba Yah" was close to the original. It did not use the verse order introduced by Tommy Leonetti.
Ed Lyman composed seven songs in Now Sing Now. Howard Lovett wrote six. Lyman billed himself as a sacred folk singer. [31] Lovett was part of a Florida band that was pioneering Christian Rock. [32]
In total, 60% of the 85 songs in Now Sing Now were controlled by the Benson company. Another 25% were in the public domain. The remaining 15% included songs by country-music artists, like Glen Campbell [33] and Roger Miller, [34] who had been accepted by the audience for Easy Listening music. [35]
The connection to the commercial folk-music revival in Now Sing Now was through the traditional music. Most were spirituals, though only "There Is Joy in the Land" was identified as "American Negro." The company seemed to think the others, like "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Study War No More," had been sung so often by whites that they were part of a shared religious tradition. "Kum Ba Yah" was identified as "African."
While MacKenzie was attempting to reach the Now Generation, he maintained some ties to the past. He included contemporary settings for three Psalms that satisfied Presbyterians who believed only psalms should be used in services. [36]
The collection also included "Brethren, We Have Met To Worship" from the shaped-note tradition. The last line of the first verse was "All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down." [37]
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
African
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, come by here, praying, crying, singing
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: 5-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: Gently, with feeling
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition; volume varies by verse with "come by here" and "praying" softer and "singing" loud.
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
Ending: none
Notes on Performance
7" x 10" octavo sheet music format. The cover was a wash of colors dominated by purples. It did not contain photographs or references to recording artists.
Audience Perceptions
The copy of Now Sing Now I purchased from Amazon had been used. All the public domain songs were marked with a pencil with a note "Negro Spirituals in here." Another song was identified as a Christmas one, and performance cues were added to three songs. "Kum Ba Yah" was not particularized.
Notes on Performers
MacKenzie was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. [38] He studied conducting at Houghton College, and choral music with Harry Wilson at Columbia. He was choir director at Carl McIntire’s Shelton College [39] when he accepted an offer in 1964 to manage the Nashville Symphony. [40] Two years later, Benson hired him. [41]
Nothing is known about MacKenzie’s religious affiliation in 1970. The conservative Presbyterian church that handled his memorial service [42] was not founded until 1981. [43] Houghton was a Wesleyan Methodist college. [44] Shelton was McIntire’s conservative Presbyterian school in New Jersey. [45]
In 1984, MacKenzie and Ron Kerr bought the publishing company established by Ralph Carmichael. [46] Fred Bock, who worked for Sacred Music, recalled "Bob MacKenzie is the greatest creative catalyst that I’ve had in my life." [47] Both Carmichael and Bock were associated with Word Records, mentioned in the post for 5 July 2020 and 12 July 2020.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." In Now Sing Now. Edited by Bob MacKenzie. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1970. 29.
End Notes
1. Jno T. Benson, Sr (1). Obituary. Nashville Tennessean. 25 June 1930. 5.
2. The forms of the Benson names changed when men died; I’m standardizing on a simple number to make clear the identities of men through three generations.
3. John T. Benson (2). A History 1898-1915 of the Pentecostal Mission, Inc. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1977. 11. John 2 took over leading songs after John 1 had a stroke in 1927.
4. Benson 2. 10.
5. Benson 2. 11.
6. Benson 2. 11.
7. John 2 remembered his work as song leader "took me to meetings outside church." [48]
8. Camp Meeting and Revival Songs. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1940. [Amazon]
9. Youth for Christ was discussed in the post for the post for 15 December 2017.
10. Benson 2. 11.
11. Pat Barker. "Where Are They Now?" Singing News Magazine. February 2014. Republished by Bruce Jeffers. "Elmo Mercer’s Journey into Southern Gospel Music History." W. Elmo Mercer’s website. 2 March 2014. His most popular song was "Each Step I Take My Savior Goes Before Me." [49]
12. For example, the John T. Benson Publishing Company released Spiritual Power in 1947. [Amazon] In 1952, it included a special insert for an edition created for the Churches of Christ in Christian Union’s mid-winter indoor camp meeting in Indianapolis. [Amazon]
13. There’s no complete bibliography or discography for the Benson companies. I used Amazon on 21 April 2020 to find books that had survived long enough to be offered for resale. I supplemented it with a search in WorldCat. One example of the sheet music was Ira F. Stanphill’s "Follow Me" in 1953. [Amazon] Several people told Amazon users how much they liked his compositions. [50]
14. Ira Stanphill and John T. Benson. Heart Warming Songs. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1956. Amazon described the binding as comb.
15. Earl Smith and John T. Benson. All-American Church Hymnal. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company: 1957 eleventh edition. Periwinkle wrote "this is the hymnal we’ve used in our church for over fifty years so I’m probably biased in my opinion of it. Since I was very young the contents of this book have been both a treasure and a comfort to me." [51]
16. "John T. Benson III." Gospel Music Hall of Fame website. 1 January 2018.
17. "Robert ‘Bob’ Benson, Sr." Gospel Music Hall of Fame website. This entry has been removed.
18. "God Chose You." James Dobson’s Family Talk website. 13 July 2012.
19. Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Bob Benson.
20. Gospel Music Hall of Fame, John 3.
21. "W. Elmo Mercer, Gospel Music." His website.
22. Item in Bob Green. "Shaped Notes." Billboard 78:50:4 June 1966.
23. The Rambos were Dottie Rambo, her husband Buck Rambo, and their daughter Reba Rambo. Dottie became an important songwriter.
24. Reba Rambo. On The Folk Side Of Gospel. Heart Warming Records HWM 1985. 1968. It included songs by Ed Lyman, [52] Glen Campbell [53] and Sonny Salisbury. [54] Most were by Dottie Rambo. [Discogs]
25. "Ed Lyman – The Now Sound Of Ed Lyman." Impact Records HWS 1948, and Heart Warming Records HWM 1948. 1968. [Discogs entry.] Both record labels were owned by Benson.
26. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. "Climb Ev’ry Mountain." From the 1959 Broadway musical Sound of Music. [55]
27. Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion. "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)." From the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. [56]
28. Peter, Paul, and Mary’s version of "All My Trials" was mentioned in the post for 28 June 2020. It first was popularized by Joan Baez in 1960 on Joan Baez. Vanguard VSD 2077.
29. John 2. 11.
30. Gospel Music Hall of Fame, John 3.
31. Item in "Shaped Notes." Billboard 80:34:6 January 1968.
32. "Howard Lovett." Discogs website. The group was Joyful Noise. The name is common, and I couldn’t find any information for this particular group.
33. The Glen Campbell song was "Less of Me."
34. Roger Miller. "Walking in the Sunshine." Nashville: Tree Publishing Company, 1967. This also appeared in Now Sing Now.
35. Easy Listening music was discussed in the post for 19 April 2020.
36. The Presbyterian preference for psalms was discussed in the post for 25 November 2017.
37. George Askins. "Brethren, We Have Met to Worship." Social and Camp-Meeting Hymns for the Pious. Baltimore: John J. Harrod, 1817. [57] The melody was "Holy Manna." [58]
38. MacKenzie’s early life was discussed in the post for 17 December 2017.
39. Item. Doylestown [Pennsylvania] Intelligencer. 3 April 1964. 22. Harry Robert Wilson was the subject of the post for 15 July 2018.
40. "Bob MacKenzie." Gospel Music Hall of Fame website. 1 January 2018.
41. Item in Bob Green. "Shaped Notes." Billboard 78:50: 4 June 1966.
42. Bob MacKenzie. Obituary. The [Nashville] Tennessean. 22 October 2000. 35.
43. According to its website, Nashville’s Christ Presbyterian Church was founded in 1981, and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. The mainline denomination is the Presbyterian Church U. S. A.
44. Wikipedia. "Houghton College."
45. Wikipedia. "Shelton College." McIntire founded a separate denomination, the Bible Presbyterian Church. [60]
46. The Tennessean, MacKenzie.
47. Fred Bock. Quoted by Gospel Music Hall of Fame, MacKenzie.
48. Benson 2. 11.
49. W. Elmo Mercer. "Each Step I Take My Savior Goes Before Me." Nashville: Benson Publishing, 1953. The Hymnary entry for the song said it had been included in 17 hymnals.
50. Sheila Wells. Comment on Amazon website for Heart Warming Songs No. 3. 16 March 2016.
Mom. Comment on Amazon website for Heart Warming Songs No. 3. 6 November 2014.
51. Periwinkle. Comment posted to Amazon website for hardcover edition of All-American Church Hymnal. 12 June 2017.
52. Ed Lyman. "In A Silent World." Copyrighted by The Rodeheaver Company, 1967. This also appeared in Now Sing Now.
53. Glen Campbell. "Less of Me." Copyrighted by Beechwood Music, 1965. This also appeared in Now Sing Now.
54. Sonny Salisbury. "Psalm 19." Copyrighted by Sacred Songs, 1968. This also appeared in Now Sing Now and Warren Stitt’s Sing In, which was discussed in the post for 12 July 2010.
55. Wikipedia. "Climb Ev’ry Mountain."
56. Wikipedia. "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)."
57. C. Michael Hawn. "History of Hymns: ‘Brethren, We Have Met to Worship’." The United Methodist Church Discipleship website. 18 July 2019.
58. William Moore. "Holy Manna." The Columbian Harmony. Cincinnati: William Moore, 1825. [59]
59. Hawn.
60. Wikipedia. "Carl McIntire."
The founder of the John T. Benson Publishing Company died in 1930. [1] John 1’s youngest son, John 2, [2] assumed his role as song leader in the local Nazarene church. [3] His older sons ran the printing company, which produced high school yearbooks. [4] John 2 spent most of the 1920s and 1930s as its traveling salesman. [5]
John 2 said he learned the elements of the printing trade in the Depression. [6] His work in his church and on the road brought him into contact with people who kept him informed on their preferences in religious music. [7] With the revival of the economy in 1940, the music publishing company began issuing new song books. The first may have been Camp Meeting and Revival Songs. [8]
World War II and material shortages halted that business resurgence.
At the end of the war, Youth for Christ began holding its rallies. [9] John 2 sensed a new market was developing, and left the printing company in 1948 [10] to devote his energies to publishing songbooks.
The business grew in the 1950s. John 2 signed Elmo Mercer as a songwriter in 1951, [11] and, like Lynn Rohrbough, was producing customized versions of his songbooks for private groups by 1952. [12] He also expanded into sheet music sales. [13]
The emergence of Elvis Presley coincided with an increased interest in gospel music. John 2 published Ira Stanphill’s Heartwarming Songs in 1956 in a spiral-bound format. [14] His All American Church Hymnal was marketed to churches. [15]
Benson’s oldest son, John 3, went to work for his uncles in the printing company. [16] The younger boy, Bob, was ordained as an elder by the Nazarenes, [17] and served congregations in Florida, Missouri, California, and Tennessee. [18] He left the church to join John 2 in the publishing venture in 1961. [19]
Soon John 2 and Bob launched a music label for southern gospel music. [20] To support the increased demand, the company hired Mercer as a full-time music editor in 1961. [21] In 1966, they hired Bob MacKenzie as creative director for Heartwarming Records. [22]
When the Now Generation emerged, MacKenzie began experiments to reach it. In 1968, he had the youngest member of the Rambos [23] record a solo album titled On the Folk Side of Gospel. [24] At the same time, he produced The Now Sound of Ed Lyman. [25] It included two uplifting songs from Broadway musicals ("Climb Ev’ry Mountain" [26] and "The Impossible Dream" [27]), along with a spiritual popularized by Peter, Paul, and Mary ("All My Trials" [28]). The rest were contemporary religious songs.
John 2 retired in 1969, [29] and John 3 moved over to the publishing house from the printing company. [30]
In 1970, MacKenzie sponsored two projects that included "Kumbaya." One was the record by The Bill Gaither Trio that was discussed in the post for 17 December 2017. The other was the Now Sing Now songbook. Its version of "Kum Ba Yah" was close to the original. It did not use the verse order introduced by Tommy Leonetti.
Ed Lyman composed seven songs in Now Sing Now. Howard Lovett wrote six. Lyman billed himself as a sacred folk singer. [31] Lovett was part of a Florida band that was pioneering Christian Rock. [32]
In total, 60% of the 85 songs in Now Sing Now were controlled by the Benson company. Another 25% were in the public domain. The remaining 15% included songs by country-music artists, like Glen Campbell [33] and Roger Miller, [34] who had been accepted by the audience for Easy Listening music. [35]
The connection to the commercial folk-music revival in Now Sing Now was through the traditional music. Most were spirituals, though only "There Is Joy in the Land" was identified as "American Negro." The company seemed to think the others, like "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Study War No More," had been sung so often by whites that they were part of a shared religious tradition. "Kum Ba Yah" was identified as "African."
While MacKenzie was attempting to reach the Now Generation, he maintained some ties to the past. He included contemporary settings for three Psalms that satisfied Presbyterians who believed only psalms should be used in services. [36]
The collection also included "Brethren, We Have Met To Worship" from the shaped-note tradition. The last line of the first verse was "All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down." [37]
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
African
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, come by here, praying, crying, singing
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: 5-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: Gently, with feeling
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition; volume varies by verse with "come by here" and "praying" softer and "singing" loud.
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
Ending: none
Notes on Performance
7" x 10" octavo sheet music format. The cover was a wash of colors dominated by purples. It did not contain photographs or references to recording artists.
Audience Perceptions
The copy of Now Sing Now I purchased from Amazon had been used. All the public domain songs were marked with a pencil with a note "Negro Spirituals in here." Another song was identified as a Christmas one, and performance cues were added to three songs. "Kum Ba Yah" was not particularized.
Notes on Performers
MacKenzie was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. [38] He studied conducting at Houghton College, and choral music with Harry Wilson at Columbia. He was choir director at Carl McIntire’s Shelton College [39] when he accepted an offer in 1964 to manage the Nashville Symphony. [40] Two years later, Benson hired him. [41]
Nothing is known about MacKenzie’s religious affiliation in 1970. The conservative Presbyterian church that handled his memorial service [42] was not founded until 1981. [43] Houghton was a Wesleyan Methodist college. [44] Shelton was McIntire’s conservative Presbyterian school in New Jersey. [45]
In 1984, MacKenzie and Ron Kerr bought the publishing company established by Ralph Carmichael. [46] Fred Bock, who worked for Sacred Music, recalled "Bob MacKenzie is the greatest creative catalyst that I’ve had in my life." [47] Both Carmichael and Bock were associated with Word Records, mentioned in the post for 5 July 2020 and 12 July 2020.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." In Now Sing Now. Edited by Bob MacKenzie. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1970. 29.
End Notes
1. Jno T. Benson, Sr (1). Obituary. Nashville Tennessean. 25 June 1930. 5.
2. The forms of the Benson names changed when men died; I’m standardizing on a simple number to make clear the identities of men through three generations.
3. John T. Benson (2). A History 1898-1915 of the Pentecostal Mission, Inc. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1977. 11. John 2 took over leading songs after John 1 had a stroke in 1927.
4. Benson 2. 10.
5. Benson 2. 11.
6. Benson 2. 11.
7. John 2 remembered his work as song leader "took me to meetings outside church." [48]
8. Camp Meeting and Revival Songs. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1940. [Amazon]
9. Youth for Christ was discussed in the post for the post for 15 December 2017.
10. Benson 2. 11.
11. Pat Barker. "Where Are They Now?" Singing News Magazine. February 2014. Republished by Bruce Jeffers. "Elmo Mercer’s Journey into Southern Gospel Music History." W. Elmo Mercer’s website. 2 March 2014. His most popular song was "Each Step I Take My Savior Goes Before Me." [49]
12. For example, the John T. Benson Publishing Company released Spiritual Power in 1947. [Amazon] In 1952, it included a special insert for an edition created for the Churches of Christ in Christian Union’s mid-winter indoor camp meeting in Indianapolis. [Amazon]
13. There’s no complete bibliography or discography for the Benson companies. I used Amazon on 21 April 2020 to find books that had survived long enough to be offered for resale. I supplemented it with a search in WorldCat. One example of the sheet music was Ira F. Stanphill’s "Follow Me" in 1953. [Amazon] Several people told Amazon users how much they liked his compositions. [50]
14. Ira Stanphill and John T. Benson. Heart Warming Songs. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1956. Amazon described the binding as comb.
15. Earl Smith and John T. Benson. All-American Church Hymnal. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company: 1957 eleventh edition. Periwinkle wrote "this is the hymnal we’ve used in our church for over fifty years so I’m probably biased in my opinion of it. Since I was very young the contents of this book have been both a treasure and a comfort to me." [51]
16. "John T. Benson III." Gospel Music Hall of Fame website. 1 January 2018.
17. "Robert ‘Bob’ Benson, Sr." Gospel Music Hall of Fame website. This entry has been removed.
18. "God Chose You." James Dobson’s Family Talk website. 13 July 2012.
19. Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Bob Benson.
20. Gospel Music Hall of Fame, John 3.
21. "W. Elmo Mercer, Gospel Music." His website.
22. Item in Bob Green. "Shaped Notes." Billboard 78:50:4 June 1966.
23. The Rambos were Dottie Rambo, her husband Buck Rambo, and their daughter Reba Rambo. Dottie became an important songwriter.
24. Reba Rambo. On The Folk Side Of Gospel. Heart Warming Records HWM 1985. 1968. It included songs by Ed Lyman, [52] Glen Campbell [53] and Sonny Salisbury. [54] Most were by Dottie Rambo. [Discogs]
25. "Ed Lyman – The Now Sound Of Ed Lyman." Impact Records HWS 1948, and Heart Warming Records HWM 1948. 1968. [Discogs entry.] Both record labels were owned by Benson.
26. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. "Climb Ev’ry Mountain." From the 1959 Broadway musical Sound of Music. [55]
27. Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion. "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)." From the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. [56]
28. Peter, Paul, and Mary’s version of "All My Trials" was mentioned in the post for 28 June 2020. It first was popularized by Joan Baez in 1960 on Joan Baez. Vanguard VSD 2077.
29. John 2. 11.
30. Gospel Music Hall of Fame, John 3.
31. Item in "Shaped Notes." Billboard 80:34:6 January 1968.
32. "Howard Lovett." Discogs website. The group was Joyful Noise. The name is common, and I couldn’t find any information for this particular group.
33. The Glen Campbell song was "Less of Me."
34. Roger Miller. "Walking in the Sunshine." Nashville: Tree Publishing Company, 1967. This also appeared in Now Sing Now.
35. Easy Listening music was discussed in the post for 19 April 2020.
36. The Presbyterian preference for psalms was discussed in the post for 25 November 2017.
37. George Askins. "Brethren, We Have Met to Worship." Social and Camp-Meeting Hymns for the Pious. Baltimore: John J. Harrod, 1817. [57] The melody was "Holy Manna." [58]
38. MacKenzie’s early life was discussed in the post for 17 December 2017.
39. Item. Doylestown [Pennsylvania] Intelligencer. 3 April 1964. 22. Harry Robert Wilson was the subject of the post for 15 July 2018.
40. "Bob MacKenzie." Gospel Music Hall of Fame website. 1 January 2018.
41. Item in Bob Green. "Shaped Notes." Billboard 78:50: 4 June 1966.
42. Bob MacKenzie. Obituary. The [Nashville] Tennessean. 22 October 2000. 35.
43. According to its website, Nashville’s Christ Presbyterian Church was founded in 1981, and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America. The mainline denomination is the Presbyterian Church U. S. A.
44. Wikipedia. "Houghton College."
45. Wikipedia. "Shelton College." McIntire founded a separate denomination, the Bible Presbyterian Church. [60]
46. The Tennessean, MacKenzie.
47. Fred Bock. Quoted by Gospel Music Hall of Fame, MacKenzie.
48. Benson 2. 11.
49. W. Elmo Mercer. "Each Step I Take My Savior Goes Before Me." Nashville: Benson Publishing, 1953. The Hymnary entry for the song said it had been included in 17 hymnals.
50. Sheila Wells. Comment on Amazon website for Heart Warming Songs No. 3. 16 March 2016.
Mom. Comment on Amazon website for Heart Warming Songs No. 3. 6 November 2014.
51. Periwinkle. Comment posted to Amazon website for hardcover edition of All-American Church Hymnal. 12 June 2017.
52. Ed Lyman. "In A Silent World." Copyrighted by The Rodeheaver Company, 1967. This also appeared in Now Sing Now.
53. Glen Campbell. "Less of Me." Copyrighted by Beechwood Music, 1965. This also appeared in Now Sing Now.
54. Sonny Salisbury. "Psalm 19." Copyrighted by Sacred Songs, 1968. This also appeared in Now Sing Now and Warren Stitt’s Sing In, which was discussed in the post for 12 July 2010.
55. Wikipedia. "Climb Ev’ry Mountain."
56. Wikipedia. "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)."
57. C. Michael Hawn. "History of Hymns: ‘Brethren, We Have Met to Worship’." The United Methodist Church Discipleship website. 18 July 2019.
58. William Moore. "Holy Manna." The Columbian Harmony. Cincinnati: William Moore, 1825. [59]
59. Hawn.
60. Wikipedia. "Carl McIntire."
Sunday, July 19, 2020
John T. Benson
Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
Religious publications that supported independent clergymen date back at least as far as John Wesley’s The Armenian Magazine. [1] After Cane Ridge, Alexander Campbell began issuing the Christian Baptist in 1823 [2] to spread ideas that led to the Disciples of Christ. [3]
These publications did more than provide a means for evangelists to spread their ideas. They generated income for men who earned little from their religious meetings.
John McClurkan was an itinerant Cumberland Presbyterian [4] preacher in Tennessee who also worked as a school teacher before the Civil War. His son James was ordained in 1881. He too worked as both a minister and a teacher. He probably only received some financial security when he became pastor of a congregation in San Jose, California. [5]
McClurkan lost that income when he became sanctified, and left the church to preach his own interpretation of Holiness doctrine in 1895. [6] His daughter said he always peddled tracts, velvet mottos, and other religious objects from a basket. [7]
He moved to Nashville in 1897, [8] where Methodists were in turmoil over the Holiness movement. The year before the state convention spent a day debating the status of Benjamin Franklin Haynes, before voting against his Tennessee Methodist monthly. [9] It continued under the name Zion Outlook. [10]
John T. Benson, henceforth called John 1, [11] was converted to Holiness at a tent meeting McClurkan held in 1897. [12] A year later, he and Haynes helped McClurkan organize a Holiness convention in Nashville. [13] It may have been Benson’s first exposure to "the fervency of shouts, testimonies, preaching, praying and singing" that characterized some Holiness meetings. [14]
Two years later John 1 purchased Haynes’ publication for McClurkan’s Pentecostal Mission. [15] He quit his job with a mercantile brokerage in 1901 [16] to organize the Pentecostal Mission Printing Company in 1902. [17] He and his wife, the former Eva Green, edited the first songbook in 1904. [18]
The Azusa Street revival erupted in Los Angeles in 1901. [19] McClurkan rejected speaking in tongues in 1907. [20] Phineas Bresee began agitating for an association of Holiness groups who did not accept glossolalia. [21] John 1 was among those who went to the exploratory meeting in Pilot Point, Texas, in 1908. [22] The same year, he publicized Soul Stirring Songs [23] by sending a quartet to provide music at revivals and camp meetings. [24]
The market for songbooks must have been expanding with the growth of the Holiness movement after Azusa Street. John 1 opened a commercial printing company in 1909. [25]
McClurkan resisted a merger with Bresee, but John 1 suggested they invite Bresee to hold his next general assembly of the Nazarene in Nashville in 1911. Stephen Hoskins thought one reason Bresee accepted was he wanted a joint venture with Benson’s printing company. [26]
John 1 prepared the third edition of Jewel Songs for the event. [27] Hoskins said:
"Nazarenes from around the country and the world sang from the book at the nightly services conducted in the Ryman Auditorium, and visitors took Jewel Songs home and ordered large quantities for their camp meetings, revivals, and gospel choirs."
He added: "Jewel Songs helped establish the spiritual life of the denomination in its formative decades and has continued to do so." [28]
McClurkan died from typhoid fever in 1914, [29] and his Pentecostal Mission merged into the Nazarene in 1915. [30] Bresee didn’t get John 1’s company, but Benson did reorganize its publishing operations in Kansas City. [31] Haynes already was editing its weekly Herald of Holiness. [32]
End Notes
1. Samuel J. Rogal. "John Wesley’s Arminian Magazine." Andrews University Seminary Studies 22:231-247:Summer 1984. Wesley began publishing his popular magazine in 1778.
2. The Christian Baptist was replaced by the Millennial Harminger in 1830. [33]
3. The Disciples of Christ in Pamlico County, North Carolina, were mentioned in posts about Minnie Lee, especially the one for 26 January 2020.
4. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in 1810 by men who had been expelled by the Presbyterian Church for perpetuating the Cane Ridge revival. [34]
5. "James O. McClurkan." Interchurch Holiness Convention website.
6. John T. Benson (2). A History 1898-1915 of the Pentecostal Mission, Inc. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1977. 16.
7. Merle McClurkan Heath. Cited by John 2. 38.
8. John 2. 16.
9. "Tennessee Methodist Wakes Up a Mighty Lively Discussion." Nashville American. 28 October 1896. 3.
10. Stan Ingersol. "Man of Zeal and Courage: the Methodist Roots of B. F. Haynes." Herald of Holiness 76:11:15 June 1987.
11. The forms of the Benson names changed when men died; I’m standardizing on a simple number to make clear the identities of men through three generations.
12. John 2. 16.
13. John 2. 26. The executive committee elected by the first convention included John 1 as secretary and Haynes.
14. John 2. 33.
15. William J. Strickland. J. O. McClurkan: His Life, His Theology, and Selections from His Writings. With H. Ray Dunning. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1998. 37. The original name was Pentecostal Alliance. It was changed to Pentecostal Mission in 1902 for the same reasons Campbell changed the name of the Baptist Christian: to broaden its appeal and eliminate any connotations of associations with other religious groups.
16. Benson 2. 38. Cummins, Benson, and McKay was "one of the largest firms of mercantile brokers in the south." [35]
17. Strickland. 42.
18. John 2. 209. It might have been Living Waters Songs. World Cat listed it with a publication date that probably was derived from latest copyright date of 1894. Zion Outlook’s name had been changed to Living Waters after a merger with a group of that name in 1903. [36] Eva played piano. [37]
19. William Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival were the subject of the post for 7 December 2017.
20. John 2. 94.
21. Vinson Synan. The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997 edition. 147–148.
22. John 2. 100.
23. Soul Stirring Songs. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1908. [Amazon entry]
24. Steven Hoskins. "Singing Jewel Songs: Innovative Evangelism in the Church of the Nazarene." Grace and Peace website. 2 October 2012.
25. Jno T. Benson, Sr (1). Obituary. Nashville Tennessean. 25 June 1930. 5.
26. Hoskins. "Nazarenes also longed to launch a joint publishing venture with Benson’s printing company for the denomination’s many publishing enterprises and its new paper, Herald of Holiness, launched after the General Assembly."
27. Mr. and Mrs. John T. Benson. Jewel Songs. Nashville: Pentecostal Mission Publishing Company, 1910. [Amazon entry]
28. Hoskins. He noted it contained older hymns by Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts, Holiness songs like Fannie Crosby’s "Blessed Assurance," newly written gospel songs by men like Charles H. Gabriel, and Southern favorites like "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."
29. Rev J. O. McClurkan. Obituary. Nashville Banner. 6 September 1914. 2. Reprinted by NashvilleTony. "Rev James Octavius McClurkan." Find a Grave website. 5 August 2012.
30. Benson 2. 179.
31. John 1.
32. "Centennial Celebrations: Herald of Holiness and NNU." Holiness Today website.
33. Wikipedia. "Christian Baptist" and "Millennial Harbinger."
34. Wikipedia. "Cumberland Presbyterian Church."
35. "Cummins-Kirkman Co. to Succeed Cummins, Benson & McKay." The [Phoenix] Arizona Republican. 1 February 1902. 1.
36. John 2. 56.
37. John 2. 154.
Religious publications that supported independent clergymen date back at least as far as John Wesley’s The Armenian Magazine. [1] After Cane Ridge, Alexander Campbell began issuing the Christian Baptist in 1823 [2] to spread ideas that led to the Disciples of Christ. [3]
These publications did more than provide a means for evangelists to spread their ideas. They generated income for men who earned little from their religious meetings.
John McClurkan was an itinerant Cumberland Presbyterian [4] preacher in Tennessee who also worked as a school teacher before the Civil War. His son James was ordained in 1881. He too worked as both a minister and a teacher. He probably only received some financial security when he became pastor of a congregation in San Jose, California. [5]
McClurkan lost that income when he became sanctified, and left the church to preach his own interpretation of Holiness doctrine in 1895. [6] His daughter said he always peddled tracts, velvet mottos, and other religious objects from a basket. [7]
He moved to Nashville in 1897, [8] where Methodists were in turmoil over the Holiness movement. The year before the state convention spent a day debating the status of Benjamin Franklin Haynes, before voting against his Tennessee Methodist monthly. [9] It continued under the name Zion Outlook. [10]
John T. Benson, henceforth called John 1, [11] was converted to Holiness at a tent meeting McClurkan held in 1897. [12] A year later, he and Haynes helped McClurkan organize a Holiness convention in Nashville. [13] It may have been Benson’s first exposure to "the fervency of shouts, testimonies, preaching, praying and singing" that characterized some Holiness meetings. [14]
Two years later John 1 purchased Haynes’ publication for McClurkan’s Pentecostal Mission. [15] He quit his job with a mercantile brokerage in 1901 [16] to organize the Pentecostal Mission Printing Company in 1902. [17] He and his wife, the former Eva Green, edited the first songbook in 1904. [18]
The Azusa Street revival erupted in Los Angeles in 1901. [19] McClurkan rejected speaking in tongues in 1907. [20] Phineas Bresee began agitating for an association of Holiness groups who did not accept glossolalia. [21] John 1 was among those who went to the exploratory meeting in Pilot Point, Texas, in 1908. [22] The same year, he publicized Soul Stirring Songs [23] by sending a quartet to provide music at revivals and camp meetings. [24]
The market for songbooks must have been expanding with the growth of the Holiness movement after Azusa Street. John 1 opened a commercial printing company in 1909. [25]
McClurkan resisted a merger with Bresee, but John 1 suggested they invite Bresee to hold his next general assembly of the Nazarene in Nashville in 1911. Stephen Hoskins thought one reason Bresee accepted was he wanted a joint venture with Benson’s printing company. [26]
John 1 prepared the third edition of Jewel Songs for the event. [27] Hoskins said:
"Nazarenes from around the country and the world sang from the book at the nightly services conducted in the Ryman Auditorium, and visitors took Jewel Songs home and ordered large quantities for their camp meetings, revivals, and gospel choirs."
He added: "Jewel Songs helped establish the spiritual life of the denomination in its formative decades and has continued to do so." [28]
McClurkan died from typhoid fever in 1914, [29] and his Pentecostal Mission merged into the Nazarene in 1915. [30] Bresee didn’t get John 1’s company, but Benson did reorganize its publishing operations in Kansas City. [31] Haynes already was editing its weekly Herald of Holiness. [32]
End Notes
1. Samuel J. Rogal. "John Wesley’s Arminian Magazine." Andrews University Seminary Studies 22:231-247:Summer 1984. Wesley began publishing his popular magazine in 1778.
2. The Christian Baptist was replaced by the Millennial Harminger in 1830. [33]
3. The Disciples of Christ in Pamlico County, North Carolina, were mentioned in posts about Minnie Lee, especially the one for 26 January 2020.
4. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in 1810 by men who had been expelled by the Presbyterian Church for perpetuating the Cane Ridge revival. [34]
5. "James O. McClurkan." Interchurch Holiness Convention website.
6. John T. Benson (2). A History 1898-1915 of the Pentecostal Mission, Inc. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1977. 16.
7. Merle McClurkan Heath. Cited by John 2. 38.
8. John 2. 16.
9. "Tennessee Methodist Wakes Up a Mighty Lively Discussion." Nashville American. 28 October 1896. 3.
10. Stan Ingersol. "Man of Zeal and Courage: the Methodist Roots of B. F. Haynes." Herald of Holiness 76:11:15 June 1987.
11. The forms of the Benson names changed when men died; I’m standardizing on a simple number to make clear the identities of men through three generations.
12. John 2. 16.
13. John 2. 26. The executive committee elected by the first convention included John 1 as secretary and Haynes.
14. John 2. 33.
15. William J. Strickland. J. O. McClurkan: His Life, His Theology, and Selections from His Writings. With H. Ray Dunning. Nashville: Trevecca Press, 1998. 37. The original name was Pentecostal Alliance. It was changed to Pentecostal Mission in 1902 for the same reasons Campbell changed the name of the Baptist Christian: to broaden its appeal and eliminate any connotations of associations with other religious groups.
16. Benson 2. 38. Cummins, Benson, and McKay was "one of the largest firms of mercantile brokers in the south." [35]
17. Strickland. 42.
18. John 2. 209. It might have been Living Waters Songs. World Cat listed it with a publication date that probably was derived from latest copyright date of 1894. Zion Outlook’s name had been changed to Living Waters after a merger with a group of that name in 1903. [36] Eva played piano. [37]
19. William Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival were the subject of the post for 7 December 2017.
20. John 2. 94.
21. Vinson Synan. The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997 edition. 147–148.
22. John 2. 100.
23. Soul Stirring Songs. Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1908. [Amazon entry]
24. Steven Hoskins. "Singing Jewel Songs: Innovative Evangelism in the Church of the Nazarene." Grace and Peace website. 2 October 2012.
25. Jno T. Benson, Sr (1). Obituary. Nashville Tennessean. 25 June 1930. 5.
26. Hoskins. "Nazarenes also longed to launch a joint publishing venture with Benson’s printing company for the denomination’s many publishing enterprises and its new paper, Herald of Holiness, launched after the General Assembly."
27. Mr. and Mrs. John T. Benson. Jewel Songs. Nashville: Pentecostal Mission Publishing Company, 1910. [Amazon entry]
28. Hoskins. He noted it contained older hymns by Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts, Holiness songs like Fannie Crosby’s "Blessed Assurance," newly written gospel songs by men like Charles H. Gabriel, and Southern favorites like "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms."
29. Rev J. O. McClurkan. Obituary. Nashville Banner. 6 September 1914. 2. Reprinted by NashvilleTony. "Rev James Octavius McClurkan." Find a Grave website. 5 August 2012.
30. Benson 2. 179.
31. John 1.
32. "Centennial Celebrations: Herald of Holiness and NNU." Holiness Today website.
33. Wikipedia. "Christian Baptist" and "Millennial Harbinger."
34. Wikipedia. "Cumberland Presbyterian Church."
35. "Cummins-Kirkman Co. to Succeed Cummins, Benson & McKay." The [Phoenix] Arizona Republican. 1 February 1902. 1.
36. John 2. 56.
37. John 2. 154.
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Warren Stitt - Kum Ba Ya
Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
Young people stopped joining youth groups in the 1960s. Jon Pahl said many local Walther League groups languished. [1] Cub Scouts no longer were graduating into Boy Scouts. [2] Membership in the Girls Scouts began dropping. [3]
Churches responded to the decline of Youth for Christ by hiring specialists to manage in-house youth programs. [4] Sunday school superintendents were rendered redundant.
Pastors needed materials, which their denominations may or may not have provided. One of the first to fill the need was George Santa’s Christian Worker’s Service Bureau. [5] He had been active in the same Chicago church as the first presidents of Youth for Christ, Torrey Johnson and Robert Cook. [6]
The rise of church youth ministries obsoleted many of its functions, and Santa sold the company to Doug Ross. He had been a Youth for Christ rally director. The name was changed to Success with Youth. It provided more materials and training seminars for youth ministers. [7]
In 1969, Word issued a "songbook for Christian youth." Joel McCracken [8] said he got the idea from Russ Reid of Success for Life in 1968. [9] It obviously was inspired by the 1967 Moral Re-Armament conference. The title of the collection was Sing In, a phrase used on Mackinac Island before MRA settled on Pete Seeger’s Sing Out. [10]
McCracken turned the compilation of Sing In over to two men on his staff, Fred Bock and Warren Stitt. He also hired the man who had worked on the first two volumes of the Lutherans’ Hymns for Now to design the layout. There were no photographs, but Paul Firnhaber juxtaposed headlines from advertisements with each song.
"Kumbaya" shared spaced with Martin Luther’s "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." The advertisement that spread across the two pages read "Call the mover who can make it look easy. Quick."
The use of familiar words in new contexts was part of an aesthetic shared by people who treated language as a literal tool. The discovery of secondary meanings created a frisson, as if one were discovering the true meaning.
There was little new in Sing In. While McCracken said it included some "fun songs, camp songs, pop and folk tune" to "insure suitability for nearly any occasion," 62 of its 67 songs were religious. [11] Only three were hymns like "Mighty Fortress," and eight were from the gospel song tradition that developed after the Civil War. The best known was "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."
The largest number, 61%, were written after World War II. Not surprisingly, 45% of those were published by McCracken and 37% were written by men associated with Youth for Christ or Billy Graham. The most prolific composers were Ralph Carmichael and John W. Peterson. The latter edited collections for Singspiration, [12] which had been patronized by Graham. [13]
The other group of songs were variously identified as "traditional" or "traditional Negro spiritual." It was an intermediate area between the official songs of churches and those of American folk religion. It included the old standbys, "Jacob’s Ladder" and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and ones introduced by popular singers like "Amen" [14] and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." [15]
Many of the 13 songs used the AAAB format of camp meeting songs like "Rocka My Soul" and "Standing in the Need of Prayer." The version of "Kumbaya" was unchanged from the original publication.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Traditional
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: koom-bah-yah
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: 4-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: not indicated
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
Ending: none
Notes on Performance
Cover: it showed the hands of one person strumming a guitar decorated with filigrees, and the back of the head of a person playing piccolo. The hair on the piccolo player was below the ears, and could have been on a boy or girl. The size of the knee of the guitar player suggested he was a man.
Audience Perceptions
One person who owned the copy of Sing In that I bought from Amazon lived in Wesleyville, Pennsylvania. The individual marked eight songs including three by Carmichael ("He’s Everything to Me") and three by Peterson ("Jesus Is Coming Again").
Notes on Performers
Bock was born in Great Neck, New York, [16] in 1939. [17] He learned to play piano when he was 6 years old, started on organ when he as 12, [18] and and studied music education at Ithaca College. [18] Bock then moved to California for graduate work in church music at the University of Southern California. [19]
McCracken hired him in 1963. [20] The same year, Brock set up a legal entity to copyright his own material. [21] He supplemented his income by directing the choir at Bel Air Presbyterian church [22] and working as a studio or free-lance musician. In 1966, he was responsible for introducing Elva Miller to Capitol Records. [23] Her first album had some success as a novelty item. [24]
Less is known about Warren Stitt. His named appeared as a record and video producer for Sandi Patty [25] and The Oak Ridge Boys. [26] She began working with Bill Gaither, [27] who was mentioned in the post for 17 December 2017. Later she appeared at some Graham events. [28]
Firnhaber was discussed in the post for 28 June 2020.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Ya." Sing In. Edited by Warren G. Stitt and Fred Bock. Waco, Texas: Sacred Songs, 1969. 7.
End Notes
1. Jon Pahl. Hopes and Dreams of All. Chicago: Wheat Ridge Ministries, 1993. 261.
2. Wikipedia. "History of the Boy Scouts of America."
3. James Barron. "Girl Scouts Lower Membership Age." The New York Times. 28 October 1984.
4. 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. 319–320.
5. Senter. 322.
6. Senter. 321. The origins of Youth For Christ were discussed in the post for 15 December 2017.
7. Senter. 322.
8. McCracken and Word were discussed in the post for 5 July 2020.
9. Jarrell McCracken. "Introduction." Sing In. Reid was vice-president of Word Records in 1963. [29] He later founded his own marketing company in Waco in 1964. [30]
10. MRA and Sing In were discussed in the post for 23 February 2020.
11. The folk songs were "Shenandoah" and "On Top of Old Smokey," which had been recorded together by The Weavers in 1951. [31] The popular song was the theme from the 1966 film Born Free. [32] The others were the patriotic "This Is My Country" and the Doxology, which served many uses, including as a grace in camps.
12. Wikipedia. "John W. Peterson." He and Singspiration is discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.
13. Singspiration is discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.
14. "Amen" was introduced in the film Lilies of the Field. [33] The Impressions’ 1964 version [34] made the Billboard charts. [35]
15. Peter, Paul And Mary. "Tell It On The Mountain." In The Wind. Warner Brothers W1507. Released October 1963. [Discogs entry.]
16. Deborah Evans Price. Word: The Story. Word Music, 2011. 10.
17. "Fred Bock." Hope Publishing website.
18. "Fred Bock." Hymnary website.
19. Hope.
20. Price.
21. Nancy Gower. "Collection of Original Manuscripts by Fred Bock, 1953-1998." David Allan Hubbard Library, Fuller Theological Seminary. Last updated July 2018 by Andrew Wong. Date based on contents.
22. Item in American Guild of Organists. Las Vegas [Nevada] Sun. 15 January 1976. 19.
23. Skip Heller. "Searching for Mrs. Miller." Cool and Strange Music Magazine. 1999. Reprinted on Dana Countryman’s website. As mentioned in the post for 15 December 2017, Sacred Songs rented Capital Records facilities for its recording sessions.
24. Mrs. Elva Miller. Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits. Capitol Records ST-2494, 1966. [Discogs entry.]
25. "Sandi Patty: Christmas Live." Letterboxd website.
26. Wikipedia. "42nd GMA Dove Awards."
28. Wikipedia. "Sandi Patty."
28. By the 1980s, Billy Graham called his performers guests. He has tapes of Patty performing in 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1991. [36] Dale Argot remembered her singing in Philadelphia in 1992. [37]
29. "Like Texas, Word Records Is Big, Big, Big." Billboard. 21 September 1963. 13, 16.
30. "Founder Of Russ Reid Dies." PR Newswire website. 17 December 2013.
31. The Weavers And Terry Gilkyson. "Across The Wide Missouri / On Top Of Old Smoky." Decca 27515. Released October 1951. [Discogs entry.]
32. Born Free. Columbia Pictures. Released 22 June 1966.
33. Lilies of the Field. United Artists. Released 1 October 1963.
34. The Impressions. "Amen." ABC-Paramount 45-10602. Released October 1964. [Discogs entry.]
35. Wikipedia. "Amen (Gospel Song)."
36. "Records of BGEA: Films and Video - Collection 113." 10 April 2018. Wheaton College website.
37. Dale Argot. "Billy Graham Has Died." His website. 21 February 21.
Young people stopped joining youth groups in the 1960s. Jon Pahl said many local Walther League groups languished. [1] Cub Scouts no longer were graduating into Boy Scouts. [2] Membership in the Girls Scouts began dropping. [3]
Churches responded to the decline of Youth for Christ by hiring specialists to manage in-house youth programs. [4] Sunday school superintendents were rendered redundant.
Pastors needed materials, which their denominations may or may not have provided. One of the first to fill the need was George Santa’s Christian Worker’s Service Bureau. [5] He had been active in the same Chicago church as the first presidents of Youth for Christ, Torrey Johnson and Robert Cook. [6]
The rise of church youth ministries obsoleted many of its functions, and Santa sold the company to Doug Ross. He had been a Youth for Christ rally director. The name was changed to Success with Youth. It provided more materials and training seminars for youth ministers. [7]
In 1969, Word issued a "songbook for Christian youth." Joel McCracken [8] said he got the idea from Russ Reid of Success for Life in 1968. [9] It obviously was inspired by the 1967 Moral Re-Armament conference. The title of the collection was Sing In, a phrase used on Mackinac Island before MRA settled on Pete Seeger’s Sing Out. [10]
McCracken turned the compilation of Sing In over to two men on his staff, Fred Bock and Warren Stitt. He also hired the man who had worked on the first two volumes of the Lutherans’ Hymns for Now to design the layout. There were no photographs, but Paul Firnhaber juxtaposed headlines from advertisements with each song.
"Kumbaya" shared spaced with Martin Luther’s "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." The advertisement that spread across the two pages read "Call the mover who can make it look easy. Quick."
The use of familiar words in new contexts was part of an aesthetic shared by people who treated language as a literal tool. The discovery of secondary meanings created a frisson, as if one were discovering the true meaning.
There was little new in Sing In. While McCracken said it included some "fun songs, camp songs, pop and folk tune" to "insure suitability for nearly any occasion," 62 of its 67 songs were religious. [11] Only three were hymns like "Mighty Fortress," and eight were from the gospel song tradition that developed after the Civil War. The best known was "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."
The largest number, 61%, were written after World War II. Not surprisingly, 45% of those were published by McCracken and 37% were written by men associated with Youth for Christ or Billy Graham. The most prolific composers were Ralph Carmichael and John W. Peterson. The latter edited collections for Singspiration, [12] which had been patronized by Graham. [13]
The other group of songs were variously identified as "traditional" or "traditional Negro spiritual." It was an intermediate area between the official songs of churches and those of American folk religion. It included the old standbys, "Jacob’s Ladder" and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and ones introduced by popular singers like "Amen" [14] and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." [15]
Many of the 13 songs used the AAAB format of camp meeting songs like "Rocka My Soul" and "Standing in the Need of Prayer." The version of "Kumbaya" was unchanged from the original publication.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Traditional
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: koom-bah-yah
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: 4-verse song
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: not indicated
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
Ending: none
Notes on Performance
Cover: it showed the hands of one person strumming a guitar decorated with filigrees, and the back of the head of a person playing piccolo. The hair on the piccolo player was below the ears, and could have been on a boy or girl. The size of the knee of the guitar player suggested he was a man.
Audience Perceptions
One person who owned the copy of Sing In that I bought from Amazon lived in Wesleyville, Pennsylvania. The individual marked eight songs including three by Carmichael ("He’s Everything to Me") and three by Peterson ("Jesus Is Coming Again").
Notes on Performers
Bock was born in Great Neck, New York, [16] in 1939. [17] He learned to play piano when he was 6 years old, started on organ when he as 12, [18] and and studied music education at Ithaca College. [18] Bock then moved to California for graduate work in church music at the University of Southern California. [19]
McCracken hired him in 1963. [20] The same year, Brock set up a legal entity to copyright his own material. [21] He supplemented his income by directing the choir at Bel Air Presbyterian church [22] and working as a studio or free-lance musician. In 1966, he was responsible for introducing Elva Miller to Capitol Records. [23] Her first album had some success as a novelty item. [24]
Less is known about Warren Stitt. His named appeared as a record and video producer for Sandi Patty [25] and The Oak Ridge Boys. [26] She began working with Bill Gaither, [27] who was mentioned in the post for 17 December 2017. Later she appeared at some Graham events. [28]
Firnhaber was discussed in the post for 28 June 2020.
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Ya." Sing In. Edited by Warren G. Stitt and Fred Bock. Waco, Texas: Sacred Songs, 1969. 7.
End Notes
1. Jon Pahl. Hopes and Dreams of All. Chicago: Wheat Ridge Ministries, 1993. 261.
2. Wikipedia. "History of the Boy Scouts of America."
3. James Barron. "Girl Scouts Lower Membership Age." The New York Times. 28 October 1984.
4. 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. 319–320.
5. Senter. 322.
6. Senter. 321. The origins of Youth For Christ were discussed in the post for 15 December 2017.
7. Senter. 322.
8. McCracken and Word were discussed in the post for 5 July 2020.
9. Jarrell McCracken. "Introduction." Sing In. Reid was vice-president of Word Records in 1963. [29] He later founded his own marketing company in Waco in 1964. [30]
10. MRA and Sing In were discussed in the post for 23 February 2020.
11. The folk songs were "Shenandoah" and "On Top of Old Smokey," which had been recorded together by The Weavers in 1951. [31] The popular song was the theme from the 1966 film Born Free. [32] The others were the patriotic "This Is My Country" and the Doxology, which served many uses, including as a grace in camps.
12. Wikipedia. "John W. Peterson." He and Singspiration is discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.
13. Singspiration is discussed in the post for 2 August 2020.
14. "Amen" was introduced in the film Lilies of the Field. [33] The Impressions’ 1964 version [34] made the Billboard charts. [35]
15. Peter, Paul And Mary. "Tell It On The Mountain." In The Wind. Warner Brothers W1507. Released October 1963. [Discogs entry.]
16. Deborah Evans Price. Word: The Story. Word Music, 2011. 10.
17. "Fred Bock." Hope Publishing website.
18. "Fred Bock." Hymnary website.
19. Hope.
20. Price.
21. Nancy Gower. "Collection of Original Manuscripts by Fred Bock, 1953-1998." David Allan Hubbard Library, Fuller Theological Seminary. Last updated July 2018 by Andrew Wong. Date based on contents.
22. Item in American Guild of Organists. Las Vegas [Nevada] Sun. 15 January 1976. 19.
23. Skip Heller. "Searching for Mrs. Miller." Cool and Strange Music Magazine. 1999. Reprinted on Dana Countryman’s website. As mentioned in the post for 15 December 2017, Sacred Songs rented Capital Records facilities for its recording sessions.
24. Mrs. Elva Miller. Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits. Capitol Records ST-2494, 1966. [Discogs entry.]
25. "Sandi Patty: Christmas Live." Letterboxd website.
26. Wikipedia. "42nd GMA Dove Awards."
28. Wikipedia. "Sandi Patty."
28. By the 1980s, Billy Graham called his performers guests. He has tapes of Patty performing in 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1991. [36] Dale Argot remembered her singing in Philadelphia in 1992. [37]
29. "Like Texas, Word Records Is Big, Big, Big." Billboard. 21 September 1963. 13, 16.
30. "Founder Of Russ Reid Dies." PR Newswire website. 17 December 2013.
31. The Weavers And Terry Gilkyson. "Across The Wide Missouri / On Top Of Old Smoky." Decca 27515. Released October 1951. [Discogs entry.]
32. Born Free. Columbia Pictures. Released 22 June 1966.
33. Lilies of the Field. United Artists. Released 1 October 1963.
34. The Impressions. "Amen." ABC-Paramount 45-10602. Released October 1964. [Discogs entry.]
35. Wikipedia. "Amen (Gospel Song)."
36. "Records of BGEA: Films and Video - Collection 113." 10 April 2018. Wheaton College website.
37. Dale Argot. "Billy Graham Has Died." His website. 21 February 21.
Sunday, July 5, 2020
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)."
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)."
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Walther League - Kum Ba Yah (Part 2)
Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
Continued from previous post dated 21 June 2020
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Traditional
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: open-ended 4-verse song; after last verse "and so on. It could end up with "Come by here, My Lord, Kum ba yah."
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: not indicated
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
Ending: none
Influences: Concordia Published issued a companion album with songs from the collection. [1] Three were by Ray Repp and two by Richard Koehneke and Norman Habel. "Kumbaya" was not included, but "All My Trials" was recorded in an arrangement close to that of Peter, Paul, and Mary [2] by two men and a woman.
Notes on Performance
Paul Firnhaber was the guest editor for the first two volumes. He used beige paper with photographs of people. Large-type comments were scattered around the songs to create a collage of words, music, and pictures.
For "We Shall Overcome" the text was "In every man’s heart there’s a secret place he would like to go." The photographs included an African-American boy, an Asian child, a woman who could have been a Native American, and one who might have been from Latin America.
The second volume was less daring. There were no comments, and the picture with "Kumbaya" showed people sitting on park benches in New York City. They were in shadow, so no features could be discerned. They probably were older men.
Koehneke, the editor for the third volume, used a different colored paper for every page, and often superimposed songs on photographs. Most looked to be white people. The ones who might have come from other cultures were so enlarged, their features were lost.
Audience Perceptions
The introduction to Hymns for Now II said that "in a little over two years, nearly 200,000 copies" of earlier collection had been distributed. "This is nothing short of a phenomenon considering that it was not available on the commercial market, and was reprinted and distributed solely through the subscription office of" the Walther League’s Workers Quarterly.
Notes on Performers
Dean Kell edited the Workers Quarterly that published Hymns for Now I. The native of Wausau, Wisconsin, [3] did field work with a local church and interned in Minneapolis while he was a student at Indiana’s Valparaiso University. [4] After graduating in 1960, [5] he became the youth director for a Lutheran Church in Melrose Park, Illinois. [6] Following the disestablishment of the Walther League, [7] he moved to Estes Park, Colorado, where he "taught himself to build houses while starting his general contractor company." [8]
The biographical information for the man he selected as editor for Hymns is less detailed. [9] Rolan Paul Firnhaber studied shamanism with Mircea Eliade at the University of Chicago. [10] Perhaps it was while he was a graduate student that he took photographs of a César Chávez aide at a Chicago League meeting in 1967. [11] In 1969, Firnhaber moved to Estes Park, where he worked as a "researcher, writer, editor, and photographer." [12] He later moved to Estonia.
Less still is known about Martin Steyer, the man responsible for Hymns for Now II. He was a Lutheran pastor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1956. [13] By 1973, he was an assistant to the head of the Board of Youth in Saint Louis. [14] His last pastorate was in Santa Maria, California. [15]
Koehneke, like Steyer, worked for a congregation in North Carolina before he edited Hymns for Now III. [16] In addition to the youth album, he and Habel issued a recording of the Lutheran liturgy as a competitor to folk masses [17] for the Synod’s radio station. [18] In 1972, he wrote a Christian rock opera with John Schroeder. [19] His last appointment was in Fort Wayne. [20]
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." Hymns for Now II. In Resources for Youth Ministry 1(3):1969. Edited by Martin W. Steyer. 2.
End Notes
1. Hymns for Now 2: How. Produced by James E. Bottom, David Dister, and Victor Growcock. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Concordia 79-9021.
2. Peter, Paul, and Mary. "All My Trials." In The Wind. Warner Brothers Records. WS 1507. 1963.
3. Dean C. Kell. Obituary. Loveland [Colorado] Reporter-Herald. 5 January 2018.
4. Jon Pahl. Hopes and Dreams of All. Chicago: Wheat Ridge Ministries, 1993. 222. Valparaiso is a Lutheran university unaffiliated with any synod. [21] A version of "Kumbaya" recorded by a vocal group sponsored by the school was mentioned in the post for 4 September 2018.
5. Death notice for Dean Kell in "Valpo Remembers." Valpo Magazine website. 29 January 2019.
6. "Lutheran Pastors Attend Convention." The [Maywood, Illinois] Sunday Herald. 7 July 1963. 4.
7. Kell was executive secretary of the Walther League from 1968 to 1970. [22]
8. Kell, obituary.
9. James C. Burkee. Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011. When he began research for this book, he discovered "many were unwilling to talk" about the events surrounding the rise of Jack Preus. "The reasons were diverse. For some, the emotional wounds were still fresh. Some were embarrassed by their involvement. Others had professional reasons, wanting to stay ‘neutral’ while serving in official capacities in the church. Some were afraid of reprisals. The most unsettling, however, was the stonewalling from men who did not want the truth exposed; who did not want aired the details of a veiled organization that, it was implied, still rules the synod." [23] He added, "I believe everyone knows, but few will confess." [24]
10. Gregor Taul. "Art Life outside the Capital City." Estonian Art website. The index of Eliade’s papers in the University of Chicago library does not list Firnhaber’s dissertation. [25] This suggests he did not complete work on his PhD. There is no record of it, or other professional papers on the internet.
11. Miriam Pawel. The Union of Their Dreams. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. The caption for a photograph by Firnhaber on page 50 read: Eliseo Medina "teaches a workshop for Lutheran youth at the Walther League in Chicago to enlist help in the grape boycott."
12. "R. Paul Firnhaber." Imagi Gallery, Viljandi, Estonia, website. The biographical sketch was written to accompany publication of his book, Magic in the Mountains, in 2007. [26]
13. "Lutheran Church Starts Five Mission Services." Greenbelt [Maryland] News Review. 21:1:18 October 1956. It said Steyer was giving a "special sermon for the children each evening."
14. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Convention Handbook for 1973. 300.
15. "Martin Steyer." LinkedIn website.
16. Gene Brunow. "Wellness." His website.
17. Richard Koehneke and Norman Habel. Invitation; The Lutheran Liturgy. KFUO, Clayton, Missouri. KRES 769. [Discogs website.]
18. KFUO is owned by the Missouri Synod and located on the campus of Concordia Seminary. [27] It originally was a project of the Walther League. [28]
19. Richard Koehneke and John E. Schroeder. Alpha Omega: Meet God Man. Concordia 79-9895. 1972. [Discogs website.]
20. Brunow.
21. Wikipedia. "Valparaiso University."
22. Pahl. 303.
23. Burkee. 4.
24. Burkee. 4.
25. "Guide to the Mircea Eliade Papers 1926-1998." University of Chicago Library website.
26. James Frank and R. Paul Firnhaber. Magic in the Mountains. Estes Park, Colorado: Our Natural Heritage Publishing, 2007.
27. Wikipedia. "KFUO (AM)."
28. Pahl. 120–121.
Continued from previous post dated 21 June 2020
Performers
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: guitar chords
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Traditional
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: no comment
Verses: kumbaya, crying, singing, praying
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: open-ended 4-verse song; after last verse "and so on. It could end up with "Come by here, My Lord, Kum ba yah."
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: none
Unique Features: none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4
Tempo: not indicated
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar Chords: C F G7
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable to one note, except for final "Lord"
Ending: none
Influences: Concordia Published issued a companion album with songs from the collection. [1] Three were by Ray Repp and two by Richard Koehneke and Norman Habel. "Kumbaya" was not included, but "All My Trials" was recorded in an arrangement close to that of Peter, Paul, and Mary [2] by two men and a woman.
Notes on Performance
Paul Firnhaber was the guest editor for the first two volumes. He used beige paper with photographs of people. Large-type comments were scattered around the songs to create a collage of words, music, and pictures.
For "We Shall Overcome" the text was "In every man’s heart there’s a secret place he would like to go." The photographs included an African-American boy, an Asian child, a woman who could have been a Native American, and one who might have been from Latin America.
The second volume was less daring. There were no comments, and the picture with "Kumbaya" showed people sitting on park benches in New York City. They were in shadow, so no features could be discerned. They probably were older men.
Koehneke, the editor for the third volume, used a different colored paper for every page, and often superimposed songs on photographs. Most looked to be white people. The ones who might have come from other cultures were so enlarged, their features were lost.
Audience Perceptions
The introduction to Hymns for Now II said that "in a little over two years, nearly 200,000 copies" of earlier collection had been distributed. "This is nothing short of a phenomenon considering that it was not available on the commercial market, and was reprinted and distributed solely through the subscription office of" the Walther League’s Workers Quarterly.
Notes on Performers
Dean Kell edited the Workers Quarterly that published Hymns for Now I. The native of Wausau, Wisconsin, [3] did field work with a local church and interned in Minneapolis while he was a student at Indiana’s Valparaiso University. [4] After graduating in 1960, [5] he became the youth director for a Lutheran Church in Melrose Park, Illinois. [6] Following the disestablishment of the Walther League, [7] he moved to Estes Park, Colorado, where he "taught himself to build houses while starting his general contractor company." [8]
The biographical information for the man he selected as editor for Hymns is less detailed. [9] Rolan Paul Firnhaber studied shamanism with Mircea Eliade at the University of Chicago. [10] Perhaps it was while he was a graduate student that he took photographs of a César Chávez aide at a Chicago League meeting in 1967. [11] In 1969, Firnhaber moved to Estes Park, where he worked as a "researcher, writer, editor, and photographer." [12] He later moved to Estonia.
Less still is known about Martin Steyer, the man responsible for Hymns for Now II. He was a Lutheran pastor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1956. [13] By 1973, he was an assistant to the head of the Board of Youth in Saint Louis. [14] His last pastorate was in Santa Maria, California. [15]
Koehneke, like Steyer, worked for a congregation in North Carolina before he edited Hymns for Now III. [16] In addition to the youth album, he and Habel issued a recording of the Lutheran liturgy as a competitor to folk masses [17] for the Synod’s radio station. [18] In 1972, he wrote a Christian rock opera with John Schroeder. [19] His last appointment was in Fort Wayne. [20]
Availability
Book: "Kum Ba Yah." Hymns for Now II. In Resources for Youth Ministry 1(3):1969. Edited by Martin W. Steyer. 2.
End Notes
1. Hymns for Now 2: How. Produced by James E. Bottom, David Dister, and Victor Growcock. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Concordia 79-9021.
2. Peter, Paul, and Mary. "All My Trials." In The Wind. Warner Brothers Records. WS 1507. 1963.
3. Dean C. Kell. Obituary. Loveland [Colorado] Reporter-Herald. 5 January 2018.
4. Jon Pahl. Hopes and Dreams of All. Chicago: Wheat Ridge Ministries, 1993. 222. Valparaiso is a Lutheran university unaffiliated with any synod. [21] A version of "Kumbaya" recorded by a vocal group sponsored by the school was mentioned in the post for 4 September 2018.
5. Death notice for Dean Kell in "Valpo Remembers." Valpo Magazine website. 29 January 2019.
6. "Lutheran Pastors Attend Convention." The [Maywood, Illinois] Sunday Herald. 7 July 1963. 4.
7. Kell was executive secretary of the Walther League from 1968 to 1970. [22]
8. Kell, obituary.
9. James C. Burkee. Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011. When he began research for this book, he discovered "many were unwilling to talk" about the events surrounding the rise of Jack Preus. "The reasons were diverse. For some, the emotional wounds were still fresh. Some were embarrassed by their involvement. Others had professional reasons, wanting to stay ‘neutral’ while serving in official capacities in the church. Some were afraid of reprisals. The most unsettling, however, was the stonewalling from men who did not want the truth exposed; who did not want aired the details of a veiled organization that, it was implied, still rules the synod." [23] He added, "I believe everyone knows, but few will confess." [24]
10. Gregor Taul. "Art Life outside the Capital City." Estonian Art website. The index of Eliade’s papers in the University of Chicago library does not list Firnhaber’s dissertation. [25] This suggests he did not complete work on his PhD. There is no record of it, or other professional papers on the internet.
11. Miriam Pawel. The Union of Their Dreams. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. The caption for a photograph by Firnhaber on page 50 read: Eliseo Medina "teaches a workshop for Lutheran youth at the Walther League in Chicago to enlist help in the grape boycott."
12. "R. Paul Firnhaber." Imagi Gallery, Viljandi, Estonia, website. The biographical sketch was written to accompany publication of his book, Magic in the Mountains, in 2007. [26]
13. "Lutheran Church Starts Five Mission Services." Greenbelt [Maryland] News Review. 21:1:18 October 1956. It said Steyer was giving a "special sermon for the children each evening."
14. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Convention Handbook for 1973. 300.
15. "Martin Steyer." LinkedIn website.
16. Gene Brunow. "Wellness." His website.
17. Richard Koehneke and Norman Habel. Invitation; The Lutheran Liturgy. KFUO, Clayton, Missouri. KRES 769. [Discogs website.]
18. KFUO is owned by the Missouri Synod and located on the campus of Concordia Seminary. [27] It originally was a project of the Walther League. [28]
19. Richard Koehneke and John E. Schroeder. Alpha Omega: Meet God Man. Concordia 79-9895. 1972. [Discogs website.]
20. Brunow.
21. Wikipedia. "Valparaiso University."
22. Pahl. 303.
23. Burkee. 4.
24. Burkee. 4.
25. "Guide to the Mircea Eliade Papers 1926-1998." University of Chicago Library website.
26. James Frank and R. Paul Firnhaber. Magic in the Mountains. Estes Park, Colorado: Our Natural Heritage Publishing, 2007.
27. Wikipedia. "KFUO (AM)."
28. Pahl. 120–121.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Walther League - Kum Ba Yah
Topic: Religious Folk Music Revival
On 6 January 1967, Time magazine declared people under the age of 25 its persons of the year, and dubbed them the Now Generation. [1] It aimed to ease the anxieties of its older, conservative readers by explaining the restlessness of the young. The conservative Henry Luce publication assured parents that not all were dropouts.
Inter-generational conflict had erupted in the Lutheran’s Missouri Synod in 1965 when the Walther League invited Pete Seeger to perform at the youth group’s convention. [2] The most vocal critic was associated with the man who published None Dare Call It Treason [3] in 1964. [4] Herman Otten [5] filled every issue of his weekly Lutheran News with reminders that Seeger had been accused of being a Communist. [6]
Tensions were inherent in the Synod’s evolution. Its nucleus had been a group who left Saxony in 1838 to escape Friedrich Wilhelm III’s attempts to standardize religious practices in Prussia. [7] It had expanded in the nineteenth century to include Lutherans from many cultural traditions. [8]
Lutherans split over slavery. Those who had moved to the South, often from German-speaking areas, owned slaves and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Scandinavians in the upper Midwest were against human bondage. [9]
The head of the Missouri Synod tried to stay neutral. C. F. W. Walther claimed being a slave was punishment for a sin, and abolitionists were misguided in their attempts to eliminate it. [10] On the other head, he opposed rebellion against the government because Martin Luther had supported Protestant princes and burghers in 1525 during the Peasant’s Rebellion. [11]
The Walther League was organized around the turn of the twentieth century by young northerners to help rural and European immigrants to cities remain in the church. [12] The Synod refused to recognize the group until 1920, [13] because it existed outside the oversight of local pastors. [14] In return for its support, the hierarchy demanded more time be devoted to Bible study, and less to other activities. [15]
The chasm widened in 1950 when the Texas-born head of the Synod moved its headquarters to Saint Louis from northern Illinois, [16] while the League remained in Chicago. [17] Club members were exposed to new ideas when they attended conventions [18] and summer resident camps [19] sponsored by the League.
In 1953, the League was selling a customized songbook published by Lynn Rohrbough’s Cooperative Recreation Service. [20] One member in Saskatchewan remembered singing "Jacob’s Ladder" and "I’m Gonna Sing" from Sing Again. [21] In 1914, when the League published its first song list, it didn’t even know what a spiritual was, despite tours by groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers. It used the term to refer to the group’s spirit or pep songs. A few songs by Stephen Foster graced the collection of hymns. [22]
The League published Hymns for Now six months after Time introduced the Now Generation. It contained only one overtly political song, "We Shall Overcome." [23] It didn’t credit Seeger, but a publication from an even bigger nemesis for men like Otten, the World Council of Churches. [24]
Hymns for Now differed from the Methodist songbook described on 9 February 2020 [25] in ways that revealed how Lutherans in general, and those in the Synod in particular, differed from churches descended from the Anglo-Scots Reformation. It included fewer folk songs (19% versus 42%), [26] but about the same number of African-American religious songs (12% versus 10%). What was unique was the number taken from the Roman Catholic folk mass movement (about 15%). [27]
This suggests the Synod hierarchy wasn’t just feeling pressure from the laity over Civil Rights activities, and from young pastors over interpretations of the Bible. [28] It also saw one of its traditional enemies being more open to its youth after Vatican II in 1964 than it was itself. [29]
The Synod stopped funding the League the year it published Hymns for Now, [30] and sponsored a parallel youth program. [31] It 1968, Fortress Press issued an alternative record album, For Mature Audiences Only. [32] It featured settings by Richard Koehneke of poems by young parishioners collected by Norman Habel.
It 1969, the Board of Youth Ministries published a second volume of Hymns for Now. The numbers of African-American spirituals [33] and other folk songs declined, but the percentage of Roman Catholic ones remained the same.
Rohrbough’s version of "Kum Ba Yah" was included without an attribution. It simply said it was "Traditional."
1969 was the year men like Otten took control of the Synod. [34] The Board of Youth Ministries published a final edition of Hymns for Now in 1972, the year before the Synod began eliminating liberal professors from the Concordia Seminary faculty. It contained no spirituals or folk songs, but the same number of Catholic ones. Koehneke was the guest editor. He wrote 7 of the 27 songs. [35]
(Continued in next post, dated 28 June 2020)
End Notes
1. "Man Of The Year: The Inheritor." Time. 6 January 1967.
2. Jon Pahl. Hopes and Dreams of All. Chicago: Wheat Ridge Ministries, 1993. 266–267.
3. John A. Stormer. None Dare Call It Treason. Florissant, Missouri: Liberty Bell Press, 1964.
4. James C. Burkee. Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011. 64. In 1965, Stormer taught Otten how to self-publish.
5. Otten was the son of German immigrants. He began rebelling against modern trends in the Lutheran church when he was young. [36] Burkee believed Otten was used by men who sought power in the Synod. He wrote, Otten "was exploited by conservatives too cowardly to publicly associate their respectable names and clerical collars with his ethically questionable actions. Several times during his career as the synod’s chief antagonist, Otten led crusades that began with scores of professing supporters in underground gatherings, only to find himself alone and abandoned when the campaign reached daylight." [37]
6. Burkee. 61.
7. Wikipedia. "Saxon Lutheran Immigration of 1838–39."
8. Wikipedia. "Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod."
9. Mark Granquist. Lutherans in America. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015. No page numbers in on-line edition.
10. Granquist. C. F. W. Walther took over the leadership of the Saxon Lutheran community in Missouri in the early years. [38] The youth group was named after him.
11. Richard M. Chapman. "Just Enough? Lutherans, Slavery, and the Struggle for Racial Justice." The Cresset 71(5):16–20:2008. For more on Luther and the Peasant’s War, see Wikipedia’s "German Peasants’ War" and "Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants." This same acceptance of discrimination that did not end in civil violence remained part of the Synod’s intellectual tradition. In the 1920s, the Walther League Messenger simultaneously denounced African-American religious practices and the Ku Klux Klan. [39] Likewise, the publication’s editor, Walter A. Maier, had no problem with making anti-Semitic statements in 1933, then criticizing Hitler’s extremes in 1939. [40]
12. The League’s most important activity was sponsoring boarding houses. [41] One of Frank Buchman’s first tasks as a Lutheran minister was running such a hospice. The founder of Moral Re-Armament was discussed in the post for 16 February 2020.
13. Pahl. 108.
14. Pahl. 62.
15. Pahl. 109.
16. Burkee. 22. John Behnken spent much of his early life in a German community near Houston. [42]
17. Pahl. 189–190. Its Chicago headquarters was built in 1942.
18. Pahl. 239. Pastors complained about the conventions. One wrote the president of the Walther League in 1953: "In the home congregations the young people are warned against the sinful dances, [but] when they young folks return from the [Walther League] convention...they report what a wonderful time they had . . . ‘dancing to beat the band.’" [43]
19. Pahl. 217–218.
20. Gerhard Schroth. "Singing Is Fun." Walther League Messenger 61:16:June 1953. Cited by Pahl. 225. Larry Nial Holcomb listed Sing Again as a CRS publication done for the Walther League in "A History of the Cooperative Recreation Service." PhD diss. University of Michigan, 1972. 230.
21. Elizabeth Zoller. Letter to Jon Pahl. 23 September 1991. Quoted by Pahl. 225.
22. Pahl. 96.
23. Walther League. Hymns for Now I. In Workers Quarterly 39(3):July 1967. Edited by Dean Kell. Reprinted by Concordia Publishing House of Saint Louis. 11.
24. The song appeared in Paul Abels’ "New Hymns for a New Day." Risk 2(3):1–80:1966. Risk was sponsored by the Youth Department of the World Council of Churches. Otten attacked the organization with innuendos. [44] Stormer called the related National Council of Churches a communist front. [45]
25. The songbook was Sing It Again.
26. The folk songs were from China, Nigeria, Israel, Portugal, and the Netherlands. In contrast, half the songs in Sing It Again were from Europe, especially areas that spoke Germanic languages. "Shalom" was printed in the English translation used in Risk, not the Hebrew one publicized by CRS.
27. Two of the Catholic songs were by Ray Repp, who composed the first folk liturgy in 1964, Mass for Young Americans. The others were issued by FEL Publications, which specialized in post-Vatican II music for Roman Catholics. [46]
28. Challenges to inerrancy, or the literal interpretations of the Bible, were an underlying current in all the attacks by conservatives. Norman Habel drew their ire for arguing "the ‘fall narrative’ (the Genesis account of Adam and Eve) could be legitimately considered as a ‘symbolical religious history’." [47] In his second year as a student at Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Otten demanded an older student answer the question, "Do you accept Adam and Eve as real historical persons?" [48] Stormer, who was pastor of the independent Heritage Baptist Church in suburban Saint Louis, damned the National Council of Church’s edition of the Bible that changed the word "virgin" to "young woman" to describe Christ’s mother. [49]
29. Lutherans had an equally strong antipathy for Jews that was grounded in history. During the years Otten became active, evidence of the Holocaust was accumulating. First came Anne Frank’s diary in 1952, [50] then the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961, [51] and finally Hannah Arendt’s introduction of the term "banality of evil" in 1963. [52] She didn’t see Eichmann as some kind of monster, but a logical consequence of the German acceptance of authority, which went back to Luther, and individuals’ desires to conform with their neighbors. [53] Otten began publishing his Lutheran News in 1962, [54] and soon became "active in the Holocaust-denial movemnt." [55] Pahl noted the Walther League magazine article that caused the greatest controversy was one published in 1965 on Lutheran anti-Semitism. [56]
30. Pahl. 271.
31. Pahl. 268–269, 271. The Board for Young People’s Work was reorganized in 1966.
32. Norman Habel and Richard Koehneke. For Mature Adults Only. Philadelphia: Fortress Records. 32-2147-74. 1968. [Discogs website.]
33. The "Introduction" said: "We have included some traditional spirituals, simply because they have taken on new meanings as more and more we share the struggles they express."
34. Jack Preus was elected head of Synod; he had taken over the conservative movement [57] and oversaw the purge of liberals from the faculty of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis. Habel was banned for the heresy of Gospel Reductionism. [58]
35. Hymns for Now III. In Resources for Youth Ministry 4(1):Winter 1972. Edited by Martin W. Steyer.
36. Burkee. 27–28.
37. Burkee. 8.
38. Wikipedia. "Saxon Lutheran Immigration."
39. Pahl. 133–134.
40. Pahl. 172–175.
41. Pahl. 63–69.
42. Wikipedia. "John William Behnken."
43. Rev. T. J. Vogel, Amherst, Nebraska. Letter to Edgar Fritz. 21 March 1953. Quoted by Pahl. 239.
44. Burkee. 60.
45. Stormer. 125–126.
46. William Grady. "Publisher Won’t End Battle over Hymns." Chicago Tribune. 13 June 1990.
47. Norman Habel. "The Form and Meaning of the Fall Narrative." Saint Louis: Concordia Seminary Print Shop, 1965. Cited by Burkee. 25.
48. Burkee. 31.
49. Stormer. 128. The reference was to Isaiah 7:14.
50. 1952 book. Anne Frank. The Diary of a Young Girl. Translated by B. M. Mooyaat-Doubleday. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
1955 play. Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The Diary of Anne Frank.
1959 film. The Diary of Anne Frank. (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.)
51. The same year, a dramatization of one of the 1947 U. S. military trials, Judgment at Nuremberg, won an Academy Award for Maximilian Schell.
52. Hannah Arendt. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Viking Press, 1963.
53. Wikipedia. "Hannah Arendt."
54. Burkee. 6.
55. Burkee. 9.
56. Warren Saffen. "A Lutheran Looks at the Jews." Arena 73. Spring 1965. Cited by Pahl. 265.
57. Burkee. 9.
58. Norman Habel. "My Story." His website. "I first became a controversial figure when I gave a exploratory paper on Genesis 3 to the council of presidents of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. That paper became known as the Green Dragon. The controversy about how to interpret the Bible escalated until a Synod assembly declared that the way a majority of our faculty was reading the Bible was, in fact, an unknown heresy known as Gospel Reductionism!"
On 6 January 1967, Time magazine declared people under the age of 25 its persons of the year, and dubbed them the Now Generation. [1] It aimed to ease the anxieties of its older, conservative readers by explaining the restlessness of the young. The conservative Henry Luce publication assured parents that not all were dropouts.
Inter-generational conflict had erupted in the Lutheran’s Missouri Synod in 1965 when the Walther League invited Pete Seeger to perform at the youth group’s convention. [2] The most vocal critic was associated with the man who published None Dare Call It Treason [3] in 1964. [4] Herman Otten [5] filled every issue of his weekly Lutheran News with reminders that Seeger had been accused of being a Communist. [6]
Tensions were inherent in the Synod’s evolution. Its nucleus had been a group who left Saxony in 1838 to escape Friedrich Wilhelm III’s attempts to standardize religious practices in Prussia. [7] It had expanded in the nineteenth century to include Lutherans from many cultural traditions. [8]
Lutherans split over slavery. Those who had moved to the South, often from German-speaking areas, owned slaves and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Scandinavians in the upper Midwest were against human bondage. [9]
The head of the Missouri Synod tried to stay neutral. C. F. W. Walther claimed being a slave was punishment for a sin, and abolitionists were misguided in their attempts to eliminate it. [10] On the other head, he opposed rebellion against the government because Martin Luther had supported Protestant princes and burghers in 1525 during the Peasant’s Rebellion. [11]
The Walther League was organized around the turn of the twentieth century by young northerners to help rural and European immigrants to cities remain in the church. [12] The Synod refused to recognize the group until 1920, [13] because it existed outside the oversight of local pastors. [14] In return for its support, the hierarchy demanded more time be devoted to Bible study, and less to other activities. [15]
The chasm widened in 1950 when the Texas-born head of the Synod moved its headquarters to Saint Louis from northern Illinois, [16] while the League remained in Chicago. [17] Club members were exposed to new ideas when they attended conventions [18] and summer resident camps [19] sponsored by the League.
In 1953, the League was selling a customized songbook published by Lynn Rohrbough’s Cooperative Recreation Service. [20] One member in Saskatchewan remembered singing "Jacob’s Ladder" and "I’m Gonna Sing" from Sing Again. [21] In 1914, when the League published its first song list, it didn’t even know what a spiritual was, despite tours by groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers. It used the term to refer to the group’s spirit or pep songs. A few songs by Stephen Foster graced the collection of hymns. [22]
The League published Hymns for Now six months after Time introduced the Now Generation. It contained only one overtly political song, "We Shall Overcome." [23] It didn’t credit Seeger, but a publication from an even bigger nemesis for men like Otten, the World Council of Churches. [24]
Hymns for Now differed from the Methodist songbook described on 9 February 2020 [25] in ways that revealed how Lutherans in general, and those in the Synod in particular, differed from churches descended from the Anglo-Scots Reformation. It included fewer folk songs (19% versus 42%), [26] but about the same number of African-American religious songs (12% versus 10%). What was unique was the number taken from the Roman Catholic folk mass movement (about 15%). [27]
This suggests the Synod hierarchy wasn’t just feeling pressure from the laity over Civil Rights activities, and from young pastors over interpretations of the Bible. [28] It also saw one of its traditional enemies being more open to its youth after Vatican II in 1964 than it was itself. [29]
The Synod stopped funding the League the year it published Hymns for Now, [30] and sponsored a parallel youth program. [31] It 1968, Fortress Press issued an alternative record album, For Mature Audiences Only. [32] It featured settings by Richard Koehneke of poems by young parishioners collected by Norman Habel.
It 1969, the Board of Youth Ministries published a second volume of Hymns for Now. The numbers of African-American spirituals [33] and other folk songs declined, but the percentage of Roman Catholic ones remained the same.
Rohrbough’s version of "Kum Ba Yah" was included without an attribution. It simply said it was "Traditional."
1969 was the year men like Otten took control of the Synod. [34] The Board of Youth Ministries published a final edition of Hymns for Now in 1972, the year before the Synod began eliminating liberal professors from the Concordia Seminary faculty. It contained no spirituals or folk songs, but the same number of Catholic ones. Koehneke was the guest editor. He wrote 7 of the 27 songs. [35]
(Continued in next post, dated 28 June 2020)
End Notes
1. "Man Of The Year: The Inheritor." Time. 6 January 1967.
2. Jon Pahl. Hopes and Dreams of All. Chicago: Wheat Ridge Ministries, 1993. 266–267.
3. John A. Stormer. None Dare Call It Treason. Florissant, Missouri: Liberty Bell Press, 1964.
4. James C. Burkee. Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011. 64. In 1965, Stormer taught Otten how to self-publish.
5. Otten was the son of German immigrants. He began rebelling against modern trends in the Lutheran church when he was young. [36] Burkee believed Otten was used by men who sought power in the Synod. He wrote, Otten "was exploited by conservatives too cowardly to publicly associate their respectable names and clerical collars with his ethically questionable actions. Several times during his career as the synod’s chief antagonist, Otten led crusades that began with scores of professing supporters in underground gatherings, only to find himself alone and abandoned when the campaign reached daylight." [37]
6. Burkee. 61.
7. Wikipedia. "Saxon Lutheran Immigration of 1838–39."
8. Wikipedia. "Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod."
9. Mark Granquist. Lutherans in America. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015. No page numbers in on-line edition.
10. Granquist. C. F. W. Walther took over the leadership of the Saxon Lutheran community in Missouri in the early years. [38] The youth group was named after him.
11. Richard M. Chapman. "Just Enough? Lutherans, Slavery, and the Struggle for Racial Justice." The Cresset 71(5):16–20:2008. For more on Luther and the Peasant’s War, see Wikipedia’s "German Peasants’ War" and "Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants." This same acceptance of discrimination that did not end in civil violence remained part of the Synod’s intellectual tradition. In the 1920s, the Walther League Messenger simultaneously denounced African-American religious practices and the Ku Klux Klan. [39] Likewise, the publication’s editor, Walter A. Maier, had no problem with making anti-Semitic statements in 1933, then criticizing Hitler’s extremes in 1939. [40]
12. The League’s most important activity was sponsoring boarding houses. [41] One of Frank Buchman’s first tasks as a Lutheran minister was running such a hospice. The founder of Moral Re-Armament was discussed in the post for 16 February 2020.
13. Pahl. 108.
14. Pahl. 62.
15. Pahl. 109.
16. Burkee. 22. John Behnken spent much of his early life in a German community near Houston. [42]
17. Pahl. 189–190. Its Chicago headquarters was built in 1942.
18. Pahl. 239. Pastors complained about the conventions. One wrote the president of the Walther League in 1953: "In the home congregations the young people are warned against the sinful dances, [but] when they young folks return from the [Walther League] convention...they report what a wonderful time they had . . . ‘dancing to beat the band.’" [43]
19. Pahl. 217–218.
20. Gerhard Schroth. "Singing Is Fun." Walther League Messenger 61:16:June 1953. Cited by Pahl. 225. Larry Nial Holcomb listed Sing Again as a CRS publication done for the Walther League in "A History of the Cooperative Recreation Service." PhD diss. University of Michigan, 1972. 230.
21. Elizabeth Zoller. Letter to Jon Pahl. 23 September 1991. Quoted by Pahl. 225.
22. Pahl. 96.
23. Walther League. Hymns for Now I. In Workers Quarterly 39(3):July 1967. Edited by Dean Kell. Reprinted by Concordia Publishing House of Saint Louis. 11.
24. The song appeared in Paul Abels’ "New Hymns for a New Day." Risk 2(3):1–80:1966. Risk was sponsored by the Youth Department of the World Council of Churches. Otten attacked the organization with innuendos. [44] Stormer called the related National Council of Churches a communist front. [45]
25. The songbook was Sing It Again.
26. The folk songs were from China, Nigeria, Israel, Portugal, and the Netherlands. In contrast, half the songs in Sing It Again were from Europe, especially areas that spoke Germanic languages. "Shalom" was printed in the English translation used in Risk, not the Hebrew one publicized by CRS.
27. Two of the Catholic songs were by Ray Repp, who composed the first folk liturgy in 1964, Mass for Young Americans. The others were issued by FEL Publications, which specialized in post-Vatican II music for Roman Catholics. [46]
28. Challenges to inerrancy, or the literal interpretations of the Bible, were an underlying current in all the attacks by conservatives. Norman Habel drew their ire for arguing "the ‘fall narrative’ (the Genesis account of Adam and Eve) could be legitimately considered as a ‘symbolical religious history’." [47] In his second year as a student at Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Otten demanded an older student answer the question, "Do you accept Adam and Eve as real historical persons?" [48] Stormer, who was pastor of the independent Heritage Baptist Church in suburban Saint Louis, damned the National Council of Church’s edition of the Bible that changed the word "virgin" to "young woman" to describe Christ’s mother. [49]
29. Lutherans had an equally strong antipathy for Jews that was grounded in history. During the years Otten became active, evidence of the Holocaust was accumulating. First came Anne Frank’s diary in 1952, [50] then the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961, [51] and finally Hannah Arendt’s introduction of the term "banality of evil" in 1963. [52] She didn’t see Eichmann as some kind of monster, but a logical consequence of the German acceptance of authority, which went back to Luther, and individuals’ desires to conform with their neighbors. [53] Otten began publishing his Lutheran News in 1962, [54] and soon became "active in the Holocaust-denial movemnt." [55] Pahl noted the Walther League magazine article that caused the greatest controversy was one published in 1965 on Lutheran anti-Semitism. [56]
30. Pahl. 271.
31. Pahl. 268–269, 271. The Board for Young People’s Work was reorganized in 1966.
32. Norman Habel and Richard Koehneke. For Mature Adults Only. Philadelphia: Fortress Records. 32-2147-74. 1968. [Discogs website.]
33. The "Introduction" said: "We have included some traditional spirituals, simply because they have taken on new meanings as more and more we share the struggles they express."
34. Jack Preus was elected head of Synod; he had taken over the conservative movement [57] and oversaw the purge of liberals from the faculty of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis. Habel was banned for the heresy of Gospel Reductionism. [58]
35. Hymns for Now III. In Resources for Youth Ministry 4(1):Winter 1972. Edited by Martin W. Steyer.
36. Burkee. 27–28.
37. Burkee. 8.
38. Wikipedia. "Saxon Lutheran Immigration."
39. Pahl. 133–134.
40. Pahl. 172–175.
41. Pahl. 63–69.
42. Wikipedia. "John William Behnken."
43. Rev. T. J. Vogel, Amherst, Nebraska. Letter to Edgar Fritz. 21 March 1953. Quoted by Pahl. 239.
44. Burkee. 60.
45. Stormer. 125–126.
46. William Grady. "Publisher Won’t End Battle over Hymns." Chicago Tribune. 13 June 1990.
47. Norman Habel. "The Form and Meaning of the Fall Narrative." Saint Louis: Concordia Seminary Print Shop, 1965. Cited by Burkee. 25.
48. Burkee. 31.
49. Stormer. 128. The reference was to Isaiah 7:14.
50. 1952 book. Anne Frank. The Diary of a Young Girl. Translated by B. M. Mooyaat-Doubleday. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
1955 play. Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The Diary of Anne Frank.
1959 film. The Diary of Anne Frank. (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.)
51. The same year, a dramatization of one of the 1947 U. S. military trials, Judgment at Nuremberg, won an Academy Award for Maximilian Schell.
52. Hannah Arendt. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: Viking Press, 1963.
53. Wikipedia. "Hannah Arendt."
54. Burkee. 6.
55. Burkee. 9.
56. Warren Saffen. "A Lutheran Looks at the Jews." Arena 73. Spring 1965. Cited by Pahl. 265.
57. Burkee. 9.
58. Norman Habel. "My Story." His website. "I first became a controversial figure when I gave a exploratory paper on Genesis 3 to the council of presidents of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. That paper became known as the Green Dragon. The controversy about how to interpret the Bible escalated until a Synod assembly declared that the way a majority of our faculty was reading the Bible was, in fact, an unknown heresy known as Gospel Reductionism!"
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