Research On Religion » radio

Lerone Martin on Preaching on Wax and Phonograph Religion

tonygill — Sun, 13 Nov 2016 09:00:57 +0000

For a few decades in the early-mid 20th century, the sermons of a number of African-American preachers were recorded on “wax” (or vinyl records) and distributed widely, a phenomenon that became known as “phonograph religion.” Prof. Lerone Martin, an assistant professor at the John C. Danforth Center for Religion & Politics at Washington University, joins us to discuss this fascinating period in history and bring along a couple audio clips for us to enjoy and analyze. Dr. Martin begins by explaining how he came to his dissertation project of examining “phonograph religion.” His upbringing in a religious household with many audio sources — radio, cassettes, CDs — piqued his interest and set him down an academic path to explore how “preaching on wax” all began. Lerone treats us to the story of Rev. James M. Gates as he makes a journey from Georgia to Columbia Studios in New York City to record a number of sermons. Amazingly, these recorded sermons sold upwards of 50,000 copies, which, when one considers the population of the United States and limited availability of phonographs (especially in poor rural areas), would be equivalent to a platinum album in today’s market (roughly a million copies). Prof. Martin lays out both the social, demographic, and religious landscape of African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century, noting that it was a period of migration from rural areas and into cities. Two strands of religious preaching emerge during this time — one associated with the black literati and that focused on a more urbane and educated approach to spiritual worship, and another that brought the folk worship practices of rural communities into the city. It is this latter stream that found a home in the phonographic recording medium, a method of distribution that was popular with the “common folk” and that lent itself well to the rhythmic preaching and use of music common in rural African America churches. We talk about the demographics and theological themes of phonographic preachers, noting that they tended to come from Southern Baptist or Pentecostal traditions instead of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) churches and how issues of personal piety, “fire and brimstone,” and “proper” gender roles were emphasize in many of the recordings. We discover that Rev. Gates recorded a couple of his sermons on the same day, and in the same studio, that Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong were recording “salacious” jazz and blues songs. This story prompts Tony to ask whether recording executives worried that promoting religious tracts that warned of the sinfulness of modern music might cut into the profits of the jazz side of the business. Lerone notes that many people listened to both and so long as the recordings sold well, labels such as Columbia, Okeh, and Merrit Records were happy to keep supplying them. Our conversation also covers how people used these recordings, often sharing them around the neighborhood or taking them on car and train trips (as many of the phonographs were hand cranked). The last portion of our conversation provides an audio taste of some of these sermons, with Dr. Martin explaining the relevance of each one. We hear Rev. FW McGee’s “Jonah in the Belly of the Whale” and J.C. Burnett’s “Downfall of Nebuchadnezzar,” estimated to be the highest selling sermon of that era. Lerone also explains how these sermons took on various social issues such as the concern over the rise of “chain stores” and how they might be displacing smaller “mom and pop” businesses in local communities. We hear part 1 of Rev. Gates’s sermon “Goodbye Chain Stores,” and Prof. Martin then discusses its characteristic style and significance. We note the interesting paradox that while Gates was critical of chain stores (such as Woolworth’s), the phonographs and recordings of these sermons were made more widely available because of these establishments, leading Lerone to note that embracing the medium of the culture that they often critiqued was a way of extending the evangelical reach of these pastors. We conclude with some thoughts on what Prof. Martin learned over the course of his studies, and he shares his surprise that he developed a growing respect for these preachers seeing them as very nuanced actors in a changing environment. Recorded: Nov. 9, 2016.

Note: The audio clips used are freely available to the public on YouTube. Further links can be found below.

James Patterson on MLK, Fulton Sheen, & Jerry Falwell

tonygill — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 09:00:24 +0000

As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the United States, we invite Dr. James Patterson, the 2014-15 Thomas W. Smith Postdoctoral Research Associate at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, to discuss a book manuscript he is working on that involves an examination of MLK’s religious foundations and media strategy. Dr. Patterson puts this famous civil rights leader’s foundations and strategies in a comparative context with Bishop Fulton Sheen and Rev. Jerry Falwell.

Our discussion begins with an examination of how James came to this topic, why he chose the three religious figures that he did, and whether or not he received any pushback about making such radical comparisons of individuals who are seemingly so different. He reveals how he came about to study this topic in graduate school, introducing the concept of jeremiad into Tony’s vocabulary. We also cover why his manuscript is titled “Priest, Prophet, and King: Religious Foundations and Public Policy during the 20th Century.” James explains what he means by “religious foundations,” defining it as the underlying values that help inform political policy and discourse. He considers this in light of the importance that Christianity plays in a liberal democratic republic. While founded with an eye towards separating church and state, American history is still replete with Judeo-Christian ideas and ideals informing mass political appeals. Many times the appeals to Judeo-Christian ideals conflict with the notion of a liberal order and he is interested in exploring how this plays out in history.

The first figure we examine in depth is Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., probably the most well known of the three figures in James’ book. Dr. Patterson discusses the concepts of the “progressive covenant” and “post-millennial eschatology” within King’s political and religious foundations. He details how the concept of “agape” (love) is emphasized strongly in King’s rhetoric and how King became an ideal figure to rally around because he was someone that other leaders could agree upon. James notes that even though religious leaders like to appear above the fray, there does exist “politics among pastors.” James then talks about King’s strategy for getting his message out to a broad audience and how he was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Understanding that his movement was at the mercy of what the media wanted to cover, King also sought to dramatize and illustrate the everyday struggles that African-Americans faced. James also reflects upon King’s legacy both in terms of his religious foundations but his media strategy as well.

We next roll back the historical tape to look at Bishop Fulton Sheen, a Catholic priest who was among the first religious figures to leverage modern mass communications, most notably radio and television. Given that Sheen may not be as recognizable to younger audiences, we review his background growing up in Illinois and his desire to bring Catholicism into the mainstream by capturing the attention of the I-95 corridor (between New York and Washington, DC). We discuss Sheen’s political foundations and his concern with both fascism in the 1930s, with a particular eye to the dangers of the war in Spain, and communism in the 1940s. These political concerns dovetailed well with his religious foundations, and James notes that Sheen was very worried that both fascism and communism were movements that sought to replace God with race, state, and war. His concerns about these movements helped him build bridges with Protestants who shared similar concerns and allowed Sheen to build alliances over matters of religious liberty. His use of radio corresponded to a rise in Catholic voting power and helped smooth the path to greater acceptance of Catholics in national politics as he was able to appeal to “high brow discussions” of various issues. We also discuss his use of television and command of that media. We discuss Sheen’s legacy as “The Confessor” and talk a bit about the politics behind his canonization, including the conflict over moving his sacred relics.

Finally, we move over to Rev. Jerry Falwell, perhaps the most controversial figure of the three examined. Dr. Patterson discusses the “apocalyptical covenant” religious foundation upon which Falwell’s political ideas and movement rested. James explains the concept behind dispensational pre-millennialism wherein the faithful commune in churches just prior to the “beginning of the end of time.” Falwell’s pre-millennialism led him to support greater freedoms for churches and religious folk to preach before the end times and thus this led him to become a strong advocate for religious liberty and more engagement of pastors in public life. His religious foundation also led him to advocate for against policies which he saw as angering God, including many of the cultural and legal changes that emanated from the sexual revolution of the 1960s such as abortion and gay rights. It was Falwell who had the strongest sense of jeremiad of the three figures examined. In an effort to build a mass appeal strategy using modern communications, Falwell found it difficult dealing with a variety of government regulators and thus became a strong advocate of smaller government. He broke the taboo of religious figures, particularly Baptists, of being involved in politics and took a great deal of inspiration from the likes of Frances Schaeffer. James also supports the interesting claim that Falwell pursued a strong ecumenical outreach beyond denominational lines.

We finish our discussion with James’ reflections on what he learned throughout the process of writing his dissertation and modifying it as a book manuscript. He notes two important lessons. First, he discovered how much fun archival research can be, either watching old episodes of “Life Is Worth Living” or digging through papers regarding King’s writings. Second, he discovered how truly “improvisational” religious leadership really is. While there are always plans for moving a religious and political agenda along, he was fascinated at how adept these individuals were in adapting to changing conditions and technologies. He found that politics and direct mass appeals are a combination of both discipline and improvisation. Recorded: January 9, 2015.