Sacred Steel: African-American Holiness-Pentecostal churches

In the House of God churches, members of the congregation began playing sacred music on the electric steel guitar in the late 1930s. Today, the tradition flourishes and its premier figures include Robert Randolph, Chuck and Darick Campbell, Willie Eason, Sonny Treadway, Aubrey Ghent, Calvin Cooke, The Lee Boys, Glenn Lee, Elton Noble, Ted Beard, Josh Taylor, Footie Covington, and Henry Nelson.

In his book, Sacred Steel: Inside an African American Steel Guitar Tradition, Robert L. Stone follows the sound of steel guitar into the music-driven Pentecostal worship of two related churches: the House of God and the Church of the Living God. A rare outsider who has gained the trust of members and musicians inside the church, Stone uses nearly two decades of research, interviews, and fieldwork to tell the story of a vibrant musical tradition that straddles sacred and secular contexts.

 

Most often identified with country and western bands, steel guitar is almost unheard of in African American churches - except for the House of God and the Church of the Living God, where it has been part of worship since the 1930s. Sacred Steel traces the tradition through four generations of musicians and in some two hundred churches extending across the country from Florida to California, Michigan to Alabama. Presenting detailed portraits of musical pioneers such as brothers Troman and Willie Eason and contemporary masters such as Chuck Campbell, Glenn Lee, and Robert Randolph, Stone expertly outlines the fundamental tensions between sacred steel musicians and church hierarchy.

 

In this thorough analysis of the tradition, Stone explores the function of the music in church meetings and its effect on the congregations. He also examines recent developments such as the growing number of female performers, the commercial appeal of the music, and younger musicians' controversial move of the music from the church to secular contexts.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Campbell Brothers - Morning Train.

Top 10 album listening during 2011 meme

Via Banksyboy, this is my Top 10 of albums that I've got hold of during 2011:

• Dead Rock West - Bright Morning Stars
• Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
• Low - C'mon
• Robert Randolph and the Family Band - We Walk This Road
• Buddy Miller - Majestic Silver Strings
• Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
• Gungor - Beautiful Things
• Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
• Peter Case - The Case Files
• Mojo presents - Communion

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dead Rock West - God Help Me.

The real roots of rock and roll

Robert Randolph on T Bone Burnett:

"T Bone opened a lot of doors for me serving as a link between the past and the present. He knows how to take something from the past and bring it into the present while still allowing the artist to make it his own, in the same way that Hendrix took Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” and made it belong to him.

T Bone listens to music that our grandmothers would listen to as children – not even music that our fathers listened to, but songs that go even further back ... some from Gospel and Christian blues, the music that people working in fields across the south likely sang nearly a century ago. Those are the real roots of rock and roll, where everything else comes from ...

Before this record, I didn’t sift through music past the Seventies. I didn’t know about Blind Willie Johnson, or Chess Records. I thank T Bone for being a tour guide into the deepest parts of my musical roots. We connected the last one hundred years of African-American music in the way people used to: You write your own songs, you cover other people’s material, you re-work older songs ...

My goal is to open the door for people, in the same way that musical doors have been opened for me. I want to take this musical history and make it relevant to give people a better idea of who I am and where I came from. I think even though I’m a young guy who was born into the era of hip-hop and contemporary gospel, I can help bridge the cultural gap between people who are seventy-five years old and kids who are fifteen years old by reaching back into this history of music.

We Walk This Road was done in our belief in what we all need right now: young voices saying something positive without preaching in hopes of inspiring people. When you stick to what you believe in, and with the roots of where you come from, things will always work out."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert Randolph And The Family Band - Shot Of Love.

Emerging from Church

I've been listening this week to two bands (Robert Randolph and the Family Band and The Harbour Lights) that have emerged from Church settings to great acclaim:

"Since emerging from a House of God church in Orange, New Jersey steeped in the “sacred steel” tradition, Randolph’s astonishing pedal steel playing has had a revolutionary impact. Like a mere handful of musicians – Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder – he has actually been able to redefine the sonic possibilities of his instrument. Randolph’s string wizardry is the focal point of the Family Band’s legendary live appearances, and led to guest spots with artists ranging from the Blind Boys of Alabama to Ozzy Osbourne.

Having grown up in urban New Jersey and making the leap from playing in church to headlining rock festivals, Randolph’s aspirations go beyond expanding his own musical boundaries. “I’m trying to create a new field and a new style that’ll influence some kids to go, ‘wow, I can be Black and be from the inner city and I don’t have to be a rapper,’” he says. “I look at Sly Stone, how he came in and just ripped the music industry apart – I think music fans are ready for that again.”

"The Harbour Lights began life in early 2005 acting as house band for Soulcafe, a regular event at St Paul's Church, Derby. From the acoustic roots nucleus of songwriters Phil Baggaley and Ian Blythe and vocalist Bethan Court, the band evolved into a wonderful genre-defying blend incoporating elements of folk, country and rock."

"With their leaning towards an English country folk tradition, The Harbour Lights debut on a high [Leaving Safe Anchorage], fronted by the quite magical voice of Bethan Court. In their songs, Phil Baggaley and Ian Blythe, wrap us up in intimate meadows and throw us around on rolling seas, opening up forgotten paths and far horizons along the way - yet always taking us somewhere. There is hope for the journey in every unravelling tale."

"Closed For Winter is a genre-defying blend incorporating elements of folk, country and rock from acclaimed songsmiths Phil Baggaley and Ian Blythe. Their subtle, intelligent, intimate and spiritual songs are the perfect platform for the smooth and achingly-beautiful vocals of Bethan Court. Following critical acclaim and popular performances throughout the UK, the band’s second album is bound beautifully together with musical influences as diverse as Fleetwood Mac and Kate Rusby."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert Randolph And The Family Band - I Need More Love.