Pickers Corner-Stage Fright

Bluegrass and Gospel Music

by Joe Ross

Joe Ross has been involved with music since his junior high school days, when he played guitar and electric organ. He took up bluegrass music during college days at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He is a well-known music journalist who writes articles and CD reviews for national publications such as Bluegrass Unlimited (circulation 35,000), Bluegrass Now, Acoustic Musician, Sing Out!, SPBGMA Bluegrass Music News, Old-Time Music Herald, and many others. His bluegrass music reviews can be found online by clicking HERE. The article below is part of one that was originally published in the Oct. 2001 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited, and both Joe and BU have consented for it to be posted here. Joe also posted this version of his article on the Northwest Bluegrass Group on Yahoo, which he started. A long-time resident of Oregon, Joe currently resides in Southern California. [posted 1/28/08]

To understand what bluegrass gospel music is, one must start around the turn of the 19th Century when camp meetings and brush arbor meetings were common. Flatt and Scruggs sang about having an old-time meeting and "preachin', prayin' singing' down on the public square."

Howard Marshall described camp meetings as "democratic, noninstitutional, revivalistic and proselytizing folk events." Brush arbor meetings were sectarian, provided a gospel for the poor and deprived, and served as a revolt against the older and more established church patterns. Most of the preaching at these events encouraged people to repent and gain joy in Heaven, or cautioned people that continuing with a "life of sin" would lead to "eternal damnation."

Being social as well as religious events, these meetings included message and oratory, but also dinner on the ground, music, and recreation. In the song "Singing All Day and Dinner on the Ground," Jimmy Martin tells of singing, praying, rejoicing, preaching, and having dinner on the ground. These informal occasions provided a way for isolated people to socialize, sing and get some old-time religion.

Music was an important part of this folk religion. In many cases, preachers with the most appealing hymns and music won the most converts to their flock. The songs were strongly emotional and sentimental and have continued to flourish in many different churches long after the heyday of old-time camp and brush arbor meetings. These same songs have survived in bluegrass gospel music, and many provide the same emotional uplift as they did when they were sung in arbors and big canvas tents about 200 years ago.

Appalachian migrants to urban settings also found many of their needs for religious expression were met by gospel music. Fundamentalist Protestantism taught that church attendance was not necessarily needed for salvation. Instead, expressing daily faith, reading the Bible and singing gospel music provided a certain type of individualized "old-time religion." In his book, Bluegrass: A History, Neil Rosenberg conceptually reinforces this when he describes bluegrass gospel music as "discourse about the sacred within a secular context." In the late 50s, Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers were pioneers of bluegrass gospel music. Full-time bluegrass gospel bands like the Lewis Family, Sullivan Family and Easter Brothers then spread this form of musical religious expression, often playing polished and entertaining songs that emphasized the happy, joyous side of religion.

The gospel aspect of bluegrass music is tradition-centered, formalized and fairly predictable. The gospel repertoires of various bands are similar in their content, style and treatment of the music. Ralph Stanley calls the old gospel hymns the "evergreens" and "antiques." In a typical bluegrass show, a gospel song might open the concert, and one or more may be performed near the end of the evening. Marshall wrote, "The most respected gospel tunes are the

older ones and even though they may not actually be very old, if they are accepted by the audience and the performers as `evergreens, ' then they are treated accordingly. "

Bill Monroe often reminded his audiences that he was doing the "old-time" songs, and he would consciously harken back to the "the good old days." In the August, 1970 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, a Bill Monroe gospel show on February 26, 1970 was documented by William Koon. He wrote about a fund-raiser for Monroe's small church and said it was clear "that Bill enjoys the opportunity to present an entire program of gospel music and share with his friends, both of the church and visitors, the special joy that religious music brings to Bill." There was not even standing room when the program began at 8 p.m. Red Allen and Carl Tipton each sang a few numbers. Koon wrote, "The crowd ranging from babies to oldsters enjoyed the songs and would join in whenever they were given the least encouragement. Unlike many audiences, they sang naturally and unaffectedly, and probably anyone of them could have sung on the improvised stage. Rual Yarbrough and Kenny Baker were frequently accompanying other singers…."

"After a break during which homemade pies and cakes were served, Bill and the boys came on to do their part as a group…." He played Life's Railway to Heaven, A Beautiful Life, One of God's Sheep, Wayfaring Stranger, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and others.

Koon added, "Throughout the entire evening Bill's sincerity was apparent; he said in introducing one number, `Now this is what I call a down-to-earth hymn.' Almost all of his numbers were hymns instead of the more popular camp meeting songs. They were all delivered in Bill's ultra-personal style which showed his deep religious conviction as well as his vast talent. After three hours, Bill closed out the show, thanking the people for coming and supporting the church. From a free will offering, more than fifteen times the Sunday collection was realized for the work of the church. About thirty musicians participated, a dozen cakes and pies were consumed, and some of the finest gospel music to be heard anywhere was over."

Bill Monroe's regular shows would also nearly always include "hymn time" in a segment before the closing numbers. He was fond of offering a couple well-executed numbers by his "Bluegrass Quartet." During his secular shows, hymn time was always presented in a quiet, serious and reverent way.

Marshall pointed out that when a bluegrass band reaches the point in their shows for sacred numbers, the group's leader assumes "a mantle of certain holiness" that is part country preacher, shepherd, guide and father to the audience. He is sincere, wise, honest, and public-spirited. Ralph Stanley was once asked by if he felt a little like a preacher with a religious message to deliver when performing a gospel tune. Stanley replied, "Yeah, yeah, I do. You have a different feelin' in the gospel. I can put more in a sacred song than I can just an ordinary song. I can feel more, y'know. I feel like I'm doin' myself, and maybe other people too, more good."

Lester Flatt also once acknowledged the importance of gospel music in his shows. "It's always played a big part in our show. An' I love to sing `em. I can feel 'em, y'know. Not on all of `em, but the ones that you really like, they get to you, y'know. Now on some of these recitation things, it's hard for me to do, because they kinda hit home, with just about anybody, if you listen to `em. We love to do `em – we enjoy `em more than any part of our program…." It's interesting that some bluegrass gospel songs contain recitations or prayers (like Lester Flatt's "Father's Table Grace" or Ralph Stanley's "How Can We Thank Him For What He Has Done").

Ralph Stanley once said, "I always do religious music. I don't ever remember going on stage without doin' some hymns, at any appearance I was at. I always intend to do that. I like to sing `em, I believe in `em, and the people seem to like `em too. And I guess if you believe in something, you put more in it." While some groups (like the Lewis Family) were entertaining with bluegrass gospel music presented with a full band sound, Ralph Stanley introduced the a capella quartet on record in the early 70s.

To demonstrate the recurrent theological themes in bluegrass gospel music, Howard Marshall found a pattern in the bluegrass gospel repertoire. He determined that certain predominant themes can be found in bluegrass gospel songs. The five themes are:

Individual salvation, a primary theme found (at least implicitly) in nearly all gospel songs. The performer sings of making it to "that yonder city," being "saved" or "touched" by "the hand of my Lord." Good will "make me whole" and "I'll fly away" to Heaven. Song examples: What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Unclouded Day, You Go To Your Church (and I'll Go To Mine), Heavenward Bound, Lord I'm Coming Home, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Farther Along, Old Time Religion, Paul and Silas, Take Me in a Lifeboat.
Life's rocky road indicates the journey that all Christians must endure. Our time on earth is full of perils. We must be strong that God will lead us through these "wicked paths of sin." Song examples: The Old Rugged Cross, What Would You Give in Exchange, Till the End of the World Rolls Round, The Old Cross Road, Don't this Road Look Rough and Rocky, Drifting Too Far From the Shore, Man of Constant Sorrow, Keep on the Sunny Side, Life's Railway to Heaven, Peace in the Valley, I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap.
The maternal hearth, a special love for the old home place and mother are found in the "sweet sunny South." Bill Malone once said, "The nostalgic evocation of home as a bastion of virtue and security in a world of ceaseless change is almost the central theme of southern gospel music." Examples: Give Mother My Crown, Precious Memories, I Long to See the Old Folks, Vision of Mother, The Old Family Bible, Little Bessie, Dust on the Bible, My Mother's Bible.
Grief for the deceased is often sung about after mother and other family members have passed away and gone to Heaven. Examples: They Laid Him in the Grave, Rosewood Casket, An Empty Mansion, Memories of Mother and Dad.
The good Christian's "action orientation" suggests that we must work hard to gain God's grace. We work on a building for the Lord, to further the Kingdom of God, and to improve the conditions of the world. Examples: Little Community Church, Matthew Twenty-Four, I Like the Christian Life, I'm Working on a Road to Gloryland, The Great Speckled Bird.

Many songs in the bluegrass gospel repertoire have more than one of the above themes. "I Am A Pilgrim," for example, has all five themes. "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" includes themes 1-4. The messages in "Amazing Grace" and "I'll Fly Away" predominantly cover the first and second themes above. "Somebody Touched Me" covers the first and last themes.

Bluegrass shows will continue to be opened and closed with gospel numbers that have some deeper meaning. Monroe believed that a "hymn time" or "sacred time" belongs in nearly every bluegrass show. Many bluegrass albums include a gospel song or two. Bluegrass bands have developed strong gospel sets, and they continue to record and release gospel albums. Bluegrass festivals continue to feature bluegrass gospel music on Sunday morning.