Things I Think…
1. My mom saw Little Richard at the old Rogue Valley Ballroom in Medford,OR in 1957. I saw him almost 40 years later to the day at the Britt Gardens in Jacksonville, OR. When my mother saw him there were ropes to segregate the races and warnings to separate him from white females.
There were no ropes at the Britt Gardens…at the end of his performance he invited all the children present to come on stage to dance and sing with him as he gleefully pounded the piano and another generation was baptized into real rock and roll. Some adults found their way onto that stage as well…because all of us who loved rock and roll were (in some fashion), Little Richard’s children…
2. When the news came of Richard’s death Saturday morning I posted a link on Facebook that made an appropriate obituary. It didn’t take long for a message to arrive declaring that I was an apostate “glorifying a homosexual deviant”. This, along with the fact that I think the “Plandemic” video is nonsense, was offered as proof that I would most certainly split hell wide open, the sooner the better…
3. My inquisitor had done what so many like to do in church culture today…he identified his “enemies” by their sin. Richard was quite obviously effeminate and I…well, I was obviously and admittedly an Anglican…my accuser seemed to think our sins were related…
4. When Richard last played here every one in the crowd was given a Seventh Day Adventist tract. Age and frailty were the blessings the Lord gave him to be able to walk the straight and narrow…he died calling on Jesus. I have no doubt that he entered heaven with a loud “WOOOO” and is enjoying the presence of the Lord of redeemed homosexuals and Anglicans. My former “friend” may try to get in on the merits of his political views and public scorn of filth like me, thus missing one hell of a concert…so to speak…
5. I say all that to say this…in way too much of our public division there is much talk of “faith” but there is little grace and the Gospel is distorted. We think our divisions are righteous because Jesus said he came to bring a sword and turn the members of a household against one another. What they missed if that Jesus said the division would be over Him, not over politics or response to a pandemic…
6. We have an unprecedented opportunity to announce to a grieving world the “good news” that God has come in the flesh and through His Incarnation, life, death, and resurrection has conquered all our real enemies and His kingdom shall know no end. What do you want to talk about?
7. It’s pretty clear to me that our major pandemic efforts need to be in the direction of therapeutics, not a vaccine. The idea of a vaccine has been stained with all manner of evil intent and will be rejected by many…too many. The society has rejected the lockdowns, so now the effort should be to keep as many alive as are bound to catch the virus…
8. I’m finding writing or even participating in the public discourse to be difficult to impossible. I’m not angry, so there’s no place to fit in…if I thought that anger would save a life or a livelihood I would rage, but the rage will solve nothing right now…
9. I’ve seen a glimpse of the economic disaster that has come, but not yet in its fullness…that may drive us to our knees…
10. I believe, help my unbelief…
Little Richard was one the last surviving giants that shaped American Music from the 1950’s onward. And now he is gone. Chuck Berry died in 2017.
I think the only one left from that era is Jerry Lee Lewis.
Jerry Lee is the last man standing.
When he departs I’ll be very quiet for a while…
When thinking about the “tree” of rock music, Little Richard, Elvis and Chuck Berry make up the roots. For good or for bad, they helped create a multi-faceted genre of music that gave voice to dreams, heartaches, frustrations and passions.
Michael,
Thanks for your dedication and love of good rock and roll. One of the most interesting and fun courses I took in College WAAAAY back in the late 1980s was a class titled “The History of Rock and Roll”…I really wish I would’ve kept the “textbook”, but I recently purchased a more current book on the same subject. I am much more of a classic rock fan, and it is interesting to see who many/most rock (and blues) musicians cite as influences.
Dan,
FWIW I am GenX-er, so I remember the Big 80’s. I find interesting from that era is that the Music Video was a new art form and as such, many of the videos from that era where quite experimental and unique. In many ways, the music video for most of the artists back there were after-the-fact. The video was made after the song/album was released and after the song was cut in the studio. But since then, the studio track, the album, and the music video are done very much concurrently and much more seamless and packaged. Just my opinion.
Dan,
I wrote one of those books in college…I was a weird kid, stuck in the fifties…
Minor bit of trivia, these were in the inaugural inductee performers to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986:
Elvis Presley, James Brown, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The only 2 still alive are Jerry Lee Lewis and one of the Everly Brothers.
Michael,
For a stocking stuffer, we need to get you one of those skinny 50’s ties:
https://yournecktieshop.com/laurels-around-crown-1950s-skinny-vintage-tie-t49354
LOL!
One another nostalgic note, I do find I enjoy watching all those old Johnny Carson shows on the retro TV channels. Hard to believe in 2 weeks it will be 28 years since Carson signed off the Tonight Show for the last time.
I think it was people of the world who pushed back on racism, not so much the Children of the Kingdom. We owe a debt to people like Little Richard. He can be as effeminate as he likes.
Nathan, it is interesting how many people of the world can be more compassionate and empathetic…. more human… toward their neighbors than Children of the Kingdom. Good observation….
Pineapplehead said..”they helped create a multi-faceted genre of music that gave voice to dreams, heartaches, frustrations and passions.” I would add to that list much joy. I’m of the opinion that music is a common grace given by God to all human beings. I don’t think God is a Contemporary Christian Music or worship music only kind of Being. I have found much grace and comfort listening to all kinds of music, some of which I’m quite sure would get me condemned to the same pit Michael has been consigned to by our love and grace filled brethren. 🙄🙄
Regarding Little Richard: I remember, maybe 40 years ago, my grandmother, a Seventh-Day-Adventist living in Victorville, California, told me that Little Richard had come to her little SDA church and had given his testimony. She was touched by his words and his faith.
I’ve been a Christian for 50 years and have never stopped listening to rock music. I could never bring myself to trade it in for CCM.
“I’m not angry, so there’s no place to fit in” to public discourse. Exactly. I am at times tempted to jump into the fray but it seems a useless exercise. I’m just not driven by anger, righteous or otherwise.
In his autobiography, Bruce S. made the interesting point that those of us of a certain age (OK Boomer) had the best of it all – Most of the rockers from the 50s were still around; the British Invasion reintroduced us to Blues and “Race Music” that we hadn’t heard; the late 60s and 70s gave us the whole mix… and just about everybody, apart from a few casualties, was still able to be heard. Fats Domino gone, Johnny Cash gone, B.B. King gone, Chuck gone… and now the ones they influenced are passing on as well… feeling a little empty…
Weeel…..
There’s dancing and there’s dancing
Michael’s critics-so-called might read 2Samuel chapter six…
Michael, it indeed is sad that there are those who feel they need to improve on the narrow gate by adding additional barriers and squeeze chutes. I’m feeling happy today that we don’t get regular ODM visits as we did a few short years back…I imagine those folks are still out there. Any insights on their current status from your vantage point?
filbertz,
I think that two things have happened with ODM’s.
The internet has exposed folks to different eschatologies and the influence of dispensational eschatology has waned.
Second, they are aging out…just like the rest of us who opposed them. 🙂
time is, indeed, the best tutor for all of us.
Soon I’d like to talk about the hand of God in a pandemic. We are both too quick to claim we know what he is doing and too reticent to say to the culture or church “hear the word of the LORD.”
So much of early rock is indebted to the music of the black Pentecostal churches maybe Little Richard’s passing can provide a context in which that gets considered. There’s a lot about my Pentecostal years I don’t really miss but as I’ve learned more music history I’d venture to say that were it not for black Pentecostal churches sanctifying dance hall musical styles the era of rock and roll as we know it might not have happened. American pop music owes a lot to often less than holy holy rollers.
I want to hear more from Dread about “hear the word of the Lord”…I always listen when Babylon’s Dread speaks!
Wenatchee t H,
True that. The Black Church has been the cradle and originator of so much music that we refer to as call rock n roll, R&B, etc. A few years ago I saw a documentary on Sister Rosetta Tharp (thank you PBS app). She was the first rock n roll guitarist.
11 years ago, we visited a small black church in Dallas. It was just like I saw in movies. Really rockin’ and it was a great experience. Far removed from CC stage performances. We were all involved in worship. Afterwards, we had the typical Midwestern dinner for mid afternoon lunch, by my California view. All was great.
Wenatchchee,
Jerry Lee Lewis I am sure was also influenced by the black Pentecostal churches.
On a side note, I always remember that scene in the movie “Great Balls of Fire” where Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousin Jimmy Swaggart (yes they are cousins) as kids see black music hall.
one of the better reads of 2019 was Randall J Stephens’ monograph on how Pentecostalism paved the way for rock, despite a lot of internal opposition to the birth of the style
https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Music-Christians-Inspired-Condemned-ebook/dp/B07BT7QSY8/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=randall+j+stephens&qid=1589414948&sr=8-1
Also check out Mark Burford’s spectacular Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field
These posts take me back… Our church H.S. group ( Presbys) visited a large black church in L.A., Echoes of Eden…. The group was seated in the balcony, but my friend and i, lagging behind a bit, were told the balcony was full and were seated smack in the middle of the regular folk on the main floor – once the place got rockin, we were in a whole new world… good folk, so we weren’t intimidated, but a whole new way to praise the Lord.
CM,
I do remember the early videos on MTV being experimental. Pretty cool at times actually.
Also re: The Johnny Carson show…in my younger days I was often watching those shows with mom and dad before bed. Always like Karnac (sp?). I love watching You Tube videos nowadays of Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield!
Em…regarding your post about dancing…I always am a little amused how some believers prohibit some behaviors that the Bible CLEARLY not only allows, but encourages.
Last comment should have been address to Em AND filbertz (from their comments on May 12).
Dan from GA,
Carnac the Magnificent was great. If you can get Antenna TV, they show Carson reruns M-F at 10 PM Eastern. If you are in the Metro Atlanta area, it is over the rabbit ears on the sub-channel 36.3
Most of the best music was pushed out of churches, including Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Whitney Houston, Elvis and so many others, who believed in Jesus but couldn’t fit the restrictive mold of church culture. I met and talked with Richard when he sang at Calvary Chapel (long, funny story) and anyone who thinks he isn’t in heaven doesn’t understand the gospel. And if you hate rock ‘n roll you’ll really hate heaven and the people who get there.
Amen, Dave…
An godly answer to Pastor Rolph and his heretical thinking on this crucial subject.
https://youtu.be/FuJpalsj9sQ
Dave and Michael,
All I ask is that church praise bands use cage-free drummers:
https://babylonbee.com/news/church-commits-to-using-only-cage-free-drummers-by-2025
I don’t see what the big deal is anyway. Praise music nowadays use the same 4 chords that rock music does (I–V–vi–IV). The group Axis of Awesome humorously pointed this out in their song “Four Chords”
Duane, the golden age of real music.
“Jerry Lee Lewis I am sure was also influenced by the black Pentecostal churches.
On a side note, I always remember that scene in the movie “Great Balls of Fire” where Jerry Lee Lewis and his cousin Jimmy Swaggart (yes they are cousins) as kids see black music hall.”
Jerry Lee was influenced by both black and white Pentecostal music.
Jerry actually went to a Pentecostal Bible college before he was thrown out for playing “My God Is Real” with a heavy left hand.
The club that god awful movie showed was Haney’s Big House in Ferriday, Louisiana where Lewis and Swaggart would listen to great blues players.
Third cousin Mickey Gilley was too afraid to get caught…
Haney’s burned down a few years back but was recently restored.