“Times Are A' Changing”

“Times are a’ changing” The Folk Mass Movement of the 1960s in the United States

Kinga Povedák is a research fellow at the Research Group for the Study of Religious Culture (Hungarian Academy of Sciences-University of Szeged). She studied European Ethnology and American Studies. Her PhD thesis was on the debated popular Christian music among Catholics,focusing on and analyzing the peculiarities of vernacular religiosity during the socialist times through the study of the origins of the movement in Hungary. Her main fields of interest include popular religiosity of the postmodern times, modernism and Catholicism, and most recently the musical worlds of Pentecostal Romani communities.

The cultural revolution of the 1960s resulted most outstandingly in the musical paradigm, having the most explicit capability articulating the feelings of the beat generation and their desire to rebel against their parents’ conformist, authoritarian and conservative middle class values. As János Sebők notes stressing the important role of rock, the rising generation did not only mean music, but a lifestyle, a way of life and rebellion. It was the aesthetic means and sound of dissociation and detachment, it was a creed, a form of behavior and a world view.1 The rebellion, however, did not only add up to atheism but resulted in a spiritual awakening, an opening towards so far obscure – and, therefore, even more appealing - exotic eastern philosophies and religions. The hippie movement was captivated by Rousseau’s back to nature philosophy as a quasi-religious new ideology/way of life, utopian and egalitarian communes and the rejection of consumer society. Eastern religions and cults appeared and in many cases musicians were the promoters. Santana was a follower of Sri Chinmoy, The Beatles and the Beach Boys made Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his Transcendental Meditation Centre well-known. Jay R. Howard and John M. Streck note that “Guitarist John McLaughlin amended his name to Mahavishnu John McLaughlin after meeting up with Sri Chinmoy; Carlos Santana billed himself as Devadip Santana for a number of years. Pete Townsend and Ronnie Lane became devotees of Meher Baba; Seals and Crofts advocated the Bahai faith; Richard Thompson became a strict Sufi; and Rastafarianism […] became a household word with most American rockers thanks to the emergence of reggae music.” 2 Along these spiritual affiliations, we know that the Osmonds, coming from Salt Lake City, were Mormons and two members of The Shadows, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, belonged to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Several performers, however, have songs with content related to Christianity. Therefore, we cannot unambiguously state that during this period there was an

1 János Sebők, A Beatlestől az új hullámig. A rock a hetvenes években (Budapest: Zeneműkiadó, 1981): 372. 2 Jay R. Howard and John M. Streck, Apostles of rock. The splintered world of contemporary Christian music (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1999)

“TIMES ARE A’ CHANGING” - 93 obvious turn away from Christianity. Cliff Richard, an Anglican, for instance, openly evangelized during his performances. Even behind the Iron Curtain, where not only rock and roll or hippie culture from the West but religious renewal were also considered as a threat to the system, the sudden influx of religious content in rock music lead to indignation by some. The journalist Péter Tardos in 1972 wrote with a rather negative overtone, complaining that more and more records come out with religious themes: “Johnny Hallyday’ song on Jesus Christ in number one on the charts. He awaits some kind of a contemporary Messiah. Jeremy Faith’s Jesus is a hit in France and England »Jesus, Jesus come back to us/ For the marijuana/ For the words we say/ For the people thinkin’/ The world is OK/ Save us, save us hallelujah…« In London, the band Nazareth was formed and the Superstar is filmed in Nazareth, the Holy Land […] Quintessence band’s new song mentions Sweet Jesus […] and George Harrison sings in My Sweet Lord: I really want to see you/ I really want to be with you.3 Bob Dylan in his album New Morning sings of the Father of the Universe, José Feliciano, the blind Puerto Rican singer sings the songs from his land: Come Down Jesus. The well-known folk- rock band, The Birds has Jesus is Alright in their standard repertoire. The French electronic composer, Pierre Henry composed the record ceremony for Spooky Tooth. Galt McDermot, the composer of Hair is preparing to debut the Divine Hair Mass in a New York Cathedral. Händel’s Messiah’s rock version is coming out from OAK records condensing the Bible into 26 rock opera hits. The record is entitled the Truth of Truths.” 4 In Essen Jesuspilts, while in London the Godspell biblical themed rock operas were performed in 1970.5 The obvious climax is the musical Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The plot is loosely based on the Gospels’ accounts of the last week of Jesus’s life. The authors began working on it in 1968, and it was performed in 1970 in London where Ian Gillian, later singer of Deep Purple, played the leading role, Jesus. The musical also debuted on Broadway, New York, in October 1971. The Jesus Christ Superstar album in 1971 led the billboard list, and the film directed by Norman Jewison was nominated for two Golden Globe awards.6 The website for the musical production has aptly commented on the world-wide success of Jesus Christ Superstar as follows: “A global phenomenon that has wowed audiences for over

3 It is worth noting that the song was used in churches and during masses as well; cf. Sebők (1981), 45. 4 Péter Tardos, Beat-pop-rock (Budapest: Zenemű Kiadó, 1972): 54-56. (Translated by the author.) 5 Sebők (1981), 45. 6 http://www.jesuschristsuperstar.com/ Accessed: December 2, 2015. 94 - IN GOD WE TRUST? 40 years, Jesus Christ Superstar is a timeless work set against the backdrop of an extraordinary and universally-known series of events but seen, unusually, through the eyes of Judas Iscariot.”7 The explanation for success is, however, more complex. Along the popular musical style, the representation of Jesus was in line with the ideals of the hippie counterculture movement preaching of love and understanding and of dying a martyr’s death.8 This also implies that the young realized that the hippie- movement’s social ideas brought back early Christian ideas into popular culture. In the western and primarily American “secular” popular culture, mainly in music in the 1970s, the religious (Christian) content remained and was strengthened. Although there was no obvious reception from the then state socialist Hungary, the secularized consumers, surprisingly, did not critique the religious content, rather the unauthentic religious content and associated industry and business-like attitudes were criticized: “It seems that today the success of the bizarre Jesus-themed hits proves that young people – at least those who submit themselves to the enjoyment of drugs and, loosened in their spirituality, first started following Krishna’s teachings, the fashion of the time – now call for a new spiritual opium. Jesus has become fashionable among hippies, although mostly in appearances. They have pinned a large yellow disk on their jackets proclaiming »Jesus is love«, but easily exchange it the next day to a different, more appealing slogan. […] Never so many Christs as today…”9 The Hungarian state socialist reception is definitely an interesting detail, however, in this paper I focus on how the folk revival songs and rock music invaded American Catholic churches. How could this happen? As Mark Oppenheimer noted in his book Knocking on Heaven’s Door, “[…] Catholics had the most standardized liturgy of any American religion, a Mass fashioned by Rome”10 An obvious prerequisite was that along with the spiritual awakenings and cultural revolution of the 1960s, a general religious awakening took place along with the charismatic renewal movements and the reforms of Vatican Council II taking place within the Roman Catholic Church. The spiritual / musical revolution obviously built on the fashionable musical styles, primarily on the American folk-music inspired movement containing strong political messages, and beginning with the 1970s also built on rock. The merging with secular styles resulted in later Christian rock being only distinctive by its Christian lyrics.

7 http://www.jesuschristsuperstar.com/ Accessed: December 2, 2015. 8 Sebők (1981), 44. 9 Tardos (1972), 54-56. 10 Mark Oppenheimer, Knocking on Heaven’s Door. American religion in the age of counterculture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 94. “TIMES ARE A’ CHANGING” - 95 FOLK PROTEST SONGS WITHIN THE CHURCH WALLS: THE FOLK MASS MOVEMENT Vatican Council II and its liturgical reform – “the chief ambition of Catholic liberals and the chief fear of Catholic traditionalists”11 - had an inspiring effect on certain individuals among the faithful who immediately grabbed their guitars in the name of “active participation” and began composing songs of various quality as a church music vacuum was experienced: 12 “So much changed so fast. On one Sunday in 1964, Catholics worshipped as they had for 400 years: in silence, on their knees, looking up to the altar to their priest as he prayed softly in Latin, his back to the congregation. The next week, this same priest faced the people, addressed them clearly in English, and even encouraged them to sing together. Accustomed to silence, American Catholics joined in song reluctantly, if at all. That, too, changed when young musicians brought their guitars and enthusiasm into the liturgy. Suddenly, the Church was rocking as Catholics discovered the unifying power of congregational singing.”13 Naturally, the young generations hastily turned to the ambient musical cultures which in the 1960s meant folk and rock in the United States. The folk music revival in the 1960s reached its peak with performers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, whose protest movement songs were the signs of the awakening cultural revolution. The movement spread and “took root in the cities as a medium of radical thought”.14 This musical style found its way into the American Roman Catholic Church as well. The phenomenon is considered of great importance as this was the first time that the ambient popular musical trends invaded the liturgy and rituals of the Catholic Church. As Virgil Funk observed, “if your ear was trained by the protest movement that surrounded many college campuses, you probably looked for a liturgy that celebrated the social message absorbing you at the time, and you found what came to be called the Folk Mass.” 15 One of the most important features of the movement was that “folk music is gender-

11 Ibid. 65. 12 Cusic notes that there are almost 19,000 Catholic parishes in the United States administered by nearly 200 dioceses. All of these parishes, or churches, have needed hymn books, song sheets, and chorus scores since the Mass was changed into English. Don Cusic, Saved by song. History of Gospel and Christian Music (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012), 277. 13 Ken Canedo, Keep the fire burning: The folk-mass revolution (Portland: Pastoral Press, 2009), 11. The situation is quite different behind the Iron curtain. The vernacular church hymns had a significant role in folk piety and were extensively used. However, in the United States vernacular hymns were not used and in the pre-Vatican times the Holy Mass was celebrated with no music or Gregorian chants in Latin. 14 Canedo (2009), 18. 15 Ibid. 7. 96 - IN GOD WE TRUST? blind. Women could play guitar and lead songs, just as men could.”16 The further characteristics of the movement was characterized as follows: “Catholic folk songs encourage, in addition to naturalism and familiarity, a non-creedal universalism. Their religion is not about doctrine or catechism but about the generalized spirit.”17 It came as no surprise that many Protestant denominations took an immediate linking to the songs of the Catholic Folk Mass and incorporated them into their own worship services:18 “The Folk Mass may very well be the most visible and enduring effect of aggiornamento.”19 “Word got out and people started flocking to these Folk Masses”;20 “One of the best things about this folk music was its accessibility. Anybody could take it up. All one needed was a guitar […] the audience became the performers, entertaining themselves through their lively participation.”21 Folk Mass brought a new musical style, new instrumentation and social justice themes into the liturgy, not the least it encouraged American Catholics to embrace congregational singing. Naturally, the phenomenon attracted various emotional reactions: “You either loved it or hated it; there was no middle ground. Changing to English was one thing. Bringing guitars into the liturgy was another matter altogether. For some, particularly the young and the young at heart, the Folk Mass was the most exciting thing to happen to the Roman Catholic Church. For others, it was the last straw.”22 The most significant performer was Ray Repp, who anticipated the Jesus Movement, which is usually falsely connected with the birth of Contemporary Christian Popular Music. Repp was a true pioneer and not only influenced Catholic liturgy but had an influence on Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations as well. In 1965, Repp found the then popular folk styles irresistible, purchased a Gibson, and began to play and compose Catholic songs for the liturgy. His songs have become the hymns of the young: 23 “All Repp did was give his fellow students cheaply printed copy of the folk songs that they sang at Mass […] What Repp actually did, innocently enough, was to send out 400 ambassadors of his music to the 48 continental states. Such was the power of Repp’s early songs that no recording was necessary. The melodies were so catchy and the guitar chords so easy that, in the tradition of all true folk songs, person-to-person transmission was all that was necessary. That, and the ever-accessible purple ditto machine.”24

16 Ibid. 109. 17 Ibid. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid. 138. 20 Ibid. 46. 21 Ibid. 17. 22 Ibid. 57. 23 Ibid. 20. 24 Ibid. 46. “TIMES ARE A’ CHANGING” - 97 According to Mark Allan Powell, if in the late 1960s various congregations had been surveyed on their most favorite Christian congregational songs, 5 out of 10 would have been Ray Repp’s for sure.25 Another significant composer is Peter Scholtes, best known for his song They’ll know we are Christians and the musically simple Missa Bossa Nova, which, even though prohibited in several American dioceses, has become the most popular mass of the 1960s. They’ll know we are Christians has become a classic among Catholics and other denominations alike and the emblematic song of the 1970s Jesus-movement. The St. Louis Jesuits (Bob Dufford, John Foley, Tim Manion, Roc O’Connor, Dan Schutte)26 played a central role in the emergence of what is called today the folk mass movement. Their best known songs, Be Not Afraid, Here I am Lord, City of God, and Sing a New Song, are still in liturgical use and can be found in the widely used Glory & Praise song book. The St. Louis Jesuits were committed to composing music and never intended to give concerts. Their first album and music book entitledNeither Silver Nor Gold27 came out in 1972. In the summer of 1974 they were summoned to Berkeley to compose new songs. The result was the Earthen Vessels song book: “[...] their music is still very much with us at liturgy. Their music continues to dominate contemporary songbooks. Of all the hymns in the mixed-repertoire, mainstream Heritage Missal published by Oregon Catholic Press, 24% are by a member of the St. Louis Jesuits, with 70% written in the style they pioneered.”28 The St. Louis Jesuits have indeed succeeded in transforming the sound of Catholic liturgy and their songs are considered to be ‘Catholic classics’. Some consider them saviors while others regard them as the destructors of American Catholic liturgy.29 Jeffrey Tucker, the editor of Sacred Music,30characterized their music as “[…] simple, well-worn, recognizably popular melodies, written in that pseudo-folk style of the period.”31 Canedo emphasizes that folk mass “[…] served its time well, but faded as the experimentation of the 1960s gave way to more standardized liturgical forms.”32 “For some observers, the Folk Mass was a failure, a well-intentioned but ultimately

25 Mark Allen Powell, Encyclopedia of contemporary Christian music (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002), 751. 26 All seminarians in St. Louis. 27 http://www.ocp.org/products/21034#tab:description Accessed: November 29, 2015. 28 http://musicasacra.com/commentaries/the-mystery-of-the-st-louis-jesuits/ Accessed: November 29, 2015. 29 http://musicasacra.com/commentaries/the-mystery-of-the-st-louis-jesuits/ Accessed: November 29, 2015. 30 Sacred Music is the online journal of the conservative Church Music Association of America. Their main objective is “the restoration of the sacred in Catholic liturgical life.” 31 http://musicasacra.com/commentaries/the-mystery-of-the-st-louis-jesuits/ Accessed: November 29, 2015. 32 Canedo (2009), 111. 98 - IN GOD WE TRUST? misguided attempt to marry the sacred with the secular. For others, it verified that the secular was the sacred.”33 We should not forget that the Folk Mass Movement was primarily driven by liturgical objectives: to promote congregational singing and to find the best ‘language’ to approach people. If we look at Roman Catholic congregational singing today, the influence of the folk mass movement is clearly visible even though the movement was short-lived.34 “Naysayers may criticize it all they want for the way it married the sacred with the secular, but the Folk Mass empowered the Catholic people to sing, not as an audience but as a community who is one in Spirit.”35 In conclusion, it is important to point out that through the phenomenon of the Folk Mass Movement popular music had found its way to the Catholic Church earlier than to the Protestant denominations. “The American Catholic church for the first time affected a major Christian revival: The Jesus Revolution of the late 60s and early 70s.”36 Even though the changes took place in musical aesthetics within the Catholic liturgy, we can agree with Oppenheimer that “[…] the hierarch retained its tight, conservative control on what Catholics were supposed to believe, while the iconography of liberalism – the sandals, guitars, and hugging – seized the day, easily.”37

33 Ibid. 10. 34 At this point we must reflect on the Hungarian examples. The music of the Folk Mass Movement is very close to the most prolific composer of the 1970s Catholic popular songs, Jenő Sillye. Beside the language difference, the melodies, the messages show great similarities. The reason for this is not transfer or diffusion, rather the fact that similar religious needs, similar instrumentation result in similar cultural products. A significant difference is that while the Folk Mass Movement disappeared from the United States, Sillye and other composers remain active and go on composing. 35 Canedo (2009), 140. 36 Cusic (2012), 269. 37 Oppenheimer (2003), 94. “TIMES ARE A’ CHANGING” - 99 BIBLIOGRAPHY Canedo, Ken. Keep the fire burning: The folk-mass revolution. Portland: Pastoral Press, 2009. Cusic, Don. Saved by song. History of Gospel and Christian Music. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012. Howard, Jay R. – Streck, John M. Apostles of rock. The splintered world of contemporary Christian music. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1999. Oppenheimer, Mark. Knocking on Heaven’s Door. American religion in the age of counterculture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003. Povedák Kinga. From the Singing Rabbi to the King of Hasidic Reggae. In: Barna, Gábor (ed.) Religion, culture, society: Yearbook of the MTA-SZTE Research Group for the Study of Religious Culture. Szeged: MTA-SZTE Research Group for the Study of Religious Culture, 2005: 89-101. Powell, Mark Allen. Encyclopedia of contemporary Christian music. Peabody: Hen- drickson Publishers, 2002. Sebők János. A Beatlestől az új hullámig. A rock a hetvenes években. Budapest: Zene- műkiadó, 1981. Tardos Péter. Beat-pop-rock. Budapest: Zenemű Kiadó, 1972.