“A Mighty Long Way”: Community, Continuity, and Black Gospel Music
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“A MIGHTY LONG WAY”: COMMUNITY, CONTINUITY, AND BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC ON TELEVISION IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, 1954-2008 by CARRIE ANNE ALLEN (Under the Direction of JEAN N. KIDULA) ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the musical, religious, and cultural evolution and significance of the Parade of Quartets, a Black gospel music television program broadcast weekly in Augusta, Georgia, from 1954 to the present. The research engages with two central themes: 1) the program as a site of overlapping musical and religious communities, and 2) the tension between musical, theological, and cultural change and continuity present on the program and in the history of many local gospel performers associated with the program. These two themes are examined through an overview of the program’s historical development, three case studies of local Augusta gospel artists’ association with the show, and a composite case study of theological and textual themes common in a cross-section of the show’s performances. Data collection was conducted using archival and ethnographic methodology, and included sources such as Black and mainstream local newspapers, digital/internet resources, footage of the television program from the late 1980s to the present, albums issued by local gospel artists, interviews, miscellaneous ephemera such as concert posters and album liner notes, and attendance at local events and program tapings. Data collected and analyzed in the dissertation points to the following conclusions: 1) The Parade of Quartets exists as part of a complex regional gospel music infrastructure made up of overlapping communities of performers, radio disc jockeys, independent music stores, performance venues, churches, religious leaders, and gospel promoters; 2) Longevity, and the consequent sense of regional heritage, of performing ensembles and other institutions within this infrastructure is highly valued and celebrated; 3) This longevity is achieved through a balance of adherence to distinctively Black musical, theological, and textual roots, while also employing strategies of reinvention that evolve the musical product beyond these roots; 4) The Parade of Quartets simultaneously acts as a generic, almost ecumenical, religious and musical local media presence that is appreciated and valued by many viewers, while also affirming and propagating a distinctively Black Baptist set of liturgical and theological values. INDEX WORDS: Augusta, Georgia; Gospel quartets; James Brown; Swanee Quintet; African Americans on television; Parade of Quartets “A MIGHTY LONG WAY”: COMMUNITY, CONTINUITY, AND BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC ON TELEVISION IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, 1954-2008 by CARRIE ANNE ALLEN B.S., Mississippi State University, 2001 M.M., The University of Georgia, 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2009 © 2009 CARRIE ANNE ALLEN All Rights Reserved “A MIGHTY LONG WAY”: COMMUNITY, CONTINUITY, AND BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC ON TELEVISION IN AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, 1954-2008 by CARRIE ANNE ALLEN Major Professor: Jean. N. Kidula Committee: Adrian Childs Dorothea Link Sandy Martin David Schiller Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2009 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family; to the Howard family of Augusta, Georgia,; to the many people who have contributed to the important cultural institution that is the Parade of Quartets; and to the memory of Henry Howard. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A multitude of professional and personal relationships undergird and enable this type of research. Dr. Jean Kidula, my research advisor, has tirelessly offered advice, encouragement, and extremely insightful critique, as have the other members of my committee: Adrian Childs, Dorothea Link, Sandy Martin, and David Schiller. Without the financial assistance of the University of Georgia Graduate School’s Dissertation Completion Award, I would still be collecting data in the hopes of graduating sometime in the distant future. Special thanks go to Ruta Abolins, Margie Compton, Mary Miller, and James Benyshek of the University of Georgia Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Award Collection. They worked together to quickly prepare the Parade of Quartets donation for me to view and analyze. I owe many thanks to Karlton and Wayne Howard, who patiently took time from their tremendously busy schedules to help an unknown graduate student by generously providing me with access to program footage and other historical data. Many thanks, also, to other members of Augusta’s gospel community who shared their insights and music with me: Percy Griffin of the Swanee Quintet; Flo Carter; James and Arthur Abraham of the Dynamic New Abraham Brothers; and Joel Walker of the Brewsteraires. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Don Rhodes, lover and historian of Augusta’s musical heritage, for generously sharing his accumulated wealth of knowledge. Thanks also to Dr. James Carter, III, for sharing his insights into the social fabric of Augusta. I must acknowledge my many friends in Athens and elsewhere for encouraging and supporting me through the Ph.D. program. Your company, humor, prayers, food, phone calls, v and e-mails accumulated into the critical mass needed to emotionally sustain me during this process. My deepest gratitude is towards my family: Evelyn Allen, Dorothy Sanders, Rev. Blaine Allen, Debra Allen, Brian Allen, Mónica Pereira Allen, Amy Allen, and little Jasmine Allen. The significance of the emotional, spiritual, and financial support you have provided tirelessly is impossible to reckon in words. Without it I would have given up a long time ago. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................v CHAPTER 1 PROSPECTUS ...............................................................................................................1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Need for Study ...........................................................................................................2 Objectives ..................................................................................................................2 Assumptions ..............................................................................................................3 Questions ...................................................................................................................4 Literature Review ......................................................................................................4 Methodology ...........................................................................................................42 Projection of Chapters .............................................................................................46 2 “MY SOUL LOOKS BACK IN WONDER”: THE ROOTS AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PARADE OF QUARTETS .................................................48 Development of the Twentieth-Century Gospel Quartet Tradition ........................48 Mid-Twentieth Century Race Relations in Augusta, Georgia ...............................74 POQ, Early 1940s – 2008: A Synopsis ...................................................................77 Central Themes in the Legacy of POQ .................................................................101 vii 3 “YOU WOULD HAVE SHOUTED TOO”: SEVENTY YEARS OF CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE SWANEE QUINTET ..................................................104 Introduction ..........................................................................................................104 Creating and Sustaining a Presence in the Local and National Gospel Music Industry ............................................................................................................109 Analyses: Balancing Musical Roots and Reinvention ..........................................128 Conclusion: POQ and the Swanee Quintet ..........................................................156 4 “ROCK MY SOUL”: THE LONGEVITY OF LOCAL, NON-PROFESSIONAL QUARTETS, ON AND THROUGH PARADE OF QUARTETS ........................158 Introduction ...........................................................................................................158 Brewsteraires’ History and Involvement with POQ .............................................161 Musical Analysis of Brewsteraires’ Performances on POQ .................................170 The Abraham Brothers’ History and Involvement With POQ ..............................187 Musical Analysis of Abraham Brothers’ Performances on Family Reunion and POQ .................................................................................................................198 Conclusion .............................................................................................................209 5 “I GOT THAT SOMETHING THAT MAKES ME WANT TO SHOUT”: JAMES BROWN, RELIGION, AND GOSPEL MUSIC IN AUGUSTA ........................211 Introduction ...........................................................................................................211 Brown’s Relationship to the Black Church and to Gospel Music, 1933-1979 .....215 Performing on and Viewing POQ in the 1980s and 1990s ..................................221 Brown’s Musical and Social Relationship with the Swanee Quintet ....................240