Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

All Shook Up
Experience in Pentecostal churches fired a love of music many early rockers couldn't shake

Randall J. Stephens, excerpted from The Fire Spreads | posted 5/29/2008 10:11AM

Pentecostal music for both black and white listeners broke many boundaries. In the early 20th century, Sister Arizona Dranes, Eddie Head, and other black sanctified performers employed the instruments and musical styles of the secular scene, broadening sacred music as a result. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a native of Arkansas, became so well known in the late 1930s for her guitar-accompanied gospel singing that she performed at New York's storied Cotton Club and landed a record deal with Decca. Tharpe and other black artists helped commercialize the new genre. In the 1920s and 1930s Okeh Records issued a flurry of releases by energetic black Pentecostal musicians and shouting preachers. Jazz trumpeters, boogie-woogie pianists, and jug bands led worship in Church of God in Christ churches across the South, while flat-picking white guitarists, washboard players, and fiddlers did the same in Church of God (Cleveland) congregations.


The influence of such mavericks extended well beyond the confines of churches. A host of first-generation rock 'n' rollers who grew up in Pentecostal denominations later gave much credit to church music. They would also claim that the unrestrained style of the sanctified, tongues-speaking faith had a lasting impact on them.

As a boy in the 1930s Johnny Cash attended Church of God (Cleveland) services in Dyess, Arkansas, where local initiates held unfettered meetings in an old schoolhouse. Years later the Man in Black recalled scenes of religious mayhem. The "writhing on the floor, the moaning, the trembling, and the jerks" left a deep impression, and the fire and brimstone sermons and surrounding frenzy terrorized Cash. "My knuckles would be white as I held onto the seat in front of me," he remembered. Still, Cash loved the uninhibited music, the improvisation, and the variety of instruments played. It was a powerful experience.

So it was, too, for Tammy Wynette, a future country music celebrity, who as a youth frequented the Oak Grove Church of God in northeastern Mississippi. She attended a Baptist church as well, but it could not compete with exciting Pentecostal services. She would bang away on the piano, playing hymns and spirituals. Unlike the stodgy Baptist ministers, Wynette wrote in her autobiography, the Church of God preacher "would let you bring in guitars and play rockin' gospel more like black gospel music," as worshipers shouted in the Spirit and hollered in unknown tongues. Other Southern-born rockers recalled similar experiences. Little Richard and B. B. King, who attended black Pentecostal services, and Jerry Lee Lewis, a one-time member of the Assemblies of God, loved the lively preaching, the fast-paced music, and the antics of ecstatic worshipers. Little Richard summed it up best: "Of all the churches, I used to like going to the Pentecostal church because of the music."

Certainly the most famous performer to be attached to a tongues-speaking fellowship was Elvis Presley. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he moved with his family to Memphis in 1948. His mother, a devout Christian, looked for a local church the family might attend. The burgeoning First Assembly of God originally met in a tent, then moved to a storefront, and finally settled in a permanent structure. Membership climbed to 2,000. One Sunday shortly after the Presleys arrived in town, a First Assembly bus swung through their rundown neighborhood. They climbed aboard and became regulars of Pastor James Hamill's congregation. As a teenager Elvis was quiet, shy, and awkward. The country boy's hair was too long and his trousers were too short, Hamill remembered, but he was a courteous, respectful youth. He attended Sunday school and witnessed the gospel stylings of the Blackwood Brothers and the Stamps Quartet, two groups that pioneered white Southern gospel music. Members of each attended First Assembly. Elvis was exposed there to the best in Pentecostal music, Hamill recalled. In a series of 1956 interviews, after he achieved international acclaim, Elvis always mentioned to reporters that he and his family belonged to Memphis's First Assembly of God. Speaking to an Associated Press reporter about Pentecostal music, Presley said: "We used to go to these religious sing-ins all the time. There were these singers, perfectly fine singers, but nobody responded to 'em. Then there were these other singers—the leader wuz a preacher—and they cut up all over the place, jumpin' on the piano, movin' every which way. The audience liked 'em. I guess I learned from them singers." Uninhibited Pentecostalism gave young Elvis ideas about music and performance. He was sometimes called the "evangelist" by his inner circle of friends.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/mayweb-only/122-43.0.html

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

The devil steals everything Christian folks come up with and perverts it in one way or another.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I think I know what your saying ... especially because of the lifestyle held by many rockers ...

But you don't believe rock music is inherently evil do you, Rico?

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Bishop Rex Dyson baptized Elvis in Jesus Name when he was a teenager.
Ronnie Milsap's uncle was a snake-handling preacher.
Dolly Pardon had Church of God roots.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

He was? Wow!! I used to absolutely LOVE Ronnie Milsap!!! :toofunny

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

The reason he is blind he had an infection in his eyes and they did not believe in going to the doctor.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I wonder what Dr. V would say about this Elvis quote:

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Amazing how Elvis never mentioned this experience but felt free to talk about his AOG roots. Personally, I don't believe this story. I've never seen any real proof. I think it's just another case of Oneness Pentecostalism seeking validation from celebrities, and it's goofy.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I didn't know that. I know they were very conflicted about sending him away to school, but they knew he wouldn't excel in life if they didn't. He has an awesome voice.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Quite a few of these making the rounds ... I agree PP.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Absolutely not! I don't think any music is inherently good or evil. I play the guitar and wish I was skilled enough to play some of them riffs!

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

PP Elder Boyd was raised in Memphis Elvis chummed with his older brother both boys were baptized in Bishop Dyson's church. Elvis folks threw a fit since they were AG. It is a true story.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I appreciate you Sir, but I don't believe it.

There is no proof and there never has been.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

So Elder Boyd and Bishop Dyson lied?

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

bro epley i heard that too, i am from west tenn, and was raised there and north miss, as a matter of fact i went to the same middle school as elvis and had one teacher that he had, i must be old, dt

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Evansville Journal

August 12, 2000

Scripts Howard Service

Author: David Waters



Title: Elvis’ baptismal history illustrates great Pentecostal divide



Here’s an Elvis story you haven’t heard.

Elvis was baptized twice-once in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and once in the name of Jesus only.

Is it true? No one seems to know for sure.

Does it matter? That depends on which side of the great Pentecostal divide you come down on.

Elvis Presley’s Pentecostal roots were deep. His parents met in a Pentecostal church. His great-uncles co-pastored one. Elvis was baptized in one when he was about 9.

He was re-baptized in another one a few years later, according to Rev. Rex Dyson, still preaching Pentecostal revivals at age 100.

Dyson said he re-baptized Elvis and his parents, Vernon and Gladys, in Memphis sometime around 1950.

“I don’t remember what year it was, but Elvis must have been about 14,” said Dyson. I don’t like to talk about it. It’s controversial”

Controversial not because it was Elvis, but because of a vicious doctrinal dispute that has divided the Pentecostal world for decades.

Dyson is a Oneness Pentecostal, which, according to many other Pentecostals is the same thing as heretic.

Oneness Pentecostals reject the traditional doctrine of the Trinity-belief that in One God there are three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why?

Well, for one thing, they say the word Trinity isn’t in the Bible. They also say the doctrine of the Trinity-difficult even for theologians to explain-can be misunderstood to suggest a belief in three Gods.

As a result, Oneness Pentecostals reject baptisms that use the triune formula found in Matthew 28:19, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Instead, Oneness Pentecostals use Peter’s instructions in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Pentecostals generally don’t view water baptism as essential to salvation. But some of the more rigid believers say you can’t get into heaven with the wrong name on your baptized soul.

For Oneness Pentecostals, there’s only one name that works:

“We baptize in the name of Jesus,” Dyson explained.

“You don’t have the blood until you have the name, and Jesus is the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.”

That’s the sort of talk that got 156 Oneness preachers branded heretics and expelled from the Assemblies of God denomination in 1916.

The oneness preachers returned the insults, saying their foes subscribed to ‘three Godism.” Many went on to form separate Pentecostal churches and denominations.

There are about 17 million Oneness Pentecostals in the world.

Was Elvis one of them?

It’s possible, but doubtful, given the Presley family’s ties to the Assemblies of God.

Elvis’ parents met in 1933 in the First Assembly of God in East Tupelo, Miss. Glady’s uncles, Sims and Gains Mansell, were co-pastors.

Young Elvis was water baptized in that church in 1943 or 1944, according to biographers.

It was in that church that he first learned to rock and roll.

“Ministers played guitars, and gyrated, and dance wildly while parishioners rolled in the aisles, feverishly jumping about, and spoke in tongues,” Patricia Jobe Pierce wrote in “The Ultimate Elvis.”

The Presleys move to Memphis in 1948, when Elvis was 13. Dyson said it wasn’t long after that when Elvis and his parents began worshipping at his Church of Jesus Christ. the Presleys lived in several places at that time, and all were within a few blocks of Dyson’s church.

“Vernon and Galdys heard me preach about baptism a few times, then they came to me and said they wanted to be baptized in the name of Jesus,” Dyson said.

“Next Sunday morning I baptized Vernon and then Galdys. Elvis was watching from the side. He walked over to the baptistry, while his mama and daddy were still in the water and he said, “I want to be baptized like that.”

“So I baptized Elvis in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Dyson’s church was sold to another congregation many years ago, and the concrete baptistry has long since been taken out and carried off to the dump. Sorry, souvenir hunters.

Dyson doesn’t remember if he gave the Presleys a certificate of baptism. And he seems to be the only person who remembers Elvis re-baptism.

LaVonne Gaw, a researcher for Graceland, has no records of Elvis being baptized anywhere, but she plans to investigate.

“It’s an interesting question,” she said.

Patsy Presley Geranen said she knows her cousin was baptized at least once.

“I’m pretty sure he was baptized in Tupelo, but I don’t know if he was ever baptized in Memphis,” she said.

George Klein, a charter member of Elvis’ Memphis Mafia, met Elvis at Hulmes high School in the early 1950s.

“I hadn’t heard that one, but I guess it’s possible,” Klein said.

Dixie Locke Emmons, Elvis’ first girlfriend, met him in 1954 at the First Assembly of God in Memphis. They had Easter dinner together that year, and also attended an Oral Roberts crusade.

“I don’t remember him ever talking about being baptized in Memphis. I know he was never baptized in our church,” said Emmons, First Assembly’s secretary.

Dyson said he’s not making it up.

“I may be old, but I’m not dead,” he said.

“I can’t say whether Elvis is in heaven, I don’t want to be judgmental. But I believe Elvis was real Christ-minded, and I believe he knew what he was doing.”

Whether Elvis was baptized once or twice, though, one thing seems certain. His soul was clearly marked “Return to Sender.”

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I don't know David Walters, but I do know David Boyd, and he doesn't lie.

What would be the reason for accepting the word of a journalist over an Apostolic preacher of impeccable character and unimpeachable integrity such as David Boyd?

Honestly, no one gets any sicker than me over the goofy celebrity chasing some Apostolics do, but this is a case of the testimony of a man of known character.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

PP Elder Boyd was there that is the different same service his brother was baptized. That's all I know. I heard A.T. Surratt a deceased pastor in Memphis tell the same story.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I once heard a story (on Aff) that was posted by a very, very prominent poster about hair-cutting parties being thrown by Tiumphant1. The story was told over and over an over by a prominent preacher/pastor.

It was an absolute lie.

No one ever called his hand on it.


I do not know if the men, in this case, were lying.

Maybe they "misremembered?"

I do know I don't believe a word of it.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Friend, would this constitute an accusation against an elder, namely Brother Boyd?

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

bro amos, where is david boyd from is it tenn, dt

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I don't know either man, but I don't believe the story. Period.

I find it impossible to believe that all of the fanatic Elvis worshippers and biographers would have missed such an integral part of his life.

Again, his AOG baptism and roots are widely documented. There is absolutely no documentation of a Oneness connection. Second hand information from 50 years later gets kinda fuzzy and muddled.

Don't mean to be a jerk here, but I'm not buying it.

It's just another attempt at OP validation.

I remember when Jane Fonda got the Holy Ghost. As did Katherine Harris. Our preachers told those stories, too. And hey, remember that Messianic Jewish revival out in Nebraska? A District Superintendent made the whole thing up!

Blah, blah, blah.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Not at all.

I'm sure Brother Boyd believes it.


I don't.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Bro, he was there.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Well I did know Bishop Dyson, Pastor A. T. Surratt, and I do know Elder Boyd so that settles it for me. NONE of the above are or were sensationlist guys. I don't blame your doubt with all the tall tales told in Pentecost. I will give you another tale my Dad was friends with J. D. Sumner. Dad wa sina crusade in a city once and ran into to J.D. in the lobby J.D. was traveling with Elvis at the time and asked Dad if he wanted to meet Elvis. Dad said of course he said some up to the room after you get in from church and bring your guitar. My Dad was a great guitar player. After service which ran rather late Dad calle J.D. and he said come on up. He introduced Dad to Elvis they started playing after an hour J. D. grinned waved bye to Dad and left. Dad said Elvis would not let him and his friend Glen leave who was also a guitar player. Early in the morning Dad went back to his room. Next day J.D. Called again this went on the rest of the week. I don't know how many nights were involved?

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Born and raised in Memphis.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

pp i dont know about all the other stories, but katherine harris did get the holy ghost in the church in pcola, bro kinseys, i know that for a fact, dt

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

This conversation is going nowhere fast. I refuse to accuse the man.

I simply don't believe the story.

There is no proof.

You don't find that odd?

I mean, there are Elvis museums all over the place and no mention of it? The man had every minute of his life dissected and, yet, no mention of it?

He told no friends, no family?


Look, even Elder Epley got the story wrong on this very thread. He said that Dyson stated that Elvis' parents were mad cause he was baptized in a Oneness church when, in fact, Dyson says he actually baptized Elvis' parents before he baptized Elvis. Does that make Epley a liar? Of course not! He was simply mistaken.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

oh ok, thanks bro epley, i am pretty sure we are related, there is a david boyd that pastors in saltillo miss, also, dt

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Prove it.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

well i guess i could get you some sworn testimony, but she was there for a service and prayed thru, didnt matter much it didnt take, dt

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I don't blame you with all the tall tales I have heard myself. If I didn't know the folks here I probably would not believe it either. However his baptism didn't do him much good regardless.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I guess I'm a bit jaded because of all the stories that have been proven false.

I live close to St. Louis. WE have heard story after story about various Cardinal's baseball players who have supposedly come in to our churches and received baptism and the Holy Ghost.

The only provable story is that Lou Brock, and his wife, attend one of our churches.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

I appreciate you Brother Epley.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

that is understandable i have family in that area and have heard the stories too, i know the kathereine harris deal is legit, because i am very close to many people in that church, and leadership, dt

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Flesh begats Flesh.. this says a mouthful about Pentecost

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Billy & Mrs. Granham
George & Mrs. Bush Sr.
A list of actors and actresses
noted singers and musicians
sport figures
politicians
millionares
Yep I heard.

Re: Pentecostalism Inspired Early Rock n Roll?
 

Do you seriously want me to answer that brother???? ELVIS and his flesh movement.. inspired by what he saw in Pentecost?????

and how many people do you think he sent to hell???/

all inspired by Pentecost