The Florida Folklife Reader

Sacred Steel

90 ‘’ ‘’ Sacred Steel roBert l. stone Mention “steel gUitar” and Most PeoPle Will think of the WeePing sound of the instrument played in country music. Some might think of pedal steel guitars that are routinely found in white country gospel groups and church “praise” bands. Relatively few would know the electric steel guitar has been the dominant musical instrument for more than fifty years in certain African American Pentecostal churches. The electric steel guitar was introduced into the House of God in the late 1930s and eventually became the dominant musical instrument in its worship services. Over the years, House of God steel guitarists developed distinctive playing styles and repertoire. The unique musical tradition remained little known outside this denomination for more than fifty years, until 1995, when the Florida Folklife Program produced a cassette album titled Sacred Steel: Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida. The album was licensed by Arhoolie Records, one of the oldest roots music labels in the country, and distributed internationally. Critics and fans hailed the music as a major discovery, and eight more Arhoolie albums followed. Today this compelling music is commonly known as Sacred Steel. Several groups who play this music are touring internationally, and one has garnered a rock star-magnitude recording contract and two Grammy nominations. Florida, home to fifty-three House of God churches (far more than any other state), has produced many of the denomination’s most influential steel guitarists. But it was in Philadelphia where the steel guitar was probably first used in a religious service. Steel guitar music was first brought to the United States in the early twentieth century by Hawaiian musicians, and the popularity of Hawaiian music continued into the 1940s. 91 Sacred Steel The steel guitar takes its name from the metal bar, or “steel,” the player holds in the left hand and presses lightly on the strings to make notes that often have singing, voice-like quality. In contrast, players of standard guitars make notes by using their fingers to press strings onto thin metal frets embedded in the instrument’s neck. The other instruments in House of God musical ensembles are typical of configurations found in many African American churches: drums, bass, a keyboard instrument, and rhythm guitar. Congregants often bring percussion instruments such as tambourines, maracas, washboards, and cymbals to “make a joyful noise” from the pews. The steel guitarist leads the musical ensemble to play driving praise music that moves the congregation to shout and dance ecstatically, provide dramatic emphasis as ministers preach, furnish a musical backdrop during periods of meditation, and play swinging march music for jaunty offertory processions. The steel guitar was introduced to the Philadelphia House of God by Troman Eason, who learned to play it in the 1930s by taking lessons from a Hawaiian artist he heard over the radio at home. Troman’s music making inspired his teenaged brother, Willie, to play the steel guitar in the late 1930s. Rather than play in the sweet Hawaiian manner like Troman, Willie developed a technique that closely approximated the singing he heard in church. Willie Eason found his approach to the electric steel guitar well suited for the celebratory, cathartic worship services of the House of God attended by his family. He could play it rhythmically; it had a strong, penetrating tone; and, because notes made on the instrument were unrestricted by frets, he could imitate the expressive, highly ornamented African American gospel vocal style. Willie Eason withdrew from high school to travel throughout the eastern United States to play for church services, revivals, and street-corner music ministries. He was a powerful, moving singer with a magnetic personality. He often made his steel guitar echo the words he sang or finish his incomplete sentences. A Macon, Georgia, deejay dubbed him “Little Willie and His Talking Guitar,” and the moniker stuck. Willie Eason first came to Florida in 1940 with the Gospel Feast Party, a troupe of musicians and ministers that traveled from New York to southern Florida to hold revivals and worship services under tents in churches. Soon he struck out on his own to play street-corner music ministries for tips and donations. For many years he spent the fall and winter months in Florida. Eason knew how to work a crowd and made a good living performing on the streets. One of his most productive spots in the 1940s and 1950s was in front of Buddy B’s juke joint on Broadway...