The Pilgrim Jubilees

20. "That's the Way We Run It"

20. "That'* tfce Way We Run It" trictly business" . . . "fourteen hundred fortwo shows" ..."a solid job"—it's the worldly side ofa spiritual business. A gospel groupisavehicle ofreligiousexpression that through itssinging gives praise and thanks to God and messages of hope and joy to its audi^ ences. As long as it stays an amateur group—one in which members earn their daily bread at other occupations and sing together essentially for the pleasure it brings them and others—it can function primarily on this spiritual level. But black American gospel music has two tiers. On one, it is a community'Owned religious expression. On the other, it is a multimillion' dollar business, creating income for record companies, promoters, broadcast' ers—and artists. Groups that make the move to this level by turning profes^ sional will keep delivering their spiritual message. But now they are singing heavenly praises for earthly reward. Clay: "When we first went on the road, a group wasgetting top money if it made a five hundred-dollar guarantee. So when Edna Gallmon Cooke got us a two hundred-dollar guarantee, I figured we were doing pretty good. Today, our price is no less than twenty-five hundred on Sunday. And up. It 188 S ;; "TU'stkeWayWeRunlt" 189 depends on what kind of show it is and where it is. Some places I know we don't draw so well. So I don't press the promoter for it. But I try to go to those areas where we can do well. There are places where we get seven thousand, ten thousand dollars a show. But they come so scattery. We'd maybe get three or four of this kind of show a year. A group of our standing gets twenty-five hundred to five thousand, and you're lucky to get up tofive thousand. But for a group of eight or nine people . . . that's why we stay broke all the time." Even twenty-five hundred dollars seems handsome reward for an hour or two on stage. But a Pilgrim Jubilees performance involves usually eight men. So the twenty-five hundred-dollar pie iscut into eight slices. All expenses— gas, meals, accommodations—are deducted. Longer-term costs, such as taxes, uniforms, equipment, and vehicle maintenance, also have to be paid. If the booking came through an agency, it takes a fee. The glamour of twenty-five hundred dollars in one day quickly disappears into the realityof around two hundred a man. Sometimes the group will have three or four bookings in a week; sometimes it will have none. Recordings provide some extra income—through royalties and from sales at programs—although their main purpose is to keep the group's name u out there" and maintain the flow of concert bookings. But a successful record can boost a group's earning power. Clay: "I've booked some dates for next year. But I'vesaid the price is subject to go up. A guyin Ohio, I've given him a date in Februaryfor twentyfive hundred. I told him, 'Our record is coming out. And if it gets hot, yo won't get us for twenty-five in February.' He said, 'How much will it be?' I said, 'No less than four thousand.' We could have made money at the time of 'Stretch Out.' But we didn't have sense enough to know what to do. People like the Soul Stirrers, the Harmonizing Four, and the PilgrimTravelers , they made our money. We were hot.And the top price we were getting was about four hundred dollars for a program." Cleave: "Theolder [quartet] people that were out there, they knew how to manage it so you come in and still don't make nothing. You're young and don't know, and you're really just in it for the joy of singing. It'svery easily done, and that's the wayit went down." Clay: "Today, the choirs and stuff like that are making money. Because they're in a different vein. Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee, all these guys make 190 "TU'stkeWayWeRunlt" money. But the quartets ... nobody's making any money. You make enough to go back home and payyour rent and your tax, buy some clothes and stuff like that. The Cantons make money. They came back with our style—new, different, and bigger, on the rock style, and bang! Now they're getting five...