Elder Utah Smith
“I Got Two Wings: Incidents and Anecdotes of the Two-Winged Preacher and Electric Guitar Evangelist”
Casequarter (2009)

After so many decades under the influence of drugs, groupies, meltdowns, and wanking guitar solos, it’s easy to forget that ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ was birthed far away from filthy bars and hotel rooms, in small, Southern church chapels. Any reader of this site will likely struggle to cope with the fact that the Devil’s music first poured out from individuals with so much spiritual purity and soul, drugs likely couldn’t have affected them.

But that’s the Gospel Truth.

And of all of the voices that have boomed from behind a pulpit, the man called Elder Utah Smith ranks among the most powerful. The Rev. Utah Smith served as a minister of the Church of God in Christ and a traveling evangelist until his death in 1965. This charismatic preacher often delivered his sermons wearing large, hand-crafted wings of the Seraphim on his back, his legs, and at times, even on his head. With his electric guitar, Utah led the congregation passionately and with an unmatched intensity that is as remarkable today as it was in 1944.

Indeed, a single listen to the I Got Two Wings: Incidents and Anecdotes of the Two–Winged Preacher and Electric Guitar Evangelist compilation will permanently instill the conviction that Satan is nothing but a pussy. This long-awaited book/CD package celebrating the life and music of Reverend Utah Smith reaffirms something long lost in the increasingly diminished returns of Modern Rock hedonism: danger.

If you’ve ever been to a church, or have a propensity toward silly metal, you will feel considerable apprehension with the idea of a church hymnal as vessel for subversive music. Come to terms with it, white boy. No number of booming, low-end songs about the Devil could ever bum Pat Robertson harder than Rev. Utah Smith’s howlin’ about Jesus. The Elder’s sacred music will cause discomfort in many Christians and Heathens alike, as Rock ‘n’ Roll at its most aggressive and pure should.

When listening to I Got Two Wings, I pictured an authentically drunk and drugged, chick-slaying Rock ‘n’ Roller, let’s say Angus Young, seated within Rev. Utah Smith’s traveling Gospel tent. And in my mind’s eye, Angus stared slack-jawed at the black minister swinging high above the congregation from a rope attached to his wooden wings, ripping sanctimoniously on one of the very first electric guitars with crazed eyes and howling like the voice of God. I can’t help but think that Angus would feel something like fear.

And perhaps I’m scared, too.

With a voice that marries Charlie Christian, James Brown and a damn lion, the Reverend reforms Heaven from sounding like an eternal game of Bridge between mummified church ladies to an otherworldly, metaphysical riot. This music is an unrestrained, explosive and confrontational achievement, if not the very invention of Rock ‘n’ Roll itself. You’ll need to stop and remind yourself that for all of Elder Utah Smith’s intensity and fire, there are zero drums in these tracks. This realization will blow your mind every time.

Elder Utah Smith, who occasionally performed under the moniker Brother Bill Louis, is not a well-known musical figure. So unknown, in fact, that he lacks a Wikipedia entry. African-American scholar Lynn Abbott’s biography that accompanies this definitive collection of songs is the first work to shed light on this enigmatic Louisiana man’s life. Unfortunately, I have yet to read the book, though I fully intend to do so.

Judging from the accompanying music compilation, however, Utah Smith’s obscurity is likely due to has lack of prolificacy. The good Reverend recorded only a handful of songs in his lifetime. But given the quality of this absolutely essential disc, even the precious few cuts he left us with might have been enough. Never will you find more fulfillment from seven versions of a single song as can be had in the various included takes on “Two Wings”. Each of these eighteen tracks is a necessity. You will count yourself lucky to have heard even one.

In addition to the great and heretofore unreleased Elder Utah Smith cuts, the I Got Two Wings compilation includes relevant contributions from a number of his contemporaries including Sister Sarah James, Rev. Robert Ballinger, Johnny Wiggs, Rev. F.W. McGee, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. And while Sister Sarah James and the Sanctimonious Six deliver the best addition in “God Rode In On a Windstorm”, my personal favorite is the baddest woman that ever lived, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. If you value making ‘girls-can’t-play-guitar’ jokes, do not let the video below reach the 1:24 mark:

If you love music, even to a minor degree, I Got Two Wings is required listening– and very likely required reading as well.

The Elder Utah Smith might make you give up the Devil, but he won’t make you give up the Devil’s music. Spread the good news.

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