The artist that made the most impact on me this module was Washington Phillips and the song that really resonated with me was “Denomination Blues.” Honestly I had never heard of Washington Phillips before this assignment and it was so interesting to listen to his song and the relevance to the third Great Awakening and Pentecostalism. In the song, Phillips was speaking out against the different denominations of Christianity and pointing out the unnecessary religious division that was happening despite people’s earnest spiritual seeking. This message closely followed the Holiness and Pentecostal ideals of personal faith and Spirit-led devotion over organized institutional dogma. The stripped-down instrumentation of just his vocals and zither gives it an earnest and almost sermon-like quality that conjures up images of the communal worship and revival meetings popular at the time of early 1900s. The style of music really resonates with the spiritual fervor that was also happening at the Azusa Street Revival where the spirit moved through everyday people with raw emotion. Like Arizona Dranes and the others, he used the medium of music as a proclamation of faith and ministry outreach. I also really enjoyed the way this song had humor intertwined with his faith expression and social commentary that made religion feel more accessible. It really allowed me to more deeply understand the multiple facets of early gospel music as a vehicle not just of entertainment but of testimony and teaching. Overall, I really enjoyed the authentic and joyful spirit of Washington Phillips’ music that really exemplifies the early Pentecostal sound.
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