Theology and the Blues

Justin McLendon, Donté A. Ford, Michael A.L. Broyles , Coldwell Daniel IV

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Hardback

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English

Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
15 February 2025

Music; Music reviews & criticism; Sacred & religious music; History: specific events & topics; Theology

Series: Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture

While all music genres incorporate religious imagery, the blues has its origin in the soil of the church. In its infancy, the blues was often dismissed as undermining the church’s gospel songbook. The initial resistance, however, could not suppress the organic development of a genre of music born from suffering. The great Mississippi Delta bluesman, Muddy Waters, once said, ""The blues was born behind a mule."" Behind a beast of burden, the working man found in the blues a way to console the everyday experiences of struggle, sin, loss, despair, love, grief, sin, death, and the fear and hope of crossing the River Jordan into eternal life. The church's gospel songbook explores doctrinal foundations set to music, but the blues dares to uncover insight into the lived experiences of spiritual journeys. Theology and the Blues showcases theological themes inherent within the organic and expressive genre of the blues.

Foreword by: Donté A. Ford
Contributions by: Michael A.L. Broyles, Coldwell Daniel IV, William L. Ellis
Edited by: Justin McLendon
Imprint: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 494g
ISBN: 9781978714588
ISBN 10: 1978714580
Series: Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 15 February 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword, Donté A. Ford Introduction: Life Gets Heavy, Justin McLendon Chapter 1: Love and Liberation: Listening to Glary Clark, Jr. with St. Augustine and James Cone, Alex Sosler Chapter 2: Spiritual Accounting and Moral Reckoning: Faith and Justice in the Blues, Julia Simon Chapter 3: The Beat Goes On: Rhythm, Embodiment, and the Soul in the Blues, Mark Winborn Chapter 4: Mississippi Blues: Protesting Lived Experiences, Justin McLendon Chapter 5: Racial Progress in American Music: Spirituals, Blues, Jazz, and Beyond, Douglas Groothuis Chapter 6: On Muddy Waters’ Use of Sacred Tunes, Edward Komara Chapter 7: Robert Johnson and the Crossroads: Myth, Man, and the Meaning of the Mythology, Jonathan S. Lower Chapter 8: “But I Didn’t Give Up on God”: The Christian-Blues Exegesis and Hermeneutics of Eddie “Son” House, Michael A. L. Broyles Chapter 9: Salvation Through the Theological Communication of the Blues, Coldwell Daniel IV (Khyber) Chapter 10: “Worthwhile to Be Heard”: Spiritual Angst and Lamentation in the Blues, William L. Ellis Chapter 11: Singin’ the Blues: Expressions of Hope for the Grieving Heart, Jessica McMillan Chapter 12: The Song Brings Joy to our Cry: Learning From the Blues About the Importance of Lament in Worship, Michael Sharp

Justin McLendon is professor of theology at Grand Canyon University and department chair for the Master of Arts programs for Grand Canyon Theological Seminary.

Reviews for Theology and the Blues

Through the diverse disciplinary lenses of twelve authors, Theology and the Blues rethinks the long-held tropes separating blues from religion or spirituality, by expanding on research around blues and religion from authors such as James Cone, John Michael Spencer, Adam Gussow and others. Some previously devised divisions isolating blues from religion are turned on their head to show they are often more inexorably linked than sometimes meets the eye. The simplistic idea of Blues being the ""Devil's music,"" far removed from Gospel music just doesn't hold up. Blues music was simultaneously influenced by African American spirituals while also giving rise to more modern Black gospel music. In fact, blues can itself be almost a form of religion; as Albert Murray pointed out in Stomping the Blues, the act of performing blues music can be a way of exorcising the demons of the emotional state of having the blues. --Greg Johnson, The University of Mississippi; co-author of 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own