I Got Two Wings: Incidents and Anecdotes of The Two-Winged Preacher and Electric Guitar Evangelist Elder Utah Smith

by Lynn Abbott

Book by Lynn Abbott

Genres: Music, Biography

127 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2008

Reviews

[Daniel Blok · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reverend Utah Smith may well have been the hardest working man in church business. He was a traveling evangelist who preached and sermonized and healed the sick (perhaps I should say: God healed these people through the reverend), and of course he played his electric guitar, which was a mean guitar. For at least four decades he traveled throughout the USA, mostly playing in churches and tents but also in less obvious places, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Some of the religious meetings –‘night services’ – he led or attended went on till the early morning light. ‘My guitar don’t start sounding good until twelve o’clock at night,’ he once said.

This little book paints a nice portrait of Utah Smith, nicknamed ‘God’s Funny Boy’, and also offers a glimpse into the world of Afro-American religion in general and the Church of God in Christ in particular. A delve into history, with an abundance of anecdotes and quotes from family members and church members, numerous citations from newspapers, photos, lyrics, label shots… all showing that in his day, the reverend Utah Smith was an influential, inspiring and, above all, colourful man with a nose for publicity.
The book also devotes some lines to the criticism reverend Smith received when, in a controversial sermon during an election in the nineteen-forties, he said that black people should ‘register with Jesus’. The implied suggestion that it was not necessary for black people to actually register to vote caused serious commotion in parts of the black community, some members of which accused Smith of ‘Uncle Tomming’.

Included with the book is an 18-song cd which of course features the famous ‘Two wings,’ plus some variations on this song. About half of the songs are by Utah Smith (with or without congregation), the rest by other gospel artists. All of the songs are raw and pure.

[Phil Overeem · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bulk of this little book is documentation of the activities of the guitar-wielding COGIC minister Utah Smith--nonetheless, it was a worthwhile task, the accompanying CD is killer, and...let's get a marker for Rev. Smith's grave!