Tambourines to Glory

by Langston Hughes

For every bustling jazz joint that opened in Korean War–era Harlem, a new church seemed to spring up. Tambourines to Glory introduces you to an unlikely team behind a church whose rock was the curb at 126th and Lenox.

Essie Belle Johnson and Laura Reed live in adjoining tenement flats, adrift on public relief. Essie wants to somehow earn enough money to reunite with her daughter and provide her with a nice home; Laura loves young men, mink coats, and fine Scotch. On a day of inspiration, the friends decide to use a thrift-store tambourine and a layaway Bible to start a church.

Their sidewalk services are a Laura’s a natural street performer who loves the limelight, while Essie is a charismatic singer with a quiet spirituality. Before long they move to a thousand-seat theatre called the Tambourine Temple. The two women are joined in their ministering by Birdie Lee, the little-old-lady trap drummer who can work the congregation to a feverish pitch, and Deacon Crow-For-Day, an impassioned confessor.

But then Laura falls for Buddy, a scam artist who suggests selling to the faithful lucky numbers from Scripture and bottles of tap water as “Holy Water from the Jordan.” Even with a Cadillac and piles of money from Laura, Buddy won’t stay faithful, igniting a crime of passion and betrayal.

Harlem Moon Classics is proud to reintroduce readers of all generations to this sparkling gem from the canon of Langston Hughes.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Audiobook, African American, Literature, Poetry, Literary Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Through poetry, prose, and drama, American writer James Langston Hughes made important contributions to the Harlem renaissance; his best-known works include Weary Blues (1926) and The Ways of White Folks (1934).

People best know this social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry, for his famous written work about the period, when "Harlem was in vogue."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsto...

Reviews

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incisive and scathing mid-cent novel that explicates race and religion, the intersectionality of the two, and the palliative role faith plays for those trod under foot. It's nothing like what you'd expect given 'Langston Hughes' as a known, esteemed alumnus of the Harlem Renaissance, i.e. as a solvent ‘brand’ of Black writer of fixed gifts.

It is too light to be 5 stars, but it offers a wonderful insight into Hughes that challenges the historicity of those that think of him as a poet, a shill for Whitey with his 'Simple' novels, or as a relic of emerging racial awareness in America.

Plus, it's packed to the organ loft with fantastic gospel songs. What are you doing here if you don't like Black American, sanctified, Baptist GOSPEL? No? Away with you, devil! Fuck along.

[Karen_RunwrightReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the visual and lyrical feel of this short novel. As someone who is very aware of the criticisms of the church but am a church-goer myself, this plot strikes a chord with me. I think Hughes does a good job showing how religion can be life-changing in very different ways, and not always leading to spiritual conversion.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started the year with a goal of 2 books a month so am a little behind having just finished my 2nd book! Saw this on a Black History Month display at the library and decided to give it a try. Excellent period novel about the struggle between good and evil, street-corner evangelists and storefront churches in 1950's Harlem.

[Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook (4 hours) narrated by Myra Lucretia Taylor


Myra Lucretia Taylor recorded this novel, originally written in 1958, in 1985. The recording was then upgraded and reformatted in 2007. It's beautifully narrated and the quality is fantastic. The only indication that this narration was done so long ago is that there are brief announcements 'end of side 1', 'end of side 2', etc.
Due to the quality, this novel can be listened too from 1x to 3x speed. If you are not from the east coast, you may need to account for the local speech accents, and give yourself a slower listening speed. There's also some singing and sound affects that may be more enjoyable at slower speeds.

Tambourines to Glory is a well written classic that is just as relevant today as it was back in 1958. This is also a story that has been told time and time again, since, and likely before, but perhaps without such down to earth realness. The main characters could be my aunts, or yours. Two women both wanting seemingly the same thing for different reasons, that both don't seem to fully understand or at least acknowledge until things are in progress.

While this story revolves around religion, you do not have to be religious to enjoy or understand, I was going to say more, but I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't yet had the opportunity to read the book or see it played out on stage.

Recommend.

[LeeTravelGoddess]

Chiiiiiile… Langston done showed out 😹!!!

[Tamara Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Tambourines to Glory” was the second novel written by Langston Hughes that is unknown by most people. Interestingly enough, this novel was based on a play of the same name 1956 which Hughes wrote in ten days. In addition, after “Tambourines to Glory” was published as a novel in 1958, the play hit Broadway in 1963 but closed after twenty-five shows due to bad reviews.

Hughes’ novel is a morality play set in 1950’s Harlem which presents good and evil through the characters of Essie Belle Johnson and Laura Reed. Both women are living off welfare are complete opposites: Essie is a God fearing woman wanting to earn enough money to send for her daughter living in the South while Laura loves money, fine things and liquor.

One day, Laura gets an idea that they both make money by preaching on the street corner while Essie sings. In order to bring their plan to fruition, they put a Bible on layaway and purchase a stool and tambourine to play while preaching to those walking past them on the street.

Due to Laura’s preaching ability and Essie’s divine singing, they soon move from the street corner to a small building to a large theater. During their location transitions, they gain new followers to their church which delights Essie since she feels what they’re doing is the Lord’s work but infuriates Laura because she feels the limelight getting moved from her.

Eventually, Laura’s desire for money comes to a tragic end while Essie is left to pick up the pieces of what remains. I enjoyed this book and like the juxtaposition between good and evil which is shown through both women. Although the novel is predictable at times, the message is one that is as true today as it was in 1958 when this novel was originally published.

[Bri Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read classics, but Langston Hughes is one of my favorite writers, and I love reading works from the Harlem Renaissance. I found this while browsing my local library and was immediately intrigued. This novel is about two friends who find God in a crap apartment in Harlem because they need some money and booze. Well, Essie wants to bring her daughter up from the South to live with her and Laura wants to spend all the money entertaining herself and her man-of-the-week.
This novel was originally written as a play, and it shows: there's so much moving and shaking that the church scenes would look gorgeous on stage. And Hughes's rhythmic writing reads like music.

The story painted a vivid recollection of streetcorner evangelists that were popping up all over Harlem in the 50s. Definitely a necessary read from Hughes's canon.

[Travious Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well-told and captures urban life and the impact of the Church on Black existence. I would love for someone to reproduce the play because of how well Langston Hughes penned it. From its original run on Broadway in the early 1960s, the play was received well, but some felt the play mocked the Black Church. I would love to see the reactions today.

Despite the criticisms the story received from the intertidals, I feel this story tells both the good and bad of the use of religion as escapism. What Hughes captured in the 1950s with the original novel is what James H. Cone would later paint as Black Liberation Theology. From the characters to the plot and everything in between, this novel is a feel good and endearing read.

[Blythe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eek. I’ll stick to his poetry.

[La La · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had a twist I didn't see coming!

[Pascale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, strong and moving. The plot revolves around 2 black women in their 40s, the sweet and passive Essie and the lustful, amoral Laura, who live from hand to mouth in Harlem. One fine day, Laura hits on the idea of teaming up to preach on a street corner and pass a collection plate. They instantly attract followers and are able to rent some rooms to establish their first church. Seeing how much money they are bringing in, Buddy, a handsome black crook seduces Laura and starts acting as the middleman between her and "Marty", a white mafia boss. Under Marty's instructions, Laura starts selling tap water for water from the Jordan and giving out "lucky numbers" from the pulpit for the credulous to play on the lottery. Essie thoroughly disapproves of these shenanigans but doesn't have the strength to fight Laura's bottomless greed. Trouble intensifies when Essie's ravishing teenage daughter Marietta, who had been staying in the South with her granny, is able to join her mother in NYC thanks to the revenues generated by the church. Buddy immediately makes a pass at the girl, who is too sensible to fall for him. But thinking Laura will stand for any amount of abuse, Buddy makes the mistake of flaunting a young lover in the red Cadillac Laura bought him. For this, she stabs him to death with Essie's pocket knife. Since a member of the congregation has seen her, Laura is unable to shift the blame onto Essie as was her first instinct. With Laura in prison, Essie has a free hand to claim sole control of the church and run in at last in proper Christian fashion. Somehow Hughes manages to infuse these stock characters and predictable situations with immense vitality, truth and power.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good and evil sing and preach.

[Mckinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always thought of Hughes as a poet, really enjoyed this story.

[JC · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s fitting that I first encountered the work of Langston Hughes while sitting under the majestic arches of St James Cathedral in Toronto attending a free organ performance of Olivier Messiaen’s La Nativite Du Seigneur, where an Anglican priest read various poems in between each of the organ movements, one of which was a poem by Hughes. I would go on to discover Hughes' absolutely beautiful poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” which has certainly become one of my favourite poems ever.

The Church is what Hughes focuses on in this extraordinary novel. It so perfectly encapsulates the ways Christianity (Pentecostalism in this case) is so entangled with the logics of capitalism. I grew up in this sort of religious ethos and I think Hughes captures it so articulately. I know Hughes has always denied being a communist despite being so intimately involved in so many communist organizations throughout his life and being so honoured and admired by communists around the world. I think it’s safe to at least call him a fellow traveller. Either way, there is this Marxist commentary that threads its way throughout the entire novel. The way the bible the two protagonists purchase becomes a sort of investment, a locus of capital to create more profit – there were so many passages from Marx’s Capital Volume 1 that were running through my head. Marx often uses the production and exchange of bibles in his chapter examples, and that CMC and MCM distinction was quite interestingly portrayed in this novel.

The evangelical church my parents went to, has a parent church in Chicago that suffered from similar woes as the one portrayed in this book. The head pastor there was pulling in a fairly large salary and living a rather luxurious life making renovations on his mansion, while the rest of his church, including people on his board were making significant sacrifices with their finances to support the church. It ended in scandal and he was removed from his position of authority, but that basic dynamic has not been dismantled. It's so much a part of evangelical Christianity. And it really does seem like such a ponzi scheme and a perfect crystallization of Christian hypocrisy. How much we need Jesus to come drive the moneychangers out – to topple tables, and if necessary bring out a whip of cords. Haha, oh wow… I’m sorry. I’ve been reading Du Bois’ biography of John Brown lately and am feeling very prophetic and confrontational, despite the fact that I too am a bourgeois hypocrite. Forgive me Lord for I am a sinner. Du Bois includes this detail of John Brown declining butter as a dinner guest apologizing for not being accustomed to such luxuries, and Du Bois also includes Frederick Douglass’ sense of shock (even disappointment) at how austere and basic Brown’s home was upon visiting it. But Brown was not an ascetic for its own sake; he was forwarding everything he had towards the cause of abolition. I wish I had that sort of commitment to liberation. This book if anything was another reminder for self-examination and ‘self-criticism’ (for lack of a better term). It's easy to see the hypocrisy of others, and fail to recognize it in one's own life.

[Shell (booksbythecup)]

When you find an unknown Hughes book in your library’s audio book catalog you read the synopsis and start listening.

I started this one evening while walking and couldn’t help but laugh and keep walking as to find out what was about to happen with this shotgun church Essie and Laura start. Polar opposite’s, these 2 women have different motivations for starting this outdoor, corner church. Essie loves the Lord and her friend Essie, so she all in.

However, Laura is in it for the money so she can enjoy life instead of being poor and mistreated.

There is humor but also a potent reality. Hughes shows how well meaning people are searching to satisfy their spiritual need. He shows how that can and has been exploited by many in the name of religion. This book while short and entertaining, makes me wonder how much Hughes knew about Jehovah God, several people in the book use God’s personal name on occasion. The book also made me appreciate how I want to continue helping others not study religion but the Bible. The truth is in there. 🙂

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand the original version of Tambourines to Glory was a play with music, in this case spirituals. The lyrics are retained in the novel, so it made sense to me to pick up the audiobook, hoping to hear them sung. I was not disappointed. Narrator Myra Taylor sings really well, and also provides crisp, definable narration for the main characters Essie Johnson and Laura Reed. The two poor women decide that they will create their own church so they can do good for the community (Essie) and make a profit on it (Laura). The pair start on a street corner with a chair and a tambourine, and the novel follows their progress as they get deeper into their religion.

A short read, but a good one.

[Lydia Kass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essie and Laura pull themselves up from their bootstraps a start a street ministry on a Harlem corner; later expanding to a small basement and then to an old abandoned theater which gets sort of renovated when Laura's pseudo-boyfriend greases the palms of the mob and city hall.

Laura's dream is to be rich. Essie's dream is to have her daughter come back up North to live with her and to do good things.

Spoiler alert: Laura is no longer in the picture in the end; but Essie goes on to fulfill her good deeds by starting a childcare center and a rec center and health care for the the congregation.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tambourines To Glory by Langston Hughes is a musical play written in 1956. Hughes in 1958 turned the play into a novel. It reads like a play, but in my opinion is better suited for a novel. (Although I have never seen the play)The novel/play centers around two female preachers Essie Belle Johnson and Laura Reed who are both from the South decide to open a storefront church in Harlem on 125th and Lennox. This story is a good depiction of good and evil and the length people will go to in order to get money.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical details of this novel were intriguing, and some of the writing was beautiful (especially the poetic descriptions of the lives most of the congregation were living during the conversion scene with Buddy). Much of the rest of the book however was mostly dialogue, betraying the story’s theatrical origin, and since the characters are essentially allegorical most of them weren't that interesting.

[Rolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would love to see this performed as a play. Not only is it a compelling portrait of a moment in time (the growth of black churches in postwar Harlem, also captured in James Baldwin’s Go Tell It On the Mountain), but it’s an excellent allegory for the potential corruption of every well-intentioned endeavor by money and greed.

[Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Hughes showed up and showed out. The heads and tails of the Church House and every thing in between the pages of this book. It was such a visual. His words still ring true behind and within the walls of many Houses of Worship. It makes one wonder what are some worshipping. The word or, the “mighty” dollar?

[anise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mighty magnet of the colored race—the North! Roll bus! Roll across that Jim Crow River called the Potomac! Roll past the white dome of the Capitol! Roll down the New Jersey Turnpike, through the Holland Tunnel, and up and out from under the river into the North! New York! Roll into the magic streets of Manhattan! Harlem, a chocolate ice cream cone in New York's white napkin.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read. It kept me interested, though it reads more like a play than a novel. I was surprised to to find that Langston Hughes wrote two novels. Apparently he wrote this one as a treatise on the goings on in gospel churches.

[Antonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet, very entertaining. Well written too, enjoyed every bit of it plus glad it didn’t go the way I imagined!
3 stars because it is like delicious fast food. Might review again when I mull on it more.

[Rhonda Hankins · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best novels I've ever read.

The story is epically great. Original, thoughtful, thought-provoking. The era/the location evocative. The dialogue extraordinary, loved it.

Aces. This book is absolute aces.

[big book McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, especially seeing the contrast of the two main characters.

It's funny how the influence of others can change us, our stories, our actions, for better or for worse.

It also pointed out how easy it can be to manipulate a community if you say that god is on your side

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but vivid depiction of Harlem life mid-century, when two savvy ladies team up to solve their cash flow problems by creating a church - which flourishes despite its shady foundations.listened to the audiobook, which includes some nice gospel singing.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snake oil salesmen come in many guises...good does not always triumph over evil, but love prevails here.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun send up of pop up quickie churches and those who'd use religion as a path to riches.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luv reading Langston Hughes...I enjoyed Laura and Essie...The good and Evil...Some of those spiritual hymns bring back memories of going to church...