![]() ![]() While still a student there, he became known as a charismatic evangelist, and his career was set. It impressed his audiences enormously that he was Mexican, had grown up in the slums of San Antonio, Texas, and had converted from Roman Catholic to Baptist, in a mission near his home.Īt the age of 10 he became a preacher, later attending Baylor University, and graduating with honors from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Angle, the star of the show, knew exactly how to persuade the poor, simple evangelicals with his polished manners, handsome appearance, and well-honed gospel rhetoric. We performed on a stage built on the track surrounding the football field and facing the bleachers. In Sylacauga, Alabama, a crowd of 3,000 Bible-toting believers gathered nightly to sit on wooden bleachers in a high school football stadium, to hear and see the gospel message enacted by Angel and us musicians. The tour included crusades in Sylacauga, Alabama, and Bartlesville, Oklahoma, both with large populations of fervent protestant fundamentalists. My style of playing was modeled on the music I heard weekly on the gospel radio show, The Old-Fashioned Revival Hour, popular with Christian evangelicals through the country.Īt the conclusion of the revival, during which many sinners had “found Jesus” for the first time under the passionate persuasion of Angel’s sermons, he asked me to join him, his Armenian trumpet player/song leader, and a boy my age, who was a virtuoso on the Hammond electric organ. My music, which Angel told me was spiritual and emotional, was meant to prompt the congregation to give money, and to prepare them emotionally for Angel’s sermon. My solo hymn arrangements, called “special music,” accompanied plates being passed among believers to collect money. I turned them into showpieces with flourishes of scales, arpeggios, and octaves that outlined and elaborated the main harmonies of the songs. I was 16 at the time, and the pianist for every service during the two-week Crusade for Christ-and Angel liked my flashy, youthful enthusiastic talent at the keyboard, particularly my ability to improvise “in a classical way” on familiar gospel hymns. If the music could make the women cry, their husbands would give money. ![]() It was the job of professional musicians employed by the evangelist to create an atmosphere that enhanced persuasion and encouraged public display of emotion. His sermons were meant to stir intense emotion and inspire listeners to act out their transformation in front of their family and friends. They were a welcome road show for poor rural people, and the star of the show was the evangelist. Christian revivals, particularly among Baptists and Methodists, have existed in America since the late l8th century, with the advent of the Second Great Awakening.īesides reinvigorating believers and preaching the gospel of Christ to non-believers and persuading them to join the religious tribe that was doing the preaching, fundamentalist revivals were a popular form of entertainment. | Photo courtesy of BusbyīY GERALD BUSBY | I first met Angel Martinez when he came to my home church, First Baptist in Tyler, Texas, to lead us in a revival meeting. ![]()
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