Martin Luther King, Jr. Offers Advice About Playing Rock ‘n’ Roll Music
In the late 1950s, rock ‘n’ roll was not only big news but a big problem to most adults. Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Elvis, Buddy Holly…the roster of teenage music heroes was growing as long as Jason Momoa’s hair. Parents, teachers, civic officials, religious leaders, even the neighborhood policeman—all the usual stop signs of public order and decency—were at wit’s end trying to grapple with its growing popularity and influence. Was it the work of Satan? The Kremlin? The Elders of Zion?
Ebony Magazine subscription ad featuring Rev. Martin Luther King’s advice column, 1958
Here's an interesting fact not widely known today about Martin Luther King, Jr. From September 1957 to December 1958, while still buzzing in the limelight of his bus boycott success in Montgomery, the emerging (28-year-old) civil rights leader worked a side hustle for Ebony magazine as an advice columnist. Titled “Advice for Living,” his monthly column promised to “lead you into a happier life.” Wives wrote about their frustrations at home while husbands sought guidance with marital matters and employment issues. On occasion, young people would write seeking counsel about their tribulations as teenagers. To give one example. A church-going lad was worried about his attraction to rock ‘n’ roll music.
Here’s how the exchange went:
Question:
I am a 17-year-old musician and I belong to the church. I play gospel music and I play rock ’n’ roll. Is it a sin to play rock ’n’ roll music for a living?
Answer:
The question of whether playing rock and roll for a living is sinful or not sinful is really not the basic question confronting you. The real question is whether one can be consistent in playing gospel music and rock and roll music simultaneous. It seems to me that one must decide to either play gospel music or rock and roll. The two are totally incompatible. The profound sacred and spiritual meaning of the great music of the church must never be mixed with the transitory quality of rock and roll music. The former serves to lift men’s souls to higher levels of reality, and therefore to God; the latter so often plunges men’s minds into degrading and immoral depths. Therefore, I would say that you would be giving your life to a more noble purpose if you concentrated on the music of the church rather than rock and roll. Never seek to mix the two.
So why would King choose to quit the important side gig of counseling troubled teenagers and distressed dads through his advice column? Doctor’s orders. He needed time to recover.
Here’s the story.
King had flown to New York City in September 1958 to promote the publication of his book, Stride Toward Freedom. On Saturday, September 20, a book signing event was held at Blumstein’s Department Store, located on 230 West 125th Street in Harlem. Popularly known as the “uptown Saks Fifth Avenue,” the eight-story building housed the largest and most prestigious retail store in the area. Even though it didn’t sell books, it was the best possible site to stage the big event. A desk was set up for King in the back of the shoe department.
Izola Ware Curry in 1958.
A Black woman in a blue raincoat suddenly stepped out of the crowd of fifty or so people lined up to get their book autographed and lunged at the sitting author. In her hand was a seven-inch razor-sharp knife. King’s attempt to deflect the weapon failed, opening a cut on his left hand. The woman plunged the knife deep into his chest, just below the tie, where it lodged between his heart and lung. All pandemonium broke out as the assailant stepped back, making absolutely no effort to flee, and began hollering “I’ve been after him for six years! I’m glad I done it!” Security grabbed her as she continued to spit out obscenities about King and the NAACP.
The police soon arrived and took the raving woman into custody. Izola Ware Curry, the would-be assassin, a 42-year-old maid from the little town of Adrian, Georgia, confessed to the authorities that she’d targeted the civil rights leader for subverting her Roman Catholic faith. They’d later discover a fully loaded Italian automatic inside her blouse.
Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, she would spend the remaining years of her life at Bellevue Hospital. (She died on March 7, 2015.)
It took the doctors four hours to safely remove the protruding weapon from King’s chest. What made the surgery so perilous was the fact that the tip of the blade was resting against his aorta. To perform the delicate operation, they had to remove two ribs and portions of his breastbone. One of the surgeons later said that a simple sneeze would have killed King. Imagine that.
Interestingly, Curry’s weapon wasn’t actually a knife but a Japanese penknife with a gently curved blade and a handle of inlaid ivory. A very fancy letter opener.
Izola Ware Curry and Dr. King. The letter opener can be seen protruding from his chest
King’s doctors recommended he limit his obligations and rest awhile. Goodbye “Dear Martin.”
By the way, for those curious about the tumultuous integration of gospel music and rock ‘n’ roll I highly recommend the four-CD compilation, Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Other Worldly African-American Gospel [1944-2007] and especially the (1956) track “Rock and Roll Sermon” by Elder Charles D. Beck. It says everything that was of concern to King’s 17-year-old letter writer. (Don’t fail to notice that Beck himself clearly has been listening to the forbidden music as he incorporates Bill Hayley lyrics into his denunciation of the devil’s music. Also note that the excellent electric guitarist accompanying the preacher appears to have also been bitten by the poisonous snake from below.).
YouTube has the song/sermon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1jI-3VreaY&list=RDR1jI-3VreaY&start_radio=1