I Got Two Wings

We Say...

Review by John Morthland

An evangelist in the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ from 1925 until his death in 1965, Smith is also one of the unsung fathers of electric guitar. It's understandable if his name doesn't ring a bell for you. He only released three 78 rpm singles commercially in his entire life — in 1944, 1947 and 1953; furthermore, different versions of the same song, best known as "Two Wings," graced the A-side of all three. This set features all six of those sides, plus five more discovered only recently — two of which are yet more versions of his theme song. The remaining tracks feature believers who influenced or were influenced by Smith, the best-known being Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Arizona Dranes. But they're blown away by the circa-1961 "God Rode in on a Windstorm" by Smith's daughter Sister Sarah James and the Sanctified Six, spotlighting a stunning pianist who plays like Little Richard trying to duplicate Elder Smith's guitar licks on the 88s.

And what about Smith's guitar? It's said that he started on an acoustic which he just banged with his hand; only after going electric did he actually play the guitar — taught, he says, by God. I believe all of this, so unlike anything else are the sounds he makes. In his hands, the guitar sounds more like a rattletrap toy instrument, high-pitched and played very, very fast. The opening (1953) version of "Two Wings" alternates sharp, stabbing outbursts with rumbling, rhythmic chunks of guitar. On the following "Glory to Jesus I'm Free," the rattletrap is replaced by more of a rat-a-tat-tat guitar sound, with the bass strings adding an earthy boogie feel. The 1944 version of "I Want Two Wings" boasts more of a corkscrewed country boogie lead, while the guitar work on the 1947 "Two Wings and Every Man's Got to Lay Down and Die" creates an effect not unlike all the springs in an old-fashioned clock bursting loose at once. All of this is done, mind you, with a rather desperate and otherworldly urgency. Smith sings in a rough, rocky voice that calls to mind the God of Wrath rather than the God of Love, and is usually backed only by his manic guitar, a female backing choir, and handclaps. You need hear him only once to understand instantly how he got congregations falling out in the aisles.