The first time I heard “Get Away Jordan” was on an obscure gospel album from West Virginia. I knew it was a White gospel group, but it sounded like a Black group. After some research, it became clear that it is indeed a traditional African American spiritual gospel song. However, I discovered another interesting connection…
Jesus appeared to Al Thomas in 1973 and commanded him to build a flying saucer with which to distribute food, medicine, and the Bible. Here is his story: About Al Thomas Thomas is leaning back in a swivel chair on the concrete apron of his two-bay garage in Russellville. “The lust is nothing but money….
Since the beginning of my research, I was trying to locate the Lighted Cross on the map and thanks to new Google Street View material and new angles and close-ups, I was able to locate the cross. In the short documentary ‘The Heartland Show’, they start with a close-up of the Lighted Cross. The cross…
Ivan Massar, From the Selma to Montgomery, 1965 Like photo-essayist James Karales, photojournalist Ivan Massar documented the fifty-four-mile voting-rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Like Karales, Massar took a picture of Harrison Mayes iconic roadside marker in the foreground and the marchers on US-80 in the background. Elliott Erwitt, Alabama, 1955 French-American photographer Elliott…
While I’ve rarely seen signs by Henry Harrison Mayes in snapshots, his work and that of other, even more anonymous sign makers is often documented by professional photographers (see With Signs Following, by Joe York). Here is a list of photographers with an interest in vernacular religious signs in the US. Meryl Truett Meryl Truett…
A reader of the blog notified me about a “GET RIGHT WITH GOD” cross on I-65, Wolcott, Indiana. He noted that this might be a copycat marker and according to Google Street View it does look indeed newer, and it’s not Mayes style, and it’s on an Interstate instead of an older highway. Certainly, whoever…
I heard about Bowles and Cook first on the Smithsonian Folkways “People’s Pick’s” playlist series that got kicked off by my friend Daniel Bachman in 2015. He described their music best in his notes, writing: It seems appropriate that this is the first song on the playlist because it was the first I ever heard…
Ernest C. Martin was a bluegrass and country gospel musician and evangelist from Clay City, Kentucky. Born on January 27, 1914, in Clay City, he began his career in music at an early age, playing the banjo, guitar, and banjolina, and singing in church, school dances, and pie suppers. He gained his first steady radio…
Primitive church building, serviced by a group of teenagers from Virginia, close to the Kentucky border. I assume the church was built and active in the summer and fall of 2013. These kids were signs followers and seem to have taken it quite serious. The church building looks like a remodeled shag, has outhouses and…
Last year I found out that Henry Harrison Mayes and Folk Art legend Rev. Howard Finster knew each other and Mayes even influenced Finster with his sign ministry. The first clue about this relationship I found in Norman Girardot’s book Envisioning Howard Finster: The Religion and Art of a Stranger from Another World. And digging…
It’s hard to tell if this is a genuine Mayes cross. I’ve seen images of crosses with a similar typeface attributed to him. Those were older, and given the bad paint job and the time frame of William R. Ferris photo, this might be one of those older crosses, painted over by someone who “took…
The book The Persecuted Prophets by Karen W. Carden, Robert W. Pelton mentioned the existence of a music group called the All for Jesus Singers that went “on tour”. This is at least the second mention of a named music project out of the serpent handling community, beside Tommy and Lou Coots. Although only the…
I found these two photos that resemble Harrison Mayes’ work, but I’m not 100% certain. His typography has undoubtedly influenced them. Photographer Don Dudenbostel posted some more photos and some background information on this photography forum.
This photo above, is clipped from the National Geographic Snake Salvation series. Initially I took a screenshot because I collect these kinds of photos, but later I came back for another reason. I discovered the Alabama Astronaut podcast, which explores the music of the serpent handlers. There they mention the Coots family, and that Jamie…
A rather unusual, more primitive concrete marker on Hwy 80 in Rockwood, TN near Kingston, TN. The cross misses the typical lettering and message, instead it appears rough and with a different wording than Mayes on each side. One side says JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, the other is barely readable but states …BUT THE BLOOD……
The link between two American visionaries.
I saw the PREPARE TO MEET GOD barn for the first time on The Carpetbagger’s Flickr page and the only clue was Del Rio, TN a tiny town on a long winding road along a river. Mayes created the sign in the 50 and added the same message later with wooden letters above the metal…
The cross bench is a very special sign that lots of people have enjoyed. This particular one-of-a-kind sign (bench) weighs two thousand pounds and is built in the shape of a cross. This shows the cross bench as it was first cast at Harrison’s homeplace. Later, it was moved to downtown. Presently, it is placed at Ford’s Woods Park, Middlesboro, Kentucky. This sign…
Sign by Henry Harrison Mayes in near Old-Hwy 63, Speedwell, TN Location: 36.52185783000347, -83.74941173203882 According to “A Coal Miner’s Simple Message” Book, a cross was relocated from Middlesborro to Speedwell, TN to Bill Hatfields property. I wasn’t able to find it via street view or satellite images, but I found a painted Mayes sign. Hatfield…
37°46’04.2″N 82°19’49.0″W · 1990-2320 US-52, Williamson, WV 25661
