The Jesus Movement and the Folk Wave: Lealon Worrell and Jerry Foshee
By Al Timberlane
One of my favorite examples of what I mean when I talk about The Ozark American Songbook™ is The Jesus Movement and the Folk Wave, the story of Lealon Worrell and Jerry Foshee. This project became the first released film in our developing Folk Music America Film Series, and it helped define something important for me: the American Songbook is not only a list of songs. It is also the people who sang them, the friendships around them, the faith that shaped them, and the memories that survive because someone took the time to listen.
When the Music Brings People Back Together
The first presentation of the film took place in Little Rock, Arkansas, in a home surrounded by family and friends. Some of those gathered had not been together for more than 60 years. They came together again, played the music, talked, remembered, laughed and shared stories from a period of their lives that could easily have disappeared into memory.
That gathering became more than a film showing. It became another chapter of the film itself. People who had lived the story were together again, hearing the songs and remembering what the music meant to them. The cameras and recordings gave us a chance to preserve not only a performance, but the human connections surrounding it.
The Jesus Movement, the Folk Wave and an American Story
The story of Lealon Worrell and Jerry Foshee sits at the intersection of music, faith, friendship and a changing American culture. For our purposes, the importance of the film is not to reduce that period to a date or a label. It is to let the people who were there talk about what they remember and to let the music help carry those memories forward.
That is the heart of Folk Music America. Sometimes history is found in an archive box. Sometimes it is found on a stage. Sometimes it is found when old friends sit together after decades apart and begin talking about the songs they once played.
A Film Becomes Part of the Songbook
The Ozark American Songbook began with the idea of 250 songs in 250 days, but projects such as this film showed us why the Songbook had to become larger. A song is important, but so is the story behind the song. An interview can be part of the Songbook. A photograph can be part of the Songbook. A radio program can be part of the Songbook. A reunion can be part of the Songbook. And a film can be part of the Songbook.
The Jesus Movement and the Folk Wave is therefore not separate from our American Songbook work. It is one of its clearest examples: people, music and memory preserved together so that another generation can hear the story in the voices of those who lived it.
Coming to Mountain View
We plan to share the film in Mountain View, Arkansas, including a future presentation at the Meeting Place at Club Possum, along with other venues. Watch for announcements as those presentations are confirmed.
Explore the Story Behind the Story
This is why we keep the cameras rolling and the microphones open. The music matters. The people matter. The stories matter. Together, they are the American Songbook.
— Al Timberlane
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