SG History 101
SG History 101 - J. Bazzel Mull
This month is another installment illustrating the fact that not all the key figures in the development of gospel music as we know it are singers or performers. But whether they sang, made records, wrote songs,promoted concerts, or whatever, their love for gospel music and their desire to take it to as many people as possible made them all gospel music heroes to those of us who still love the music today.
Our subject this month is one of gospel music’s most beloved behind-the-scenes figures, and a leading figure in not just one part of gospel music, but several.
Way back on October 4, 1914, a young man was born in Burke County, North Caroilna, whose parents and siblings all enjoyed gospel music, as have many youngsters from the Tar Heel State. Jacob Bazzel Mull was also the grandson of what was known as a circuit-riding preacher, those itinerant ministers of the gospel who would ride from place to place on horseback, and preach (or sing) to whoever would gather.
The family gospel singing group was called the Valdese Sacred Band, and young Jacob would pitch in on the banjo. The youngster’s childhood was filled with the warm sounds of gospel music all around him.
ca 2000
Unfortunately, tragedy had already struck young Jacob early in his life. When he was but 11 months old, he fell into an open fireplace. From that day forward, Jacob was legally blind….and he never got any schooling past the third grade. Such a severe tragedy at that early an age would have permanently demoralized most normal youngsters.
But Jacob was not a normal youngster. All the while as he grew, he felt the love of his family and his God, and pressed on not only to learn how to play music and be a part of the family band, but as a part of a strong, God-loving family, he felt the call at a very young age to eventually become an evangelist.
Memorizing Bible verses read aloud to him for a period of many years, the young Mull began preaching at the age of 18, in 1932. His ministry slowly grew over the next several years, and by 1939, he had discovered the fast growing medium of radio as a place where he could broadcast his sermons, and with the power of that medium, his ministry began to expand beyond the borders of North Carolina.
By 1942, Mull had mastered the radio medium to the point where he got his first regular radio program on station WROL in Knoxville, TN. Mull had moved to Tennessee two years before with his very talented brother Romulus, who sang and played the guitar and piano. Romulus would assist his brother in his evangelistic meetings with his musical skills.
Soon, Mull had moved his radio program to a larger Knoxville station, WNOX (famous a few years later for featuring another fine young guitarist, Chet Atkins). The following year, Mull began promoting gospel concerts in the area, something he would do for many decades afterward.
About that same time, Mull met a young lady named Elizabeth Brown at a church revival, and after an extended courtship, they became man and wife on Sept. 11, 1944, sealing a partnership that would last for sixty more years. This joy no doubt helped him deal with the untimely death of Romulus that same year, who died in prisoner of war camp after joining the Air Force for World War II.
All the while, Mull encouraged and promoted gospel singers and their concerts. Elizabeth was very active in Mull’s ministry, as she not only supervised the business end of his activities, but she was his main pair of eyes for decades, reading the Bible and other books to her husband to add to his already formidable knowledge of Scripture and world events.
Elizabeth also became her husband’s broadcast partner as well, hosting his famous radio program, the “Mull Singing Convention of the Air”.
As the program grew and moved to bigger and more powerful radio stations, listeners who loved the sounds of gospel music tuned into it from far and wide. One such listener was a youngster from Alexandria, Indiana who fell in love with the gospel quartets the Mulls featured on their program. From that humble bit of inspiration, young Bill Gaither was inspired to one day make gospel music his life’s calling. No doubt, many other youngsters who would eventually become gospel singers and performers were similarly inspired to make gospel music their life’s work because of the Mulls and their radio program.
All the while, though, J. Bazzel Mull (as he was popularly known by this time) didn’t content himself with just spreading gospel music far and wide. First and foremost, Mull was an evangelist called to spread the gospel. To that end, Mull continued to organize churches all through North Carolina and Tennessee.
Mull’s power as a gospel promoter was never demonstrated more than it was in 1951, when he began to play the records of a gospel group from Texas who had never done concerts to that point in their careers. The simple, charming sound of the Chuck Wagon Gang touched Mull and his radio audiences…so much so that Mull was responsible for promoting that
group’s first concerts. Thanks to Mull’s radio programs and their association with Columbia Records, the Chuck Wagon Gang eventually became the top record-selling group in gospel music…another well-known gospel artist encouraged and inspired by J. Bazzel Mull.
About that same time(the early 1950s), Mull began to expand into the new field of television, starting in 1956 on Chattanooga’s WRGP-TV, later moving to WTVC-TV there in 1959.
Mull’s popularity preceded him, and he was able to secure sponsors for his TV shows quickly, among them JFG coffee and the Soddy’s Men’s Shop. The homespun, casual appeal of Mull and Elizabeth charmed viewers, and the ability of the show to draw many of the top singers of the day in gospel music to perform live on the shows no doubt added to the shows’ wide appeal.
While continuing his two radio shows, Mull continued to produce two weekly television shows, and promote fifteen to twenty gospel music concerts a year for many, many years. Eventually, he branched out into radio station ownership, his well known flagship station being WJBZ-FM in Knoxville, known as Praise 96.3.
Mull with his wife Elizabeth
Characteristic of Mull’s shows were his raspy voice(made so by years and years of itinerant preaching), and his constant references to Elizabeth as “Lady Mull”, which she is still known as to millions to this day. And after Mull would say something about a sponsor on his programs, he would try to get Elizabeth to second him by saying, “Ain’t that right, Lady Mull?”
On occasion, Mull’s programs would venture out of their studios to live settings, where a long list of top gospel singers would appear before those live audiences. Those shows would extend beyond their normal length, much like the All-Night Sings that were held in other venues.
In 1998, Mull was rewarded for his long years of service to gospel music by being inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, and in 2003, he was so honored by the Southern Gospel Music Association as well, joining their Hall of Fame.
On September 5, 2006, at the age of 91, J. Bazzel Mull passed away due to complications from a stroke. Being in poor health for some time by then, his family was by his side for his homegoing.
1998 GMA Hall of Fame ceremony, as Jerry Goff inducts
Mull into the GMA Hall of Fame. Mull's wife Elizabeth is in the picture
as well
J. Bazzel Mull is yet another example of a man who was determined to do what he did best for what he loved most. As an evangelist, he helped scores of people come to know a living Savior, overcoming a severe lifetime handicap to do so. He never let obstacles deter him from his calling in that area, and he did likewise for the field of gospel music, which he loved since his earliest memories, much like many of the people he helped make popular through his media calling.
It would be almost impossible to speculate as to the number of people blessed by gospel music or encouraged to enter it as a result of the work of J. Bazzel Mull….nevertheless, it’s sufficient to say that J. Bazzel Mull is one of the most important contributors to the history of gospel music during the 20th century, which is why we remember him so fondly today.
Ads Sponsored by Southern Spin
Reader Comments
Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages
Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Written: 06/01/2007
| 
Category: SG History 101
Comments: 4
RSS Feed
| (What's an RSS feed?)
| 
As you wel know, John, I can't say enough about the great concert promoters and their effect on gospel music. If it hadn't been for being a street-team member for a big promoter in the Golden State, I would have never got the chance to hang out with the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen, the Stamps, the Thrasher Brothers, etc. It was nice having that backstage pass! 
