“Child of God” Plays Second Fiddle to Leon

Maijoe Gortner has been popping up in all sorts of strange places lately, not the least of which are a few surprise appearances at selected Leon Russell concerts. He originally turned up as a somewhat off-the-wall guest on the late night tv talk show circuit, following in the tradition of Monte Rock III and Brother Theodore. From there came a full-length film documentary currently making the rounds to enthusiastic reviews, acting offers from every side, and, of course, the Russell shows.

What’s Marjoe’s hustle? From the time he was ordained in his father’s church — at age three — his stock in trade has been old-fashioned fire and brimstone. A traveling revivalist preacher (whose name is a combination of Mary and Joseph), he was billed as “the Child of God” and legions of salvation-starved people gave willing testimony (not to mention goodly quantities of money) in every town he passed through.

He continued his ministry until age 14, at which time he made his decision not for Jesus, but for Maijoe. He dropped his practice, returning to it only when he found himself running low on cash. On his last such concession to the green and crinkly agents of the devil, he agreed to the accompaniment of a film crew directed by Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan (of the Village Voice). What that filming produced was a thoroughly engrossing — if slightly pretentious — combination of straight revival documentary and Maijoe’s color commen-

tary, in which he reveals many of the tricks of the evangelist trade.

Openly admitting that many of his performance moves were copped from Mick Jagger, the step from tent show to rock and roll circus isn’t all that great. The scene runs something like | this: toward the end of his set, Leon Russell stops and gives a short speech explaining that he’s never been persuaded to give public advocation to anything — including McGovern — but that his special guest is something else altogether. At this point Marjoe comes bounding onto the stage and launches into one of his highest-energy messages from the Lord. Reports indicate that his receptions have been on the cool side; could this be taken to mean that you need more than the power of God to steal Leon Russell’s show?