#96 HOME WHERE I BELONG by B.J. Thomas (1977)

HOME WHERE I BELONG by B.J. Thomas

Myrrh Records (MSB-6574)

B. J. Thomas has been described as a true American institution in pop, country, and Christian music. If you’re someone who looks down your nose at Mr. Thomas as one of those artists who can only play state fairs and rodeos, consider the following: He’s a five-time Grammy and two time Dove Award winner who has sold more than 70 million records and is ranked in Billboard’s Top 50 most played artists over the past 50 years. That’s impressive.

Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas was born August 7, 1942, in Hugo, Oklahoma. He sang in a church choir as a teenager but dealt with dysfunction and abuse at home due to an alcoholic father. Music became an escape in high school, a move that turned out quite profitable for the young Mr. Thomas. Over the next decade or so, songs like I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, Hooked on a Feeling, Eyes of a New York Woman, Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, I Just Can’t Help Believin’, (Hey, Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song, and Mighty Clouds of Joy rode high on the charts and made B.J. a wealthy man. 

The combination of financial success and an inner emptiness resulted in a crippling drug addiction; his cocaine alone cost $3,000 a week. He was separated from his wife Gloria (whom he had married when he was twenty-six and she was seventeen) and daughter Paige. During this time, he reportedly could barely get through a recording session because of his incoherence. He developed a reputation as being extremely hard to work with and creating havoc in recording studios.

''In 1975 I began to realize that I was either going to die or I was going to make a decision to put the drugs down,'' B. J. recalls. ''I couldn't put them down, so I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to eventually kill myself.”

Gloria called one day to tell B.J. that she had become a born-again Christian. He was not impressed. But after a near overdose in Hawaii, he agreed to come home and talk to her about it. On January 28, 1976, Jim Reeves prayed with B.J. Thomas as he surrendered his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He recalls: “It was the first truly sincere thing I’d ever done. I told God, ‘Lord, I am undone. I can’t handle it. I just want to turn it over to you. I want to accept your Son as my Savior.’ Man, I started dancing all over this guy’s house! I couldn’t stop laughing, and he couldn’t stop crying. It was a miraculous thing.” He was instantaneously healed of his drug habit that very night. 

Gloria and B.J. Thomas

''It was such a miraculous thing for me,'' he later recalled. ''When I received the Lord as my Savior, I just knew I was gonna go through some withdrawals. I knew I was gonna lose my mind. But I never had one shaky moment, one sleepless night. Nothing bad ever happened.''

It didn’t take long for news of Thomas’ conversion to reach executives at Word Records; the Waco, Texas-based company offered him a contract to record Contemporary Christian Music. So Thomas signed 2 contracts; he would simultaneously record Christian albums for Myrrh Records and secular pop for MCA. Which worked out great initially. The pop album yielded a #17 hit in Don’t Worry Baby…and the Christian album – Home Where I Belong – would prove to be the biggest selling album of his illustrious career. Nobody saw that coming.

B.J. Thomas had been a medium-sized fish in a huge secular ocean, but he was a whale in the small Christian pond back in 1977. Thomas was a huge “get” for the fledgling Christian music industry. In later years, many artists – some well known, some not so well known – would start making Christian albums following salvation experiences. Rick Cua (Outlaws), Dan Peek (America), Leon Patillo (Santana), Joe English (Paul McCartney & Wings) and Mark Farner (Grand Funk Railroad) were just a few. Of course, Bob Dylan belonged in a category all his own. But Myrrh was more than happy to trumpet the news that a real live “star” was making Christian music in 1977. They were rewarded with some big, fat sales figures.

Gloria and B.J. Thomas

Let’s talk about the album itself. Chris Christian’s fingerprints were all over this one. He produced it, arranged it, played guitar, keyboards, and percussion, sang background vocals, and even wrote half of the songs! The album is basic, 70s male pop star stuff. Many of these songs, from a stylistic standpoint, could've been recorded by the likes of Mac Davis, Glen Campbell, or Tom Jones. Thomas' vocal style was somewhat unique and pretty readily recognizable. He doesn't blow you away with his range or his power...but he's really good at singing like B.J. Thomas (if that makes sense). Several songs were written by or co-written with Archie Jordan. Christian and Jordan were masters at penning tunes that could play both sides of the fence – that is, lyrics that could either be taken as being about God or about an earthly lover. “God as my girlfriend” songs, as they were often called. This record had several of them (Without a Doubt, You Were There to Catch Me, Down Isn’t So Bad, Storybook Realities, and Common Ground). One author describes this genre as “ambiguous love songs that can be appreciated by diverse audiences for completely different reasons.”

The title track to Home Where I Belong was written by the talented songsmith Pat Terry. It’s a song that focuses on a yearning for Heaven, for the promised life that waits beyond the troubles of this world, and it was a huge hit. The Pat Terry Group has also recorded the song (as have many other artists), but B.J.’s is the definitive version.

They say that Heaven's pretty / And living here is too 
But if they said that I would have to choose between the two 
I'd go home / going home / where I belong 

Sometimes when I'm dreaming / It comes as no surprise 
That if you look and see the homesick feeling in my eyes 
I'm going home / going home / where I belong 

While I'm here I'll serve Him gladly / Sing Him all these songs 
I'm here / but not for long 

When I'm feeling lonely / When I'm feeling blue 
It's such a joy to know that I am only passing through
I'm headed home / going home / where I belong 

One day I'll be sleeping / When death knocks on my door 
And I'll awake and find that I'm not homesick anymore 
I'll be home / going home / where I belong

I Wanna Be Ready was another song that looked toward heaven and the second coming of Jesus. The record closed with what served as worship in the 70s – a song called Hallelujah, written by Chris Christian’s wife, Shannon Smith.

Home Where I Belong would prove to be the most popular of B.J. Thomas’ CCM albums. 

But trouble was looming.

Thomas developed an uneasy and at times hostile relationship with Christian fans who came to his live shows expecting to hear him perform only his Christian material. He preferred to mix Top-40 and country material into his concerts. He ended up being heckled and protested, resulting in an eventual retreat back into a full-time secular career. He gave angry, profanity-laced interviews and demonstrated a real bitterness toward Christians in general, and at one time denied that he was still a born again believer. 

Much blame has been laid at the feet of “closed-minded, intolerant, judgmental Christians” for the divorce between Thomas and the CCM industry. But perhaps part of this was due to a lack of understanding on Thomas’ part. Maybe he grew up in a world where religion was just a part of your life, something you do on Sunday. To him, it was natural for his “faith songs” to be compartmentalized...to fit nicely into the “gospel” portion of the show. Whereas, many Christians do not compartmentalize their faith. Their Christianity is not something they do on the side to make extra money, it is the very basis for what they believe and how they live their lives every day. It is who they are. Maybe that misunderstanding helped pour fuel on the fire that consumed Thomas’ CCM career in the early 80s. Just a guess on my part. 

That said, the heckling and protesting was kind of stupid. Christian audiences probably should've just swallowed hard and let him sing about raindrops and somebody-done-somebody-wrong and whatever. 

Then again, one of his biggest secular hits was Hooked On a Feeling...

Lips are sweet as candy, the taste stays on my mind
Girl, you keep me thirsty for another cup of wine
I got it bad for you girl, but I don't need a cure
I'll just stay addicted and hope I can endure
All the good love, when we're all aloneKeep it up, girl, yeah ya turn me on

Imagine Thomas singing lyrics like those alongside Home Where I Belong. 

Does. Not. Compute.

B.J. and Gloria Thomas in 2006

Happily, B.J. Thomas eventually made peace of sorts with the Christian music industry and released two hymns albums in 1995 and 1997. He has also released a live album in recent years that includes many of his faith-based songs. He reportedly still performs many hymns and Christian songs in his concerts. In 1997 he was quoted as saying that he is as proud of his body of Christian recordings as anything he’s ever done.

Hey, all’s well that ends well, right?