#24 THE PRIZE by Alwyn Wall Band (1977)

Remember record & tape clubs? Man...those were awesome days, right? Remember the old ads in magazines for the Columbia House record club? Their introductory deal to get you hooked was something like 13 albums for a penny. Are you kidding me?! Just the magazine ads were almost hypnotic to music lovers. Seeing all of those album covers and knowing that you could pick so many. It was almost too much. 

And then when you ended up having to complete the terms of your agreement by buying a fistful at "regular" prices plus shipping and handling, it really was too much.

The Columbia Record Club was actually formed in New York City all the way back in 1955 to experiment with marketing music by mail. A year later it was moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, where Columbia had a record pressing facility. Within a year, they had sold 7 million records. By the early '60s, 10% of all recorded music was sold through the Columbia Record Club.

And hey, it was about more than just albums. The Columbia Reel-to-Reel Club started up in 1960, followed by the Columbia Cartridge Club (for 8-tracks) in 1966 and the Columbia Cassette Club in 1969. 

Alas, as a result of changes in the music industry and changes in consumer preferences, the Columbia Record Club was eventually purchased by Sony and then sold to BMG, and then went bankrupt. But it was fun while it lasted! And perhaps the greatest thing about the big, secular, mail-order record clubs is that - you guessed it - they spawned Christian copycats. 

Raise your hand if you were ever a member of the Word Family Record & Tape Club! (I've got my hand up really high.) Same basic business model as the secular giants, only a smaller selection and not quite as enticing on the front end, financially. But it was really cool getting those albums in the mail and opening the big, cardboard packaging. Of course, if you didn't like the album you had to return it and try to get your money back...and that was a cumbersome way to do business. That part sucked. But when you got a record you liked, it was really satisfying. 

Thanks to Christian Gonzales for the photo!

My brothers and I obtained the debut album from a sixteen-year old artist named Amy Grant through the Word Family Record & Tape Club. The debut album from a then-unknown group called Glad came to us that way as well. Then, one day, a record showed up in the mail that had a cool cover...and the name of the group included a guy who by 1977 was already a "legacy artist" of sorts: Alwyn Wall. We knew, of course, about Malcolm & Alwyn, the beloved Jesus Music duo from across the pond. Their Fool's Wisdom and Wildwall albums occupied a warm spot in the hearts of Jesus freaks everywhere. So my brothers and I were excited when that cardboard packaging gave way to reveal a record called The Prize by the Alwyn Wall Band.

The Prize is a beautiful rock and roll album. It is a band album. These guys weren't just ringers hired to stand behind Alwyn; each of them played an integral part. I've always considered The Prize to be one of the most underrated CCM albums of all time. I also think it as somewhat of a timeless collection. It's one of those albums of which it can be said that there's not a skip-over song on the whole record. And the songwriting...my goodness. Alwyn Wall was quite the poet. The wisdom expressed in the lyrics, the musical performances, the tone, the attitude...it all just works.

Let's take a closer look at the band members. 

Norman Barratt

Guitarist extraordinaire Norman Barratt found success in 1969 fronting an English progressive rock band called Gravy Train. That band would release four albums from 1970 to 1974 and they are still thought to be one of the very best prog rock bands of the era. Barratt's guitar skills have been called "incendiary" and "among the best that ever came forth from any British rock band." That's high praise. 

While with Gravy Train, Norman Barrett surrendered his heart and life to Jesus Christ. John O'Regan quoted him as saying: "When we were making the first Gravy Train album, my old manager in The Hunters, Norman Littler, had become a Christian while I had been away touring and recording with the band. We had both spent years talking about God and the world and trying to make sense of it all. He heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it turned his life around. He told me about it months later when I was home visiting. When I read the family Bible, a thing I'd never done before, I was deeply affected by what I read about who Jesus is and what he has done for all of us and committed my life to Him."

Gravy Train

Professing Christians within the secular progressive rock scene were definitely few and far between. But Cliff Richard's very public faith while maintaining a successful career as a pop/rock star helped pave the way somewhat. "The rest of the band were tolerant and sympathetic of my position," Barratt commented, "and the Record Companies never tried to dissuade me. The Christian experience influenced all of my lyrics for Gravy Train. Not overtly, but certainly they were written from a Christian perspective. I did not think that I had a right to 'preach' to audiences who had just come to hear the band and have a good time – although a lot of people who had read interviews in the music press did come backstage almost every night to find out what it was all about. Some of them were saved and are still going strong today; most of them did not but seemed to respect my beliefs. None ever ridiculed me."

Gravy Train

Critical acclaim notwithstanding, Gravy Train succumbed to a lack of commercial success, internal frustration, and financial losses. The band came to an end in 1975.

Barratt ended up lending his considerable talents to a little-known British Jesus Music band called Mighty Flyers - a group that was home to drummer Nick Brotherwood and bassist Tony Hudson. 

Nick Brotherwood

Tony Hudson

The Mighty Flyers was a Jesus Movement-era band that was said to play almost an Americana, country rock style of music (a U.K. band playing Americana? Ok...) In addition to being home base for Brotherwood and Hudson, the Flyers was also home for a while to Mick Abrahams, former guitarist for Jethro Tull.  

Phil Holmes

Keyboardist Phil Holmes is said to have played in a band called Apple Crumble, although I have not been able to confirm that or find any info on that band.

Alwyn Wall

Of course, the group's namesake was somewhat well known, as I already mentioned, for his time spent in Malcolm & Alwyn, a British duo that was quite well received in both the U.K. and America during the original Jesus Movement revival. Wall is the principle songwriter and lead singer of the AWB and almost assuredly the driving spiritual and creative force behind the band. After recruiting Norman, Nick, Tony and Phil, the stage was set for the Alwyn Wall Band to make their mark...and to tell a whole lot of people about Jesus.

Side One of The Prize opens somewhat gently with an easily accessible pop/rock track that's also a prayer. In Fly Me, Wall tells the Lord that's he's 100% available to be of service...whenever, wherever and however He sees fit. It doesn't hurt at all that it's the kind of song that can stay in your head for hours or even days at a time. 

Fly me, I'll be an arrow
Bend me, I'll be a bow
Shoot me to the straight and the narrow
And point me in the way that you want me to go

And I will go where You want
All I want is You to ask me to
And I will do as You ask
All I ask is do you want me to

Read me, I'll be a letter
Write me, I'll be a pen
Things could only get better
If You keep in touch with me every now and again

Play me, I'll be a piano
Sing me, I'll be a song
We could make music so warm and mellow
We'll pick out the tune as we sing along

And I will sing what You want
All I want is You to ask me to
And I will play what You ask
All I ask is do You want me to

In addition to the excellent message of asking to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, Fly Me is a near-perfect little 3-minute pop song. Alwyn's distinct British accent always came thru beautifully when he sang leads with Malcolm & Alwyn; the same is true here.

It's a little difficult to pinpoint just exactly what makes this album so appealing...but if I had to pick one thing, it just might be the songwriting. "Wall may be one of the finest songwriters of his era that no one really knows," wrote blogger David Lowman. "He had an uncanny knack, especially on The Prize, for writing a melody that conveyed the message of a song simply and memorably." Lowman added that, in his opinion, Alwyn Wall's writing was equal to anything Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill and Terry Taylor were writing at the time. Ray Mansfield with Real 80s CCM concurs: "The standout aspect of this album is Alwyn's lyrics. He truly is one of the best writers of the time."

A case in point is the song in the 2-hole. It's a five and a half-minute rock ballad titled Dreams on Sand. After digesting lyrics like these, we should've known that Alwyn would eventually end up a pastor:

But faith is a rocketship climbing far above the stars
And doubt is a submarine going down
Every man must bear his own scars
That life's gonna bring him from time to time

And life's no children's game we play
Even children have to have to grow someday
It's worth too much to to throw away

Catching your dreams may take a lifetime
But losing may only take one day
All of us seem to spend too much time building dreams on sand
And see them falling from our hand
Upsetting everything that we have planned
When we build our dreams on sand

"Dreams on Sand is just a revised version of a parable that Jesus gave about a man who built his dream on sand," Alwyn Wall said to a concert audience in Great Britain back in 1981. "And when the storms of life came against that dream, it didn't stand. It just fell. But Jesus said he that builds his house upon the rock, when the storms of life come against that, nothing can shift it. Jesus is the Rock. And no matter what comes against Jesus, He's still there. I'm just grateful for His grace because, man...talk about where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. His grace upon this land, England, is pretty heavy, you know? What we need in this country are people who stand upon the Word of God and don't compromise it. People who believe it. From Genesis to Revelation. The whole bit."

Musically, Dreams on Sand is an epic track that makes use of an actual string section, not just keyboard "strings." At some point, keyboardist Phil Holmes posted some YouTube videos that were almost like a slideshow of sorts - with Holmes providing narration as he shared a lot of candid photos he had taken back during the AWB's run. He talks about that string section in one of those YouTube videos. "We had an orchestra on several of the tracks," Phil recalled. "These guys are from the London Philharmonic and they were actually used on some of The Beatles' work, like I Am a Walrus. So we didn't have the whole orchestra, but we had a string section come in and they packed out the room there. Roger Hand actually charted all the music. He charted out all the parts. When he put those parts on the stands for the cellists and the violinists, they played them right off. We had a once-through, and then they played the whole thing straight. Those guys were great." 

The mood lightens quite a bit with South California - Alwyn's tribute to that part of the country that some of us jokingly refer to as The Land of Fruits and Nuts. Wall spent a lot of time in SoCal, since that area was home base for The Mother Ship (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa). Wall would later credit Chuck Smith as a leading influence on his own decision to become a Calvary Chapel pastor. So it just makes sense that Wall would have a soft spot in his heart for Southern California.

South California is mid-tempo rocker that references the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Disneyland ("Man, you know that place is built for fun"). Wall talks about teaching his wife to swim ("just east of San Diego"), throwing a frisbee along the beach, and the beautiful sunsets. He also gives a shoutout to "Mexican people with their brown velvet skin," calling them "beautiful people." Of course, today, mentioning skin color in any capacity would probably get that song flagged by millennials and GenZ'ers for "microagressions" or something...bless their hearts.

In his review of the album, historian David Lowman says South California is a "joyful number that has a distinctly Beach Boys-influenced melody and vocal arrangement." 

"One of the best aspects of the album," Lowman wrote, "is the refusal to be pigeon-holed into the normal Jesus Music of the day lyrically. Wall branches out thematically on this album and shows the wonderful diversity of topics a Christian is free to explore within a Biblical worldview." 

Norman Barratt turns in a tasteful guitar solo on this track, and Phil Holmes' skills on electric piano are put to good use as well. Holmes' work was somewhat understated on The Prize. He wasn't featured with gaudy synthesizer solos, but the parts he laid down were very much part of the glue that held these songs together. "We had a beautiful grand piano in the studio," Phil remembered. "So most of my parts were put down on the grand piano or the Fender Rhodes. Or I had one of the very first synthesizers. It was a Roland, and it was monophonic, which means you could only play one note at a time, and when you look at the keyboards available now, that was pretty tough to do! Most of the parts in the Alwyn Wall Band were played on the Rhodes. The Rhodes has a very distinctive sound."

The next track describes Jesus as a Music Maker. It alternates between easy-breezy verses and a rocked-up chorus that has a real bite to it. For me, as a teenager and an aspiring musician, this song brought a lot of encouragement and was highly relatable...

Oh, I can hear music
I can hear music in my ears
I can hear music when You're near
Oh, I can hear music
I can hear music in the air
I can hear music everywhere

And Jesus, You're music to me, yeah
Jesus, you're music to my ears
Jesus, You're a music maker

Music Maker features more solid work by Norman Barrett and a sweet harmonica solo by Alwyn himself. 

Wrapping up side one of The Prize is a song near and dear to my heart. For a number of years, my family traveled year 'round in full-time ministry. Alwyn Wall's poignant ode to "life on the road" probably just sounds like a nice ballad to most folks. But to me, it rings true on a very deep level. Check out these verses...

I've been around from town to town, doin' my songs
And I know I did my best
Just get on the road, that's what they said
You do your stuff, they said
We'll take care of the rest

I learned how to sing, learned how to dance
I took my chances
And I didn't care about the money
I traveled so far, me and my guitar
I learned all the chords I could
And I even tried to be funny
Life's funny

All those lonely days and those lonely nights, away from the one you love
It soon takes its toll
And yet I suppose it's part of the price of having two lovers
Your wife and good old rock and roll
It'll steal your soul

So stay on the road, follow the signs,
Stay between the white lines
Does this highway ever end?
You meet a lot of people, shake a lot of hands
Talk over dinner, make your plans
But I never made me a friend
In the end

#accurate. I will never forget those years that we spent on the road full-time...and so many things in this pretty little song really ring true to me. We ministered in 35 states and Canada during that 7-year span. And we certainly "didn't care about the money." Sometimes we literally received just what came in the offerings...and that was just enough to get us to the next stop. My brothers and I also "learned all the chords we could" and "even tried to be funny"...but I am especially struck by that last verse as I listen back to this song again. It is so true that when you're on the road full-time, you meet so many people...but at the end of the day, you don't really feel that you know any of them. You absolutely shake tons of hands, hug a lot of necks, sign lots of 8x10 black-and-white glossies, and share a lot of post-service or post-concert meals. But those relationships are extremely temporary. That part of it could be frustrating and lonely. Alwyn Wall understood that and expressed it beautifully in Musical Thing. Oh - speaking of beautifully, the string section made another appearance on this track and really enhanced the song. 

The Prize was recorded in June of 1976, "fifteen feet below Queensway" at Redan Recorders in London. "I really don't remember where the studio is, except to say that it's in the middle of London," said Phil Holmes. "I remember that it was the Queen's Silver Jubilee year and there were lots of celebrations going on." 

In one of his YouTube videos, Holmes talks about the recording studio and the making of the album. "We had quite a few couches and places to lounge about," he recalled. "You know, when you're recording, there's a lot of time when you're really not actually working. You're sitting around for a lot of it, listening to playbacks or waiting for the engineers to do their job. At first, of course, you do that all the time. Then after a week of doing that, you get pretty fed up! It sounds like it would be a lot of fun, but there's a lot of waiting around. We did have a room in the studio which was really on a basement floor, you went down the steps and there were several rooms in the basement of the studio, and it was really pretty well equipped when I think back on it. There was a room where you could buy new strings, and Norman was a real stickler for keeping in tune and putting new strings on the guitar. Every gig that we ever did, Norman would spend some time putting new strings on, stretching them, just so that everything was perfectly in tune. Norman and Alwyn went through a lot of strings." 

Phil continued: "Around the corner from the studio there was a little cafe, and if we really wanted a break, we'd go up there and grab a cup o' tea. Tom Robinson was recording around the same time, so sometimes we would meet at the cafe with those guys, too. Ray David and the Kinks were around; they were doing some recording at the same time." 

"We had a good practice room in the studio," Holmes remembered. "So anytime we wanted, we could go back and just go over parts. I don't remember exactly how long we were in the studio, but I can tell you it was a long time! But it was a great experience." 

The Prize was produced by Jon Miller, Rod Edwards and Roger Hand. About the production team, Phil Holmes said, "They were great. I mean, this was all done on the old 3-inch analog tape, and those guys - they were really good at what they did. When I think back about how professional they were...they were excellent."  

The songs were arranged by the band; the strings were arranged by Rod Edwards and Roger Hand (they also played a little percussion), while Roger Wake served as the engineer and George Peckham was in charge of mastering. 

The Prize sported a unique and memorable cover. Tony Cantale handled the design and Keith Bernstein took the photos. The inside sleeve contained a plethora of really cool photos of the band. According to Phil Holmes, the collage of pictures of the band found on the inner sleeve were taken in and around London. "We also went to Camden Lock for quite a portion of the day and the guy just snapped away our pictures," Phil said. 

And about the photo of the guys in the deck chairs?  "We came across this park in London," Phil said, "that had all these deck chairs, set out, I think, for some kind of afternoon concert. They were just there, there was nobody in attendance. We had our photographer with us, so we all sat down there and he took the picture."

Dropping the needle on side two, we get a bit of a jolt...with some heavy rock and roll guitar on That's Life. A while back, Alwyn Wall sat for an interview with Jerry Bryant, host of the Full Circle Jesus Music radio show and podcast. Jerry asked Alwyn about the inspiration behind That's Life.

"Well, I got the chords going," Alwyn said, "and Norman put a riff under it and that was it. I thought, that's the song! I wrote the song which was basically talking about just the suffering in life and the heartache in life, you know? Thinking of stuff going on in the world because it was in a pretty heavy time. And, you know, you're growing up and you're learning that life is tough and a lot of people are hurting in the world."

Three o'clock in the morning
I can't get no sleep
Thoughts are crawling inside my head
And I can't get no relief
Children dying and hungry
Bullets loaded to kill
Everybody's out for what they can get
And someone else will pay the bill

This world is turning the wrong way
There's pictures running through my head
From a TV show I saw last night
There's millions crying to be fed 

Oh, I guess that's life
Oh yeah, that's life
That's what they say, it's life
I should've known it's life

I took a look at it all
I seen it for what it is
But full-speed ahead
But all the lights are showin' red
It's no use just cryin'
Or tryin' to bury your head

The free ride is over
The smile has disappeared from your face
Stop the world, I want to get off
Come on, shoot me into space
Get me out of this place

Of course, it wouldn't be like Alwyn Wall to paint such a bleak picture without at least alluding to the Hope of the Gospel...

He came and died on a cross of wood
And yet He made the hill on which it stood

"The bottom line of what I was trying to say in the song was we need the Lord in our lives," Alwyn told Jerry Bryant. "We're living in a fallen world. Not only the world needs restoration, but we do, too! So that's where That's Life came from." 

That's Life rocks harder than anything else on The Prize. Christian rock historian David Lowman said he considers That's Life to be guitarist Norman Barratt's finest work on the album.

"People were really pretty much against us at that time for playing rock and roll," said Phil Holmes. "There was still a lot of people really kind of angry at that whole scene." Yeah, Phil. We know. It would take another couple of decades for that type of criticism to finally fade away.

Hall of Mirrors is another epic, 5-minute track that speaks of being bold in your witness. Alwyn Wall introduced it this way at a concert in 1978: "It talks about people having to make a stand for the Lord. But it's not all hard work, you know? I mean, the Lord really fills your life, and He gives you joy. And it's great, man. Really!"  He smiled and added, "But the song is in A minor, so it's kind of complicated." Which, of course, drew laughter from the crowd.

Wall's lyrical prowess and spiritual discernment was again on display, with lines like these:

The devil's a magician
Turning faith into dust
Love into lust
And gold into rust

Hall of Mirrors was a good vehicle for Norman Barratt and Nick Brotherwood to shine a little bit. "Nick would have to put down a drum track and just listen to a guide track through the headphones," Phil said. "And so, at one point he was very busy; he probably spent several days just doing the drum tracks. And then we did all the guitar tracks. Norman is such a great player. You always had great confidence in what he was going to do because he had such good taste. And when I listen now to what he did back then, I think I appreciate it even more than I did at the time. I learned a lot from Norm, just about music in general."

All That Really Matters is another smooth rock track. This one was inspired by a friend named Howard Davis, who worked in a factory with Alwyn Wall and Malcolm Wild somewhere along the way. Turns out Alwyn was the first person to ever share Jesus with Mr. Davis. Sounds like Malcolm & Alwyn shared Jesus with a few other coworkers as well...

Wisest man I've ever known
Drove a truck that was factory-owned
Told me things I'd never heard
Things I once would've thought absurd
But now, look and see
What's my friends gonna make of me, yeah?
Oh, I guess it doesn't matter much anyway

Working on the factory floor
People come and listen some more
Told them everything I knew
I'll leave the rest 'cause it's up to you
Oh Lord, come what may
Give me strength to live another day
'Cause that's all that really matters anyway.

I Don't Care is a fun song. It's sort of a funky, quirky worship song...

Oh Lord, I love You and it's understood
You know I've tried but it's just no good
Without Your love I would fade away
Like putting a match-ch-ch
To a stack of hay

Your love for me is like a precious flower
That grows and grows with each passing hour
You alone have the pow'r to set me free
And I know that You're doing it, yeah, yeah, yeah,
You're doing it in me

Sun and moon, they are Your worshipers
They'll sing Your song until they die
The stars, they twinkle and they dance for You
Across that stage in the sky...

In the interest of full disclosure...my brothers and I had a band back when my family was on the road in full-time ministry, and we went into a studio called The Sounding Board in Easley, South Carolina in January of 1981. We recorded an album that was produced by Nick Bruno, a guy who had backed Elvis Presley in his stage shows in Las Vegas. We did not yet write our own songs at that point; we simply recorded our own covers of CCM songs that we loved. And two of the songs on that 1981 Bachmann Brothers Band album were Fly Me and I Don't Care by the Alwyn Wall Band. Now, that was a long time ago and we were pretty young. But listening back...I think our "tribute" versions hold up pretty well!

The Prize closes with a powerful expression of love and devotion for God. It's called All Because of You. This one contains some nice background vocals, more from the live string section, and a scorching lead guitar solo from Norman Barratt that closes out the album.

And so ends a seriously underrated album of 1970s British pop/rock. The AWB served as Larry Norman's opening band on some European tours and came to the states to tour the album. But due to reasons unknown to me, only Alwyn Wall, Norman Barratt and Phil Holmes were able to come over for the stateside tour. So they ended up hiring a bass player and a drummer from Florida. These guys were reportedly "new Christians" but Phil Holmes remembered them as a very good rhythm section. It's been said that momentum could have continued to build for the AWB if only Alwyn Wall had been able to secure his Visa and remain in the United States for a longer period of time. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so, and the Alwyn Wall Band would soon fade into obscurity and then disband altogether. I'll say this: it is a crying shame that this band never recorded another album together.

Norman Barratt would land on his feet, establishing his own band in the 80s, as well as serving as a guest musician on recording sessions and tours with Steve Taylor, Barry McGuire, Sheila Walsh, Phil Keaggy, Steve Camp, and many others. Later in life, Barratt gained a lot of weight and had failing eyesight, limiting him to the studio and playing live with his church's worship team. Norman Barratt passed away due to complications following surgery in 2011. 

Not much is known of the whereabouts or life stories of drummer Nick Brotherwood and bassist Tony Hudson; it is believed that keyboardist Phil Holmes resides today in St. Augustine, Florida.

Alwyn Wall would go on to record a solo album in 1982 titled Invisible Warfare (read all about it HERE). Wall's old friend Larry Norman served as producer, arranger, engineer, chief cook and bottle washer. But Wall would eventually find his calling as a Calvary Chapel pastor, following in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, Chuck Smith.

Alwyn Wall

Not long ago, radio host Jerry Bryant asked Alwyn Wall about the transition from CCM to full-time pastoring. "It wasn't really a transition," Wall said. "Music is still a great part of my life. I practice music every day, I study music, I love music. So I'm not an ex-musician. I'll always be a musician until the day I die, you know, and maybe afterwards! But the emphasis shifted, that's for sure. It was God's call, really. After being on the road for many, many years I was really weary of traveling and being away from my wife, but I just wanted the Lord to use me. So, instead of traveling a hundred miles to an audience, I just said, Lord, use me where I can be at home more."

Hmm. That reminds me of a song. A song called Fly Me...

I will go anywhere You want
Just as long as You go with me
I'll cross the jungle or a sea of blue
I'll even stay home if You want me to

Thanks, Alwyn & Co., for a really fine album. You guys made some catchy music. And you helped us draw closer to Jesus. And that's all that really matters anyway...

 

 

 

 

#25 SON OF DUST by Randy Matthews (1973)

SON OF DUST by Randy Matthews (1973)
Myrrh - MST 6515

Anyone who wants to can!
Whoa, any woman, any man! Yes you can! I said...
Anyone who wants to can! (Alright!)
You got to take yo' place in th' holy band!

Remember when you first heard those words...sung with a joyous, almost wild abandon by a gravelly-throated troubadour? Remember how it made you feel?

After a slowed-down intro with a group of folks cheering and hand-clapping in the background, Christian artist Randy Matthews comes blasting through the speakers at the :23 mark of Holy Band, sounding very much unlike most Christian artists sounded in 1973. This was real...raw...raucous. This guy had an authentic rock and roll voice...there wasn't a pipe organ within 50 miles of him...and he was genuinely excited about what he was singing. 

What a way to kick off Son of Dust.

The Jordanaires
Randy's Dad, Monty Matthews, is pictured on the far right.

Given his background and upbringing, it was almost pre-ordained that Randy Matthews would combine sharing the Gospel with a love of music, as many in his family already had. There were no fewer than five ordained ministers in his family, and music was swirling around every which way. Randy's father was one of those ministers and was a member of famous gospel groups like the Matthews Brothers Quartet, the Foggy River Boys, and the Jordanaires (the same Jordanaires who went on to back Elvis Presley before The Imperials). Randy had been a Christian from an early age and even sang in a southern gospel quartet as a high school student. That's a far cry from the conversion stories that were taking place out on the West Coast, what with drug-addled hippies coming to Jesus and being baptized in the Pacific Ocean. Here was this Matthews kid in the Midwest - Missouri! - singing in gospel groups with names like The Revelations and The Zionaires. After high school he attended Ozark Bible College in Joplin, Missouri, but did not graduate. Instead, he got involved with a couple of friends in what was a radical idea at the time: singing folk music with Christian lyrics. This led to the founding of a Christian coffee house in Cincinnati (Jesus House), which regularly drew crowds of 250-300 people. And all the while, Matthews had little to no knowledge of what God was doing by His Spirit out in Southern California. He wasn't really aware at the time that he was helping pioneer a new genre of music - Jesus Music.

Jerry Bryant (L), and Randy Matthews

Back in late 2016/early 2017, legendary Jesus Music radio host Jerry Bryant flew down to Randy's home in Sarasota, Florida to interview the somewhat reclusive Jesus Music pioneer. "Well, I never heard any Jesus Music," Matthews told Bryant. "My roots were deep in southern gospel and black spirituals. I became a Christian at a very young age, when I was six years old, and by the time I got to high school I was singing and writing guitar. And it just seemed natural for me to write about what was closest to me, and so I started singing and writing rock songs about Jesus, and that would've been about '68, something like that."

Matthews says he had no knowledge of Larry Norman, Love Song, or the 2nd Chapter of Acts until much later. Instead, Matthews was influenced by another musician from east of the Mississippi River who had also grown up steeped in southern gospel, and who also had a connection to Elvis Presley. His name was Mylon LeFevre.

Mylon LeFevre

"My first 'Jesus Music' record was by Mylon LeFevre," Matthews said. "And I listened to that and I went, Oh my Lord, there's somebody out there already doing what I'm wanting to do. And so it was encouraging to me, the newness of the thing and the daringness of it; of course, all those classics like Gospel Ship was on that record and that was a very favorite song of mine."

Mylon, 1970s

As an aside during his interview with Jerry Bryant, Matthews told a great story about Mr. LeFevre. "I knew Mylon a long time before he became a Christian again," Randy said, "before he rededicated his life to the Lord. Mylon would come over to my house and hang out with me back in Nashville and we'd visit and spend time together. Mylon would call me up every once in a while and say, 'Randy, guess what?' And I'd say, 'What?' And he'd say, 'I just gave my life to the Lord.' And then I'd see him, like, two weeks later and he'd be back to the old Mylon. Well, this went on for about three years, and then finally one time he called my up and he said, 'Randy, guess what?' And I said, 'You just gave your life to the Lord.' And he said, 'I sure did! And this time it's gonna stick.' Well, I played with him two weeks later after that. And you talk about seeing a different man. When he walked off the bus, he was a new man. And I knew from that point on that Mylon had changed. And that's when everything took off for Mylon." 

Great story, but let's get back to the early 70s. Here's Randy Matthews, following in his father's footsteps - sort of - by using music to tell people about Jesus in a way that's new and fresh. He was receiving pushback from religious gatekeepers of the day...but he was also seeing the Lord moving in the lives of the people he was singing to. "Well, I knew the potential of it because I'd seen the effects of what was happening," Matthews said on Jerry Bryant's Full Circle show. “So, despite all the flak we were receiving for it, I knew the potential of it and that kept me encouraged. And I was just a boy anyway, so I didn't have anything to lose so I just decided one day this is what the Lord wants me to do and I'm gonna go do it full time and we hit the road. And as I started traveling, I started meeting other artists and that was very much encouraging, too, because I thought I was the only guy doing it.”

Arthur Blessitt

When Matthews made Cincinnati his home base, he met a man named Arthur Blessitt. Blessitt taught him a lot about street ministry and evangelism. "Until I got out there among the reality of the world, and dealing with the world, I didn't know what the reality of Christianity was," said Matthews, candidly. "I knew that I loved Jesus and I knew that He was the way and my life was centered around that. But past that, I was just a boy. I was only 20 years old. But I just kept playing." 

By 1971 Randy Matthews had come to the attention of Word Records. And the rest is history.

"I got picked up by Word Records, which at that time was the largest gospel record label in the country, but they had not done any contemporary gospel," Randy said in his interview with Jerry Bryant. "So I was the first contemporary act to record for Word." 

Randy's debut album on Word Records was 1971's Wish We'd All Been Ready, where he is described in the liner notes as "a new breed of young singers and songwriters." The back cover says, "Randy has joined gospel to a rock beat" to form "a new sound." The truth is that the album was actually quite tame. But it probably raised a few eyebrows in '71. 

The late Billy Ray Hearn

"I was very lucky," Matthews said. "Billy Ray Hearn was an excellent, excellent man, an excellent producer and just a great Christian guy. Billy caught the vision for what I was doing and produced my first album. The material we recorded on the first album was songs that I had written when I was 15 and 16 years old; they didn't want me to record my current stuff because it was too radical."  

Larry Norman

Given the album's title track, Jerry Bryant wanted to know how Matthews ended up recording the famous song by the man who would later be dubbed the Father of Christian Rock. "Well, long before I knew Larry, or even knew of Larry, Billy Ray Hearn played me that song," Matthews explained. "And I said, 'Boy, I've got to record that song. That speaks to our times.' It was right down the middle of what I was doing. I hope I did it justice. Larry had done such an excellent job on it, of course being the writer of the song, he would, you know? But I was happy to record it. I was a little embarrassed that I recorded his tune. I didn't know it was his tune at the time. But he didn't mind." 

What happened next altered the Christian rock soundscape for many years into the future. 

When it was time for a second album, Matthews had let his hair grow out a bit, and his music was now considered "too extreme" by the suits at Word in Waco, Texas. So the story is told that Matthews himself suggested to the folks at Word that they create a subsidiary label that could release some of this new Jesus Music that was being made, without upsetting the company's traditional audience. 

And that's how Myrrh Records came to be. 

"They started Myrrh Records for me because they thought my music was a little too radical for the Word label," said Randy. Myrrh became a vitally important organ for dispensing and popularizing Gospel rock and roll in the early 70s and beyond. It eventually grew into a behemoth that was home to everything from pop and rock to black gospel and adult contemporary. Myrrh was a label home at various times for Amy Grant, Billy Preston, Petra, Michael & Stormie Omartian, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Steve Taylor, The Choir, Phil Keaggy, Randy Stonehill, and so many more. But first, Myrrh gave early Jesus Music a home by releasing records by Barry McGuire, Honeytree, the Pat Terry Group, Malcolm & Alwyn, and the 2nd Chapter of Acts. And it came into existence due to the forward-thinking Randy Matthews. 

Barry McGuire (L) with Randy Matthews

All I Am Is What You See, Matthews' sophomore album, is described by author Barry Alphonso of Billboard as “a grittier-sounding album, toning down the production and allowing the electric guitars more prominence.”

The stage was set for Son of Dust.

Brian Quincy Newcomb

Today Brian Quincy Newcomb is a United Church of Christ pastor. He's also known these days for being a proponent of liberal social and political causes and "progressive" Christianity. But for many years he was a leading writer, publisher, editor, critic, etc., in the Christian rock arena.  

Newcomb was a teenage pastor's kid in Western New York state back in the early 70s. He loved music and was a big Beatles fan. He had also given his heart to Jesus, but felt like he just didn't fit in at church. 

Enter Randy Matthews.

Newcomb caught wind of a Matthews gig at a coffeehouse in Wellsville, New York on a winter night. "To say that that night changed everything for me would be an understatement," Newcomb wrote.

BQN (as he is sometimes known) has said that he was hungry for a glimpse of Christian expression that felt relevant and "had the potential to rock." Randy Matthews strode on stage with long hair, a beard and a guitar, and immediately made a positive impression on Brian. And Matthews had the voice and the songs to back up the look. Newcomb bought a copy of Son of Dust at that coffeehouse and took it home with him. "Randy Matthews was the first time I'd heard an artist mingle the gospel message of God's love in Jesus in music that felt relevant, meaningful and hip," he wrote. 

Let's drop the needle on Son of Dust.

It's always a good sign when your album begins with a bonafide classic. Author Mark Allan Powell calls Holy Band a signature tune for Matthews. "Holy Band is a roaring concert opener," Powell writes in his Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, "that uses the metaphor of being in a band as a descriptive image for becoming part of the people of God." 

BQN said that Matthews was in his "best soulful rock voice" on this track, which had "great rock and roll energy." There's such an unbridled joy that is conveyed when he sings Anyone who wants to can | Take your place in the holy band. "This song...combined two very important concepts," Newcomb wrote. "The anyone was an affirmation of the John 3:16 promise that whosoever believed would be welcomed, and the radical idea that a band - presumably a rock and roll band - could please God, could be holy."

Newcomb continues: "This is something my young heart wanted to believe, that there was room for a hippie wannabe/Jesus freak in God's community of Christ's love."

I'm writing this post in Spring of 2021. As I listened to Holy Band again for the first time in a long time, I couldn't help thinking about the long, hot BLM/ANTIFA summer of 2020 as Randy sang these words:

It's time we stopped it
I mean, what have we gained by our conflicts in the street
I hear the music
Whoa, don't it sound so sweet
Grab your sister and brother
Come on, laugh with each other

Lloyd Green gets bonus points for creative use of peddle steel in a rowdy rock song.

One other note on this tune - when I was a teenager, I had the idea of forming a Christian rock group when I got older and naming it Holy Band. I drew up a logo and everything. Sadly, it never happened. That idea died in my imagination right there in my 7th grade social studies class in Phenix City, Alabama. Still think it would've been a excellent name for a band.

Son of Dust actually begins with a trio of amazing songs. Next up was The Bad Has Made It Better, a song that reminds us that Randy Matthews was not a typical Jesus makes me happy, He'll make you happy, too type songwriter (as were so many of the California hippie musicians who had dramatic conversions and were still in a full-blown honeymoon period with the Lord). Matthews, while still a young man, had a darker and more mature perspective after a few years on the road, being rejected by church folk and singing wherever he could draw a crowd.

I been east
I been west
Lay my head on a curb with my feet in the street for to rest
One meal a day
Don't keep the pain away
I mean the hurt that you hurt deep inside from the food you ain't ate but once a day

I been north
You know that I been south
And the sun on my face made the burn on my lips dry my mouth
I been alone
I mean on my own
So I talk to the wind for the wind has a voice of its own

Ooo, well the bad has made it better
Because of You, well, I kept it all together
Through it all, well, I walked with my head held up high
In Your love
I did it in Your love

Great song in which Randy resists the temptation to glorify "life on the road" and instead offers thanks to the Lord for being his motivation and for helping him to keep it all together despite hardship. 

This song is dressed up here with a little more instrumentation and production than was necessary. I think it might be better experienced on the 1975 double-live album Now Do You Understand?. The stark, stripped down presentation on the live album just seems to match up better with the lyrics here. But the version here is still a highlight of Son of Dust.

In the three hole is It Ain't Easy, another great track that refuses to oversimplify the Christian faith or get overly schmaltzy about our walk with God. Remember when people praised artists like Mark Heard and Steve Taylor for their honesty? Son, Randy Matthews was honest way before honest was cool.

While some of the new converts in Orange County were writing that Jesus would simply take away all your problems, Randy Matthews was writing stuff like this:

I want to go to Heaven but I'm scared to die
I've been living here all my life
Some say I'm right, some say I'm wrong
But four long years I've sung Your song

Livin' ain't easy in a narrow way
You ask so much of me each day
I hope I'm not complainin' or askin' much
But stay close to me, the way is rough

One day I'm up, the next I'm down
It's good to know You're around
To hear my laughter, share the pain
In the sunshine, in the rain

And oh...oh...oh, it's not easy
Whoa...no...whoa, it's not easy

This song served as my introduction to Son of Dust when it was included on the highly influential Love Peace Joy Myrrh compilation album in '74. Sandwiched right in between Honeytree's I Don't Have to Worry and Love Song's Think About What Jesus Said was Randy Matthews saying, Hold up, y'all...it's not easy.

It Ain't Easy makes a big impact during just 2 and a half minutes. The production, thankfully, is scaled back here, relying heavily on acoustic guitar and some special drum parts.

Randy does his best Mick Jagger on Mighty Fine, a song that could totally have been a Rolling Stones tune if they had, well, you know, known Jesus. 

A romantic love song titled Brown Eyed Woman closes out side one of Son of Dust. There's some fancy banjo pickin' by Robert Thompson to add interest to this track. Now, just because it's a love song, don't think Randy's gonna wuss out on us. No, this is a strong rock track that holds its own. Not the most impressive lyric on the record, but a very interesting chord progression and song structure.

Now, if you were a Randy Matthews fan in 1973 and owned his first two albums, I think one glance at the Son of Dust cover art was probably enough to let you know that this was a real rock and roll record. Randy shows up on the cover of this bad boy looking for all the world like an authentic rocker. Art direction was supplied and photos taken by Bill Grine (Janny's husband). 

Son of Dust was produced by Billy Ray Hearn and arranged by Bergen White. It was recorded at Woodland Studios in Nashville. The engineers were Tommy Semmes, Rick Horton and Rex Collier. David McKinley and John Brandon were credited as "recordists."

Randy Matthews, Reggie Young, John Cristopher, Billy Sanford and Charlie McCoy played the guitars; Bobby Wood and David Briggs played keyboards; Tommy Cogbill and John Williams played bass;  Kenneth Buttrey and Jerry Carrigan were the drummers; percussion was supplied by Jerry Carrigan and Farrell Morris; the aforementioned Robert Thompson was on banjo, while Bill Puett blew the saxophone and Lloyd Green played the steel guitar. The Moog synthesizer was listed separately from keyboards in the credits and was played by Rick Powell. Of course, Randy Matthews sang on the record and he was backed by Rick Powell, Billy Ray Hearn (!) and Bergen White. 

Side two of Son of Dust kicks off with Here I Am, a funky, soulful number that has Randy saying Here I am | I'm not much | But I'm the best I got... 

Next up was a song called On the Road. Now, this song is more about "the road" in a general, figurative sense, that we are all traveling on our way Home. But Matthews did seem to reference "life on the road" quite a bit in his songs and during his live concerts. Maybe that was because performing and traveling had basically been a way of life for his family for a long time. Of course, due to his chosen style of music and his appearance, Randy probably had a tougher go of it than his Dad.

"I could walk into a church that was open enough to book me to do a show," said Randy, "and the preacher would meet me at the door and say, 'I'm sorry, we changed our mind and we're not going to do this.' Just from my appearance. From my hair and all. Not giving me a chance to sing or anything. It was just a new form of presenting the good, old story, you know? But it takes a while, especially for us Christians, to accept and embrace something like that, anything new that comes along that might threaten our belief status and all."

Matthews tried to keep it all in perspective. As he told Jerry Bryant, "We all are wounded by the things that come along, as Christians, but what we have to remember is that Christians are just like us - they're just forgiven. They're gonna make mistakes and they're gonna let us down. And we're gonna let other people down."

For my money, On the Road was the only misstep on Son of Dust. Randy wrote it, but stylistically it just didn't seem to be in his wheelhouse...and his vocal seems a little uninspired. This song should've been pitched to Dave Boyer instead.

Son of Dust began with a strong trio of songs and it ends with an equally strong trio of tunes.

Up next was a fun little tune (2:23!) about the events described by Jesus in Matthew 24 and by Paul in I Thessalonians 4. Matthews calls it Evacuation Day.

When the ship comes in
Gonna be a celebration
From the smallest town
To the largest nation
Gonna leave that day
Said we made a reservation
Ain't no turnin' back
There ain't no cancellation
No, sir

I'm gonna fly, fly, fly
Get on that ship and fly
With a ticket marked 'one way'
Evacuation day

If Holy Band was one of two signature songs for the early chapter of Matthews' career, Didn't He was certainly the other. It's an absolute classic on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus that people still feel that they need to hear every Easter, if not more often. 

"Didn't He was written on the road," Randy told Jerry Bryant, "back when I was traveling in a little Triumph TR3. We traveled all over the country in that thing. If it was snowing or raining or whatever, we traveled with the top down because we couldn't fit the guitars in any other way! So it was written driving to California, and I was just thinking about the intensity of what Christ had gone through for us and I wanted to make that as vivid as possible just through a song. And the Lord really took that song and used it in an amazing way. He still uses it today. I can't play anymore because of my hands - I've got arthritis in my hands - but I hear all the time about different people using the song, and that's a real blessing to me."

According to CCM historian Mark Allan Powell, Matthews previewed Didn't He at the iconic Explo '72 festival in Dallas, Texas, the summer before Son of Dust was released. Said Powell: "...It became one of the defining moments of the festival, a moment that would later be broadcast on national TV and then captured on a widely distributed soundtrack album of music from the festival." 

Today, David Lee is a mortgage lender based in Oklahoma. But roughly five decades ago, he was in that sea of faces at Explo '72. "There was total silence," David remembers, "and then all of a sudden Randy hits his guitar as if the hammer was hitting the nail in Jesus' hand. I was about fifteen rows back on the field. I seriously cried hearing that. It's on the Explo '72 album and it sounds good...but sitting there live, with eighty thousand people...hearing that sudden noise was absolutely riveting." 

Didn't He is one of five songs on Son of Dust that I just think are more effective on the live album Now Do You Understand? due to the intimacy and immediacy of a live concert by Matthews. Now, this certainly would not be true of most artists and especially bands, but Randy Matthews was born to stand on a stage all by himself and hold that audience in the palm of his hand. So, in my humble opinion, Holy Band, The Bad Has Made It Better, Evacuation Day, Didn't He and Pharaoh's Hand are all better experienced on the double-live recording (which, something tells me, will be coming up a little later in our countdown). That is not to say this version of Didn't He is not great, emotionally powerful and awe-inspiring (because it is all of those things). 

This is the first version most people heard and I'm sure they were impacted greatly by it. But I think the feedback-type sound effects at the beginning of the song are nowhere near as effective as Randy just doing his thing with the heel of his hand. But either way...this is the song Randy Matthews was put on this earth to write and record:

And the hammer fell
On the wooden nail
Through His flesh, into the tree
And they laughed at Him
As He cried for them
There He hung
The faultless One

Now, didn't He live, oh, didn't He?
And didn't He give, now, didn't He?
Didn't He die for you and me?

Spilled His precious blood
Sacrifice of love
We didn't take His life from Him
He gave it willingly
Complete the prophecy
What's black is white
What's wrong is right

Bugler, blow your horn
Now the curtain's torn
And the battle's done
I know the victory's come
Drummer, you drum your drum
He broke death's chains
The Lamb is slain

Now didn't He live, now, didn't He?
And didn't He give, now, didn't He?
But didn't He die for you and me?

Now, doesn't He live, my brother, doesn't He?
And doesn't He give, sweet sister, doesn't He?
But didn't He die for you and me?

But didn't He die
For you
And for me?

Matthews turned in an anointed vocal performance on this song. Didn't He was later resurrected for a new generation when it was covered by Geoff Moore & the Distance. Matthews also performed and recorded a new version of this classic song for the First Love gathering of classic Jesus Music artists in the late 1990s.

Matthews ends Son of Dust by reminding us that he was a great songwriter who did not flinch when it came time to take on subjects that some might deem dark or negative. Randy Matthews wrote songs that celebrated Jesus, yes...he wrote songs that looked forward to Heaven, yes...but he also held up a mirror to life around him as it was lived out by real people on the ground. Sometimes it wasn't pretty, but it was almost always powerful.  

Oh, smell the filth here
Oh, hear the cries
A baby's dying
It's got flies in its eyes
Oh, hear the gunfire
Oh, see him run
Killing men for a loaf of bread
With a stolen gun

With no beginning
There is no end
Without a center, friend
No circle ascends
Oh, we're decaying
From deep inside
We lost the roots of the family tree
And there's no place to hide

Some of you live in fantasies
Others live in dreams
Some of you live in lies
You say, I see no disease
But what is happening
Has long been foretold
Close the door
Lock the latch
Let the story unfold

Been too long underneath this Pharaoh's hand
Been too long underneath this Pharaoh's hand
And it's time we made our stand

"I figured if you're not true to yourself, you're not going to be true to anybody else, you're not really going to have a true communication with them," Matthews said in that Full Circle radio interview. "I didn't go into this to become a 'star' or anything like that. Because if you wanted to become a star, singing rock and roll for Jesus was not the way to do it. So my desire was for people to see that if I could be a Christian, and if I could have a relationship with Jesus, they could, too. And so I tried to always be transparent in my music and on stage and in my life."

Brian Quincy Newcomb calls Son of Dust one of Matthews' "strongest collections of songs, recorded at the height of the Jesus Movement," adding that Randy Matthews was always flirting with the radical idea that God intended for us to experience this life fully and well, that we know love and joy as well as challenge and hardship." 

Billboard's Barry Alfonso wrote, "Son of Dust...was probably his most interesting work, full of energy and bite. Matthews dressed up his tunes with acoustic piano, banjo and peddle steel. Son of Dust was an archetypal Jesus Music album, capturing the unkempt zeal of a hippie street revival."  

"Son of Dust is the album that would ensure Matthews a place in the Jesus Music Hall of Fame (if such a thing were to exist)," wrote Mark Allan Powell. "He seems to have gone into the studio armed with the best songs of his career and somehow to have overcome all the industry restrictions that would have prevented him from playing them the way they were meant to be played. The sound is still folk rock, but it's down-and-dirty, blues-inflected folk rock. Matthews sings in a gruff and gritty voice that Jesus Music says makes the first two albums 'sound like easy listening' by comparison. There is not a bad cut on the album."

So the next decade or so was very interesting for Randy. In 1974, there was the infamous unplugging episode (you can real all about that HERE). In '75 his record company actually released two of his albums back-to-back - Now Do You Understand? and Eyes to the Sky. Then he put a little trio together with a couple of Jesus Music veterans, Mike Johnson and Danny Taylor. They made an album that was actually quite good (you can read all about it HERE). And after that, Randy admittedly "fell out of fellowship" for a while. It was during this period that he recorded a second live album in Australia...but he really kind of disappeared for a hot minute (as the kids would say). He resurfaced with his batteries charged and released two really fine rock albums in '80 and '81 (Randy Matthews and Plugged In)...but then fell off the radar again. He came back six years later with Streets of Mercy, and then said goodbye to the fickle CCM scene (a scene that owed its very existence, partly, to his presence on the planet) with what he says is his personal favorite of all his albums. 1990's The Edge of Flight is a sonically excellent album that was produced by Billy Smiley of White Heart. 

Randy Matthews on tour with White Heart in Greenville, SC

In fact, Matthews was given the opening slot on a national White Heart tour to help promote that album. I caught that tour in Greenville, SC and was proud and happy to see Mr. Matthews up there on the big stage again. And then he took the logical next career step...and became a pirate.

What?!

"I'd been out of the loop for so long," Randy said. "I just felt like I didn't have anything more to say, out on the road doing Christian shows, I didn't have anything more to write, my time had come and gone. And so, we've all got to make a living. And I thought wouldn't it be a great thing if a family came down to Florida where I'm living down here, and they thought they met a real pirate - someone who could entertain them and develop real relationships with these families that come down - and so, that's what I do. I dress as a pirate and I tell pirate stories and sing pirate songs and I've been doing it for twenty years now at two of the most successful resorts down here in Florida. And it's very, very rewarding. I've always loved children, little children. And so it's a family show that I do, and I've got all these little kids whose eyes are big as saucers, you know, coming to the show. So it's very rewarding. It's not like what I was doing, but the Lord's got me doing something else now. I've got a strong family and good friends, so things couldn't be much better."

Working under the stage name Red Beard, Matthews released an album of pirate songs and tall tales entitled Red Beard, Pirate King. 

In 2015, F-O-R (friend-of-Randy) Bim Ingersoll spearheaded the project of re-releasing and re-mastering Son of Dust on compact disc for the first time ever. This marked the first time that any of Matthews' 70s output was available on CD. Jerry Bryant asked Randy about his response to that event. "Well, I was totally blown away," he said. "I couldn't believe that anybody would remember it. We put the CD out and we got great response back to it. And you know, listening to it, it still holds up today." 

"It's really wonderful what happened back then," Matthews said. "And when I went on Facebook, I started getting all these messages from people, telling me how much I'd touched them over the years and how much my music had meant, and it's just been a really good experience for me. It's been very, very encouraging. Because I didn't think anybody would remember at all. I mean, that's forty years ago that I started doing this! That's a long time."

Oh, we remember, Randy. In fact, we'll never forget.