#87 - GLAD by GLAD (1978)

GLAD by GLAD (1978)
Myrrh Records (MSB-6603)

GLAD is said to have formed in 1972. But my introduction to this band came as a result of my membership in the Word Family Record Club in 1978. You see, many, many moons ago, people used to actually wait for a month or two for long-play record albums to arrive in the mail. We would listen to the album, and if we liked it we would keep it and be billed $6.98 (or something like that). If we didn’t like it, we would have to ship it back to Word. I know…seems like a long time ago (and a terrible business model). But the ol’ Word Record Club was how I obtained the debut albums of Amy Grant, the Alwyn Wall Band, and a group of straight-laced rockers called GLAD.


Unlike other bands that began in someone’s garage or as part of a church youth group, GLAD was pieced together by an audition process conducted by a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania group known as The Fellowship. The original members were vocalist and guitarist Ed Nalle, keyboardist Bob Kauflin, bassist T. Coble, John Boles on guitar, and Brad Curry on drums. It’s sometimes assumed that GLAD is an acronym, but it’s not. The name was actually chosen from a poll taken at a shopping mall in the early 70s!

In the early going, GLAD was very much a college-oriented group, forming on the campus of West Chester State University in Pennsylvania. Several members attended Philadelphia’s Temple University and some were classically trained musicians. While the members were still in school, the band toured mostly during the summer, with scattered gigs throughout each school year. By 1976 they had all graduated and the decision was made to try this music thing full-time. Fred Kramer became the bass player and Ed Nalle’s younger brother Don joined the group as well. “When we started out, we really didn’t know what we were doing and did covers,” offers John Boles. “Eventually we started writing our own songs. By the time we graduated college, we were almost exclusively original material and original treatment of covers, and actively working toward getting a record deal. We struck up an arrangement with a studio in Lancaster, Pennsylvania called The King’s Place; we did jingles and project albums for them in exchange for studio time, which we used to record our demo.”

The decision to go full-time seemed risky, but it paid off. Soon GLAD’s classical/jazz musicianship, Biblically informed lyrics and complex vocals were being enjoyed at an average of 200 dates a year at college campuses, churches and concert halls throughout the United States. It was enough to attract the interest of Myrrh Records, which released the group’s self-titled debut album in 1978.

The album opens with a musical treatment of Romans 8:28 titled All Things. Incidentally, All Things happens to be my all-time favorite GLAD song, and Romans 8:28 happens to be my wife’s all-time favorite Scripture verse. The track showcases some nifty keyboard work by Kauflin and lyrics lifted almost directly from the writings of the Apostle Paul:


Afflicted but not crushed
Confused but not despairing
Underneath our faith we know
The Lord is just preparing us for glory

All things work out for the good for those who love the Lord

At about 2:23 into this song, there’s a glimpse into the future; the music temporarily stops down and the boys launch into some soaring acapella harmony that would be a precursor of things to come. But I digress.

Ephesus is another song with lyrics firmly rooted in New Testament Scriptures. It also features plenty of vocal gymnastics from Ed Nalle. [It would’ve been fun to hear Matthew Ward take a stab at singing this one!] Some of the chords used on this song are reminiscent of Tom Howard’s songwriting and piano artistry.

More soaring group harmonies can be heard on Rely on Your Love.

The next track, Love That Never Dies, would’ve fit right in on Petra’s Washed Whiter Than album. For some reason, it makes me think of Petra’s leadoff track, I’m Thankful (but the GLAD song was recorded first). This bright, uptempo tune benefits from some nice twin lead guitar parts.


Side One closes with Master Of Us All, a five and a half minute song that would’ve felt right at home on a Michael Omartian album (with a few tweaks here and there). In fact, the terms “progressive” and “west coast influence” have been used by reviewers when discussing this album. Comparisons have been made to Steely Dan and Ambrosia. Lyrically, Master Of Us All is a clear statement of faith that leaves no doubt about the group’s allegiance and devotion to God:


Long before a man appeared on earth
His life was in Your hands
And all the seeds of peace he longed to sow
Are found in Your command
And You say the time will come
When we’ll answer to Your call
And then all men will know You
You’re the Master of us all
And You told us You would come
To save us from the fall
And soon You’re coming back to be
The Master of us all

On to Side Two. A synthesizer-drenched intro kicks off a perky little number called So Hard Alone. As with several other songs on the album, the lyrics on So Hard Alone  borrow heavily from the man who penned most of the New Testament, the apostle Paul:


So I live, but yet not I
It’s Christ who lives in me
And the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God
You can call me a fool
Tell me that I’m wasting my time
“Religion is fine but everything has its place”
You know I’ve been there before
And I just want you to see that there’s so much laughter
And now I’m alive with Jesus inside of me
And I’m free

Next came the multi-movement Trilogy: Three Voices. One reviewer called this “the album’s cornerstone” and “a prog rock tour-de-force without the bombast.” This suite of songs compares favorably to Ambrosia, and it was, again, a song that could’ve been covered by Michael & Stormie Omartian. Kauflin’s keyboard work really shines here. And the lyrics find the boys from GLAD pondering some of life’s deeper questions, but acknowledging that God is the sovereign Author of life and love:


We have loved before
And we’ll love again
But only You can show us love that’s true
We have lived before
Now we live again
As we were always meant to live for You
Lord of life
Guardian of the star
Where else can we be but where we are
Are we destiny?
Are we meant to be?
Another few who’ve come to live and die?

We are love gone wild
In the end, a child
Waiting for Your touch to light our eyes

Lord of life
Guardian of the star
Keeper of the far wind that blows
Lord of life
Maker of my form
One who calms the storm in my soul

The album closes with Psalm 121. [It must be acknowledged that the song’s intro bears an uncanny and unfortunate resemblance to the theme song from the TV show Cheers.  GLAD’s song came first, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that the melody lines are so similar. Just an observation.] The song, as you would expect, is a musical treatment of the 121^st Psalm. Ed Nalle again handles the lead vocal, sounding a bit like a frustrated operatic tenor trapped in a prog rock/jazz band. At the 2:55 mark, GLAD again gives us all a sample of what the future would hold for this group. The music stops and the voices soar in beautiful, complex harmonies.

John Boles

“I think that first album reflected a wide variety of musical influences,” said guitarist John Boles. “It was through the process of trying to work together on our own material that those influences began to forge a style. We never thought of ourselves as a ‘progressive’ rock band, per se; it was just that our particular mixture of influences happened to coincide with those used by prog rock bands of the period.”

As impressive as the musicianship and vocals were on this debut effort, the album could’ve benefitted from a larger recording budget and a top-flight producer. Still, it served notice that GLAD was a group that would be around for the long haul, with its tasty mixture of jazz, progressive rock, and stylish pop, along with intelligent lyrics firmly rooted and grounded in the Word of God. 

GLAD was around for the long haul, but it turns out the only constant for this band was change. After releasing Beyond a Star in 1980, the group switched labels (from Myrrh to Greentree) and recorded several more pop-rock records, including the jazzy Captured in Time in ’82; the “big and brassy” Champion of Love in ’85; and a synth-rock album titled Who Do You Love? in ’87. Many personnel changes occurred over the years. Beginning on Beyond a Star, GLAD had recorded one acapella track on each album. The popularity of these songs led to an entire album of songs recorded with no musical accompaniment – only voices. This was a risky venture for a Christian band and its label…but The Acapella Project by GLAD became wildly popular and received a Dove Award nomination as well as a Billboard Critic’s Choice Award. Sadly (for those of us who loved the band’s early albums), the boys laid down their pop-rock instrumentation and never looked back.

To date, GLAD has produced 23 albums, and the vocal band still tours today on a limited basis. 

Ed Nalle

Original member Ed Nalle remains with the group.  “I think the men in GLAD enjoy singing more now than we ever have before,” says Nalle. “We have a firmer grasp on the Gospel than we had as young men, and there is great joy in sharing our music, which is filled with rich truth.”

GLAD reunion concert in 2010
L-R: Paul Langford, Don Nalle, John Gates, Bob Kauflin, Chris Davis & Ed Nalle.

Fun facts:

Bob Kauflin is an author and speaker and is considered an elder statesman in the area of corporate worship.

Ed Nalle is a Worship Leader and Executive Pastor in Reston, VA. He was ordained in 2005.