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.
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| 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.
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| 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."
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| 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."
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| 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.
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| Nick Brotherwood |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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."
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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.
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| 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...
