tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33782133826660511012024-03-15T18:10:11.571-07:00100 Greatest CCM Albums of the '70sMusic that changed a generation. For eternity.Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-60902676955256768252024-02-05T13:42:00.000-08:002024-02-06T04:19:02.977-08:00#17 IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK by 2nd Chapter of Acts (1975)<p><i></i></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY__wGtTW3jm3_M3uGtUiqqJSXKds2JvN1T3-xNLHcbEGPryc0F20O67dmxHQiQE3eg3yXeJMhmw_z77hQpJLb6ov3Or0r8MSpgrz6OSg4l0hA5a8_y1LMHuzltsW9aa0-_O9X5dymWGyyTLb4V7aGlg4zKYE0XozN8s2In-1l5YxZNAkTnyTptg9jSaQ5/s600/R-1958428-1255021651_jpeg.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY__wGtTW3jm3_M3uGtUiqqJSXKds2JvN1T3-xNLHcbEGPryc0F20O67dmxHQiQE3eg3yXeJMhmw_z77hQpJLb6ov3Or0r8MSpgrz6OSg4l0hA5a8_y1LMHuzltsW9aa0-_O9X5dymWGyyTLb4V7aGlg4zKYE0XozN8s2In-1l5YxZNAkTnyTptg9jSaQ5/w400-h400/R-1958428-1255021651_jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK by <br />2nd Chapter of Acts (1975)<br />Myrrh - MSA 6542</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><br />"One, two, three, and..."</i><p></p><p>The first voice we hear on this brilliant album actually belongs to Michael Omartian, then a session keyboardist and arranger and artist in his own right. Omartian would soon be a highly successful and sought-after producer. Here on <i style="font-weight: bold;">ITVOTB</i>, he was counting off the string section on the album's opening track, <i>Start Every Day With a Smile</i>. </p><p><i>Start Every Day...</i> was hardly typical of an album opener. For starters, it's classical music. The track employs an actual string section, conducted by Omartian, and little else in the way of instrumentation. Clocking in at just fifty-four seconds, at first listen it seems like a pleasant little poem that Annie Herring might've married with a lilting melody on a slow Tuesday. Short though it may be, it's a song that sticks in your head and leaves you wanting more. Just as it is finding its way into our hearts and our psyches, it ends and slams into <i>Yaweh</i>, a hard rock song that explores the names of God and serves as the perfect vehicle for young Matthew Ward's already considerable vocal talent.</p><p><i>Start Every Day With a Smile</i> and <i>Yaweh </i>were a powerful and effective one-two punch that got <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b> off to an amazing start.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74u7ZnJjvYa0q_aldu_c6D_fwKkTIkfxEEycQ4aykIs_oYssePNsoN8ZrJo2u5np-e8VH7BV6fGlIkPjfPdiUmeObo6aD5XeEf-sl151liBUvreqcdBPUxhPf3YyFpfe7WK7RY5_J6ZIeJLqOgVguAcliQdEL6QfdasX52QtodyhcwaRloxRl8-sYo2e9/s320/ActsFNOP1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74u7ZnJjvYa0q_aldu_c6D_fwKkTIkfxEEycQ4aykIs_oYssePNsoN8ZrJo2u5np-e8VH7BV6fGlIkPjfPdiUmeObo6aD5XeEf-sl151liBUvreqcdBPUxhPf3YyFpfe7WK7RY5_J6ZIeJLqOgVguAcliQdEL6QfdasX52QtodyhcwaRloxRl8-sYo2e9/w250-h400/ActsFNOP1.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The Wards were a large Catholic family from the upper Midwest. Annie, one of 9 children, left the harsh winters and mundane lifestyle of North Dakota for the bright lights and sunshine of California. There, she met a popular radio DJ named Buck Herring. The two became an on-again-off-again item. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4a1ToPby_6mucm_8-PjIThnTpA4XPzNCN3_5Omy5WNOsd7YY-bASLKZ9II9Bj55T7bS1dWJ_-EigYou7dZPX1dfZhxz8CV6vX-g6S6oKteqTPzM2PSMQgG8MYgTF1atQIpdceTrtEjgYe_IEsxkIVgniYOVg9ZEIEZvTNahLA0YVACzLqx2MbXnZokByv/s250/ActsFNOP5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="250" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4a1ToPby_6mucm_8-PjIThnTpA4XPzNCN3_5Omy5WNOsd7YY-bASLKZ9II9Bj55T7bS1dWJ_-EigYou7dZPX1dfZhxz8CV6vX-g6S6oKteqTPzM2PSMQgG8MYgTF1atQIpdceTrtEjgYe_IEsxkIVgniYOVg9ZEIEZvTNahLA0YVACzLqx2MbXnZokByv/w400-h256/ActsFNOP5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Long story short, Buck found Jesus and then made sure that Annie did as well. The two subsequently experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit and became immersed in what God was doing in California during the early days of what later came to be known as the Jesus Movement. </p><p>The rest of the Ward family had relocated to the Golden State as well. Then tragedy struck. When Annie's parents died within a short time of each other, two of her younger siblings - Nelly and Matthew - were taken in by Buck and Annie. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJxZlOoQ6Y2FEisMfImXKc6k1ZxpO3swpzPPRcB2FBX7xd7Z_GYx2hPkqklTCVSeYXuZxVsS44R9K18iX-FQWf56S807QlSwa3qMcZjplIQ5L0yVr7ZIyLDwqs46OAd-OR-lKMlSpBjm8NY9WLzPoQz1yQTXvccNyJT44N7SbIwoKPqqfk88OCYKLhUxI/s500/tumblr_m3dr6hMDuG1qlatp5o1_500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="500" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJxZlOoQ6Y2FEisMfImXKc6k1ZxpO3swpzPPRcB2FBX7xd7Z_GYx2hPkqklTCVSeYXuZxVsS44R9K18iX-FQWf56S807QlSwa3qMcZjplIQ5L0yVr7ZIyLDwqs46OAd-OR-lKMlSpBjm8NY9WLzPoQz1yQTXvccNyJT44N7SbIwoKPqqfk88OCYKLhUxI/w400-h276/tumblr_m3dr6hMDuG1qlatp5o1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /><br />Well, Buck transitioned from DJ to recording engineer and bought Annie an old, upright piano for $50. Annie began to play the piano by ear (or "by heart" as she says) and started writing songs that were prompted by the Holy Spirit. She called herself a "song receiver" instead of a songwriter. So Annie was downloading songs, and Matthew and Nelly started singing with Annie when they would come home from school in the afternoons. One thing led to another...and the 2nd Chapter of Acts was born. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgcr2oEZu8qSiV1w928HB8Qrjg2-vbuNf72dBc7ocdi54nQj3A5jH3lwLgCmDNC_J7aiwNqKRyz94w3QgGQiGZC_w6jnBZ3B1Dm9_fRC1qCVOxZa8JHsDZUUsogsC1t158mlR7DF0Yg8h4j1y1w-S6O6rDQacVT9x0iciiU1HhuCG0nlHQLxGZpCiFeTw/s568/2nd-chapter-of-acts-c09B9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="568" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgcr2oEZu8qSiV1w928HB8Qrjg2-vbuNf72dBc7ocdi54nQj3A5jH3lwLgCmDNC_J7aiwNqKRyz94w3QgGQiGZC_w6jnBZ3B1Dm9_fRC1qCVOxZa8JHsDZUUsogsC1t158mlR7DF0Yg8h4j1y1w-S6O6rDQacVT9x0iciiU1HhuCG0nlHQLxGZpCiFeTw/w400-h400/2nd-chapter-of-acts-c09B9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The group's 1974 debut album, <b><i>With Footnotes</i></b>, was an instant classic and will be explored later on this list. A year later, <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b> was released by Myrrh Records. </p><p>CCM author and historian Mark Allan Powell calls the 2nd Chapter of Acts "one of the Jesus movement's greatest treasures" and says <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b> is the group's "second masterpiece." The album title comes from a passage of Scripture in the book of Psalms:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Then said I, Lo, I come;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>in the volume of the book</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>it is written of me,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I delight to do Your will, O my God;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>yes, Your law is within my heart.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly--</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>tidings of uprightness and right standing</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>with God. Lo, I have not restrained</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>my lips, as You know, O Lord.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I have not concealed Your righteousness</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>within my heart; I have proclaimed</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Your faithfulness and Your salvation;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I have not hid away Your steadfast</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>love and Your truth from</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>the great assembly.</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Psalm 40:7-10</div><br />These words of Scripture are found both on the album's back cover as well as the inner lyric sleeve (along with a humorous visual depiction of the Amplified Version of the Bible - with headphones plugged into the Word of God). <br /><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Tw4DCapxNR4JJ8hvEwh00Az74N4tLmhO8odSuRrB_GGdIW6h1yqHxnKOYH_JvxL4l6JdrJzoovnp-HFSd9j1kBjWYEhMbUPZnhYAN7epM1ZKjnT0aOMRV3x-jghEgyDC6QudzIgBgnNAkZZM6PmOTYnRAnjC07lc5iyAHUzGFxhXvKMvMFNLlRFAF4UE/s600/R-1958428-1255021688.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Tw4DCapxNR4JJ8hvEwh00Az74N4tLmhO8odSuRrB_GGdIW6h1yqHxnKOYH_JvxL4l6JdrJzoovnp-HFSd9j1kBjWYEhMbUPZnhYAN7epM1ZKjnT0aOMRV3x-jghEgyDC6QudzIgBgnNAkZZM6PmOTYnRAnjC07lc5iyAHUzGFxhXvKMvMFNLlRFAF4UE/w400-h400/R-1958428-1255021688.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-0IBg3aCOS_-x7bfbbV5f_dbDmY1L_o5Yg5R3NQ6w5liAOMkD_e1bfjATik8jqEIRbawkoSi9YJI5xFeNOdlhwb_Q3JV3yBByz1Lqo1VomN3xfVjJAdjqsUuuxcc_vhUFp9WObO49pNFqAIJcHO0G5jE7r5XyxACTonIow999WGI3ESKMwCss8o1j1uL/s600/1958428-3265328760cb938391f7b60cb938391f7c162395430760cb938391f81.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-0IBg3aCOS_-x7bfbbV5f_dbDmY1L_o5Yg5R3NQ6w5liAOMkD_e1bfjATik8jqEIRbawkoSi9YJI5xFeNOdlhwb_Q3JV3yBByz1Lqo1VomN3xfVjJAdjqsUuuxcc_vhUFp9WObO49pNFqAIJcHO0G5jE7r5XyxACTonIow999WGI3ESKMwCss8o1j1uL/w400-h400/1958428-3265328760cb938391f7b60cb938391f7c162395430760cb938391f81.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Musically, the 2nd Chapter of Acts was a true original. People have struggled to find ways to adequately and accurately describe their sound. In the <i>Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music</i>, Barry Alfonso says their songs were "an unlikely hybrid of old-fashioned hymnody, 1970s-era hard rock, and American theater music." In his <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i>, author Mark Allan Powell said the group had a "completely unique sound and the native talent to outshine all secular competitors." Powell lists a few mainstream acts to which 2nd Chapter is often compared...but acknowledges that the 2nd Chapter of Acts had "a more consistent songwriter, stronger vocals, and...tighter harmonies" than any of those other bands.<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrnxf8jnBPJolimm7ex1sp_pjeNkZLBVGoe_2cRjqP4Q3CB3xf95Jd2uVyXWVC9gojWo9Dm2FWvcT8bJV8dM8pUSo1i3IF9BixmfIFPkt5r8T6dMJgCwMinWy4oylEONDXvZDu9qcAr3h-gKNUQD5MOfmJ22Y-j3Qs1s8IB0FcmHgxQ1XaOJDrRwZ1hi2/s2250/2nd-chapter-of-acts-1973.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrnxf8jnBPJolimm7ex1sp_pjeNkZLBVGoe_2cRjqP4Q3CB3xf95Jd2uVyXWVC9gojWo9Dm2FWvcT8bJV8dM8pUSo1i3IF9BixmfIFPkt5r8T6dMJgCwMinWy4oylEONDXvZDu9qcAr3h-gKNUQD5MOfmJ22Y-j3Qs1s8IB0FcmHgxQ1XaOJDrRwZ1hi2/w400-h266/2nd-chapter-of-acts-1973.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /><br />The harmonies...oh my goodness. After all, they were siblings, and that definitely came into play. But add to that a charismatic focus on the anointing of the Holy Spirit and, well...it's no wonder secular groups just couldn't quite compare. One reviewer for CCM magazine said that listening to the 2nd Chapter was "like hearing the angels themselves." <br /><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyhbtA8BhczTeoP_MmfJlqKTn4zq0Tkav2N-d8T4xoCWrPtkuzFm6mG7jr59NAkDBLQpNpCVIuTnRNmql7cl9zTniBQWGXfIWQRmdVR1FbjpTf9Aa12JqRifs4XkQhKam5Z1tOnpyQOBRFYdVevm589VCkxi6SHll4Z7jNJ1_Vjl9-X58JJUY8woJhmQj/s2048/13667977_10210382672462443_3002068061865622143_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyhbtA8BhczTeoP_MmfJlqKTn4zq0Tkav2N-d8T4xoCWrPtkuzFm6mG7jr59NAkDBLQpNpCVIuTnRNmql7cl9zTniBQWGXfIWQRmdVR1FbjpTf9Aa12JqRifs4XkQhKam5Z1tOnpyQOBRFYdVevm589VCkxi6SHll4Z7jNJ1_Vjl9-X58JJUY8woJhmQj/w400-h285/13667977_10210382672462443_3002068061865622143_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p>They were pioneers, but were unaware that they were pioneering anything at the time. They were unconventional, sometimes running afoul of expected norms from concert promoters and magazine publishers. They were just doing whatever God told them to do. Literally.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rDBaC32oja9a-8QU6m5ZdQxAJCBkmych_nFM-kVQqwRd7LKJpu04DMLopI00_2JefOY6ieDmK5uXTADYRqcUqUjGsdPcLkxLdZ1Tt91Gh9qwKFpVCXlNet2ASr1q-7GVXOWw3prSXp3iR7gsS-C5_FKOfYrz9AOueO3LEe-lwEtr2VwiXwmxi-PQcmm7/s249/sca4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="249" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3rDBaC32oja9a-8QU6m5ZdQxAJCBkmych_nFM-kVQqwRd7LKJpu04DMLopI00_2JefOY6ieDmK5uXTADYRqcUqUjGsdPcLkxLdZ1Tt91Gh9qwKFpVCXlNet2ASr1q-7GVXOWw3prSXp3iR7gsS-C5_FKOfYrz9AOueO3LEe-lwEtr2VwiXwmxi-PQcmm7/w400-h263/sca4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HXHDs_QVGbj7vjh62rPkL_Q-MBNkFVGwZw6wxh-IqrkiH8CWbFUcnJi97f3Sw0i7wei8gEwtifWjRb5YUOBDzO94JbwOP2UEOq3R4rmb9d-N_-jpw3aRcUc_QXxiga229Kv7k4fjktGj7Th_ecPI0athbZXEJi8mBuLFsfosbuBUfxSffVZRbtW4aCMg/s600/1958428-4425884660cb938427eef60cb938427ef0162395430860cb938427ef7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HXHDs_QVGbj7vjh62rPkL_Q-MBNkFVGwZw6wxh-IqrkiH8CWbFUcnJi97f3Sw0i7wei8gEwtifWjRb5YUOBDzO94JbwOP2UEOq3R4rmb9d-N_-jpw3aRcUc_QXxiga229Kv7k4fjktGj7Th_ecPI0athbZXEJi8mBuLFsfosbuBUfxSffVZRbtW4aCMg/w399-h400/1958428-4425884660cb938427eef60cb938427ef0162395430860cb938427ef7.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The aforementioned <i>Start Every Day With a Smile</i> begins the album with simple lyrics that sound almost like something Annie Herring might say to another person during a conversation:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Start every day with a smile in your heart</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>and you'll never part</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>from the Good News you will hear in your ear</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>falling from the cross.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>It's so easy to pretend we're not coming to the end of the world,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I know that it's so easy, I've been there too, like you.</i></div></i><p></p><p>That's it. A lot of Annie's lyrics were like that. Very poetic, veering off in unexpected directions, but expressing spiritual ideas and saying things in a totally different way, with a fresh vision. I recently bought a devotional book that she wrote. She writes books the same way she wrote songs. Full of wonder and mystery, and sometimes you are not always sure exactly what she means, but your spirit understands (if that makes any sense).<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNu4RtjAAFh1a1ucTM-5pgnlGwFnVI-BeeAVL9n12GivtgOrctNikjszFCcxz3eBWINxnVj6S0gvIVf1inwm_Lz9Xxyww30Gr4Qw9BK9EQq7_Hy4LaKAQJ3s9wa007Vi6yVysd5iTvA99dj4LuKj5zPXWYrAN_-8TMn7IuFD2bCaxAufkazHABBe_k-2V/s2048/357510203_10158783200350738_6745782588927277574_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNu4RtjAAFh1a1ucTM-5pgnlGwFnVI-BeeAVL9n12GivtgOrctNikjszFCcxz3eBWINxnVj6S0gvIVf1inwm_Lz9Xxyww30Gr4Qw9BK9EQq7_Hy4LaKAQJ3s9wa007Vi6yVysd5iTvA99dj4LuKj5zPXWYrAN_-8TMn7IuFD2bCaxAufkazHABBe_k-2V/w300-h400/357510203_10158783200350738_6745782588927277574_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1jsrAE4J9W4" width="320" youtube-src-id="1jsrAE4J9W4"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><p><i>Yaweh</i> is the only song on the record that is not at least co-written by someone named Herring or Ward. Jesse Cosio wrote this song, a hard-rocking gem that allowed young Matthew Ward's incredible voice and Phil Keaggy's considerable guitar prowess to really shine. The group's debut album also contained a hard rock track that featured Matthew, but reviewer Mark Allan Powell says, "Yaweh does <i>The Devil's Lost Again</i> bit one better."<br /><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3s13xAVWl2Q-P6iqwyGENowvC4vFlOo7WTXCoxp_VhmPhviFx7pBOA5q3SX-cBON65Izj2v4mNAtiYSvhDU8IQfnUTJDKcHl1k4IsSxWn5eMjfb8grUBRVsrxjGEybl3uNMnynsKWYZeeZEDBP2WfvR0SKDRSxUkOSHnVEEejB65p_nZg6g4uE8Sy0ds2/s342/1922274_10152499181578099_7811998221750330822_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="342" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3s13xAVWl2Q-P6iqwyGENowvC4vFlOo7WTXCoxp_VhmPhviFx7pBOA5q3SX-cBON65Izj2v4mNAtiYSvhDU8IQfnUTJDKcHl1k4IsSxWn5eMjfb8grUBRVsrxjGEybl3uNMnynsKWYZeeZEDBP2WfvR0SKDRSxUkOSHnVEEejB65p_nZg6g4uE8Sy0ds2/w400-h400/1922274_10152499181578099_7811998221750330822_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br /><br />I suppose I should mention at this point that Matthew Ward (still a teenager at the time of this recording) always possessed not only an amazing vocal range, but also an other-worldly level of vocal control. This was decades before vocal "runs" became ubiquitous in pop music. Matthew's ability to improvise and sing crazy runs with an amazing degree of control was, well, just a joy to listen to - from the earliest days of the 2nd Chapter, through his CCM solo albums, as well as his foray into worship music...and still to this day. [By the way, I'm no Old Testament scholar...but a lot of people spell the name of this song, which is also a name for God, <i>Y-a-h-w-e-h</i>. In fact, I think the Bible itself uses that spelling, as well as the <b><i>ITVOTB</i></b> lyric sheet. But the album cover and songbook sheet music spell it <i>Y-a-w-e-h</i>. I just thought that was interesting.]<br /><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyBFo0G_2UEg-KC8276DVowa_RB9j_orpCTlPKQN1sFlPN7qR0PtHh8puPCzzRbZ1Gthj_awVYZtANp7wPAQBRNsfyZuAxlV2R6dLoRszNx3-OnLdn20q7gwy7nOYBw_bRWjGT2kXLEa6aHvCfUX3ziRq41zNo1vv19rM2swKoNayRsECfKyMENf6Kr_Vn/s595/top.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="146" data-original-width="595" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyBFo0G_2UEg-KC8276DVowa_RB9j_orpCTlPKQN1sFlPN7qR0PtHh8puPCzzRbZ1Gthj_awVYZtANp7wPAQBRNsfyZuAxlV2R6dLoRszNx3-OnLdn20q7gwy7nOYBw_bRWjGT2kXLEa6aHvCfUX3ziRq41zNo1vv19rM2swKoNayRsECfKyMENf6Kr_Vn/w400-h99/top.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The next two songs on the album use the imagery of nature, weather and seasons to express a deep longing for God's abiding presence. <i>Something Tells Me</i> is a ballad with a fairly complex arrangement. When the trio sings, "<i>Something tells me it's time to go..."</i> at the end of the song, they hold the note in perfect, unwavering 3-part harmony for what feels like a very long time while the band continues to run through its chord changes. This was long before the days of Pro Tools, digital recording tricks and autotune, folks. In other words, these three could <i>sing</i>. In <a href="https://youtu.be/Kzcnz2cM9EQ?si=Y4xtHOIqvOaKr6Nt" target="_blank">an interview with Brian Mason</a>, Matthew Ward revealed that <i>The Grey Song</i> was the only song the group ever recorded perfectly, from beginning to end. "We didn't have to fix anything," Matthew said. "All three of us. It almost had a kind of country-ish vibe to it. It's a cool song." </p><p>"I always enjoyed that tune because it came so easy, I guess," Ward said with a smile. "I love things that aren't hard!"<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzg0ww8olvPIAYrkpnMMNPptTIfEDqFcwtFMTWimacgTb8c5iJieKxVjfKm_cEPzvXKSCIt0b-XgaNGi0TlbvSIG2nCFzN9hpxpGfJYYm5QNH-TVxQHPU6rxu8xvM5j8nYPo8nqe9Fcz_5aNgaBVRY3RUuDZEmLmAyUgn7sSHK7cRIlIlD59EKr2LBgRY/s616/47469_473310212692394_1290095683_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="616" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzg0ww8olvPIAYrkpnMMNPptTIfEDqFcwtFMTWimacgTb8c5iJieKxVjfKm_cEPzvXKSCIt0b-XgaNGi0TlbvSIG2nCFzN9hpxpGfJYYm5QNH-TVxQHPU6rxu8xvM5j8nYPo8nqe9Fcz_5aNgaBVRY3RUuDZEmLmAyUgn7sSHK7cRIlIlD59EKr2LBgRY/w400-h223/47469_473310212692394_1290095683_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>A soft Fender Rhodes (don't you miss those?) signals the start of a testimony anthem called <i>Now That I Belong To You. </i>This one goes through different musical movements, with instrumentals that sound for all the world like they have a horn section involved. Come to think of it, <i>Yaweh</i> also seemed to have horns. As does<i> Hey, Whatcha Say</i>. But there are no horns listed in the album's credits! My guess would be that the "horns" I'm hearing were actually supplied by synthesizers. Perhaps? <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlWTxiJieI5CprLDe9mM2dFPMPy-K0gk9OfgR-GuPLjkYl9AggY1C7qgyA-fJAWO69fa6QdjCvlWaYNpaqZk3J1k3hDS0ePt2awDQTaB3viROxGfNW8GlPgwt4jPt1MtTzbheKb-O3h_2BJZ2L-UOAersSDHERIKHca5pbVMOyI3MiSz2LQyfx7-fAzJaz/s619/3684_472510729439009_691585158_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="619" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlWTxiJieI5CprLDe9mM2dFPMPy-K0gk9OfgR-GuPLjkYl9AggY1C7qgyA-fJAWO69fa6QdjCvlWaYNpaqZk3J1k3hDS0ePt2awDQTaB3viROxGfNW8GlPgwt4jPt1MtTzbheKb-O3h_2BJZ2L-UOAersSDHERIKHca5pbVMOyI3MiSz2LQyfx7-fAzJaz/w400-h223/3684_472510729439009_691585158_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />Next up, it's a Scripture song solo from young Matthew. He and keyboardist Richard Souther co-wrote the music for this one, titled <i>Ps. 63</i>. Souther was the pianist for A Band Called David, a group of spiritually like-minded musicians from the church that Acts attended - Jack Hayford's Church On The Way. Thus began a tradition of sorts - Matthew and Richard teaming up to write a Scripture song from the Psalms. In addition to Psalm 63 on this record, the two also collaborated on Psalm 61 for a live album in 1977 called <b><i>How the West Was One</i></b>, and Psalm 93 for the studio album <b><i>Mansion Builder</i></b> in 1978. Souther would go on to become a successful instrumentalist and songwriter, under both the names Richard Souther and Douglas Trowbridge.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQnEKYm7NW1XQbowDlwuQD8h81NL3G-BWZiChmfnL2eC6jOERT7smmsx8q3eyHxHRrK_qQ7A9219HXhIyCF0jPfFKKUR5yxJkMD1Hys_GHt_VrTD3BRsxdF2ZI8B1d9ajPQtln06PbfIyL59QDKPZ8b_DifKFo8g7R1yD1FGWrL2Y_y3Q25k1RPsbLpOx/s621/19e628560256949b5b48c3b45f187eb7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="621" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQnEKYm7NW1XQbowDlwuQD8h81NL3G-BWZiChmfnL2eC6jOERT7smmsx8q3eyHxHRrK_qQ7A9219HXhIyCF0jPfFKKUR5yxJkMD1Hys_GHt_VrTD3BRsxdF2ZI8B1d9ajPQtln06PbfIyL59QDKPZ8b_DifKFo8g7R1yD1FGWrL2Y_y3Q25k1RPsbLpOx/w400-h264/19e628560256949b5b48c3b45f187eb7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />"Annie the Poet" shines again on <i>Prince Song</i>, a very popular track that borrows language and imagery from classic fairy tales...</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I've got a brand new story though you've heard it a time or two</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>about a prince who kissed a girl right out of the blue</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Hey, this story ain't no tale to me now</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>for the Prince of Peace has given me life somehow</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You know what I mean</i></div></i><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>My sleep is over, I've been touched by His fire</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>that burns from His eyes and lifts me higher and higher</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'll live forever with Him right by my side</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He's coming again, on a white horse He'll ride</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He'll clothe me and crown me and He'll make me His bride</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You know what I mean</i></div></i><p></p><p>[By the way, Annie the Poet is a name that Michael Omartian gave to Annie Herring in a song on his 1976 album, <b><i>Adam Again</i></b>.] </p><p>And so ends Side One of <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b>.<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1tjq0-GYTdcEB-nf9vRYeAFoZaMHs6aloQ1TwcS-Bxb6uUW0-i1wr-0Kfd4CG9RI4pUN1MRjon0YqEeMqgrccSzwsjE2iqwB1PwOvr4iqI7xLhPHsNvVPC7fxUJYrcIl3KH5Gd4WyJo5v4CqEUg7-Tp-7rD2PhPGWYcp1ijZCtF2dzFSzHqsPN0ix4zB/s200/ActsFNOP16.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="200" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1tjq0-GYTdcEB-nf9vRYeAFoZaMHs6aloQ1TwcS-Bxb6uUW0-i1wr-0Kfd4CG9RI4pUN1MRjon0YqEeMqgrccSzwsjE2iqwB1PwOvr4iqI7xLhPHsNvVPC7fxUJYrcIl3KH5Gd4WyJo5v4CqEUg7-Tp-7rD2PhPGWYcp1ijZCtF2dzFSzHqsPN0ix4zB/w320-h214/ActsFNOP16.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buck Herring</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b><i>ITVOTB</i></b> was of course produced and engineered by Buck Herring (as were, I believe, every 2nd Chapter of Acts album ever recorded). It would seem that Buck's right-hand man on this project was the multi-talented Michael Omartian - or <i>Omar</i>, as Buck calls him. Omartian arranged the songs and played keyboards (Aarpvark synthesizer/organ/piano) and percussion. "Michael gave of himself to us beyond measure," Buck Herring told Brian Mason in <a href="https://youtu.be/N7ArlJjW9-0?si=QXJF55em7Bgj4GZf" target="_blank">a 2022 interview for YouTube</a>. "There wouldn't be enough money in the world for me to pay Michael for his contributions to the 2nd Chapter of Acts and to our music ministry over the years. Our relationship with Michael goes a hundred miles deep, a hundred miles wide, and a hundred miles high."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyOulm-EOaJDfuU4PQ_cdd5QpOpJgFUOMRwZ2H1riyisIjPfcrXUAgxU03lHIY4ZzwXY-trFpiytgNcZk7bbgYplD3cNVfvREwTajbkM0nHKSZlGJNh_2n6zRqFahiIFPvyXZB9eg8yBKQu8KcVCz5PqQGqMQ9pBUSvWO74myxIoWqWMCIlw4wwuV8yr3/s249/omartian2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="197" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyOulm-EOaJDfuU4PQ_cdd5QpOpJgFUOMRwZ2H1riyisIjPfcrXUAgxU03lHIY4ZzwXY-trFpiytgNcZk7bbgYplD3cNVfvREwTajbkM0nHKSZlGJNh_2n6zRqFahiIFPvyXZB9eg8yBKQu8KcVCz5PqQGqMQ9pBUSvWO74myxIoWqWMCIlw4wwuV8yr3/w316-h400/omartian2.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Omartian & wife Stormie</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Buck Herring's music industry connections paid off as he brought in top-notch studio "cats" and session players who had already played with - or went on to play with - some of the biggest names in mainstream entertainment. In addition to the aforementioned Phil Keaggy on lead guitar, Herring brought in drummer David Kemper (Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John and more); bassist Emory Gordon, Jr. (Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, John Denver and more); bassist David Hungate (Boz Skaggs, Dolly Parton, member of Toto); guitarist Jay Graydon (Joe Cocker, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer and more); guitarist Larry Rolando (Seals and Crofts, Vicki Lawrence, Art Garfunkel); organist Danny Timms (Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos and more); and bassist Michael Been (who went on to form The Call). Annie Herring also played some piano and percussion on <b><i>ITVOTB</i></b>. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-2ghTtIt70LOghR8TmIcHtV_32JPjnfBYSH0O937-gjuHkcuuzx_03WmgE5383B56QOgyBkLZckzyZ5IVLBewRGKToP-OKGeacCO66PEdhXt4tVBCvzicqT65yBoSDYuNZnGUKWWD8nYJkExtLJIcZE8Le9G6MgjIl_k-i8cZi9EFYixbAJNJkVMsj33/s600/R-1958428-1255021664.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-2ghTtIt70LOghR8TmIcHtV_32JPjnfBYSH0O937-gjuHkcuuzx_03WmgE5383B56QOgyBkLZckzyZ5IVLBewRGKToP-OKGeacCO66PEdhXt4tVBCvzicqT65yBoSDYuNZnGUKWWD8nYJkExtLJIcZE8Le9G6MgjIl_k-i8cZi9EFYixbAJNJkVMsj33/w400-h400/R-1958428-1255021664.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>On the group's debut album, cover photos were used sparingly. Not so on <b><i>In the Volume of the Book.</i></b> There were lots of pics - two photos blended one over the other on the front, and seven pictures on the back cover. The photography credit went to Joel Strasser.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhYYdQaB214eEuNw4Rg3NB2jFe9GsRYhSX1F8Bt2mV9pDKn-_F244j4Hp6jv-imIH158GjnO_lZrIy7yA_9n8uny3ihMawHJuCwD0XjMohJTwNFFWMFmYoZzPhSmj0yt0xgphjPkaPI0M-yy2W5F2B4I95MCCUrSfNMHQOaoGdSDpaZLvQtXemQ0zYB7i/s600/R-1958428-1255021747.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhYYdQaB214eEuNw4Rg3NB2jFe9GsRYhSX1F8Bt2mV9pDKn-_F244j4Hp6jv-imIH158GjnO_lZrIy7yA_9n8uny3ihMawHJuCwD0XjMohJTwNFFWMFmYoZzPhSmj0yt0xgphjPkaPI0M-yy2W5F2B4I95MCCUrSfNMHQOaoGdSDpaZLvQtXemQ0zYB7i/w400-h400/R-1958428-1255021747.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/id9ThGIWNx0" width="320" youtube-src-id="id9ThGIWNx0"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><p>Side two begins with a beautiful worship song that has stood the test of time. <i>Morning Comes When You Call </i>is a reverent plea for God's presence...a tender yet powerful acknowledgement of our need for Him:<br /><br /></p><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I need Your hand to guide me</i></div></i><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Every step along the way</i></div></i><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I need Your arms to hold me</i></div></i><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I need Your love to fall down fresh upon me every day</i></div></i><p style="text-align: center;"><i>I need You here beside me</i></p><p><br />Here again, we see the theme of days, seasons and nature...<br /><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Morning comes when You call... Evening comes when You call... </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>All nature listens to You, 'cause You hold it all... </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The grass withers, the flowers fade, but Your Word lives forever... </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The whitest lily becomes your shade...</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj1OmiML_VO19XvKxSpTlv8d45qLCnH40OvJ5oq0GNKYiWYDdJm3TpW42IDL4wcRP71-FmdlTCykr7QN4NfFSH6BOEG9GbCV6O0yGnCW2KsowCailX14xymHVjn41rgQg_bqpwVnCE4eXtaBSrxI1DmDasQ7IWEAJD3Es5XG3z_Xcf1kPgFbGoD9MKZ9x/s960/71776976_10157789743700742_6446877689482575872_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj1OmiML_VO19XvKxSpTlv8d45qLCnH40OvJ5oq0GNKYiWYDdJm3TpW42IDL4wcRP71-FmdlTCykr7QN4NfFSH6BOEG9GbCV6O0yGnCW2KsowCailX14xymHVjn41rgQg_bqpwVnCE4eXtaBSrxI1DmDasQ7IWEAJD3Es5XG3z_Xcf1kPgFbGoD9MKZ9x/w300-h400/71776976_10157789743700742_6446877689482575872_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><br /><i>Borrowed Time</i> is a quirky little tune, a little different from the rest of the album. To me, it's sort of a companion piece to <i>Good News</i> from the first album, <b><i>With Footnotes</i></b>. <i>Good News</i> was a heavier rock song, but it was highly evangelistic and aimed to share Jesus with people "out there" who were distracted by TV, war and killing. Well, <i>Borrowed Time </i>is also an evangelistic song that aims to share Jesus with a dark and despairing world of people who are worried about what tomorrow may bring and concerned with what they're going to eat, how much money to borrow and all the bills they have to pay. Annie says they're not living on Eastern or Pacific, but on borrowed time. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G50E2PShDHg" width="320" youtube-src-id="G50E2PShDHg"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /><p></p><p>If I could only share one song with a person who'd never heard the 2nd Chapter, you know, as a good representation of the group's work...I could do a lot worse than <i>Last Day of My Life</i>. It checks a lot of boxes. The close, smooth, sibling harmony...Matthew's rock and roll pipes...incredible dynamics and passionate lyrical poetry. By the way, <i>Last Day...</i> is also a highly evangelistic song, making it and <i>Borrowed Time</i> a powerful one-two punch for the listener who's on the fence about this Jesus guy.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQJJdGbfCexl_ISWPpJ4EOH8HGO1No3CzwZlSLajYP0sbkt4fLJVtjePv3gJrOACnBi4lo6a3gFftHWjR9Lgl5mFLgP3sRJm_bFt2590X2AhzmPFBZt6N9G2LE9yJ_vFNipkO8GXgIJehJVBdFn0kBZAhiXs-zNRT5LkdeDhjib7ufDlFMvPs0acff1Dg/s640/41074937_2042320109133238_4159984264957394944_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="640" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQJJdGbfCexl_ISWPpJ4EOH8HGO1No3CzwZlSLajYP0sbkt4fLJVtjePv3gJrOACnBi4lo6a3gFftHWjR9Lgl5mFLgP3sRJm_bFt2590X2AhzmPFBZt6N9G2LE9yJ_vFNipkO8GXgIJehJVBdFn0kBZAhiXs-zNRT5LkdeDhjib7ufDlFMvPs0acff1Dg/w400-h249/41074937_2042320109133238_4159984264957394944_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The rhythmic, uptempo <i>Hey, Whatcha Say</i> is a simple song, lyrically. It's all about seeing, hearing and <i>feeling</i> God. Here in the YouTube age, there's no shortage of videos from reformed cessationists who are apparently very upset that people actually believe that they a) literally hear God speak to them and b) feel His presence during worship or just as they go through their daily lives. Well, the members of the 2nd Chapter of Acts have never shied away for an instant from their belief in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They attended an Assembly of God church for a while during the early days of their Christian walk in California, then transitioned to Pastor Jack Hayford's Church on the Way, a well-known Pentecostal/Charismatic fellowship. They have recounted miracles and supernatural acts of God in books and numerous interviews, without apology. They really meant it when they sang to the Lord:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Hey, whatcha say to me</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I've never heard words like that before</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Oh, what You let me see</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I've never seen things like that before</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Oh, what they do to me</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I've never felt feelings like that before, no</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I've never felt feelings like that before!</i></div></i><p></p><p><i>Hey, Whatcha Say</i> gives Phil Keaggy a chance to deliver a couple of blistering electric lead solos. And he does not disappoint.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8v9xfrOFliBGeD3oawDP5PH8XUTaayfFAaw24AXrVz3UyqVjX3UWRvu_BGepahyphenhyphenozvlf3ZW4Ul_DNint2Y0-xnZwUElLWRYGqzud99_0Iyggw9JrsrxV_j0opbGEIoBhibzqS8VLcjdxflvYcNle4Cp2c_aXiCFOP0EMDhrCPpNdQ39JQAmmwOeupLZTZ/s1191/307687546_10160071050780813_1202125615344808528_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8v9xfrOFliBGeD3oawDP5PH8XUTaayfFAaw24AXrVz3UyqVjX3UWRvu_BGepahyphenhyphenozvlf3ZW4Ul_DNint2Y0-xnZwUElLWRYGqzud99_0Iyggw9JrsrxV_j0opbGEIoBhibzqS8VLcjdxflvYcNle4Cp2c_aXiCFOP0EMDhrCPpNdQ39JQAmmwOeupLZTZ/w393-h400/307687546_10160071050780813_1202125615344808528_n.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><p><br />Phil shines again (for lack of a better word) in <i>Keep On Shinin'.</i> In <a href="https://youtu.be/7spEouUNsXM?si=l8E8Qs2F1l4rNNeb" target="_blank">a 2022 interview with Brian Mason</a>, Buck Herring tells a pretty amazing story regarding Keaggy's recording experience during the making of <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b>.<br /><br />"The first day, Omar was doing the arrangements," Herring recalled. "I had set everything up, the music stands and mics, all that stuff. They started running down the first song and Phil was just kind of sitting there, just looking at his music stand. And I thought, 'Oh, no. I've embarrassed him because he doesn't read music.' He got up, put his guitar down and came into the control room. He plopped himself down on the couch in front of the console and he said, 'I'll do my parts later.' So we recorded all of the tracks, and Phil hadn't played yet on <i>any</i> of them."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiiZPA_OaYjGxbCra4T8XzhhmA1EmUcBgBZ-IclmsUcZU4wnqO2LuCATvzCzlcV17m0lqtORtbCtkSABGhestIlII54y6TsqX1mbyHz6qayF1fHhjrcmYQ_5qa22nIRMpiqWrbzk9N4GU-p4TItZprRfU83b_fHgZd0-UN3ICjNeUXHHn6Fgqgn9xEgzO/s960/307783_10151149616109586_163083143_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiiZPA_OaYjGxbCra4T8XzhhmA1EmUcBgBZ-IclmsUcZU4wnqO2LuCATvzCzlcV17m0lqtORtbCtkSABGhestIlII54y6TsqX1mbyHz6qayF1fHhjrcmYQ_5qa22nIRMpiqWrbzk9N4GU-p4TItZprRfU83b_fHgZd0-UN3ICjNeUXHHn6Fgqgn9xEgzO/w300-h400/307783_10151149616109586_163083143_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil Keaggy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Buck continues: "In my producing career, I always abhorred electric guitar overdubs because I'm not a musician, I could not tell them what to play; it was always a process of elimination. <i>What do you hear?</i> I hear this.<i> I don't like that.</i> And you would just keep going until you eventually landed on something you both liked. But I had to depend on them to really contribute because I couldn't guide them all that much. So now we had finished all of the tracks for <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b>, and we had scratch vocals on everything. So it came time to do the electric guitar overdubs. I had no idea what was going to happen. I had never worked with Phil before. And a few days prior I had embarrassed him but putting him out there with all of these studio guys and exposing the fact that he couldn't read music. But sitting on the couch, listening while we laid down all the tracks, <i>he had memorized all of them</i>. There are thirteen songs on <b><i>In the Volume of the Book</i></b>. One take. One take on every single song on the album for guitar. There was only one internal punch on the whole album and that was in the middle of the guitar solo for <i>Keep On Shining</i>. Everything else was one take on the whole album. That was it."<br /><br />Buck described it as, "The most amazing one take of my entire recording career."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrQ-blGJsixjjtrTXD0ux9DynN9B48BbZE_094FwpXR7jLwcsVcW0CXHII22EawN2x4pHRlSCrmx-J6Km-AWWsC9OeN3T1Sq4ygvMHMlYIJzIcC22ZcOBR3HCxpa5vUq-X2SdhyfYnkyZ5tgk2_5DdKky6n_w4J-6p08t1v_CDgLLR4A6IEhwDZOzKGK7/s575/philmi1978-575h_1_orig.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrQ-blGJsixjjtrTXD0ux9DynN9B48BbZE_094FwpXR7jLwcsVcW0CXHII22EawN2x4pHRlSCrmx-J6Km-AWWsC9OeN3T1Sq4ygvMHMlYIJzIcC22ZcOBR3HCxpa5vUq-X2SdhyfYnkyZ5tgk2_5DdKky6n_w4J-6p08t1v_CDgLLR4A6IEhwDZOzKGK7/w393-h400/philmi1978-575h_1_orig.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Fittingly, <i>Keep On Shinin' </i>carries on the nature theme as Annie writes about morning, night, daybreak, and light, relating all of it, of course, to the closeness she desires with the Lord. </p><p><b><i>ITVOTB</i></b> wraps with <i>I Can't Get Near You</i>, a passionate song sung from the Lord to us. This one seems to be a solo by Annie. Ascribing words and thoughts to God in a song is sometimes a tricky thing...but here, it just works...<br /><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I can't get near you even though I died for you</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I can't get through to you, even when those nails went through in pain</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>All I tried to explain is My love, all of My love that I long to give you</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A love you can live through</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A love that is free, perfectly free</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>To heal all your sorrows, for all your tomorrows</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>So open your heart</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Here's a new start</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I love you<br /><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUHm518ybHtU6-5wgZN-aJsuhJ10nNR1whMszoiYL9nZz5nY0ojz3Kfiy0PyFXLj3R2S_VWhmhd8ABcU31Cy3-PukRm6Tu85ZcIFt1lHoWtEaUqZ2QJbkE4C8rqL9kyg45f-HwpgWBgyDyNUfS72kbqUOQ0NiXZNQrBm9R-SraEGg03BzfIwxveVgQsqP/s500/2ndchapterofacts-thevolumeofhtebook_512x.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUHm518ybHtU6-5wgZN-aJsuhJ10nNR1whMszoiYL9nZz5nY0ojz3Kfiy0PyFXLj3R2S_VWhmhd8ABcU31Cy3-PukRm6Tu85ZcIFt1lHoWtEaUqZ2QJbkE4C8rqL9kyg45f-HwpgWBgyDyNUfS72kbqUOQ0NiXZNQrBm9R-SraEGg03BzfIwxveVgQsqP/w400-h400/2ndchapterofacts-thevolumeofhtebook_512x.png" width="400" /></a></div></div></i><p>After the group's 1974 debut <b><i>With Footnotes</i></b> took Christendom by storm, if ever there was a time for a so-called sophomore jinx, this was it. But it didn't happen. True, there was no <i>Easter Song</i> on this album. But there's only been one of those <i>ever</i>. And there wasn't a <i>Which Way the Wind Blows</i> on this record (although <i>Morning Comes When You Call</i> comes close). But taken collectively, as a project, this record is a beautifully recorded statement of continuing faith in 1975 by the 2nd Chapter of Acts. Oh - and it rocks. There was no drop-off. If anything, the relatively small group of folks known as Jesus freaks who were aware of this album in 1975 were not only thrilled with this record, but extremely excited about what the future held, <i>based on</i> this record. And they should have been. The group's output across the rest of the 1970s was prolific.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZNBqgMnUkpoALXNNFKVyB1avuL5kWXSG0S_RyooYJGmGckb-OYWTwiFGJobVexxANmkA0GxDI3Qa7OFZQbkdHXlMDHxj5__MZwGfiiBAu3tEaeTUOLqEU6Cm0ZSEB0Fh1QrSCMc_HyPc9OY-p8PelXV7HkhOOIAnklhyuzIW-QGcNesnxbW4NzfjNiWP/s2048/965478_584546268243970_1454577283_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1286" data-original-width="2048" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZNBqgMnUkpoALXNNFKVyB1avuL5kWXSG0S_RyooYJGmGckb-OYWTwiFGJobVexxANmkA0GxDI3Qa7OFZQbkdHXlMDHxj5__MZwGfiiBAu3tEaeTUOLqEU6Cm0ZSEB0Fh1QrSCMc_HyPc9OY-p8PelXV7HkhOOIAnklhyuzIW-QGcNesnxbW4NzfjNiWP/w400-h251/965478_584546268243970_1454577283_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2nd Chapter of Acts with Barry McGuire</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><br />That same year, the 2nd Chapter hit the road with Barry McGuire, and a multi-disc, landmark live album was the result. The next year they took a C.S. Lewis book and turned it into a musical (though it was held up for a time due to copyright claims). In 1977, they hit the road with Phil Keaggy and another classic live set was released. After a move to Sparrow Records, the classic <b><i>Mansion Builder </i></b>LP was released in '78. And don't forget their involvement in musicals like <b><i>Firewind</i></b> and <b><i>The Witness</i></b>. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl90cJIV0rSBzYfjGvdtZRxxHTMDeaYcOvchl_qRy2SzN0GDIdpjJogjS91c7j0MemHrBJDoNf6pE7DcYV3ZMqCGcfsRvYBG17arWJK5R5C5DE-cupWWeii7wtRO21Sp5U-tUiyR9DKHjbh2UU4UjGjLZU-9rZsBt8rRn9seYmLA-f-xcki-Q37merKKUY/s2048/20786102_1ll597029610328959_7240370334541991411_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1495" data-original-width="2048" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl90cJIV0rSBzYfjGvdtZRxxHTMDeaYcOvchl_qRy2SzN0GDIdpjJogjS91c7j0MemHrBJDoNf6pE7DcYV3ZMqCGcfsRvYBG17arWJK5R5C5DE-cupWWeii7wtRO21Sp5U-tUiyR9DKHjbh2UU4UjGjLZU-9rZsBt8rRn9seYmLA-f-xcki-Q37merKKUY/w400-h293/20786102_1ll597029610328959_7240370334541991411_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The music styles and clothing styles changed somewhat in the eighties. But the 2nd Chapter rolled on, seeing lives changed and set free by the power of God - which was indeed their primary goal in all of this. They relocated to Texas along with their friend Keith Green and some other ministries, and later to Colorado. But as the business side of the music business began to take center stage, the 2nd Chapter grew less and less enchanted with what had come to be known as Contemporary Christian Music. They were sometimes viewed as being difficult by magazine publishers and festival promoters, because they wouldn't just go along and play the game. They always had a higher calling. </p><p><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBO3oU9FtlbK7BobVvciI3jyGttD-cB21necGMVGGnhBIEpOAasMhO9iPTtPilCusIuwpYy-fooAQxqQOgRmkmFa2nu_ntBndAdV-byY7fml3fnapOVzCicfXQPvGnuT8G80OfcLx1akUEpT2vCSpvAzJSJYbQ5klfPgrW549740SSsqDkvby4iNg6UBRU/s2048/332759552_3292201684423547_348476677858300117_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1483" data-original-width="2048" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBO3oU9FtlbK7BobVvciI3jyGttD-cB21necGMVGGnhBIEpOAasMhO9iPTtPilCusIuwpYy-fooAQxqQOgRmkmFa2nu_ntBndAdV-byY7fml3fnapOVzCicfXQPvGnuT8G80OfcLx1akUEpT2vCSpvAzJSJYbQ5klfPgrW549740SSsqDkvby4iNg6UBRU/w400-h290/332759552_3292201684423547_348476677858300117_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>By 1988 the group members felt God telling them that this chapter was drawing to a close. Time to come off the road and focus on family. Annie and Matthew also pursued solo ministries. We (I'll just go ahead and speak for everybody) were sad to see the group go, but oh so thankful for the rich legacy of music and ministry that they had left for us - music that continues to minister to this very day. They were originals. There's never been a group like them before or since. </p><p>The focus of the 2nd Chapter of Acts was always...<i>What do You want, Lord? What do You want from us? What would You have us say and share and do?</i> Looking back, you might say that the foundational verse for this album remained front and center for the members of the 2nd Chapter throughout their time of ministry together...</p><div style="text-align: left;"><i>In the volume of the book </i><i>it is written of me,</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I delight to do Your will, O my God;</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Yes, Your law is within my heart.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPlk9UmPwvT-hSgJ8Nsw2ri57oQR4Hii_9VMGJeBfEon-ND-J3PizHgOZK4SvthAspatFvIVQMsNfElnubuxkzlie5U8jsHrrkP4pEr-T0VScDnZMYrYWd8P8fzzE5bwwiiV8_VePbhuZQkmjmdAnIlmk8aMZ-gfItApwKx99zUkDZOPmoi4P80SgvZH3/s1301/67911066_2362033780730884_3681238854771146752_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1028" data-original-width="1301" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPlk9UmPwvT-hSgJ8Nsw2ri57oQR4Hii_9VMGJeBfEon-ND-J3PizHgOZK4SvthAspatFvIVQMsNfElnubuxkzlie5U8jsHrrkP4pEr-T0VScDnZMYrYWd8P8fzzE5bwwiiV8_VePbhuZQkmjmdAnIlmk8aMZ-gfItApwKx99zUkDZOPmoi4P80SgvZH3/w400-h316/67911066_2362033780730884_3681238854771146752_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /> </p><p><br /></p></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-71013009353639138562023-06-05T08:10:00.005-07:002023-06-05T08:39:43.661-07:00#18 NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND? by Randy Matthews (1975)<p style="text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCKUy0Lxuxd4M7HIiTo2qXd9KYt1okrZ5-iKKP-dszTaSKNxSs0r0KEJQ2MN2nJbotW0o6LcAZtD4DDrQquB-SuXf9b4Z8OrmNCP40mfM4K5f9noMG6KPr3d0a28WCS_uHh2QVHxcOVVe99QQxfEhadwz6E0FOCzzn7wTn7Y5vmSTBu-597miQOgybg/s600/RandyMatthews-NowDoYouUnderstand_0.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCKUy0Lxuxd4M7HIiTo2qXd9KYt1okrZ5-iKKP-dszTaSKNxSs0r0KEJQ2MN2nJbotW0o6LcAZtD4DDrQquB-SuXf9b4Z8OrmNCP40mfM4K5f9noMG6KPr3d0a28WCS_uHh2QVHxcOVVe99QQxfEhadwz6E0FOCzzn7wTn7Y5vmSTBu-597miQOgybg/w399-h400/RandyMatthews-NowDoYouUnderstand_0.jpg" width="399" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND?</i></b> by <b>Randy Matthews</b><br />(1975 | Myrrh MSZ 6546 )<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br />In the mid-70s, my pastor-father and pastor's-wife-mother said that they had heard from God. The Lord told them to sell all of our stuff, such as it was (the house we lived in was owned by the church, so we wouldn't be able to profit from selling that) and then hit the road in an RV, sharing the Good News of Jesus with churches across the land. We did "regular" revivals where my brothers and I would sing (we had formed a band, <i>didn't every family have a band?</i>), and Dad would preach. We also did specialized children's ministry, with games, contests, puppets, music, the whole thing. Ministered at summer church camps all summer long, every year, and traveled from church to church the rest of the time. Full-time. For seven years. Living in RVs...even a former Greyhound bus that had been converted into a "motor coach." We saw 35 states, Canada and Mexico that way. It was a weird way to grow up, but looking back, I would not trade it for anything. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgBskos3MBTcbIEVsZEckn5A2KD1a8BGMsomalzZpwul7OqC-0WSF3ymFOMz3qVc_kJ9wnN9EY3ahxPBOSWx4vIlZULJFhUOSS9kBYxwytA76Cxm_VLWfDWj1TYGPrDzYdKGgZiYd-g8mfRdFTdRP6OGE6ekCkyoc9Az2eFCxaQob9FlUYWM20OGM6Q/s1064/13403935_1722224251378510_2799646000957216853_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1064" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgBskos3MBTcbIEVsZEckn5A2KD1a8BGMsomalzZpwul7OqC-0WSF3ymFOMz3qVc_kJ9wnN9EY3ahxPBOSWx4vIlZULJFhUOSS9kBYxwytA76Cxm_VLWfDWj1TYGPrDzYdKGgZiYd-g8mfRdFTdRP6OGE6ekCkyoc9Az2eFCxaQob9FlUYWM20OGM6Q/w400-h274/13403935_1722224251378510_2799646000957216853_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /><br /><i>Why is he telling us this stuff? I came here to read about Randy Matthews. </i>Hold on, hold on. I'm getting there.<br /><br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg_Xqc9dBzag8F1lLfsbOLvqt-4SWhvPj9vsaU89NGh0ABTQ7O1RSnrEpHS_rZXRe8gsk5wd0Gkm97mtk1Rn2a_ivb-wbrxsdPcMhPMkVz4i5Els-DJUm17_pFmDPp-GFUtaveHYp8JC6DGtiZibuBALNHZTNUpfG86DBTp8jIJUH-xxbCvz9ybgoAQ/s1753/288892119_751082776222502_7354115794263910865_n%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1753" data-original-width="1635" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPg_Xqc9dBzag8F1lLfsbOLvqt-4SWhvPj9vsaU89NGh0ABTQ7O1RSnrEpHS_rZXRe8gsk5wd0Gkm97mtk1Rn2a_ivb-wbrxsdPcMhPMkVz4i5Els-DJUm17_pFmDPp-GFUtaveHYp8JC6DGtiZibuBALNHZTNUpfG86DBTp8jIJUH-xxbCvz9ybgoAQ/w373-h400/288892119_751082776222502_7354115794263910865_n%20(2).jpg" width="373" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>It was during those traveling days in that former Greyhound bus that we acquired an 8-track tape of an album called <b><i>Now Do You Understand?</i></b> by a guy named Randy Matthews. We had heard one song by Matthews on a sampler album - <i>It Ain't Easy</i> on a Myrrh collection called <b><i>Love, Peace, Joy</i></b>. So this was our first <i>real</i> Matthews album - our introduction to the creative force and communicative genius that was Randy Matthews. And what an introduction it was. I remember spending hours...upon hours...upon hours listening to that 8-track in our darkened bedroom on that bus. Our bedroom with carpeted, leopard-print walls. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7sdKHUVLYAeNxRXlc-6ux26ZGpk5dy1lMmhf3joX44VDyVGalgLq6YBzqJYB3jzJTV6_s1JCpFtc_wtYEdVVjPig_5JHL1DixrBPg8s7R8denkRA9ulcbKv-QdsuFnj_q4UNDvNlrEnXSlr2NRguRWP088QfkaMe8I-W454QY6sAlZmjS2lGFmoCWw/s3263/BeFunky-collagerypl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1657" data-original-width="3263" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7sdKHUVLYAeNxRXlc-6ux26ZGpk5dy1lMmhf3joX44VDyVGalgLq6YBzqJYB3jzJTV6_s1JCpFtc_wtYEdVVjPig_5JHL1DixrBPg8s7R8denkRA9ulcbKv-QdsuFnj_q4UNDvNlrEnXSlr2NRguRWP088QfkaMe8I-W454QY6sAlZmjS2lGFmoCWw/w400-h204/BeFunky-collagerypl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Our bedroom that had no windows, so that when the door was closed, it was <i>really</i> dark. And I would listen through a pair of Koss stereo headphones. I literally cannot think of a better way to have experienced <b><i>Now Do You Understand?</i></b> Because with the headphones, and in that darkened room, I could visualize what I was hearing. I was drawn in. I was powerfully impacted. <b><i>Now Do You Understand?</i> </b>was more than a concert; it was an experience. An experience that left a profound effect on the listener.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX577IPh6I3QBXFuA0S1iv7d45TbE9evTNSCRZ_Wu0xLGXuzMx-tzuQBcrTF0bC73e4HTwTFPQScHPWdjFTqE2pSV0Z-agnCCiR9BSHAoOVhT8v4qpHnOVcgbw-p2bPj8GfVPgxGMJv-W5b0gRNuZQ6sParkaotLjWZxfHy5o8i6wF_duntYI6SpYPkA/s888/11150770_1634074943505575_6406039722468945078_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="888" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX577IPh6I3QBXFuA0S1iv7d45TbE9evTNSCRZ_Wu0xLGXuzMx-tzuQBcrTF0bC73e4HTwTFPQScHPWdjFTqE2pSV0Z-agnCCiR9BSHAoOVhT8v4qpHnOVcgbw-p2bPj8GfVPgxGMJv-W5b0gRNuZQ6sParkaotLjWZxfHy5o8i6wF_duntYI6SpYPkA/w400-h146/11150770_1634074943505575_6406039722468945078_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>What have others said?</p><p><i>Long, scraggly hair and beard, John Lennon-like spectacles and a silver jumpsuit-cladded Matthews grabs just a guitar and microphone and makes his way through seventy minutes of song, story, humor and ministry. There sometimes appears to be as much talking as singing, but it works so incredibly well with Matthews. He is a master storyteller, whether in song or not. His rough-edged Joe Cocker-like voice is pure gold on this project. The intimacy and genuineness of the performance simply pulls the listener in to what is being said and sung.</i><br />-David Lowman, blogger, host & producer of <i>Legacy: CCM's Greatest Albums</i> podcast</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJzKhN4UAgAl2o6rA1WiB4Lvyy3S4Nyi33FSb0T93sZmKBvyup687AoxPwIRtRBgdTa1DsOfiA1JO0a2ctj6l0yMs_oL4mt49tEVflx2d0vL_5eizIgDTX9b851GE-NnsAH8cPGKx1IDxfi3o2SIGnSOVAwAhZWFUt307KMB7KkJ2R0Cq003fpzreWg/s1200/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-cover2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJzKhN4UAgAl2o6rA1WiB4Lvyy3S4Nyi33FSb0T93sZmKBvyup687AoxPwIRtRBgdTa1DsOfiA1JO0a2ctj6l0yMs_oL4mt49tEVflx2d0vL_5eizIgDTX9b851GE-NnsAH8cPGKx1IDxfi3o2SIGnSOVAwAhZWFUt307KMB7KkJ2R0Cq003fpzreWg/w400-h400/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-cover2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i><b>Now Do You Understand?</b>...remains an essential souvenir of the Jesus movement - such that one could hardly understand the historical phenomenon of that revival without it. It is a live album, a two-record set that preserves an apparently unedited concert featuring just Matthews' voice and guitar. The absence of a band...allows for absolute candor and intimacy. Much of the sixty-eight minutes is taken up with conversation, as Matthews tells funny stories (life on the road, his false start as a quartet singer, a childhood crush), talks to God, and wonders aloud whether Jesus ever ate a pastrami-on-rye sandwich. These musings of an unabashed hippie Christian (pictured on the cover with long, scraggly hair, John Lennon spectacles, and - for some reason - wearing a silver "space cowboy" suit) are ultimately more precious than the songs. One of the best live gospel albums ever made, [this album] provide[s] an accurate aural representation of what a Jesus Music concert was like.</i><br />- Mark Allan Powell, author, <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music<br /><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFsHyT8Hem5jVRyGy_3q7yQY0jGfOrISCGv-Je3OZu8RiH6x3grwS-EnB-bF15E2jxf_s1umHL76bPGsyz3L20djWtr4LK0kwAmQ4vwZnAU92Gyson6BuVAs2VyoETBCr4o2Ol3p7dl39ekOkqK6ZeQqsA-lmppDkIVexNzErm4HRyPTEeMZfookzdw/s960/10360211_1531233950456342_4412271459791259500_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="960" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFsHyT8Hem5jVRyGy_3q7yQY0jGfOrISCGv-Je3OZu8RiH6x3grwS-EnB-bF15E2jxf_s1umHL76bPGsyz3L20djWtr4LK0kwAmQ4vwZnAU92Gyson6BuVAs2VyoETBCr4o2Ol3p7dl39ekOkqK6ZeQqsA-lmppDkIVexNzErm4HRyPTEeMZfookzdw/w400-h270/10360211_1531233950456342_4412271459791259500_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><br />And then there's Brian Quincy Newcomb, an author and music critic who wrote for <i>CCM Magazine</i> and for his own publication, the highly regarded <i>Harvest Rock Syndicate</i>. Brian, or BQN as he is sometimes known, has spent some time working on a book about Matthews and was kind enough to share some of that material with me for this blog post.<p></p><p>By the way, Newcomb was there. BQN was down front. </p><p>No, seriously. He was in attendance as a Houghton College student on the night this concert was recorded.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2CB67lvMhfTDVwRA5umo-NcTv26ZXXorWvlnsqnEZlmNrLjjgS7S2q6siOPn0uzbbRnoyRI8gZ11ilkFVXfn0-IcW8k-a3uEY1mJdLVX_KIT38RdADHZq4_uLV_ESkKW7NsrTluuQTEzsLAcK7WzGm54bqscMxmWminB7brtWmHwq-OIqx3ZxwmwCQ/s960/20292643_10212543139306028_4103502444590625322_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2CB67lvMhfTDVwRA5umo-NcTv26ZXXorWvlnsqnEZlmNrLjjgS7S2q6siOPn0uzbbRnoyRI8gZ11ilkFVXfn0-IcW8k-a3uEY1mJdLVX_KIT38RdADHZq4_uLV_ESkKW7NsrTluuQTEzsLAcK7WzGm54bqscMxmWminB7brtWmHwq-OIqx3ZxwmwCQ/w400-h300/20292643_10212543139306028_4103502444590625322_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BQN (Brian Quincy Newcomb)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>"Matthews is my hero," Newcomb told <i>CCM</i> back in 2001. And that's because it was a Randy Matthews coffee house concert in Wellsville, New York in the early 70s that actually gave Newcomb hope that he could enjoy authentic rock and roll and also live a Christian life. His conservative upbringing and denominational experiences up to that point had a crippling and confusing effect on him; Randy turned much of that around over the span of one evening. "To say that that night changed everything for me would be an understatement," Brian said. He bought a copy of Matthews' <b><i>Son of Dust</i></b> that night, took it home and devoured it. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAMlvYxCw5GAhiNKNa9Nr6Ug1J2J8Ec6q3Twh1v-4zPSM3FSYlm914WC3sXr1WDKY4hwVBlVKgC6NqAOGA5gaW19pX9pdjKkNyctqp_9j-zRkntJCWmDnI47zu3t_cOJBAaOnG9l2vB62JY62FtZT6CrywCWc5oNHM6Ip6tAjbRhSu_kCbO3MPTlSHw/s400/Randy+Mathews+matthews+front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="400" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAMlvYxCw5GAhiNKNa9Nr6Ug1J2J8Ec6q3Twh1v-4zPSM3FSYlm914WC3sXr1WDKY4hwVBlVKgC6NqAOGA5gaW19pX9pdjKkNyctqp_9j-zRkntJCWmDnI47zu3t_cOJBAaOnG9l2vB62JY62FtZT6CrywCWc5oNHM6Ip6tAjbRhSu_kCbO3MPTlSHw/w400-h384/Randy+Mathews+matthews+front.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>"At some point," Brian recalls, "that next year, the folks who promoted concerts on campus contacted some of my musical friends to see if we thought it was a good idea to bring Randy Matthews to our school. We were told he wanted to record a concert in our chapel auditorium for a double live album. Somehow, and I'm not sure why, but I ended up having a long phone conversation with Matthews' manager, Wes Yoder, before that concert. On the day of the concert, my friends and I had planted ourselves down front, cheering on Matthews as he recorded the live concert that would become <b>Now Do You Understand?"<br /><br /></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpezQgZ7PK3bZ2k0zd0r1gf_JoHzCYedt3pZb-8m1hUdI0vYd0_Sp19f8dhQuIqSRezl4Z2VpRKj-zy9PEYNgk9cS2mt-U_YDAKa9mKd5ip9YhYK9z9iYl9NgiqyMaBMlZ2MzHGZQiHmjGjivmW-f4VhQeLAUexYYKlLCIjOaPbiH7fonhWfyUtVO3g/s604/1365468575-6689-10%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="604" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpezQgZ7PK3bZ2k0zd0r1gf_JoHzCYedt3pZb-8m1hUdI0vYd0_Sp19f8dhQuIqSRezl4Z2VpRKj-zy9PEYNgk9cS2mt-U_YDAKa9mKd5ip9YhYK9z9iYl9NgiqyMaBMlZ2MzHGZQiHmjGjivmW-f4VhQeLAUexYYKlLCIjOaPbiH7fonhWfyUtVO3g/w400-h274/1365468575-6689-10%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p>As for the album itself, BQN has said, "As artful as it was groundbreaking, these songs, poetry and stories shaped my early faith in profound ways."<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gnmLoaaKSr3XiC6Dd9f4NhgkaKHnh6bJ9Wx77ZMUumm_6qqirOIo8GU2V4P5kROKu5wgY_3ARNfQ2ReDWmZVyjF69_9oywmciOHKYw6RdOe0aYX5jJB_KuAp_Y9PxRSxjbznQVNGfbTJJmvLUi3sjhagg4Bn2QM7VnrCImKqnaaHgLmryfCrnTH8cw/s486/unnamed.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="486" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gnmLoaaKSr3XiC6Dd9f4NhgkaKHnh6bJ9Wx77ZMUumm_6qqirOIo8GU2V4P5kROKu5wgY_3ARNfQ2ReDWmZVyjF69_9oywmciOHKYw6RdOe0aYX5jJB_KuAp_Y9PxRSxjbznQVNGfbTJJmvLUi3sjhagg4Bn2QM7VnrCImKqnaaHgLmryfCrnTH8cw/w400-h343/unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy's dad, Monty, is on the far right</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>As for Randy Matthews' musical upbringing, his Christian conversion and his designation as a true pioneer of Jesus Rock, we've covered all of that in previous posts. You can check them out <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2021/04/25-son-of-dust-by-randy-matthews-1973.html">here</a> and <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2015/12/56-eyes-to-sky-by-randy-matthews-1975.html">here</a>. We won't go over all of that again, except to say that Randy came from a privileged musical pedigree and was a very different animal, if you will, from those "unwashed hippies" who came to Jesus out of a life of sex, drugs, and eastern religions out in California. Matthews almost did it in reverse. He went from clean-cut to scraggly. He went from hangin' out with the Jordanaires and being a student at a Christian seminary to playing on street corners and wondering where he was going to get his next meal. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-RKRP8S01rIy8r-HttJ8j6bYhH0WVZgMfJCy_y25jqnKAUKrp3KGfcrZVLbuOXqOsRwgcrTrNf0WvbO5Diz_MJcJ4OhD4XUgvGlxxMz1rs1Q5Ag8-UI_PogHyvCE9ICigOdXsGOymDAJN9Upv6zfwO_38gE26V91WihHabOdUMrjaNnLzIRssirF9w/s3264/BeFunky-collageryplgfre.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1946" data-original-width="3264" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-RKRP8S01rIy8r-HttJ8j6bYhH0WVZgMfJCy_y25jqnKAUKrp3KGfcrZVLbuOXqOsRwgcrTrNf0WvbO5Diz_MJcJ4OhD4XUgvGlxxMz1rs1Q5Ag8-UI_PogHyvCE9ICigOdXsGOymDAJN9Upv6zfwO_38gE26V91WihHabOdUMrjaNnLzIRssirF9w/w400-h239/BeFunky-collageryplgfre.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><p><br />Larry Norman is billed as the Founding Father of Christian Rock, and for good reason; but for many young Christians who grew up east of the Mississippi, Randy Matthews holds that distinction.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Yx820aLNn4Bl2FDyrThFyRXWsyovg90NwMXUzVADBYEvIhaw8D_EIsLfuHLeUxqtl3xIBBz8bxj5y0rEgmrMjdad81d3WmHp856S0x_gMf7vYtBu-Zvzc5GO4HfArSe-mTGpCBvFNKlI8iFgg0As4lgya0qBBPGR_oV5wcjDM-TTHd9muI8odlwcvg/s960/10689894_1531234353789635_8706461155147256721_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="648" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Yx820aLNn4Bl2FDyrThFyRXWsyovg90NwMXUzVADBYEvIhaw8D_EIsLfuHLeUxqtl3xIBBz8bxj5y0rEgmrMjdad81d3WmHp856S0x_gMf7vYtBu-Zvzc5GO4HfArSe-mTGpCBvFNKlI8iFgg0As4lgya0qBBPGR_oV5wcjDM-TTHd9muI8odlwcvg/w432-h640/10689894_1531234353789635_8706461155147256721_n.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I suppose I should mention the fact that live albums rarely make lists like this one. First, they often capture a sub-standard musical performance compared to studio albums. Even with overdubs, a one-off performance usually can't compare with a project that is built piece-by-piece and labored over in a state-of-the-art recording studio for weeks or even months. Secondly, live albums were often recorded as a way to fulfill an artist's obligation to the record company; oftentimes less love and care was devoted to those projects. But an artist like Randy Matthews makes those arguments irrelevant. What made him so special was not musicianship. He won't be mentioned in a discussion of the greatest-ever guitar players. While his singing style and the sound of his voice was a crucial part of his success, he's not usually mentioned as a great vocalist. So capturing a flawless musical performance is not really what Myrrh set out to do with <b><i>NDYU.</i></b> In fact, a flawless and jaw-dropping musical performance would probably have hurt this album. And that's because what makes this 2-record set so memorable is Matthew's vulnerability, authenticity and his ability as a communicator. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gB0OLRA6k-TQa3OyihrvibzKC-OJtx3dEZiMdohwypeliH2tu8Bdnlqy2AyHPjK-3WbnI5ELVSx7w5VSQVmd4ZVn9ojDXf2-9jsD671D-P2rMdP8OiOT0t-rpVjrAc6nl-NUe_xo_5da_fYCfZ6EdRY8PTLG82qLd0x0hSNxW36fh8F5V_DsI7F4rg/s3264/BeFunky-collageryplgfrezzx.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gB0OLRA6k-TQa3OyihrvibzKC-OJtx3dEZiMdohwypeliH2tu8Bdnlqy2AyHPjK-3WbnI5ELVSx7w5VSQVmd4ZVn9ojDXf2-9jsD671D-P2rMdP8OiOT0t-rpVjrAc6nl-NUe_xo_5da_fYCfZ6EdRY8PTLG82qLd0x0hSNxW36fh8F5V_DsI7F4rg/w400-h400/BeFunky-collageryplgfrezzx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill were blessed with those abilities as well. As was Keith Green and Barry McGuire. These were men who could walk onto a stage in the 70s, in a dark auditorium, armed only with a guitar (or piano), and have an audience enthralled for ninety minutes or more. No fancy light show, no fog, no video screens, no stage set. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqOKQtnIs4irt9KOTIos4gFPJPrvnWoah6R6Y026_yhCeKBC78rU_ZC-6g4wIpcJIyUkQ-jFQHWE7csj8Mnl3buYl_L_tBvy8J0e1YINw4UcEgemo9P_YsQKbpaJXz9sMAsjEu43kS7a83fnVRyS_oo5S57VrWmT83lSlyKslgQnhY2gtO9mt8DrmXg/s782/16299015_10210671905427312_5640530787631577470_n%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="585" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqOKQtnIs4irt9KOTIos4gFPJPrvnWoah6R6Y026_yhCeKBC78rU_ZC-6g4wIpcJIyUkQ-jFQHWE7csj8Mnl3buYl_L_tBvy8J0e1YINw4UcEgemo9P_YsQKbpaJXz9sMAsjEu43kS7a83fnVRyS_oo5S57VrWmT83lSlyKslgQnhY2gtO9mt8DrmXg/w299-h400/16299015_10210671905427312_5640530787631577470_n%20(2).jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Larry Norman</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Norman did it with mystery and, let's face it, a certain degree of weirdness. He made you feel uncomfortable...and you loved it. I saw him live three times, and I was always on the edge of my seat, wondering what made him tick and what he would say next. He made a string of brilliant albums from 1969 through the end of the 1970s, and <b><i>Bootleg</i></b> contained glimpses of what I'm talking about...but Larry never made a full live album that landed like <b><i>NDYU.<br /><br /></i></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROmc_6FVDnGPVoth4q-tMCmDRt_vN7tXgVrNftaK2eFHFwCwPBg1kW143ix7FL4eFFdImdbGgch58kRUfjDGhEFsj_9sDvDTUqNdLXpPx-z3E1LAdXrdB2naX2gAZG43gJWpoGwt-G-zZCxRae3VsUYHcPgnk8qxeNJ9N5u9GGBuEwyOYHFAb_OTuUA/s406/28594_400045945002_4099334_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="406" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgROmc_6FVDnGPVoth4q-tMCmDRt_vN7tXgVrNftaK2eFHFwCwPBg1kW143ix7FL4eFFdImdbGgch58kRUfjDGhEFsj_9sDvDTUqNdLXpPx-z3E1LAdXrdB2naX2gAZG43gJWpoGwt-G-zZCxRae3VsUYHcPgnk8qxeNJ9N5u9GGBuEwyOYHFAb_OTuUA/w400-h399/28594_400045945002_4099334_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Barry McGuire</b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><br /></i></b><p></p><p>Barry McGuire was amazing on <b><i>To The Bride</i></b>. Although he did benefit from the backing of A Band Called David, at times it was just Barry, the guitar, and those wonderful stories. After <b><i>Cosmic Cowboy</i></b> and <b><i>Bullfrogs and Butterflies</i></b>, he tried his hand at another live album, this time without a guest artist. Lightning did not strike twice.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNevU9EQTNlqgJoxh2QqZtuWa6SYnVZQvc9pwdfjzs21MrQzmkczXGvi1QBC4JoNqMuodOs-B02LUipoVma1MkYn13SQqcaxS0zUaegx8s3hEXiyS3U6h1vSQzH03JrbqOwiKmhavvlArikrVi4VFNtgRZzkAthVAaTyEi38tZjZ2KKAmy2J9WNHgaFQ/s1024/5-keith-green1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="972" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNevU9EQTNlqgJoxh2QqZtuWa6SYnVZQvc9pwdfjzs21MrQzmkczXGvi1QBC4JoNqMuodOs-B02LUipoVma1MkYn13SQqcaxS0zUaegx8s3hEXiyS3U6h1vSQzH03JrbqOwiKmhavvlArikrVi4VFNtgRZzkAthVAaTyEi38tZjZ2KKAmy2J9WNHgaFQ/w380-h400/5-keith-green1.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Keith Green</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>Keith Green dialed back the humor but turned up the passion and the zeal. I saw him once - in Seattle, Washington in the fall of 1980. I will never forget it. But he never gave us a proper live album.<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0HAV3at8xNIB8hhMxJslqQoFlXMPYgnv1wlCDr16-CKy5VY_2pV-8nYq3AgLDWqUWyMYkhA9QwVBIUCFAbHOeqRLDGOgnF_Sh-qEe82ZtUkgpHbxGoyC5LZkJ5io3p1F6F8rDIqKiFXiuKCO5Fg2vPq8hf9cS8uybhULnZ7Tw660pmJXy7-p5ObzGQ/s960/182680328_2797471197180931_6013615257662482042_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="665" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0HAV3at8xNIB8hhMxJslqQoFlXMPYgnv1wlCDr16-CKy5VY_2pV-8nYq3AgLDWqUWyMYkhA9QwVBIUCFAbHOeqRLDGOgnF_Sh-qEe82ZtUkgpHbxGoyC5LZkJ5io3p1F6F8rDIqKiFXiuKCO5Fg2vPq8hf9cS8uybhULnZ7Tw660pmJXy7-p5ObzGQ/w278-h400/182680328_2797471197180931_6013615257662482042_n.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Randy Stonehill</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p>Randy Stonehill is the one that I would say compares most favorably to Randy Matthews. They both show up armed only with an acoustic guitar. They both have the ability to have an audience laughing one minute and crying the next. And they both delivered a powerful representation of the gospel message without anything approaching a heavy-handed preachiness. However...I have seen Sir Stonehill live many times, and it's my opinion that his powers were not fully harnessed nor properly demonstrated on that (half) live album that he released back in 1990. And that was the only proper live recording we ever got from him.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt063C7HKVWAxuMlrCtw7cQFNrJJsbXnuFpKKQYR6Vyw91NwGyFBRHEHU2e-HfGmG9TWj-POuMV68rvQBm7vRz_XKjO3iMwerxbQN5TzRimmHTj7CIYYzy1eXXC8FIni3kQqO3F9b8kfGoTpWcsL0Eypan2fErC_uWXdtqmt4jf-ZdQDzCcGtEAXH66w/s960/50737507_10216806222243452_6082095036017672192_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="766" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt063C7HKVWAxuMlrCtw7cQFNrJJsbXnuFpKKQYR6Vyw91NwGyFBRHEHU2e-HfGmG9TWj-POuMV68rvQBm7vRz_XKjO3iMwerxbQN5TzRimmHTj7CIYYzy1eXXC8FIni3kQqO3F9b8kfGoTpWcsL0Eypan2fErC_uWXdtqmt4jf-ZdQDzCcGtEAXH66w/w319-h400/50737507_10216806222243452_6082095036017672192_n.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Matthews was the real deal. And he gave us <b><i>Now Do You Understand?</i></b> as proof. "He was a compelling live performer," says Brian Quincy Newcomb. "His songs were great, but the stories he told to introduce them made them all the better. He would hit the stage with that acoustic guitar strapped to his chest, long reddish-blond hair, full beard, and a big smile on his face. He would tell jokes, quote poetry that he'd written, and tell stories of his life as a traveling troubadour for the Lord. He was funny, literate, culturally aware and connected, and he knew how to play to an audience."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjGcMhMGXxLOpZ3DQvJOl5DsdDlp9gpYTCdC5irWNN-JqkmGSSFx7kAnatxD4esAmQnOCPTi2rvgS5716V_FZ3C2rFjhnwgGsmMYu2G8RAYXDFkLXvQujsoPFGH8Aq63qBZ9P4ZzsxiGpiA0SzitFeU8KBiP-nMTQjhH27McwyIkijH-yGwfBCaJxAA/s478/11084240_1610537722525964_6790858405028407072_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="478" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSjGcMhMGXxLOpZ3DQvJOl5DsdDlp9gpYTCdC5irWNN-JqkmGSSFx7kAnatxD4esAmQnOCPTi2rvgS5716V_FZ3C2rFjhnwgGsmMYu2G8RAYXDFkLXvQujsoPFGH8Aq63qBZ9P4ZzsxiGpiA0SzitFeU8KBiP-nMTQjhH27McwyIkijH-yGwfBCaJxAA/s320/11084240_1610537722525964_6790858405028407072_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br />Randy Matthews absolutely nailed it on <b><i>NDYU</i></b>, making it part of a handful of essential live albums from the Jesus Music era to be included on lists like this. Like I said earlier, live records usually don't make it onto these blogs. But I don't think the CCM of the 1970s could be properly understood without records like <b><i>How the West Was One</i></b>...<b><i>"Live" at Carnegie Hall</i></b>...<b><i>Imperials Live</i></b> (1973)...<b><i>Feel the Love</i></b>...<b><i>Live in London</i></b>...<b><i>To the Bride</i></b>...and, of course, <b><i>Now Do You Understand?</i></b></p><p><b><i><br /><br /></i></b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GDGqqqq_M2ZctvDGRu_oY4Bf9nE35C24Nqjk7M_PXIG0kSVTGWbJT6EXv3hbk8XGF_shv_sHFDW2jdEmiUsihp5mRWAFaIKedV_Xsy_KOVfGffY1ZvtuxlA3v84v4QR0msaXuH_x7jKgoE8A1LOzfcO0gW5bP7HmGG8aF0xafgWPIzLbE2V4EgrqYA/s600/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GDGqqqq_M2ZctvDGRu_oY4Bf9nE35C24Nqjk7M_PXIG0kSVTGWbJT6EXv3hbk8XGF_shv_sHFDW2jdEmiUsihp5mRWAFaIKedV_Xsy_KOVfGffY1ZvtuxlA3v84v4QR0msaXuH_x7jKgoE8A1LOzfcO0gW5bP7HmGG8aF0xafgWPIzLbE2V4EgrqYA/w400-h400/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label1.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><br /><i><br /></i></b><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><b><i>SIDE ONE</i></b></i></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Ain't that a beautiful voice?"</i></p><p>The concert kicks off with the classic, rhythmic <i>Holy Band</i>, the audience enthusiastically clapping along. Brian Quincy Newcomb regards <i>Holy Band</i> as an important song and a great way to kick off <b><i>NDYU</i></b>. "The song," he writes, "besides having a great rock and roll energy, combines two very important concepts: the 'anyone' was an affirmation of the John 3:16 promise that 'whosoever' believed would be welcomed, and the radical idea that that band - presumable a rock and roll band - could please God, could be holy. That is something my young heart wanted to believe, that there was room for a hippie wannabe/Jesus freak in God's community." </p><p>Matthews gives the audience a biographical sketch, laden with humor. He talks about the tension that existed in the early 70s between young people and the established Church, especially around music. But instead of being angry or defiant, Matthews gives a hilarious account, complete with a demonstration of his unsuccessful attempts to fit in with southern gospel music. The moral of the story? "Only you and God can work out who you're supposed to be in the body. Don't try to be something that you're not..."</p><p>Randy reveals that at the time of this recording he had only been traveling the country with his "Gospel rock and roll" for four years. After talking about his 1963 Triumph, living on the streets, and surviving on dill pickles, he treats us to a performance of <i>The Bad Has Made It Better</i> that is just perfect in its tone and execution. <i>Through it all, well, I walked with my head held up high. In Your love, I did it in Your love. </i></p><p>After the brooding, minor-keyed<i> Guiding Light,</i> a song that doesn't appear on any other Matthews albums, he takes an abrupt left turn into the <i>"Jesus, was there a delicatessen in Jerusalem?"</i> dialogue, an early indication that this wasn't just a standard concert. </p><p>"On the day of the concert, my friends and I had planted ourselves down front, cheering on Matthews," Brian Quincy Newcomb recalls. Well, that paid off in a shoutout from the bearded troubadour himself. "Why is it the weird ones always sit in the front?" Matthews asked. It's always nice to get a mention from the stage on a live album, right? That little interaction came during the set-up for <i>Sunny Day</i>, a song with lighter lyrical content originally recorded on 1972's <b><i>All I Am is What You See</i></b>. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRanCY60p85yXN-_ZvQjxT0jXywKM5-_I9Vq41YgQKLfeYwRSFKB8beUMnYRRkaok5lX2gB2PLQGgOcDNyZYXqc5-MxNTBzAjwl3pm6XJ8MFE8IVIdjz1_pZhiUM5qYbM75-evUxOVBuapMNVFShktf57cnoa_fk6qaOhHGc449mIICtY1L5DXGFVggg/s600/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRanCY60p85yXN-_ZvQjxT0jXywKM5-_I9Vq41YgQKLfeYwRSFKB8beUMnYRRkaok5lX2gB2PLQGgOcDNyZYXqc5-MxNTBzAjwl3pm6XJ8MFE8IVIdjz1_pZhiUM5qYbM75-evUxOVBuapMNVFShktf57cnoa_fk6qaOhHGc449mIICtY1L5DXGFVggg/w400-h400/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><i></i></b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SIDE TWO</i></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Important things are God. And peace. And love. And you."</i></p><p>Side two of <b><i>NDYU</i></b>, at first listen, seems to begin with Randy delivering some random thoughts about the difference between childhood and manhood. <i>Important Things</i> turned out to be a pretty profound, spoken word poetry piece, over guitar, on what truly matters in life. </p><p>What follows is a memorable and fairly lengthy stand-up comedy routine on puppy love and childhood crushes. You know, the bit about Madeline Roper, age gap romance, Big Chief tablet paper, love notes, Crayola crayons, rejection, and, um, self harm. Matthews' comic timing is impeccable; he could easily have been a stand-up comic had he chosen to go that route. But just when he has the audience LOL-ing, he turns a sharp corner and delivers a very serious point to a wacky story. That guitar comes in underneath, and Randy warns the audience that getting hurt could cause them to build walls of protection to keep the pain away. The problem with that is that those walls will also keep love at bay. "I had to hire a Carpenter to come in and tear down my walls," he says, borrowing a line from the opening song from his <b><i>Eyes to the Sky</i></b> album. "Don't be afraid to love. God wants you to love." He then segues seamlessly into <i>Darling I'll Be There</i>, a tune that promises faithfulness and devotion to a lover. This one appears only on <b><i>NDYU</i></b>. </p><p><i>Were You There?</i> is a somber, spoken-word piece followed closely by <i>Wounded Warrior</i>, a song that appears on <b><i>Eyes to the Sky</i></b>. Pretty much without exception, Randy's songs fare better here on <b><i>NDYU</i></b> than they do on the studio albums. For my money, the official versions suffer from being over-produced and lack the emotion and immediacy of the live versions. </p><p>By the way, Side Two of <b><i>NDYU</i></b> contains only 5 minutes and 10 seconds of actual <i>songs</i>. That's <i>not</i> a complaint, just an observation.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURn2YPjcC6yALnrv7UQgxCx6ZapXjvc3OENhdEkJH8CPLw_pTE0mPVYvHLnAjt85FA89yIn0bFlLLZVUVE8q1CHcO7WEHdzaNkPSl6qy1CAktY5YpqrrjLDgtumlQ4JwYbojbEpuJOTPYcOUvECkwQv43g02o9l1rOiprVImkctk6dvt6VH09sEM--g/s600/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURn2YPjcC6yALnrv7UQgxCx6ZapXjvc3OENhdEkJH8CPLw_pTE0mPVYvHLnAjt85FA89yIn0bFlLLZVUVE8q1CHcO7WEHdzaNkPSl6qy1CAktY5YpqrrjLDgtumlQ4JwYbojbEpuJOTPYcOUvECkwQv43g02o9l1rOiprVImkctk6dvt6VH09sEM--g/w400-h400/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SIDE THREE</i></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"You gotta get it up there in your sinus cavities and make it twang..."</i></p><p>"It's a sing-along thing, and I want you to sing-along thing with me," Randy says, leading into a 10-minute audience-participation version of <i>Country Faith</i>. Appearing first on <b><i>All I Am is What You See</i></b>, <i>Country Faith</i> is a harmless, fun, simple song with lots of strumming; it's also biographical, talking about Randy's Christian, middle-class American upbringing. Randy grew up long before the days of feminism, gender confusion, cutting, no-fault divorce, the new atheists, gay pride, faith deconstruction, (anti) social media, and blue-haired, tattooed girls with enough metal in their faces to set off alarms in airports. So he sings of <i>good old, country faith</i>... <i>every Sunday we'd go to church, Mama'd bounce me on her knee</i>... <i>I remember Mama's chicken and dumplins, made with tender lovin' care, I remember how we'd bow our heads, Daddy'd lead us in a prayer</i>... The studio version contains a verse that doesn't appear here on <b><i>NDYU</i></b>. It talks about how Matthews was baptized by his grandfather, who'd been a preacher since age 19. The last verse recounts the importance of faith not just to his own family, but to the wider community: <i>Sometimes in the evening, the neighbors would come and sing / The children would laugh, old ladies would cry / We'd praise the name of the King. </i>The "woke" among us might say that Matthews was exalting and romanticizing a fictitious version of America that never existed. I know better. Because he's describing the childhood that I, too, enjoyed. I'm not pretending that America was perfect in the 50s and 60s. There was a lot of racial strife in those days that we had not yet reckoned with. But man, looking back, it sure seems like the kind of devotion to faith and family that Matthews describes in <i>Country Faith</i> would be a cure for the many things that ail us here in 2020s. <i>Country Faith </i>was basically a mid-70s update on the old chorus that said, <i>Give me that old time religion, it's good enough for me. </i>Matthews had the audience singing, clapping, even stomping exuberantly; he also had them howling with laughter when he imitated "city dudes" and mocked the guys in the crowd for wanting to appear too cool because of "the chick" sitting next to them. </p><p><i>Christmas (White House Shuffle)</i> was another poetry reading. Who does <i>that</i> anymore? Looking back, it seems like reciting poems to an audience was a neglected performance art by most Jesus Music artists (insert sarcastic face emoji here). It may have been underutilized by most musicians, but Matthews sure was effective at it. </p><p>Side three of <b><i>NDYU</i></b> ends the same way <b><i>Son of Dust</i></b> ended - with a mesmerizing song called <i>Pharaoh's Hand.</i> <i>Pharaoh's Hand</i> was dark...honest...disturbing. It was as haunting as it was beautiful. It was also a wake-up call...<br /><br /></p><p><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">With no beginning<br />There is no end<br />Without a center, friend<br />No circle ascends<br />Oh, we're decaying<br />From deep inside<br />We lost the roots of the family tree<br />And there's no place to hide<br /><br />Some of you live in fantasies<br />Others live in dreams<br />Some of you live in lies<br />You say, I see no disease<br />But what is happening<br />Has long been foretold<br />Close the door<br />Lock the latch<br />Let the story unfold<br /><br />Been too long underneath this Pharaoh's hand<br />Been too long underneath this Pharaoh's hand<br />And it's time we made our stand<br /></i><br /><br />Three tracks. Fourteen and a half minutes. That was it for Side Three.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN68DmcvkBBbODJIWzmSHZIlrv_cB8dpImvb0iHOPSEOfY9VA83608dDl2EbvYUVfkS4FE7wCm7Z7wPFnB2s6XQAw7KxI1Tf8mugIPy03GfGfYPT5cIRCDxjgfAOr49iXCipIRHRRhu-S5jAfz44r2zLibZj8Q9ewRvQj_EJ0ljaxYC7um6VUc84WhQ/s600/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN68DmcvkBBbODJIWzmSHZIlrv_cB8dpImvb0iHOPSEOfY9VA83608dDl2EbvYUVfkS4FE7wCm7Z7wPFnB2s6XQAw7KxI1Tf8mugIPy03GfGfYPT5cIRCDxjgfAOr49iXCipIRHRRhu-S5jAfz44r2zLibZj8Q9ewRvQj_EJ0ljaxYC7um6VUc84WhQ/w400-h400/l-randymatthews1975nowdoyouunderstand-lp-us-label4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SIDE FOUR</i></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Did Your boy have big hands? Is that why they nailed Him to a tree?"</i></p><p>"I know it's called the Second Coming by a lot of people. A lot of people like to call that day the Rapture. I like to call it Evacuation Day." And with that, Matthews launches into a joyous, forward-looking view of the End Times. <i>Evacuation Day</i> is fun and upbeat. Every Jesus Music artist sang about Jesus coming back. This song was Randy's contribution to that genre.</p><p>From here on in, things take a serious turn. As Randy brings this ship in for a landing, you can tell that by this time he is holding the audience in the palm of his hand, so to speak. The Communicator has 'em right where he wants 'em.</p><p><i>Hands</i> begins as a dialogue with God that brought tears to my eyes as I listened again in preparation for this blog post. Then it turns into a rather pointed mini-sermon, directed at the audience and, by extension, at all of us. "Jesus doesn't have any hands and feet now except for the hands and feet of His people." Randy laments the busyness of the religious...that we spend so much time in Sunday school and Bible study and prayer meeting and fellowship group, staying separated and sanctified, but are unwilling to get our hands dirty ministering to the unlovable, the unsaved, the hurting. Well, we don't even spend that much time in church anymore. At least most of us don't. Randy quits preachin' and goes to meddlin' when he asks the audience when's the last time they stopped their big, fancy, "$7,000 car" (it was 1975) to invite a "wino" over for food and a place to sleep. The room got so stone cold silent, you could've heard the old, proverbial pin drop. He asks the crowd when's the last time they sat up all night with someone who was high on drugs or struggling with "an emotional problem" (what the kids today would call a "mental health" issue). "When you love through Jesus, you have to love the unlovable just like you love the lovable," he said. "I think you have to get your hands dirty." <br /><br />The <i>Hands</i> rap is a perfect lead-in to <i>Oh My</i>.</p><p>You know, this concert was recorded at Houghton College in New York state, and much has been made of the fact that the college administrators did not want the school listed in the album credits. Of course, they've come under heavy criticism for that; usually, when people learn of that little fact, they write Houghton off as a bunch of narrow-minded religious bigots. And it is a bad look, to be sure. But if you could place yourself in a time machine and travel back to 1975, you'd be reminded of just how new and controversial "Gospel rock and roll" was. And then, in addition to the cultural seismic shift necessary just to accommodate the music, you also had Randy Matthews challenging the audience in a very pointed way...accusing them of being too religious and not wanting a drunk to throw up on the carpet of their car. Then, in the song <i>Oh My</i>, he sings...<br /><br /><i>I talked with junkies, Lord<br />And I ate with whores<br />I put Your stickers on barroom doors<br /><br />Oh my<br />Oh my, my<br />If hell is any hotter, then I don't want to die</i><br /><br />Maybe it was all a little too much in 1975? Maybe they just feared blowback from alumni and parents. I don't know. With the benefit of 48 years of hindsight, I can understand it. I don't <i>agree</i> with it...but I understand them being squeamish. I'd be willing to bet that <i>Hands</i> and <i>Oh My</i> played heavily into the decision.</p><p>Matthews flows right into <i>In the Morning</i>, a song that goes to some dark places, shining a light on an often seedy underbelly of society, but offering hope...</p><p><i>It's your choice<br />You're either up or down<br />Lift your voice<br />Make a hallelujah sound<br /><br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDsaKAhovWikPedqC8bmMD5OXT4p03v3U-hxgRHZi7Y8zXhQm7I6adR56l0JU5e_5SMaoT9r0qRrbA6nBchej2-G6r0qGij4DuZlaKfDcyJ0np-76vYfGkbtQcaPDBP6oIWorfwTbpIQ7jCtXVwdgsd84Drio1Nw2EChBF6Z14RSHwWYazJGTkN6bOLA/s2560/A11fAZmiPdL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1872" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDsaKAhovWikPedqC8bmMD5OXT4p03v3U-hxgRHZi7Y8zXhQm7I6adR56l0JU5e_5SMaoT9r0qRrbA6nBchej2-G6r0qGij4DuZlaKfDcyJ0np-76vYfGkbtQcaPDBP6oIWorfwTbpIQ7jCtXVwdgsd84Drio1Nw2EChBF6Z14RSHwWYazJGTkN6bOLA/w293-h400/A11fAZmiPdL.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b><i><br />Now Do You Understand?</i></b> concludes with a spoken word piece called <i>The Picnic</i> and the classic song <i>Didn't He</i>. I'm struggling with whether I should even say much about how this record ends...because I feel like all I could do is cheapen it. I'll just say that a clearer, more effective presentation of the Gospel has seldom, if ever, been captured on tape. From the maple tree metaphor to the sound effects of the hammer falling into Jesus' flesh...it's just highly moving. CCM historian David Lowman called <i>Didn't He</i> "mesmerizing and painful." "This is one of those songs," said Lowman, "where artist and message collide to create something that will always be remembered. Simply stunning."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVms7_AKU0ZnaNYLSS3musgkf5A5K4QqInUUtCT8OmXiUm6VNCHTC3SVHkISf9110D7b67w7yHiKm8SkwfTkZJFDH45YAZkYeCR4b4W3j0bUNu-DdUJmtBE24Xi0A4nsrNDVKPk6qKTmuQlERrbiKn12REdSHNj8B6zrbMlf0L5HHW3LLBRhIXG_64w/s600/didnt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="595" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVms7_AKU0ZnaNYLSS3musgkf5A5K4QqInUUtCT8OmXiUm6VNCHTC3SVHkISf9110D7b67w7yHiKm8SkwfTkZJFDH45YAZkYeCR4b4W3j0bUNu-DdUJmtBE24Xi0A4nsrNDVKPk6qKTmuQlERrbiKn12REdSHNj8B6zrbMlf0L5HHW3LLBRhIXG_64w/w396-h400/didnt.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>Didn't He</i> belongs on any short list of iconic songs from the Jesus Music era. It was later covered as a wonderful show of respect by Geoff Moore. It was also featured on <b><i>First Love</i></b>, a Gaither Homecoming-style DVD set featuring first wave Jesus Music veterans, recorded and released in the late 90s. The fact that Randy Matthews was included on that project, even though his ministry most often took place far from Southern California, was another show of respect for what he accomplished and the place he occupies as one of the most powerful communicators of the Jesus Movement.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SxeJJQB5bg8" width="320" youtube-src-id="SxeJJQB5bg8"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The unplugging incident of 1974 has already been well documented on this blog (click <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2015/12/56-eyes-to-sky-by-randy-matthews-1975.html">here</a>). That unfortunate event and the rumors it spawned led to Randy Matthews having a somewhat uneven career as a recording artist in Christian music. He released some fine albums (the self-titled effort in 1980 and 1981's <b><i>Plugged In</i></b> come to mind), but they were too few and far between. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijInUWgQaxf3B21uC7XaznEXIAF1DjcoiEY4C8Fd10d43IpbwoGDqzto8DXtBwXRE-bMiG2JdroJMsJQx4sKWOVMosk_rmQmb0-SunbZ80q9vB97YOMTnBUVeGtsHsha4QVLW0EVUc3KFTIzZmSmyypCAqCz8yTPEa6PDi5mc58R535W-7-J8-MEfPiw/s3264/BeFunky-collagerbr9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijInUWgQaxf3B21uC7XaznEXIAF1DjcoiEY4C8Fd10d43IpbwoGDqzto8DXtBwXRE-bMiG2JdroJMsJQx4sKWOVMosk_rmQmb0-SunbZ80q9vB97YOMTnBUVeGtsHsha4QVLW0EVUc3KFTIzZmSmyypCAqCz8yTPEa6PDi5mc58R535W-7-J8-MEfPiw/w400-h400/BeFunky-collagerbr9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Bob Bennett has been known to complain (gently) that the industry moved away from him when he no longer fit the image of what was 'new' and 'current.' The same was true for Randy Matthews, I think. He acknowledges that he "fell out of fellowship" for a while somewhere in there, and that didn't help. Matthews was given an opening slot on a national White Heart tour in the 1990s. I saw that tour when it stopped in Greenville, SC. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsqbiLFTiUgu5et8iXYXW0emmz1OiZTFLk-iFRLwL8GKwCinE5Jm5w9i5YMoYjzvpVbUcCQp16x4aPZc7IbgcncMhfhc0JNKm2kObzF9nGgZGelyY_bCOuVrC5qSLfc7Cnv8xPnFeV38MIRbMv1Vb3H0xObWi9MH_0512qTiae7jPeQ8BMYUvbZ_qNg/s1394/16252092_10212019060054452_9051197472755340791_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1323" data-original-width="1394" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsqbiLFTiUgu5et8iXYXW0emmz1OiZTFLk-iFRLwL8GKwCinE5Jm5w9i5YMoYjzvpVbUcCQp16x4aPZc7IbgcncMhfhc0JNKm2kObzF9nGgZGelyY_bCOuVrC5qSLfc7Cnv8xPnFeV38MIRbMv1Vb3H0xObWi9MH_0512qTiae7jPeQ8BMYUvbZ_qNg/w400-h380/16252092_10212019060054452_9051197472755340791_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Even though most of the people in the audience at that arena didn't know who Randy was...I did. And it did my heart so much good to see him standing up there on that stage.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-XeqAEdV950YoTcozicyvhDETuc4K0kqCPUJOmdde2GLc0_iynqSRsHDnK6zG7RHsA-eFhaQ5xOGDgqyNTazb-0v3VDqTqKSIdK2rO8KkotAJ9bvObdkWuO_n8zH9nVykCf-6THsAFKDQRxe4IyVsk2Q8apggD2u3YmBDUG2oSuu2f6MqVMJjm-L5w/s736/20953861_472005623155973_1752283684493938197_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="736" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-XeqAEdV950YoTcozicyvhDETuc4K0kqCPUJOmdde2GLc0_iynqSRsHDnK6zG7RHsA-eFhaQ5xOGDgqyNTazb-0v3VDqTqKSIdK2rO8KkotAJ9bvObdkWuO_n8zH9nVykCf-6THsAFKDQRxe4IyVsk2Q8apggD2u3YmBDUG2oSuu2f6MqVMJjm-L5w/w400-h300/20953861_472005623155973_1752283684493938197_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Randy eventually settled in Florida and took a regular gig performing frequently as Redbeard the Pirate for a couple of resorts. Some people have seen the photos of Matthews dressed as a pirate and they scratch their head and wonder about the direction his career has taken. Hey, I get it. If anybody gets it, it would be me. Let me explain.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHqOooclTx1qpmNRSbhJVSaknepTipukbWG9klGowhoKGgvphFPL_UMYm1zPyWyN2C1uqkCQpaQHytXu4cvElvA3o_fZK6rFiDCI2prrEMOLOcFojKTG-josImjP6pL13AaN-gbeOWvbG13KvxfgvjApCvAhx7o6Gf-WzvRBXubPAQGA9Czx5P_jmVA/s1949/circus%20fun%20-%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1558" data-original-width="1949" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHqOooclTx1qpmNRSbhJVSaknepTipukbWG9klGowhoKGgvphFPL_UMYm1zPyWyN2C1uqkCQpaQHytXu4cvElvA3o_fZK6rFiDCI2prrEMOLOcFojKTG-josImjP6pL13AaN-gbeOWvbG13KvxfgvjApCvAhx7o6Gf-WzvRBXubPAQGA9Czx5P_jmVA/w400-h320/circus%20fun%20-%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p>I mentioned earlier that my family traveled in full-time ministry for seven years in the late 70s/early 80s. What I didn't mention is that we had a highly effective, energetic, specialized children's ministry <i>with a circus theme.</i> We were communicating with kids 5 nights a week. We used puppets, music, games, stories...you know, presented the Gospel on their level, in a way that was exciting for them. The fact that I dressed as a ringmaster and my family members wore clown suits every night? That was just part of the gig for us. Well, ole Redbeard down there in Florida...he's a communicator. He's communicating with families and children, on their level, sharing songs and stories that, I'm sure, knowing him, thrill and delight. I get it.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9t4Wyco_fNHJx4QltvmVX3ilxDx2aJkHyfjidDOkub6fMehpN-tadVKu3e5z8qNTgvv50EeT8CR4PcI2d-rJRhu3G762hqu3MKq-2x3haEZLUMeWtquZ5aUtywX7BTo_SuhR83PUkZeDKqER4MkEkVdxuxn74F5vhXwXPhupdxmZvMSBcvi5kXnxEA/s2048/23116728_499826887040513_1919278545968334778_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1340" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9t4Wyco_fNHJx4QltvmVX3ilxDx2aJkHyfjidDOkub6fMehpN-tadVKu3e5z8qNTgvv50EeT8CR4PcI2d-rJRhu3G762hqu3MKq-2x3haEZLUMeWtquZ5aUtywX7BTo_SuhR83PUkZeDKqER4MkEkVdxuxn74F5vhXwXPhupdxmZvMSBcvi5kXnxEA/w418-h640/23116728_499826887040513_1919278545968334778_o.jpg" width="418" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>My mind flashes back to 1979. Our family arrived on a Saturday at the First Assembly of God church in Dothan, Alabama. We were going to start our "Circus Fun with Jesus" program, beginning on Sunday night. But the pastor's son excitedly announced to us that the church had a concert taking place on that Saturday evening with - you guessed it - Randy Matthews. We were thrilled to see Randy perform that night, still at the height of his powers, if you will. </p><p>At some point during the concert, Randy asked if anyone had a request. My then-10 year old younger brother raised his hand and asked, "Can you please do Holy Band?" Imagine Matthews' surprise, receiving that request from a 10-year old kid. </p><p>Randy's reply was classic: <i>"What, have you got a museum in your house or something?" </i>And then he invited my brother Drue to come up on stage and help him sing the song.</p><p>The concert that night was great. We laughed, we cried, we enjoyed the music. The Communicator did his thing. He communicated that night.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2B84qotPm2SAB9wB9jVmJ0JFIVH2Ft5Qm8f56zSUcsQpBujV59CGQvZZVYUdksjJ8LAUKDvketHpkOt2XxfdmgFlWdrm0Rym2LzHWnQWPbB1DKjMPSLu_siZAiSfW8MsVrmQ2ajAr3jJ0TKvaS_83P2CUGh6uk2e4TZatVptu8vlEVMKwVrpoQefig/s800/21034182_472006273155908_2886913799785223151_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2B84qotPm2SAB9wB9jVmJ0JFIVH2Ft5Qm8f56zSUcsQpBujV59CGQvZZVYUdksjJ8LAUKDvketHpkOt2XxfdmgFlWdrm0Rym2LzHWnQWPbB1DKjMPSLu_siZAiSfW8MsVrmQ2ajAr3jJ0TKvaS_83P2CUGh6uk2e4TZatVptu8vlEVMKwVrpoQefig/w480-h640/21034182_472006273155908_2886913799785223151_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I don't know if I'll ever make it down to Florida again, but if I do, I hope to drop in on Redbeard the Pirate and let him know that I love him, I respect him, and I'm thankful for the influence that he had on my life. <br /><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;"><br /></span><br /><p> <br /><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-30805656258662614532023-04-11T13:59:00.008-07:002023-04-12T16:56:06.247-07:00#19 BREAKIN' THE ICE by Sweet Comfort Band (1978)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xKwi6IliY4NRMUwA1oJHeKHrBNUiCQX89aufkI50Mzg93ADb7Eno-yfwTs4Hd3_rhR-w5Ex9F5pqd84iXJ6RKRINyH4Ny3lrb1I3IO6azt2rFYHeV5yiCwaPgAcIig0Si2C_xngBgNrQL2oxyFO5ZfMwRA5P4A6I5hKjA8GPWR7QQ9hZ8cvWMOsnFw/s741/sweet-comfort-band-breaking-the-ice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="741" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xKwi6IliY4NRMUwA1oJHeKHrBNUiCQX89aufkI50Mzg93ADb7Eno-yfwTs4Hd3_rhR-w5Ex9F5pqd84iXJ6RKRINyH4Ny3lrb1I3IO6azt2rFYHeV5yiCwaPgAcIig0Si2C_xngBgNrQL2oxyFO5ZfMwRA5P4A6I5hKjA8GPWR7QQ9hZ8cvWMOsnFw/w400-h399/sweet-comfort-band-breaking-the-ice.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>BREAKIN' THE ICE</b> by <b>Sweet Comfort Band</b> (1978)<br />Light Records LS-5751</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">They call it a "sophomore jinx." Sometimes it's referred to as the "sophomore slump" or "sophomore curse." This phenomenon can refer to athletes, students, films and television shows, etc. But when applied to music, the sophomore jinx is often invoked when a band's second album noticeably under-performs their first. It's when the sophomore release fails to live up to the high standards set by a band's debut album. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Let's just say that the Sweet Comfort Band had no problem whatsoever with any such slump, jinx or curse.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The group's initial offering, 1977's <i><b>Sweet Comfort</b></i>, was a fine album. It even <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/08/47-sweet-comfort-by-sweet-comfort-1977.html">appears earlier</a> on this list. But <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> did not just match the debut record, it exceeded it in every way. A lot of copies of <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> were probably sold on the strength of the iconic, gate-fold album cover alone. But once the listener took the album home, got inside that cellophane wrapper, and dropped the needle on that wax disc...well, he or she was in for a real treat. </span><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtZa32gxLp4a7RdBqO1qW868RhaCAq5RHSqnRhteY6dXlEzSjY_zHukJTFOTg0U0AGlfTdeULk_uFu47RO80-oHEIwqp8jav6EaNdWhZmxqvPv0dDlPJbTEi1TQ8Gq-H-pC_xn01oVyIORvsVyyShSpt52wDoknOgKUlZoNGFtCeCuJaFtTgIhy0hzw/s3264/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghjjww.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2120" data-original-width="3264" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQtZa32gxLp4a7RdBqO1qW868RhaCAq5RHSqnRhteY6dXlEzSjY_zHukJTFOTg0U0AGlfTdeULk_uFu47RO80-oHEIwqp8jav6EaNdWhZmxqvPv0dDlPJbTEi1TQ8Gq-H-pC_xn01oVyIORvsVyyShSpt52wDoknOgKUlZoNGFtCeCuJaFtTgIhy0hzw/w400-h260/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghjjww.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All these years later, when Sweet Comfort Band aficionados discuss SCB albums, many will point to <b><i>Hearts of Fire </i></b>or <b><i>Cutting Edge</i></b> as the band's all-time best. Those who prefer their music with a little less polish and a little more muscle will often point to <b><i>Perfect Timing</i></b>. But when asked which is their <i>favorite</i>, SCB fans will often smile and answer, "<b><i>Breakin' the Ice.</i></b>" It occupies a soft, warm spot in the hearts of the group's fans. But it's not loved just for sentimental reasons; it's a darn good record.</span><br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpy7ph8kLTdz__OhqNZSGzjI5Uzct5kMFIadOwq4Tjhjhd-SzjEYRZ7SbsJCGBpE6i9sfz8DuxudmwF6_tuOehDHr7gT6317p7wB-11PPU7VQR6SrY1yS-yL4kWMfFrpTO7JgU5NsxIc6pPUXDdVFdGahxrnJ83gsj38zSHeJVYt3jWrkzu9tW1O2nw/s2048/19956602_1763066030377779_6762180746418293941_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpy7ph8kLTdz__OhqNZSGzjI5Uzct5kMFIadOwq4Tjhjhd-SzjEYRZ7SbsJCGBpE6i9sfz8DuxudmwF6_tuOehDHr7gT6317p7wB-11PPU7VQR6SrY1yS-yL4kWMfFrpTO7JgU5NsxIc6pPUXDdVFdGahxrnJ83gsj38zSHeJVYt3jWrkzu9tW1O2nw/w400-h400/19956602_1763066030377779_6762180746418293941_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The super-talented, hyper-gregarious Mr. Bryan Duncan agreed to be interviewed for this post (God bless him). I asked how the band ended up leaving Maranatha for Light Records. "Well, since we started at Calvary Chapel, playing there first, Maranatha Music was kind of the only thing in our line of vision," he said. "But they didn't really like the Sweet Comfort Band. It was our style - they didn't like jazz-rock-fusion-funk." </span><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTe67udfrPuo_RMypJrJpiDyK-FirtHPmKALr9yq7483r8Jr1yXHOnYguSP0d9h6ePfGv-M6Idia1UfwiP-7WStY5zei55usqMOxI_B3WiolCoCfWrUo4CBQSMMf3cp2jeSf1DpopYsfvc7OT38VPL9dCub3JN8jQapA4Z3mEFfn9Q3EMQmvWadMU6cg/s1384/CleanShot-2022-06-17-at-17.10.25.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1384" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTe67udfrPuo_RMypJrJpiDyK-FirtHPmKALr9yq7483r8Jr1yXHOnYguSP0d9h6ePfGv-M6Idia1UfwiP-7WStY5zei55usqMOxI_B3WiolCoCfWrUo4CBQSMMf3cp2jeSf1DpopYsfvc7OT38VPL9dCub3JN8jQapA4Z3mEFfn9Q3EMQmvWadMU6cg/w400-h272/CleanShot-2022-06-17-at-17.10.25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yeah, most of the early music on Maranatha was country-tinged, folk-rock. And by the late 70s, the label was turning a corner to focus almost exclusively on what was then called "praise" music. SCB got caught in the squeeze. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bryan Duncan didn't really mind having to switch labels. "We borrowed our own money to do the first album and then they would put it on their label," he recalls. "But we would find out that they didn't believe in marketing anyone because that would be <i>exalting</i> someone, and we have to stay humble in the name of Jesus."</span><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjekHLEc57CBjHWqtkljeTh2MJYRsunjgr8MR3Um8a7aPHVA_1b68Kn_wfLdfP_oQ5m-0gdHSVTBm7J0ea8rO9Rshz4S4WUXXd6EHqUqXkZYJETXZwfTzodcVU4UyaBgAFINe7zVyn0Vo1zQV8TjDa38KckjHBDuodZ22f9fMsydMdBZyd1ebRpEcyGew/s500/Sweet_Comfort_Band_-_Sweet_Comfort.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjekHLEc57CBjHWqtkljeTh2MJYRsunjgr8MR3Um8a7aPHVA_1b68Kn_wfLdfP_oQ5m-0gdHSVTBm7J0ea8rO9Rshz4S4WUXXd6EHqUqXkZYJETXZwfTzodcVU4UyaBgAFINe7zVyn0Vo1zQV8TjDa38KckjHBDuodZ22f9fMsydMdBZyd1ebRpEcyGew/w400-h400/Sweet_Comfort_Band_-_Sweet_Comfort.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"They also didn't see any reason to pay royalties on sales," Duncan said, somewhat sarcastically. "Of course, it was all ministry!" </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">He continued: "In our last meeting with Chuck Fromm, the head of Maranatha Music, he said, 'If you leave this company, your chances of doing anything else are slim and none.' And so we left and we almost named the band Slim and None. That phrase by itself would make us stick it out in the face of all kinds of adversity."</span><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_tKCdWPSJVgW5XDRju9ue01Tal1_r_PXDfKwMifo2S7Cq2w3JDlo0Qv-EULVzpY0k3vadK47mbf2nlPy-sEa4nvR86iORHpltdKk05lzTLdxqP-2I5AAMIwTJA-CoH2QPV6Uz-HftFuyX5Vx3RcmzEfHrylyUmubSHlEJqBpu0fAWrOewRfK1wAdoA/s508/377e720889ba880134564c9c4e6591fe%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="508" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_tKCdWPSJVgW5XDRju9ue01Tal1_r_PXDfKwMifo2S7Cq2w3JDlo0Qv-EULVzpY0k3vadK47mbf2nlPy-sEa4nvR86iORHpltdKk05lzTLdxqP-2I5AAMIwTJA-CoH2QPV6Uz-HftFuyX5Vx3RcmzEfHrylyUmubSHlEJqBpu0fAWrOewRfK1wAdoA/w400-h326/377e720889ba880134564c9c4e6591fe%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chuck Fromm</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Sweet Comfort Band's guitarist/vocalist Randy Thomas wrote a hilarious and endlessly entertaining page-turner of an autobiography called <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">Songstory</a> (2021, Vide Press) in which he confirms Bryan's account. </span></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"I have no idea how much the </i><b>Sweet Comfort </b><i>album sold. No one did. There was a disconnect between band and label. We asked to leave the label. After all, the label had invested how much? Oh, that's right: zero dollars. A meeting was set with Chuck Fromm and Jimmy Kempner. They said, 'If you leave us, you won't last two weeks. Your chances are slim and none.' From then on, every time the band's van broke down by the side of the road, every time a promoter stiffed us, every time we wanted to quit, we recited 'Slim and None' to each other. It kept us going for another decade." -Randy Thomas, <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">Songstory</a> </i></span></blockquote><p></p><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></pre><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBrPcCRmgxZG9JtK4vrKtyCKK6Ko1vulNsdXnUmo6lcimX0ItcYETewj82ech3QB-sjVapvfWtY5vQ05YbgWwh6J9vSNKhQFGqrAvPgnSoAMyjW-oL0XBiPTGbHPBoovmqgCEbBDI_s1LePtF5ej9tzd7eKAV6PokLU8tjPRUQoVVm6TaBMnxTMffsg/s1684/247578559_284201760373572_8256275755318743295_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1684" data-original-width="1413" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBrPcCRmgxZG9JtK4vrKtyCKK6Ko1vulNsdXnUmo6lcimX0ItcYETewj82ech3QB-sjVapvfWtY5vQ05YbgWwh6J9vSNKhQFGqrAvPgnSoAMyjW-oL0XBiPTGbHPBoovmqgCEbBDI_s1LePtF5ej9tzd7eKAV6PokLU8tjPRUQoVVm6TaBMnxTMffsg/w336-h400/247578559_284201760373572_8256275755318743295_n.jpg" width="336" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralph Carmichael</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;">Light Records was a West Coast Jesus Music record company known as the label home for Andrae Crouch & the Disciples and the Archers, among others. It was owned by the legendary Ralph Carmichael, who is described by Randy Thomas as looking very much like a real-life Geppetto (white hair, big glasses, whiskbroom mustache). Thomas recalls Carmichael writing the band members' names down on a napkin every time he met with them. "Light was recording a band called Messenger that sounded a lot like us," said Bryan Duncan. "Very similar chord structure with jazz overtones. So we signed a contract with Light, understanding that they would put up the money for the album. Well, <i>there's</i> a step ahead!"</span></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUiox3_QumMFBzHKCk1vWkOFtz8r2EcMnF-BRK7J-hf3xKWTtcF06_KH-hRr8uANRuUkAYqokLAdFniifKaN61BgscmN2PkbA7EU2ZItjdXcVMJUJ2EjLSCZBS3Dzn8PUVvwaQOXerSh0MHjj81Y9hBHC365ev-t_xddJsgcXRCh5FTzXjlR7KiBFnA/s960/155619_4118297633353_1914735447_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="748" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUiox3_QumMFBzHKCk1vWkOFtz8r2EcMnF-BRK7J-hf3xKWTtcF06_KH-hRr8uANRuUkAYqokLAdFniifKaN61BgscmN2PkbA7EU2ZItjdXcVMJUJ2EjLSCZBS3Dzn8PUVvwaQOXerSh0MHjj81Y9hBHC365ev-t_xddJsgcXRCh5FTzXjlR7KiBFnA/w311-h400/155619_4118297633353_1914735447_n.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;">"Light Records did something we had never seen before: they promoted the record," wrote Randy Thomas in <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">his book</a>. </span></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></pre><pre class="aLF-aPX-K0-aPE" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace, arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; user-select: text; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;">Before delving any further into <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b>, let's back up a bit. How did this unlikely foursome become a unit in the first place?</span></pre><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Apparently, the Thomson brothers - Rick and Kevin - were born in Cincinnati and grew up in a tiny town called Hamersville, Ohio. Reportedly, once it became clear that Rick could successfully alternate clapping his hands and tapping his foot, his school band teacher said, "You're our drummer." Rick played drums from that time on. According to an article at Christian Music Archive, the Thomson boys bounced back and forth a few times between Ohio and California. It was on the Left Coast that they were exposed to many different genres of music, including rock and jazz, and formed two different jazz-rock bands, playing dances and various functions around Southern California. Rick and Kevin (who played bass) started attending church during the Jesus Movement of the early 70s and surrendered their lives to Jesus.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhfOTTTPwKRylcehM3NxVgJRgEffmWzVf-nWNEHm4C6hA7ix3UalgHUPrbkTl6JLu28BYtC-QzVreFsZTLtWoc8XtvYyt2UIDJ9USF3beEOfyNml0TNNE60flEukvBouAMumJ2n4D0S6YaUKwKbvIH5dSo9IU1mFOW76TouqtWLac2X9sGN2Uw4NBdQ/s147/332860204_507712491564528_2115996881316336932_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="147" data-original-width="126" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhfOTTTPwKRylcehM3NxVgJRgEffmWzVf-nWNEHm4C6hA7ix3UalgHUPrbkTl6JLu28BYtC-QzVreFsZTLtWoc8XtvYyt2UIDJ9USF3beEOfyNml0TNNE60flEukvBouAMumJ2n4D0S6YaUKwKbvIH5dSo9IU1mFOW76TouqtWLac2X9sGN2Uw4NBdQ/w343-h400/332860204_507712491564528_2115996881316336932_n.jpg" width="343" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bryan Duncan</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, a long-haired, wisecracking Pentecostal preacher's kid from North Carolina found himself in hot water with the powers-that-were at his denomination's Bible college down in Florida. You might say he was dishonorably discharged. Feeling like he had failed and disappointed his parents, Bryan Duncan set out for California, having heard about the Jesus Movement from a friend. Once he got to Cali, he met up with Rick and Kevin. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrjBzBlqyps9Vus5yTjTAyVBRLSMBQbGIGCgRn5XVuDAYIxo-1CYftLqo_r_F6nRfPfzIFu9Lg6INlRJHdaCEoHCBVU1tUWp6YgZETMktdXO94h7q6U5D17KJG6DF9x19bWl2xiloq15jQnV3zUK92CjWiq6VRMaGh4GoRocPdqQZxzNBdLobrEE5Tg/s640/335048181_9603145386369572_7150448061783344118_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="640" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBrjBzBlqyps9Vus5yTjTAyVBRLSMBQbGIGCgRn5XVuDAYIxo-1CYftLqo_r_F6nRfPfzIFu9Lg6INlRJHdaCEoHCBVU1tUWp6YgZETMktdXO94h7q6U5D17KJG6DF9x19bWl2xiloq15jQnV3zUK92CjWiq6VRMaGh4GoRocPdqQZxzNBdLobrEE5Tg/w400-h398/335048181_9603145386369572_7150448061783344118_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Thomson brothers saw Bryan perform at The Mother Ship (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa) and invited him to jam with them. That same day they decided to form a group. Rick came up with the name, and Sweet Comfort performed as a trio for the next three years. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ne0WrjyfLYFL1A2rX_1jI2doJPTQUVrwiEJuYU9O-Lh6Dpql0Yy67RYb_ZWI0bwyFy_KdaKQNkt5DRgYiREAD6o0xBiulfWXmmZs3Nzt5lYuICgT6tNdpNxC3pXQCywDIZczuhKYQ4fjBxbDJrQfueNH1FEJPiJALx4CJckC4_NtXkFTNdlF0Q8lhQ/s1467/50725407_817443175279525_3083496419256958976_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1467" data-original-width="1069" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ne0WrjyfLYFL1A2rX_1jI2doJPTQUVrwiEJuYU9O-Lh6Dpql0Yy67RYb_ZWI0bwyFy_KdaKQNkt5DRgYiREAD6o0xBiulfWXmmZs3Nzt5lYuICgT6tNdpNxC3pXQCywDIZczuhKYQ4fjBxbDJrQfueNH1FEJPiJALx4CJckC4_NtXkFTNdlF0Q8lhQ/w291-h400/50725407_817443175279525_3083496419256958976_n.jpg" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy Thomas</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy Thomas grew up a couple of blocks from Route 66 in Rialto, California. He was dragged to church as a kid but his father later admitted it was only out of obligation and stopped going. As a child, Randy says he thought Sunday services were punishment for running free six days a week. But he became a Christian in 1972 after a light-bulb moment that involved observing nature (and figuring there must be a God), and the witness of a friend who was also a band-mate. Randy's dad was a high school band director and Randy had two older siblings who were into the pop and rock records of the day, so there was always music in the air. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nCP8tgvP5KkotEl7pA04JL2LqPnz-5h_U9i-1R_eAFsmZFZcQuPtH-3D44pyPBzrOkBJYRfgwFlXm9KEGfxDK3jler-25Rsh8imYv4QiN_aDXCKkKuNXTjqwuUZ5GNWgrhSEbGVo_XDTm2jedRRF9zotkMimQ6ROF3J9g33_tOqpb4LVnYuqwrfNNw/s1473/19092856_457439711279875_6269231555551556286_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="1473" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nCP8tgvP5KkotEl7pA04JL2LqPnz-5h_U9i-1R_eAFsmZFZcQuPtH-3D44pyPBzrOkBJYRfgwFlXm9KEGfxDK3jler-25Rsh8imYv4QiN_aDXCKkKuNXTjqwuUZ5GNWgrhSEbGVo_XDTm2jedRRF9zotkMimQ6ROF3J9g33_tOqpb4LVnYuqwrfNNw/w400-h243/19092856_457439711279875_6269231555551556286_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sonrise</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_PZWMhnZ1VRtbdZhGa0sPb8qJMOvenw4gqbRMivJN0BJBQL6vHPZd4Cp_vuk7ZI-vVTLDOeUmBqNvQ4B8E7lblLinvYqFg3JrQlMM2czUk19Ox0BA6QYuNqBS0ZyXJbJ10DnMUFK2IpJfwTfR2Tt5i3C2BeY4KY-xZFSfA6evUSDgN_7OMX3AvdsVA/s960/92644322_1156615634695609_7640379088779083776_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="960" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_PZWMhnZ1VRtbdZhGa0sPb8qJMOvenw4gqbRMivJN0BJBQL6vHPZd4Cp_vuk7ZI-vVTLDOeUmBqNvQ4B8E7lblLinvYqFg3JrQlMM2czUk19Ox0BA6QYuNqBS0ZyXJbJ10DnMUFK2IpJfwTfR2Tt5i3C2BeY4KY-xZFSfA6evUSDgN_7OMX3AvdsVA/w400-h329/92644322_1156615634695609_7640379088779083776_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Psalm 150</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy would wind up in two early Jesus Music bands - Sonrise and Psalm 150. [Members of these two groups would go on to play in Allies, Night Ranger, Damn Yankees and Andrae Crouch & the Disciples.] Thomas also tried his hand at "worship leading," even though that term was not yet in vogue. He would lead songs at Calvary Chapel Riverside where the pastor was a 23-year old Greg Laurie. In his book <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">Songstory</a>, Randy talks about how powerful the music was during the Jesus Movement days. "I'm not sure if the music was so incredible, or if it was the prayer-soaked Holy Spirit atmosphere, or both," he wrote. "The concerts were enthralling."<br /><br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTd4u_8OrFE8LDGRaqh3Ih4xF-pVg7Sj5AqE8S8ZiqDojwj-0vpRUwCvjm1h9q8YR58UlGcu5CkZeb6bwCUg9jmZm1M4blyIeKWj-kiu-ytgJmIZL73p7yJgBpCLiWso8P2O6h6nk0GADYpqBVcpbVQZGWedthECBQU6msVvXLDWfen2XprRg_7cP4xg/s400/greg-laurie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="284" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTd4u_8OrFE8LDGRaqh3Ih4xF-pVg7Sj5AqE8S8ZiqDojwj-0vpRUwCvjm1h9q8YR58UlGcu5CkZeb6bwCUg9jmZm1M4blyIeKWj-kiu-ytgJmIZL73p7yJgBpCLiWso8P2O6h6nk0GADYpqBVcpbVQZGWedthECBQU6msVvXLDWfen2XprRg_7cP4xg/w284-h400/greg-laurie.jpg" width="284" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Laurie</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Next came a series of events that Randy Thomas blames on God. <br />1. People kept telling the guys in Sweet Comfort, "You guys are great, but you need a guitar player"<br />2. Greg Laurie suggested to Randy that he audition to play on a Saturday night at Calvary Chapel Riverside<br />3. Kevin Thomson was the "gatekeeper" of the Saturday night concerts at Riverside<br />4. Kevin invited Randy to jam with him and Rick in Kevin's garage<br />5. With no introduction, Bryan Duncan shows up, starts singing and playing<br />6. Randy Thomas' guitar fills the holes in the trio's sound<br />7. Soon they were playing Disneyland and other large venues</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"It was as if a missing puzzle piece had snapped into place," said Randy Thomas. "God was doing something!"</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OX6G766W9HcGO6z9rHquH8xNmJWOc9Luno194ux5aGsnL9K8D77jGoZiLlBr_wy9XLLwJbaBug4BoR2VOb3s1B_7Pmh7lNyuu-TxY_Emhsb--DIKW0WAgTyP_n4cbLcKeduGZ1Qxgo8kbK8Yu3725Ds-NE07dLen3A-_FC9Qu12xfB18n3cDDH0MZw/s720/13882178_293352037688644_8206892487680799470_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="695" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OX6G766W9HcGO6z9rHquH8xNmJWOc9Luno194ux5aGsnL9K8D77jGoZiLlBr_wy9XLLwJbaBug4BoR2VOb3s1B_7Pmh7lNyuu-TxY_Emhsb--DIKW0WAgTyP_n4cbLcKeduGZ1Qxgo8kbK8Yu3725Ds-NE07dLen3A-_FC9Qu12xfB18n3cDDH0MZw/w386-h400/13882178_293352037688644_8206892487680799470_n.jpg" width="386" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a rehearsal in Riverside<br />(with an unidentified guy in overalls and flipflops)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Thomas described their initial musical output as "an odd blend of Canned Heat boogie meets Elton John pop," adding that Bryan Duncan was short, but sang like he was ten feet tall.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9xl50qKFqgpPnAgS_sTTooqHSECk-rpH0QU5KWAU5BGXYzL8_hZiGlZsYWvclLjNg9gpQiVqX3zkmtJVP0dC1Na99318cs6hwRAURI5kL8Lxn3KzmuOIqi8HnMyYB69K3fOboJih8Ye6ps_WatMnUv3vZHDhXmBvFPB1D0MCTsQCZ3nz4K0pwijX3Q/s960/60265_4110224391527_2142611390_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="960" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9xl50qKFqgpPnAgS_sTTooqHSECk-rpH0QU5KWAU5BGXYzL8_hZiGlZsYWvclLjNg9gpQiVqX3zkmtJVP0dC1Na99318cs6hwRAURI5kL8Lxn3KzmuOIqi8HnMyYB69K3fOboJih8Ye6ps_WatMnUv3vZHDhXmBvFPB1D0MCTsQCZ3nz4K0pwijX3Q/w400-h314/60265_4110224391527_2142611390_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgx5JyyAZ1cWSqBmB-ObGqsoigJ2EwV8uMr5qIOfPZgN1DJmIDTk7gcX6WLFUX7Yna4LGtImYlGxb8GY454wvQni5eEg0D7YXhprabrGP55cM8PaQcR43dfM70UiAhGSwD1t2_Qi_uWuviTwDHs6cQ9rDwm1hdCQPeiOHwn2_csPJf2ChsR90yamvOQ/s960/552490_4703884192651_1680149733_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="645" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgx5JyyAZ1cWSqBmB-ObGqsoigJ2EwV8uMr5qIOfPZgN1DJmIDTk7gcX6WLFUX7Yna4LGtImYlGxb8GY454wvQni5eEg0D7YXhprabrGP55cM8PaQcR43dfM70UiAhGSwD1t2_Qi_uWuviTwDHs6cQ9rDwm1hdCQPeiOHwn2_csPJf2ChsR90yamvOQ/w269-h400/552490_4703884192651_1680149733_n.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">To read all about the 1977 debut album, <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/08/47-sweet-comfort-by-sweet-comfort-1977.html">click HERE</a>. Now let's get back to SCB signing with Ralph Carmichael's Light Records.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"We signed a three-year deal with two options for one record each," remembers Bryan Duncan, "but Light was shady, too. We learned something in the fine print about cross-collateralization, which meant they could put <i>anything </i>on our record budget. And they would, including choirs for other projects and dinners out on the town. We would also sign away our publishing rights. I remember asking specifically, 'What does publishing mean?' and the guy said, 'It just has to do with filling out the license for the copyright.' Turned out that publishing was 50% of all the money that comes in on record sales." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDhj7OdSROloGVYmSrtGjHvUYPfAe44zQQ790fXNthpS_CC3tL_FFNaDzORTZNrqqrtuWXpkV-BUXSsYScSN2jrvWvu6zWC4DTbeWqwioM9wFGL4d7-vfSo-FBKRPkNsZNr8t-IAuDllkbdWPfk9QMwgVQG7JwCUyl_NOAdAaKNXge936fd00pYhlbg/s3264/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghjjwwsqq.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2322" data-original-width="3264" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDhj7OdSROloGVYmSrtGjHvUYPfAe44zQQ790fXNthpS_CC3tL_FFNaDzORTZNrqqrtuWXpkV-BUXSsYScSN2jrvWvu6zWC4DTbeWqwioM9wFGL4d7-vfSo-FBKRPkNsZNr8t-IAuDllkbdWPfk9QMwgVQG7JwCUyl_NOAdAaKNXge936fd00pYhlbg/w400-h285/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghjjwwsqq.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"We would also later find out that the addendum to the contract, where we had added some specifics, was never signed by both parties," Duncan said. "We were too busy playing concerts to be paying attention to paperwork! We also didn't have a manager then. The Sweet Comfort Band records have all been sold off to a couple of different companies, all of which went out of business, and I still can't find the masters to those projects."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGoV4zS5NX5lg4M3-qQj4dRVGLltnCR2wNxF5LaKBcWUg0TBcK8a5BQ2cQ35Crkew526pbV_PNMnxEkXWd5v1rXGN913sB5CCdJKZPj2rNeX085Y2Cy6IHaO6xp1hj_m_WKnv4wQBlqpac9UgPYa3BWoVHipI6E-npwfqzNqs2iH0OEd1EAMP1RpSCA/s3264/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghjjwwsqqlpq.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2217" data-original-width="3264" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGoV4zS5NX5lg4M3-qQj4dRVGLltnCR2wNxF5LaKBcWUg0TBcK8a5BQ2cQ35Crkew526pbV_PNMnxEkXWd5v1rXGN913sB5CCdJKZPj2rNeX085Y2Cy6IHaO6xp1hj_m_WKnv4wQBlqpac9UgPYa3BWoVHipI6E-npwfqzNqs2iH0OEd1EAMP1RpSCA/w400-h271/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghjjwwsqqlpq.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Wow. Who knew the music business could be so depressing? Let's talk about the music! <br /><br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwAx0FvNvWVd_tpG-7gCy3wWWi7beCdz-pav8pD0TV0HzEMG_jqD0qKoy3IBjnk8xcElmeLk7YAllbRz2YPihSvrj4O2NnW26Veo4yHTSJeSHkpoU978NF0rf8eXAlQIigxPpsXLOe4dztPyKpDZB_NhIAo5GvDD9VzCljyHtOxsDHe-Z50DuwWZ_mA/s900/seawind_waikiki_large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="900" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwAx0FvNvWVd_tpG-7gCy3wWWi7beCdz-pav8pD0TV0HzEMG_jqD0qKoy3IBjnk8xcElmeLk7YAllbRz2YPihSvrj4O2NnW26Veo4yHTSJeSHkpoU978NF0rf8eXAlQIigxPpsXLOe4dztPyKpDZB_NhIAo5GvDD9VzCljyHtOxsDHe-Z50DuwWZ_mA/w400-h306/seawind_waikiki_large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seawind</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Tommy Coomes and a very young Jonathan David Brown had done a nice job producing the group's debut record, but the guys wanted to step things up on the next album. "We'd come across a band that was on a secular label," Duncan recalls. "It was light years ahead of every Christian thing we'd ever heard, and it turned out that some of them were Christians. The group was called Seawind and they had a full horn section and were doing the kind of music that we really liked. So after seeing them live, we approached Bob Wilson, the drummer for the band and also the leader, and asked him about producing a record with us. He agreed, and he would bring the horn section with him."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRwSBJKzs66Qo-ridFplj308KqEqj1XngY1SW-Ozsf8RI9k6DwLpA5Sam_2CIDurrk4TAp0ZDOn8R2fTvCogWZFZpkly8Jtq3YnLGVnH0NVEv5Tizg-9Q63z4IeV-VyOjbEPxc0lrsEHB2CL8cpkOyYJJeZK7Y2yXcM2wZ1s1cLc4023Y1_cwRTlOPA/s596/Bob_Wilson_thumb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="596" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRwSBJKzs66Qo-ridFplj308KqEqj1XngY1SW-Ozsf8RI9k6DwLpA5Sam_2CIDurrk4TAp0ZDOn8R2fTvCogWZFZpkly8Jtq3YnLGVnH0NVEv5Tizg-9Q63z4IeV-VyOjbEPxc0lrsEHB2CL8cpkOyYJJeZK7Y2yXcM2wZ1s1cLc4023Y1_cwRTlOPA/w400-h240/Bob_Wilson_thumb.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Wilson</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy Thomas recalls recording at Martinsound in Alhambra, with Wilson as producer and Jack Joseph Puig as engineer. He says the group had sort of learned the basics of recording the first time around, and were a little "more professional" on the sessions for <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So what about Bob Wilson? Turns out he gets mixed reviews from Bryan and Randy. <br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfyTiEYK4BJ-dFqhGLTxGKXyJCcA2XHkfIumoSIngP7YYSZqQgv5hGivL3augU-UfpcqiQCUVQ-fuQEzPMn4oPAVOV0DeNpC2JDgk52c1HP6M60PLvKBVfyFyKnFNJ_aQK-SKezi4yB_eYivXU5Wobn4yRAAln1YrqtUVp3pZeKRpgEHC3IIJuwjoPhA/s600/wilson_somebody_large.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfyTiEYK4BJ-dFqhGLTxGKXyJCcA2XHkfIumoSIngP7YYSZqQgv5hGivL3augU-UfpcqiQCUVQ-fuQEzPMn4oPAVOV0DeNpC2JDgk52c1HP6M60PLvKBVfyFyKnFNJ_aQK-SKezi4yB_eYivXU5Wobn4yRAAln1YrqtUVp3pZeKRpgEHC3IIJuwjoPhA/w400-h400/wilson_somebody_large.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob & Pauline Wilson<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">A record they made together in 1981. The pair would later divorce.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>"I don't have great memories of working with Bob as a producer," admits Bryan Duncan. "Number one, he didn't like my voice. He was used to a female singer - his wife - and he would alternate lead vocals between myself and Randy and Rick. The first review of </span><i><b>Breakin' the Ice</b></i><span> I remember reading said, </span><i>'This is a great band but they lack a lead singer.' </i></span><span><span style="font-size: medium;">Well, we usually sang our own songs, meaning, whoever wrote the song sang it. But the bounce-back-and-forth vocals that were brought in by Bob on the second album made it unsure of who was actually the lead singer. I didn't really argue about spreading the vocals around because I liked Sly and the Family Stone and they did that pretty often. You've got to remember that the studio is not the real world, and you're recording bits and pieces the whole time that you're recording. You don't really have an overview of how the whole thing sounds, and I never felt like I was being neglected."</span><br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmoCnKDJlAcZq4KD9fzU2NoWClDjc09FXHIpFCe6u4gZIh7wbzTMBcUO_Ah9VJ37gXNcmXtvqLJ5197bI75gMow0O3_qNS61dSRBeQqzkUl9yA8XwrD1kixhpwMBooyjbZQ9Gm8c2uK3TO_2heSsFk9ShV9YY38YTFQ0ryNfw4h0eYFIX8Pr1TcImlw/s770/1b84299edeb64bee9ac93b17a6af09d5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="770" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmoCnKDJlAcZq4KD9fzU2NoWClDjc09FXHIpFCe6u4gZIh7wbzTMBcUO_Ah9VJ37gXNcmXtvqLJ5197bI75gMow0O3_qNS61dSRBeQqzkUl9yA8XwrD1kixhpwMBooyjbZQ9Gm8c2uK3TO_2heSsFk9ShV9YY38YTFQ0ryNfw4h0eYFIX8Pr1TcImlw/w400-h291/1b84299edeb64bee9ac93b17a6af09d5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">For my money, both Randy Thomas and Rick Thomson were/are fine singers and the presence of their vocals added some variety and a richness to the overall product. But let's face it...when you look up the term Lead Singer in the dictionary, you should see Bryan Duncan's picture. The fact that he wasn't featured on every song is actually pretty wild. Randy Thomas, again, a very fine singer in his own right, would be the vocal frontman for most bands. But he just happened to be blessed (cursed?) to be in two different bands with two of the greatest lead singers that God ever made, not just in Christian music, but in pop music period. Bryan Duncan and Bob Carlisle possessed an other-worldly level of talent where lead vocals were concerned.</span><br /><br /></span><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoldQ9R6NbvwF_7_cXctX0i06f2TR4jgZrs-Ph51yMya2ao6Umtvy2ZPMfVL1Gl2MR7XaPk8Z84KSTIBMUHmgaqtwntRHd3xiOX8SgHKy_-cU8NTe6SfuaAXNTYrIwox-boHoef6uo45EfDRTzePKJZlubhh6b2iw4VF7DO_gRM2F-KcqZNtT4Oq0aA/s640/Jack-Joseph-Puig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoldQ9R6NbvwF_7_cXctX0i06f2TR4jgZrs-Ph51yMya2ao6Umtvy2ZPMfVL1Gl2MR7XaPk8Z84KSTIBMUHmgaqtwntRHd3xiOX8SgHKy_-cU8NTe6SfuaAXNTYrIwox-boHoef6uo45EfDRTzePKJZlubhh6b2iw4VF7DO_gRM2F-KcqZNtT4Oq0aA/w400-h300/Jack-Joseph-Puig.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Joseph Puig</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Thomas says that with Jack Joseph Puig flying the ship and Bob Wilson at the helm, <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> had a fun vibe. He says he was at Wilson's elbow for the whole project, and found out that he loved the studio world. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBBmI_w2j3KsKHibC3olz9qxbrqhYCrwxXXrwFPu5zF0HMZC7oGwvKJgWQ_EQOCR4eAMO4SUo08pg45M-Olb7l3hxMP7iJoiRD_BEwatd1gRUYLeC2sERMBEUAB6vnNoEnwsCIjb4zp2Dl009LFKaAXOVyxDM5pLFoAyzKBlpjohzPbBJW5HNRR4SQQ/s599/A-656205-1594762081-8601.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="599" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifBBmI_w2j3KsKHibC3olz9qxbrqhYCrwxXXrwFPu5zF0HMZC7oGwvKJgWQ_EQOCR4eAMO4SUo08pg45M-Olb7l3hxMP7iJoiRD_BEwatd1gRUYLeC2sERMBEUAB6vnNoEnwsCIjb4zp2Dl009LFKaAXOVyxDM5pLFoAyzKBlpjohzPbBJW5HNRR4SQQ/w400-h238/A-656205-1594762081-8601.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seawind horns</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bryan Duncan told me that on this record, he felt like everyone else was driving the bus and he was just along for the ride. "I don't even remember the horn section days in the studio," he said. "<b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> was the first time I recognized the competition for whose songs were going to be on the record, and I would remain passively aggressive. My primary interest has always been in the performance of the songs themselves in a live situation."<br /><br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuejg7VideZXdegB0NpHI98cbv1z17irLbP2Q9bdBNQ71Gg1kOQ1nyxvX-ucHcU_uBX8Gnc5NUAqKbvn6tdCFKWcY3qyadjUu515d0hodoxm9NrN0tFwGGyMXpldAU-pQuAdeo_a2UNmcv_1qYMWdSziVABDHzvaBdsMaJzPlx8C63LHmvd7mwLcq-A/s200/Seawind%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="143" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuejg7VideZXdegB0NpHI98cbv1z17irLbP2Q9bdBNQ71Gg1kOQ1nyxvX-ucHcU_uBX8Gnc5NUAqKbvn6tdCFKWcY3qyadjUu515d0hodoxm9NrN0tFwGGyMXpldAU-pQuAdeo_a2UNmcv_1qYMWdSziVABDHzvaBdsMaJzPlx8C63LHmvd7mwLcq-A/w229-h320/Seawind%20(2).jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Wilson</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The title track is a funky little number, and the album's only song not written by the band members. Wilson wrote it himself. In the book <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">Songstory</a>, Randy Thomas describes an audition process by which Wilson determined who would sing lead on the track. After Rick, Bryan and Randy all gave it a shot...Randy got the nod. But he was somewhat disappointed to learn that Wilson was going to use his 'audition' vocal on the album, rather than record it again. "The only good thing about that vocal," Randy says, "is that I could always sing it better live than on the record!" <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBu8_2vj9D-EZVTV65mKUHYXYj0JJL4nUkkVdnrPoAR0mhwcDn3yQkrS3BgKBOlajqtwZg0no6swBpj27Fwwf_D8v-cplOie8a_L6ReHuZxxzPJGiY8cfXwNharGr7UmbL8YC9kRirhlKS7eT2QjvuLWbiDf6C3wdfabq0y8S__iT39-ZkVF8TP7EHg/s960/398039_4686789725300_1135006063_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="960" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBu8_2vj9D-EZVTV65mKUHYXYj0JJL4nUkkVdnrPoAR0mhwcDn3yQkrS3BgKBOlajqtwZg0no6swBpj27Fwwf_D8v-cplOie8a_L6ReHuZxxzPJGiY8cfXwNharGr7UmbL8YC9kRirhlKS7eT2QjvuLWbiDf6C3wdfabq0y8S__iT39-ZkVF8TP7EHg/w400-h313/398039_4686789725300_1135006063_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bryan Duncan told me that he would end up singing lead now and then on songs that the other guys wrote on future albums. "<i>Valerie</i> was one of them," he said. "It was written by Randy Thomas and I sang lead on it. Rick and Randy also wrote a song called <i>They Just Go On</i>, and I took the lead vocal on the hook on that one. I would eventually become more of the main vocalist on the songs that did well on the radio."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQzBb1rSHWyJ8nC0ivYG6QrpGuSaHiMQHJeI1UYa2aGMM1giPwPplWahpMMiiv35MWExRQl4ZrIuFinKCzyNO8mBZEZbvoRMJr4iANSjOsGdKt14USN-zy2LJhNdwpkON3zUFUHw7DYRB4pErbv2E1JI2H9BMerPJcRp-rd5B4nMfPPjB9KO3Dywsnhw/s960/48392824_10157725787926808_8721609982828609536_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="960" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQzBb1rSHWyJ8nC0ivYG6QrpGuSaHiMQHJeI1UYa2aGMM1giPwPplWahpMMiiv35MWExRQl4ZrIuFinKCzyNO8mBZEZbvoRMJr4iANSjOsGdKt14USN-zy2LJhNdwpkON3zUFUHw7DYRB4pErbv2E1JI2H9BMerPJcRp-rd5B4nMfPPjB9KO3Dywsnhw/w400-h316/48392824_10157725787926808_8721609982828609536_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy and Rick...writing in the back yard?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rick and Randy seemed to co-write a lot of songs in the SCB catalog. Randy Thomas says that drummer Rick Thomson was a good "song starter" while he [Randy] was a good "song finisher." It worked out. The two teamed up on four of the nine songs on this record. "Two Thomas-Thomson tracks, <i>Good Feelin' </i>and <i>Got to Believe</i>, have a heavier jazz influence and are stellar songs - examples of the best that Christian music has ever had to offer," gushed historian Mark Allan Powell in his <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAF1mYpGGWrMxVqsu6jV6IW1Vz8JS29bxg-Cr1NZg-RmXwzPanmGYCLdFiyPf3AX8vclZw4acCfqi8oe41M_E1Q0u8Ohj2etlYX4qYm1rSix9z_M6K9kJa7gg9RMtyxBPscjt24qP-gb7yQBY3BEnv7LeM7kO4mfihWPrjUmP3b5Hj-wrVs61Q23VkeA/s1024/1404609_10201701384191425_22512570_o%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1024" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAF1mYpGGWrMxVqsu6jV6IW1Vz8JS29bxg-Cr1NZg-RmXwzPanmGYCLdFiyPf3AX8vclZw4acCfqi8oe41M_E1Q0u8Ohj2etlYX4qYm1rSix9z_M6K9kJa7gg9RMtyxBPscjt24qP-gb7yQBY3BEnv7LeM7kO4mfihWPrjUmP3b5Hj-wrVs61Q23VkeA/w400-h313/1404609_10201701384191425_22512570_o%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfipY65USLwjc9TeT3u008w-d_P7w2qUsMm4ubEq8SjlGCDQjOJk9eWfJbjcHT2Uqp9V07WrQTNej2hvAyxXDZxTe1lafIED_xDzw3wdiFh34GSfVv1HBYASafotw1b8lKzXl6uwcBWkPrwTkzsXkqvolbFrDW0-1KZkGnbHzcFh4IlVcbiUcyuqXSA/s1024/1402972_10201701384231426_1091083954_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1024" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfipY65USLwjc9TeT3u008w-d_P7w2qUsMm4ubEq8SjlGCDQjOJk9eWfJbjcHT2Uqp9V07WrQTNej2hvAyxXDZxTe1lafIED_xDzw3wdiFh34GSfVv1HBYASafotw1b8lKzXl6uwcBWkPrwTkzsXkqvolbFrDW0-1KZkGnbHzcFh4IlVcbiUcyuqXSA/w400-h265/1402972_10201701384231426_1091083954_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Searchin' for Love</i> was a Bryan Duncan-Randy Thomas collab. It had a hard rock beat, by far the most intense song on the album. "I wasn't crazy about <i>Searchin' for Love</i>," Duncan revealed. "I didn't really trust my own voice to sound like a real, serious rocker. I had a clean sound. But we were playing a lot of outdoor events and we discovered the driving rock and roll kind of sound went over well with big audiences. Don't get me wrong, I love Kansas and Toto, and once I heard that <b><i>Boston</i></b> record, I decided I could scream right along with the best of them. We would eventually write another song called <i>Contender,</i> where I felt a lot better about being a rock singer."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFD5oi724aPo0d6D_nrFuA_6Da87LFPjZHFiPQZmm1SOCiSwR9_Vd01998qf9k9bt6qbvAo3LyTgFxUDEJSEwCXA8vf4vglkUc1rZw1EtnbDP4K9uOq485br1kngo9qfXF05BsXie1BY_oF5zUMISvs-cFKJx24RjIJ8mP5GO7pIgINhsERuND9PlJdw/s2493/1981-214.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1892" data-original-width="2493" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFD5oi724aPo0d6D_nrFuA_6Da87LFPjZHFiPQZmm1SOCiSwR9_Vd01998qf9k9bt6qbvAo3LyTgFxUDEJSEwCXA8vf4vglkUc1rZw1EtnbDP4K9uOq485br1kngo9qfXF05BsXie1BY_oF5zUMISvs-cFKJx24RjIJ8mP5GO7pIgINhsERuND9PlJdw/w400-h304/1981-214.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Critics liked the song more than Duncan did. Derek Walker penned these words for the <i>Phantom Tollbooth</i>: "Even with no horns, [<i>Searchin' for Love</i>] is one track that sums up how well everyone just clicks together, organically and intuitively, whether it's the machine-gun licks of the guitar, the supportive organ, or some drum breaks that add a real kick. Duncan squeezes every bit of feeling out of this one, bending his notes all over."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqxoAtm3tRSN5MbR1GfX7_bH9ystAYltMLSqnBFqPpzN77puZGjX2C6JzO4wYXuEVKeao2gG9ckyQMbJvYm0RBw1quDiEXnNk6Y4NIpQldBgcfiP-fg7HZcFCabvN3QTuHW2b-Sr7bSgX_qXZh2ztOvt3KVo7ixzIwjU4cBcSP0EN0T6ij0hkQFmGEQ/s594/R-3079493-1573198280-7349.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="589" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqxoAtm3tRSN5MbR1GfX7_bH9ystAYltMLSqnBFqPpzN77puZGjX2C6JzO4wYXuEVKeao2gG9ckyQMbJvYm0RBw1quDiEXnNk6Y4NIpQldBgcfiP-fg7HZcFCabvN3QTuHW2b-Sr7bSgX_qXZh2ztOvt3KVo7ixzIwjU4cBcSP0EN0T6ij0hkQFmGEQ/w396-h400/R-3079493-1573198280-7349.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-pq121KnRuzJ_goiIbQKLXB-rgc8sSemeTL52fzYpRwDl0lIZMCdr9B9celWpv4Krz_KD6WK4_Q3At8wIQFSoxKhZcMB9BHYYykXgfb-Ocw6SuAVuP6A0UDiReVsAY3fPa2pyYuAKvMeSwKfCawCnztomyFfEdT_hmc6aToJd6-iUfEZWqvuBUZ77A/s595/R-3079493-1573198281-3635.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="591" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-pq121KnRuzJ_goiIbQKLXB-rgc8sSemeTL52fzYpRwDl0lIZMCdr9B9celWpv4Krz_KD6WK4_Q3At8wIQFSoxKhZcMB9BHYYykXgfb-Ocw6SuAVuP6A0UDiReVsAY3fPa2pyYuAKvMeSwKfCawCnztomyFfEdT_hmc6aToJd6-iUfEZWqvuBUZ77A/w398-h400/R-3079493-1573198281-3635.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We've got more songs to discuss, but can we just take a moment to admire that album cover? I asked Bryan for the inside scoop on how it came about.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJI0rwIcR7xT9fQdfi4QN4Y04xkTkHkUqUDAM5mZ1AegdcMYs7PjXdOJYOEt6hxsb5RE3rcphcL_tqoeNC7aUQR9mDgabC1PTQDWCIxaXr3L3lwyd8dC7S2959VD8jHY9cdHej_lV4gylC4zl7OUFtN5Dq5SFeLSBUt0q4X_SGX3QGRqoghhV4413mrA/s600/ssrco,slim_fit_t_shirt,mens,e5d6c5_f62bbf65ee,front,square_product,600x600.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJI0rwIcR7xT9fQdfi4QN4Y04xkTkHkUqUDAM5mZ1AegdcMYs7PjXdOJYOEt6hxsb5RE3rcphcL_tqoeNC7aUQR9mDgabC1PTQDWCIxaXr3L3lwyd8dC7S2959VD8jHY9cdHej_lV4gylC4zl7OUFtN5Dq5SFeLSBUt0q4X_SGX3QGRqoghhV4413mrA/w400-h400/ssrco,slim_fit_t_shirt,mens,e5d6c5_f62bbf65ee,front,square_product,600x600.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszFJT-nkHBf584qrI3c4-l0bn3kCyLaaRaNZKAak5k2Y_VeoKxndkc5jLPuhk8rklt-au6ZL55COTqWqKmZZHKKEmMM9SotP6vt9H94ujHHFzDT1IPbq4lpD8foBJlMmymQQobBiNFrQvyDZM88yBZjSRzs7c_zdvBKnweNNt3Bbxj0At52lzLLXu_g/s593/R-3079493-1573198281-2790.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="586" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszFJT-nkHBf584qrI3c4-l0bn3kCyLaaRaNZKAak5k2Y_VeoKxndkc5jLPuhk8rklt-au6ZL55COTqWqKmZZHKKEmMM9SotP6vt9H94ujHHFzDT1IPbq4lpD8foBJlMmymQQobBiNFrQvyDZM88yBZjSRzs7c_zdvBKnweNNt3Bbxj0At52lzLLXu_g/w395-h400/R-3079493-1573198281-2790.jpg" width="395" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"When it comes to album covers," he said, "we knew two people in the local area. One was Rick Griffin, who did the iconic logo of Sweet Comfort. And there was another key player that was doing a lot of artwork for Christian product. His name was Kernie Erickson. I don't know exactly how we got in touch with him, I think Kevin probably lined him up. But we were big fans of Chicago's album covers because they didn't put the band on it, and we felt like an album cover with the band on the front, dressed in a certain way and with certain hairstyles, would look dated eventually." <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHMCFvqfcjx--twUb8oJlWmXHT7aZlirGiw14nMl77ux_ITYmI4R3z6uVG2HKc4_lWQJY0qXrKnMXN6uWDppKpLAT6s4tP276Ho8dB82pqZWL5an-HY7PEYwtn0P5Xee0RKpy_BwFVIuW-cMOtN3ZlGvVL20CdZtxoVf-BVcCnT5M4gl3wqvL5-g53w/s1000/71N8+pvVWlL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1000" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtHMCFvqfcjx--twUb8oJlWmXHT7aZlirGiw14nMl77ux_ITYmI4R3z6uVG2HKc4_lWQJY0qXrKnMXN6uWDppKpLAT6s4tP276Ho8dB82pqZWL5an-HY7PEYwtn0P5Xee0RKpy_BwFVIuW-cMOtN3ZlGvVL20CdZtxoVf-BVcCnT5M4gl3wqvL5-g53w/w400-h354/71N8+pvVWlL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Duncan continued: "The one time we went away from Kernie Erickson was with <i><b>Hold On Tight!</b></i>, and it was the worst album cover we had ever seen because we left it in someone else's hands. <b><i>Hold On Tight!</i></b> would be a $250 cover on a $50,000 project. After that, we made ourselves responsible for our own album cover graphics." Randy's take on that <i><b>Hold On Tight!</b></i> cover was that it "looked like Rocky and Bullwinkle were now running the art department."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO4GJvdgnsquP-bT6D9OfwbLGh6tKLa4k9IPx7QCI25mkiCNEVGSyB1ndodnfAigQGQeA93-O1B2-cPnk03XT-pfhY5dyxGpz9Zw8bA15K2KH7vSO37pi0lmv56uZH0eLD9mfEk-lelZ1YrYA6oXcZkEEI94Pa-jxNSWP2h7RCRnRZLZGT-mqoCoXoQ/s3264/BeFunky-collageuyi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="3264" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJO4GJvdgnsquP-bT6D9OfwbLGh6tKLa4k9IPx7QCI25mkiCNEVGSyB1ndodnfAigQGQeA93-O1B2-cPnk03XT-pfhY5dyxGpz9Zw8bA15K2KH7vSO37pi0lmv56uZH0eLD9mfEk-lelZ1YrYA6oXcZkEEI94Pa-jxNSWP2h7RCRnRZLZGT-mqoCoXoQ/w400-h129/BeFunky-collageuyi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"I don't think I was completely crazy about the <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> cover," Duncan said, "but after the <b><i>Hold On Tight! </i></b>fiasco, <b><i>Hearts of Fire, Cutting Edge </i></b>and <b><i>Perfect Timing</i></b> were right down the alley for me. We had developed a visual brand for the style of music that we did. And it was designed to look timeless."<br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiE3z99kNpHb3AUiVSRNNMCk5IGwm0BeTAWwYUqWVpugyNSZWTWE2dje11eKNdS3e0s8E3NbT0y8d1j7o3If0hwNRE1LxEf04IDliNO-kCeOIT7jkrlzg42ef4fGh1_Nn9CNbPZ5c3YLDWir6iRT3-Hhm4hyerxjQbpjfiJaiRRtWAAaIQJcjmbbnwSw/s600/R-3079493-1520030669-2172.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiE3z99kNpHb3AUiVSRNNMCk5IGwm0BeTAWwYUqWVpugyNSZWTWE2dje11eKNdS3e0s8E3NbT0y8d1j7o3If0hwNRE1LxEf04IDliNO-kCeOIT7jkrlzg42ef4fGh1_Nn9CNbPZ5c3YLDWir6iRT3-Hhm4hyerxjQbpjfiJaiRRtWAAaIQJcjmbbnwSw/w400-h400/R-3079493-1520030669-2172.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0m-QjleHJ1Vm-IW7fgM8PluwG_q83fiG2PbRi_R4gYyoNLL-QsiJdml15OFgvNk9XweIeEG_7uLKJIdglhQtRlaX6oUc1_FN1yavK50DvQ9yFxIIL51l-ZmUlf2jB3F7SiS42pCh2Az19y70n4VERFmTnLDPANd_bmESJtlWkP21jhjAMiMt_-5gRjg/s600/R-3079493-1520030670-9239.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0m-QjleHJ1Vm-IW7fgM8PluwG_q83fiG2PbRi_R4gYyoNLL-QsiJdml15OFgvNk9XweIeEG_7uLKJIdglhQtRlaX6oUc1_FN1yavK50DvQ9yFxIIL51l-ZmUlf2jB3F7SiS42pCh2Az19y70n4VERFmTnLDPANd_bmESJtlWkP21jhjAMiMt_-5gRjg/w400-h400/R-3079493-1520030670-9239.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So what did critics think about the album?</span></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"...one of the most legitimate white R&B albums ever released."<br />-</i>Bruce Brown<i>, </i>CCM</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"</i>I Love You With My Life<i> is a definitive Christian ballad...</i>I Need Your Love Again<i> is quintessential Duncan, defining the sound that would come to be known as blue-eyed soul."<br />-</i>Mark Allan Powell,<i> </i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</span></p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"<i>Borrowing directly from the funk/soul sounds of the late 70s without falling into the trap of disco, Sweet Comfort Band created an album for the ages with sharp production, killer grooves, monster vocals and some of the most stirring ballads for the day...At the time CCM was really lagging behind in the production quality world (based more on minuscule budgets than musicianship) and the band really created a new standard here...</i>Good Feelin' <i>really shows Duncan's range and Thomas' guitar prowess. But I would be remiss to discount the strength of the ballads on this album. </i>I Need Your Love Again<i> is a beautiful call to the Lord for His graciousness toward a fallen soul. But it's the album's closer, </i>I Love You With My Life<i>, that remains a true classic..."</i><br />-David Lowman,<i> Legacy podcast, CCM's 500 Best Albums</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"</i><b>Breakin' the Ice</b><i> deserves any praise lavished on it...this collection has a complete set of goodies and no duds. Maybe it is the musical tension between funk, soul and rock that makes each track so strong, or maybe they are just great, tautly-constructed melodies played by consummate musicians. Every track wraps an arm around you and invites you in to share the experience..."</i><br />-Derek Walker, the Phantom Tollbooth</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Well, then. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8c3d5rp9Iy3-U5jOaPlGOyk--LJTQKc9QMoC6RGVlANtSaQJS2fa0NJ9xwTq2ANDk5mz3zb65R433eudzWIsDWs4ubk9ZOZpCUvrwYne_6Q9Bb8kLQmoOqxoehgMrR8c9S2eLgzyHpSuJ2yKPWouEbxPjE5D4oESks1tPrBzXTtHcMuVRS8Wk_O_imA/s985/10517262_10204610279765518_6886897424747274916_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="985" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8c3d5rp9Iy3-U5jOaPlGOyk--LJTQKc9QMoC6RGVlANtSaQJS2fa0NJ9xwTq2ANDk5mz3zb65R433eudzWIsDWs4ubk9ZOZpCUvrwYne_6Q9Bb8kLQmoOqxoehgMrR8c9S2eLgzyHpSuJ2yKPWouEbxPjE5D4oESks1tPrBzXTtHcMuVRS8Wk_O_imA/w400-h346/10517262_10204610279765518_6886897424747274916_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Of course, the critics mentioned the elephant in the room that we have yet to discuss - <i>I Love You With My Life. </i>And we <i>will</i> get to that, trust me. But first, I wanted to know which songs on <i><b>Breakin' the Ice </b></i>were Bryan Duncan's personal favorites.<br /><br /></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Np5gQ8OLfBg" width="320" youtube-src-id="Np5gQ8OLfBg"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"<i>Got to Believe</i> was the mainstay of the whole record," he replied. "We played that a lot, usually opened the show with it. But years later, I would listen to Randy's guitar solo on <i>Good Feelin'</i> and realize that he was a way better guitar player than I even imagined when I was in the band with him! So those are my two favorite songs on the record, <i>Got to Believe</i> and <i>Good Feelin'</i>. Of course, since then I've also come to love <i>I Love You With My Life</i> just as much.</span><br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EEghDEQpE08" width="320" youtube-src-id="EEghDEQpE08"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">If there's a "time capsule song" on this record, it would have to be <i>I Love You With My Life</i>. Huge hit, greatly loved by Christian music audiences the world over...but for Sweet Comfort Band, the song was kind of an afterthought. It was the hit that almost didn't happen. <br /><br />"The interesting thing is that we toured <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> for almost a year and a half and we never played <i>I Love You With My Life </i>on that tour," Duncan revealed. "It was a ballad, and we were not a ballad band! And <i>I Love You With My Life </i>was the last song on Side Two of a vinyl LP. WCIE in Lakeland, Florida, would start playing the song after we had played at a local church there. It was completely grassroots. It started getting airplay on other stations, and ended up becoming a national #1 single." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Duncan jokingly added, "I remember thinking, <i>how does that song go again?</i>"</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bryan didn't really care for Bob Wilson's musical vision for the song. Wilson decided to "bounce it," rhythmically. Duncan says he didn't like it from the get-go, but eventually got used to it."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4on6Gre6V3eNgs0SHviwzb7xSn996Hh4HTLBKpKJrM-0vMha02A1TNbWPjdznGdOLbANFdgtqAoGdpOkDOhHlqp8Nqv-hLhtRrahhvkp_be11lceW9EcNTIuP_vXdnVCYoG29eivE2ko7kiCZB5pg5OBCcRzJ4IGPyou9FLyXuj0kdVl4mpEsXrxyVw/s960/46323_4686814805927_79348284_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4on6Gre6V3eNgs0SHviwzb7xSn996Hh4HTLBKpKJrM-0vMha02A1TNbWPjdznGdOLbANFdgtqAoGdpOkDOhHlqp8Nqv-hLhtRrahhvkp_be11lceW9EcNTIuP_vXdnVCYoG29eivE2ko7kiCZB5pg5OBCcRzJ4IGPyou9FLyXuj0kdVl4mpEsXrxyVw/w400-h266/46323_4686814805927_79348284_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Needless to say, I was curious as to how the song was written. "Well, I was not a great piano player," Bryan claimed. "But I wrote <i>I Love You With My Life</i> after Randy Thomas showed me how to play a 7 chord. Most of my ballads were in the key of C major. So one day, that's how I started. I played a C major chord, first inversion, and then I went straight to a 7 chord. I remember singing, <i>I would like to say...</i>and then I was stuck. I had no idea what I wanted to say! But then, on tour, sitting in the front seat on the road to somewhere, I was reading the story where Jesus said, 'I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am you can be.' And I specifically remember feeling really suspicious about that. It sounded to me like, 'I love you...but I'm leaving!' <i>Wait, what?! </i>And I'm supposed to trust that You're coming back? So that was the next line of the song: <i>I would like to say, just before I leave you..."</i> <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvol4DDPKbkl894VWD_idIZR-LO7F9w2NCQG1qGwUbpp1XPdEyPCW73I4UXvJMw79v2sg2UQv_2Qs52bePhfNMaTD66DsA4VdiVMi-xubsG2q-OhlhVPhnajJl_Mc6YhupjP4JFXKpOUZeOz7Zcnh61WkyGysV-wdq7RO90WY7OU7uGMtBDiv2QEI65w/s960/397972_4686822766126_1245361447_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvol4DDPKbkl894VWD_idIZR-LO7F9w2NCQG1qGwUbpp1XPdEyPCW73I4UXvJMw79v2sg2UQv_2Qs52bePhfNMaTD66DsA4VdiVMi-xubsG2q-OhlhVPhnajJl_Mc6YhupjP4JFXKpOUZeOz7Zcnh61WkyGysV-wdq7RO90WY7OU7uGMtBDiv2QEI65w/w313-h400/397972_4686822766126_1245361447_n.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"It would create an instant tension," Duncan said. "From there, it was just a matter of reading all that Jesus said in the Bible about what He was doing and what He felt. I didn't even think the song was very good when I finished it because it was just a tag at the end - 'I love you with My life'... It did not follow the formula we had learned in songwriting. But without realizing it, I had said what Jesus would say to all of us, in a way that was personal. Like it was a note on the refrigerator."<br /></span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-SWziTmU658" width="320" youtube-src-id="-SWziTmU658"></iframe></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"If ever there was a song where there was divine inspiration and intervention from God Himself, that would be the song," said Bryan. "I still play it to this day. It's been recorded twice since the first recording and it's been a #1 single in three different decades. It flies in the face of all our formulas and cleverness in writing songs. That song is the one song that I still sing to this day, almost every week. And it's not even from my perspective; it is directly from the words of Jesus."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>I would like to say<br />Just before I leave you<br />I'll be back someday<br />And with Me I will take you<br />So do not be afraid<br />Only watch and pray<br />And wait for my return<br /><br />I've done what I must do<br />My work here is completed<br />It's all been done for you<br />Believe what I have stated<br />And I will give you peace<br />Through all your tribulations<br />Until I come again<br /><br />Please know that I love you<br />And I'll stay by your side<br />If only now in spirit<br />I'll still be your guide<br />You will not suffer long<br />I have suffered for you<br />I love you with My life<br /><br />I'll prepare a place<br />Where we can live together<br />I'll meet you face to face<br />To share our new forever<br />Don't let your heart grow cold<br />And I will not allow<br />What's more than you can bear<br /><br />I love you with My life<br />Love you with My life...<br />Love you with My life...<br /></i><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"It turns out that we never tire of being reminded that we are loved by God," Duncan said, "and hearing it from His own voice."<br /><br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMOv-6bG7qS3UJUpuFXBBfEatyd_qn4yjXkSLI0XSSOvhJFy9I5U8QtNJK-cbEUADIfXcEI7rXxJ1sSqnU6MLuxgfNXofbagq41vDVWIDlrQ75R-Iigy3ouFM8_l7J1-mLm1D9C1ItwbNm0q_tfj9fdDDDIlf5LLx1l15rk62CH7Npj-62YBFhAx3Lw/s500/A-6725670-1537995724-5422.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="500" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMOv-6bG7qS3UJUpuFXBBfEatyd_qn4yjXkSLI0XSSOvhJFy9I5U8QtNJK-cbEUADIfXcEI7rXxJ1sSqnU6MLuxgfNXofbagq41vDVWIDlrQ75R-Iigy3ouFM8_l7J1-mLm1D9C1ItwbNm0q_tfj9fdDDDIlf5LLx1l15rk62CH7Npj-62YBFhAx3Lw/w320-h312/A-6725670-1537995724-5422.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Stone</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy Thomas was the only band member present at the mix. Mike Stone engineered. Thomas said he never saw Stone before or since. "We mixed <b><i>Breakin'</i></b> in two evenings," Thomas recalls. "I had seen a record through, from the first song written to the last song mixed." Thomas likened the experience to "taking producer lessons." <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGqwUKRzRI9DKrREEEV7Z3W9QWd25D9Mv_xDwUFxrPifBH8EvZl2LL1il7hEWBsSCso-peu3zI64YVw9OeaJaud4_u9SASEumPw4a0oIjM2KcidKbLb-_xeE6WL1c5Msv_xo_I1p1rHXKVrev1aDMLsgHyEQMmhlSLETJqiU6OcjH8_h0cZ1b6r7rbg/s960/35474_4118257352346_1191999882_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="648" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGqwUKRzRI9DKrREEEV7Z3W9QWd25D9Mv_xDwUFxrPifBH8EvZl2LL1il7hEWBsSCso-peu3zI64YVw9OeaJaud4_u9SASEumPw4a0oIjM2KcidKbLb-_xeE6WL1c5Msv_xo_I1p1rHXKVrev1aDMLsgHyEQMmhlSLETJqiU6OcjH8_h0cZ1b6r7rbg/w270-h400/35474_4118257352346_1191999882_n.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Thomas says that while the first album sold primarily on the West Coast, <b><i>Breakin' the Ice</i></b> took the Sweet Comfort Band nationwide. Bryan Duncan says <i><b>Breakin' </b></i>was not his favorite album (because he felt he didn't have as much a hand in it as he did with other records), but he does acknowledge that the record launched the band nationally and solidified the name Sweet Comfort Band "in the national mindset as quality music." <br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv9TyB4749bi_pAmWlkHLrPE6cQXgqa2A5juBRnI7P-y43Qr1Ub0bXbtnc42GqOr6So7LY5NM7FFDDzM9WgnJqC4whMT74KxUNR232Wlvm555JPhMXLYXKzljQuGRjjq0LbFaokEJuGv8nIRy0mGKy9ey9M31a7wBrbzm4MBIiSmY7F4Sn38cEdfFew/s720/48419333_10157725793726808_5090396312961024000_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="720" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOv9TyB4749bi_pAmWlkHLrPE6cQXgqa2A5juBRnI7P-y43Qr1Ub0bXbtnc42GqOr6So7LY5NM7FFDDzM9WgnJqC4whMT74KxUNR232Wlvm555JPhMXLYXKzljQuGRjjq0LbFaokEJuGv8nIRy0mGKy9ey9M31a7wBrbzm4MBIiSmY7F4Sn38cEdfFew/w400-h321/48419333_10157725793726808_5090396312961024000_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGBPBi4WX7mf6AarSpp3RKtVXJt1KbJ_D8oSpugEBAoOyrFjb-8pIjl1WdXIm5rhTq_t3yhCwI4-cXol3m7I0LMWE4Ym1pMXwPBpKogUyhJBjI-ox7YRGHYc-DLsXbJaNJZsv3ZbgvIBurW6kSGY0PaNg35yYc9uaiUg9VpIf30MjmetnQ5DCLroCpQ/s3264/BeFunky-collageuyirty.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2368" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGBPBi4WX7mf6AarSpp3RKtVXJt1KbJ_D8oSpugEBAoOyrFjb-8pIjl1WdXIm5rhTq_t3yhCwI4-cXol3m7I0LMWE4Ym1pMXwPBpKogUyhJBjI-ox7YRGHYc-DLsXbJaNJZsv3ZbgvIBurW6kSGY0PaNg35yYc9uaiUg9VpIf30MjmetnQ5DCLroCpQ/w464-h640/BeFunky-collageuyirty.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"What that mostly meant was longer trips out on the road," said Bryan. "Because California to Florida is a long way. We would break down in Texas more times than I could count!"<br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkNJjq9Dy0hi9iBiziYhQN8_eDmEe3YBJZ7UDRdtu1D0ZsjmLefQx_tHvbD8JkF_8RpfbvZCaU1HigO3ZWjW_W_6GW3kZ-gNIJXUvpl29VRZLZ-32lApJZkVjH8v8cJf5nJfgEdIaYaO-Df_14lT_RnDAkxkLEMQuJE3o_2E4ydsL5prpaDI-TBnqdw/s3264/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghj.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkNJjq9Dy0hi9iBiziYhQN8_eDmEe3YBJZ7UDRdtu1D0ZsjmLefQx_tHvbD8JkF_8RpfbvZCaU1HigO3ZWjW_W_6GW3kZ-gNIJXUvpl29VRZLZ-32lApJZkVjH8v8cJf5nJfgEdIaYaO-Df_14lT_RnDAkxkLEMQuJE3o_2E4ydsL5prpaDI-TBnqdw/w400-h400/BeFunky-collageuyirtyghj.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, the tour stories are legendary and quite funny. Randy Thomas recounts a good number of them in his book <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">Songstory</a>. Did I mention you simply <i>have to</i> purchase that book? [There have been links sprinkled throughout this post and there will be another one below.] <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Fnw5RqZ7UabbXbi89wjNnELB5vFqsut5fIyjF2XNHP-iNXoBZW-NtH1_8OZPaX5oRjKne3FKA3CpxxYrQSx8AuditXFYVO07Wd8UTUOw86-LY_2g_kWcFlZKYe1ALbxfUqMoLBx36RhU8UGTb02T0g4rqRnB_KPsNcFa0StzRO3kMGip0uNMt9oTqA/s4000/scb22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2960" data-original-width="4000" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Fnw5RqZ7UabbXbi89wjNnELB5vFqsut5fIyjF2XNHP-iNXoBZW-NtH1_8OZPaX5oRjKne3FKA3CpxxYrQSx8AuditXFYVO07Wd8UTUOw86-LY_2g_kWcFlZKYe1ALbxfUqMoLBx36RhU8UGTb02T0g4rqRnB_KPsNcFa0StzRO3kMGip0uNMt9oTqA/w400-h296/scb22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Four more studio albums would follow. <i><b>Hold On Tight! </b></i>was considered a low point for the group, but <b><i>Hearts of Fire</i></b> and <b><i>Cutting Edge</i></b> would firmly establish Sweet Comfort Band as one of the greatest rock bands in the history of Christian music. And then the guys decided the band had run its course. Well, actually, the band had pretty much ended during the recording of 1984's <b><i>Perfect Timing</i></b>. It's just that very few people knew it at the time. There was a brief farewell tour and a couple of compilation albums. <br /><br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFcdRy1b1liNVKQuaV3PSakBy_AZvIfHMxejoY1W5b9m9gsDWi9STO5QEOH49WQA8MCVufcOhkNJNueszQyHkufmaSna8m6DeBTHP2ZS4WpEBQpRzE71Qd7Ue2j35LNJxH8ev75S0RHw3z23EyjkMLc8c0NuEaK7sSoI5yNMLqf0uo9Tm_228WoVNYw/s960/325147215_497461935789904_2639508716032518843_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFcdRy1b1liNVKQuaV3PSakBy_AZvIfHMxejoY1W5b9m9gsDWi9STO5QEOH49WQA8MCVufcOhkNJNueszQyHkufmaSna8m6DeBTHP2ZS4WpEBQpRzE71Qd7Ue2j35LNJxH8ev75S0RHw3z23EyjkMLc8c0NuEaK7sSoI5yNMLqf0uo9Tm_228WoVNYw/w400-h300/325147215_497461935789904_2639508716032518843_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rick Thomson and wife Alice</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rick Thomson went on to play drums with Benny Hester for a while. Then he built a studio and recorded albums for others. One of the projects that Rick co-produced was a hit-laden compilation titled <i><b>Voices,</b></i> featuring talents such as John Elefante, Tommy Funderburk, Matthew Ward and Howard McCrary. Oh - and it also featured old friends Bryan Duncan, Bob Carlisle and Benny Hester. In addition, Rick Thomson became a General Contractor and ran a construction company.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgen2r1hfSMC5VXxzioZ9ViDasGTYH9rd7Rg0BOaDFEPuKwvfccK_uvEgSeJ13MUcTuM8PfstkBceynGC_xqmhUkXyaFGt7jbz3Nh1LGT0Ny91t3XAG9earnGnYZ-msereQkOEBpRE0Xmp_FQ-peATesY9pLEn2pZwRG3PSu3Ia4Hk4jQgz8bfGK6Y9Jg/s640/600634_577187449014219_2078250803_n%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="640" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgen2r1hfSMC5VXxzioZ9ViDasGTYH9rd7Rg0BOaDFEPuKwvfccK_uvEgSeJ13MUcTuM8PfstkBceynGC_xqmhUkXyaFGt7jbz3Nh1LGT0Ny91t3XAG9earnGnYZ-msereQkOEBpRE0Xmp_FQ-peATesY9pLEn2pZwRG3PSu3Ia4Hk4jQgz8bfGK6Y9Jg/w400-h291/600634_577187449014219_2078250803_n%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bryan Duncan</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Bryan Duncan enjoyed a successful solo career, and that's an understatement. He won a Grammy and four Dove awards for his participation in compilations or tribute albums. But he recorded eighteen solo albums, selling more than a million records, and had numerous radio hits and #1 songs. Today, he hosts a podcast called <a href="http://nutshellsermons.com/">Nutshell Sermons</a>. He describes this as devotions in his own antagonistic style, in little 2-minute rants. Go to <a href="http://nutshellsermons.com">nutshellsermons.com</a> and subscribe! <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJu66nBiGRVwbTkN5-moc_joMBJVwdPMH1Zu-IqRywpG2wfl3z5B99PRPKCzlrsgpsh2wLcPLqbUPfGLUcBYKGnd-M8tFjl3LMtw5p1TpihPXMAUWG-D7hh3zSNVa-uKmHbUaaKmtL4mKvlO3v4pRwlZbSwXmwCdwATfgh12V5nJpplkiSGiAa9HtlRQ/s700/Allies_-_Shoulder_To_Shoulder%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="700" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJu66nBiGRVwbTkN5-moc_joMBJVwdPMH1Zu-IqRywpG2wfl3z5B99PRPKCzlrsgpsh2wLcPLqbUPfGLUcBYKGnd-M8tFjl3LMtw5p1TpihPXMAUWG-D7hh3zSNVa-uKmHbUaaKmtL4mKvlO3v4pRwlZbSwXmwCdwATfgh12V5nJpplkiSGiAa9HtlRQ/w400-h294/Allies_-_Shoulder_To_Shoulder%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy Thomas started a successful Christian rock band known as Allies. Allies had a run of 9 years and 2 #1 singles on Christian radio. After Allies, Randy played for a while with Shania Twain. Back during the Allies years, Thomas had formed a songwriting partnership with Bob Carlisle, one that yielded numerous secular hits for country artists. And, oh yeah...he and Bob co-wrote a song called <i>Butterfly Kisses </i>that got some attention (and won Randy a Grammy). <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspcIS4XxT2LhADq-HtesaeMQ56e4wN6IiOWCeJCteDnGMyA9gDanRGwIW0Mq2ycjsjS0iTdKRcHYGeq6x1hC-hrYnnF2K3m38RHDw8AzphQ2DWYJrpe-FT8nLOaj15wAaFA7l5JnTowneVlAxIfHMVprN6_vQ1L_RdGRNKBfAgT0Vsy9b-uFAjeRE3g/s720/67067538_934638686893306_5007961901842300928_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspcIS4XxT2LhADq-HtesaeMQ56e4wN6IiOWCeJCteDnGMyA9gDanRGwIW0Mq2ycjsjS0iTdKRcHYGeq6x1hC-hrYnnF2K3m38RHDw8AzphQ2DWYJrpe-FT8nLOaj15wAaFA7l5JnTowneVlAxIfHMVprN6_vQ1L_RdGRNKBfAgT0Vsy9b-uFAjeRE3g/w400-h400/67067538_934638686893306_5007961901842300928_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy Thomas and wife Lori</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy eventually moved to Florida where he became a Presbyterian worship leader and also does all different types of gigs with his wife Lori.<br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTidPw-O8NTuFddNf-0S3HpwFUfVSIeRMx3OWes9f3aErgonl_8ssxBRVdpA4g7IicIPNjA84fxloukcjoF9aOpvnt7Mk0FzoY98edObHUHMbyvN9M2BKW59tLkWM8VyWQt7wSb1U4vIoR9n2JOoUdbx0PzVSgbW1WR_5rCEMVuxOyOGyW0SqfIUisQ/s720/48405317_10157725790876808_7133861260415729664_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="720" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTidPw-O8NTuFddNf-0S3HpwFUfVSIeRMx3OWes9f3aErgonl_8ssxBRVdpA4g7IicIPNjA84fxloukcjoF9aOpvnt7Mk0FzoY98edObHUHMbyvN9M2BKW59tLkWM8VyWQt7wSb1U4vIoR9n2JOoUdbx0PzVSgbW1WR_5rCEMVuxOyOGyW0SqfIUisQ/w320-h311/48405317_10157725790876808_7133861260415729664_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Kevin Thomson had always been SCB's Evangelist-in-Residence. Randy Thomas has said that telling people about Jesus in everyday language was what Kevin did best. He would always give SCB audiences an opportunity to surrender their lives to Jesus; it was about more than just rock and roll. "At nearly every concert, we saw dozens of converts," Randy Thomas said.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOVcYNyAzP2K9HEWXoCZM1KClqQ686rBynt099EFFtd_VP3HSct1ajuOMB5U_BIbMX3THw9tkW5sGdrmA8rqrqXtUMNRY-MJXUadpA2zISCU7XDMDAWsRFk8OZ07Fx8axVgYyAP0oyYveq_WrDb8pH_zuKZXATnEWT8x-wB79LZ_6eEsD0rvYYt8rrg/s960/536960_4686890327815_779909488_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="960" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvOVcYNyAzP2K9HEWXoCZM1KClqQ686rBynt099EFFtd_VP3HSct1ajuOMB5U_BIbMX3THw9tkW5sGdrmA8rqrqXtUMNRY-MJXUadpA2zISCU7XDMDAWsRFk8OZ07Fx8axVgYyAP0oyYveq_WrDb8pH_zuKZXATnEWT8x-wB79LZ_6eEsD0rvYYt8rrg/w400-h280/536960_4686890327815_779909488_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">While it was clear from their post-SCB careers that Duncan and Thomas were much more musically ambitious and driven, it was also apparent that the Thomson brothers had been a key part of the success of the Sweet Comfort Band. This much was made clear in the liner notes to <b><i>The Light Years</i></b>, an SCB best-of released in 1995. "To this day," wrote Bryan Duncan, "even though I want to write and I want to sing, I still have a short attention span. Kevin and Rick Thomson were the go-getters who said, 'Let's go find someplace to play.' They were the people who would go grab the attention of authority figures and say that we had something for them. I can't underestimate that kind of value...if it were not for Kevin and Rick, the business wouldn't have gotten done and Sweet Comfort Band just wouldn't have happened." Randy Thomas also praised the determination of the brothers Thomson. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtnJVuOiwcMOqKR512LjTLno2r92ZqWhmtQPGgctHYbKdIm3LUPkgzrY0bNYeBsaGfcdGwx_m7xV1x-pmhOPCRTdyCPF05meKEaf5sbwcBDXeffBhznrjBftLB-ydkYk03BsYBd1_Z4da0G-3NoxoSUg5MY3Cj8twPGeYPWy4J19buCU7gH80Sek6Pw/s990/18192367_10155984705526808_6925144363814093950_o.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="990" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtnJVuOiwcMOqKR512LjTLno2r92ZqWhmtQPGgctHYbKdIm3LUPkgzrY0bNYeBsaGfcdGwx_m7xV1x-pmhOPCRTdyCPF05meKEaf5sbwcBDXeffBhznrjBftLB-ydkYk03BsYBd1_Z4da0G-3NoxoSUg5MY3Cj8twPGeYPWy4J19buCU7gH80Sek6Pw/w400-h230/18192367_10155984705526808_6925144363814093950_o.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 reunion concert at The Upper Room</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">There was a reunion show at the iconic Cornerstone Festival in 2001. I'm still kicking myself for not dropping everything and heading back to that dusty cornfield one more time. But I didn't. Reportedly, a good time was had by all.<br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLp1UMLHUIEG2swthvmeQVAs50fDWUQtbdVnX3ig4Ktzxn6StTnTm5q0RRVRqeh1WX_qVHdYwwWsJseYVI0T2hOPEhqIEcy2RSdPW-hyOj4bQA5jBHiBRGUxJBUEXpGOmalROkHMMh3-DE0PMU6o5hDjrV_n1Aa2gQTv6EaEYao8tXPGZDR4_LtgzMrQ/s640/ab67616d0000b273fcc7cd4e16f2bc90d8718b44.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLp1UMLHUIEG2swthvmeQVAs50fDWUQtbdVnX3ig4Ktzxn6StTnTm5q0RRVRqeh1WX_qVHdYwwWsJseYVI0T2hOPEhqIEcy2RSdPW-hyOj4bQA5jBHiBRGUxJBUEXpGOmalROkHMMh3-DE0PMU6o5hDjrV_n1Aa2gQTv6EaEYao8tXPGZDR4_LtgzMrQ/w400-h400/ab67616d0000b273fcc7cd4e16f2bc90d8718b44.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The guys decided to record again after many years apart. But Kevin Thomson had come down with an illness that had him confined to a wheelchair. He would go Home to be with the Lord before <b><i>The Waiting is Over </i></b>was finished and released. So fittingly, his sons Eli and Josh stepped up. Eli played bass and Josh was a guitarist on <b><i>The Waiting Is Over.</i></b> Recorded at Rick's Shelter Sound Studios, the album concluded with <i>In the Light of Heaven,</i> a tribute to Kevin Thomson, written by Randy Thomas. Thomas says <b><i>The Waiting is Over</i></b> is actually his favorite SCB album..."because seasoned songwriters really have something to say."<br /><br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-m6iFvY2zhUixw4Yemten6yhqJIhoz641O9do3cKcEvxvwyao4mhoqRntFYKJDEs1bdKBWL19KtXoFXd7mBej_QhvJuXmh5h785yFGqY_9XQyBGCBawqD0gHoOXLQktHkg36Ujh4V_QvSYyccmaU2dwxEprJ4DdrdA8PtztWtRDoE3pkCrsuEYEM5Rg/s277/31946_403590048959_1844980_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="277" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-m6iFvY2zhUixw4Yemten6yhqJIhoz641O9do3cKcEvxvwyao4mhoqRntFYKJDEs1bdKBWL19KtXoFXd7mBej_QhvJuXmh5h785yFGqY_9XQyBGCBawqD0gHoOXLQktHkg36Ujh4V_QvSYyccmaU2dwxEprJ4DdrdA8PtztWtRDoE3pkCrsuEYEM5Rg/w320-h210/31946_403590048959_1844980_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Thomson and wife Robin</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"During Kevin's years as a quadriplegic, he stayed strong," said his brother Rick, "always encouraging others and never letting the enemy rob him of the joy he knew was coming. There were times he would call me to encourage me when he knew I was having difficulties. But none of my difficulties came close to what he was experiencing. Kevin would often talk about the old days when the harvest was ripe. Looking back, it was an experience I will never forget. I am still very blessed to hear so many stories of people coming to Christ at one of the Sweet Comfort Band concerts."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSmcDhOptIeNOLSZrsEPUB4ugytvKm4gDXudBc-5_a1Qul0sAgL44VMSzd66jdqjpOC1rqiCWLDoK8dc5Miw3KMqTfonptHZTVa9MKYcB3XFx_7sjN_5Nl4xGKMH7Rc4gxLXXMXpISH6MKWX8VZyZqnnzxa8VpswlhllPDKlWSBPQyzhOgkbEAt0cNLw/s554/31946_403591868959_317689_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="554" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSmcDhOptIeNOLSZrsEPUB4ugytvKm4gDXudBc-5_a1Qul0sAgL44VMSzd66jdqjpOC1rqiCWLDoK8dc5Miw3KMqTfonptHZTVa9MKYcB3XFx_7sjN_5Nl4xGKMH7Rc4gxLXXMXpISH6MKWX8VZyZqnnzxa8VpswlhllPDKlWSBPQyzhOgkbEAt0cNLw/w400-h193/31946_403591868959_317689_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Forty-five years have passed since Bob Wilson introduced his Seawind horn section to four fresh-faced, idealistic, 2nd-wave Jesus Music troubadours known as the Sweet Comfort Band. The results were magical. I've probably listened to <i><b>Breakin' the Ice</b></i> all the way through about five or six times in preparation for writing this blog post. That record still puts a smile on my face.<br /><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"Music is a universal language. What is its origin? The biblical view is this: A loving Creator has bestowed talents upon His creatures to glorify their maker. We are made in His image and called to be little creators. Creative people, if they are honest, marvel at how lyrics and melodies come to them. I think that's God's grace at work. He loves to see us imitating Him."<br />-Randy Thomas, </i><a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">Songstory</a></span></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYOKBBZ8Ne8QZfWdW13jQXuGUDLlNTd5hrhTGkS-D-u3KPQTqCxSd1PZL4V00NkDgy7TDCfNCeUbUwJpCgwkwjL_jVwswmwnTbtOsG7JVXVwuRXy0DrVRKiYYoWvVKmGhU5t12n2QzTU9LDTHCjfsFZL4Duo--j4CYt18FN-XBxK5Qks75VfWu6evfA/s640/1375034_578117932254504_838796327_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYOKBBZ8Ne8QZfWdW13jQXuGUDLlNTd5hrhTGkS-D-u3KPQTqCxSd1PZL4V00NkDgy7TDCfNCeUbUwJpCgwkwjL_jVwswmwnTbtOsG7JVXVwuRXy0DrVRKiYYoWvVKmGhU5t12n2QzTU9LDTHCjfsFZL4Duo--j4CYt18FN-XBxK5Qks75VfWu6evfA/w400-h400/1375034_578117932254504_838796327_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">That reminds me of a song.</span></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">We are the children of the Mighty<br />We are the apple of His eye<br />We are the image of the Maker<br />We are the song of the Most High<br /><br />Can you hear it?</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjOWOW4PDjwceVeVGcKTk94OFF4ML-sb1lCg721jFcz7Fh8WSMV2kDDV6DxMp-s-_FaYVaDRrh6tO-wGbBeZTB_9hXMh3SQxUgV7FdF80JxXXdR-R6X9-i1TpftDLYAANZ9e0EsAz4WXKWxSyVk4J7HhIX_EypPr37DJYCW89Owh06IeRlLgxzcPu1w/s620/DividingLine_38dca4421d364e2fa613e28a40afe980bbb.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="75" data-original-width="620" height="49" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAjOWOW4PDjwceVeVGcKTk94OFF4ML-sb1lCg721jFcz7Fh8WSMV2kDDV6DxMp-s-_FaYVaDRrh6tO-wGbBeZTB_9hXMh3SQxUgV7FdF80JxXXdR-R6X9-i1TpftDLYAANZ9e0EsAz4WXKWxSyVk4J7HhIX_EypPr37DJYCW89Owh06IeRlLgxzcPu1w/w400-h49/DividingLine_38dca4421d364e2fa613e28a40afe980bbb.png" width="400" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Fun fact: My brothers and I had a band in the late 70s/early 80s and traveled nationally with our family's evangelistic ministry. We were a SCB cover band of sorts, performing, at various times, <i>Childish Things, When I Was Alone, I Love You With My Life, The Road,</i> and <i>Good Feelin'.</i> We were working on our own version of <i>The Lord is Calling </i>when our Pentecostal preacher father heard that phrase "<i>There'll be hell to pay</i>..." in the lyrics and nixed it, fearing how Assembly of God congregations might react. True story.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Get Randy's book Songstory <a href="https://www.randythomasmedia.com/">HERE</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-79818192902611608952023-03-27T20:23:00.002-07:002023-03-31T08:22:22.567-07:00#20 I'VE GOT A REASON by The Richie Furay Band (1976)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Wp_juVQbYde32OuMkh5cr-RzliIva9M7clT057pH46jKIU555PyqTJQcpGeVnNid0xte_yI5nKYTnL97YZ8MLPaDmyIJ6T7N46J5M61_Ch4Rs0-QtFxP2BnHaRKSf0mwmwoW0fFcd2bxFGqa5EkiEazT1yYbLZ9-V_7V4u48e91IYevgEJezot6l_w/s600/R-1643249-1519584857-8746.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Wp_juVQbYde32OuMkh5cr-RzliIva9M7clT057pH46jKIU555PyqTJQcpGeVnNid0xte_yI5nKYTnL97YZ8MLPaDmyIJ6T7N46J5M61_Ch4Rs0-QtFxP2BnHaRKSf0mwmwoW0fFcd2bxFGqa5EkiEazT1yYbLZ9-V_7V4u48e91IYevgEJezot6l_w/w400-h400/R-1643249-1519584857-8746.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>I'VE GOT A REASON</i></b> by <b>The Richie Furay Band</b> (1976)<br />Asylum | 7E-1067<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Pretty sure Richie Furay is the only artist on this list to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. <div><br /></div><div>As a member of Buffalo Springfield, Poco and the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, Richie's music has been heard and loved by millions of people the world over, as he helped to literally define and launch country rock as a genre of music. His subsequent solo albums and work with the Richie Furay Band were a great indication that he never tired of sharing the musical gift that God had given him. And yet, playing music (whether Christian or "mainstream") on the world's biggest stages would not be able to upstage the call of God on his life to shepherd a congregation of believers. Furay served as the pastor of a Calvary Chapel church in the shadow of Colorado's Rocky Mountains for 35 years. He has said that the activities and commitments associated with his work as a pastor were as important to him as anything in the world. That's a sentiment that you'll rarely hear from any of the other Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjz1luekPp0DLfVbfZWhNRgSnV8UC5AKsrpa6DoneXJcMwhwKhdjlyC1RqUDVfVn3GkYEVAjnXPV940TWqC6KxQKZ9K5LO9hIIeaj7Y1lFc3TK36tApNRObHVE9UX_yUWNx0DL_Jbu3gBpJlAKJ-nctC6lomsUzqiRt6PDIVmXTXemIJAqiPUie9L1VQ/s1920/Buffalo%20Springfield%20acceptance%20poster%201920x1080.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjz1luekPp0DLfVbfZWhNRgSnV8UC5AKsrpa6DoneXJcMwhwKhdjlyC1RqUDVfVn3GkYEVAjnXPV940TWqC6KxQKZ9K5LO9hIIeaj7Y1lFc3TK36tApNRObHVE9UX_yUWNx0DL_Jbu3gBpJlAKJ-nctC6lomsUzqiRt6PDIVmXTXemIJAqiPUie9L1VQ/w400-h225/Buffalo%20Springfield%20acceptance%20poster%201920x1080.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richie Furay speaks at the induction of Buffalo Springfield<br />into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>By the mid-1970s, Furay had surrendered his life to Jesus. After growing disillusioned with previous band efforts, he decided to try something new. He assembled a cast of like-minded brothers - men who were top-notch musicians but also veterans of the Jesus Movement. These guys - Tom Stipe, Jay Truax and John Mehler - had been physically present at the epicenter of what God did during that glorious revival, much of it taking place in and around Pastor Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. Stipe had hosted Calvary Chapel's iconic Saturday Night Concerts, while Truax and Mehler had been members of Love Song, the group whose music formed a large part of the soundtrack of the Jesus Movement. Would it be possible for these born-again believers to write, record and release an album of authentic rock and roll that honored God and pointed people to a life-changing faith on one of the biggest <i>secular </i>record labels around? It was going to require a deft songwriting approach; heavy-handed evangelism would not be accepted by the suits at Elektra/Asylum. Would Furay be able to point listeners to Jesus without actually mentioning Jesus? This had been tried before. A born-again brother by the name of Michael Omartian had pulled off such a feat over at ABC/Dunhill with a record called <i><b>White Horse</b></i>. Having Omartian on the production team would certainly help.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfR2kVJH7VDuR6SSAWpt0tep5mmAv7doE8ld37CicEUlqk7mYfi1aAO6L6Tn_PZyMcHul9Ry4P00FjTbbzHIOUx3AijoNU-Bh9sMT_0diH-FJjIMDui4jc0e2lFIlw7H_Re1fBr54O2Quy8AhTjZkV9AGXd74-QRVsblXRk5wwtf6M2wwtvYD_rQCew/s2007/66793977_10157620078274165_8250517379730112512_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2007" data-original-width="1392" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfR2kVJH7VDuR6SSAWpt0tep5mmAv7doE8ld37CicEUlqk7mYfi1aAO6L6Tn_PZyMcHul9Ry4P00FjTbbzHIOUx3AijoNU-Bh9sMT_0diH-FJjIMDui4jc0e2lFIlw7H_Re1fBr54O2Quy8AhTjZkV9AGXd74-QRVsblXRk5wwtf6M2wwtvYD_rQCew/w278-h400/66793977_10157620078274165_8250517379730112512_n.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Paul Richard Furay was born in 1944 and grew up in Yellow Springs, Ohio. His parents were workaholics and entrepreneurs, owning and operating Furay's Gift Shop, sort of a mom-and-pop, modern department store. Richie felt like he was raised more by his grandmother. He says he had dreams of being a successful musician from age eight or nine. In his 2006 autobiography, <i><a href="https://www.richiefuray.com/books/pickin-up-the-pieces-autographed">Pickin' Up the Pieces</a></i>, Furay still has vivid memories of two objects from childhood that helped point him in a musical direction: a Revere reel-to-reel tape recorder and a Gibson hollow-body electric ES295.</div><div><br /></div><div>When Richie was just thirteen years old, his father passed away suddenly, due to an aortic aneurysm. Richie's life changed in an instant.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUSldujf-Yj7dnvP80U2h8SlHqogB25rwGvlepbKQXGflDWe_dhlCz0rbV3x_scrBF4xQ4ofviXuIMLbJR0qBi-TKZOnHEyb_yZoWiv46KQAe15a1MtIMnERGcnynRRVrSlRtsQ8chnqBCuPT-YUet6tQ1BVfQi-OEM2qZMmdOKostRNJqmehbtnWMg/s861/201974_1746467504899_5669735_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="607" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUSldujf-Yj7dnvP80U2h8SlHqogB25rwGvlepbKQXGflDWe_dhlCz0rbV3x_scrBF4xQ4ofviXuIMLbJR0qBi-TKZOnHEyb_yZoWiv46KQAe15a1MtIMnERGcnynRRVrSlRtsQ8chnqBCuPT-YUet6tQ1BVfQi-OEM2qZMmdOKostRNJqmehbtnWMg/w283-h400/201974_1746467504899_5669735_o.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Inspired by Ricky Nelson, Furay started writing love songs and playing parties and school dances with a doo-wop group. But he also began to rebel and make life difficult for his mother. With his dad gone, the absence of a strong male role model began to show up through ignored curfews and underage drinking. </div><div><br /></div><div>After high school it was on to Otterbein College...and an interest in folk music. Furay won first place in a talent show, joined a school choir, and became part of a trio called The Monks. The Monks played for sororities and other campus events; they even played a dance at the Columbus School for the Blind.</div><div><br /></div><div>Richie traveled to New York City with the school choir, at a time when Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul & Mary were all the rage. NYC was the center of the folk-music universe...and Richie Furay decided that his purpose in life was to live in that town, be a folk singer, and simply have fun making music. It wasn't long before Furay moved to Greenwich Village in an effort to make those dreams come true. <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0OcrEW6hfismQw2Js4pxldhTU4PN9Ioj46cmEAMhXDNOYti95NPkh0xlyO3V17gJa_7v7i3xKMiycSxEE5phG5hsg5GPoofTeQ9i1VeoBtZ1P6_X0ZAdIqDpb3C8rAGZx5_TFikZpzfay3AL5oMp7xY98MUMZv6oemTnLkw5QgqS4PFfB1FZh0SjQg/s604/1335_1066245771245_2490_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="604" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0OcrEW6hfismQw2Js4pxldhTU4PN9Ioj46cmEAMhXDNOYti95NPkh0xlyO3V17gJa_7v7i3xKMiycSxEE5phG5hsg5GPoofTeQ9i1VeoBtZ1P6_X0ZAdIqDpb3C8rAGZx5_TFikZpzfay3AL5oMp7xY98MUMZv6oemTnLkw5QgqS4PFfB1FZh0SjQg/w400-h310/1335_1066245771245_2490_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>He joined one of those oversized folk groups so popular in the mid-60s. This one was called the Au Go-Go Singers. He also auditioned to join the Chad Mitchell Trio...but lost out to the man who would later come to be known as John Denver. And, oh yeah, he met some guys named Neil Young and Steve Stills. But he had a job and a girlfriend and a somewhat normal life as he continued to seek out musical opportunities here and there.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5n_UN7JojQLSo3ts56d09Tg28xERY_AdBniHBYG6bE6CEswVOZE6K7BOtKEA2zonSBUQdzDIV47Q4TvCXEM5_EKiE8m336fllWwcWEXOB4NtJBnToSkZHiGadDpP-uwcQDgmB6qoI-F8oqZk_1ppewSYjol45WgRUpZG6vkWT9IjDs2X7OpUzUCOfHw/s754/18403185_10212839196718155_4682460783967284443_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="643" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5n_UN7JojQLSo3ts56d09Tg28xERY_AdBniHBYG6bE6CEswVOZE6K7BOtKEA2zonSBUQdzDIV47Q4TvCXEM5_EKiE8m336fllWwcWEXOB4NtJBnToSkZHiGadDpP-uwcQDgmB6qoI-F8oqZk_1ppewSYjol45WgRUpZG6vkWT9IjDs2X7OpUzUCOfHw/w341-h400/18403185_10212839196718155_4682460783967284443_n.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>When Richie Furay first heard <b><i>Mr. Tambourine Man</i></b>, the debut album by The Byrds, it was a life-altering moment. He has said that what struck him about it was that this music was a completely original hybrid of folk music and rock 'n roll, unlike anything that had existed up to that point. Furay knew that he had to get serious about pursuing music full-time. And so he moved to L.A. to look up his buddy Stephen Stills.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9i8FieualYzDIvNh_s1AKVyjbJcBeFXTZgl4v9TI4c-tQm5LTMAX5uZRzIthhPjqqi3_35Ve_FQ5UAFCmKJ_UjZITk8-9Oi3VR0YAGlUYD3g5uE5xAIfu8dlvuSqQpMaYdng2Obbn0t9EhOhG6LKxt3cvqwovRFRBuT8RfEo5qyQsbuQnW5bb8CT3Q/s1097/113769262_10158155250703301_6073160845013126086_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="1097" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9i8FieualYzDIvNh_s1AKVyjbJcBeFXTZgl4v9TI4c-tQm5LTMAX5uZRzIthhPjqqi3_35Ve_FQ5UAFCmKJ_UjZITk8-9Oi3VR0YAGlUYD3g5uE5xAIfu8dlvuSqQpMaYdng2Obbn0t9EhOhG6LKxt3cvqwovRFRBuT8RfEo5qyQsbuQnW5bb8CT3Q/w400-h233/113769262_10158155250703301_6073160845013126086_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Once in Southern California, Furay eventually teamed up with Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin to form The Buffalo Springfield, a band with incredible chemistry and a unique sound. Furay tells the story of how the group got its name:</div><div><br /></div><div><i><blockquote>"One day a steamroller was resurfacing Fountain Avenue in front of Barry [Friedman's] house. It had a metal plate on the back of it that read 'Buffalo Springfield.' We took the plate, put it on Barry's mantelpiece, and adopted the words on it as our own." *</blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYQveWq2gbQwIr4S9UO4n-1yWIt0cpsOanyC9OcXaxaXaMCR9KTmTXEXTa-IF_TAdUwtxdmH5nycOE5ZkTbVY6eEuzk9_xLglZtyPnGBar_yn1TyE8yTeQvncUiwKXBNtMJ-TY9muCvm3VskJtIfK0v2D7Wvs9NYjl_AfLhXtbFq3eHXH3vTS6YhUdA/s500/10398534_71139967921_6557953_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMYQveWq2gbQwIr4S9UO4n-1yWIt0cpsOanyC9OcXaxaXaMCR9KTmTXEXTa-IF_TAdUwtxdmH5nycOE5ZkTbVY6eEuzk9_xLglZtyPnGBar_yn1TyE8yTeQvncUiwKXBNtMJ-TY9muCvm3VskJtIfK0v2D7Wvs9NYjl_AfLhXtbFq3eHXH3vTS6YhUdA/w400-h300/10398534_71139967921_6557953_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Richie later learned that the Buffalo Springfield Roller Company, which built the steamroller that inspired the band name, was headquartered in Springfield, Ohio...just nine or ten miles from his hometown of Yellow Springs. <i>What are the odds?</i> Another interesting fact is that Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin originally played with a group known as The Dillards. You might remember them as "the Darling Family" on <i>The Andy Griffith Show</i>.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyMRlEwqtzGIbrxnpv5-nCX46Km2wtgFaLiyyeMwQ8m2f0Y30ZBKw41HyXxNkd1HZqGn0fi0fyJ7qt5FKos-fO8oPFsOT22X1H4QxcNxfgPPvanx5tCAEn7nJbY0OzYDz8zcOsO-6zi5FAPmcWIR_1cSihr_0ops_WsS_GKgm8GIDHVNDqupGQbwyiA/s599/10299029_1039469482736303_1687758277256312075_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyMRlEwqtzGIbrxnpv5-nCX46Km2wtgFaLiyyeMwQ8m2f0Y30ZBKw41HyXxNkd1HZqGn0fi0fyJ7qt5FKos-fO8oPFsOT22X1H4QxcNxfgPPvanx5tCAEn7nJbY0OzYDz8zcOsO-6zi5FAPmcWIR_1cSihr_0ops_WsS_GKgm8GIDHVNDqupGQbwyiA/w384-h400/10299029_1039469482736303_1687758277256312075_n.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYCnfQS6RqhD_J21hpCT_YgAFN_COwjpWskslZf0BVjjC5IwI8EKdYW5KPv4lO9fAf9YcxgiBEdodSu51VvrjnZTkGLTMdyU7ohrUusGVzjmEqvqK7HsF-3V4FJkuclJtWQBuKrK9Ao4TfbJNZhxLqFntLBSVwqJzfJcdtAUTZat3N46_d1aOs3qswA/s500/10923293_10206160811520033_5438973132757686361_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="500" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYCnfQS6RqhD_J21hpCT_YgAFN_COwjpWskslZf0BVjjC5IwI8EKdYW5KPv4lO9fAf9YcxgiBEdodSu51VvrjnZTkGLTMdyU7ohrUusGVzjmEqvqK7HsF-3V4FJkuclJtWQBuKrK9Ao4TfbJNZhxLqFntLBSVwqJzfJcdtAUTZat3N46_d1aOs3qswA/w400-h395/10923293_10206160811520033_5438973132757686361_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSd-Q87g7idhyIEQju90_UFtiUSnaGEmnRYASKUzZec9_nQbNG5QWTx3bGao9P-BmBoNYxwyA__uAKV7zJjrCIYwz7rLW6_qZePMs3VTCThj-xSzqQSGf70-dx1VrexSMoE-FM7z-rnQuwYh083LWoDB2IpmkzN56JotgeNR4wiThSdp2RhMmP-9OXZg/s934/17523104_10212915676990450_4366153275820277446_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="934" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSd-Q87g7idhyIEQju90_UFtiUSnaGEmnRYASKUzZec9_nQbNG5QWTx3bGao9P-BmBoNYxwyA__uAKV7zJjrCIYwz7rLW6_qZePMs3VTCThj-xSzqQSGf70-dx1VrexSMoE-FM7z-rnQuwYh083LWoDB2IpmkzN56JotgeNR4wiThSdp2RhMmP-9OXZg/w400-h215/17523104_10212915676990450_4366153275820277446_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The Buffalo Springfield quickly became the toast of the LA music scene, opening for The Byrds, the Beach Boys, and others. They appeared on <i>American Bandstand</i> and even played private parties at the homes of Hollywood celebrities like Dean Martin and Steve McQueen. Furay managed to stay clean and sober but drug arrests, deportations and major friction within the band eventually doomed the outfit. They were young guys, some of them with questionable judgment and rather large egos; professional and creative jealousy was often the order of the day. There was at least one time that tempers boiled over to such an extent that Stills and Young were literally throwing chairs at each other backstage. The group only released two albums while still together; a third album was released shortly after the they broke apart. But looking back, Buffalo Springfield successfully combined elements of folk and country with British rock and psychedelic rock. They were hailed by <i>Rolling Stone</i> as "the American Beatles." <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIc7laCW3dyrW5cqAOZ0AMju2sKysMeXBHninLdT8IOGj0ZKwVtQ2irL_YATlhpuvjkm55xZE0QBPg2PzDbYFcRrGWMM6Vl-Lgr0geTJXqIBLBf30bIzo2F8XdJH2F4g4FdqWOL35g3uqlxfXOpObsgLb1c_REwN_BNoKOtKwsYw6q2Fi1w5Wjp_hcMA/s1220/18155834_10209582553505937_1282444236475594090_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1220" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIc7laCW3dyrW5cqAOZ0AMju2sKysMeXBHninLdT8IOGj0ZKwVtQ2irL_YATlhpuvjkm55xZE0QBPg2PzDbYFcRrGWMM6Vl-Lgr0geTJXqIBLBf30bIzo2F8XdJH2F4g4FdqWOL35g3uqlxfXOpObsgLb1c_REwN_BNoKOtKwsYw6q2Fi1w5Wjp_hcMA/w400-h354/18155834_10209582553505937_1282444236475594090_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcOtURlqqLBr2lhls0iBBsYl0SiQYu_sS0VG_Dylg1495ZFZan9hTb8yfvwi0w47_POgpkUIMH7HbIdvrD3aId-Rs_iLSc5xPZ4gtZu-0Z9S7yzzqH0sDGMCV4Csks9iN-jMYYZskrRcVNpE1zNUXNmEBS-LzvmPc2paM8BAE6JsvXseM5ost_g8i1g/s500/22688740_744369839080610_1221966578204817186_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="500" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcOtURlqqLBr2lhls0iBBsYl0SiQYu_sS0VG_Dylg1495ZFZan9hTb8yfvwi0w47_POgpkUIMH7HbIdvrD3aId-Rs_iLSc5xPZ4gtZu-0Z9S7yzzqH0sDGMCV4Csks9iN-jMYYZskrRcVNpE1zNUXNmEBS-LzvmPc2paM8BAE6JsvXseM5ost_g8i1g/w400-h269/22688740_744369839080610_1221966578204817186_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0xC_0omitWn-kTlRQgG_wlcjEIZQ91C4Jd7_e5H3XGqc0LiPEUEELbAN3mawMODwWcZL0sdpaY2D9NCvY1yG67sV2sNiDthBvZYVF9YULkH18HWDKYnTm1m4OwA6ne9a_E1yB23K7koecyj5I3psPSuXJMOhYuZqPReJduq8-CtrI36m6No5AhKZkA/s880/DwFoa5WUYAAUe1N.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="880" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0xC_0omitWn-kTlRQgG_wlcjEIZQ91C4Jd7_e5H3XGqc0LiPEUEELbAN3mawMODwWcZL0sdpaY2D9NCvY1yG67sV2sNiDthBvZYVF9YULkH18HWDKYnTm1m4OwA6ne9a_E1yB23K7koecyj5I3psPSuXJMOhYuZqPReJduq8-CtrI36m6No5AhKZkA/w400-h270/DwFoa5WUYAAUe1N.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Music historian Mark Allan Powell says that Buffalo Springfield remains one of the few bands from the late 60s whose music is still regarded as vital today. Powell also notes that Richie Furay had the best singing voice in the group and "generally sang lead on all the pretty songs." Buffalo Springfield is widely regarded as a key contributor to the folk-rock scene of the late 60s and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xCuPLPbZdiWDASZetrSOGo_IwFoLa-VNPjnRYr4syrZxesiN31TFaAOifz4yeQCVRf-B_PRrUTSHhpjZqXVi5m9NMHDDXdPVqHRaFS-WvuOrqgYXUAtLKtnlkRIkVlSlCcDsZ5BdGWSOJ31zqMep_eSa6ixF-MvvPpajsWLc9fCfS3vVSlPguYO5tQ/s960/116873916_10158170432068301_6829617344262641985_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xCuPLPbZdiWDASZetrSOGo_IwFoLa-VNPjnRYr4syrZxesiN31TFaAOifz4yeQCVRf-B_PRrUTSHhpjZqXVi5m9NMHDDXdPVqHRaFS-WvuOrqgYXUAtLKtnlkRIkVlSlCcDsZ5BdGWSOJ31zqMep_eSa6ixF-MvvPpajsWLc9fCfS3vVSlPguYO5tQ/w400-h300/116873916_10158170432068301_6829617344262641985_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wg0fggpS-NlQBgj7K9DhtoN3rSOKy136m4teYC_TEpBQWRYNkpmm8557pQT7y71Z9cnl6s1VPDiqs6ePDAoCk-uN-HUm5UxLkXo5xECuOVzG4tQJobZAflgKLq0SB_E_9fAOV5pE_tF2CoVcy1uPSvoTL3At5117pFmtFKAuboHNcv2Drro-9dvy6Q/s749/81717678_10158136418864165_7575617501715759104_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="749" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wg0fggpS-NlQBgj7K9DhtoN3rSOKy136m4teYC_TEpBQWRYNkpmm8557pQT7y71Z9cnl6s1VPDiqs6ePDAoCk-uN-HUm5UxLkXo5xECuOVzG4tQJobZAflgKLq0SB_E_9fAOV5pE_tF2CoVcy1uPSvoTL3At5117pFmtFKAuboHNcv2Drro-9dvy6Q/w400-h393/81717678_10158136418864165_7575617501715759104_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Richie Furay did not grow up in a particularly religious family. His parents did take him to weekly services at a Methodist church in Yellow Springs, but they were too busy running the store to focus much on church life. However, the Beach Boys' Mike Love and Carl Wilson did their best to turn Richie on to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation, which was all the rage at the time among musicians like The Beach Boys and Beatles. The boys in Buffalo Springfield were even asked to go through an initiation ritual to "improve their karma." Furay remembers that they were asked to perform a ceremony in front of a photo of the Maharishi which involved a handkerchief, a flower and a piece of fruit. He says that he and his bandmates did their best acting job...but none of them were buying it.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGfX6wT23I0Wq92fSH0g9R2uGJ0vkJfEYqYEP7V161AH2YdLKpuFPfDg8uIXF-PcFxgsWmgPpOnr1zoZ8ZPmuRKgdj_88VSgR6WAS8q7ae2lr6hf_bvxUkBWF-au8MGoXHspbwAeoepHDQjov8NeF9jLx3ej6A3jE6E2Q00Mqqv8FcqIwtC8BepRDbg/s960/1932445_10152251994989165_1357306864_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGfX6wT23I0Wq92fSH0g9R2uGJ0vkJfEYqYEP7V161AH2YdLKpuFPfDg8uIXF-PcFxgsWmgPpOnr1zoZ8ZPmuRKgdj_88VSgR6WAS8q7ae2lr6hf_bvxUkBWF-au8MGoXHspbwAeoepHDQjov8NeF9jLx3ej6A3jE6E2Q00Mqqv8FcqIwtC8BepRDbg/w300-h400/1932445_10152251994989165_1357306864_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A major milestone in Richie's life took place during his time in Buffalo Springfield. He met and married a non-music fan named Nancy Jennings. Richie and Nancy may be the only couple in history to have Neil Young show up at their wedding in a Confederate army uniform.<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioRMXRJk787N1jEDZb5eSwW7W40MuiK0UnQi7B1lknGN38ZtxNycUgVn7AjKTKUOAKnvWynxB7_XIEJrLlH7XbAWmty4Za6miRxmY3UagNRYdi0PiYlkOEQpi1_gPJdpU1tnMyM-jhnKFPZMtvPcL2q-LO_I4pLISwCc2TBsV-JuQfYT3ykqnwdYMVvw/s708/87445413_10216344199624036_7411223990624059392_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="708" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioRMXRJk787N1jEDZb5eSwW7W40MuiK0UnQi7B1lknGN38ZtxNycUgVn7AjKTKUOAKnvWynxB7_XIEJrLlH7XbAWmty4Za6miRxmY3UagNRYdi0PiYlkOEQpi1_gPJdpU1tnMyM-jhnKFPZMtvPcL2q-LO_I4pLISwCc2TBsV-JuQfYT3ykqnwdYMVvw/w400-h384/87445413_10216344199624036_7411223990624059392_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>In his book, <i><a href="https://www.richiefuray.com/books/pickin-up-the-pieces-autographed">Pickin' Up the Pieces</a></i>, Furay mentions a Buffalo Springfield song titled, <i>A Child's Claim to Fame. </i>This song is notable, because it has been acknowledged as one of the earliest examples of a new genre of music known as country rock, serving as inspiration for groups like Poco and the Eagles and dozens of other bands that would follow. Furay explains:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><i>"I didn't set out to invent a new genre of music when I wrote it; I was just doing what came naturally. Even so, the combination of styles that came together was unique, and the sound has stood the test of time." *</i></blockquote></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkPRnbnFjIa0K4EcZ_ZuGibfJo9dm1FpibFF2GjKytBcwg97cNiWu3ewXS1DFNK6ViPe0pa5jnvFbdA2VQyeSCGi_lycesvw2dnWtjmEa0HaxFaDk4WaM55TvO3-iLU260Um_veY174d-QWkG8ZENG97Fy3CY9bRhIbfruIWFLaO2RUmiCCXb4T4aJg/s1242/186052636_5434622483279350_4289470937394507726_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1242" data-original-width="939" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkPRnbnFjIa0K4EcZ_ZuGibfJo9dm1FpibFF2GjKytBcwg97cNiWu3ewXS1DFNK6ViPe0pa5jnvFbdA2VQyeSCGi_lycesvw2dnWtjmEa0HaxFaDk4WaM55TvO3-iLU260Um_veY174d-QWkG8ZENG97Fy3CY9bRhIbfruIWFLaO2RUmiCCXb4T4aJg/w303-h400/186052636_5434622483279350_4289470937394507726_n.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Poco</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hydnAnSU3KCRNA6J9IeioD5cVZ98aMqXb5Xr2Bbwi1LNV-Pwf54FKyWf6FpPcat1VxuhQu2QGDrxSh9O3_qXpg2EuUpeqm2O-HqbbXA7tKQrw9YlC9XnCrpXNx3UQ3zTMnaSeoKWDdoSqSPM7AZ6mIc4YQNCjYOGaBxH8s2IDlx0aebBvc88xLoH2Q/s538/11694791_10207610618122515_5705545685392676710_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="538" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hydnAnSU3KCRNA6J9IeioD5cVZ98aMqXb5Xr2Bbwi1LNV-Pwf54FKyWf6FpPcat1VxuhQu2QGDrxSh9O3_qXpg2EuUpeqm2O-HqbbXA7tKQrw9YlC9XnCrpXNx3UQ3zTMnaSeoKWDdoSqSPM7AZ6mIc4YQNCjYOGaBxH8s2IDlx0aebBvc88xLoH2Q/w400-h323/11694791_10207610618122515_5705545685392676710_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>With Neil Young and all that drama in the rear view mirror, Furay started listening to a lot of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. He and Jim Messina really wanted to form a new group to fully explore a melding of country music and rock 'n roll. Poco was formed with Furay, Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner as the original lineup. Greg Allman was considered for the band, but did not work out. The group's original name was to be Pogo, after a comic strip character with the same name, but artist Walt Kelly threatened to sue, and the spelling was changed to Poco.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8ojLQH5D_MSFi8gXLv-vGWsaAyeK3UivHFMvOAOVPaA56pxd8qHSyK5aCHGraddFSZKDhO5DHQr-JPxflftjP2yyTtW0JTxVkw8IEXfFYHKJHTgnS96F6TRgXRDYFP1MXw6RusiyCZ-V9aQ0eOK4OWUu1IzXevBQSr8bfNshamXRPyjm6CeLfzLvAw/s839/218498_1746466464873_3104865_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="551" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8ojLQH5D_MSFi8gXLv-vGWsaAyeK3UivHFMvOAOVPaA56pxd8qHSyK5aCHGraddFSZKDhO5DHQr-JPxflftjP2yyTtW0JTxVkw8IEXfFYHKJHTgnS96F6TRgXRDYFP1MXw6RusiyCZ-V9aQ0eOK4OWUu1IzXevBQSr8bfNshamXRPyjm6CeLfzLvAw/w263-h400/218498_1746466464873_3104865_o.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfO_-hXLIHvyKCHzS5JN4ZEEa70WVwpuC5DPq4AvaJmtH9lcEWSJ1xqes9d_IW1xfiZZFRy54V7g4u380Yb_m_3SXY0b-ECEr4yyP1DPrqqtgca7SVl2wGAueQc1iaRstjh0wV9aO0rau1ya04JwTHQZ10TSGxCJM2BFcOPe2WfF0c9BlEm2bCMHurg/s921/12310541_10201305473035618_7897222330072548138_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="921" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfO_-hXLIHvyKCHzS5JN4ZEEa70WVwpuC5DPq4AvaJmtH9lcEWSJ1xqes9d_IW1xfiZZFRy54V7g4u380Yb_m_3SXY0b-ECEr4yyP1DPrqqtgca7SVl2wGAueQc1iaRstjh0wV9aO0rau1ya04JwTHQZ10TSGxCJM2BFcOPe2WfF0c9BlEm2bCMHurg/w400-h300/12310541_10201305473035618_7897222330072548138_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The story is told that a young Glenn Frey used to drop by the Poco rehearsal sessions, studying and listening intently, no doubt gaining inspiration that would be put to good use with The Eagles. Poco shared stages with the likes of Chuck Berry, Santana, the Who, the Doors, Johnny Winter, CCR, and even a young, white suit-wearing comedian named Steve Martin. <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4LQ0Sgv9ugzcciML5ZEXlpKtdQaCmHaNFi3zelelhYzRI1xGhSaR8LXSV1DoJ-FZQDMhikOS-SYTimmfcQGH5jp74r3gjNSZE0k708RCs_q8SJx2uYzNZ_EkcOw7iu1RUqzQx0hMqUoqhoI5vZtI63UfirnSmIVdhCdO9zMw4GtkuXFLn1IsQ-30JA/s834/87207947_10222100348807786_8703803512275861504_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="834" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4LQ0Sgv9ugzcciML5ZEXlpKtdQaCmHaNFi3zelelhYzRI1xGhSaR8LXSV1DoJ-FZQDMhikOS-SYTimmfcQGH5jp74r3gjNSZE0k708RCs_q8SJx2uYzNZ_EkcOw7iu1RUqzQx0hMqUoqhoI5vZtI63UfirnSmIVdhCdO9zMw4GtkuXFLn1IsQ-30JA/w400-h274/87207947_10222100348807786_8703803512275861504_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSE2A5bZhP9vzWsCFgvOQ9ZjDfzoDWJiXf8L9_yxc1mcEafFRxki4qsfQY5AhNFDpZHCibfwCW-_iFEBmYMInlOyH1ZQ4bnuxkKgNO2kJ9bm1EBJh6YEhh6wWAW5abTFmfclU6rB6Lj0FtjSZdWEgB4xvwJ_8W0orFeObDUHoL1ydgOttHDcuXWkqUw/s800/10446554_10200359745792051_8449423981622896636_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="800" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSE2A5bZhP9vzWsCFgvOQ9ZjDfzoDWJiXf8L9_yxc1mcEafFRxki4qsfQY5AhNFDpZHCibfwCW-_iFEBmYMInlOyH1ZQ4bnuxkKgNO2kJ9bm1EBJh6YEhh6wWAW5abTFmfclU6rB6Lj0FtjSZdWEgB4xvwJ_8W0orFeObDUHoL1ydgOttHDcuXWkqUw/w400-h263/10446554_10200359745792051_8449423981622896636_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Poco is rightfully considered a founder of the Southern California country-rock sound, although they never tasted a lot of commercial success. Part of the problem was radio formats. At that time, radio DJs were powerful. The DJs picked their own songs, compiled their own playlists, and served as gatekeepers over whether or not a song became a hit. Well, rock DJs thought Poco was too country, while the country DJs considered Poco to be too rock and roll. Poco was caught in-between. It didn't help that the group's manager, Dickie Davis, turned down an invitation for the band to play at a music festival in New York in 1969 in favor of some other gig (that Furay can't even remember today). The gig Davis turned down was - you guessed it - Woodstock.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUvmfg4pdRHZiHXDaQZXtjbbx-Ch8UefLD6YYeSGVJyoIYjJPvc8I3MPU5WEeaGGC8zGdgbHgJqj1jPagUIGaBFF__zYsWFgFY-KMGl0EYVpDw1PXv3lN6zXtoa-v5ZoXTHUfA9xvPacjswo9KClAFqB5qKsHULAjxjja_2T3JcgJtoWIcQOX6IN1Kw/s585/59547782_10217069239675982_4192847379021430784_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="454" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUvmfg4pdRHZiHXDaQZXtjbbx-Ch8UefLD6YYeSGVJyoIYjJPvc8I3MPU5WEeaGGC8zGdgbHgJqj1jPagUIGaBFF__zYsWFgFY-KMGl0EYVpDw1PXv3lN6zXtoa-v5ZoXTHUfA9xvPacjswo9KClAFqB5qKsHULAjxjja_2T3JcgJtoWIcQOX6IN1Kw/w310-h400/59547782_10217069239675982_4192847379021430784_n.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It was during his time with Poco that Furay made a disastrous and painful choice by having an extramarital affair. Never one to "sleep around" with groupies on the road, this was an isolated relationship with a secretary at Columbia Records. Furay is very transparent about this subject in his autobiography and thankfully it is a story that ends well. But not overnight. It's a story of much hurt and pain, separation, divorce threats, you name it. But it's also a story of hope and healing and repentance and forgiveness. Look up <a href="https://www.richiefuray.com/books/pickin-up-the-pieces-autographed">Richie's book</a> for the timeline and all the details. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGyoTvO7ffmfBlv5-yVHcSk42vOxPJlhEi5XVS18lK0UDMaizDUdOUsZZECnaDFarbqm9z0drJY7ch21u3-FmIhCWBO2aWehkdXEEb6fI6Mkf7XPuPFlBEyBQ36_bpXbCn12MoWLcFFN4Ou-7MSh9NBlemYJJ4sQXCNxnUCr0y1V3A7yW15I91UlWlA/s960/13615420_10210418153549146_2856527925453750333_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="960" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGyoTvO7ffmfBlv5-yVHcSk42vOxPJlhEi5XVS18lK0UDMaizDUdOUsZZECnaDFarbqm9z0drJY7ch21u3-FmIhCWBO2aWehkdXEEb6fI6Mkf7XPuPFlBEyBQ36_bpXbCn12MoWLcFFN4Ou-7MSh9NBlemYJJ4sQXCNxnUCr0y1V3A7yW15I91UlWlA/w400-h271/13615420_10210418153549146_2856527925453750333_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, the Eagles were becoming major stars while Poco labored in relative obscurity. Some think it was just a matter of timing. "America wasn't quite ready for country rock in the Poco era," writes Mark Allan Powell, "and then when the Eagles brought it on, they proceeded to raid Poco's members."<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvHxd-VdNBBsiYjqoClYeSZJkW35qnKhF6jkFRRbmlA7C5O6O4AkX4Z8dc2l1ipa2H5UH0mB4eDDrOg6BJz72dT2WhsMKqs1SGNkSqDxfqIvVL1Vf0xup00T5Tby6n1Cc-d95voko5naXas8pYkpB7EwPKHFYKOoJzkYYMAFQMWoX9yA-NgvnRCf6TQ/s643/10380897_10203695046549355_419835094729219462_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrvHxd-VdNBBsiYjqoClYeSZJkW35qnKhF6jkFRRbmlA7C5O6O4AkX4Z8dc2l1ipa2H5UH0mB4eDDrOg6BJz72dT2WhsMKqs1SGNkSqDxfqIvVL1Vf0xup00T5Tby6n1Cc-d95voko5naXas8pYkpB7EwPKHFYKOoJzkYYMAFQMWoX9yA-NgvnRCf6TQ/w311-h400/10380897_10203695046549355_419835094729219462_n.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Richie and Nancy decided they needed a fresh start and a change of scenery, so they moved to the beautiful state of Colorado. Furay says the clean, crisp Colorado air helped clear his head. But Poco was still struggling to find an audience and to gain spins on the radio. When <i>Take It Easy</i> became a big hit for the Eagles, Furay realized that it was time to move on. He went to David Geffen, who had an idea for a supergroup consisting of Furay, J.D. Souther and Chris Hillman. "We sealed the deal with a handshake," Furay remembers.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduooIaMYY6LzOWAy38Y8Ytyn7Gtyl4KILsvedantAwUWEjHvqenTswLCbdiyFxBYfim1dpMgXR8JA2duD1e6FsMs-nGYQIu8mMLYXxjJ4VOTEq6VWQoVMR0eG_husg3zDklJjZcULlb5nv38Pf_9J9UzxS_2_KcZSEoz502PiV5D2a6QMYChWNs0iiA/s600/R-9316139-1478460700-5257.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="600" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduooIaMYY6LzOWAy38Y8Ytyn7Gtyl4KILsvedantAwUWEjHvqenTswLCbdiyFxBYfim1dpMgXR8JA2duD1e6FsMs-nGYQIu8mMLYXxjJ4VOTEq6VWQoVMR0eG_husg3zDklJjZcULlb5nv38Pf_9J9UzxS_2_KcZSEoz502PiV5D2a6QMYChWNs0iiA/w400-h393/R-9316139-1478460700-5257.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKnigrraU8wLUIqLCQNKSrLvGdPaY3NwrrQgcyjqC0J7qhkurfaCg2tJi_oqFJ3ymPhUoQzREyY1T54TnEIx_ks9HEYd8Jm_CJRnoxeHdRGFD5yv-TnwnKLg3ZPj8yH42ESm7ZFEE8Hp14HLLovgpUoZDlJFHY8VHu8zI_mtRT5OmvMUrjAnGSSdrfw/s659/SHF%20Band_1974-07-15_NY_f.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="659" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTKnigrraU8wLUIqLCQNKSrLvGdPaY3NwrrQgcyjqC0J7qhkurfaCg2tJi_oqFJ3ymPhUoQzREyY1T54TnEIx_ks9HEYd8Jm_CJRnoxeHdRGFD5yv-TnwnKLg3ZPj8yH42ESm7ZFEE8Hp14HLLovgpUoZDlJFHY8VHu8zI_mtRT5OmvMUrjAnGSSdrfw/w400-h275/SHF%20Band_1974-07-15_NY_f.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's Al Perkins on the far left</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Well, the supergroup thing never really panned out due to a lack of personal and creative chemistry within the group. There was no spark when the three men tried to harmonize. Rehearsals were awkward. The group just never seemed to click with audiences. According to Richie Furay, "Some things that might look good on paper don't always play out that way in real life."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVxds3vEjA2Q0Je-h6927LTBzVEocJkyuKe0e02fL-T_NX1sh9FFZbGEpY2sluyt5rI-DVER9MNKPbEO1PVks3hM3f0SDeXMj7LLjP5i7Swo119oTc_0uTcKq0r-MLLSAut3OS2IK6iG0JNpTPm65_VzjRz4MF5M3vo6YuGZP3uPNhpMwoJ5oxi78Bg/s700/55.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVxds3vEjA2Q0Je-h6927LTBzVEocJkyuKe0e02fL-T_NX1sh9FFZbGEpY2sluyt5rI-DVER9MNKPbEO1PVks3hM3f0SDeXMj7LLjP5i7Swo119oTc_0uTcKq0r-MLLSAut3OS2IK6iG0JNpTPm65_VzjRz4MF5M3vo6YuGZP3uPNhpMwoJ5oxi78Bg/w286-h400/55.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Al Perkins</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But I believe that God had at least one major purpose behind the creation of The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. And it was to bring Richie Furay face-to-face with Al Perkins.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's back up a bit. When musicians were being considered for this new supergroup, Chris Hillman really wanted Perkins, as he was a highly-talented pedal-steel player. Furay knew that Al was a great talent but was dead-set against him being in the band. And it was all because of Al's reputation as a born-again Christian. Perkins even had a fish sticker on his guitar! Richie explains that he was just fearful that Al's faith would drag the group down and scare away the audience he wanted to attract. Again, to gain the full impact of this part of the story, buy Richie's autobiography, where it is recounted in compelling detail. Spoiler alert: Al Perkins ends up winning Richie Furay to the Lord. One of the methods he used was to play Pastor Chuck Smith's sermons for Richie on cassette tapes. "Al was living the type of life I ended up embracing," Furay wrote. "When I accepted Jesus into my life, all of a sudden, life had so much more meaning than I could ever have imagined."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yg1rAh5r2-t_ZUYmDPumT5p2X3GFsObKEs5P729CKC1KQLzC9_L3tttZXZ8w7OEi3T4TmjpUe_TY8_2b1gnUZ6EZdwrPj2pJGW-MK3XLTS1mY_Ltb9dKmaiY8sxsA97vR3WAlLUItV7bUjdy_xRFWlllI8w3mtPL5uPsKT5KwMDlCGRAQG5ifD56BA/s558/R-1394707-1370318277-4618.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="493" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yg1rAh5r2-t_ZUYmDPumT5p2X3GFsObKEs5P729CKC1KQLzC9_L3tttZXZ8w7OEi3T4TmjpUe_TY8_2b1gnUZ6EZdwrPj2pJGW-MK3XLTS1mY_Ltb9dKmaiY8sxsA97vR3WAlLUItV7bUjdy_xRFWlllI8w3mtPL5uPsKT5KwMDlCGRAQG5ifD56BA/w354-h400/R-1394707-1370318277-4618.jpg" width="354" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Nancy Furay actually came to the Lord before Richie. So they were both saved as a result of the witness of Al and Debbie Perkins; not only that, but God used Al and Debbie to minister life and strength into Richie and Nancy's marriage as well. Richie writes in his book that he became a devoted Bible reader and began to spend a lot of time with brothers who had ties to Calvary Chapel. Looking back, I'd say that God definitely had a hand (and a plan) in selecting Al Perkins for a slot in the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenRbBBb-O6aNidaY1GYXVnujG6rb-L8Ka5Qf0FE1LIR6vXV3DX1vBs7ksQBF4GuwsVPqENZJoSLLM2tTs52qkSzppKsssQEHa82xOiL58ss5ry-9SqvU0RxPu506oHHvLZEjfMUOlOhWbyVPouyh2X2Dxhy_hFYoofkDZjdNIr1nL0F2eZ7E9gOo3zA/s941/gettyimages-599350864-1024x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="941" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenRbBBb-O6aNidaY1GYXVnujG6rb-L8Ka5Qf0FE1LIR6vXV3DX1vBs7ksQBF4GuwsVPqENZJoSLLM2tTs52qkSzppKsssQEHa82xOiL58ss5ry-9SqvU0RxPu506oHHvLZEjfMUOlOhWbyVPouyh2X2Dxhy_hFYoofkDZjdNIr1nL0F2eZ7E9gOo3zA/w400-h160/gettyimages-599350864-1024x1024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So...SHF had run its course. Richie Furay was a sold-out Christian, he had been reconciled to his wife Nancy, and by now he was a father to two daughters. Time to switch gears in a major way. </div><div><br /></div><div>"I wanted to put together <i>the</i> rock and roll band for God," Furay said. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGsBBqVzLydpeJyqp8PEUkNS6k7xt7pTNqkSnuMC8apCqInSnZmSUOqJAVRu7KVlnzSBpfQFPotmiwzz-XjU5VTaYIqj5MwkcbXE2gYptPRKoookGBrmb-cFYXCtqM-XVpx34AQ_Zwtj3PVHmpaj2c4eZllxy3WNjGLnoVWNcxxIRwiGUwQ93SGxAtw/s960/10402548_10202511215285198_5882132729796823147_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGsBBqVzLydpeJyqp8PEUkNS6k7xt7pTNqkSnuMC8apCqInSnZmSUOqJAVRu7KVlnzSBpfQFPotmiwzz-XjU5VTaYIqj5MwkcbXE2gYptPRKoookGBrmb-cFYXCtqM-XVpx34AQ_Zwtj3PVHmpaj2c4eZllxy3WNjGLnoVWNcxxIRwiGUwQ93SGxAtw/w300-h400/10402548_10202511215285198_5882132729796823147_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is where the aforementioned Stipe, Truax and Mehler come in. Furay says he wanted to create a band with people who were not just gifted musically, but whose lifestyles and beliefs were in sync with his own. "With the Richie Furay Band, I wanted to make music that would do more than simply proselytize," he said. He wanted to share experiences from his life, and his new life in Jesus was certainly one of those experiences, perhaps even the most important one. But it was important to Richie to write about his faith in a way that didn't come off as preachy. This record would be on Asylum. This was not on Maranatha Records. It would not be directed to the Church. This would be a group of Christian men writing and recording music directed at an unchurched world. It may not have been completely uncharted territory; like I said earlier, Michael Omartian had done much the same thing with <b><i>White Horse</i></b>. But this was extremely rare and would be a difficult thing to pull off. Christian audiences in 1976 who were used to songs like <i>Jesus Puts the Song in Our Hearts</i> by Love Song might wonder, "Why does he not mention Jesus?" Meanwhile, secular audiences in 1976 who might've heard rumors of Furay's Christian conversion might read between the lines and accuse him of having a religious agenda. It was a difficult thing to pull off. You know what they say about making everyone happy...<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMcRhgKdpqRS95gKb017taDFn5ppsdV4bUrcodEe5XJwtrv0cKha2zMe5t5iBAKd5fMsUhZE8u9X1QR2D-GJ1BXJvMeQuoUPlLmKMNd4o7N39W6-qaz0uGzOxGHrgvnJ6CgmqwBJ2XnmQkFPY0piIiT0ST0MmJaOTJQzoX6RwUfjFvOdoFd6Jju2xDw/s1562/29749403_2033313610269571_8568912431604658532_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1562" data-original-width="785" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMcRhgKdpqRS95gKb017taDFn5ppsdV4bUrcodEe5XJwtrv0cKha2zMe5t5iBAKd5fMsUhZE8u9X1QR2D-GJ1BXJvMeQuoUPlLmKMNd4o7N39W6-qaz0uGzOxGHrgvnJ6CgmqwBJ2XnmQkFPY0piIiT0ST0MmJaOTJQzoX6RwUfjFvOdoFd6Jju2xDw/w322-h640/29749403_2033313610269571_8568912431604658532_o.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Furay says that before the album was finalized, David Geffen asked him, "You aren't going to give me any of that Jesus music, are you?" Furay realized that Geffen's concern came from a marketing standpoint, since money was always the bottom line. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdxCSoqbpT80nEkXRWGC0gz-f5PTowUuXr26uEP4dOyXEP4hLZYWarxdxWxQ06BIOmubkdoLSHiiwa47_7LKz2KQ1Rh3o89TBPht-AySDHV9LcMrwPUOKdnZbqxF071aGvyZrAHoGfRg-Ana_VN2q43sv_zRmW6zr6lIXerBwwerJYYJ9818HISswiw/s2048/MV5BMTc3MzAyMzIwMl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzE3NjQ3OA@@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1486" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdxCSoqbpT80nEkXRWGC0gz-f5PTowUuXr26uEP4dOyXEP4hLZYWarxdxWxQ06BIOmubkdoLSHiiwa47_7LKz2KQ1Rh3o89TBPht-AySDHV9LcMrwPUOKdnZbqxF071aGvyZrAHoGfRg-Ana_VN2q43sv_zRmW6zr6lIXerBwwerJYYJ9818HISswiw/w290-h400/MV5BMTc3MzAyMzIwMl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzE3NjQ3OA@@._V1_.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Geffen</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Richie Furay was not the first secular musician to accept Christ and then have a decision to make. But as a former member of Buffalo Springfield, he was probably the most famous. Barry McGuire had been with the New Christy Minstrels and later had a hit single with the protest song,<i> Eve of Destruction</i>. Larry Norman had a moderate hit (<i>I Love You</i>) with the band People!, Phil Keaggy was in Glass Harp (no radio hits of which I'm aware) and Chuck Girard had some "beach music" airplay in the early 60s as a member of the Hondells and Castells. But all of those men came out of the mainstream music industry and began to record for Christian labels (much to Norman's chagrin). Furay, on the other hand, wanted to remain in the secular arena "rather than retreating to the friendlier confines of a Christian record company." He figures his determination to do it that way put a target on his back. (By the way, there would be more high-profile secular artists turning their lives - and music - over to Jesus in the years following <i><b>I've Got a Reason</b></i> - Dan Peek of America, B.J. Thomas, Joe English of Paul McCartney & Wings, Bob Dylan, Kerry Livgren of Kansas and Phillip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire, just to name a few.) Perhaps Richie Furay helped open the floodgates.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQd24fEArqa2dzhWtDNKWumgW_UO4IG6ozFHgSZ9e1KDZY_38GYqHD1SDsU39cavW8jGcd2CV8Axu0lcRQYslZnaZR7QPATlwENtb97vzWq-dnHkmmCH3s0PtZEs081Jf-3dPh95sO2vnfbOhcPW4IFwzZT_v1JD-oEXWfdcVNAUT8HOsh6VMrtD9XA/s3264/BeFunky-collage345.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="3264" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQd24fEArqa2dzhWtDNKWumgW_UO4IG6ozFHgSZ9e1KDZY_38GYqHD1SDsU39cavW8jGcd2CV8Axu0lcRQYslZnaZR7QPATlwENtb97vzWq-dnHkmmCH3s0PtZEs081Jf-3dPh95sO2vnfbOhcPW4IFwzZT_v1JD-oEXWfdcVNAUT8HOsh6VMrtD9XA/w400-h270/BeFunky-collage345.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Schnee and Michael Omartian</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b> is produced by two respected musical heavyweights who also just happen to be Christians - Bill Schnee and Michael Omartian. While the album does benefit from cameo appearances by artists such as Al Perkins, Steve Cropper, Don Gerber and Alex MacDougall, it is Furay, Stipe, Truax and Mehler that form the backbone of this recording. Richie Furay himself has described the songs on this album as "professional, commercial, and enjoyable from a purely musical standpoint, but they also provided additional layers of meaning to anyone who would look deeper into the message."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-LA91XsnOYBzMZQV13AS5dLelOOmVQvf_maYcdLum1tLDuafhwlbutsUyKtW7hr-kaGJjcFVEXtOZjmXyact-QHLuN1OGbas0NrXoeXl7ozgmObOXX8mGngvzvub5MAXO6C3O5WQGjkj9YLzkw6Ro3ive_ljjtad49GjCSTt0GiiSwSr_ZxGEwI18Q/s600/R-1643249-1234111038.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU-LA91XsnOYBzMZQV13AS5dLelOOmVQvf_maYcdLum1tLDuafhwlbutsUyKtW7hr-kaGJjcFVEXtOZjmXyact-QHLuN1OGbas0NrXoeXl7ozgmObOXX8mGngvzvub5MAXO6C3O5WQGjkj9YLzkw6Ro3ive_ljjtad49GjCSTt0GiiSwSr_ZxGEwI18Q/w393-h400/R-1643249-1234111038.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpOstpDqePt7zxxrBA517eF7AlapzLD39vvaSy2saSGZmSyQ1SyxxyO19BQSdPm3qR_cRU-pq1uYYaq1y_c993wPJ5h_gJlzzqCsnmOUJ5GgaGvSyGqkFOH-ROPZP_CG3ndgrq5aAgO_TaWQPyatWe4dcTq81l6SRJed6f99lNW3Yi57ur-wmLcVk1Lg/s1440/135485574_10159025519369711_5757121999041235606_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1440" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpOstpDqePt7zxxrBA517eF7AlapzLD39vvaSy2saSGZmSyQ1SyxxyO19BQSdPm3qR_cRU-pq1uYYaq1y_c993wPJ5h_gJlzzqCsnmOUJ5GgaGvSyGqkFOH-ROPZP_CG3ndgrq5aAgO_TaWQPyatWe4dcTq81l6SRJed6f99lNW3Yi57ur-wmLcVk1Lg/w400-h348/135485574_10159025519369711_5757121999041235606_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Side One of <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b> opens with one of the album's more memorable tracks. Clocking in at 5:10, <i>Look At the Sun</i> immediately put the "Jesus Music" listener on notice that this was an album with a bigger budget and much more impressive production values than some of the albums coming out of the fledgling Christian labels at that time. I love David Diggs' string arrangement on this song, as well as the smooth Fender Rhodes and synthesizer parts. Critic Mark Allan Powell wrote in his <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i> that Furay's voice never sounded better than on this soaring, opening track.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jj6-O7gWyx8" width="320" youtube-src-id="Jj6-O7gWyx8"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I honestly don't know if this is accurate or not, but some of the lyrics in <i>Look at the Sun</i> seem to be describing Furay's conversion experience...</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Tossed to and fro</i></div><div><i>I tumbled like a domino</i></div><div><i>Then all at once I felt my senses come around</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I laughed so hard I cried</i></div><div><i>I knew my old self had died<br /><br /></i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXtH-NLV0IJ3YBWphQJcViQcVmoMllMOY89-71VRNcXygOT9JqtIG2MQYdnzo9MmxOui4E8zc5MONNy_Xa9CGQQRb7rgujRiEEaf62lMFzy-KzrdJW-A3NLpjLOO-wE2Y7L-Q8u0DgpBBZWNANbknSv7xWv07qzl0mCY8WgnIClN7w5cyJoPbr-G9nw/s600/R-1643249-1519584857-1482.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXtH-NLV0IJ3YBWphQJcViQcVmoMllMOY89-71VRNcXygOT9JqtIG2MQYdnzo9MmxOui4E8zc5MONNy_Xa9CGQQRb7rgujRiEEaf62lMFzy-KzrdJW-A3NLpjLOO-wE2Y7L-Q8u0DgpBBZWNANbknSv7xWv07qzl0mCY8WgnIClN7w5cyJoPbr-G9nw/w399-h400/R-1643249-1519584857-1482.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Richie has said that <i>We'll See</i> (more cowbell!) and <i>Gettin' Through</i> (the banjo song) were both attempts to explain his faith to musician friends who did not know the Lord.</div><div><br /></div><div>From <i>Gettin' Through</i>...</div><div><br /></div><div><i>All the times you've heard the music<br />And all the times it moved your soul<br />And you found yourself believing in rock and roll<br /><br /></i></div><div><i>There is music here for certain<br />There's enough and maybe more<br />And I'll let you know a secret<br />You're the one that it's for<br /><br />Like an arrow straight and true<br />There ain't nothing you can do<br />When the sight's on you<br />Am I gettin' through?<br /><br />Is it enough that you just make do?<br />Are you satisfied to drift with the tide?<br />Is it taking hold?<br /><br />Well, whatever else you've been told<br />You're long overdue<br />Am I gettin' through?</i><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPcg1v3dKwpPlAT13X-Qt_TYo5EzZJ7xVhhXRFJ5Dh-5PMfeojuxBIqENgVEGCd5CcoEgxX-qty6q4OgPT65xzS6Cz3jwqPTqotS_7ccbSJBspI-8q_ot_-AX6Txd5dfLGojCTZkEsoP0SaVUb_MqDsALMMnDpF17y261ZZbtI4WrSWi_jHPruN4YtQ/s600/R-1643249-1519584857-4333.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPcg1v3dKwpPlAT13X-Qt_TYo5EzZJ7xVhhXRFJ5Dh-5PMfeojuxBIqENgVEGCd5CcoEgxX-qty6q4OgPT65xzS6Cz3jwqPTqotS_7ccbSJBspI-8q_ot_-AX6Txd5dfLGojCTZkEsoP0SaVUb_MqDsALMMnDpF17y261ZZbtI4WrSWi_jHPruN4YtQ/w398-h400/R-1643249-1519584857-4333.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The album's title track was an instant classic. It was the first song Furay wrote after giving his life to Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Music was my life, finally took everything<br />Ain't it funny how you got it all and not a thing?</i></div><div><br /></div><div>"Those words express the ultimate lack of fulfillment in a person's life when Jesus is excluded," Richie penned in his autobiography. "I wanted to tell [my musician friends] that Christianity wasn't a fad, but something real, substantial, and made to last forever."</div><div><br /></div><div><i>I've got a reason for living each day<br />And I've got a reason for makin' it pay<br />If it's only for a moment and it's only my way<br />I've got a reason, a time and a season<br /><br />I was takin' life for granted, a little more than I should<br />I had it easy, was life ever doing me good</i></div><div><i>I had it all written, how the story would end<br />But I ran out of pages and I was left all alone with the pen</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The story's still got a line, the song'll still rhyme<br />The names are the same, they're yours and they're mine</i></div><div><br /></div><div>"These songs never mention the name Jesus Christ," Richie says, "but they are suffused with His Spirit. He's all over this record."</div><div><br /></div><div>Before diving into Side Two...I reached out to the prolific and affable Mr. Alex MacDougall and asked him to share his thoughts on his friend Richie Furay and the album <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b>. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJk9TSBA_p2zBZNpnLpy76BuYUQGVTxdmy3kh1a1-uaOG3o_ihwRy5eBrvwlLqwEVGPwLeFtU--CJPklZpw7_vePExLRs1y37aOJMYyqyIuQRc3T0BBkw8koqeuQA6eg8q-caoVFm2WNd97E3EZCDXv9CGAqHPnMIprJUlOVzyPtoEfhBy0PKqplGOCg/s1375/293338976_10104824022152982_2129246959587409719_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1375" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJk9TSBA_p2zBZNpnLpy76BuYUQGVTxdmy3kh1a1-uaOG3o_ihwRy5eBrvwlLqwEVGPwLeFtU--CJPklZpw7_vePExLRs1y37aOJMYyqyIuQRc3T0BBkw8koqeuQA6eg8q-caoVFm2WNd97E3EZCDXv9CGAqHPnMIprJUlOVzyPtoEfhBy0PKqplGOCg/w400-h275/293338976_10104824022152982_2129246959587409719_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex MacDougall and Richie Furay</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div>"There’s so much to this topic," MacDougall said. "Richie Furay has been in my life since I was just 15. I grew up in Southern California, and when I heard the first Buffalo Springfield radio single in August of 1966, I was an immediate fan. I think it was just the next month when I saw them in concert opening for Chad and Jeremy and Ian Whitcomb. For the remainder of the short-lived Buffalo Springfield, I was able to see them many times, and meet them. Richie was always kind to me, even inviting my friends and I to his home. You have to remember that we were just high school kids, so there was nothing to gain by his befriending us. I also saw the band Poco (originally Pogo) several times, but after that, we grew apart." </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUdl86gENtjuywzFloYbOOwRXDim4WumkPEoMvlmHrNPI-cyLEIKiRz6gQKrars4YLsNoU9u5zDytGiO7r9neBqykZZdZuyFrZVqrUD17m1iV0ybNjhUIad091fytzT7e45Gu6LN6ydabIYl1z1n3O7q1TePdEmR9P7nAO-h6pLFO8nLRdnzHvgVDjA/s604/91255992_10103776314891732_2216148681730555904_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="408" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUdl86gENtjuywzFloYbOOwRXDim4WumkPEoMvlmHrNPI-cyLEIKiRz6gQKrars4YLsNoU9u5zDytGiO7r9neBqykZZdZuyFrZVqrUD17m1iV0ybNjhUIad091fytzT7e45Gu6LN6ydabIYl1z1n3O7q1TePdEmR9P7nAO-h6pLFO8nLRdnzHvgVDjA/w270-h400/91255992_10103776314891732_2216148681730555904_n.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Alex MacDougall plays percussion on <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b>. I was interested to learn how he ended up as a studio musician on the album. "When I became a Christian in 1969, my life took on a new path," Alex explained. "When I was in the Christian band, The Way, the great pedal-steel player Al Perkins met us at Calvary Chapel. He wanted to produce our second album, <b><i>Can it Be?</i></b> Al was playing in the band Souther, Hillman, and Furay at the time. I told Al my story about my times with Richie years earlier and he asked, 'Would you like to meet him again?' I of course agreed. I went up to Hollywood to meet up with Al and see Richie again. Richie was young in the faith, and was about to record <b><i>I’ve Got A Reason</i></b>, along with my friends Tom Stipe, Jay Truax, and John Mehler. We were all part of the Jesus Movement and Calvary Chapel. I’m guessing this was 1975."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWOFYRolnngQkZVXObpjBGQIY7WzMYsXFXdnEBho0x3YTYROS1ywr9vnNC_lEzmxc60-Je1h5TyordxiEC7q9gKn-_ONMUJPEyGB-YgjZJr9f4m-sfEN71v-Jzyevj_kx83J8sZo2gVy7nqhYYq9IfQ8GnAVY1_PIzzI4Z5Kv6bsOZVUxIMVrrz-MSw/s720/25667_1398961932196_5964284_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="720" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWOFYRolnngQkZVXObpjBGQIY7WzMYsXFXdnEBho0x3YTYROS1ywr9vnNC_lEzmxc60-Je1h5TyordxiEC7q9gKn-_ONMUJPEyGB-YgjZJr9f4m-sfEN71v-Jzyevj_kx83J8sZo2gVy7nqhYYq9IfQ8GnAVY1_PIzzI4Z5Kv6bsOZVUxIMVrrz-MSw/w400-h283/25667_1398961932196_5964284_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>MacDougall continues: "In early 1976 I saw Richie at a church picnic, and he asked me to play on the record. What an incredible honor for me to be a part of <b><i>I’ve Got a Reason</i></b>. I played percussion alongside John’s great drumming. As I remember it, when the recording was completed, Bill Schnee, who co-produced the project with Michael Omartian, told Richie, 'You need Alex on the road in the band to pull this off live.' So Richie asked me to be a part of the touring band."<br /><br /><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiezdFrFKsrTsfg9mPxYxyU4EvoWC4R44ltHBessoO_fRgnYa5jA_XgUOZOCmMRdQzimmz072vZrwL4dwd2hHm9TyWqDJadKCY4NKDFIRIbnGtSqDBWFysICu0Klxzape5iT3ySi813FwKREN6f2cxCgEH9rKGvGzFXamHyYvpt2x9m2PHzKgkBMevbA/s600/R-1643249-1519584857-3643.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiezdFrFKsrTsfg9mPxYxyU4EvoWC4R44ltHBessoO_fRgnYa5jA_XgUOZOCmMRdQzimmz072vZrwL4dwd2hHm9TyWqDJadKCY4NKDFIRIbnGtSqDBWFysICu0Klxzape5iT3ySi813FwKREN6f2cxCgEH9rKGvGzFXamHyYvpt2x9m2PHzKgkBMevbA/w400-h400/R-1643249-1519584857-3643.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9mA4sjftJs-eKFtAfvUtHjDwaZuTzoTRUPhJ6N_wzMRw62pIk2u8UB4u5pMr7S0csItZQgOwzSm_xGqLhNu3j6TqRliyRZyKc0t_w4Q-Jax504dfQf8U_8bUiwAnr5JAZhuODh1h5G8kJI5TCU0_Oqi55PqstR3DPaROSWpWlbfF11vwoj2Jbc1qGZg/s2048/12646785_559318070893043_25827438682349158_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="2048" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9mA4sjftJs-eKFtAfvUtHjDwaZuTzoTRUPhJ6N_wzMRw62pIk2u8UB4u5pMr7S0csItZQgOwzSm_xGqLhNu3j6TqRliyRZyKc0t_w4Q-Jax504dfQf8U_8bUiwAnr5JAZhuODh1h5G8kJI5TCU0_Oqi55PqstR3DPaROSWpWlbfF11vwoj2Jbc1qGZg/w400-h206/12646785_559318070893043_25827438682349158_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>How 'bout that album cover? In band photos and on album covers, Richie Furay somehow had a knack for looking like one of the happiest dudes you ever saw. Approachable. Friendly. Like the kind of guy you'd just enjoy hangin' out with. Bob Seidemann took the portrait on the front cover and Mary Ellen Mark snapped the iconic image on the back of the album jacket. Glen Christiansen was in charge of art direction, while the inimitable Rick Griffin designed the band logo. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXj5RUNoq7PbblEh9WBNLO7dqgEgZ60VZBV3QXU8m231qdNk0TBmXNpCWsM5uUYk1wEaa5UEk2EW_L0Y-QYqr9NvatTQFWNiix3c6CqChUM7uvNwgStRcpzL-hyzgJp1vXnyINbv8CMfaUXCK_7PAm8szhVg_2rTBLHDqWdhhVI1aqUUxnOfRtsTMIQ/s600/R-1643249-1234111053.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="588" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYXj5RUNoq7PbblEh9WBNLO7dqgEgZ60VZBV3QXU8m231qdNk0TBmXNpCWsM5uUYk1wEaa5UEk2EW_L0Y-QYqr9NvatTQFWNiix3c6CqChUM7uvNwgStRcpzL-hyzgJp1vXnyINbv8CMfaUXCK_7PAm8szhVg_2rTBLHDqWdhhVI1aqUUxnOfRtsTMIQ/w393-h400/R-1643249-1234111053.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Furay has revealed that several of the songs on this album were colored by the marriage problems he and Nancy were struggling with at the time. <i>Mighty Maker</i> was a prayer to restore the marriage, while the island-inspired <i>You're the One I Love</i> was an attempt on Richie's part to let Nancy know that he'd seen the error of his ways and only had eyes for her.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mIMfqfJAajI" width="320" youtube-src-id="mIMfqfJAajI"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Incidentally, <i>Mighty Maker</i> is also just one heck of a great rock and roll song. John Mehler takes us all to school with some ridiculous solo drum fills, and the synthesizer parts on this song (as on other of the record's tracks) are subtle and understated, but greatly appreciated. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKc0q083oTXT3d0q8CU5qWGfMG14DHGlZdN7qYo_Oqf7GzbQcx2GZGdB-aNrCbRQtF3QJ7g3VMXjR7aQyftkAb57-YRmThPUKVRZB5yMHatxWL1qtOMNzlbBJAujItwsyqEsjxzSo6GXU9oaw7J2GohblonLoVyOQwJeHpmsxycGxd3QZGVGkkZuyYcQ/s600/richie-furay.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="562" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKc0q083oTXT3d0q8CU5qWGfMG14DHGlZdN7qYo_Oqf7GzbQcx2GZGdB-aNrCbRQtF3QJ7g3VMXjR7aQyftkAb57-YRmThPUKVRZB5yMHatxWL1qtOMNzlbBJAujItwsyqEsjxzSo6GXU9oaw7J2GohblonLoVyOQwJeHpmsxycGxd3QZGVGkkZuyYcQ/w375-h400/richie-furay.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Still Rolling Stones</i> was a driving rocker that expressed Furay's frustration with incorrect stereotypes and assumptions regarding his Christian faith. Said Richie:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><i>"The title intentionally alluded to </i>Rolling Stone<i> magazine, which had started looking at my music differently ever since word of my Christian conversion began circulating. Many other publications followed suit to the point where my faith, not my music, was being reviewed. That sort of bias made no sense to me back then, and it still doesn't." *</i></blockquote><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qdrn5GmBFZs" width="320" youtube-src-id="Qdrn5GmBFZs"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The album concludes with an instant classic. The seven-minute <i>Over and Over Again</i> is a treasure.</p><p>Michael Omartian had a habit of ending his own albums with an extra-long song that featured amazing instrumentation and went through several musical movements. He even did it on an Imperials album (<i>Seek Ye First</i> on <b><i>Priority</i></b>). It looks like that's what happens here. (Just a guess on my part.) What a fitting conclusion - a great vocal performance, amazing synth and guitar parts, and an arrangement that surprises yet satisfies. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFfQ7XnwsfU2sxA2GQYJrsM07Rxv7p7W3weif91OQQoJ9Iuwy8PO9Nk-AgR0Z420kt5_zqh0ZksPLy6gFX3MsP87ypY5APwL3fgEIguLbKFDV3ilQrQ0WKD3zRWdYCOTRcH-_vcAfpXI1KJA5-7Z1aGpzUzKcXXCQ0ZjEXqwMTUdKeS9OWe0JxDlGrtg/s604/22062_100894829941487_968160_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="604" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFfQ7XnwsfU2sxA2GQYJrsM07Rxv7p7W3weif91OQQoJ9Iuwy8PO9Nk-AgR0Z420kt5_zqh0ZksPLy6gFX3MsP87ypY5APwL3fgEIguLbKFDV3ilQrQ0WKD3zRWdYCOTRcH-_vcAfpXI1KJA5-7Z1aGpzUzKcXXCQ0ZjEXqwMTUdKeS9OWe0JxDlGrtg/w400-h254/22062_100894829941487_968160_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />The critics weigh in...</p><p></p><blockquote>"<b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b> was, musically, the best work Furay had ever done and one of the best albums yet to appear in the world of contemporary Christian Music. Furay's voice has never sounded better. In retrospect, '<b><i>Reason'</i></b> was probably the first album to qualify as exemplary of a new genre of Christian rock as opposed to the simple-but-sincere Jesus music records that had preceded it. <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b> does not feature folk-rock love-songs-to-and-about-Jesus...Indeed, it does not mention Jesus by name even once. Nor does it deliver the sort of Sunday school songs that critics in the secular press were poised to trash in the 'has-been rock star turns into annoying Jesus freak' reviews they had outlined in their minds. Instead it offers poignant glimpses into how a person of faith finds meaning in this damaged world." -Mark Allan Powell </blockquote><p></p><blockquote>"...it's Furay's clear, emotive tenor, along with his sense of melody and passion for the material, that carries the album." -Brett Hartenbach, AllMusic </blockquote><p></p><blockquote>"...a legitimate country-driven, progressive rock album for the ages. Not a single 'miss' on it." -Blogger & podcaster David Lowman</blockquote><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzHcQmcwLzCSWvwxl-h9k1AptVw-7WoXbL1gkvQL18NlhxJImqlu73wU09e1uBCs5-1kSGj_b2toamE6iRyZQFZMPuIC1lrQE_ku7ojuUs7yk0b1kcKDxkc4TbjgI4RkM-X1p1AV3I7jgqssMEJB9fZVJwsT2bMNOfD9Vq6p6Cm9iYjPp0HmJYgpI1Q/s720/155074_163113820398638_4847528_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzHcQmcwLzCSWvwxl-h9k1AptVw-7WoXbL1gkvQL18NlhxJImqlu73wU09e1uBCs5-1kSGj_b2toamE6iRyZQFZMPuIC1lrQE_ku7ojuUs7yk0b1kcKDxkc4TbjgI4RkM-X1p1AV3I7jgqssMEJB9fZVJwsT2bMNOfD9Vq6p6Cm9iYjPp0HmJYgpI1Q/w400-h266/155074_163113820398638_4847528_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><blockquote> </blockquote><p></p><p>By 1976, David Geffen left Asylum for Warner Brothers. Geffen's replacement, a talented man with the painfully common name Joe Smith, had no relationship with Richie and showed no real interest in promoting <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b>. Asylum sent some copies to skeptical critics and that was about it. The album languished. Oh, and there was no tour support, either. Richie had to buy a van in order to get the guys from gig to gig. The album did develop an underground cult following, however. Christians who knew the deal were ecstatic to hear this amazing album. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2zPIgTWsKW3OQPFfch7mkv6EYlP4nIJLpP5AhLFnUsOPIxlK2J6zxz4AJ-72_dLnAnIOWtN-Rb-tExXwjwK4RjJTsfDMe_d1Jg5oMT3PvfEd3-FBRA9k5GtjGSZIlkYp2FNmthNdMGnA_qMfzTyFp1dW0Bwz5VdVROwC28JrR6g4BiHs9nNt9Pu43jQ/s3264/BeFunky-collage345tyujkijklohjrr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1670" data-original-width="3264" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2zPIgTWsKW3OQPFfch7mkv6EYlP4nIJLpP5AhLFnUsOPIxlK2J6zxz4AJ-72_dLnAnIOWtN-Rb-tExXwjwK4RjJTsfDMe_d1Jg5oMT3PvfEd3-FBRA9k5GtjGSZIlkYp2FNmthNdMGnA_qMfzTyFp1dW0Bwz5VdVROwC28JrR6g4BiHs9nNt9Pu43jQ/w400-h205/BeFunky-collage345tyujkijklohjrr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In 1977 the Furay family welcomed another daughter and Richie switched gears musically...yet again. He held the band together long enough to release <b><i>Dance a Little Light</i></b>, a mainstream offering that was, in his words, "less overtly spiritual" than <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b> but still permeated with matters of faith. The band kept traveling, playing clubs and theaters but also adding in some gigs at Christian colleges. It's important to Richie Furay that he's never written or recorded songs of which he has to be ashamed. He has said that none of his mainstream songs contradict his Christian beliefs. "There's not a song I would be ashamed to sing anywhere, anytime," he says. "I'm proud of every single one." <b><i>Dance a Little Light</i></b> was followed by <b><i>I Still Have Dreams</i></b>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gJSgUfstM3mlC1WqrCiyM37f0jLmefdtDkLbMPD7X7qnMRNyh8V4kedOYPkDFHTO-8QVtamIYLBt5keL9SH9Vu3w_Ma_7ZsqpAxX2WybbX2KkgRdccxpg7qMUAnUxRsWnRmFv6ajyjLdTOVJ5tYEYiM57uNDmph2d8jDTWn8K1i5tCIehI2sgeZIUw/s3264/BeFunky-collage345tyujkijklohjrrgggg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1758" data-original-width="3264" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gJSgUfstM3mlC1WqrCiyM37f0jLmefdtDkLbMPD7X7qnMRNyh8V4kedOYPkDFHTO-8QVtamIYLBt5keL9SH9Vu3w_Ma_7ZsqpAxX2WybbX2KkgRdccxpg7qMUAnUxRsWnRmFv6ajyjLdTOVJ5tYEYiM57uNDmph2d8jDTWn8K1i5tCIehI2sgeZIUw/w400-h215/BeFunky-collage345tyujkijklohjrrgggg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>By this time, the audience for country rock had begun to shrink, as styles like new wave, punk, and corporate rock grew in popularity. Airplay was harder than ever to come by. As Richie and Nancy welcomed a fourth and final daughter into the house, Richie finally told Asylum goodbye. He had long toyed with the idea of recording for a Christian record label. It was finally time. Buddy Huey, an executive with Myrrh, agreed to a new solo album for Richie Furay, but also to purchase the rights to the classic <i><b>I've Got a Reason</b></i> (an album that he loved personally) and re-release the album, thereby giving it new life and putting it in the hands of many who missed it the first time around. Good on ya, Mr. Huey.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiA8SLPjtERoTtCOQ1Z3jPs8G6-ju3tJLcsQHsC-tuiFiPiEYBEMl_7QVna6YN1bu85-8_AWK2SzYEUjTmTzca2xpGRvYAdTr0KimgHZMunHwWPc8ZfNQ1L_skeX2BLXGM3NhAZyHLqzlfnQ0akMmhZlzuFMbY6JoqUdPqc4QiWWGPym9LcXGr6BJd1A/s3264/BeFunky-collage345tyujkijklo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1670" data-original-width="3264" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiA8SLPjtERoTtCOQ1Z3jPs8G6-ju3tJLcsQHsC-tuiFiPiEYBEMl_7QVna6YN1bu85-8_AWK2SzYEUjTmTzca2xpGRvYAdTr0KimgHZMunHwWPc8ZfNQ1L_skeX2BLXGM3NhAZyHLqzlfnQ0akMmhZlzuFMbY6JoqUdPqc4QiWWGPym9LcXGr6BJd1A/w400-h205/BeFunky-collage345tyujkijklo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Richie's first overtly Christian album, <b><i>Seasons of Change</i></b>, is a great one. Released in 1982 at the height of the new wave craze, <b><i>Seasons of Change</i></b> might've sounded like a bit of a throwback, as it remained true to Richie's style. This might've hurt the album with young listeners, but the project is a joy to listen to. Furay was finally free to express his faith in a straightforward way. "No longer did I have to put my love for the Lord into a sort of code that wouldn't raise a red flag for secular music executives," he said. Songs like <i>For the Prize, Through It All, Endless Flight, Hallelujah</i>, and the title track were all standouts.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm2EHNTgPbRbBnZt5B2ckfB3RNg7GQNhQHJ8InW2TuFxwcovLArugAlw6iaTpu6wwCH3JZ8RlJlxguPuZN52y1xb5ZK5WqG2MHemBuzAcA05aw6qR_AIuL7pOfkRonUqW3x16Bthv-2pKm6ZVe5eMm9yGHgWQTxRbIl1oJyvvQZXI9FicsSlzVgRInQ/s512/1377977_10151914832814165_1252850071_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="512" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm2EHNTgPbRbBnZt5B2ckfB3RNg7GQNhQHJ8InW2TuFxwcovLArugAlw6iaTpu6wwCH3JZ8RlJlxguPuZN52y1xb5ZK5WqG2MHemBuzAcA05aw6qR_AIuL7pOfkRonUqW3x16Bthv-2pKm6ZVe5eMm9yGHgWQTxRbIl1oJyvvQZXI9FicsSlzVgRInQ/w400-h225/1377977_10151914832814165_1252850071_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pastor Chuck Smith and Richie</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Speaking of seasons of change...the biggest one of all was just around the corner. Richie Furay was about to embark on a period of pastoral ministry that would see him eventually leading a Calvary Chapel congregation for 35 years. Starting with a home Bible study, this is another story with far too many twists, turns and testimonies for me to do it justice here - it would best be experienced by obtaining <a href="https://www.richiefuray.com/books/pickin-up-the-pieces-autographed">Richie's book</a>. [By the way, Tom Stipe would also become a much-loved Calvary Chapel pastor in Colorado. He <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2021/01/remembering-tom-stipe.html">went Home to be with the Lord</a> in December 2020.]<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOfm6vuj1shgFnSCzfP2agSWGnraGZOb6RCLicrgBgFQcQYQVDjThkcFRMWT2XSUkOdnCWrFcxm-895KGtxTtF5av99Og9-hu24CkexnUAlphCKZtlcm30sVXv93KhoWMlzDFeQF_w6jduJV1aD7ur3EcKgpQ2cY9Z5UwVFwqgr_zAcVlEiD1Foj6Zw/s3264/BeFunky-collage345tyu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2051" data-original-width="3264" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOfm6vuj1shgFnSCzfP2agSWGnraGZOb6RCLicrgBgFQcQYQVDjThkcFRMWT2XSUkOdnCWrFcxm-895KGtxTtF5av99Og9-hu24CkexnUAlphCKZtlcm30sVXv93KhoWMlzDFeQF_w6jduJV1aD7ur3EcKgpQ2cY9Z5UwVFwqgr_zAcVlEiD1Foj6Zw/w400-h251/BeFunky-collage345tyu.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY93tXsya1Hid0iiZ6iQEDzlRe_b5HqEKGvzxXIDtd0DQmV7kRkDL__5t0lOOkkvwebweFb4sGe748n0TlEB8JTaQi-2tUqXZt3iLeM4LWfgyuzZzcAync_H5OU2B8r7V0yubE7BuTqh1HeW9C3G1lNVcrer4bB2vlnuIt9KiewNjNCqNCg-O3YFRVgQ/s400/119228813_10158269491503301_2599722772830943835_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="400" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY93tXsya1Hid0iiZ6iQEDzlRe_b5HqEKGvzxXIDtd0DQmV7kRkDL__5t0lOOkkvwebweFb4sGe748n0TlEB8JTaQi-2tUqXZt3iLeM4LWfgyuzZzcAync_H5OU2B8r7V0yubE7BuTqh1HeW9C3G1lNVcrer4bB2vlnuIt9KiewNjNCqNCg-O3YFRVgQ/w400-h249/119228813_10158269491503301_2599722772830943835_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Furay continued to record sporadically and has participated in some Buffalo Springfield and Poco reunions. Several more albums have been released, the most recent in 2022! The man never seems to get tired. An outspoken conservative, Furay's social media posts rub some of his old fans the wrong way now and then. But he doesn't let the trolls get him down. He's pretty much cancel-proof at this stage of his ministry and career.</p><p>You can have all the talent in the world - and Richie Furay has a lot - but one of the true marks of a man is how he treats those around him, the impact and effect that he has on those who work closely alongside. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzc_2ps3oCtoEbCDZpwfc_7IOmxicYxdrObFMrhQgIt71-gRjdUx7h5UMcAOsmu7Ua8TraGt-YG0Rsvfr1ug5iwhFO7V2gfhkD6Z8b5enCiTymNdJU3tpiXHxp1q_VfwB9gfFALoLDrDTy3msVC1jJvm3JckwLRPq5Kq1gCgQ6mEchzLIJhhYAlu-Xw/s1955/267528830_10159698592395420_9173946377434438901_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1955" data-original-width="1408" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzc_2ps3oCtoEbCDZpwfc_7IOmxicYxdrObFMrhQgIt71-gRjdUx7h5UMcAOsmu7Ua8TraGt-YG0Rsvfr1ug5iwhFO7V2gfhkD6Z8b5enCiTymNdJU3tpiXHxp1q_VfwB9gfFALoLDrDTy3msVC1jJvm3JckwLRPq5Kq1gCgQ6mEchzLIJhhYAlu-Xw/w288-h400/267528830_10159698592395420_9173946377434438901_n.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex MacDougall</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>"To this day, I consider Richie one of my best friends," said Alex MacDougall. "He is kind, friendly, and an impeccable musician. The pressures that he must have experienced during that time must have been intense. He had the peer pressure and the phenomenal success of so many of his contemporaries and former bandmates, including Steve Stills and Neil Young; he had the pressure to write and record radio 'hits' from the label; and he had the expectations of his mainstream fans juxtaposed against his desire to express his newfound beliefs. It was tough for him, but he always was gracious. We began the ’76 tour only performing songs from <b><i>I’ve Got a Reason</i></b>, but then moved into a hybrid of songs that also included his significant contributions over the years. He’s performing soon [September 2022] here in Nashville. The Country Music Hall of Fame has created a new exhibit honoring Country Rock and the LA musicians who pioneered it. They’ve created a special concert night. Richie deserves that honor."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrJA64wtlfMVhsupyIUC76QGE5p_alAolbvN8ygHq5gRNCtMI9saOC1cEQx4PnXfB-YqZq1Xb-VGD48EJDF-t6CS-Xz6XvxN0w14pJXO5dTLRia5QeOWDVyWPaT0d7woZ67TA5IfEd-wiMC29atat1f6yHcRHc3FZUrvlsa-E21OfIHHnyo2pb7DCiQ/s3264/BeFunky-collage345tyujki.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrJA64wtlfMVhsupyIUC76QGE5p_alAolbvN8ygHq5gRNCtMI9saOC1cEQx4PnXfB-YqZq1Xb-VGD48EJDF-t6CS-Xz6XvxN0w14pJXO5dTLRia5QeOWDVyWPaT0d7woZ67TA5IfEd-wiMC29atat1f6yHcRHc3FZUrvlsa-E21OfIHHnyo2pb7DCiQ/w400-h400/BeFunky-collage345tyujki.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Richie Furay ended up traveling the world...appearing on <i>American Bandstand</i>...playing music in places like the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden...and, of course, his name and likeness can be found in the Colorado Music Hall of Fame as well as THE Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his home state of Ohio. He would probably tell you that all of that musical success pales in comparison with the satisfaction and fulfillment of caring for, teaching, nurturing and maturing that flock of believers in Colorado for all those years, his wife Nancy at his side. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVg670Av8YWa5DPgYwPmOyhekqJkxa2U2_AYez1EiUyIOjMTF6lDKuiKq1mSC7BbUvu4ra_HPPjWA4x14RNO1cKDueIwmEuck8kZE6yPaime-yJTdq5QLxRpFGNsdKPcqnil0mPtuhlEhOIiQ8Ogb0UZCNGuldamKCxwwYPGyN62XDlR6x-Imc0QwNQ/s2016/275209753_10160207586859165_14708206541281726_n%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVg670Av8YWa5DPgYwPmOyhekqJkxa2U2_AYez1EiUyIOjMTF6lDKuiKq1mSC7BbUvu4ra_HPPjWA4x14RNO1cKDueIwmEuck8kZE6yPaime-yJTdq5QLxRpFGNsdKPcqnil0mPtuhlEhOIiQ8Ogb0UZCNGuldamKCxwwYPGyN62XDlR6x-Imc0QwNQ/w400-h300/275209753_10160207586859165_14708206541281726_n%20(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The kid from Yellow Springs, Ohio did alright.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>* Quotations are from <i>Pickin' Up the Pieces</i> by Richie Furay with Michael Roberts. Get your copy <a href="https://www.richiefuray.com/books/pickin-up-the-pieces-autographed">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-11925158995823430892023-03-07T07:04:00.002-08:002023-03-07T07:04:26.248-08:00"In the Still" | Terry Clark<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ33sMZMDyULAZhYH2Q1EDeZUWKq36cO61ZTyiUbLshYyvvcBrp2ypBFrJ3DG9lOcV-IeHT7n9NT-jGId28aJF-55ExAAJOSqnijEC_TN8GX37lbldAA7aPDO8_0-MB7WSynNR3gh25ayoTLaQ9wU1p0OZg3uL0xxcxZDDd3dDKv94esJrIcfjuuuJ7g/s640/ab67616d0000b2734524cf12c8c2ae7b69df6725.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ33sMZMDyULAZhYH2Q1EDeZUWKq36cO61ZTyiUbLshYyvvcBrp2ypBFrJ3DG9lOcV-IeHT7n9NT-jGId28aJF-55ExAAJOSqnijEC_TN8GX37lbldAA7aPDO8_0-MB7WSynNR3gh25ayoTLaQ9wU1p0OZg3uL0xxcxZDDd3dDKv94esJrIcfjuuuJ7g/w400-h400/ab67616d0000b2734524cf12c8c2ae7b69df6725.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>"In the Still" by Terry Clark</b><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Catalyst Ministries | 2022</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You can probably count on one hand the number of classic Jesus Music artists who are still recording today. I'm talking about artists who were there on the ground floor, in the 1970s, and who are still writing, recording and releasing full albums of new material today.<p></p><p>Count Terry Clark among them.<br /><br />After stints as a keyboardist and vocalist for Liberation Suite and the Chuck Girard Band, Terry released two solo albums of Christian rock music in 1978 and 1980. <i>Ugadano Thawanu Maija</i>? Yeah, that was him. But after successfully engineering his own exit from the CCM machine, Terry Clark became a respected and much-loved worship leader...before we even used that term. </p><p><b><i>Living Worship</i></b> and <b><i>Let's Worship</i></b> (as well as several albums that followed) took the listener on a musical journey of intimacy with the Lord. Terry would reveal that his songwriting technique had become quite different. He wasn't work-shopping lyric ideas, hammering out new songs for some record label, hoping that one or two would become "hits." Instead, he was putting personal conversations with Jesus to music. This approach inspired authentic, genuine worship on the part of the listener. People who bought Terry's albums or heard his songs on the radio considered him more of a personal worship leader than a CCM star. Terry, with wife Nancy always at his side, has criss-crossed the nation and the world, teaching audiences how to worship Jesus.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9llZa9ucb6-7whsE9UnuJ-unXs6U043ioPKUs0XF2uO4VCThQnH9VqnRgFZnxSMb7GIx4pz7XAuOPtMeCzZWMVw2Zhb00itYxcQXXtk-95zQf7PyWJzUkzoj1H-GvP3-hsEmginLNhtWt3SMGFenmqJk5UU_j5U-XPf2WzwKsk9Lo7eWD92flPkJFg/s2048/1147752_595070820551706_1400133603_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx9llZa9ucb6-7whsE9UnuJ-unXs6U043ioPKUs0XF2uO4VCThQnH9VqnRgFZnxSMb7GIx4pz7XAuOPtMeCzZWMVw2Zhb00itYxcQXXtk-95zQf7PyWJzUkzoj1H-GvP3-hsEmginLNhtWt3SMGFenmqJk5UU_j5U-XPf2WzwKsk9Lo7eWD92flPkJFg/w400-h300/1147752_595070820551706_1400133603_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>After a dozen or more albums, I thought it might be time for Terry to take it easy. Maybe he's said all he intends to say.</p><p>As Coach Lee Corso would say, <i>"Not so fast, my friend!"</i></p><p>Along came <b><i>In the Still </i></b>in September of 2022. It's a full-length album of new songs, available in physical CD form, as a digital download on streaming services, and even as a <i>long-play vinyl</i>. Yes, Terry Clark has come full circle. The old school has become new again.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhaU9XYCDsdN6PrNhiCaDeghCM64Ogu62HbYxKeXZGmjIbQttwoHL5mzFEMqNW63tDLo9T8_okfIUqMRvXV77macWvAgS6jlef4SJLN1_3bE-Pn6fndEe7sZ6itDYFRY0s_woFTT5FK8imB74RZCdm0Su2PIC9uUdDSBWpckNDUomL_FkQF1LWm0REhg/s2881/IMG_0863.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2594" data-original-width="2881" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhaU9XYCDsdN6PrNhiCaDeghCM64Ogu62HbYxKeXZGmjIbQttwoHL5mzFEMqNW63tDLo9T8_okfIUqMRvXV77macWvAgS6jlef4SJLN1_3bE-Pn6fndEe7sZ6itDYFRY0s_woFTT5FK8imB74RZCdm0Su2PIC9uUdDSBWpckNDUomL_FkQF1LWm0REhg/w400-h360/IMG_0863.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>This release benefits from the considerable musical talents of such pros as Bill Batstone (veteran artist on too many projects to name); John Andrew Schreiner (<i>Compassion All-Star Band </i>& <i>Colours</i>); Jeff Lams & Bob Somma (<i>Colours </i>& the Tommy Coomes Band), bassist David Coy (<b><i>Hit the Switch</i></b> by Pantano/Salsbury & <b><i>Soldier of the Light </i></b>by Andrus Blackwood & Co.); and Mark Walker (drummer on such timeless classics as Randy Stonehill's <b><i>Welcome to Paradise</i></b> and Larry Norman's <i><b>In Another Land</b>)</i>. Production duties were capably handled by Somma, Schreiner, and Joe Bellamy (producer of Terry Clark's <b><i>Melodies</i></b> album in 1980). </p><p>The title track is an instant classic. Other personal favorites for me would include <i>I Will Follow</i>, <i>You're the One, Only One Hiding Place</i> and <i>Arrow</i>. There are about 5 tracks on the recording with which I was already familiar, either because I had heard them more than once in a live setting, or because I had downloaded them in demo form from Terry's website a while back. In that group is a song called <i>Flow Over Me</i>, which almost always brings me to tears. The album actually opens with two songs that are outliers - <i>Weakest Vessel </i>effectively presents the plan of salvation and <i>The Call</i> is a blatantly evangelistic song that musically reminds me of something that would've felt right at home on <b><i>Welcome </i></b>or <b><i>Melodies</i></b>. But most of these songs fit very well in the "intimate, authentic worship" category that Terry Clark helped pioneer. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2a2NYVwaqW_2eQPMRkJfxZ1N7aU-82PG8ad-96N1I1PNsZ0Qu6RE6PJpuGYPnNVZCuIBFW-NFvBC-9U0n_WG5LfjUUQ8LcoRtAgYbKxBq1JNYdR2iFMdzywKK3_qu1pmubA5TLnPXIYsA5_ZUGTrdOOvWpUMXLSOrM5XEIw7VNBoWR4azgEL0wm6PSA/s640/21462854_10213999228321850_2503682024174755244_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="574" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2a2NYVwaqW_2eQPMRkJfxZ1N7aU-82PG8ad-96N1I1PNsZ0Qu6RE6PJpuGYPnNVZCuIBFW-NFvBC-9U0n_WG5LfjUUQ8LcoRtAgYbKxBq1JNYdR2iFMdzywKK3_qu1pmubA5TLnPXIYsA5_ZUGTrdOOvWpUMXLSOrM5XEIw7VNBoWR4azgEL0wm6PSA/w359-h400/21462854_10213999228321850_2503682024174755244_n.jpg" width="359" /></a></div><br /><p>I don't know exactly how old Terry is, but his voice is finally sounding a little weathered, displaying a vulnerability, even a frailty from time to time, that actually enhances the intimate message of many of these songs. This is not the brand of worship music that should be accompanied by mechanized light shows, pounding drums and haze machines; if I may be so bold, I would suggest that these songs are best experienced by candlelight...perhaps sitting in your favorite, comfortable chair...with a Bible nearby. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvdXPLrI4PxaP8Mez4GV0UGHYE8R7frLahz4K_P2fcM2sFyipyVlWguPR6BfDDbVLkpuuaFa3XYJFWeMhEfRXd79AkbkO-zCOCuS00le9RHZpRiyhj_B8k5dAUHpeYGAvN_l1RssdhqgwykNokSKF2GCBvya7sxkNSijyauC2n3AKkFP5YEqfFJi70A/s604/1930971_31838695899_3270_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="604" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvdXPLrI4PxaP8Mez4GV0UGHYE8R7frLahz4K_P2fcM2sFyipyVlWguPR6BfDDbVLkpuuaFa3XYJFWeMhEfRXd79AkbkO-zCOCuS00le9RHZpRiyhj_B8k5dAUHpeYGAvN_l1RssdhqgwykNokSKF2GCBvya7sxkNSijyauC2n3AKkFP5YEqfFJi70A/w400-h268/1930971_31838695899_3270_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />I don't know if this was intentional, but in several songs the lyrics acknowledge mortality and seem to catch Terry longing for Heaven...</p><p><i>You're the One who opened my heart / You're the One who knows the last beat right from the start<br />You're the One who opened my eyes / You're the One who'll finally close them when I die...<br />When my life is done / with all the victories won / You're still the only One</i></p><p><i>I long to see You face to face / and hold You eye to eye</i></p><p><i>My eye is on the Mark / I will not be denied the joy of reaching Home</i></p><p><i>I long for Your coming, oh Lord of my days, when all of Your family will stand...<br />I long for Your coming, oh Lord of my heart, when we'll see You face to face</i></p><p>Alright, Terry...we get it. But just calm down. We're not ready to give you up just yet!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJZUa7qG0-fzRVnZ8APRSiIjtZBGkAFlki-WyYlpOP76owYj0ywYmFTlM3Ih8b8ITogqyYyGHP0kdIUyCbM_XWEl3EBe0O8UNOcUoLfGkG6czBwhMVHyWNhSZ0kNAI549sE3RV1j4U8NwM3c0EV3ysaWCw6TbqKuqVlOwRyP4hijd0MtxNG8nP12ndw/s960/533175_4423914958276_154392532_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGJZUa7qG0-fzRVnZ8APRSiIjtZBGkAFlki-WyYlpOP76owYj0ywYmFTlM3Ih8b8ITogqyYyGHP0kdIUyCbM_XWEl3EBe0O8UNOcUoLfGkG6czBwhMVHyWNhSZ0kNAI549sE3RV1j4U8NwM3c0EV3ysaWCw6TbqKuqVlOwRyP4hijd0MtxNG8nP12ndw/w400-h266/533175_4423914958276_154392532_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><i>In the Still </i></b>is a treasure. An album of wisdom and worship from a seasoned veteran who has spent a lifetime showing others how to peel away the clutter, turn down the noise, and tune into an intimate conversation with Jesus, worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.</p><p><i>In the still I can see You<br />When I'm at rest, in You I'm strong<br />In the sweet, still of Your Spirit<br />I can hear You gently leading me along</i></p><p><i>This</i> culture needs <i>that </i>message. Perhaps now more than ever.</p><p><br /><br /><b><i>In the Still </i></b>is available in CD and vinyl at <a href="http://www.catalystpeople.com">www.catalystpeople.com</a></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-31613391194310268402022-08-07T13:35:00.007-07:002022-08-13T16:54:45.018-07:00HONORABLE MENTION (N-R)<div style="text-align: center;">The <b>Top 20 </b>albums are just around the corner!</div><div style="text-align: center;">So here's another grouping from the <b><i>Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda</i> </b><i><b>(?)</b> </i>category...<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytClk7nPpRRqc3My1LMVQ_yEbp987zkveH8NmcESuo7U7TnrjVz9jryLSi1Y8w3oX3RYiSbiwoopHtM_XYXLQ9VhV3KdfoeR-LULQUlk06JbX8Rv7ceHyjn2QjFeNTLeCDroXsnoU_CNhfkSlptLCjiGdWgjZXIyn89c1ysnDibeKtDH9L7nFN0zxag/s599/R-7231257-1436750842-3111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="589" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytClk7nPpRRqc3My1LMVQ_yEbp987zkveH8NmcESuo7U7TnrjVz9jryLSi1Y8w3oX3RYiSbiwoopHtM_XYXLQ9VhV3KdfoeR-LULQUlk06JbX8Rv7ceHyjn2QjFeNTLeCDroXsnoU_CNhfkSlptLCjiGdWgjZXIyn89c1ysnDibeKtDH9L7nFN0zxag/w394-h400/R-7231257-1436750842-3111.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>THE MISFIT</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Erick Nelson & Michele Pillar</i></b> (A&S Records, 1979)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Two friends got together and recorded a pretty cool pop-rock concept album in 1979. According to CCM historian Mark Allan Powell, "<b><i>The Misfit</i></b> tells the story of a person that just 'doesn't fit in,' of how he finds Christ, and of what happens to him thereafter." The two are said to evoke comparisons to other male-female duos of the day - <b>Captain & Tennille, Peaches & Herb, Carpenters</b>, etc. "<b><i>The Misfit</i></b> was an album way ahead of its time," said <b>Bob Bennett</b>. "The songs were challenging and sophisticated lyrically, and in many ways open-ended as to interpretation...it's a wonder the album even got made." Of interest are some covers on the record, including a remake of the <b>Randy Stonehill</b> classic, <i>First Prayer</i>, and a medley that includes the <b>Nazareth</b> hit, <i>Love Hurts</i>. Nelson's music career fizzled after this; Pillar became a sweetheart of CCM in the 80s. <br /><br /></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEQekeGLVWqcvYipA5sFzmmjqR9ZDJSygSq_P2bXtWQtrwTPF-zaW6TobZ_afQ73I4UWDB_yF7L685PkX3cDi-9lS3qnPnmkQlS0_IyMuTNjMP9pJWpQRUmxu2fjr_Dc74lf_FroTs4lPP9q6ZMB-m0as9T0yzTNP5L1wSwH7oSgc-5U8na8FPlclfw/s600/R-3662443-1611694855-4548.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEQekeGLVWqcvYipA5sFzmmjqR9ZDJSygSq_P2bXtWQtrwTPF-zaW6TobZ_afQ73I4UWDB_yF7L685PkX3cDi-9lS3qnPnmkQlS0_IyMuTNjMP9pJWpQRUmxu2fjr_Dc74lf_FroTs4lPP9q6ZMB-m0as9T0yzTNP5L1wSwH7oSgc-5U8na8FPlclfw/w400-h400/R-3662443-1611694855-4548.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>STREAMS OF WHITE LIGHT INTO DARKENED CORNERS (Part One)</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Larry Norman</i></b> (AB Records, 1979)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">So the early '70s were jam-packed with quasi-spiritual secular songs that actually became hits. Some of these had questionable theology (at best)...but we were just happy to hear Jesus' name on the radio! This album by <b>Larry Norman</b> (with a big assist from <b>Randy Stonehill</b>) by no means belongs on the list. But it had to be mentioned here. The production values are certainly lacking...in fact, some of these sound like impromptu demos that were never intended to be heard by the public. But it's really cool to hear Larry's take on these songs, and this record gets big points just for the weirdness of it all. <b>Randy Stonehill</b> comedically impersonating an obnoxious LA DJ between cuts is a huge bonus. <br /><br /></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQ1kyNn9iKdcCfAQAR4cvC0YaRC5D3XRNmUBCGvMEeOaYm_pjKLKHi80a89W78zOYL7J-hyICl8s-8nTFw7uDeRA2u4Bbfc0e-sP3TOsXr9E4w8TzFtHMCC7NMicd8_yMPev81WtNTZ3Zq9UxE4voj6em_XiDSjk2MTi4hAO0-YPoYOLfFIE-Zkc8EQ/s600/R-11336602-1595157284-2912.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQ1kyNn9iKdcCfAQAR4cvC0YaRC5D3XRNmUBCGvMEeOaYm_pjKLKHi80a89W78zOYL7J-hyICl8s-8nTFw7uDeRA2u4Bbfc0e-sP3TOsXr9E4w8TzFtHMCC7NMicd8_yMPev81WtNTZ3Zq9UxE4voj6em_XiDSjk2MTi4hAO0-YPoYOLfFIE-Zkc8EQ/w400-h400/R-11336602-1595157284-2912.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>FLYAWAY</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Nutshell</i></b> (Myrrh, 1977)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">This probably did not actually belong on the countdown, but <b>Nutshell</b> is worth a mention. CCM historian David Di Sabatino said they were sort of like a British version of the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b>. Nutshell did not approach either the talent level or production budget of the 2nd Chapter, but the comparison is most apt on songs like <i>Conversation Pieces, Feel Like a River, Safe and Sound,</i> and <i>In The Father's Hand. <br /><br /></i></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BsesEjcLeLfBeWPQqQnHsWm5vU7NcvK6PZOY7IdmF0HABjmuhXZgktbu_vGvXaj8PiXFj6hgpzUH6fGTEjkh_x7dDZoFA1YDIP_6mYpwpyynA93bT0YtoDuuYQNNfQ0yqxu-D_2AWW8uk-lVRQB2Z3um86xXWd9LQ78EUJnhWX7okqTUFRvS2z_XxA/s599/R-5547219-1658525920-1234.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="594" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BsesEjcLeLfBeWPQqQnHsWm5vU7NcvK6PZOY7IdmF0HABjmuhXZgktbu_vGvXaj8PiXFj6hgpzUH6fGTEjkh_x7dDZoFA1YDIP_6mYpwpyynA93bT0YtoDuuYQNNfQ0yqxu-D_2AWW8uk-lVRQB2Z3um86xXWd9LQ78EUJnhWX7okqTUFRvS2z_XxA/w396-h400/R-5547219-1658525920-1234.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>LAUGHTER IN YOUR SOUL</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Jamie Owens</i></b> (Light Records, 1973)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The daughter of <b>Jimmy and Carol Owens</b> gets an album of her own at the tender age of seventeen. She had grown up in a musical home, with folks like <b>Andrae Crouch </b>and <b>Barry McGuire</b> hangin' out all the time. But she proves here on her debut that she was more than just her parents' kid - she had actual talent. She got a little help from friends like the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b> and <b>Michael Been </b>(later of <b>The Call</b>). Author Mark Allan Powell labels this record "a Jesus Music classic" and reveals that <i><b>Laughter In Your Soul</b></i> was the top-selling CCM album of 1975 in Great Britain. Jamie wrote some of the songs herself, but also served up covers of two classic Jesus Music tunes by <b>Barry McGuire</b>. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNWWwn4Ofc6Eor_v4Bf98eRtuOMqX4qIH-jpL0KzID3vuzZpgQ7fJwNLcMk0fh6wzI0bmSyf5vllpgMepx27fpE5GA6onvWOwR5ZmPofaDTfbpX-d5JQTGhVgHgYvkbQZQaheIf8SOlUe3j_v0IQpvEYr0A-HQWpSr71kCqJ6sa-WmdpoFRFLvCu0iQ/s600/R-4125766-1439942668-9813.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNWWwn4Ofc6Eor_v4Bf98eRtuOMqX4qIH-jpL0KzID3vuzZpgQ7fJwNLcMk0fh6wzI0bmSyf5vllpgMepx27fpE5GA6onvWOwR5ZmPofaDTfbpX-d5JQTGhVgHgYvkbQZQaheIf8SOlUe3j_v0IQpvEYr0A-HQWpSr71kCqJ6sa-WmdpoFRFLvCu0iQ/w400-h400/R-4125766-1439942668-9813.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>LOVE EYES</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Jamie Owens-Collins</i></b> (Light Records, 1978)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, would you look at that! In the span of less than a decade, it would appear that <b>Jamie Owens-Collins</b> went from little girl to grown woman. Her music grew up, too. Produced by her husband, <b>Dan Collins,</b> <b><i>Love Eyes</i></b> was radio-friendly CCM pop with just a hint of country. <i>Pleasure Servin' You</i> and the title song would get lots of airplay, while Jamie rocked out a bit on <i>Radio Man</i>. <i>It's Been Quite A Year </i>had a bittersweet feel, and <i>New Day</i> was a personal favorite. There weren't a plethora of female solo artists in '70s CCM. Jamie was in the same space as <b>Evie, Honeytree </b>and <b>Amy</b>. By 1978, <b>Evie</b> and <b>Honeytree</b> were closer to the end of their recording careers than to the beginning. <b>Amy Grant </b>was just getting started and would soon eclipse them all. But <b>Jamie Owens-Collins</b>, an excellent songwriter, moved more toward the praise & worship space and released more albums throughout the '80s and '90s.<br /><br /></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bg5VWOpINjLDOGcLnTqigodLNVSxrfBHlLYVAUah2BxJOdqavY2LfssY_5zzRmt5ojFSS74CIW-Uo8gXueeUQdKJiT1-IxcH8PVLCb52L6bhoPUPS7KKQrFBbnbEIUJQ-f5r02fqwKRTxsuYknnFtP72V2gSqbPB24TZimz5PRhpoxNMgSW45ew6Xg/s400/R-2969172-1371493375-3413.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bg5VWOpINjLDOGcLnTqigodLNVSxrfBHlLYVAUah2BxJOdqavY2LfssY_5zzRmt5ojFSS74CIW-Uo8gXueeUQdKJiT1-IxcH8PVLCb52L6bhoPUPS7KKQrFBbnbEIUJQ-f5r02fqwKRTxsuYknnFtP72V2gSqbPB24TZimz5PRhpoxNMgSW45ew6Xg/w400-h400/R-2969172-1371493375-3413.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>COME TOGETHER (A Musical Experience in Love)</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Jimmy & Carol Owens (featuring Pat Boone) </i></b>(Light Records, 1972)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Come together! Come together! Come together in Jesus' name! Jesus people, come together, let your light shine...</i> Remember Jesus People musicals that could be performed in churches? <b>Jimmy and Carol Owens </b>were the king and queen of the genre. This wasn't rock and roll; it was hip folk music intended to give youth pastors a little street cred as they sought to reach the young people of their towns. Today, these musicals sound quite tame, but make no mistake...they were a little radical back in the day. Author Mark Allan Powell says, "<b><i>Come Together </i></b>was the Owens' high point, and by the year 2002 would remain the best selling Christian musical of all time." Featuring the talents of heavy hitters such as <b>Barry McGuire, the 2nd Chapter of Acts</b> and <b>Pat Boone,</b> <b><i>Come Together</i></b> has been called the very first contemporary praise album. </div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DV6ptbu89FtN6JKQr49Asrtd5LBB5LD1eU2rzYkRzO1umiAq1A0SERye99kOigt9sUa9QljvmLUvBaAdPyNjPq1LXMq6yUu3l8TFfv97Xn1llBr_7HfIcY-xENoQPYNQlZal4HjmMVHqFAjyu20YK563BH48XpLAAQSZbmAwPhe9ZWkwP7BihVf_1A/s599/R-21713806-1642189679-9715.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="599" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DV6ptbu89FtN6JKQr49Asrtd5LBB5LD1eU2rzYkRzO1umiAq1A0SERye99kOigt9sUa9QljvmLUvBaAdPyNjPq1LXMq6yUu3l8TFfv97Xn1llBr_7HfIcY-xENoQPYNQlZal4HjmMVHqFAjyu20YK563BH48XpLAAQSZbmAwPhe9ZWkwP7BihVf_1A/w400-h399/R-21713806-1642189679-9715.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>IF MY PEOPLE...<br />(A Musical Experience in Worship and Intercession)</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Jimmy & Carol Owens (featuring Pat Boone)</i></b> (Light Records, 1974)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Another much-loved musical from the Owens, this one was a mixture of hippie-era folk, church choir anthems and early congregational praise & worship. There was a bit of a nod toward charismatic/pentecostal theology, as some of the participational worship songs encouraged the clapping and lifting of hands; there was also a track where the audience was exhorted to "sing a new song," creating a song from their own hearts, with a unique melody. <b>If My People</b> featured a heavy dose of narration by <b>Pat Boone,</b> as well as musical performances by an all-star cast, including <b>Bili Thedford, the 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, </b>and <b>Jamie Owens</b>. The title song was something special; it was later expertly covered by <b>The Imperials</b>. This was one musical the youth pastor could present to the church without fear of losing his job! </div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpbMyLe1hyARowELm3bB6Z1uhZx_MTAvrg_ys90487h3G3jxSXH1ekVa76xvvjm0p-dxPsEJHO7kB_U1C5OOniBSVkgn3zIU7-MoL0uVk_E-v7pEFFyFnwz7xNiT0KbEpeWO6uQAMvfuSRayyzS-y3cAkr9yc-H5gDV3_Za47TMXaU4nIGPw-dO5SUw/s600/R-2072552-1330767413.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="600" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpbMyLe1hyARowELm3bB6Z1uhZx_MTAvrg_ys90487h3G3jxSXH1ekVa76xvvjm0p-dxPsEJHO7kB_U1C5OOniBSVkgn3zIU7-MoL0uVk_E-v7pEFFyFnwz7xNiT0KbEpeWO6uQAMvfuSRayyzS-y3cAkr9yc-H5gDV3_Za47TMXaU4nIGPw-dO5SUw/w400-h395/R-2072552-1330767413.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>THE WITNESS (With Barry McGuire as Peter)</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Various Artists (Jimmy & Carol Owens present...)</i></b> (Light Records, 1978)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Of all the youth/church musicals to flow from the hearts, minds and pens of <b>Jimmy and Carol Owens,</b> <b><i>The Witness</i></b> is perhaps best-loved and most fondly remembered. Featuring <b>Barry McGuire</b> as Peter, <b>Matthew Ward</b> as Judas, and <b>Tim and Steve Archer </b>as James and John, this musical recounts the life and ministry of Christ, including the story of His crucifixion and Resurrection in a way that is deeply satisfying. The songwriting is more creative, the storytelling is more inventive, and the sonic quality is leaps and bounds beyond Christian musicals from earlier in the decade. <b><i>The Witness </i></b>also features <b>Carol Owens</b> as James' and John's mother, <b>Annie Herring</b> as Peter's wife, and <b>Jamie Owens-Collins</b> as Mary. The supporting cast is amazing, both in the studio and in the control room: <b>Jim Fielder, David Kemper, Jack Joseph Puig, Mike Deasy, Clark Gassman, Buck Herring, Jimmy Owens, Sid Sharp, Michael Omartian, Dan Collins, Nelly Ward-Greisen,</b> and more. This 2-record set is a classic and probably should have made our list. [Imagine being the poor schmuck in the local church that gets picked to play Judas and has to sing the song performed by <b>Matthew Ward</b>...]</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><ul class="list_1HutQ" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><li><br /></li><li><br /></li></ul></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRChQsZ2Lwr23YoUHUijYNTN0l1uxPTwowlzrgWtCt0puv39ixootEHZablsqYOS-oyNu1ushaL1CmAbFxGcrH8to3vc0hgcEDjdxphGs0kF8a7ptAVQ-5djiG_1wxY85BtYzjxlPTUmnp9HpEJk43SzE7_BT97uVdRAMg81W-sKg9Zi-KnZrnW3lF9w/s600/R-4565756-1473581236-7855.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="576" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRChQsZ2Lwr23YoUHUijYNTN0l1uxPTwowlzrgWtCt0puv39ixootEHZablsqYOS-oyNu1ushaL1CmAbFxGcrH8to3vc0hgcEDjdxphGs0kF8a7ptAVQ-5djiG_1wxY85BtYzjxlPTUmnp9HpEJk43SzE7_BT97uVdRAMg81W-sKg9Zi-KnZrnW3lF9w/w384-h400/R-4565756-1473581236-7855.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>EMPTY HANDED</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>John Pantry</i></b> (Dove, 1978)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">If you like mellow, adult-contemporary music with a British accent, then here's a record for you. Pantry never really caught on in the states, though some thought of him as sort of an English <b>Michael Omartian</b>, due to his production work with the likes of <b>The Who, Bee Gees</b>, and others. <b>Kelly Willard</b> is not listed in the credits of this album...but that's her...oh, that's her, all right. I'd know that voice anywhere. Pantry also did production work for albums by <b>Liberation Suite, Parchment, Lewis McVay</b> and <b>Debbie Kerner & Ernie Rettino.</b> This record does not belong on the countdown, but I thought Pantry's name was worth a mention.</div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYl31aVhqYVH7NU1cb-Tv6i8V5JyJjxQgzVA4ROOsR2UzRqus9ddVjpG3pyqrQmXsmnKBu1Z0Te1JGNBnQVJQo_wIFB_3dE_5EBO1tJdmvfMNhRtOX9sbR5zoAusAY3jmEgeyVy37hP1DPxGjDfoRewgqerE4CE4DG-cc8eicysvvT47xznnHXLw-_Vw/s600/R-7224367-1456019136-4316.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYl31aVhqYVH7NU1cb-Tv6i8V5JyJjxQgzVA4ROOsR2UzRqus9ddVjpG3pyqrQmXsmnKBu1Z0Te1JGNBnQVJQo_wIFB_3dE_5EBO1tJdmvfMNhRtOX9sbR5zoAusAY3jmEgeyVy37hP1DPxGjDfoRewgqerE4CE4DG-cc8eicysvvT47xznnHXLw-_Vw/w399-h400/R-7224367-1456019136-4316.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>SHAMBLEJAM</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Parchment</i></b> (Myrrh Records, 1975)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Corners of My Life</i></b> from the <b><i>Jubilation, Too</i></b> sampler album served as my personal introduction to this hippie-trippy, psychedelic folk outfit from the UK. <b>Parchment</b>, comprised here of <b>Brian Smith, Sue McClellan</b> and <b>John Pac</b>, had been part of the British Jesus Movement from way back. But judging them from the album cover and perhaps some of the instrumentation, a few American Jesus Music listeners incorrectly applied an Eastern mysticism or even occult-like influence to the trio, which was quite unfortunate. They have been described by reviewers as "psychedliec-<b>Seals-and-Crofts</b>-on-acid" and "<b>Jethro Tull </b>colliding with <b>Canned Heat</b>." This record is a guilty pleasure/rare find/real treat. </span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlfLu2RCNVPqsnCL6E3IGCr5dNiAgzsD5fEIBE4rQfEl7c_70eUI9ldNXn_MST-j5HIqzJeQWVM82n1uAXt9WXGH2p4okMxQGgHhWMPSSB53abLnTzFQBPQ21_jb0thJ4bug1X3Bi_aEeaUYGZF_KJc6KCeEJViG0H1bDGqZ_MiJqF9jtO0tr1avKjA/s600/R-2642740-1294617491.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlfLu2RCNVPqsnCL6E3IGCr5dNiAgzsD5fEIBE4rQfEl7c_70eUI9ldNXn_MST-j5HIqzJeQWVM82n1uAXt9WXGH2p4okMxQGgHhWMPSSB53abLnTzFQBPQ21_jb0thJ4bug1X3Bi_aEeaUYGZF_KJc6KCeEJViG0H1bDGqZ_MiJqF9jtO0tr1avKjA/w400-h400/R-2642740-1294617491.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>DANCE, CHILDREN, DANCE</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Leon Patillo</i></b> (Maranatha! Music, 1979)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Leon Patillo</b> had put in a little time with <b>Santana.</b>..so the feeling at the time was, "Hey! We nabbed a big one!" (Meaning, we scored another big conversion from secular rock.) In hindsight, Patillo was at best a footnote in the history of <b>Santana</b>. But that didn't stop the CCM press from making as much as they could from the association. [All I knew of <b>Santana</b> as a teenager was the album that had a gratuitous shot of naked women on the cover. A record store was one of the few places a Southern preacher's kid could get a good look at well-endowed, topless ladies in the 70s. But I digress.] This solo record from Patillo made an immediate impact. Historian Mark Allan Powell calls it "one of Christian music's first and liveliest dance albums." Songs like <i>Temple to the Sky</i> and the title track <i>exuded</i> joy. And that cool pic of Leon blowing into that melodica on the back cover didn't hurt, either. </span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0ot9N-oGDM-r5juEY3AdGe-lBxOrRSCaw00tvtjf76kNQ8HUFZu_X7hbAoiUlndl2J-4dhNMnD-8PSXyHcL4-89goxLnO9OUOS1Rh58ADncoVYSjUUni8Ha4J9jKHCr9ZsxmKm0SgRvvb4Nue_euGmLAtUHzONyhlCKOGzKiI2GXpbVzN2qZoZe45Q/s600/R-7273582-1437752451-3224.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0ot9N-oGDM-r5juEY3AdGe-lBxOrRSCaw00tvtjf76kNQ8HUFZu_X7hbAoiUlndl2J-4dhNMnD-8PSXyHcL4-89goxLnO9OUOS1Rh58ADncoVYSjUUni8Ha4J9jKHCr9ZsxmKm0SgRvvb4Nue_euGmLAtUHzONyhlCKOGzKiI2GXpbVzN2qZoZe45Q/w400-h396/R-7273582-1437752451-3224.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>MORE FROM THE ASTONISHING, OUTRAGEOUS, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE GARY S. PAXTON</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Gary S. Paxton</i></b> (Newpax Records, 1977)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The guy was just funny. What a character! I remember listening to <i>When the Meat Wagon Comes For You</i> and <i>There Goes a Cigar Smoking A Man</i> and laughing hysterically as a teenager. But Paxton was more than a goofball. He was actually a pretty good songwriter and producer. This record picked up where his debut left off, but it's not just a bunch of songs that didn't make it onto the first album...this is actually a pretty strong track list on its own. Paxton had a knack for wrapping some incredibly serious points in humor and zaniness, you know, to help the medicine go down. It worked. His was a complicated, storied life. And this record, while not generally recognized as a great album, is nonetheless very fondly remembered by his fans.</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdGRdevpsAQYAj8NR6v339u_xyW4n-TBruK9MKSY143zbo785Rt9YL4kJ41LT2BnuMsu-sRj8FNLP97c2O4OniPBid0qrmsJJ7jk63eR4kE27DW-Es7FauHdZjgzDwyytdRHFh_xt38w-EP_zrNKYaZ_cxN4U8y2R9Uzj2NYOkYmLcoGaR76os7yYMA/s600/R-12859688-1555757841-1130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXdGRdevpsAQYAj8NR6v339u_xyW4n-TBruK9MKSY143zbo785Rt9YL4kJ41LT2BnuMsu-sRj8FNLP97c2O4OniPBid0qrmsJJ7jk63eR4kE27DW-Es7FauHdZjgzDwyytdRHFh_xt38w-EP_zrNKYaZ_cxN4U8y2R9Uzj2NYOkYmLcoGaR76os7yYMA/w400-h396/R-12859688-1555757841-1130.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>WASHES WHITER THAN</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Petra</i></b> (Star Song, 1979)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Is this <b>Petra</b>? Is it? Can we really say this is a <b>Petra </b>album? I guess. This was the in-between record. <b>Petra's</b> awkward teenage phase...when they were trying to find themselves, banish their zits, get up the nerve to ask a pretty girl to go to the homecoming dance, and figure out the meaning of life. It definitely was not a proper follow-up to <i><b>Come and Join Us.</b></i> Such amazing rock and roll promise had been shown on that 1977 album...and it all gets squandered here...all for some hoped-for radio airplay, I guess. Am I being too hard on <b><i>WWT</i></b>? After all, if it had been released by any group not named <b>Petra</b>, I would've thought it was a pretty darn good record in 1979. There was a songwriting shift here, as the group's lyrics began to be more focused on equipping Christian young people, rather than evangelizing the unsaved. The musical shift was reportedly the idea of the suits at Star Song. <b>Greg X. Volz</b> sang lead on about half of the songs; the other half was sung by short-term member <b>Rob Frazier.</b> Pretty sure this is no one's favorite <b>Petra</b> album...but maybe it was a necessary transitional record. Thankfully, <b><i>Never Say Die</i></b> was just around the corner... </span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93B_7B0FLTll9DphDt7p4p7DWHKCXfhPqiDGpgb3E1KiUk_glfLLUxk_M5WvfxXxeBnlDRfFQ6sfLDAp-pxlGFvletW3RMF-hMimoyhkh6_5gjmGPYe08DR8SleYXigJPxXsNQwOyiPa-lWqxTyvhuNcE1aJSl8XrmQkMDkle2OrrfuFMX-o720I6lw/s600/R-1492038-1299521954.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93B_7B0FLTll9DphDt7p4p7DWHKCXfhPqiDGpgb3E1KiUk_glfLLUxk_M5WvfxXxeBnlDRfFQ6sfLDAp-pxlGFvletW3RMF-hMimoyhkh6_5gjmGPYe08DR8SleYXigJPxXsNQwOyiPa-lWqxTyvhuNcE1aJSl8XrmQkMDkle2OrrfuFMX-o720I6lw/w400-h400/R-1492038-1299521954.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>HE TOUCHED ME</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Elvis Presley</i></b> (RCA Victor, 1972)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The King of Rock and Roll gets an honorable mention! Much has been made of Presley's love for Black Gospel, as was exaggerated in the glitzy 2022 biopic <b><i>Elvis</i></b>. But his love for and devotion to Southern (white) Gospel quartet music and culture is a story that is not as well known. He grew up singing in his local Assembly of God church in Tupelo, and attended First Assembly in Memphis when he knew the <b>Blackwood Brothers</b> would be there. Presley idolized the Blackwoods and their charismatic bass singer, <b>J.D. Sumner</b>. He always included Gospel songs in his secular concerts and always had a Gospel quartet backing him on stage (<b>Jordanaires, Imperials, Stamps</b>). The stories are legendary of how Presley would regularly summon the Gospel group members to his penthouse suite after the 2nd show, in order to sing Gospel favorites around the piano until the sun came up. He is backed by <b>The Imperials</b> on this classic, Grammy-award winning album. In fact, it's been said that this is basically an <b>Imperials</b> album with <b>Elvis</b> <b>Presley</b> standing in as lead singer. Fun fact: the only Grammy awards Presley ever won were for his Gospel recordings. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhblXnMFHlkEeYdq5qMNUm4qMBGeyAVW15St_K88b_KNrvBl7GyZblgETvTqbipThvyu7Ip_1kfZie_22PnCxTyBVG_b09BcNsNdVPesqix1Ckx_LDfCTOG6B2X7OsolZoTyGaZzJW6elzPok-04xJMOHRak-lLVmnRaKNKtz_C_iP8wPaUyupXFOIQMQ/s400/R-4107208-1355465274-8842.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhblXnMFHlkEeYdq5qMNUm4qMBGeyAVW15St_K88b_KNrvBl7GyZblgETvTqbipThvyu7Ip_1kfZie_22PnCxTyBVG_b09BcNsNdVPesqix1Ckx_LDfCTOG6B2X7OsolZoTyGaZzJW6elzPok-04xJMOHRak-lLVmnRaKNKtz_C_iP8wPaUyupXFOIQMQ/w400-h400/R-4107208-1355465274-8842.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>LADY</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Reba Rambo</i></b> (Greentree Records, 1977)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Talk about a Drama Queen! Her music and stage persona was glamorous, dramatic and "extra," as were elements of her personal story over the years. But she's always had a core of support from die-hard fans. <b>Reba Rambo</b> grew up the daughter of Southern Gospel royalty and was one-third of <b>The Rambos</b>. Her mother Dottie was a songwriting machine and her parents had a troubled marriage (though Dottie would not go public with allegations of adultery and abuse until decades later). But Reba grew up immersed in that Gospel Music eco-system of traveling, writing and performing. She toured some with <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples,</b> sang at Explo '72 at age 19, and served as a bit of a bridge from the Southern Gospel world to Jesus Music/CCM (although much less so than <b>The Imperials</b>). <b><i>Lady </i></b>was her first LP under just her first name, and it put her on the radar screens of many listeners who like their CCM served up with a little pizzazz and flair. <i>The Land of Oohs and Ah's </i>and <i>Somewhere Over the Rainbow</i> were highly memorable tracks from this album. <i>Lift Him Up</i> was a popular early worship chorus. <b><i>Lady</i></b>, produced by the great <b>Phil Johnson</b> with a tiny budget, was Grammy-nominated and won the Dove for Contemporary Album of the Year. No less an amazing singer than <b>Kelly Willard</b> has said that she was influenced and inspired by Reba in the 70s.<br /><br /></div></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JD01ZDwoJmmESdafB60t__atvqpeQ4wyvkSXBnw46uB9dh9P0kihWBmZe5NDkL_nOKqavXVtArlSmc0jgQ7vv_Hnl-fp4dS3SVrOVakn-hj-Y3IWwGojuZieHP0rcJdOS69yaFtiRIFn6bxhLUBZkqs2_pMbRAf5QK8jTMtygdbe3gt6DkTXM7c31Q/s600/R-2541220-1497145716-1552.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JD01ZDwoJmmESdafB60t__atvqpeQ4wyvkSXBnw46uB9dh9P0kihWBmZe5NDkL_nOKqavXVtArlSmc0jgQ7vv_Hnl-fp4dS3SVrOVakn-hj-Y3IWwGojuZieHP0rcJdOS69yaFtiRIFn6bxhLUBZkqs2_pMbRAf5QK8jTMtygdbe3gt6DkTXM7c31Q/w400-h399/R-2541220-1497145716-1552.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>THE LADY IS A CHILD</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Reba Rambo</i></b> (Greentree Records, 1978)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">The Lady was now a Child...only, with a bigger budget. <i>Campus Life</i> magazine said the orchestrations were impressive and compared Rambo to Streisand. <i>Cash Box</i> invoked the name <b>Diana Ross. </b>Her voice would soar, glide and slide between notes...at full volume one moment, whispering the next. There's an <b>Andrews Sisters</b> send-up here (<i>All Day Dinner</i>) that is very well done; the disco-inspired <i>Child of the Music Maker </i>was also quite popular; and <i>Sacrifice of Praise</i> was sung in churches around the world. This record earned Rambo another Grammy nomination. She was always a lightning rod for controversy. She and her now ex-husband, fellow-Southern Gospel star <b>Dony McGuire</b> (of <b>Downings</b> fame) engaged in what looked like some kind of spouse-swap situation back in 1980. He's been public about bouts with substance abuse...they became pastors of a church, which later was rumored to be a LGBTQIA+ affirming church...and then they divorced in 2019. So, yeah, it's a lot. But Reba will always be fondly remembered for 2 records that she made in the 1970s, and for the long shadow that she cast for female performers in CCM. <b>Margaret Becker, Kelly Willard, Kim Boyce, Kim Hill</b>, and <b>Rebecca Sparks </b>(of <b>Found Free/Bash n the Code</b>) all count her as a major influence. </div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGxHkoqTCTQv6Qc0y98k-l50hEkH_hjkvwqe8SV2ptK782UpGWq8K3PTsnkRsP-vReLVnSh632zZLxqVRaWpanH3U4folVxto3kgaQh8kQUMJcHBjKoRZpqqez0ducIVWVvWoQqw3f4UI-LjNfkSUmGm0gnStOHRQHplmty-a6WphuL9zmi9MyJAx7g/s510/Austin-Roberts-Advent-front-e1366047962923.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfGxHkoqTCTQv6Qc0y98k-l50hEkH_hjkvwqe8SV2ptK782UpGWq8K3PTsnkRsP-vReLVnSh632zZLxqVRaWpanH3U4folVxto3kgaQh8kQUMJcHBjKoRZpqqez0ducIVWVvWoQqw3f4UI-LjNfkSUmGm0gnStOHRQHplmty-a6WphuL9zmi9MyJAx7g/w393-h400/Austin-Roberts-Advent-front-e1366047962923.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>EIGHT DAYS (A Personal Journey)</b></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><i>Austin Roberts & Advent</i></b> (Newpax Records, 1976)</span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Never mind his country hit <i>Rocky</i>...or all of that <b>Sonlight Orchestra</b> stuff. <u>THIS</u> was mind-blowing, hair-raising stuff in 1976. Who could've guessed that <b>Austin Roberts</b> would come up with a full-on, highly dramatic, openly theatrical, Christian-themed rock opera concept album in 1976? Was it derivative? Probably, yes. Low budget, low quality? Yeah, kind of. But who cares?! It was also artistic, risk-taking and just downright weird in spots...with plenty of good, old-fashioned, hard-driving rock and roll...with crunchy guitars, distortion, synth solos and the type of gutsy vocals we just weren't used to hearing in the mid-70s. Kudos to Mr. Roberts for sticking his neck out for this one. <br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eFIici0fNwfihRoPa3m4TlIgWtzTLeDgicptoF4HJCcNhNKy6Omp5TW8mmKIW8B144o3Qkce6_5JFp5x75f12Lr7D3iftQ84Sm0GUmX0epGd3iEYqC1F9rFpZSLmT3Szo11Bdx74yekmflTkD0xXiZF-UHBbUcwQsz-4M5rWassdrpPvW9wjXhDMdw/s400/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="52" data-original-width="400" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eFIici0fNwfihRoPa3m4TlIgWtzTLeDgicptoF4HJCcNhNKy6Omp5TW8mmKIW8B144o3Qkce6_5JFp5x75f12Lr7D3iftQ84Sm0GUmX0epGd3iEYqC1F9rFpZSLmT3Szo11Bdx74yekmflTkD0xXiZF-UHBbUcwQsz-4M5rWassdrpPvW9wjXhDMdw/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Can you believe it? Time for the <b>Top Twenty</b> Greatest CCM Albums of the 70s. Let's carry on!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><div><br /></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-87687743889909916602022-07-14T14:08:00.185-07:002022-07-15T10:48:11.744-07:00#21 EMERGING by The Phil Keaggy Band (1977)<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i></i></b></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94LaEQ3uE4cuIRbOd4ME7kFoeZ68yG3vUDFlnMmEk5W84dgFFQefQinGJ-0bMrI2YwbdzTL7hjSRjiVkz0z0_KBlSQ_rZCz3DKyjLW9hlnE7uyGv5fFv4N2lh0BYa6yqDktXxveK3IRTBt3FEXr33dgox2iOMvub2GyTU6un_VlsQ6_AR39VnI8Oqfg/w395-h400/Phil-Keaggy-Emerging-front.jpg" /></a></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>EMERGING</b> by <b>The Phil Keaggy Band</b> (1977)</div></b><div style="text-align: center;">New Song Records NS-004</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Star Wars was born and Elvis died. A peanut farmer with a big smile was sworn in as president, and the first Apple II computers went on sale. Saturday Night Fever sparked the disco craze and Roots became an unforgettable, nationwide television event.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">The year was 1977.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A new home could be purchased for $54,000 in '77. Gas was just 62 cents per gallon and a postage stamp would set you back 13 cents.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Jesus Music was slowly giving way to something called "contemporary Christian music," although few realized it at the time. Two important releases of Christian rock music hit store shelves in 1977 - a 3-record live set and an all-new band recording, both featuring the jaw-dropping talents of a young man named Philip Tyler Keaggy.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Keaggy first experienced a certain level of fame and notoriety (at least regionally) as a member of the band Glass Harp, a secular group that helped pioneer the "jam rock" genre. Keaggy surrendered his life to Jesus during his time with Glass Harp, and his new-found faith in Christ began to invade the lyrics that he penned for the band. Keaggy grew restless and embarked on a solo career/ministry with the Jesus Music classic <a href="#">What A Day</a>. Two years later the seminal Love Broke Thru album was released and raised the bar for the overall promise that Christian rock music held. Then Phil joined the Second Chapter of Acts for a Western U.S. tour, a portion of which was recorded for an iconic 3-album live set in '77.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79p7DYR9acREkbnAmTGyGBv8QyCHuApr8FE1CkpTCtwoWKeUoLhfYM_09FWLBddcz5RAtmWJDTcdQrREPUEwAmxoUB6xNZpCrHKKOBVxRtrRCRMQur9Rtpif1O9t_SRqx9OW04VV-oPWCZHDSJp_qINatq-UVwJDSIFeV3l7IpgURmss3Im8faKmKqw/w400-h148/BeFunky-collagedrehytjklghjkt.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Glass Harp seemed by now ancient history. Now it was time for Phil Keaggy to put another band together, a very different type of band. This band was born of a religious fervency and played music with a bright feeling, with a vibrancy that's hard to explain. They traveled the highways and byways, playing music that just made people happy. And this time the band bore his name.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-qfryD-EGeO8vBeKC51bHCsD6BDimJbcXTtyGzJmfkpuvLwLCwbPf27btUaA8ZRpJbzIHEsF7DZgZIrxf7MvSxQi5iu_dzj5hEee2uaFii-Xyf4G5qT2Pt2CINQ_DFXl-GMBNLTRAHNxyk_gyYJCmORbirixug6AsrEYYWay808CuA0RguW85d_e6A/w400-h148/BeFunky-collagedrehytjklghjktgg.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: Andersen, Madeira, Cunningham</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I had a chance to speak with three members of the Phil Keaggy Band - drummer Terry Andersen, keyboardist Phil Madeira, and bassist Dan Cunningham - to find out more about a record called Emerging. To properly tell the story, let's back up just a bit...</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: xx-large;">1970</b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Glass Harp demos found their way into the hands of a Grammy Award-winning producer by the name of Lewis Merenstein. With Merenstein at the helm, Glass Harp released its debut album, recorded in Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios. The band soon found themselves opening for the likes of Alice Cooper, Chicago, Yes, and Grand Funk Railroad.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx4KoYpE_KBqkrPJbfdG8Jg7IoJUIrYMmGv7Hh7yXSgRsq1IEZaeaOIuuNIM0kwrfT0Vcxq3lj2NnxtBd_n2pjSudMrytlGqnvMjB5fKXKR6GYif6sjn8zPGz0chXbKPernhYmcXuIYxAld7E-3D64BoRH1RIrDfGxr2VCgqKSaG2AzucyFsEGS53byw/w400-h400/R-1620721-1354060734-4555.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, also in 1970, a young man by the name of Terry Andersen showed up at a rather unconventional Christian ministry called Love Inn in Upstate New York. "I'd had my born-again, shower-on-the-inside experience that year," Terry recalls, "just as Phil and Lynn Nichols and a ton of others did across the great USA." Andersen got married at Love Inn two years later, but then, sometime after that, moved back to his hometown of Sioux City, Iowa for a while.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: xx-large;">1973</b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"Keaggy paid a visit to Love Inn about the time the <a href="#">What A Day</a> album came out," Terry Andersen remembered. "He connected with some of us."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="#" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEino6ORP58ecj2G4pj-JLpW3ihVTMCNb0abdkQOVHaUtVFRIyrHC4jdW_uVSZxA6Np9r4qJmHoX5jw5N1VVtmVwMtZEOI0_hDAiCP280vmWu6uBoQBFTz5WXZqiZDgWdUc7GiQBNrxJoDj2j2LBTCbqiDJgv1Clo_SsaAd3icL0Lat4NyUWaMvu_TYpFg/w400-h270/BeFunky-collagedrehytjklghjktggd.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil Keaggy | Larry Norman</td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Andersen says that Keaggy then went on the road and spent so much time and effort trying to meet the demand for his music and testimony, that he nearly burned out. "Somewhere during those formative, hectic days," Terry says, "Larry Norman offered Phil a recording and management type arrangement." (By the way, trying to imagine Phil Keaggy in the Solid Rock fold hurts my brain...but in a good way!)</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="#" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZ6WPXlvG2qrtHtJuefqk_kdk3gDeMZzWqGURojTO5RoAS7xH7DPhbmdoSHfvWxK1K7MA3UIabcORWUVzu_Ir31ztPQGitwzsm4RUJVerqzAccdskFKlaBY3eZQgUEXv0mpIn7dHZXy6ssqu7fax2pJ1InAnBQucWUjvrFXnP1PEJWrbLrZ4A67FFmw/s320/36252563_2054573978136854_3512121695697633280_n%20(2).jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen</td></tr></tbody></table></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen continues: "At the same time, Phil was feeling the need to put down roots with a church family, a community. The leadership at Love Inn had been praying for Phil, and on a Tuesday night during one of our Bible study sessions in the coffee house basement of the barn, I took a phone call from Phil, asking for prayer about this decision. I felt led to pray but didn't give him any advice one way or the other."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Keaggy later decided to join...and moved to Love Inn.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19TRGSkI8b8kYRCKuu98S3sxAnUwWRkm5_jXHlLWI3YOn4DYSWRPA9YSX3kUFgTX9x-cDNjVuMG720x-7xRIP2RG_jQqzz1WAxjo0mec4X3J1VSyS9HQJSsPk41-6SV_A2AQNK_rkvbe8_s_Fxz8u292VcHWFb9Sd_8Ib5ptDNqlCVhoSyQX45qSG2Q/w333-h400/7847093_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Love Song</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: Jay Truax, Chuck Girard, John Mehler, Tom Coomes, Phil Keaggy</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I met Phil Keaggy in 1973 when I was a college student in Indiana," relates Phil Madeira. "He was playing with Love Song and a friend of mine insisted we not only see them play, but check out their soundcheck." At the soundcheck, Madeira's college friend approached Keaggy, said he was a big fan from Cleveland, and introduced Phil Madeira, adding that Madeira was "a good piano player."</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Keaggy invited me to jam with him and John Mehler and Jay Truax," Madeira recalls.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Later, Keaggy told Madeira, "I think we're going to be in a band together."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">1975</span></b></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"In late summer of 1975, when I was visiting Love Inn, I spent an evening with Phil and his wife Bernadette at their home in Freeville, New York," Dan Cunningham remembers. Freeville is a little village of about 500 people located east of Ithaca, south of Syracuse, and about 147 miles west of Woodstock. Cunningham says he and Keaggy were playing classical guitars in the living room when Keaggy mentioned that he was thinking of forming a band. "He might have asked me to join," says Dan, "I don't remember for sure, but he certainly hadn't heard me play bass at that point. A few months later, after prayer, encouragement from friends, and oddly, a letter from my future wife at Love Inn, I moved to Upstate New York."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUe-Aa1d11HmpuYMv7tH012l-QYUoYHl7-GuCLXtdIfgBCJt4SWnPSuvNPfTxnYja0mCqxvAXMIVQxkQaN-E1eRJCrnhCD6Rldp0s288cOmATeGIFyKLbuXEyENXVxmXFFfm7Sj_wdsLPoUXiicrTkZtwBFiVnVPw40RVLqDRM2LC4I1KSXCSUTXPDGw/s16000/8956517.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So by '75, a young Lynn Nichols (from Brockport, NY) was part of the Love Inn community and proving to be a formidable guitarist in his own right; Dan Cunningham had moved to Freeville from West Virginia; and Phil Keaggy had invited Phil Madeira from Rhode Island to visit Love Inn and check it out. But what about Terry Andersen? "Well, Janie and I heard there might be a Phil Keaggy Band forming so I began to pray about moving back to Freeville," Terry said. "Gears were in motion."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: xx-large;">1976</b></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">So in America's Bicentennial year, with bassist Cunningham, guitarist Nichols and temporary drummer Peter Hopper already in place, Phil Madeira arrived in Freeville to join the band.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Phil Keaggy Band was formed in 1976 to be part of something called Love Inn Road Ministries, according to Cunningham.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"The thing about Love Inn was that they owned our ministry," Phil Madeira offered. "So they had to approve who was in the band. They knew Peter Hopper was temporary (which was good), but the only guy they'd consider was Terry, who was a member of Love Inn but living out of state when we formed."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-mpHPsd7RyydyxCOz_6aHw2u8kF7JSHMzfWCk_UONUAFWx2wj-KCROX-KpT_OblxtDFQg5sSqp2TyPfruPJ1UuGlmwjvSJ8kNXEAm5xsLHKMnwEJRI-sRnme2LklRY4Zchrpj6PCC_7YpYfWs-z1J4s3AAHir_p6AAXmRFkhuvKtoLe4-vYtInwxoA/w400-h400/57338777_10159072302123636_3753101169531027456_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Madeira says he and Nichols would ask themselves years later why they didn't just leave Love Inn, at least as far as the business side of things was concerned. "I think we were fearful of these elders who 'heard from God,'" he said, candidly. "We made the church a lot of money, but each of us was paid below poverty level." Phil Madeira says that he and Dan Cunningham, both single at the time, were paid $125 per week before taxes. "Even in 1976, that was terrible pay," he said.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1977</b></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Looking back, it seems that different band members have different memories, differing points of view concerning Love Inn. Terry Andersen describes it as a "creative community of misfits, dropouts, radicals, revolutionaries, and redeemed Jesus Freaks -- some more stable, mature and educated than others -- but with a general distaste for institutional, traditional church life."<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZfseyexpAhBCMNSSwEiJUajyL2poItyP8lnDOAd2s2f25nX9O2Y2Pq8b5jiS6itKBmmCb5udg7vkfEh9RrIZ6bMxnmC5_XyaAJ1IRYMzc48bTc0gxuMW5Hq8vZbDoZcmVHjPOrXOuJeJv5rdlRmIUJglLP2z-6Qgfb3gDlEeGdW0-ADAasYkIqsjvg/w346-h640/scott-ross-show-1976.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scott Ross, the founder and first pastor of the fellowship, had gained notoriety as a Jesus Rock radio announcer, hosting a show on the CBN station located in Ithaca. In fact, Terry Andersen told me that The Scott Ross Show caused Jesus lovers from all over the country to either visit or move to Freeville. They were hungry for authentic Christian fellowship in a non-denominational setting.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyTVtvJ9zI6YKd5Xygg6emwRyzJDR1ZImDb7yGaOPP-gerTHHKCgQOvo8lvbd0Vi1xkPe8oGzVkwQSC65oYW4pcuvhWRIXRgoy9GEDI8tdZh-UNMQ6HG3pYhMbubyu4LPqB__ZieX0zYJBeTR9ab3fwmxDhV0oY_chTy3FsFatBlAaS5563jBgRf2YQ/w400-h300/hqdefault.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scott Ross</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The story is told that one night, with the youth drug culture raging at the time, Ross mentioned on his show that it would be great to have a facility where young people could meet and share together. Peg Hardesty, a widow was a regular listener to Scott's show and had actually been healed of arthritis as Scott prayed over the air during one of his programs. So she offered her 100 year-old dairy barn in Freeville as a meeting place. The old barn needed a lot of work - a real fixer-upper, you might say. But young people began to arrive and started volunteering to convert the old barn to a facility where Love Inn could thrive.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChYcC9ZHJPdnCcRaqK_RufnBHbIrP1hb1vyXSH-OyGDtm2PYsaynZjqLE7GjC_tQN69IoIiuZH7iIoA0xn0WjSXMhXtTsxZPbVz9yZhGmM1PtvntdZI8zOz6smtUlnHuMpcn_XdQPpI0pbC8GLuhw-86AJXWV8D3gJV1aLa-xwkudaz5dCb5agVFeSg/w320-h142/loveinn.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Scott was one of those gifted visionaries," Andersen remembers, "with numerous anointed, spiritual giftings. Thus, Love Inn was a conglomerate effort to cover all the bases of creative communications to exalt Jesus. We had a newspaper, a radio station, coffee house concerts, street outreach, home groups, and a fledgling record label. We even had a school! Colleges, high schools and churches would invite us to come and share our testimonies." Dan Cunningham concurs regarding the impressive creative output of the church. "When I arrived they were producing a radio show, publishing a magazine, and ran a mail-order Christian bookstore," Dan recalls. "Over the next few years, there was a theatre troupe, a dance troupe, and a record company."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ40vVQ6u9qHOLKDzgeJhXy-SzhkWAHg1290po5lD03ULy92nshcUKagRSqjLfJlohJH2NX03r6l99280Q_7FvQCD96wDsUgCuv0yhvgMAUEPXUcmZiBWhg2ytYrVA-bMWUS0B3qO4vILWqW7HREMQ9k4fLEJdRnQgNToeDJvO4fsSmYXjrMl2Vq2qVg/w400-h292/10399970_105954542190_1715481_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: Ben Pearson, Terry Andersen, Phil Keaggy, Phil Madeira, Lynn Nichols, Dan Cunningham and Peter Hopper</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen replaced Peter Hopper as PKB drummer at the beginning of 1977. The Phil Keaggy Band now had all the pieces in place.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen noted that Glass Harp had done three records for Decca and had a built-in fan base in the midwest, so there was a level of excitement across the country to see and hear Phil Keaggy in a band context again. "We pieced together an old UPS truck (nicknamed the Brown Derby), an old Cadillac limo, installed CB radios, and acquired a 24-channel Stramp mixing board with good speakers," Terry remembers. The PKB was good to go...and go they did. The band started responding to invitations to play in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_7keUEU_9eF-ItVDUXAFaFLnUsiQWddKAF726ScdxAmKxSFORT8qa1w_-nZfsV0a1lhz_pwQSmnROyPUjofQ-hYzT-qC6D6kBkRwJntjKfePjmxEomsd83NaOZBaEL4wFMiO7V43ggrUgSZQUPMbiLhy0ABnbChaVxYR13pnxrAEhWpHe8ZFdHFrSQ/s16000/pkbposterb575h_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Instead of signing with a more conventional artist management agency, the Phil Keaggy Band was managed by the leaders at Love Inn. "The PKB, under authority, was sent out as quasi-evangelists," Terry stated. He recalls that the goal in those days at Love Inn was to preach and practice the Kingdom, make disciples, evangelize, build community, and reach the world. He says those were all good and noble themes. But he admits that a lot of it just became Christian buzzwords with more bark than bite...spiritual ambition sometimes lacking in wise implementation.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira's assessment is a little more direct.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4-i-GV4fxZo_OOM5koiSiBTH9PDCz6BKq1i14Xuo2t0dtz0NT-SYSKqN1ZZTIlL3l1vidnsBAp90dZfLqEFhkz3MrRQD3UGeH5GWYcSurcuUHGKBF3gbbKv-Ym1ddyXn3UxNdtFzcHNS-gP0d6_1PzxNlrH_mH8DTJ7xERG485HGcS7N9YAzujSfbw/s16000/517Kx1TB6kL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Love Inn was based on a well-meaning but errant teaching within the Charismatic movement, and basically put the elders in charge of every detail of your life," Madeira says. "It was embarrassing -- the lack of boundaries and the demand for details. In my book <i>God on the Rocks: Distilling Religion, Savoring Faith</i>, the chapter on Love Inn is the only chapter that never really resolves. And this is because of the damage that the band elder, Peter Hopper did to me personally, as well as the band in general. His negativity, fear-based theology and personal mission to make me more acceptable truly wore me down."<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftCVRxqj-2OQI5E_7rBf-RNAXkCk_LcYTfIXft49Ny0jREY7dNhQl61puA3G33WS3Ca41oxpo5jKr-Fv4M0HlyLsNMw_yXbOg_HrHfyH09mQXVlEUfKVVhyeEli9pbF-K0ENLyO2LNZQWRg541x-uiXrdSv-FZxGKt0nSQhZ61QDdrfLbFSUIwCVN-Q/w320-h227/download%20(3).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham remembers the Love Inn worship services as quite dynamic. "Most people sat on the floor," he said. "Songs, either written or spontaneous, might be started by the leaders or by people in the congregation. The musicians usually joined in. Someone might have a word, a spontaneous prayer, and there was often dancing." Cunningham says you couldn't just show up at Love Inn as a vagabond and expect to live the groovy, Jesus Freak life. "There were some very practical expectations," he said. "You were to get a job (and be useful while you looked for work); you were to get your family life and priorities in order; and you were to represent Jesus well to the outside world."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQu7nBLjXw8Ha2uSW5oC9vSGBM99tuMtTUvARyoL19egg5gpS5ocUAeCE6Odtqp5ybXbN_V-C58bQns-wh4PC--6UL1q-JmTyKkgr0qZSJN_Bo_r51ff-lGzJwykUdGDy2va4iziVn_YhNxg_XNaA4mCqM5DXmqa78IxeBjhN70EeNqCc3EcVxZX-bw/w400-h246/10399970_106227457190_7739786_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: Madeira, Keaggy, Pearson, Hopper</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"As I recall, Phil Madeira and I both ended up painting part-time for income and we all worked in some capacity for The Scott Ross Show." Andersen adds: "Dan was talented and available, filled the need for a bassist, and was a solid peacemaker-servant at heart; Lynn was bright, gifted in administration, and learning guitar rapidly. Lynn's family had been at Love Inn since he was in high school."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm sure a lot of people were excited to see and hear Keaggy as part of a legitimate band again. Of course, the guy is famous for his guitar playing...but also, ironically, for his humility. I couldn't help wondering if the private man matches the public persona. What was he like as a band mate? Was it difficult to function in a supporting role to such a generational talent like Keaggy?</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"To end up in a band with a brother in the faith as talented as Phil, well, we all felt the respect and honor due," Terry Andersen said.<br /><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUoEEyysFvAo0MsRsZi3svgPyrHm5eCT-JQp_Umcj0Ssph5TDlCRIHTBrsn4BjRoYUx79ACOr7lANVlbNJdCf_HMgQ6nj00RPZS3QkxjsIDKf84H7Baa0IE8ONEhPF37vQKKEVyb-xmeowDaJXqeca4RyMJmYdta_XMLVDP_Djph0bb2RWOwlhe19lkw/w400-h396/43304721_10218051113136392_276034842284523520_n%20(2).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Andersen & Keaggy</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham concurs: "Phil was great to work with. He was a kind and sincere man of faith with a great talent. Working as a 'supporting cast member' was never a problem for me. Though he always handled it well, I'm sure it had to be harder for Lynn Nichols, who is a great guitarist himself. Phil Madeira was given the opportunity to show his performing and songwriting talent, also. But we all knew the people came to the concerts to see maestro Keaggy. And that was fine."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">For his part, Madeira reports that he and Keaggy functioned well together. "We sparred musically," he remembers, "and much of that was caught on tape in his 'live' concert archives. We were both spontaneous musicians, throwing riffs at each other and having fun. I'm certainly not implying that I was anywhere near as gifted as he was, but I was a risk-taker. I think he liked my willingness to sort of step off a musical cliff."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Life on the Road</b></div></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"The schedule was very busy," recalls Cunningham, "especially in 1977. The PKB schedule introduced me to 'one night stand' touring. Playing on the road in my previous secular musical life, our engagements were of a week or more in duration, with at least a few days of travel in between. On the longer PKB tours, I quickly lost weight!"</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPfWCBgyc3VEid0WrwufuP_2mNQRhNjcXmB4zqxLNnbU5AP71hrssBFoA6_JpH6J0LrmBCcicmiQc3ye5ZUgTzKn4fE6YuiFYLOBXXktrEoSZcIU4EoT80OIYKTt-aeQ7VXe4EHfQ1C-1MRqwsRAMjpq7xfRy0lsH2G8zqOe9pbHPvA8wqBnv0EKOcA/w400-h268/BeFunky-collagedrehytjklghjktggdklhh.jpg" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCizO1-Nq_H22FHmMHjXvodV6V2lU_Hto7whf1TK36v5Y4D4m6G7kYnf0l-ezOSxmXtmWqu_Zq1ebQdX_8jKIMNTwu7_kxBoJG4k1txYgfn9ROww9YXK0xQV40bWSD9htNLex9iCUAdEwQbMHH8LqnUSESK7GzjZBxB-gSqJX0-k_XorMU77Ewc5bzpw/w400-h224/BeFunky-collagedrehyyyuwerqqrr.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"There were two main tours as I recall," said Andersen. "They took us east and some to the south, mostly church-sponsored events. A couple were in rented theaters. Some college campus Christian groups also sponsored concerts. Our wives were able to go with us some, even my young son Aaron. The wives were very helpful selling merch -- records and t-shirts."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7lcbHgj2AgBJntiGAzPKMh63nrEcwxleEpM2yyYmjwuWbH3jKR9pzxGlMlOz_Rfp0FFBTBha0aBTpZDu98pakVsH0YNeotUEPUe3_42PuDW-ZAUKt-G1ho7P4omQjnjZjw2Gmpxmqtsbcr06Dv2aC4BWpJbV1TlzYZ0-FvjCb5UcN6eM_KgYDOp5tw/s16000/download%20(4).jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNcAvIjilXhHq_Odt4Y8-Y7uzevWdTTKk4D1bF9Ynoxb8habJ_7gZ4qzbTRCwikZ_FmkrHboMkVjuLn33svZg_K57QRt2wYLBLUxHT_5ngDUBUe7AcKt77sskbattLlwulKqYQck_F73YzsQmRIjCGRB3sTtGMzONmnbcwBVhob903lu_cOFnq7D3Zcg/w400-h103/9459805_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry remembers that the "Emerging Tour" included a large blue box truck for equipment, the aforementioned black Cadillac limousine, and a rented Pace Arrow RV. "With most of our funds going to the church, we were always driving vehicles that were old and cheap," recalls Phil Madeira, "and as a result, spent much time on the side of the road, with the hood up. Vehicles were a constant pain. As I said, the church was taking the bulk of our money and the elders would be going on luxury cruises while we all struggled and depended on the goodness of people in our fellowship of similar financial stature...which is to say, none. Once, we were in that old Cadillac, behind our step van, which seemed to be moving slower than usual. Keaggy, annoyed, said, 'Oh Lord, let it blow up!' And in that moment it came to a halt, never to run again."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS7GRJFC5uJkILFSC1nYCWSXwwPAOWIyWHRGe-udNj7LJidYqtb4GUxCfyzIUaNtBIOAj-TeyRfKH5WghgBvOQ0R-iSl5VztD5qbH5Iag_ntLjMivO7nJy3AwDN5bvefZM_NGuM0wstJse67BallfYZ1zGXZr76YYGlGvTGWJA_PVIVXAXZCdDO3FD-Q/w395-h400/6409378_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmckwWWDaL9CXAiZyKwt68ikmlrWKLyN48YsRKFYZpiXOEfk8PK2X4J1v0VMc3i_xyFiQ3m527S7xF1OjN5VZunsg4wyFFBH3lc-3JoxQAHco3vdXpfvynBiZ38EA97DGN8jQiV2-PdR7xgFGeSXAjXfTNeN2d5cWAyLDt2r5zNhy22DyU3mYdRkeNg/w356-h400/BeFunky-collagedrehyyyuwerqqrruopqaz.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywrB1xYpxBik7SfX3xSURUuTq1dYr9FneG5X8rjMDqoVB0wuuzUDzJZbKTvTsZ4a_d4-HOVYhQ9MXHiJTwkTT7SxAD3mFbS11QeHRMNZSxMC8chwcG_fiBPjT9PoSh0MZCqDMwWM032frTP9tphT9oMSE3ZLVLHTXc_v8w74RzpRvMiCF5JcDKv5PFA/w428-h640/BeFunky-collagedrehyyyu.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira tells another hilarious road story that will sound completely plausible to anyone who's ever been on the road in a band. "One winter, we were in snowy Detroit, filling up the vehicles," Madeira recalls. "For some reason, Peter Hopper couldn't find the key to the locking gas cap on the step van. He hit each one of us up, hoping we had it. None of us did. We stood there and watched our 'elder' destroy the gas cap and the protruding input neck. A gas cap was never going to fit on that thing again. Later, we checked into our rooms. We always shared rooms, by the way. Ben Pearson was sharing my room. He was getting undressed, emptying his pockets. 'Oh, crap...I've got the key!' We still laugh about it. I said, 'Don't tell Peter!' But we were all so superstitious about what God might tell an elder that Ben 'fessed up. That next day was a quiet drive to wherever."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8cZU4cYye4mWuftXAuZNui9jlULsdM0QbC_RcISOIlFz_o07PIkMGGheBVeJ_lkbJjau7RY0TenhPXkN3cA1I78krrkCxbLS4KqCX9CpVUbTznjDlQK3loN0Ip2Uayvr2BWcNCxhhtyB12St1RrdttdwMIWMGMuSwhdm8yu56XFoHc8ccjfbdDmJdA/w400-h201/216548_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: Hopper, Madeira, Keaggy, Cunningham, Nichols</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"That second tour took us to a huge, fancy Baptist church in Texas where my drum stool broke and I had to finish the concert standing up," Andersen recalls. Terry also has vivid memories of the band eating some fine Mexican food in San Antonio along the famous RiverWalk there. And he still remembers the strange thrill to see a big theatre marquee, probably in Akron, Ohio, Phil's hometown, that said...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>TONIGHT:</b></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b>THE PHIL KEAGGY BAND</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>LIVE</b></div></b><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Sometimes we were put up in a motel, sometimes we were hosted in various homes," Andersen recalls. "I remember Dan racing his remote-controlled car in parking lots. And I remember Phil Keaggy reading a health book called <i>Sugar Blues</i>. Keaggy, Lynn Nichols and Ben Pearson, our part-time road manager, often went on healthy runs. Probably while I was back at the motel, napping."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7fUvyyMfe6UZZSndrVajWUZ8iw0ax0K8EYKm1XDdEsoQz1E_9NTGEWiv2euwJob17h_ZHFLMlqQDrmzHy_uqv0HoOxw_uZpK9_BsYD3MefEb-qL2g0zuxftJcOfzXsf454ek2Ep8sGGsNQcrxeX2qV3qKHpt0LYvj_K_Q6CG4GwJkeEB4bnXG-BuMA/w396-h400/3147891_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Keaggy bought something called an E-bow on one of those tours," Terry Andersen remembers, now understanding the significance of that moment. "Some of my most ethereal and inspired times -- I think for all of us -- were when the band just stayed on stage while Phillip Tyler Keaggy touched Heaven with his gift, guitar, and heart. The entire room would be caught up in the most amazing, holy and special Presence. I almost weep at the memory of those powerful, sovereign, inexplicable moments."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYCOsOz04trp8iDAAEJ4cnABqLqEbUwi-15qqJ67CbhMoy6-Ej06Y3awxlZZfctjKbairGx6iWDwna0-4V5l3bdAY2ltl2Isyrbf9YzjqayVGLkf7gZuwrNx3mi0eBbV6aQ_DGgWVliGYn9nzK3I79FUXysehIzZEmZwdu-FR5LzbCDefcv0aroX_Nw/w392-h400/philmi1978-575h_1_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">As special as those on-stage times were...there was also a dark side to touring.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I don't know if we would've done better without the church's involvement," reports Phil Madeira, "but I look back with zero gratitude for their hand in our work. I'm sorry -- I know I must sound grouchy. Our band worked extremely hard for little reward. And when we were home, we would be given projects at church to keep us busy. There was no understanding of the hardship that the road is all about."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>"Shepherding"</b></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Trouble was definitely brewing in Freeville.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cunningham says that sometime around '76-'77, Love Inn began to be associated with what he calls the Fort Lauderdale Five. He lists them as Charles Simpson, Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, Don Basham, and Ern Baxter. "They brought the 'shepherding' or discipleship movement to the forefront," he said. "They were respected leaders, but the Love Inn-Christian Growth Ministries alliance seemed like a cultural misalignment to me -- kind of like the Jesus Freak hippies and civic business leaders trying to find common ground. The authority structure and ministry operations both sharpened, but I'm not sure the Ft. Lauderdale folks completely caught on to what was going on with the creative realm at Love Inn." Cunningham says when leaders started emphasizing the book Call to Discipleship by Juan Carlos Ortiz, it really led Love Inn off course.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnkeANY_wA_6OuXNgvnF3qQZNbuv4XwceKEyLRnmytWGrmq3DFZzPcM_GOsSVzGHxM9xfHJC-B1mNp7D_iIs_sthNuWcT5koUnsCYtZitR0K_15z7bQCeqQ0wzvTmzo8XsVz3q1PbWY9psI-4N0O8UNYlv0FPBoei0syc9XdV9Uyg8JD2l3DzXN4S3w/w400-h241/10399970_106227462190_2213267_n.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen confirms that the so-called Ft. Lauderdale Five had almost a celebrity teacher aura about them. Their influence on Love Inn resulted in a "you be my disciple, I'll be your disciple" dynamic that was, in Andersen's view, quasi-Biblical. Terry said the whole thing was "infected by the enemy"...resulting in a works-based, inverted discipleship model that caused burnout and misunderstandings. "Yes, there was some overreach, frustration, maybe even a degree of misuse or abuse in those formative days," laments Terry.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxdvKsP3DbabWwkAh1UBDSAVUjw6XKqhB-T5hWl9vm9JH8aLV9xjb0Rc7SXADX-mtsX3albJjOS3uL1tskb6I_9tWs1K31QVyRS8EBX-zZgJY3_nd5aeWRGciLwG8bkwuLh67nKeu-kZtcC_ml6BrkLrA2NUgHZlPHAEuMdW_Y0mXMUBxKn3Fqn-oaQ/w396-h640/10348930_10204289375778662_7022835636953320004_o.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the worst kept secrets from that era is that the church often held Phil Keaggy off the road and required him to do menial ministry support tasks like duplicating cassettes of the radio show. There's been speculation as to whether being holed up in upstate New York actually hurt Keaggy's music career. "I have no doubt," smiled Dan Cunningham, "that being in a remote, rural location like Freeville and working within the context of a ministry run by a church is not optimal for the promotion of a music career." If Keaggy's career/ministry was damaged by the overlords at Love Inn, he's never let on. "Phil Keaggy is a man of genuine integrity, grace and love," Terry Andersen confirms. "I've been with Phil several times in these post-Love Inn years, at reunions and such, and he has always overcome and resisted the trap of letting offenses fester, rob his joy, or diminish his effective witness and ministry of representing Jesus well."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFJUkDxT7Z4d6tRRwkDBru52Gxjx64QOg7tSthOCVNeaPqaHjlxTN2KrJ3BCPHQJ8j2xoIfWDI8q9Ca_VOUKLhPGsl__7aX3vNojprhMWI_vi9DYik3nPdzfhNYkD5iSpuyBDDTbWKR1q6FYilki5w2bAylrg-4Xetw-q35S7O4ms7Vd20Xxgr8mxZQ/w400-h224/10399970_106227452190_6724103_n.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira says the PKB was all about delivering the "Shepherding and Discipleship" message to the rest of the Church. "Over-spiritualizing life takes its toll," Madeira said. Terry Andersen candidly acknowledged that the Shepherding/Discipleship movement suffered from imbalance, extremes and abuse, leading to tension and sometimes outright dissension within the band. "Within the 5-member band, plus Peter Hopper, our hard driving road manager and sound engineer, there were six different perspectives and levels of allegiance to our Love Inn church life and to its founder, Scott Ross," Andersen says. "Scott was a gifted and talented communicator and a lieutenant under Bob Mumford during the PKB era, but he later repented of missing the mark by inverting Jesus' pattern to 'serve, not to be served.' So yes, there was some tension in band relationships due to our diverse experiences in a young, if not experimental, New Testament church community. Love Inn was loaded with creatives -- wounded, recovering, hungry zealots needing wisdom and maturity. There were drifters, a few college students and local folks, a few older saints, and a sense of growing beyond "Jesus freaks" into a real demonstration of the Kingdom. We wanted more than just routine, repetitious traditions of men. But God's grace permitted some good times and some fruit."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Emerging</b></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, perhaps we should get around to talking about the actual album itself, whaddya say? I think we should...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIi0Yk-oP53HTSezei1AKb97PQe1iM8MeJFCj1kOPfjF_V1g_jacjVho0DDFqbpdHZcQFbIDT9vb69ogspEHASIMQ9m3WChtfZkap4WC-W2j3QWZiiK_omUuivw5Q0Wq605YECHU553h8SdyXIyyApogY_WQDgNm8ewdUqNmWOcE4eaMmdhCj3WmoYLA/w400-h260/Hedden+West+CR-A+1978.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hedden West Studio in 1978</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry told me the band had just finished a tour and ended up at Hedden West, Gary Hedden's first-class studio in Shaumburg, IL (near Chicago) in August of '77. "Gary had also outfitted a semi trailer mobile studio and had recorded with Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and some other big names," he said.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In the credits for Emerging, Peter K. Hopper is listed as producer and Phil Keaggy as co-producer, a fact that causes Phil Madeira to wince when he thinks about it to this day. "Emerging was Hopper's first project," Madeira notes. "After a Buck Herring production (Love Broke Thru), I don't think Keaggy should've been Hopper's guinea pig. I truly wonder what would've happened had Buck been hired to do the work. He was a pro, and Love Broke Thru set the bar high. I understand that Peter was given an opportunity to make a name for himself, but he was not cut out for the job. I don't know that any of us were truly ready for prime time, apart from Phil Keaggy."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpv4HnTOigWcTlgJrjVvNF55FrrIoGlFAjqZz44wfQ-KMX1abjrKRytDva0i4P9mJ3EFIhQmWpy8MsDORkG8FH1kk7pYO9jBNxMkk2VV6q7OdsyfeewOaILE9mB8x0g4ah0_C1qVieetCAm506x8ZIkf3eqpZ5472dRvQ49nxgsbpwa4eOjkWvD055FQ/w400-h266/gary-hedden-home-v2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A more recent photo of Gary Hedden</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Madeira told me that Gary Hedden probably saved the record. "Hopper was difficult and moody and wouldn't have known how to coax a performance out of The Beatles, never mind the PKB," Madeira said. "Whatever good is on that record is due to Gary and the band. That's the truth of it. Hey, we all start somewhere, and I'm sure Peter became a fine engineer and producer."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN63cgIi6QVKpNHNrxg40tC1PnN4Humy6F_3Hn6ZauKzzCeMEesbydXI47KeS8XpEMecRMCkobr_9f4qB8OnojBRZdH_C4crpJwgzwLMseiQdFytV7NHlZkob-DfELUcIy_7Av5-i3YE2wUrV4Ss2eLSSZ06Tl5BkCEwFFCkknEqQFiZkSXl9AJIz67A/w399-h400/R-1765617-1241946368.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">As for Dan Cunningham's take? "Emerging pretty much sounds like our live performances," he noted. Cunningham also had high praise for Gary Hedden: "His Hedden West was the nicest and best equipped studio I had been in. He even had his own master cutting lathe at another location for producing vinyl masters, which he demonstrated for me." In a Twilight Zone (or prophetic?) moment back in 1977, Gary Hedden explained to Dan how music would be digital in the future, with no mechanical apparatus required. "Gary was seeing beyond even the CDs of the future to the technology of our present day," Cunningham said. "I could not get a grasp on these concepts at the time."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira says he last chatted with Gary Hedden about 15 years ago. Hedden gave Madeira some advice about setting up a studio in the basement of his home. "He was extremely helpful," Madeira said. "Saved me a fortune with a few simple tips."</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF7QJ8E1P_a859pjlfMxo_iPSAZYLWK2AWkL14NAt7vWGz33OOw1BldEYU2gcxz47toU-RHCa-2Ptot1a8fwVAnkO7AQB2CkAcGRW6rdDl_7FEm3WyRrf7obWICNNf4PUA_kQh_GNUKAGepB4DGHiVVaX6cmjCpcsLY2g5K7hA3Iqe_KuVSQXd-g-5TA/w400-h400/R-1765617-1518136483-7919.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Much has been made of the fact (?) that Emerging was "a true band album," recorded live in the studio with as few overdubs as possible. I asked these gentlemen if that's how they remember it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Emerging does pretty much sound like our live performances," offered Dan Cunningham. "It's true that the electric band tracks were played as a group, but without vocals. The vocals were added afterward, I suppose to control mic leakage. But yes, there was some discussion about whether we should use any overdubs at all."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira insists the PKB didn't track Emerging any differently than most other bands. "There are those -- Mark Heard, for example -- who will start with a click and a guitar and build things," Madeira explained. "There's a time to do that, and my Three Horseshoes record was done that way. But we did what many people do -- we tracked the basic tracks, added lead and harmony vocals, and overdubbed solos. I think whoever wrote that press report just didn't know any better."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kpjEtepsM-I" width="320" youtube-src-id="kpjEtepsM-I"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cunningham pointed out that the sax solo on Take A Look Around and the cello on Ryan's Song were definitely added later. "The cello part, played by Karl Fruh of the Chicago Symphony, was essentially what I normally would play on bass," Dan remembers. "I notated the cello part for Karl on a yellow legal pad that was laying around the studio."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbs6Xa_fCxKk5d5fbBU5FJd2ECN0uAAPu-dBAMNnlZifIHE5iasOgQL2lKLOyYHEragdEbS5KgonknUY_jetdkhXPNqnXEr-QnJ3rFzAxre8_a6Y7NRwnVj8xn38fJ9m4YEYXDXkyayu8GwuapnxPwP7Pa5Rb6DK7g0Xh3OCxBDMvHGdsJ--yQonu6ow/w400-h203/ryan-s-song-slide_orig.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen candidly admits that he struggled in the studio here and there. "The idea was to just perform the songs that we had been playing live," he said, "so we did. I had some trouble getting through a couple of the songs without glitches. Had to work hours on my drum parts. It was either Another Try or Take a Look Around. I finally got an acceptable take. Peter Hopper actually added some strong hi-hat to punch up Another Try, and it came out pretty strong. I was actually kind of shocked at the volume of the drums in the final mix (I think Peter was a little hard of hearing). Naturally, we sang over the tracks. Didn't use a metronome."<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wrOZKZ5nFIw" width="320" youtube-src-id="wrOZKZ5nFIw"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course, we all have our favorite songs from Emerging. I've got mine: "Theme/Where Is My Maker," "Turned On The Light," and "Take A Look Around." But I wanted to know which songs stood out to these guys...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikfOclN3IaJICDyNB5rQ-AZXiyQr7PeEA0N871VhNn4RPH9b0tMvLtiTSwiYzpH3vk2aZPJDAvcD_Ul54iNODaqnno8NWhaty7lkCd2qZ7zVYl2bk-jiQ6OWQbF2wCvfanE1zBkd6Gyy8IhNfDKy0kiXutihCihRe94ewaIel_-zIzebJl47NonMdNvQ/w400-h370/27858668_2099084663440937_8546561171112508639_n%20(2).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"One special song was 'Ryan's Song.' It was a poem written by Bill Clarke, a good friend of Phil and Bernadette, when they lost little Ryan at about six days old. I always liked the reggae feel on 'Where Is My Maker' and the groove at the end. There was something strong at the end of 'Take A Look Around' that I liked a lot -- reminded me of The Who. Also, we sounded like a legit country band on 'Sorry.' I was always kind of proud of that."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSVd0oxC9z57MXvtT6QPDTBft4ouX4HCU3BuwNFkgB7qB-3wOYZ3M0uQxViwtP7QcDzbGAEuMr9t2b6M8cWE7CJhtS048FixAZlTTPqM6WSaxDyjZ8qtYT1lMu_tPvgOGL-25Iy5r5jWptEEI9Ouivtj4PpWybUeC3MDkrCiaC99dbVnGfMZHVHlgug/w400-h400/12718033_10208056223056498_7905443570347527562_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham with wife Julie in '77</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"The most fun for me was the opening 'Theme' and coda to 'Where Is My Maker.' That was a medley we often opened with, live. It was the result of jams we did in our little practice room at Love Inn early on. We were messing around with jazz influenced themes, something Phil Keaggy had not not done much up to that point. I think 'Another Try' comes from Keaggy's McCartney influence and maybe was seen as a crossover that could work in the secular market as well. It had a set structure, so we did not jam much on it live. 'Ryan's Song' was about the loss of Phil and Bernadette's premature son. That was a very tough time for them."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1KUNIM0UQqQas6hgy1NIZa63EDlbgnZgBOfl8x8_sQ-bzoJIkrZW_2PZW-yXnQA8jSwokjngu5CM86lXseduCEBgqHSBVcTdPt8uzRgsbYv5f7bY6eTTrCMhiH7rlh0XpQwYU0vmzBN2HTUJ9v-mG8b_uod-PpyGqcst4oap-RUAag5_K9OSYYmFR-A/w400-h288/12565404_1637212573206805_6164516956389878581_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L-R: Nichols, Keaggy, Madeira</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I like 'Theme' because neither of us is ruining it with lame vocals. And I like 'Where Is My Maker,' although I wasn't given writing credit on it...and the verse is all down to me. I haven't thought about that until now. Things happen. But I think the jam at the end of 'Maker' is great. Phil's tone is the best there on the whole record, as well as his playing, and I'm surprised by my own playing on that one. I was never happy with the vocal, but people love 'Struck By The Love.' I know it's blessed many a fan. I remember writing it so clearly. I was in my parents' basement, which was semi-finished. The TV was down there with the laundry and my drum set. I was down there praying. It was 1974. And I had this amazing urge to lift my voice and my heart to God, but I was embarrassed -- my parents were home, and I didn't feel comfortable. I went upstairs and told them, which they thought was wonderful -- this young man seeking God. The thing I love about that song is what it says about the 22-year old young man who wrote it. I've always been earthy, honest, off-the-cuff. And I've always been the guy that had those feelings down in his folks' basement. No matter how I come across, no matter how I disappoint someone because of my politics or my lifestyle, etc...I'm still that guy. I'm still struck by the love."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kBXcYxvv610" width="320" youtube-src-id="kBXcYxvv610"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Emerging has been described by CCM historian Mark Allan Powell as being Keaggy's most neglected album, yet "actually every bit as good as <a href="#">What A Day</a> and Love Broke Thru." Several songs from the album are given high praise in Powell's Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. The pop/jazz shuffle "Theme/Where Is My Maker" is said to be excellent songwriting on the part of Madeira, setting the tone for the record with a unique sound. Powell calls "Struck By The Love" a "powerful" song; and opines that "Turned On The Light" and "Take A Look Around" are two of Keaggy's better rock songs. About the latter he writes...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>'Take A Look Around' is especially poignant theologically. The message </i>There's a kingdom emerging / And to me that's very encouraging<i> summarizes the central message of Jesus' teaching (Mark 1:14-15) in a memorable way and establishes the titular theme of the album.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMAnafgUOWMwv2Rpyjy_vaqPwf1F7BVip4URA0gvVqkVVVwEcwMuqM9SNB1ESw_80mDNkAQZcp1TONPsIpFR9fDaH4y-XVXasv2b4lYYCy1cRn0UevdMC_wNfVjOi2anlL6h-Jy6XbrObM887tGEVikfnc-tflgj1vswlQ5w6bg46TzKH8HtoWDtVmw/w400-h395/R-1765617-1541459473-3372%20(1).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">There were several long songs on Emerging...well, long by modern standards. Of course, radio airplay was not a consideration at that time because Christian rock (or CCM) radio stations really didn't exist.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"We were not thinking about radio singles, that's for sure," said Dan Cunningham. "A lot of stuff that we did evolved from live performances. Keaggy was pretty adventurous musically, and we followed his lead. After the first months of practice early on, almost everything came from performance variations that evolved." Cunningham said the challenge was being able to pick up on something new as it was happening. "Phil opened a concert in Chicago with something he must may have made up on the spot," Dan said. "We had to pick up on it and join in, and act like this was the plan all along! Jamming with great musicians who so easily created something new was an experience I under-appreciated at the time."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduaKKdcsVIfIsb4fO3OFG5ZrfpvgkoncfSbxln5oN4IZyxL_awR9Sgcc2E0tiuu1QEWv-2dgo1e3GoQf-yea_ZhOW48esQn3Is8hM7yBycu2rIJtl0RPdd2FIRiZwWaw2mkpB2iummAHKJogBQRisEtVoQUqbdait_id3D94UhebC4DfYRkbgSr988w/w400-h400/R-1765617-1518136475-2390.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNGs2JEU4msmnIQifDlK4n5U0sdMuuqNdQixhXtFCHtq_x9kO5peP7irGk16h6xKSV3Qiu2oMMu_ZQgnku6R2EzDHxM2Y69ll-fjB2oXvo_2SXdiyEpy5WiCcJjhUw4aIl_QmUBtdfC2-H6IR3zx865BdnhLizEOXFCA_6w8j0TTXTICd39LyFldXjA/w400-h400/R-1765617-1518136474-7954.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen said his years in blues/jazz/fusion bands in the late 60s helped a lot! "It was freedom within structure," he said. "Some arranging...maybe a tight intro and ending...but lots of flow and freedom...pushing or playing off each other. It's lots of fun when chemistry exists. And rehearsals polish that." Terry said that both Phils -- Keaggy and Madeira -- had an experimental attitude and good chemistry where arrangements were concerned. "Keaggy would use that e-bow live and just flood the house with astonishing melody and sound," he recalls. "It was heavenly. Mesmerizing!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlvvh0uqg83cpA_A3b3O22Wais4sBrKnF99GgZkJfYss_oCLCpIF2ZnW7IdzEorQHJOAX9aSC8ohCc6orQ4YfSEIrUV8RZC1idoAyyV3pOoqjyNz_yFbCcKwLaVY29TquwOBuF_8eBZPJShhIGpBxl6mzCmQO0r4ro99Tmb8brT0IXo74DuL0H_A5Fw/w480-h640/307783_10151149616109586_163083143_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I always thought we were sort of The Grateful Dead of Christian music," replied Phil Madeira, "with all the jamming we did. Dan was very adept and musical and ready for whatever was thrown at him. Nichols was timid, of course, being second fiddle to Keaggy, so it was harder for him to step up to the plate and deliver. On our live material, the only time you'll hear Lynn solo is on my songs. I wanted him to feel like he mattered. So apart from performing my music, in which Lynn could find his own voice, he was relegated to playing Keaggy's parts on Keaggy's songs. Terry was a good drummer. I'm a drum nut -- I started on drums and I am always involved with the drummer on records I produce, so I'm picky. But yeah, we were kind of The Dead of CCM. We loved jamming, and loved going off to wherever. Honestly, we considered it worship. It is one of those times in my life where what was happening musically in a moment felt so connected to the Spirit. It was beautiful. I think it was the exuberance of young men in love with God, in a way that an old man is not going to be in love with God (if that makes sense). You get older and you develop an understanding with God, if you know what I mean."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9URbP1asahMMA5zCb5nfYwrhfh2nGT9dQ0XhZCQNZLWBjxS3rdaEGGMZNiRy-XqsOlizptntW64l1B5qkkhFdRdKC4WjgakGMlmhNXD-fCwsaNJl5eVaM180P-4vgodY8zng-F2VP_-zK-gTfgz0RjUv5YBvgeuh9EWSwNmUL7fo90kiTFm7zG0oeCw/w400-h400/58057806_10159072302068636_7625853067002380288_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">One thing that (to me, at least) is deliciously dated on this record, would be the keyboard work. Well, not so much the keyboard work, but the keyboards themselves. After all, we're talking mid-70s...so Phil Madeira went into the studio armed with (among other things) a Fender Rhodes electric piano, and a MicroMoog and PolyMoog synthesizers. It doesn't get much better than that. "The synths were definitely vintage," smiled Dan Cunningham. Phil Madeira, who is known to be a little hard on this record, acknowledges that "some of the Rhodes stuff is pretty good."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EkufnPrY2Vte4IUrBsON6qFVk2nVFwrs58oYNP6Yj8MVD2-p9euG7xCkkRnwOQ4M8bSz2NpMLAYitkkSrXtuR32ds3PRio9utSbWurl_DHSxWbm26O-nKc7_QciWv8m8PDy4M7QlKd237xF9DwFByLJmQhUseL8fpze9tk5JUYPYt5sULOtDKCkDlg/w399-h400/68736464_2366632746937654_4835406531254026240_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So what brought this party to an end? What caused Mr. Keaggy to become a solo act again?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"That's a little fuzzy in my memory," says Dan Cunningham. "I remember Phil telling me the band would be ending; I think we were on the road when that happened. I suppose he was just ready to move on to the next phase of his career. You would have to ask him..."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Andersen and Madeira have more specific memories of the band's demise.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen: "At the end of the last tour, we were all exhausted. Some feelings and frustrations had come to the surface and it was generally understood that it was over. I knew for sure that I couldn't continue. I think the stress and various motives for even being a band were frayed and not unified. I remember giving my PKB jacket to Peter because he didn't get one. That was kind of a stake in the ground that it was over for me. I can't say too much about interpersonal strife within the group, or about the elders who wanted to manage the spiritual and mechanical aspects of a significant up-and-coming Christian band. There is a season for all things. Celebrity and success are often in tension with ministry."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICbENaNb21cE79TndB8oqW1yi6jLi85uyxPaQKtTGsihEIDNitms3B4aX9_fnFgYyHgCkAEf1FWWaKlsOLdksi1GNmFtgfzPt2L0FdtqciJMEy2lAzPlbP5TjtLS2XWu5nkSC_zVvb48BghHhBJiWZCmgWRW7CQD7MPHJokxrQr3_uR-hU1Kl2XYARQ/w321-h400/10014567_10202626275311198_1511539259_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira: "Like the old country song says, 'I'll take the blame.'" When I got to Love Inn I had a girlfriend named Elinor. At some point, when we got engaged it became clear that I was supposed to have asked the elder's permission. They would've said no, by the way. Essentially, I was told to choose Love Inn or Elinor. And I wisely chose Elinor, with whom I have two amazing daughters. I will say that when we divorced after 25 years of trying, the first thing I thought of was Peter Hopper out there in the ether, saying, 'I told you so.' But that's just what fear does. And I am so glad I made the decision to marry her. We remain great friends, aware of our failure but so grateful that we put our kids ahead of our differences and can all enjoy being in the same room together. So I was first to leave Love Inn, followed by Phil Keaggy, followed by our trusty $50-a-week roadie, Ben Pearson, who remains one of my best friends to this day."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Postscript</b></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Post-PKB life has been good to each of the members of this much-loved band.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGQvvVhC0QBiqjX5WYmqK8wVhwFCwP8_G4SYq3kdmdSbsCk-C2ZK3A4XGBXGOwMiuCY3XeBMisYPgREsncOiBBBchnHfPSXL_rciQWiv569LfPId4ppuZPpRJrNnMfTF9Cl7l_-cKVW5q6ldQJWVsVIyo3mfD1K61s4Rcx3ROprAdyQ9tnPbRUYUC1A/w331-h400/528694_10150827488077071_1196005022_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I now play as a solo act in a fingerstyle/traditional vein," says Dan Cunningham. "Over the years I've recorded ten albums, including a Christmas album that featured acoustic guitar. I learned a lot playing with Phil and the guys. His overall spontaneous approach to his acoustic sets and just watching what he did on guitar influenced me. Over the years I have realized that I subconsciously picked things up from Lynn Nichols and Phil Madeira, also." Dan serves as a webmaster of sorts for <a href="#">pickndawg.com</a>, a site that covers his music and several other subjects, including the best place on the web for Phil Keaggy Band photos and history.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zj7Z3znjzZPV-CoIcIt7cD1PQ8Ti0WjLZft7_tyg-9YQikqGlvZzU6d8KrLwcHYgllnyDxgKh3Qg6gMIyfVwPQj7O0o_zRvahFsYVBvKE6ZNzZATfwVHDh2pAELUAI5rU3RxP9lvixDE2W_NtMCLbK5KjzYNHN4_hZxeswgKnYH9T5VeZTlGP_rbxw/w400-h300/22181554_1949842575283342_3766725617417826772_o.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen with some blogger...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen became a different kind of artist. I had a chance to meet Terry and visit with him in 2017 in Nashville. He was creating tables, benches, wall hangings and more. And stronger than ever in the faith. "When the PKB ended, I went on with my painting business and a creative marketing productions business selling jingles, film animation, logos and graphic art by some very talented people. We bought an old house with two barns on 4 acres in Freeville. We continued in fellowship at the church there until we moved to Nashville in 1986. In Tennessee, I hung wallpaper for 2 straight years, then painted new houses with a small crew. I even hung untrimmed, unpasted wallpaper for Amy Grant and Gary Chapman on their farm. I wrote a one-hour light rock music drama with 26 characters called Small World, Big Kingdom. In 1993 I invented and patented the Ladder Mate (now called the Pivot Ladder Tool). We adopted a little girl and moved our family of 6 to a farm south of Nashville; Janie had sheep lamas and alpacas, and I had a little blues band project -- Mudpan Melvin & the Mission. Divorced in 2004. I literally continue to paint, hang wallpaper and work with the homeless and various mission and church activities. I also play acoustic percussion for some worship and tent revivals."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, I was one of the long-haired, tie-dye clad revelers at the iconic Cornerstone Festival in 1996.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5b7Km0pQOiNv026vkmWMgqW7SWhauyD4mmGifKB-_QWctFrg6kcsCCguR4u279OHkn6TTVPtcjZd0KpYWbPFA5DAzHaXNeRQ4PJVpbsNNxTQysge9Gx1QdiQb067oqKU-7d7kAJyzjG_SgrbEdPlnva_TOY5p9ZFM0yqMwuO5_zhGmtz4Jz_LJ-gJg/w389-h400/Cornerstone-1996-032.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLqbJnc6m2lY4mJB9-M2X675hfioDpyl0OtlJTMC6wD9naNQkrM7eoPCMqlx0zEVO6kJFTnO1UyIS2inM8wHCrCrMEQYuiHkmLuM9BgdMgSiTjnztXGuj0qyItOXiMZof7iRIKFD-g4K_vmr9k64kmJZAgVkbMZ4hpoobCCNYD9sYhGJn9d0fwNwrJQ/w366-h400/Cornerstone-1996-Artists-079.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Keaggy</div><div style="text-align: center;">Main Stage, Cornerstone '96</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Keaggy was playing Main Stage with a live band (!) that night, and I couldn't wait. When the time came for Keaggy to take the stage, I looked at the gentleman on the Hammond B-3 and thought he looked familiar. I moved a little closer to the stage and, yep, sure enough. It was Phil Madeira. When they launched into the song Time, I nearly lost it. It felt like just a little bit of a PKB reunion that night.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"My tenure with the PKB gave me credentials when I moved to Nashville in 1983," Madeira explained. "A lot of doors opened in CCM. And even though I didn't stay in that world, many of my closest friends and continuing associations began because of those doors.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88UUM4wPaesRDKuXgh2SRbLJJkNkFCkKQkxLHUjPosfhAW3nHy12Kbde7a0d-ldn8lQntZBESemr7aR2P4bORE0AUYTr-_8kT-2S1NUJki13mvOVhql9UNW5l812jUP9VBdCI7vEjbVwUi4mzCjiB-vYAncipeiqdfOVBFVPtGJmAU-20e_wZAlq-5w/w400-h310/19732283_10155319969595619_1616233581604588467_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Madeira (far left) with (L-R) Randy Stonehill, Rick Cua, Phil Keaggy, Glenn Kaiser and Joe English at the Cornerstone Festival</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">That led to a long and happy career as an artist, songwriter, producer, instrumentalist, author and painter. I'm grateful." Madeira says his career got a boost when he attended a memorial service for Mark Heard in LA and met Buddy and Julie Miller. That relationship opened up the Americana world for him, both as a musician and producer. And that led to his association with Emmylou Harris.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgidN95GQra2mNGADmF5BIe0_chufZpe_s6cDUsjBV8qumZMx0Lu8e9yUBK4RxW3eVM_8R-BcyTUHLg_aGKgFAGHDzHhIW5DSpVZgwGkwrFdMAv4CPqqj3xVj5huqaQKs8cUv-68r56O5wUBS0zJu4lj05xCW0T9BY9pZj6F8u2Fvbi-VhpIwzP0ULJ2w/w400-h225/maxresdefault%20(2).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Emmylou Harris (center) with Phil Madeira (right)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">As of this writing, Madeira is in his 13th year as a member of Harris' backup band, known as the Red Dirt Boys. "I've never experienced anything like the Red Dirt Boys and Emmy," Madeira said. "It's a true love fest, serving each other, cheering each other on, and making the best music we can possibly make."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTtChMuj_PV4spI1kfc7h-bIIoGw2y7ev6UPWCUCz2nuR5J5WX0ei1ENKdtrNxzQp9OP9z3Jj5N5nPygiqOvIJOEOo5wxAdb7h-fpUDIBfbm4_AIcXI2i33rJcGJ_ZmkVoaEbdF3Z5IkyGIBA8l1skHV1LdJs7A5L8mB3XdMYPDo6WBK24KAQDgDuYA/w400-h400/a0006513795_65.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Red Dirt Boys (Madeira, 2nd from left)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Madeira told me a story regarding his musical dreams as a young man that is so crazy, it has to be true: "I was an art major in college and had an assignment to create a record cover. Since there was no actual recorded music, I made up the credits on this album cover by listing my favorite musicians of the time -- Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Michael Omartian, Al Perkins and Phil Keaggy. Do you know that all these years later, I've played with every single one of them."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh -- and there was one other detail on that college project record cover that's pretty amazing. "On background vocals I listed Emmylou Harris," Madeira said. "All the way back in 1974." You can't make that up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRNhc2-pmoOuwhQra5x9oLxIEWysT0Ucd3cFRzQTsHmhFhyd_7FcG__iZmb3j0yffR7wShCpXhry5vPwT92xU3BUTlnfvr-Q3wI253MeKrbs4NOQqrNP4AuYvbUs1xRebppdI1YJvMHUU90459NiXgt9JOu5AkfnS86ro_5LehXxn6GdgscLD-JUlDw/w400-h400/A-278320-1520970392-6490.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lynn Nichols</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lynn Nichols ended up with a stellar and very eclectic career in Contemporary Christian Music, as a musician, producer and executive producer.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheHQfSubvQCHsjTv9k8OCshKvwjbKH2ZwNscRwqcpF5zRiXzhRDdyO3VrosNQJ2D6ll7Kc2Y73uKmysubvGqxpoDtAjQcM8NpLHdNpeNQNLwFWo0OC54wS9oICnTMSDGhPCMPIrqKMjbUEJZHuiJb0zdsun7F4Iv_a4P70X9kkMa-so6dgEdl2DHgvWg/w400-h250/chagall-guevara.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chagall Guevara</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Lynn Nichols is 2nd from right)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He is, of course, a guitarist with the band Chagall Guevara and ended up working with Phil Keaggy quite a bit in the aftermath of the PKB. Nichols contributed in one way or another to Sunday's Child, Find Me in These Fields, Crimson and Blue, Revelator, Blue, Time1, Time2, Invention, Premium Jams, Jammed! and Zion. It's no surprise to see that Nichols was involved with artists such as Russ Taff, Steve Taylor and Dave Perkins. What's weird is that he was the executive producer for a string of albums by Servant and Carman.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZtwPnDPOaaqFjNNSKGkRhpcoFjzyAoYRNOJTmGOFTf8coaPY0gHJ766uwv2AdyJhDlG7wzI1TgP7JklJzhmpfmHNR8WPoD_Xc4qvba99JTLppcIJ8Kf4We6RqAtme-YazKywl6PG9N_qpoUQPwVH6ecdTfOtQtWMiflmLz24N-ZQadpbn3SUReb1-Q/w368-h640/69313962_2366632370271025_1910446494582833152_n%20(2).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Madeira, Keaggy and Nichols in a Sunday's Child promo pic</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Lynn is apparently retired," said Phil Madeira. "I personally believe the best records Keaggy ever made were produced by Lynn Nichols, bar none...especially Sunday's Child."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvOzQgK50RnuprtjRJQg4zTTzXGzCS7thA_8aMGJdmCgGH_OPHfGAa3PgnoYRQwKPZeFSczeH02k0WGMwx3I4py1IAzWRemsbgrTwa6meY7xuDCzkftITnOBQPLBuPksLrThUb6QvSmDrT1j0SPtM4FdwYmigWHIM6mvrsL1Oq7M3GEspMsKFy9aGkWA/w400-h344/Screen+Shot+2012-11-01+at+5.27.26+PM.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phil Keaggy</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course, Phil Keaggy went on to be arguably the most prolific, respected and cherished artist in the history of Christian music. Some would say it's not even arguable. He has certainly inspired audiences at every turn...with both his gentle, humble spirit and jaw-dropping talent.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I asked Terry, Phil M. and Dan to tell me how they feel about Emerging as they look back on it, some 45 years later. "I would say that Emerging just lays there for me," said Phil Madeira, candidly. "Listening to it just brings back too many sour memories of the guy behind the glass, with his head in his hands, letting us know that he wasn't happy. It was the most joyless time I've ever had in the studio, even though I was incredible happy that we were doing it. But I had nothing to compare it to. Then I ended up working with Brown Bannister, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Buddy Miller...and it's like, 'Oh, this <i>can</i> be fun.'"</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrP41NRphy29wRz-CiO_rUlh8CZB0o0jenNFE58JH84w2aOmihzO4KwdvW0Zy9xYXwMOaJ3WmXy2znnEJx9xzYUqPOZ26js_fEsOlCM1Z9uBGoOICmnTbr6rPqr6mhaFCVeXhHuVo-MxuaNMxdeNJUbwFXwaMzSr-lTDv12c7Vww6H7VBS8ZwJlqMgFA/w420-h640/564224_10150817385487071_1930706480_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dan Cunningham says he was pretty happy with the record, overall. "If nothing else, it was a good representation of how the band sounded," he said. "It was the band without a lot of gimmicks. I was under the impression that it was well-received but maybe I'm not in a position to evaluate that objectively."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHn4fmoEyLtXO-TDIZ2kUKUjVPg1R8nwcEmze2zb8wmdheh6kubze46AmovSKX2iXebC1mQ6GWbi0smReeYanQsIAPHXoEshWOg91xXn2_s9Z3dO3SreIce4oCGq-Z_2B6w4kma_VDUY4gzBJDAmfwNKReTLGEgHlM6YVaSjp8ziCfR4U9CQWNqKCRA/w400-h358/212379897_10104485740447232_5339219245326334922_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry Andersen said he was excited and proud to have a finished album project actually packaged, but promoting the album was a source of frustration. "Distribution, airplay and marketing were probably handicapped, being handled by a small, in-house record company," he laments. "Emerging was an experiment in time and I guess we were not a seasoned or full-time band. So in some ways, it may not have reached its full potential. Funny how some fans say it was their favorite album...yet none of the modern radio shows playing oldies-but-goodies ever play anything from Emerging." [Not so fast, Terry! I hosted one of those radio shows for 15 years and regularly played Theme/Where Is My Maker, Take a Look Around and Turned On the Light!]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll say this...and it is anecdotal information...but all I know is that whenever I see a song or a photo from Emerging shared on social media, the love comes flooding in. Just read the comments.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3b-iyBB2ZmLkiV1rIYswpKMyrXnfWaUPOeOc0Kh5CRCQfB9mi7zjE2Qp_stzvaIY57c6mEbJa0xsey8k2J7_6nl-O0bkwBD7qaHuJJLjB_ulO5EBiEaff2TKydBIAVVrCyBgF2ngMEFCZZjZAf48ZIC9TkbxFIiankxzYrzfvUYIRaGZuQF2czg4bw/w393-h400/R-4466065-1629992678-4890.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Emerging was re-released on CD in 2000 as ReEmerging with a different track listing, including four newly recorded songs by the original band members. One of the songs, "Mighty Lord" by Phil Madeira, had been considered for the 1977 release but was dropped. Madeira says "Mighty Lord" was always a "show-stopper" for the band in their live concerts, and says "the elders" were to blame for its exclusion from Emerging.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FXTf6NNuPJC5St7KyrwHEFNt-Mi1wTbnKH2d32Mr06Pg2YfgDfU166cJ9h_0l4aPysLJu_tbJHZoMMNcAq6Iuufpb2jXmkCV_9KUBmT6PGBK9b6Tm9dQ4taBSdFD1rGQj6uPWaT0USEIZCuDSSczXD6bsY815UMj10VKhRMG6HVkCmuy4DEiT_3tEA/w400-h318/R-4466065-1629992703-3891.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A ballad titled "Gentle Eyes" that had appeared on the original album, was left off the CD reissue. According to Dan Cunningham, a song called "Psalm 73" by Keaggy and one titled "So Hey!" by Madeira were also recorded for the original sessions, but were left on the proverbial cutting room floor. "I think it was decided they did not fit the album," Dan said. "Even so, I was disappointed that the takes were not saved for later use, or at least our own enjoyment."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifq89NR8MjS3cH11sg0Riiq-JeBMo1udmNOHrsiWTTk_jcrPNzs4yKwzuWV4TQQULYND4s3hYwgMuLem6lp64fVPXHa24fmQ7qopE4xWokOpE77B-zQwsU281Fog6YLCRcAdAKw9siU7WqTr43rFTZTaTg_oHHpGyoFd51J5QbUDp3bguTlZNnx6aGdw/w400-h313/BeFunky-collagedrehytjklghjktggdkl.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The former Love Inn today</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Love Inn came in for quite a bit of criticism earlier in this post. It wasn't some sort of utopia by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't all bad either. As with most complicated situations in life, the truth lies somewhere in between. "Although there were some downsides, I value my Love Inn years," Dan Cunningham said. "I was able to fellowship and work alongside some tremendous people of faith. The continual focus on worship and community was a valuable experience that has stayed with me. I tried to keep my own spiritual 'sense of balance' when I was unsure of the direction things were taking. Some former members do not speak well of their Love Inn experience. I understand that, and I'm still friends with many of those people. But I regard my time there as an essential spiritual journey, and I have great affection for the people I associated with. The Love Inn worship experience in the 1970s was both a corporate celebration and an intimate time with God. I came away with a lot I was able to share when I got involved with ministries later, and a lot of wisdom to boot. I still hear from friends and strangers who relate how their life was influenced by either Love Inn, The Scott Ross Show, or the PKB."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TvDhD6YRz0HpBRXe2g-fB0d9NzKwhnU4N3Tn5xcqU6f9RVN15dFtAA_Rf42vUMUJA5TmNs3wgo1U2WpfihoLkPOKek5V6CD8NK7hgnzdjJCARN0yYRxz4gQjOr6rm3Z7gLae5WXSsk5nVjEAH5NrnE3-K7wHnjHJThrVmZ59ND7R9xHUCSYGBHrYUQ/w400-h308/A-1450296-1241947437.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll give Terry Andersen the last word.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"We were musicians with some similar and some varied testimonies, goals, vision and callings. We experienced a lot of good times in unity and good fruit in meeting and encouraging people after concerts, and receiving the same. It was a two-year, rare and special season for us as the Phil Keaggy Band. Naturally, some relationships within the band were warmer, closer, more intimate and easy. But we were all trying in some degree to sharpen and use our musical talents to further the Kingdom. That was a big emphasis in our community. I don't feel comfortable sharing too many specifics, but you can imagine the devil was aware and at work trying to diminish if not derail our unique, community-based effort. There was always tension about the motives, intent and mission of the PKB. We all pitched in to be messengers of the Kingdom, encouraging people to either find Jesus or be encouraged in their gifts and even through their trials. Zeal, tension, ambition, pioneering, breaking old molds, creating space for individualism within some type of structure, seeking and interpreting God...I can only imagine the broad shoulders the Lord has. The patience and longsuffering toward His hyper-creative, animated friends. We can't go back and fix or change the missteps or the ignorance of 'seeing through a glass darkly.' But we can strain to what lies ahead...the prize, the glory, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the now, as well as in the return of the Lord Jesus."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Amen, Terry. There is still a Kingdom...emerging...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurinNSo7WZKbZrVk1N_qTQbnjv-j1NeBx3oDjxmd3LEsIufXeyn8Fu2wA3F6oloAu2OnxUUCLQPVXsSvA3a0bsbBEZhr_KfuXybY7CdUhfAJtmN1eJbjgHdxq7Yno3voQdbUeIPnW0MT2F9hPwiD1N4YXDz89MJhx2R1exsYX6mR7ZkA7rInUAVhMAA/w400-h314/10399970_105672737190_4857318_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-80767639332602161222022-04-02T17:59:00.005-07:002022-04-25T12:22:27.140-07:00#22 SONGS OF THE SOUTH by the Pat Terry Group (1976)<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3qBBazEepgrObWddFpSYFc0BIeLRAlrNTD7RXL6XD15ZIejBLkjJqgjedO8fs3BZQ0dEFSBdPRqxkeY-bUPZaPJckynY9DB3RdDNY_MeIv_3SMklgn2SPQ5GswB2JQVpUHu0EwK1QFvzVbQcpzWXzetQOGi8Xz4Rjuyq7-7td5twnbed1xivXjiQQg/s600/R-2949289-1501222279-6804.jpeg.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3qBBazEepgrObWddFpSYFc0BIeLRAlrNTD7RXL6XD15ZIejBLkjJqgjedO8fs3BZQ0dEFSBdPRqxkeY-bUPZaPJckynY9DB3RdDNY_MeIv_3SMklgn2SPQ5GswB2JQVpUHu0EwK1QFvzVbQcpzWXzetQOGi8Xz4Rjuyq7-7td5twnbed1xivXjiQQg/w400-h400/R-2949289-1501222279-6804.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SONGS OF THE SOUTH by The Pat Terry Group (1976)<br />Myrrh Records - MSA 6566<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table>I grew up in the deep south. <p></p><p>I lived most of my first fifteen years in Phenix City and Eufaula, Alabama (with a short stint in Evergreen). It was in southeastern Alabama that I learned to love riding a bike and listening to records. It was in Alabama that I first dreamed of being on the radio, learned the importance of college football (Roll Tide!) and owned my first electric piano. It was in Alabama that I surrendered my life to Jesus.</p><p>Our Dad was also our pastor, so we lived next door to the church and we took our places on the 2nd pew every time the doors were opened. It was a much slower existence, and a much safer world in those days, a world that revolved around faith and family. I wouldn't trade my southern upbringing for anything. We lived in Alabama, but I was actually born just across the mighty Chattahoochee River, on the other side of the state line, in the city of Columbus. Columbus was just about an hour and a half (as the crow flies) from <b>Pat Terry's</b> hometown, a suburb of Atlanta called Smyrna. </p><p>In 1976, the <b>Pat Terry Group</b> recorded and released a record called <b><i>Songs of the South</i></b>. Here was a trio of Georgia boys who made good music, loved Jesus and talked like me! It's an album that left an indelible impression on this southern preacher's kid.</p><p>"A lot of time has gone by, hasn't it?" <b>Pat Terry</b> asked, rhetorically. "When I think about how long it's been since we were doing these songs back in the 70s, it blows my mind. And I'm surprised after all these years that I'm still doing this, that I'm still <i>able</i> to do this."</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8F8oXTDEYAlOxvK3ojo9o6zJuc1To7XEALCLLyODRzni7Dkz0KPNXSBy6lPc1SPhDBR9rOymEFKaHA-XOze2zjuxugFoJmFGtrQQ6lj35fJ5y938Cx3ki7s4yKCywtX-8HcxI0hcvP2GWpEq0uLFP_v5LEdghkw06BRkDHu0HY_SBXNSgSU0653bug/s701/22851811_1960224090911857_1770865511851107057_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="526" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8F8oXTDEYAlOxvK3ojo9o6zJuc1To7XEALCLLyODRzni7Dkz0KPNXSBy6lPc1SPhDBR9rOymEFKaHA-XOze2zjuxugFoJmFGtrQQ6lj35fJ5y938Cx3ki7s4yKCywtX-8HcxI0hcvP2GWpEq0uLFP_v5LEdghkw06BRkDHu0HY_SBXNSgSU0653bug/w480-h640/22851811_1960224090911857_1770865511851107057_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pat Terry</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>I had a chance to speak to <b>Pat</b> again recently for the first time in a long time. We talked about songwriting, about Pat hitting the road again this year, we even talked about the first "contemporary Christian music" concert that I ever attended - which featured the <b>Pat Terry Group</b> opening for a group called <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples. </b></p><p>But mostly we talked about <b><i>Songs of the South</i></b>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9S8uktsq8ifNFPth_3MnQxcmWet5OTJ49ZjVQaxavG2KxQq-9n1flYILP8V3blEwT27_6rIUFmrlvQWRtMm8f5gGRots0rdhbziUWq-qGLWHzVkEDPgTO7YlXAkI6ebjmBVNp2c0DbScmG0BOjnV72glF4RRlY66aYtIdnahgo20GJOo1K7XcaFSKQ/s3870/IMG_9286.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2765" data-original-width="3870" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9S8uktsq8ifNFPth_3MnQxcmWet5OTJ49ZjVQaxavG2KxQq-9n1flYILP8V3blEwT27_6rIUFmrlvQWRtMm8f5gGRots0rdhbziUWq-qGLWHzVkEDPgTO7YlXAkI6ebjmBVNp2c0DbScmG0BOjnV72glF4RRlY66aYtIdnahgo20GJOo1K7XcaFSKQ/w400-h286/IMG_9286.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I mentioned that it was pretty obvious that the group sort of leaned into the whole "southern thing" on this album - from the cover to the title to some of the lyrics. Pat said that was by design.</p><p>"It was kind of a thing that we always felt strongly about because there weren't that many southern Jesus Music groups that were nationally-known during that time period," he said. "And most of the groups that came out of the south were Gospel quartets and those kind of things. We <i>wanted</i> to be known as a southern group. Because that was something kind of unique that we brought to the table, you know? We all grew up down here and the south kind of permeates who we are. So yeah, we definitely wanted to do that."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsg5v7dKWoMFaCq3BXmHxitevroBV2Y8sihXsShomBRWyis45M6K2jfIKq1eHaQJ_WLwEhGtVk5bhlHx-PSH9Xt62VZa94h6FKZEjCDy8UHSYsCvWjjQSd3NF9N21bOlKZbaH3h_OIIdouOZJXMOYYg_gIxbbKdAt96siULAxpk7IRI9srWKPYJWpTA/s4032/IMG_2397.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsg5v7dKWoMFaCq3BXmHxitevroBV2Y8sihXsShomBRWyis45M6K2jfIKq1eHaQJ_WLwEhGtVk5bhlHx-PSH9Xt62VZa94h6FKZEjCDy8UHSYsCvWjjQSd3NF9N21bOlKZbaH3h_OIIdouOZJXMOYYg_gIxbbKdAt96siULAxpk7IRI9srWKPYJWpTA/w400-h300/IMG_2397.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Most people familiar at all with this record will smile when they think about that iconic album cover. "It's one of my favorite covers of that whole era, really," offered Pat. "I just think they did a great job with it." The front cover is a very memorable illustration of a pleasant-seeming, older southern gentleman on his front porch, wearing a white suit with hat in lap and fan in hand. There's a country church across the way...a blooming magnolia tree with a ladybug...Spanish moss hanging on some trees out in the yard...a bluebird that's just happening by...and, of course, the headphones. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfdfZ6JTWEiOGaB6Dz2FB65P1WH8L9lvzC6uJ6f_0czlCO3zxXahCpsPCZi8HWlW4ncqEpL3WmUkDT4PVKopQqBPgcXzvDJ41hxS6EPeXQxk34U4Yk85wxiV8qrYSAVIWg2Olp8HzVNidhNWacTePFeKNTqNy2W3Bftu_V2RFzlGNa5M75zZDBDKRcQ/s3578/IMG_2396.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3578" data-original-width="2729" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfdfZ6JTWEiOGaB6Dz2FB65P1WH8L9lvzC6uJ6f_0czlCO3zxXahCpsPCZi8HWlW4ncqEpL3WmUkDT4PVKopQqBPgcXzvDJ41hxS6EPeXQxk34U4Yk85wxiV8qrYSAVIWg2Olp8HzVNidhNWacTePFeKNTqNy2W3Bftu_V2RFzlGNa5M75zZDBDKRcQ/w488-h640/IMG_2396.JPG" width="488" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>Pat Terry</b> said that <b>Randy Bugg</b> came up with that concept. "Randy was visually gifted as well as being a good bass player," Terry said, "and he had kind of an idea that something like this would be great. So he worked kind of alongside <b>Bill Weaver </b>who was a friend of ours here in town. Bill had a group called <b>Noah's Art </b>which was a graphic arts firm. So Randy and Bill worked together on getting that concept going. And there was another fellow named <b>David Gaadt</b>, and I think he was part of <b>Noah's Art </b>as well; he was an illustrator. And David actually did the illustration." <b>Bill Wages</b> took the photo on the back cover.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsdAok6WwQFoMMUcqjNqWClN6G3Sv169kDoduVtUtRFtRZnMUgFeDAnovvuRHW1XA-RpeF_nRXc_K1phPSbddANI9X_mi8kQPe8NLr6_nulDP1Tm2FYW6DJ4G6S3Rpe87B3bm7f57A31ViA4gkbk_ovtf5y7ngTu8vkoLGWOVWU_qcGm0uUuKx3E3_jg/s500/61u-f8FpyeL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsdAok6WwQFoMMUcqjNqWClN6G3Sv169kDoduVtUtRFtRZnMUgFeDAnovvuRHW1XA-RpeF_nRXc_K1phPSbddANI9X_mi8kQPe8NLr6_nulDP1Tm2FYW6DJ4G6S3Rpe87B3bm7f57A31ViA4gkbk_ovtf5y7ngTu8vkoLGWOVWU_qcGm0uUuKx3E3_jg/w400-h400/61u-f8FpyeL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I asked Pat what he thought of the final product. "Oh, I think it turned out great," he said. "I still like it. It's still my favorite cover that we ever did."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjx6ThOG7MTP7Sidrlt-u0Kjj4Q2FgZV5Ks_G-LV7x-JpPlmPDoqTvZxaTwQxKn8dSgVFQKtndYUa7oFdSBaONwvPHVdYdcB7GisLwiOB3tZNhV070WjBswsyTJ5ymUkgfqwbqozV-fAGCAgAsycNYBMho55Hr5hsb2TBcAARq_A7w7H82X8_W4-wkw/s970/Pat%20Terry%20Group%20back2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="970" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjx6ThOG7MTP7Sidrlt-u0Kjj4Q2FgZV5Ks_G-LV7x-JpPlmPDoqTvZxaTwQxKn8dSgVFQKtndYUa7oFdSBaONwvPHVdYdcB7GisLwiOB3tZNhV070WjBswsyTJ5ymUkgfqwbqozV-fAGCAgAsycNYBMho55Hr5hsb2TBcAARq_A7w7H82X8_W4-wkw/w400-h265/Pat%20Terry%20Group%20back2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><p><b><i>Songs of the South</i></b> was the second national release on Myrrh Records for the <b>Pat Terry Group</b>. The band's <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/12/43-pat-terry-group-by-pat-terry-group.html">self-titled debut</a> has already appeared earlier on our list and it contained some songs that turned out to be quite popular among the Jesus People - especially the prayerful <i>Meet Me Here,</i> a wedding song titled <i>That's the Way</i>, and a Second Coming-inspired sing-along called <i>I Can't Wait</i>.</p><p>"The way that first album came about, there was a marketing guy over at Word Records," explained Pat. "This guy would go around to the Christian bookstores and record stores, marketing and promoting the different projects. And he's the one that heard about us through some of these places where we had placed our custom album. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimx_uaEknnlrOTT6L2uoC9h54wqCqBGFLq3GXe6AOFOUoi50NVSfE-z98Jbn717tbZmJc1_c59-W8Zdl4QmrH9E3b8pwpKOcHVfOEBwtnMkDmRTdjQD-dYRWeoHsTEsjAkNV9h6YxZ3pwDvJrx55R9h3VzHReNAioaJLpMaS6Vh_HRK3IjdSzZq7cKrQ/s1493/pat%20terry%201974%20back2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1493" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimx_uaEknnlrOTT6L2uoC9h54wqCqBGFLq3GXe6AOFOUoi50NVSfE-z98Jbn717tbZmJc1_c59-W8Zdl4QmrH9E3b8pwpKOcHVfOEBwtnMkDmRTdjQD-dYRWeoHsTEsjAkNV9h6YxZ3pwDvJrx55R9h3VzHReNAioaJLpMaS6Vh_HRK3IjdSzZq7cKrQ/w400-h270/pat%20terry%201974%20back2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>We had a little solo album that we'd done on our own and we had put them in some of these stores. So he kind of found us through that and ended up introducing us to some people at Myrrh Records. And so we made our first record there."</p><p>You hear a lot of horror stories about record labels. Was the experience with Myrrh a good one? "To be honest, from the get-go they were just so supportive and behind us," Pat said. "So after we released that first album with them there was a fair amount of momentum as far as they were concerned, with what was going on with the group. So they were very supportive and I think the first album in their estimation had done well. So they put a little more money into this next one and gave us some leeway about who we wanted to work with and that kind of thing. We were just real hands-on with almost every aspect of what we were doing in that time. Even the cover art; we were really involved in <i>everything</i>. But we were fortunate to have a lot of support from the record label." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSIg58xKX7TG6p8Rk3Y20MXv0stvoUBdped8k_yTBeJtLz6fMve96rLck6MjAyxyViSbKabC0r45xSr-iEtgCLacFhdjpuiCEuFRxPEwLwoSs0mXqj85gMB7IeMcuNr2e-aVVaJm6JNfcphkZwEf4CzAZBqn7PIKcjrTEWTJmhOpYoGCLSqA59FFKDQ/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSIg58xKX7TG6p8Rk3Y20MXv0stvoUBdped8k_yTBeJtLz6fMve96rLck6MjAyxyViSbKabC0r45xSr-iEtgCLacFhdjpuiCEuFRxPEwLwoSs0mXqj85gMB7IeMcuNr2e-aVVaJm6JNfcphkZwEf4CzAZBqn7PIKcjrTEWTJmhOpYoGCLSqA59FFKDQ/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>A producer is so important to the success of a recorded project. From choosing musicians to coaching the band, from helping arrange the songs to supervising the sessions, there's a lot to the job. A producer can make or break an album. <b>Pat Terry</b> knew that. He told me that once it was time to start thinking about recording the sophomore release, the most important consideration, for him, was finding the right person to sit in the producer's chair.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCn3yr-_0iPhwl-1WFsAMgmV7AdBeksZIysClQn8g1cT5mkjosxuIvTcTHjb93eD6vAC_-7u7S-ohrJVCB0uyOqOVuyMYmhqfqfGhRfePIh0pGuh0NEgaLsU6IcilqD4NhHn7COEi4WApUytiRAMCgZepJS3Yf7OGK0ffToQ1vgUnQ5-SMZtddfwuNBg/s480/11114067_1571571883130846_8349096652693896931_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="480" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCn3yr-_0iPhwl-1WFsAMgmV7AdBeksZIysClQn8g1cT5mkjosxuIvTcTHjb93eD6vAC_-7u7S-ohrJVCB0uyOqOVuyMYmhqfqfGhRfePIh0pGuh0NEgaLsU6IcilqD4NhHn7COEi4WApUytiRAMCgZepJS3Yf7OGK0ffToQ1vgUnQ5-SMZtddfwuNBg/w400-h275/11114067_1571571883130846_8349096652693896931_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Billy Ray Hearn</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>"Our first album had been produced by <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b>," Pat recalled, "and Billy Ray was one of the guys who actually started the Myrrh label for Word, Inc. Billy Ray came from a church music background, he was a church music director and we always loved him; we got along great with him. But he didn't really come from much of a rock background or anything like that. So on this next thing, I really wanted someone that we could kind of relate to on a level of guitar playing and things like that."</p><p>Enter <b>Al Perkins</b>.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSSfk1C0QuadVTJvHVCG-_rFvvhsM2OKuyOHdqF8IwiQFfF2zOjWLaGJZAvhlPMlnU8ZIRLUCuW7ZUmOny86BC8k99PQONciX3CGm3J-iRD96AQQTdehgHop1Dy4jYcAbBNHcUIL9xSZnL2nl-_V-uux3CqziTEqfpeQ-OIe0tMyMH1-TFX-vhHdGtA/s700/55.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSSfk1C0QuadVTJvHVCG-_rFvvhsM2OKuyOHdqF8IwiQFfF2zOjWLaGJZAvhlPMlnU8ZIRLUCuW7ZUmOny86BC8k99PQONciX3CGm3J-iRD96AQQTdehgHop1Dy4jYcAbBNHcUIL9xSZnL2nl-_V-uux3CqziTEqfpeQ-OIe0tMyMH1-TFX-vhHdGtA/w458-h640/55.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Al Perkins</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>"So I had heard that <b>Al Perkins</b> was going to start doing some producing for some of the Christian labels," Pat offered. "And I was a <i>huge</i> <b>Al Perkins</b> fan. You know, right before this he had been playing with <b>Flying Burrito Brothers</b> and <b>Stephen Stills'</b> <b><i>Manassas</i></b> - I was such a huge <b>Stephen Stills</b> fan and loved what he did. But I thought <i>man, if there's an opportunity for us to work with Al, I would love that. </i>And so we talked to <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> about that and Billy Ray said, 'Well, as a matter of fact, I recently met him and we've been talking about doing some things, so if you guys would like to meet with him, let's get together and see what possibilities there might be.'"</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvvl60Qd8hPc40-brcjv4o0aaybCWNo_luBvai7W2Sbkr25AHNEkEdz36l7kzpc3Pt_ZGy0-EOiwB4j1BLiF_aujnnRzReVkFzfcnL4_zF1SgxTNLmRR39qKqNS8j2cXXXVVHSBq6xqwRtpX1kWohaPj1SS2E4ehXIJ0l5AVK10ORpv30eyrnCdeJAA/s500/61.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="500" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvvl60Qd8hPc40-brcjv4o0aaybCWNo_luBvai7W2Sbkr25AHNEkEdz36l7kzpc3Pt_ZGy0-EOiwB4j1BLiF_aujnnRzReVkFzfcnL4_zF1SgxTNLmRR39qKqNS8j2cXXXVVHSBq6xqwRtpX1kWohaPj1SS2E4ehXIJ0l5AVK10ORpv30eyrnCdeJAA/w400-h268/61.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Al Perkins</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>So <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> arranged a meeting and got everybody together in the same room. "We played a few things for Al, I think, and he responded really well to it," Pat remembers, "and he wanted to do it, so we just kind of jumped in. I just feel like he was an ideal person for us to be working with because he really understood that we were a guitar-oriented group. And he spoke the language because he was a guitar player. I always felt that the <b>Pat Terry Group's</b> sound had an element of church music influence in it, because we all grew up in church and it naturally found its way into our music. But the foundation of it was all the pop and rock music that we grew up listening to, which I think was true of a lot of the Jesus Music people in those early days. So Al just clicked and we got along just great and just fell in love with him."</p><p>Sometimes the chemistry between producer and artist isn't quite right. When that happens, it can spell trouble. But not in this case. Things worked out great with Mr. Perkins, from the relationship dynamic to the studio experience.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMBvjzUTsoiFGQ_KQIf1GiGNAEYo639RsySYkyTiio6D5yWADsvYi5zYRwI7laV5ITe3vxEZ73ubl0YsAinBlsPsS_u0z7QlRcb3n3g2fCGmNnyHzd2tqlh9gOnHByl-PJvYAyv4nLrbLUod0eBDXdZvi9dpqznSrigziizdl5RYTqeHQpcycih3HCw/s753/stones.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMBvjzUTsoiFGQ_KQIf1GiGNAEYo639RsySYkyTiio6D5yWADsvYi5zYRwI7laV5ITe3vxEZ73ubl0YsAinBlsPsS_u0z7QlRcb3n3g2fCGmNnyHzd2tqlh9gOnHByl-PJvYAyv4nLrbLUod0eBDXdZvi9dpqznSrigziizdl5RYTqeHQpcycih3HCw/w408-h640/stones.jpg" width="408" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Al Perkins</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>"He was and is one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet, easy to get along with," Pat reports. "But he was a hard worker. He kept us in a disciplined state of mind when we were working but, on the other hand, he was a lot of fun. We recorded this out in LA and of course he lived out there so he knew where all the great Mexican restaurants were! He would take us to all of his favorite haunts and that kind of stuff, so that was fun."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEuJFubp5TDX4ihzgJE6V62xnMCAQQojHT-J2f6Zw4JhLOmf6JQo7qla0mKWJWXuV-DQqFlE1liB0ZpADT6wYeW1lq4v7S9Bi2p1EP9_F0L7XPHyjerxJM_1bTlRNBflHSOeOr3aAsr7Txz-HgeD6_BVKFZPTTbBezp7KRYIZ2o5-dCdBeMXAtvXkhw/s700/33.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEuJFubp5TDX4ihzgJE6V62xnMCAQQojHT-J2f6Zw4JhLOmf6JQo7qla0mKWJWXuV-DQqFlE1liB0ZpADT6wYeW1lq4v7S9Bi2p1EP9_F0L7XPHyjerxJM_1bTlRNBflHSOeOr3aAsr7Txz-HgeD6_BVKFZPTTbBezp7KRYIZ2o5-dCdBeMXAtvXkhw/w458-h640/33.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>This was the first time our trio of talented troubadours had ever been to the Golden State. "It was a real experience for me," admits Pat. "Culturally, it was just such a huge difference from where I lived in Smyrna, Georgia. When we were there we stayed in a hotel right in the heart of Hollywood, right there on the Sunset Strip, which was fascinating but a little spooky for a guy like me. I had never been outside my hometown much! But so much music that I loved was made out there. And <i>was being</i> made out there. It was really exciting for me to be there making music."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc1f5jpTE5KxeZnJY8MplnJE8250hUfxoSRqXr63UKiMQmI6k8dAyD30yrPfW7mqPDtBY0j5yPSHDFccLtL76uCgZX453mAm0wV_fp2sPVrY3BtPTcfUmfpSmzn_0gC4wsZTYLszirdstcW_jJOmFC4Dz4H2O1nIpbl6z3NdQk4ODz4t_-oW7sPpCLA/s548/57310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="548" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOc1f5jpTE5KxeZnJY8MplnJE8250hUfxoSRqXr63UKiMQmI6k8dAyD30yrPfW7mqPDtBY0j5yPSHDFccLtL76uCgZX453mAm0wV_fp2sPVrY3BtPTcfUmfpSmzn_0gC4wsZTYLszirdstcW_jJOmFC4Dz4H2O1nIpbl6z3NdQk4ODz4t_-oW7sPpCLA/w400-h278/57310.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Songs of the South</i></b> was recorded at the legendary <b>Sunwest Recording Studio</b> in Hollywood. <b>Barry McGuire, Neil Young, Phil Keaggy, Alice Cooper, The Second Chapter of Acts, Crosby, Stills & Nash</b> and <b>Quincy Jones</b> had all recorded there, among others. <b>Al Perkins</b> was familiar with the place and enjoyed recording there. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzI9AYDgWEAM7E08Addf-MoujY_MWunYgGVO_SSYf8RjmahRyVnLkCz0aGXkWlbDmrQetfGyR-k4GP7DOX_RGcR4sNfq3Hx5HC3mh3GBiwj9z_OBk3kRJQaLTqL2sNyhopfzWMu4jGuijAYMiSzu4DbZ_3EgIbZegqFFcgh7HWE521ALXZiDknbOPgA/s907/120350003_3479911695365539_5517610981230416451_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="907" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzI9AYDgWEAM7E08Addf-MoujY_MWunYgGVO_SSYf8RjmahRyVnLkCz0aGXkWlbDmrQetfGyR-k4GP7DOX_RGcR4sNfq3Hx5HC3mh3GBiwj9z_OBk3kRJQaLTqL2sNyhopfzWMu4jGuijAYMiSzu4DbZ_3EgIbZegqFFcgh7HWE521ALXZiDknbOPgA/w400-h272/120350003_3479911695365539_5517610981230416451_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>"Al was the one that guided us over there to work," Terry said. "And it really was a great studio. It was extremely well-outfitted; it had anything and everything you'd want for recording. And they had some great engineers. It was just a perfect place for me, especially during that period in my life." Sunwest has since closed.</p><p><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7jg60yq4_BsHDU77HwDFIgxmWSsmhkP7_rbqQ8VNHYTnTMMXiBD3EhLh_oARNt25HggK0MOBky1aeFJdYH0rCVcgVTuAfc9OjHJxNkQhJtlKZ1KO3JON1s4_aZxJk8QJiA8shvOK_RZ35VCVVCdKIzvAiNf1OU8MEImNQu8l7v1tRlRUAXgzVjYoGA/s500/517bIcnIQ1L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="500" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv7jg60yq4_BsHDU77HwDFIgxmWSsmhkP7_rbqQ8VNHYTnTMMXiBD3EhLh_oARNt25HggK0MOBky1aeFJdYH0rCVcgVTuAfc9OjHJxNkQhJtlKZ1KO3JON1s4_aZxJk8QJiA8shvOK_RZ35VCVVCdKIzvAiNf1OU8MEImNQu8l7v1tRlRUAXgzVjYoGA/w400-h393/517bIcnIQ1L.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />Let's drop the needle on side one.</p><p>The record opened in an interesting and unique way...with a short title track that served as sort of a prelude, setting the stage for what was to follow. <br /><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>We got some songs of the Southland</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Messianic melodies</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Macon and magnolia trees</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>And we got to let it all out<br /><br /></i></div></i><p></p><p>"I really wanted to open the album with something like that," said Pat. "And to be honest with you, we didn't have that song when we went out there. I had been trying to write something for a month or so before we went in to record the album, that could kind of help to define that a little bit, and I could never land on it. But when we got out there, for some reason it just clicked. And I wrote it one night before we were supposed to go into the studio the next day. So we went in and cut the basic thing the very next morning."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3JXXXTIMhpSGLTW3HR3AKYAIGh3dP5LyGmqiRpoRxs8dGIAU2V0QKDuKmud4CKsfklZShLBAabHTRX1bW3Kkt2H_65aLlrUlBv4YKn5ZgwmfXEt45ldiOJLFsP43OcidEW3DqSPsHCOLa15Kpg5bqoHl41D7lhl3_YjCAlljMJfp6j0CaVyZ0AxOFw/s4032/IMG_2399.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3JXXXTIMhpSGLTW3HR3AKYAIGh3dP5LyGmqiRpoRxs8dGIAU2V0QKDuKmud4CKsfklZShLBAabHTRX1bW3Kkt2H_65aLlrUlBv4YKn5ZgwmfXEt45ldiOJLFsP43OcidEW3DqSPsHCOLa15Kpg5bqoHl41D7lhl3_YjCAlljMJfp6j0CaVyZ0AxOFw/w400-h300/IMG_2399.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>There's a memorable synth part on that song...as well as a very interesting backstory regarding just where that keyboard came from. </p><p><b>Pat Terry</b>: "When we finished cutting the basic tracks I told Al, 'Man, I just wish we could have some synthesizer stuff on here.' And we didn't have one. I didn't really know anybody out there that played or that had that kind of gear. And Al said, 'I know a guy that plays in <b>Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention</b> and he has tons of stuff!' And he said, 'I don't know that we would get him to play, but he might have, like, some kind of little Moog or something that we could borrow.' So Al took me over there and for a little southern guy like me, it was quite an experience! It was a real hippie crash pad, man, you know? But the place was just <i>filled</i> with synthesizers. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYsCoPEzTEJL4pxITwAoHrIv0vAKLG_UHe28jMdao5oV1ekN2B5yMpwy453c7uxmgyb2WETcTtWgn7JEan_cwJvRRhN6z5iL4m9-dq9f9t--_0V5HM74utDRNblZ80aLb0Uw-QOIZuHY0DGIN8lLILi8Qpj7xYKIzBcZ601GyG7oKofxy7Jf8PArNxA/s800/the-mothers-of-invention-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="800" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYsCoPEzTEJL4pxITwAoHrIv0vAKLG_UHe28jMdao5oV1ekN2B5yMpwy453c7uxmgyb2WETcTtWgn7JEan_cwJvRRhN6z5iL4m9-dq9f9t--_0V5HM74utDRNblZ80aLb0Uw-QOIZuHY0DGIN8lLILi8Qpj7xYKIzBcZ601GyG7oKofxy7Jf8PArNxA/w400-h274/the-mothers-of-invention-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>I mean, he had big, modular Moog systems that took up whole walls of the house - just all kinds of stuff. And back in that day, that was really before synths had caught on to where everybody was traveling with them in their bands. This was kind of a unique thing. So the guy showed us a few things but to be honest with you, everything that he had was just - I mean, most of them were, like, big modular things and there was no way we were going to take anything like that and get any music out of it. So we thanked him for showing us around but we left and Al said, 'I've got one other idea.' He said, 'Let me call <b>Buck Herring</b>. Because I think Buck might have some kind of little Moog or Arp or something. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGtV0uCPkagF4uHRtYR9kVmVfEGTjiUrWuN20tWkLthau5uq3ghrVewJ7-ySEKDu6JGQVPPVl5_CzXEaWmITxTWFrytOrLxlG3nnRN1yB8XF9vowILmP2Xp1wxlHTzgwjSZTxfMUSkaCC9zDnO6OMmc2u2lUesXlipcMrv8Vj-jg2FMcVJYmfacbBTA/s1308/246656350_10226002897552588_4175069208978161659_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1308" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGtV0uCPkagF4uHRtYR9kVmVfEGTjiUrWuN20tWkLthau5uq3ghrVewJ7-ySEKDu6JGQVPPVl5_CzXEaWmITxTWFrytOrLxlG3nnRN1yB8XF9vowILmP2Xp1wxlHTzgwjSZTxfMUSkaCC9zDnO6OMmc2u2lUesXlipcMrv8Vj-jg2FMcVJYmfacbBTA/w330-h400/246656350_10226002897552588_4175069208978161659_n.jpg" width="330" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Buck and Annie Herring</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>So he called Buck, and Buck said, 'Yeah I've got one.' I think it was one of those Arp 2600s that were popular. He said, 'Yeah, I'll be glad for you guys to use it, just come by and pick it up. So we went over to Buck's place and picked that up." </p><p>"I took it back to the hotel that night and I stayed up half the night just trying to figure out how to get any noise out of it," Pat laughed. "I didn't know anything about synthesizers! And frankly, Al didn't either. I was just trying to figure out - I didn't need to get much out of it - I could kind of hear in my head what I wanted it to do, I just had to see if I could figure out how to get it to do it! By the time I got to the studio the next day I had worked out a very rudimentary way to get some music out of it and that's what you end up hearing on that opening song that goes into the rest of the album. Years later I bought a Mini-Moog and I learned how to program that, and I could do most anything I wanted to do. But that Arp was like a mystery. I'm still surprised that I got anything out of it." </p><p><i>Songs of the South</i> segues directly into the uptempo <i>You Got Me</i>. <b>Pat Terry</b> had some nice things to say about both the song and <b>PTG</b> guitarist <b>Sonny Lallerstedt</b>. </p><p>"<i>You Got Me</i> is still one of my favorite recordings that the group ever did," Pat revealed. "I think Sonny's solo on that is the best one he ever cut. Occasionally when we get together to play, and that doesn't happen very often anymore, I always make sure we play that song and that he plays that solo. Because I love that, I just think he did an amazing job on that."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik95NvzDBjpAXJykbnHYs57OnuCW5pDcKpRYkyX5t5DcUgf_6iXlebdqlBa2RVRz_woMdTEGtDbW8_j0RUP-DKIUOXHS64PwFfJCAGdOtyczE7In97aqj5gjoxG1Ch14-HruzD0Rhp8IQ6gNjtTDieoalcc2S4aULsEBQobZhB07oHKJt9ekzDr9-FgA/s619/R-367_Gruen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="619" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik95NvzDBjpAXJykbnHYs57OnuCW5pDcKpRYkyX5t5DcUgf_6iXlebdqlBa2RVRz_woMdTEGtDbW8_j0RUP-DKIUOXHS64PwFfJCAGdOtyczE7In97aqj5gjoxG1Ch14-HruzD0Rhp8IQ6gNjtTDieoalcc2S4aULsEBQobZhB07oHKJt9ekzDr9-FgA/w400-h316/R-367_Gruen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pete Townshend</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>"But the inspiration for that song, believe it or not, came from <b>The Who</b>," Pat admits. "If you listen to those chords, it's basically <b>Pete Townshend</b> chord changes. Kind of a <i>Baba O'Riley</i> kind of thing, you know? I mean, certainly, it sounds like us, a folky rock group; it doesn't really sound like <b>The Who</b>. But structure-wise, that is what inspired me to write that song. But that's still one of the ones I like a lot."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RJFkGIsE-bA" width="320" youtube-src-id="RJFkGIsE-bA"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>We'll come back to <i>Lord of All</i>; first let's talk about the most rock and roll song on the album, <i>What Good's It Gonna Do Ya</i>. As I listen to the song again, I am struck by the prophetic nature of the third verse. It was as if Pat could see into the future and was describing Instagram models, content creators, influencers, and the comparison dynamic that has caused a lot of depression and anxiety as a result of our collective social media addiction:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I've got some friends who can set the styles</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Buy all their friendships and sell their smiles</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sometimes they're happy, sometimes they're not</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Always a-wantin' what the other man's got</i></div></i><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>But what good's it gonna do ya</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>If you don't know the One who made you <br /><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pmkcjdRBh3I" width="320" youtube-src-id="pmkcjdRBh3I"></iframe></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div></i><p></p><p>The boys got some background vocal assistance on <i>What Good's It Gonna Do Ya</i> from a young kid with an other-worldly talent. "<b>Matthew Ward</b> came out and hung out some at the studio while we were out there, just to hang," Pat recalls. "One afternoon he came over and was just hanging around and we said, 'Hey, would you be up for singing on something?' And he said, 'Yeah.' So we just kind of dragged him out in front of a mic and said, 'Try this. This sounds like something you'd be great on!' So he did that, and it did sound great. He was, and still is, an amazing singer. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiL58JkGHhzIQ14RvU53mqKc2TNrVkdeU-6ROalLbyxMRFMm31M0aT_ww3WRbebaNC8hKbrxju2qP2TH4jQWH-q2CFnIx3o94ROuP0wZdKAH5PfjNDS5HeIrwXt5-oLNaQe7UPntrKRIshFjDLaP7nYH2v5OvzGvRa2KVooVgR-E90qOj3EbHZiTd7g/s516/236776887_10223919470667575_4348187577964773189_n%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="516" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiL58JkGHhzIQ14RvU53mqKc2TNrVkdeU-6ROalLbyxMRFMm31M0aT_ww3WRbebaNC8hKbrxju2qP2TH4jQWH-q2CFnIx3o94ROuP0wZdKAH5PfjNDS5HeIrwXt5-oLNaQe7UPntrKRIshFjDLaP7nYH2v5OvzGvRa2KVooVgR-E90qOj3EbHZiTd7g/w400-h360/236776887_10223919470667575_4348187577964773189_n%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Matthew Ward</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>He was so young! I mean, we were <i>all</i> really young, but he was younger than we were. And he could just sing like nobody's business. He and his family - they were one of my favorite groups. The <b>Second Chapter of Acts</b> - I just thought they were amazing. They made records that, to me, were head and shoulders above anything else out there during that time period. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sunCYrtP57Qky0v4bk92gBeCfbUxrz1VnpNQXyAnFK-tFL_qvlg-wyKKsWZBHmGmQwyawqnu6CKY_x9-BbWL2VU2mA1RhE-_1yUfOr1b-_9Ix6ohk8jJzWC4Ytlu9eSI3za0fXAXziDXHiOlr5Kz4KtmKxA7vj95KH9fpmaeRCfyJWX8vL9zQd5sqQ/s1137/2nd%20Chapter%20of%20Acts.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1137" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sunCYrtP57Qky0v4bk92gBeCfbUxrz1VnpNQXyAnFK-tFL_qvlg-wyKKsWZBHmGmQwyawqnu6CKY_x9-BbWL2VU2mA1RhE-_1yUfOr1b-_9Ix6ohk8jJzWC4Ytlu9eSI3za0fXAXziDXHiOlr5Kz4KtmKxA7vj95KH9fpmaeRCfyJWX8vL9zQd5sqQ/s320/2nd%20Chapter%20of%20Acts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>What Good's It Gonna Do Ya</i> gives <b><i>Songs of the South</i></b> some rock and roll street cred. To the Jesus people, that was great. To conservative pastors in the deep south...not so much. "We were constantly up against the wall," Pat recalls, "trying to be as creative as we knew how to be, yet not alienate people. And usually it wasn't the audience that had a problem with things, it was generally your concert sponsors or the churches that you went in to play for that would have concerns about those kinds of things. We always tried to be respectful of people but we pushed it as far as we could." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmdLqIt_m8Sc8Gv7kLjrFhC0qNJzeQNNnqrVaNMzeEpK9nDyPqSJnVwlyD1utP5nAzAFCGTclMZ3MgeTERCaFmtYA7o23dL_LoNk-Y-ECq9b0tv3DCkMUdDL2vMe8zGX-zwINckLwE2AXRLL-hZnWRTtCITZfShFy6sx0nj-gaZAFPXI2MvANdCO7aQ/s500/51JPJJ0jFPL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="500" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmdLqIt_m8Sc8Gv7kLjrFhC0qNJzeQNNnqrVaNMzeEpK9nDyPqSJnVwlyD1utP5nAzAFCGTclMZ3MgeTERCaFmtYA7o23dL_LoNk-Y-ECq9b0tv3DCkMUdDL2vMe8zGX-zwINckLwE2AXRLL-hZnWRTtCITZfShFy6sx0nj-gaZAFPXI2MvANdCO7aQ/w400-h393/51JPJJ0jFPL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The <b>Pat Terry Group</b> never had a full-time drummer, never traveled with a drummer. "It was easier for us to play music where people could actually hear the lyrics and where you didn't have to fight the sound systems," said Terry. "Because the sound systems were never that good, either. I mean, we traveled with our own. But I don't think we ever felt like we could mic up a whole drum kit and keep that all balanced and everything out in the house. So we just became an acoustic trio partly as a result of that." </p><p>But there was another reason Pat never hired a full-time drummer: he wanted the lyrics to land, to be heard by the audience. </p><p>"As the writer of the group," he said, "I didn't want the bombast of a big, loud, rock and roll band to overpower people being able to hear the lyric. Because that's kind of what we were about. So it was fine. I never felt like I really missed having drums. At this point, I love having drums on things that I record, of course, and<i> occasionally</i> when I go out and play live, I might put a band together. I've done it a few times through the years, and it's fun. But just to sit down with an acoustic guitar and play for a crowd of people is still my favorite thing to do."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT41F1HOk-lORxZDdvlXOLPC6Dt1S_MbP6gVBZt7-SEKxD8TuVavK7H2RUJn1r9Vb1-myHA3veGKdzBMGTXMZlhVJp3lRwtJw5J4Gim3-vieZ5JZBl6OZV_JPHvTs-wprjdEyPUZR4NrMqfhWdSaXFrLcLenXhSSo7YcKCz29MCQjTkxl4oEHRjESh0w/s1749/pat%20terry%20group%20-%20best%20of2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="1749" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT41F1HOk-lORxZDdvlXOLPC6Dt1S_MbP6gVBZt7-SEKxD8TuVavK7H2RUJn1r9Vb1-myHA3veGKdzBMGTXMZlhVJp3lRwtJw5J4Gim3-vieZ5JZBl6OZV_JPHvTs-wprjdEyPUZR4NrMqfhWdSaXFrLcLenXhSSo7YcKCz29MCQjTkxl4oEHRjESh0w/w400-h356/pat%20terry%20group%20-%20best%20of2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>In the 70s, Pat, Sonny and Randy played quite often at a Bible study in the Smyrna area. Known as the Ellis Bible Study (or Metro Bible Study), it drew people from all around. "That place played a huge part in the formation of the band," Pat said. "We played there every Tuesday night for years, whenever we weren't on the road. If we were home, we would play there on Tuesday nights."</p><p>Pat told me that several of the songs on this album were written for that Tuesday night meeting. "A lot of these were songs that I wrote to play for that Bible study and we kind of used that as a platform to try new material out, you know? Because we had a built-in audience of people that we knew. They were a very friendly audience to play for because they were actually friends of ours. So <i>You Got Me, Nothing That You Can't Do</i> and probably <i>What Good's It Gonna Do Ya</i>, some of those, they were written to have something new to play for that Bible Study." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW19tOqssp12jE_XyPIGTCA0BfyILxq6zpLmWeFQ0MHb0jL3rko34fBHzlRhf7emadoRrFQlS0EikwtQ7LZ9E7ggtBwgFaF3YptYm02_awpYEC4BaGxFUiVnb-yI0hky1JDrFlrggIdmuovP5J0aeeCMuNRXJo7TMx86KqvQ0jBS3N9QscGAqdDQlDQg/s604/22572_1340132464181_1258286_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="604" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW19tOqssp12jE_XyPIGTCA0BfyILxq6zpLmWeFQ0MHb0jL3rko34fBHzlRhf7emadoRrFQlS0EikwtQ7LZ9E7ggtBwgFaF3YptYm02_awpYEC4BaGxFUiVnb-yI0hky1JDrFlrggIdmuovP5J0aeeCMuNRXJo7TMx86KqvQ0jBS3N9QscGAqdDQlDQg/w400-h319/22572_1340132464181_1258286_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>"Back in that era," Pat said, "from '75 through about '78 or so, I was writing every single day. There wasn't a week that went by where I didn't have two or three new songs. I reflect on that now and I get exhausted just thinking about it! But back then, it was just fun to me. It was just what I did."</p><p>"<i>All I Ever Need</i>, and <i>Nothing That You Can't Do</i> would probably fall into this category, too, some of the more confessional songs were songs that I just wrote for myself. They just came out of my heart and just felt like something I had to express. Almost all of the songs on this record had an element of that in them. I've always kind of written from that place."</p><p><i>Lord of All</i> is almost certainly another song written for the Ellis Bible Study, sounding like a prayerful worship song (well before we even had the term <i>worship song</i>). It probably wouldn't be sung in church today because it's not about <i>me</i> and how God makes <i>me </i>feel...and it's not about wind and mountains and oceans, etc. It doesn't jump an entire octave for no particular reason and it doesn't have two bridges and a pre-chorus. It's just a simple song about ascribing honor, glory and worth ("worth-ship") to God...<br /><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>"With My blood I bought you</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mighty and the small"</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Stand amazed</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sing His praise</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He is the mighty King</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Crown Him Lord of all</i></div> <p></p><p>Terry is known as a master craftsman when it comes to songwriting. I asked him which comes first, the music or the lyric?</p><p>"Generally, I try to get some chord changes and a melody happening and then start to fit lyrics into it," he explained. "Because most of the time the musical aspects of it will kind of suggest lyrics to me. So that's kind of the way it goes. I really can't think of a time that I've ever just written a lyric or even collaborated with someone where we had a complete lyric and then just, you know, adapted a melody to it. It's like the melody always suggests the lyrics to me."</p><p>Side one closes with <i>Nothing That You Can't Do</i>, which is a <b>PTG</b> classic, and <i>Home Where I Belong</i>, which is an <i>all-time</i> classic.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KaIQoaJFTyoI9uU-0QC2HRdeqo_ydvffuT2yGKHE-Ywz6ZR7l0_lBHGSRWDAKsZXD1zD5W-7Bt4ThzYqMVwiYvx4RfDb7hy5e5MS6h5yc9_MzCoYMFKfC2C9LZGNEIrI4UPtlFlejp-HQHzQUxfH1qD3CkCB1mF_nsoxEzcvrfoPzrdjKL4El0Vplg/s499/985937ca8a083cbe26a0df5b3a255605.499x499x1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="499" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KaIQoaJFTyoI9uU-0QC2HRdeqo_ydvffuT2yGKHE-Ywz6ZR7l0_lBHGSRWDAKsZXD1zD5W-7Bt4ThzYqMVwiYvx4RfDb7hy5e5MS6h5yc9_MzCoYMFKfC2C9LZGNEIrI4UPtlFlejp-HQHzQUxfH1qD3CkCB1mF_nsoxEzcvrfoPzrdjKL4El0Vplg/w400-h400/985937ca8a083cbe26a0df5b3a255605.499x499x1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><i>Home Where I Belong</i> was also famously covered by a guy who'd had a ton of success in the mainstream pop market - a man by the name of <b>B.J. Thomas</b>. Thomas had recently surrendered his life to Jesus and was miraculously delivered from a massive drug dependency, and <i>Home Where I Belong</i> served as his announcement to the world that the old <b>B.J. Thomas</b> wasn't around anymore; all things had become new. I wondered if perhaps Pat had pitched the song <i>Home Where I Belong</i> to Thomas. "No, I didn't have anything to do with it," he said. "B.J. had signed a deal with Myrrh to make some contemporary Gospel records and if I remember correctly, I think Billy Ray took <i>Home Where I Belong</i> to him and just put it in a stack of tapes for him to listen to and I think they both really liked it. So it ended up being on his radar. I still just love what he did with it. When I think of that song, his version is the one that I think about. To me, that's the definitive version of that song." </p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>They say that heaven's pretty, and livin' here is, too</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>But if they said that I would have to choose between the two</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'd go home</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Goin' home where I belong</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sometimes when I'm dreamin' it comes as no surprise</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>that if you'll look you'll see the homesick feelin' in my eyes</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm goin' home</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm goin' home where I belong</i></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>While I'm here I'll serve Him gladly</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sing Him all these songs</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm here, but not for long</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>When I'm feelin' lonely and when I'm feelin' blue</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>It's such a joy to know that I am only passin' through</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm headed home</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm goin' home where I belong</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>One day I'll be sleepin' when Death knocks on my door</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>And I'll awake to find that I'm not homesick anymore</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>'Cause I'll be home</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'll be home where I belong</i></div><br /><p></p><p>"You know, B.J. was very heart-felt in making his Christian albums that he made and he ran up against some folks who gave him some hassles about embracing his pop career along with a Gospel career," Pat said. "Some of these people felt like, 'Oh, he should just leave all that pop stuff behind.' So he took some criticism. But for a person who was very young in his faith, he handled all that pretty well. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UX3-hX3wCGjfNIbwJA8rSDI6bfrSvahOZl04XUv4LGalPBoiZGuIWkv_tCWKRPEilXAP1lRQVfGnLrhZcqmLt3uFl5_ixumIpYbzlp-Z7PD7sxo0SGGt-CDUoJpfnpQCre0wTrTb1JHfJCusuqU-qBJQEFvWlfL0Dk4IVFg579sBXuZmVPlVLgXu3g/s639/192641963_10225628428878339_202183411878811639_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="639" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5UX3-hX3wCGjfNIbwJA8rSDI6bfrSvahOZl04XUv4LGalPBoiZGuIWkv_tCWKRPEilXAP1lRQVfGnLrhZcqmLt3uFl5_ixumIpYbzlp-Z7PD7sxo0SGGt-CDUoJpfnpQCre0wTrTb1JHfJCusuqU-qBJQEFvWlfL0Dk4IVFg579sBXuZmVPlVLgXu3g/w400-h299/192641963_10225628428878339_202183411878811639_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pat Terry</b> with <b>B.J. Thomas</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>The few times that I was able to spend some time around him, I really appreciated his heart. He was a good guy and I will forever be grateful to him for recording that song. That was probably the first song of mine that got recorded that really kind of landed with an audience. So that was good. And then he went on to do <i>Happy Man</i>, too. And I thought he also did a great job with that. I was sorry to hear that he passed away not long ago. Very sorry to hear that. He meant a lot to me, creatively, in my life."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4E5pM6x9gJMs3FjLWCISuRdaD8ym7YVby-iiT2fCPSsI1C-7mQ-nrMcQvFmzV6RHH_1WxD1RVpoeHRYZDE9z2afsiYPL7a8LksZuo1vKp7IbHduUgB4hMzPc6ttCwg7kW5yXqZM5kuD6iLYM2k2yaEzZ8lEYno2W1hwOa-Twmfk6A3LTS0qUpSkD_g/s400/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="52" data-original-width="400" height="42" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4E5pM6x9gJMs3FjLWCISuRdaD8ym7YVby-iiT2fCPSsI1C-7mQ-nrMcQvFmzV6RHH_1WxD1RVpoeHRYZDE9z2afsiYPL7a8LksZuo1vKp7IbHduUgB4hMzPc6ttCwg7kW5yXqZM5kuD6iLYM2k2yaEzZ8lEYno2W1hwOa-Twmfk6A3LTS0qUpSkD_g/s320/musicline49.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuxlIOL78YpSSyvlBs331lfxXNz7SIF_fW7RGZMPPEGU3LMGVzF8Eh0EKxVWxJImftQxIwD-YbnGZA6RWhd3ryzekMg24HfmsVTWQMJbGQUMWIuh5ZPvbRAkEco-jTTckmo1DYIAMsogzgX5d0KxQ3lH_nA0PRtbTFzbOtQ1ra-QYVFsICIo1OtH2iw/s1791/IMG_2400.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1791" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpuxlIOL78YpSSyvlBs331lfxXNz7SIF_fW7RGZMPPEGU3LMGVzF8Eh0EKxVWxJImftQxIwD-YbnGZA6RWhd3ryzekMg24HfmsVTWQMJbGQUMWIuh5ZPvbRAkEco-jTTckmo1DYIAMsogzgX5d0KxQ3lH_nA0PRtbTFzbOtQ1ra-QYVFsICIo1OtH2iw/w400-h253/IMG_2400.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would be yours truly having a "fan boy" moment, first with Pat (above)<br />and then with Randy Bugg (below) following a PTG reunion show<br />in Atlanta several years back...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyZcFXhFRtJedZ49r844tG8MMqIoBJclWxxlRxPdaw-U7GNHGGkJHa-1MJ_DZeuAib--aGOzNFR1zUlr9jyhI-vtSHs7-BVTcW1BoAWFrRG3dX2U6kJSKsrWyFgPyFI0fIu_aWrI4IV4O8rT9aED0W6jAoiKs-2y89atRvtBfFm6VbUEAiX00io7ftQ/s1806/IMG_2402.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="1806" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyZcFXhFRtJedZ49r844tG8MMqIoBJclWxxlRxPdaw-U7GNHGGkJHa-1MJ_DZeuAib--aGOzNFR1zUlr9jyhI-vtSHs7-BVTcW1BoAWFrRG3dX2U6kJSKsrWyFgPyFI0fIu_aWrI4IV4O8rT9aED0W6jAoiKs-2y89atRvtBfFm6VbUEAiX00io7ftQ/w400-h261/IMG_2402.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOOewpIUgqcEJNo8wV-kOMAPMaxkHWogfLEiS2R3-vYf1DItwz9t2ou8m_dxKCVkcNgjGU59qrFWapnwRMq2XX7V-3rb6roR7lrvNXltwNuntReVclgoF0JDhQ5Xj73LW3RPDZ2HP4jLPl-2E70YwdjLFmjwIGNirrFD2qIcAOts3KmA5rmPeKmF53w/s400/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="52" data-original-width="400" height="42" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOOewpIUgqcEJNo8wV-kOMAPMaxkHWogfLEiS2R3-vYf1DItwz9t2ou8m_dxKCVkcNgjGU59qrFWapnwRMq2XX7V-3rb6roR7lrvNXltwNuntReVclgoF0JDhQ5Xj73LW3RPDZ2HP4jLPl-2E70YwdjLFmjwIGNirrFD2qIcAOts3KmA5rmPeKmF53w/s320/musicline49.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The <b>Pat Terry Group</b> had the same three members for the entire duration of the group's existence: <b>Pat Terry</b> on guitars and lead vocal, <b>Sonny Lallerstedt</b> on lead guitar and vocals, and <b>Randy Bugg</b> on bass and vocals. Sonny would sing a lead vocal here and there (usually on about one song per album) and Randy would sing an occasional harmony part every now and then.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DJ_hJ4oaYrr3kkt7cOIN7IzfTvK2JbBDLKwD_9RMQgzBgs7suXSgSR6nHY0lgPhgykmbL5ObNzz-J3szhgKrFejRsgfB7fBpsDIYPL3vy96M81GKRwE18_VM8acLUUZcRf3rN_FEAydAFcivUIl1K2HhG-WTVKZjnAc1fjradOcxRvlYwHuuUhL2zQ/s297/dallgaacl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DJ_hJ4oaYrr3kkt7cOIN7IzfTvK2JbBDLKwD_9RMQgzBgs7suXSgSR6nHY0lgPhgykmbL5ObNzz-J3szhgKrFejRsgfB7fBpsDIYPL3vy96M81GKRwE18_VM8acLUUZcRf3rN_FEAydAFcivUIl1K2HhG-WTVKZjnAc1fjradOcxRvlYwHuuUhL2zQ/s16000/dallgaacl.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>I asked Pat how the vocal parts were determined and arranged. "Sonny and I would just come up with parts," he answered. "Randy would sing a third harmony, but he would tell you that he wasn't really a singer. So we would just create little vocal arrangements and Randy would take one of the parts, and then Sonny and I would experiment with our parts until everything kind of gelled. I always wanted us to have more vocal stuff going on, but really, Sonny and I were the two primary vocalists and it wasn't written as a duo kind of thing. So when we did have some vocals, they kind of needed to be three parts and we just weren't exactly wired up like a vocal group."</p><p><b>Chet McCracken</b> played drums on this album, while <b>David Diggs </b>arranged the strings. <b>Boris Menart</b> served as an engineer; the album was mastered by <b>Lanky Linstrot</b> at ABC. <b><i>Songs of the South</i></b> was pressed at Keel Mfg. Corp. </p><p>On the topic of "Nashville vs. SoCal"... "I still remember having a long conversation with <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> that was slightly contentious," Pat said. "It wasn't really contentious, but we did butt head a little bit when we were talking about making this album. Billy Ray said, 'Pat, I don't see why you can't just come up to Nashville and let's just do it here.' And I didn't want to be rude about it or anything, but I did feel like what was going on in Nashville, production-wise, was different from what we were trying to do. And Billy Ray had a little bit of a difference of opinion with me on that. He just didn't see it that way. But the Gospel music - and even the contemporary Gospel music - that was being made in Nashville was really informed by Southern Gospel. Even if it was sort of contemporary, it still sounded like it came out of the Gospel quartet tradition or something. And I just felt like we were trying to do something kind of different. And I still remember Billy Ray saying, 'Well, Pat, Nashville musicians are the best musicians in the world. I don't understand why you're hesitant to want to work with them. <i>They're the best in the world!</i>' And I'd say, 'Yeah, they're great...' I just had a hard time getting it across to him why it was different for us." <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTFqKojP_Jz8zjp0kxI5Kdouo8mSX0ehO1tt3TRk7SiK2sHNn8Ra76VnkrJj6wEngdCDKGssE8__IBhrpdaGkMkX3IgmiO66cSwBCPRIcevEDcUFMih_ORIgPucQcj2kHZfNEwNpnFo1VonVtD7wGQohfDYcgh-50YDg_653BFX9lYn4_gy7UJFKJ8w/s500/51VwgSgkv4L.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="498" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKTFqKojP_Jz8zjp0kxI5Kdouo8mSX0ehO1tt3TRk7SiK2sHNn8Ra76VnkrJj6wEngdCDKGssE8__IBhrpdaGkMkX3IgmiO66cSwBCPRIcevEDcUFMih_ORIgPucQcj2kHZfNEwNpnFo1VonVtD7wGQohfDYcgh-50YDg_653BFX9lYn4_gy7UJFKJ8w/w399-h400/51VwgSgkv4L.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Side two opens with a toe-tapper written by <b>Bob Farrell</b> (of <b>Farrell & Farrell</b>) that featured Sonny on lead vocal. Bob had previously worked with both Sonny and Randy in an early Jesus Music group called <b>Dove</b>.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFXLdo55trfZv48iVtpim7JIU5dNvXIdlkAVqlLyapt7_7dyNmzHH34RNMwX3DmdXikuynWMiQW7yGFR56bYWTTSNgrzCMdr7Z-_Jh8Zaya7h5xyRqLiC2UZNvI9qpIDvjAztSZRKzlSyhOs9kRMvhlhzvQ-5M23xapPc1DdidvGnG7kPl0eKwLdA7Q/s604/1930584_23925121591_1127_n%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="604" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFXLdo55trfZv48iVtpim7JIU5dNvXIdlkAVqlLyapt7_7dyNmzHH34RNMwX3DmdXikuynWMiQW7yGFR56bYWTTSNgrzCMdr7Z-_Jh8Zaya7h5xyRqLiC2UZNvI9qpIDvjAztSZRKzlSyhOs9kRMvhlhzvQ-5M23xapPc1DdidvGnG7kPl0eKwLdA7Q/w400-h216/1930584_23925121591_1127_n%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11.88px;">L-R: <b>Randy Bugg, Bob Farrell, Pat Terry,</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 11.88px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11.88px;">Radio DJ <b>Paul Logsdon</b>, and <b>Sonny Lallerstedt</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Next up was a song that has been tremendously meaningful to me over the years. I describe it as a worship song being played and sung in a bluesy piano bar. <br /><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Precious Jesus, hold me tight</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The more I see You the less I fight</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You know I love You</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Help me love You more</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>When I'm blinded and I can't see</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are there to comfort me</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>When I'm lonely and feeling blue</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You're with me, Lord</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm with You</i></div></i><br /><p></p><p>"<i>Help Me Love You More</i> was certainly written as kind of an outpouring of the way I felt about my faith in those early years," Pat revealed. "I really wanted to write something that sounded kind of bluesy and jazzy, that kind of thing. And I didn't really know much about that kind of music. But I just tried to approximate something and it just came out that way. And I still like the way that song turned out." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mt5OAUIxSw0" width="320" youtube-src-id="Mt5OAUIxSw0"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>All I Ever Need</i> is another one that has given me peace and comfort at various times. I've recently (over the past three years or so) had to walk through an unwanted...um...we'll just call it an unwanted change in life circumstance. This event was, for a good while, fairly debilitating and demoralizing. It was either give up on life...or turn to God. It's when we are forced to walk through deep and dark valleys in our lives that we realize just how much we take the Lord's presence for granted. Songs like <i>All I Ever Need</i> sort of went in one ear and out the other when I was a teenager. It was just a pretty folk song. But having lived a lot of life in the meantime, having been both on the mountaintop and in the valley, several times each...today <i>All I Ever Need </i>serves as a poignant reminder of what's truly important. </p><p>Sometimes we fail to realize that God is all we need...until He's all we have left.<br /><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are all I ever want</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are all I ever need</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sometimes I just fool myself by thinking I want more</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are all my heart desires</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are all my soul requires</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sometimes I just lose myself in thinking more of You</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sometimes I think the world can bring me joy</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Soon I'm crying and You touch me</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You touch me</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are all I ever want</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are all I ever need</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>God of glory, Lord of might</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>You are my all in all</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Holy Spirit, Son divine</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Father, hold me as Your child</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sometimes I just lose myself in thinking more of You</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijY935tC54YzOko20rdstocmnGxDjZ0dXCEnlrZsslTXmKBJQbwQ7CmGJoirvCv8g9w5a9Xiq_jfPdL7lQuaU8O35TchvU56skmXpCwzFpZcZTzdIVhoTqbhaqq_aLJt5yyLHBgpljQthkW9AoOUM-HshA4ZijvmLC4IA49eYiMbmNlVRr--LMIXYNA/s500/5179KNPJtoL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="500" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijY935tC54YzOko20rdstocmnGxDjZ0dXCEnlrZsslTXmKBJQbwQ7CmGJoirvCv8g9w5a9Xiq_jfPdL7lQuaU8O35TchvU56skmXpCwzFpZcZTzdIVhoTqbhaqq_aLJt5yyLHBgpljQthkW9AoOUM-HshA4ZijvmLC4IA49eYiMbmNlVRr--LMIXYNA/w400-h396/5179KNPJtoL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Pat's humor is on display in <i>Daniel</i>, a musical re-telling of the story of Daniel and the lion's den. This one is just fun. CCM writers and artists were pretty adept at this genre for a good while. It doesn't seem to happen so much these days, as Christian radio has become so formulaic and is pretty much all-worship-all-the-time. But as I listen to <i>Daniel</i>, I'm reminded of other similar offerings from Pat's contemporaries back in the day...<i>Jonah</i> by <b>Mark Heard</b>...<i>He'll Take Care of the Rest</i> and <i>So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt</i> by <b>Keith Green</b>...<i>Mary and Martha</i> by <b>Honeytree</b>...<i>Lazarus </i>from <b>Carman</b>...<i>He's Alive</i> by <b>Don Francisco</b>...<i>Abraham</i> by <b>Phil Keaggy</b>...<i>Noah</i> by <b>David & the Giants</b>...<i>Man of the Tombs</i> and <i>Carpenter Gone Bad</i> by <b>Bob Bennett</b>...<i>Where Are the Other Nine</i> by <b>Geoff Moore</b>...any number of songs by <b>Michael Card</b>...and many, many more. <i>I Got to Go Down</i> was another example from the <b>PTG</b> on a later offering (<i><b>Final Vinyl</b></i>). The Bible-Story-Set-to-Music is an overlooked art-form today.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-rG15DsMVqXTFv9nHztdJnSVk063Q2OEPF095anrjTjny2WIjoBhlXBrp2kb0tGdUJ1wQJjmzUgsk339nRpo5X-88HKbUurp79S9-j2g3aMuc-xnjQhyKYM9WaRBE5y5B3xAPxsiEd8em4IAIr1nepJIaQkvR1oDQdEankuewFYRN0VknlMkpS0kpA/s599/R-12726163-1540787501-9293.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="599" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-rG15DsMVqXTFv9nHztdJnSVk063Q2OEPF095anrjTjny2WIjoBhlXBrp2kb0tGdUJ1wQJjmzUgsk339nRpo5X-88HKbUurp79S9-j2g3aMuc-xnjQhyKYM9WaRBE5y5B3xAPxsiEd8em4IAIr1nepJIaQkvR1oDQdEankuewFYRN0VknlMkpS0kpA/w400-h391/R-12726163-1540787501-9293.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Songs of the South</i></b> wraps with a classic called <i>Happy Man</i>. It's a tender ballad and another one of Pat's songs that became the title track for a <b>B.J. Thomas</b> album.</p><p>So I asked Pat how he and his mates felt about the album, once it was finished and in stores. "Oh, we were really psyched about it," he said. "I still feel like it's our best album. We felt really good about it when we made it - the energy of it and what all went into making it. I think it got infused with a certain spiritual element that was going on in our lives at that time. I really love it. If anybody says to me, 'I've never really heard the <b>Pat Terry Group</b>,' I'll say, 'You need to listen to this album.' Because this is what we were about. I think it kind of defines us. And I like some of the other things we did after that, but I think the material on this album and just the way it was recorded and everything - it just ended up my favorite." <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_Hrz5JwOkiymYhlpoMi4f8ho5zibzGYQZM70LfDMxSHnpxPx8AjQidOPRQz7IoHYczr_teBaWPGdFQdceUP2w6wE7OGC4LEXa4VuXZJBWpG8ENlkF6QBiz-GpP50s4MPQRD_p7QID5Wz-cyjcQN9_F30itGrb2fYeDsaj9-YtA8AlIPEZixgac1yTA/s720/206578_2012639436435_6339606_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="533" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_Hrz5JwOkiymYhlpoMi4f8ho5zibzGYQZM70LfDMxSHnpxPx8AjQidOPRQz7IoHYczr_teBaWPGdFQdceUP2w6wE7OGC4LEXa4VuXZJBWpG8ENlkF6QBiz-GpP50s4MPQRD_p7QID5Wz-cyjcQN9_F30itGrb2fYeDsaj9-YtA8AlIPEZixgac1yTA/w474-h640/206578_2012639436435_6339606_n.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pat Terry</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Our conversation turned to what's happening these days, and Pat said he's looking forward to playing music in front of live humans again. "I haven't played live in almost two years and I'm booking some dates now," he said, with a bit of excitement. "I was sitting out here this afternoon, just kind of rehearsing and running through some things, trying to get my chops all back together and everything."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5KHe3SaN-IMdk0eDsoasBTQnegU-iVVIuHJpPm4dCRY6hp-_bhwoPAxusvWALOq1oHYrPgylZKxRs4zulQnTQWRaeAwcY9wAKXisYid29IKADCcmlv-lQtxoklDRGgTik3Y_y4-UASd3-PZYffhXoO5p0grhM9n8_4xx2mXAapWUD_PRan5KlHvjKcg/s720/163905_470172044021_7225441_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5KHe3SaN-IMdk0eDsoasBTQnegU-iVVIuHJpPm4dCRY6hp-_bhwoPAxusvWALOq1oHYrPgylZKxRs4zulQnTQWRaeAwcY9wAKXisYid29IKADCcmlv-lQtxoklDRGgTik3Y_y4-UASd3-PZYffhXoO5p0grhM9n8_4xx2mXAapWUD_PRan5KlHvjKcg/w400-h266/163905_470172044021_7225441_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>We talked a little bit about the nostalgia that exists for the <b>Pat Terry Group</b>, the way that the <b>PTG</b> albums and songs still strike an emotional chord in the hearts of listeners all these years later. "I don't take that for granted," Pat said. "I really appreciate it."</p><p>But as we continued to talk, I got the sense that Pat almost had to lay the group down (if you will) and sort of place a barrier between himself and the music of the <b>PTG</b> era before being able to go back and pick it back up again.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fz2uQUTVcBM1vJ92FvMRVKrKmKCi_mXcC1kk2nlu0gKpsLQRgvBuCZFbSRVve42DLrVvvA9K_Z_jU_ZyUQcGEZDN0duSkyr31bn02m1g4GA5wFI44N4KTSAMIIYky3UqmolIC_X8pJE6wWbWSru1kIRry3owFp4Jrwx8qZo-SfW8VJBZDuGY6EDqoA/s1745/Pat%20Terry%20-%20Humanity%20Gangters2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1282" data-original-width="1745" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2fz2uQUTVcBM1vJ92FvMRVKrKmKCi_mXcC1kk2nlu0gKpsLQRgvBuCZFbSRVve42DLrVvvA9K_Z_jU_ZyUQcGEZDN0duSkyr31bn02m1g4GA5wFI44N4KTSAMIIYky3UqmolIC_X8pJE6wWbWSru1kIRry3owFp4Jrwx8qZo-SfW8VJBZDuGY6EDqoA/w400-h294/Pat%20Terry%20-%20Humanity%20Gangters2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">"I've been through some periods of my life when I didn't want to be blocked in by the past," he stated. "I was always wanting to push a new envelope. It was hard sometimes to go play a concert when I knew that people really wanted to hear </span><b style="text-align: left;">Pat Terry Group</b><span style="text-align: left;"> stuff. But </span><b style="text-align: left;">Pat Terry Group</b><span style="text-align: left;"> was something I had done fifteen years earlier or something, you know? I never looked at our more popular songs from that era as 'hits' so I never related to them as something I would be singing thirty years later. We were trying to communicate what it was like to have a vital faith, and I always played and wrote about what was going on in my life </span><i style="text-align: left;">at the current time</i><span style="text-align: left;">. </span></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaIVSkHt3ebz_O9OeLiBdja7ZRmTQ0zBSUoREhXWURvHscqVvXVjGMjNiKaPc4IWrtQpvE6H7ZWHtvYs5zgK5_L6EztOq9vSyWmcFskom9UWmj39Yj_bFfjZaONmIYSLhsfbdBr3nZly6F7_0-vAJsM--b5ktCYoN-TuGyWaxZVvW48r86r4riqdfwg/s1745/Pat%20Terry%20-%20Film%20at%20Eleven2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1541" data-original-width="1745" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaIVSkHt3ebz_O9OeLiBdja7ZRmTQ0zBSUoREhXWURvHscqVvXVjGMjNiKaPc4IWrtQpvE6H7ZWHtvYs5zgK5_L6EztOq9vSyWmcFskom9UWmj39Yj_bFfjZaONmIYSLhsfbdBr3nZly6F7_0-vAJsM--b5ktCYoN-TuGyWaxZVvW48r86r4riqdfwg/w400-h354/Pat%20Terry%20-%20Film%20at%20Eleven2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>I wanted it to be vital. And I didn't want to just turn my back on everything I'd done before, but I also didn't want to be limited by it. So I went through some years where I just didn't want to do much of it anymore. I just felt like, what I'm trying to say, people would hear and then try to interpret it by music they'd heard me do ten years earlier. And that's just not how this works. I was talking about some different things by that time. Because in my own personal life, I'm working out my own salvation. I hope I'm growing in the Lord and I hope I'm learning new things and you don't get on down the road by staying where you were ten years earlier. So I was always trying to keep moving ahead. But I've kind of learned to embrace - I mean, there are things that we did in the <b>Pat Terry Group</b> that I still love and I do pull out and play in my concerts now and they kind of fit in a context that works for me. And I think people appreciate it. They seem to."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_T8CO7h_q_SrSxJDeLQH-IqkrJjD-BZhqTCjF4UilXrcue4E1nhcdUZogJ41v1Myll6OWexya4vDGypAmD4UpSaCj-P4yM79Yr6cvd1ABbsBvyk6YHaa73Pv8H0efMDpwokTCBQPWfkUMAd9GhxRzdGbWvrN2d8SVxR_hooenAZtxvZ42Z2SEIBveRA/s1354/pat%20terry-The%20Silence2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1354" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_T8CO7h_q_SrSxJDeLQH-IqkrJjD-BZhqTCjF4UilXrcue4E1nhcdUZogJ41v1Myll6OWexya4vDGypAmD4UpSaCj-P4yM79Yr6cvd1ABbsBvyk6YHaa73Pv8H0efMDpwokTCBQPWfkUMAd9GhxRzdGbWvrN2d8SVxR_hooenAZtxvZ42Z2SEIBveRA/w400-h263/pat%20terry-The%20Silence2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I jokingly told Pat he's just going to have to come to grips with the fact that there's always going to be people in the world who love the <b>Pat Terry Group</b>...and there's nothing he can do about it! He chuckled and said, "I'm always grateful that there are people out there for whom that music really meant something. You know, music is something that you continue to carry with you through your life. Music that I listened to when I was sixteen years old is music that still means a lot to me. So occasionally I do meet people who tell me, 'Man, I listened to you when I was in high school and I loved that music and I still do!' And I don't think songwriters can ever ask for anything better than that." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlf8P_ZvwHhMFE7crkEFJ08JHFN6vmPK9rFjlCtbPynhLwD1rrUz6w6fxBtiPPPG9ggxxxQn2jGf6WKkmSM3GZyyi8ZfxhASVNxKua3p1Hxeo6Zm-ehrePwGFtRLRYQmTBXJ-FQAPjYUO_uKGf1rknayyiv4gwqWvx6aImRUDjmE2Iv0Qkv4B6D1RFA/s1789/IMG_5733.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1684" data-original-width="1789" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlf8P_ZvwHhMFE7crkEFJ08JHFN6vmPK9rFjlCtbPynhLwD1rrUz6w6fxBtiPPPG9ggxxxQn2jGf6WKkmSM3GZyyi8ZfxhASVNxKua3p1Hxeo6Zm-ehrePwGFtRLRYQmTBXJ-FQAPjYUO_uKGf1rknayyiv4gwqWvx6aImRUDjmE2Iv0Qkv4B6D1RFA/w400-h376/IMG_5733.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Here's what I know: this particular collection of "Messianic melodies" known as <b><i>Songs of the South</i></b> has really stood the test of time and remains meaningful today to those of us who've been privileged to hear it. Even if you didn't grow up in Macon, around magnolia trees...</p><p>"Hey, if someone connected with something that you wrote, and it really meant something to them and they're still carrying it around with them...it's like, wow," Pat said. "You can't ask for anything better than that."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA9QXfaGcXWiN6DnLjA3LgASrctqw4cg24r41q2lubAnm33CLTEg_PiCpDsLXtkvwmalSrbLNC8c1Cp53BTDg0Du1Y1IZz0YNmgeFLCwQXoi95bhLfwUOc1v8WoqZPi_pyYtwYT6_CVyLzA6d_KZCfo1SuomSqNSNYYziuAj6kjgXnBHvApRx0yBV7w/s864/582544_3850339577790_1822450891_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="864" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA9QXfaGcXWiN6DnLjA3LgASrctqw4cg24r41q2lubAnm33CLTEg_PiCpDsLXtkvwmalSrbLNC8c1Cp53BTDg0Du1Y1IZz0YNmgeFLCwQXoi95bhLfwUOc1v8WoqZPi_pyYtwYT6_CVyLzA6d_KZCfo1SuomSqNSNYYziuAj6kjgXnBHvApRx0yBV7w/w400-h143/582544_3850339577790_1822450891_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-49830053853495772892022-03-31T14:09:00.015-07:002022-04-01T03:33:32.595-07:00Remembering Dave Will<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #303030; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b></b></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZmql3nPhQ5Pt-iuQCHwj0aPna_3vEtfFrIpucKE49gMddzeS8xjn1w60Jeci_FAnMiL_QiV2muYyezYY8MSxyV-xOYTRZTF_DIzPReCAAYR5JakVMtrsgPn8saq3Sbl8qHHFa-e5pEJAnduYOQOJWKXlmVcHPKlIU6l96j1kmyxcrqxTTO2ehVPxBw/w226-h400/imperials-sidebyside%20(2).jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Dave Will,</b> longtime baritone singer for <b>The Imperials,</b> went Home on March 4, 2022. He was 78.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After high school, Will worked as a studio artist and even spent a year in art school. But the call of God was on his life. He dropped out of the Academy of Art in Chicago and instead enrolled at North Central, an Assemblies of God Bible College in Minnesota. Dave became a licensed minister and married his high school sweetheart, Janice.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Will grew up immersed in music, art and ministry. At church he learned to love singing and harmonizing; this led to him joining various Gospel trios and quartets as a young man.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGR91_z5QsYqOdiEY16qVW5d9IYmYxs9HV6X0lDVwLPSiSOCXMvqn1dg3UyhLyG5pY1mUM7XxxhyKtYUkQsYb_9oNyUK7-aql-FGSIq79EBL-XLADVVMt9qCoQk-GVg5JbCV7uAztDopP_02otr04m2loMLPLtbCaQn7nRoJTDyEqkYB5k7bX593FVHQ/w400-h299/44751439_2175634286037502_4296642225871257600_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Keystones </b>(Will is top, center)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He became part of a handful of touring southern Gospel groups - the <b>Keystones</b>, the <b>Statesmen</b> and the <b>Tribunes.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkJCrNhcpro4qnz1UosZRvo5yluhaoH3YMPJLqcj1uy11MQIJFxGN96TAXOXV7aLMkU8T8wS9rBJocYvVDFpm-g2YZ-v9WEqM6Iugx-D-KVa_XMzmC_d6Ud62z-q13MYgHEYv7_daeWNr6v2LgPQAjLifFExw8_cTOoiX7p9XS4IcbwyKxqL_nW9lhg/w400-h315/44878355_2175629459371318_1771771440933109760_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(David Will is top, center)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It was at an <b>Imperials </b>concert in 1976 that David was asked to sing during the intermission. The story is told that <b>Armond Morales </b>was listening and asked David to join the legendary group that very night. Morales was in need of replacements for <b>Terry Blackwood</b> and <b>Sherman Andrus.</b> He ended up plugging those holes with David and a young, then-unknown singer by the name of <b>Russ Taff.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb3MD8IJidZpTee2-QLrisGOETjNBZeOSVwyo-URgOxj4Bw8j9dOSNy6-nao4cmcCRS9gWrrBMbntaTDcKPlf1KaHiO8ge5mk0Dsf0XdHBqBFj9lPg8Gv7UBGmKCH3Khd0bJSgMBKjzLyvezte1vP8a0bGLfMROKDNz1-0gIbvG3paZBPCsiswdO1OQ/w400-h400/imperials2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Taff was flashy and possessed an other-worldly talent. Will, by comparison, was tame and far less noticeable. But he was mature and rock-steady. He ended up serving as a fixture in the <b>Imperials </b>lineup for some four decades.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuxmDatrC8d5ii8ykkjYjDCAKvWiYGuSoztRTtZ66GGvHHxbQiNFw7va8-f_6zaYm0tzMirP6IniKOQmXUmVUnITtz729G1uCBDNQLnQVyTwzltPZp5vKydDXoxnS3vha_atxLeZ8L69M28SklzsRe3UdYDk1PmI9ml7lvKfMhhZJYnBU4CzkbGtB7Q/w400-h399/51WdMiIftfL.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dave Will was featured on so many <b>Imperials</b> classics over the years...songs like <i>Satisfaction Guaranteed, Bread on the Water, He Touched Me, Old Gospel Ship, Growing Stronger </i>and <i>The Deeper Meaning</i>, to name a few.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DsX3lgLudgt-5q7fkOCrUhTFUaaQJWKk9-01KF5CJi9r-MjCR3TSyNsc7PjPKI4WPclXXquXMhP5Evb-FkrViuFfactfYL4t3TiWeV54uafJtkdTg8mNFe_0JzYCq3YP00RF_AGS7JoAKr64UhcqFDS-JYcmMU4xljC6-OUydWRU5zhyINUYhSU85A/w400-h400/182816_1_f.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But he was best known for taking the lead on touching ballads such as <i>You're the Only Jesus, In the Same Old-Fashioned Way, Pieces, Because of Who You Are</i> and, of course, <i>One More Song For You</i>. Singing on approximately 27 albums and compilation projects with <b>The Imperials</b>, Dave ended up winning multiple Grammy and Dove awards, and was inducted into the GMA Hall of Fame.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgsXdccMDokVY2pDEWl-KRTJNDIJdADyfRni2fvr3FoWj_ZHSr2MK2WA_bS-oUkhgLyfBroqUapibqRuSIAdmi8SZQ4R3EcQQkfM2VuiigjfruZgyCmG0rAo1aNaCbdeQFDpRzik8HxcBqKRN7TdPLJaeN-sc9hr5UMkZTWez3XsPvc-o3SwD1-Wi5Q/w400-h364/R-5163817-1466666873-9389.jpeg.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">More important than any of that were the opinions shared by those who worked closely with <b>David Will </b>for decades and knew him well. Following his passing, members of <b>The Imperials</b> described him as "a true Christian...a dedicated husband and father...a loyal friend...and an anointed minister of the Gospel."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"We will miss you way more than you will miss us," read the group's social media post.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcSx540LeqwpmEZ20Y_LXVqgjeZztq_ef1Vm2Fd8Sdw_qBurOyyQeUXwCTzAWd4QuufSdZdkb30qYnYopn6F0PgJQjEiavuu74o3h-px6bvbQN8FXDNjEdg1Ga1uj6NAEUmcn3YA4ltm4vfNi5npGXcxK1RwqiYcBbvWXkbfSZdmpHtiZ529T5z_ReQ/w400-h249/ImpsOmartian.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the most impressive things about <b>David Will </b>was his life-long love affair with and commitment to his wife Janice. They were married for 56 years. What an example. What a legacy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6wTkx5C0TjlEyTp71tIpHDWu3E0V8DM48i77lTB4LZauCHCIxhhOWmvSyYEgoR79ar99RH9_d3atllkzcmcsUKtu1fWmQAmBbdWakfdbiehsIB5NQUw-ATEJbTuX-cWCD3rLp-3Sr_AomvV_FFS5Rcxrk6fOdBPRdnmKAFN9_hgfII-oemmVZrg5vg/w400-h304/10399970_105646462190_6133972_n.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Congratulations to <b>David Will </b>for a race well run.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXxP9fI6yZJgsgQv886IQ3DWRz_pmUZYOk62Y1VG9Qc-Le3Vwedw9ZvJ7sYpDb8TabaydkZNfNPKLwh0hUQ9dey7AaeVnoG8bb-FryzGulSX6gbhfJRlWzBXCoETKOd7wPCWxmFE3rGpmVigcg45HWuP8KoaA_Li0EYIdzR_mov4ZD77AVm4LyHOseSw/w400-h346/12622458_1669927813274821_1738517005664598128_o.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">"...as long as there is time, and one breath left in me,</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">there will always be one more song for You..."</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/brahvmGXNJ4" width="320" youtube-src-id="brahvmGXNJ4"></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-767120747349671322022-03-17T08:48:00.011-07:002022-03-28T06:17:35.173-07:00#23 SHOTGUN ANGEL by Daniel Amos (1977)<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy3jyfc3gZ0rMl3znSiBeNqphwntSvntb0b_JBSWvV6HqindOcT1NJ1RHlbP6pM_H1RCm9neK4vnrJl76RzfIk074kPIvR4K4UjQQ0p3sAanJkeeLCXPWkYEv4hIsofHRKYCjtY6xKtmGe1GD19VobunOrrwLzOTmqxyNpvtDfj1tkRiGzb6NS-cA4yg=s500" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhy3jyfc3gZ0rMl3znSiBeNqphwntSvntb0b_JBSWvV6HqindOcT1NJ1RHlbP6pM_H1RCm9neK4vnrJl76RzfIk074kPIvR4K4UjQQ0p3sAanJkeeLCXPWkYEv4hIsofHRKYCjtY6xKtmGe1GD19VobunOrrwLzOTmqxyNpvtDfj1tkRiGzb6NS-cA4yg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SHOTGUN ANGEL</i></b> by <b>Daniel Amos </b>(1977)<br />Maranatha | MM0032A</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was eclectic. It was diverse. It was rock, it was country. It was <b>Eagles</b>, it was <b>Beatles</b>. It was theological, it was controversial, it was funny. It was <i>a lot</i>...a lot comin' at you through the speakers in 1977. And it sounded good...<i>so </i>good. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Daniel Amos</b> had been introduced to all of us with their self-titled debut in 1976. But this band officially <i>arrived</i> with <i><b>Shotgun Angel</b></i>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">"I think <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> broadened the fan base of <b>Daniel Amos</b> to a great extent," said <b>Alex MacDougall</b>, a percussionist on the album and, later, a member of the band. "This was the credible and <i>believable</i> album that Christian music fans wanted. It certainly was an important soundtrack to many in the Calvary Chapel movement."</span></p><p><i style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />So which guy is Daniel Amos?</i><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> the casual fan often wonders. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4DVoi4GQa3D_dMP1Xwvo5qp8sS2oPSdL89XmOQDTQ5I8fd_QUQe2Gri8iHHhK9l5rCKKkPsT5xtCuqxg9wqG9iLtOkKuoyBiy910DFeYcLRuHXuy4MEQfWYHZw000qsUMVx77a_YunednWquoroGBHKWBVILmYwhOLu8oesZdqoaxtPZuP6OYZ2lo8A=s240" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4DVoi4GQa3D_dMP1Xwvo5qp8sS2oPSdL89XmOQDTQ5I8fd_QUQe2Gri8iHHhK9l5rCKKkPsT5xtCuqxg9wqG9iLtOkKuoyBiy910DFeYcLRuHXuy4MEQfWYHZw000qsUMVx77a_YunednWquoroGBHKWBVILmYwhOLu8oesZdqoaxtPZuP6OYZ2lo8A=s16000" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Turns out <b>Daniel Amos</b> is not an individual...but, rather, a band name taken from two Old Testament prophets. Being somewhat of a country band in their early days, the guys wanted a Bible-based name reminiscent of an old country gentleman sitting on a fence, strumming his guitar. At least that's the story <b>Terry Taylor </b>tells. <br /><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigne7vrIoN5FPS5T07KzBo87YasBXjNyxncgjEhU_F-U2XU97XUPHopcGhUMxqdzdKIfzUV_QdFXGBG4Pu31Agt5ArsdtTsq3SyiYpTRaPUbJpvhvi41w3F4oZvY9JS2n1vODLhX4k-qMdz5Iugwx4gC-zPuLbimbX6VR1OV9CVWlHjAMqPt4M_UVcfg=s450" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="450" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigne7vrIoN5FPS5T07KzBo87YasBXjNyxncgjEhU_F-U2XU97XUPHopcGhUMxqdzdKIfzUV_QdFXGBG4Pu31Agt5ArsdtTsq3SyiYpTRaPUbJpvhvi41w3F4oZvY9JS2n1vODLhX4k-qMdz5Iugwx4gC-zPuLbimbX6VR1OV9CVWlHjAMqPt4M_UVcfg=w400-h209" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's <b>Terry Taylor</b> on the far right</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Taylor became the leader of </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Daniel Amos</b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. He grew up being affected and influenced by Sixties teen heartthrobs (</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Ricky Nelson</b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">) and also by what was later dubbed the British Invasion (</span><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Rolling Stones, Beatles</b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">). For more background on Taylor's early life and how </span><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Daniel Amos</b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> originally came to exist, check out our posts on </span><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/02/100-daniel-amos-by-daniel-amos-1976.html" style="font-family: helvetica;">Daniel Amos</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> and </span><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2017/10/39-horrendous-disc-by-daniel-amos-1978.html" style="font-family: helvetica;">Horrendous Disc</a><span style="font-family: helvetica;">. <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8Al1cWriVeT6hcOHYDAoe_MZgrKGzqvR5Vgtpv_NNL2Bu07KxR9RwCDn4GwSyt30mZYTYZhmYyGSwwrY678REr5ENU0De5J9hk493YRubz-0kkKyPlep2XwA3Xa43oiLccx0w74VpZ4Q4loC2rBvhSAOmKSuY6ufxjyJ22dv-h6MM5a7OCBa1ahmEwA=s444" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="444" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8Al1cWriVeT6hcOHYDAoe_MZgrKGzqvR5Vgtpv_NNL2Bu07KxR9RwCDn4GwSyt30mZYTYZhmYyGSwwrY678REr5ENU0De5J9hk493YRubz-0kkKyPlep2XwA3Xa43oiLccx0w74VpZ4Q4loC2rBvhSAOmKSuY6ufxjyJ22dv-h6MM5a7OCBa1ahmEwA=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pastor Chuck Smith</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So by spring of 1975 the band was really hoping to get their foot in the door at Calvary Chapel. Calvary Chapel (now affectionately referred to as <i>The Mothership</i> by roughly 1,700 CC churches worldwide) was just a local church in the early 70s. But not just any church. Under the leadership of Pastor <b>Chuck Smith</b>, Calvary Chapel had become an incubator, if you will, of the Jesus Movement in Southern California. Not only the movement, but also Jesus Music itself - this new folk-rock musical expression of the Jesus People. The local church in Costa Mesa, California became famous for her acceptance of the born-again hippies (who were converting to the Christian faith in droves), her ocean water baptisms, and her Saturday night concert series. <b>Tom Stipe</b> gave oversight to the concert series and it became overwhelmingly popular. Stipe was a musician and producer, having been involved with <b>Love Song</b> and the <b>Richie Furay Band</b>; he would later become a long-serving Calvary Chapel pastor.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjRQRmJef3x8s0zDtP3He6sqG5kKIuqr_o0ztDDPbPJa6w_T9jQeqhuWhh9DJV710IW4jlYKq6yxTP2ZAyTOeDD-UNdOxMUYFqywu4fOUevT6UTX23YXk6pnATOxUyQQ2KKDyEUv1y2ZSObHGNVlgm83YRp-CnbXnfidflopCOxRwYH0UjPYnO9aUFgA=s450" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="450" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjRQRmJef3x8s0zDtP3He6sqG5kKIuqr_o0ztDDPbPJa6w_T9jQeqhuWhh9DJV710IW4jlYKq6yxTP2ZAyTOeDD-UNdOxMUYFqywu4fOUevT6UTX23YXk6pnATOxUyQQ2KKDyEUv1y2ZSObHGNVlgm83YRp-CnbXnfidflopCOxRwYH0UjPYnO9aUFgA=w400-h313" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tom Stipe</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Daniel Amos</b> was finally given a chance to audition for Stipe, performing <i>Ain't Gonna Fight It</i> and <i>Love in a Yielded Heart.</i> New acts were typically broken in on a Thursday night slot at Calvary. Stipe was blown away by <b>Daniel Amos</b> and booked them immediately for a Saturday evening gig. <b>Terry Taylor</b> later remarked that the group considered Calvary Chapel to be the Carnegie Hall of Christian venues and that they nearly fell off their chairs when the Saturday Night invite was extended.<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCLEEmsNoAI6prIVVt8RBl69UJi6j9xdO9NhDXAx9OzDCXwYJ8hJ5p4F7PZLDmRhmdYtVEJqQ3sDn5GIvJnt5KPeGckGlzg6jrcpvTCP7jaI0dNCD292kywOZCFouU2Hojh9v-edKfAId5335NMz4q86S8Kp3ADkMYDFVe105UxDk7XJx-PY5ncim_AA=s770" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="770" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCLEEmsNoAI6prIVVt8RBl69UJi6j9xdO9NhDXAx9OzDCXwYJ8hJ5p4F7PZLDmRhmdYtVEJqQ3sDn5GIvJnt5KPeGckGlzg6jrcpvTCP7jaI0dNCD292kywOZCFouU2Hojh9v-edKfAId5335NMz4q86S8Kp3ADkMYDFVe105UxDk7XJx-PY5ncim_AA=w400-h301" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So the group played Calvary in April of '75. It was a foursome that night - Taylor, <b>Steve Baxter,</b> <b>Jerry Chamberlain</b> and <b>Marty Dieckmeyer </b>(with no drummer). They sat on stools and played to a large crowd. At the end of the night they were given a standing ovation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Daniel Amos</b> was off and running.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe2pnAC-HxlbmNtzrIUTAEbn-kuilXyquyHsRjuXS2D2wve9qUXnHLtPG2W3QuHKEF98H_sko0I19IB01BLEO9DvlOGCW-ZZr6l64ERQum-ca2LilO9rHkHtC4AuaRnsZYAdTb4RgThDWrsqNDWbbBLHCSlquChj24FhCSxUIvx0uFTv1nX_OVZUxUKQ=s720" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="587" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe2pnAC-HxlbmNtzrIUTAEbn-kuilXyquyHsRjuXS2D2wve9qUXnHLtPG2W3QuHKEF98H_sko0I19IB01BLEO9DvlOGCW-ZZr6l64ERQum-ca2LilO9rHkHtC4AuaRnsZYAdTb4RgThDWrsqNDWbbBLHCSlquChj24FhCSxUIvx0uFTv1nX_OVZUxUKQ=w326-h400" width="326" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The group was quickly signed to Maranatha Records, the record label closely associated with Calvary Chapel. In 1976 they released an eponymous debut with an album cover that screamed "country music." And for the most part, it was. In fact, the group even took to wearing cowboy hats in concerts and promotional photos. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With influences like the <b>Beatles </b>and <b>Stones</b>, how did the country shtick take hold? <br /><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSxtAz67-vCZWL-qkOlc-bnRnnC79ARWXwyPJvaL3IlG5lYf3IrSc0luKMhwfuZF_Z12KGDBewirCB3POYP-EL-R7AwW1zPapp__KhW4sPKx54sNrCWpo1NrJYOOJuhIbpvCsbxgSDOVCRQoOW77QgaLZesTB-hi-ndMQitaewiEyf0KJQ5g7J-dKfzw=s450" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="450" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSxtAz67-vCZWL-qkOlc-bnRnnC79ARWXwyPJvaL3IlG5lYf3IrSc0luKMhwfuZF_Z12KGDBewirCB3POYP-EL-R7AwW1zPapp__KhW4sPKx54sNrCWpo1NrJYOOJuhIbpvCsbxgSDOVCRQoOW77QgaLZesTB-hi-ndMQitaewiEyf0KJQ5g7J-dKfzw=w400-h231" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Taylor explains that things were happening so fast in the beginning, they just needed to keep everything simple. The country tunes were quick and easy to write, and the country sound had the added benefit of giving them a broader appeal and making them less threatening to parents. <b>Daniel Amos</b> was immediately popular with teenagers, moms and dads, their record label, the powers in place at Calvary Chapel...everybody.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Terry says the band didn't begin to really find its voice until they sat down to write songs for another album - an album called <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b>.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLitVYzEyS0msEokfiopUEAmDahSZ8m1GsI5LZVYgLl9OqOm3w-vpvLmdmWqLcqnipHRhBWFCKFKxGoVpWWjWySL8h_TywWXizB9BsKS8OBA2eddkG5k-8HfuluKOD3-lt8F-VlAPtT2QWA0sNNqEROUL5uPVUGg-SRlGAi0CfFlFY-i2Ej-7-hgGlVA=s450" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="450" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLitVYzEyS0msEokfiopUEAmDahSZ8m1GsI5LZVYgLl9OqOm3w-vpvLmdmWqLcqnipHRhBWFCKFKxGoVpWWjWySL8h_TywWXizB9BsKS8OBA2eddkG5k-8HfuluKOD3-lt8F-VlAPtT2QWA0sNNqEROUL5uPVUGg-SRlGAi0CfFlFY-i2Ej-7-hgGlVA=w400-h288" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">While the <b><i>Daniel Amos</i></b> debut was well-received, <b>Terry Taylor </b>has said that <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b>, as a whole, was much closer to what the band was really all about, reflecting the broader spectrum of radio sounds he and the boys had been digesting in the 60s and early 70s. </span></p><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"Musically, you could hear <i>anything</i> on the radio," Taylor said to Brian Quincy Newcomb in a 1991 <b><i>Harvest Rock Syndicate</i></b> interview. "And that's what I wanted to get on that record, all the things that influenced us, the <b>Beach Boys</b>, the <b>Beatles'</b> experimental attitude. We didn't have a chance to achieve that with the first record. We had gotten locked into an image by people who came to our concerts and responded to the whole country thing. But that was only a part of our set."<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYVoflSMRf5ShS3FX6dTOcs4Ckl_mdAYG38zmsx87zmOKg_ZPdPTeEETAzzozdn5d9Zx3sCyQxGgAlrPBkxdvBbMNZrPPoFjMoxNd6C78mpJjbknMNIZ-V9rlbnZTJEvT1lqxyYVjkScrMK8irjXz6x6lb7lbhxE7cSYmRm9o4j4DJif6h9iXmdhkLug=s450" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="450" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYVoflSMRf5ShS3FX6dTOcs4Ckl_mdAYG38zmsx87zmOKg_ZPdPTeEETAzzozdn5d9Zx3sCyQxGgAlrPBkxdvBbMNZrPPoFjMoxNd6C78mpJjbknMNIZ-V9rlbnZTJEvT1lqxyYVjkScrMK8irjXz6x6lb7lbhxE7cSYmRm9o4j4DJif6h9iXmdhkLug=w400-h310" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"<b><i>Shotgun Angel </i></b>was our first opportunity to lay down on wax what we were really all about," Taylor remembers, "and it had <i>everything</i>. Every album after that really springs from that reference point. Even the more country and western songs on there were musically mature, and [producer] <b>Jonathan David Brown</b> did an excellent job."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Critics agreed. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Here's a sampling:</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"Christian music's first great headphone album." - <b>Bruce A. Brown</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"This record is a flat-out winner. Brilliant." - <b><i>Campus Life</i></b> magazine</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"Truly an offering of excellence to the Lord." - <b><i>Buzz</i></b> magazine (UK)</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"Not until now have we seen an album that is as versatile, professional, or as seriously musical." -<b><i>Cornerstone</i></b> magazine</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"Like nothing ever produced in contemporary music, Christian or otherwise." - <b>Mark Allen Powell</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"An absolute classic recording." - <b>Mike Rimmer </b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"This is really the record that I would consider to be the hub<b> </b>that all the various projects of Taylor & Co. would be birthed from at later dates."<b> - Steve Ruff</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"These songs have lasted because they are so inherently strong. Each one is enjoyable and memorable in its own way and nearly every one still makes you want to join in. It is a tsunami of melody."<b> - Derek Walker</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"So get in your 18-wheeler, get on your CB radio and tell everyone out there they will not be disappointed with this treasure."<b> - Marty Phillips</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"A classic from the Jesus Music era and possibly one of the most important albums in the history of CCM." - <b>David Lowman</b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Let's dive in.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiel_KxDDFxO8XbuR-5bHfN6E9ifNdtdWIUVl9Nw8Q6qJudZ5rd7vVDZ_9eIr6G3xvzsOCEsPn0GovZspQvqBoWSJ45_rFltowYtcet5Yjl8HfmH8PJo4FH6eAUnmuzBhwPgQVnzlPSh_54JOxF5DyNlTgVfG8CdQ0m69nizEoeSc4QRimgoQiuxTg7Xw=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="500" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiel_KxDDFxO8XbuR-5bHfN6E9ifNdtdWIUVl9Nw8Q6qJudZ5rd7vVDZ_9eIr6G3xvzsOCEsPn0GovZspQvqBoWSJ45_rFltowYtcet5Yjl8HfmH8PJo4FH6eAUnmuzBhwPgQVnzlPSh_54JOxF5DyNlTgVfG8CdQ0m69nizEoeSc4QRimgoQiuxTg7Xw=w400-h285" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Any keyboards heard on the group's debut album were supplied by a trio of additional musicians. Not this time. <b>Mark Cook</b> was now an official member of the band. And some simple chords from his electric piano are the first things we hear as we drop the needle on Side One. The song is called <i>Days and Nights</i>, and it doesn't stay simple for very long. </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">It's actually a somewhat complex and thoroughly enjoyable song that blogger </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">David Lowman says is reminiscent of <b>Poco</b> and other California country-rock bands. My only complaint is that it's too short. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Clocking in at 2:20, there's a lot to love here: Taylor's lead vocal and strong melody...the background harmonies...<b>Jerry Chamberlain's</b> exception guitar work...and an all-too-soon surprise acapella ending. And by the way, it was very unusual in 1977 to open a Christian album with a song that did not have an overtly "Christian" lyrical theme. But that's exactly what <b>Daniel Amos</b> did with <i>Days and Nights</i>. Songwriters Taylor and Chamberlain chose </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">the time-honored subject of life on the road - specifically, missing loved ones while you're gone...and avoided the temptation to over-spiritualize it.</span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7ry36CqJUUxdCJLR322mh-2tmMKavky3VkYCHkmniD0yu1UoUJ58IS_Adwi6XBAGezL4yzDjxs6q_BZ0BdN6GigSrEtlkQdbMlPoePEHbxzl0wtekGSWygmOlaPLu-cu12u9p4ZDVopVcF0NVkEV3LQ_7Hu5G3FhkwWF24frmc3jWJEm9qV44RCr10g=s1000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="999" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7ry36CqJUUxdCJLR322mh-2tmMKavky3VkYCHkmniD0yu1UoUJ58IS_Adwi6XBAGezL4yzDjxs6q_BZ0BdN6GigSrEtlkQdbMlPoePEHbxzl0wtekGSWygmOlaPLu-cu12u9p4ZDVopVcF0NVkEV3LQ_7Hu5G3FhkwWF24frmc3jWJEm9qV44RCr10g=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Days and Nights</i> slams directly into <i>Black Gold Fever</i> with no space in between. <i>Black Gold Fever</i> is described by David Lowman as country-western hoedown music that would've possibly been right at home on a <b>Lost Dogs</b> album decades later. This song tells the story of a guy who eschews money (in this case, oil) in order to pursue spiritual riches instead. Taylor's lyrics are quite clever and are delivered at breakneck speed. One reviewer said he would've loved to hear <b>Johnny Cash</b> cover <i>Black Gold Fever</i>. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjngCY9V7DaO2d6IwxAxT1OC2vQQ0H5-RbEn_qBIUEPrIaGeJ9GRQI3NYoxq_q_6PTBWPpf6R8uvpRJOB617RtEZxWSh7HTpMOzOfwRLKiHurTbgs7lORFaXmiisJEO9-oNEL5sJD_8d7Vn5T6zOCo9syvDHe6sr2gF5dQR4hu2xYKbnpjuJq3MeAqx6w=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjngCY9V7DaO2d6IwxAxT1OC2vQQ0H5-RbEn_qBIUEPrIaGeJ9GRQI3NYoxq_q_6PTBWPpf6R8uvpRJOB617RtEZxWSh7HTpMOzOfwRLKiHurTbgs7lORFaXmiisJEO9-oNEL5sJD_8d7Vn5T6zOCo9syvDHe6sr2gF5dQR4hu2xYKbnpjuJq3MeAqx6w=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Next up was <i>Praise Song</i> - the third genre in the first three songs. </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Praise Song</i> was about as close as we got to actual "worship music" in the mid-70s...</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>What can I tell you 'cept what's in this rhyme</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Which grows in my heart and stays on my mind</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>I praise You (wonderful Savior and Lord)</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>I praise You (giving all glory and honor and praise)</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">You might say that this was <b>Daniel Amos</b> throwing Maranatha a bone, since the handwriting was on the wall that the label intended to make a strong push toward "praise" albums around the time <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> was released. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Praise Song</i> also featured some pretty impressive vocal harmonies (one blogger thought that the vocals were reminiscent of the <b>Beach Boys</b> here). In fact, there was a really tight vocal blend among the guys on this entire project. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdq0q9jk6XBJD-Wrx_VkGn0ZUWbI06k7JGMXJzbchQyYM-_YEJAJLpq-PGnOvepqGDTrinXaXAyYXRxbh85fQ0D_ZJjjf0BkUo5a5KAqcTtLcePhr4eOOvDP6woRSH-k0h8OviHyoDj-MY2NT7PuFkeg84Z9Kxm_rFTXqPx9ewSc3hgYk1E-GwFSTvEg=s577" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="571" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdq0q9jk6XBJD-Wrx_VkGn0ZUWbI06k7JGMXJzbchQyYM-_YEJAJLpq-PGnOvepqGDTrinXaXAyYXRxbh85fQ0D_ZJjjf0BkUo5a5KAqcTtLcePhr4eOOvDP6woRSH-k0h8OviHyoDj-MY2NT7PuFkeg84Z9Kxm_rFTXqPx9ewSc3hgYk1E-GwFSTvEg=w396-h400" width="396" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">The next song was a classic that ended up being covered (somewhat surprisingly) by <b>The Boones</b> (Debby and her sisters). Bruce A. Brown calls <i>Father's Arms</i> an orchestrated pop masterpiece that perhaps owed a little bit to <b>Steely Dan</b> and <b>ELO</b>. This one also pointed to the future and would've fit well on <i><b>Horrendous Disc</b></i>. David Lowman wrote about how <b>Terry Taylor </b>was really branching out musically, yes, but lyrically as well...demonstrating an ability to take common Christian themes and weave twists and challenges into them. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Alright, OK, oh yeah</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Keep your cool and don't hurt nobody</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>It all lies within you, so the dying say</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>And you believe in the words of some buried prophet</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Alright, OK, oh yeah</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>They nod their heads in unanimous approval</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>And it makes you feel good 'till the night wind calls</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>And the darkness comes whispering down the halls</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>And you're a scared little child who dreams he falls, come</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Fall in your Father's arms</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Fall in your Father's arms</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Fall in your Father's arms</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Alright, oh yeah, uh-huh</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>You turn, you run you hide</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>A friend comes bid you to travel</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>He smiles like an angel but behind the eyes</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Lurks the door of a death-house and a big surprise</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Alright, OK, oh yeah</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>You assure them while composure is breaking</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>And they watch as you run and hit the wall</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Slump to the ground and begin to crawl</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>To the edge of the cliff where you start your fall, come</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Fall in your Father's arms...</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jAfiUQFn4QQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="jAfiUQFn4QQ"></iframe></div><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">The hilarious <i>Meal</i> fades in and once again switches the mood drastically. This is a full-on novelty song, loaded with humor, that gives us a glimpse into the future (foreshadowing upcoming songs by the <b>Swirling Eddies </b>and<b> Lost Dogs,</b> some of Taylor's future work with <b>Randy Stonehill</b>, and even some future songs by <b>Daniel Amos/DA/da</b>. <i>Meal</i> is another Taylor composition; it uses food, drink, and hunger as a metaphor for being desirous of spiritual things. It includes lines like...</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Well, my stomach, it growls a</span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">nd my throat says "Now!" </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">I can't wait</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">and </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Now, I get to wishin' that You'd get to dishin' that sweet meat<br /><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">It's one of those songs where you just have to hear it. Reading the lyrics on a printed page are not going to do it justice.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">The boys in the band are given credit as some sort of "carrot choir and celery symphony" on <i>Meal</i>...and the backing vocals are truly hilarious. There's excellent use of sound effects here as well. Clocks in at just over two minutes...which, for a comedic novelty track, is about right.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEii-X7oErbIBlFnW24KM7VQhRpHt4if-0GjtPvSDIhEGjIhYeAu-1fYdYaYIh-TM3cnxYWXOllyzHDqfrsfowCrIzsGO5bpY5ONDxOPtOIdnbQmRJ8Dw2EWj7FC4BpcPlGrBA6S8zM963Kb3qEdY67xCljaOX7kkRNOLVGEsrJJAkFHh0Wt-rJChAMnTg=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="400" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEii-X7oErbIBlFnW24KM7VQhRpHt4if-0GjtPvSDIhEGjIhYeAu-1fYdYaYIh-TM3cnxYWXOllyzHDqfrsfowCrIzsGO5bpY5ONDxOPtOIdnbQmRJ8Dw2EWj7FC4BpcPlGrBA6S8zM963Kb3qEdY67xCljaOX7kkRNOLVGEsrJJAkFHh0Wt-rJChAMnTg=w400-h361" width="400" /></a></div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Another abrupt change of pace finishes out side one...and it's a bona fide country-rock classic. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">The title track was not written by the band. Rather, it was penned by <b>Bill Sprouse, Jr. </b>of the band <b>The Road Home</b> (<b>Daniel Amos</b> drummer <b>Ed McTaggart </b>had been in <b>The Road Home</b> with Sprouse).<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv5gxdREBKEmpTgwfklKJ2Zg3R5863z_gTI6hyVFOkAZWrtgnnzcM_TeBGTg3E0K8ZGFolYMOi2eu9Ad4TcUie8mQdEeRVDe0I8uhEP-G3KmVcufO6y2FQBpmC7KS4LWx69eZuSGA0qnQYxG-RkREkM3KevFAEDhza30DE2RltddzcfCnJddr21-G8pA=s250" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="250" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiv5gxdREBKEmpTgwfklKJ2Zg3R5863z_gTI6hyVFOkAZWrtgnnzcM_TeBGTg3E0K8ZGFolYMOi2eu9Ad4TcUie8mQdEeRVDe0I8uhEP-G3KmVcufO6y2FQBpmC7KS4LWx69eZuSGA0qnQYxG-RkREkM3KevFAEDhza30DE2RltddzcfCnJddr21-G8pA=w400-h322" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bill Sprouse, Jr.</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">After Sprouse's untimely death at the tender age of 26, an engineer by the name of <b>Mike Shoup</b> pulled out a four-track recording of the song and had <b>Dom Franco</b> of <b>Bethlehem</b> add some peddle steel to it. The story is told that when <b>Daniel Amos </b>heard the song, they decided to record it themselves...getting Franco to add steel guitar and Shoup and McTaggart to add the CB radio voices that are heard on the recording. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">An instant classic was born. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"The song is easily one of the top ten Jesus Music songs of all time," wrote blogger David Lowman.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhw5LjzJJyfHdt8Kc3z88A1iRkj5T6O9BEL_Oq_p90GRzbxv8kS0NLvrgGB_ARvuaF52-tgAqRgf8c5hEbLLNc-48HWLfMF-BPl-fQ2EY7X3vFBZKpZCF2j2jl2dvL-9joy45D5Srv_DEKTCW7_VlGlyY2-J83Jzh_7_TAx1_Rp7-MbMdCzcaAAjuLwFQ=s599" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="599" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhw5LjzJJyfHdt8Kc3z88A1iRkj5T6O9BEL_Oq_p90GRzbxv8kS0NLvrgGB_ARvuaF52-tgAqRgf8c5hEbLLNc-48HWLfMF-BPl-fQ2EY7X3vFBZKpZCF2j2jl2dvL-9joy45D5Srv_DEKTCW7_VlGlyY2-J83Jzh_7_TAx1_Rp7-MbMdCzcaAAjuLwFQ=w400-h319" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Now, the way I see it, the guys took a little bit of a chance with this song. On one level, the whole concept of God talking to a truck driver via his CB radio, with a diesel truck lifting up into the air and then making a three-point landing on the outskirts of town...well, it might've been seen by some as a little hokey...sort of like <b>Barry McGuire's</b> <i>Cosmic Cowboy</i>. It was a concept that was just a bit "out there." In fact, CCM historian Mark Allan Powell calls it "stupid."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Secondly, the CB radio craze, in hindsight, was fairly short-lived. It was a brief moment in time, you might say...so it really ends up dating the song and the album. </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">No one under 40 (45? 50?) even knows what a CB radio was. But you know what? In this case, those concerns just vanish away. </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Because a good song is a good song.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">And <i>Shotgun Angel</i> is a <u>great</u><i> </i>song. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b>Daniel Amos,</b> with the help of producer <b>Jonathan David Brown</b> turned in a performance for the ages on this one. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HhRUaPtACVc" width="320" youtube-src-id="HhRUaPtACVc"></iframe></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Decades later, the <b>77s</b> covered the song <i>Shotgun Angel</i> on a Daniel Amos tribute album called <i><b>When Worlds Collide</b></i> and did a masterful job. You can tell when you listen that they handled this legendary song with great care...with the respect it deserves.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><div><br /></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyqmx6ZTl4hQpO7-Z-6CRzggOJBOJ-Qr36mPrPYdk4YowpFLr0x_TmYB7kofSq5n3-NYohvZYm6hxOOAzrVJmZzBmwqMPyyxaWhjSKFlhpp8Z7KlTI1DveUUeqUijGxz1CUHfW1x1jViIG13D4rX5oaOhiBUe_JmR87xzCkUaLfdACoAQJ_xpoAwpqQg=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyqmx6ZTl4hQpO7-Z-6CRzggOJBOJ-Qr36mPrPYdk4YowpFLr0x_TmYB7kofSq5n3-NYohvZYm6hxOOAzrVJmZzBmwqMPyyxaWhjSKFlhpp8Z7KlTI1DveUUeqUijGxz1CUHfW1x1jViIG13D4rX5oaOhiBUe_JmR87xzCkUaLfdACoAQJ_xpoAwpqQg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Before we flip the album over, let's talk about that iconic cover. The art direction, design and layout was credited to <b>Neal Buchanan</b>, while the entire band took credit for the overall cover concept. It was a gatefold with several great band photos on the back cover (<b>Larry Frowick</b>) and on the inside (<b>Scott Lockwood)...</b>with cowboy hats prominently featured. But that front cover was something else. It's one of the greatest examples of classic 70s album art in Christian music. The truck, the fonts, the sheriff's badge logo...it all just works together beautifully. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwV3-Drbgpv8gMXsfgSBWgMgHm2cIQyTZI_mbCxwiiq658Jyg0lM5rxBP9m4UHlqwgHjxSLCegdLu-Quh3BXhnjF5t4dA-pbX6YCabZLDdkzTsj75cr4H_FjOuexrJ1VLWDV0X8giJs4Se75_8lqY0cYlO7sTIx3Fqi_VOs9L5i7yZQj3gOFd0BrXkzA=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwV3-Drbgpv8gMXsfgSBWgMgHm2cIQyTZI_mbCxwiiq658Jyg0lM5rxBP9m4UHlqwgHjxSLCegdLu-Quh3BXhnjF5t4dA-pbX6YCabZLDdkzTsj75cr4H_FjOuexrJ1VLWDV0X8giJs4Se75_8lqY0cYlO7sTIx3Fqi_VOs9L5i7yZQj3gOFd0BrXkzA=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Have we talked about who exactly was in the band at the time of this recording? <b>Daniel Amos</b> was: </span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b>Terry Taylor</b> and <b>Jerry Chamberlain</b> on guitars, <b>Marty Dieckmeyer </b>on bass, <b>Mark Cook</b> on keyboards, and <b>Ed McTaggart</b> on drums. And everybody sang. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> was recorded at Martinsound and mastered by <b>Ken Perry</b> at Capitol Mastering. Strings were arranged and conducted by <b>Jim Stipech</b>. Additional musicians included <b>Frank Marocco</b> on accordion (!), the aforementioned <b>Dom Franco</b> on peddle steel, and <b>Alex MacDougall</b> and <b>Fred Petry</b> on percussion. <b>Bill Hoppe</b> played some synth parts and <b>John Benson</b> is given credit for eefin' on <i>Meal</i>.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">MacDougall, of course, would join <b>Daniel Amos</b> as a full-fledged band member prior to <b><i>Horrendous Disc.</i></b> He's played on so many albums over the years; always generous with his time, he usually has some interesting stories to tell. So I slid into his DMs (as the kids say).<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrsEs0vMaIT5fgi3B9j88DZun2y2N0rj76g7zLlLSBH0gbdb3G6erbefQZwEa5ROvJQp8bALs-HImC56EVUR4gMqWa6XkPEFID3MHdBegVz7x1CzGsEoWr9BqIiI1TywyseDS2h9tFzjfhI8BPnUXWFX7EizFqlYa8JUZax92DsbQ6DVJTKgmd7sT6Bg=s1955" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1955" data-original-width="1408" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrsEs0vMaIT5fgi3B9j88DZun2y2N0rj76g7zLlLSBH0gbdb3G6erbefQZwEa5ROvJQp8bALs-HImC56EVUR4gMqWa6XkPEFID3MHdBegVz7x1CzGsEoWr9BqIiI1TywyseDS2h9tFzjfhI8BPnUXWFX7EizFqlYa8JUZax92DsbQ6DVJTKgmd7sT6Bg=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Alex MacDougall</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"Yeah, I remember being asked to come into the studio, Martinsound, and put down some percussion overdubs," Alex explained. "</span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Fred Petry,</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> a 'Hollywood' session man, had already come in and done some percussion parts. I'd been doing a lot of percussion on a lot of albums during that time period, and I had worked on </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">DA</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">'s first album and knew them as friends at church. I'd also done some live percussion with them." </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">MacDougall continues: "As for my parts on <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b>, I suppose they were part sound effects, part supportive percussion, and part slapstick/Spike Jones. <b>Ed [McTaggart]</b> played great, solid parts and had some really wonderful drum sounds. I loved how deep and rich his toms sounded." </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">In addition to his friendship with the band members, I asked MacDougall if there might be another reason he was eager to participate on </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">. "The great </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Jonathan David Brown</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> was at the helm producing on this one," he answered. "I probably ended up doing 50 or 60 albums with JDB."<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq1n-fgy5EXtzPpYPol_Gs5Qd1GpYLGOh_16If-CL-Rme6UZ6qdyH9VwaIpaxp6yY4jrFEOgNDKy5-nydvqWNonmnhqdMHxSJhbR6LnDiJOp1hfrWaTrktC8seYlWdje1A_aNZObazsfjMfqQcWi9IRLUX9bT6aKAsfTCUW9j8hpUGSkPfSWnUYqqiKg=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1377" data-original-width="2048" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq1n-fgy5EXtzPpYPol_Gs5Qd1GpYLGOh_16If-CL-Rme6UZ6qdyH9VwaIpaxp6yY4jrFEOgNDKy5-nydvqWNonmnhqdMHxSJhbR6LnDiJOp1hfrWaTrktC8seYlWdje1A_aNZObazsfjMfqQcWi9IRLUX9bT6aKAsfTCUW9j8hpUGSkPfSWnUYqqiKg=w400-h269" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jonathan David Brown</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">You might say that Brown was just a kid when he produced </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">...but my goodness, what a great job he did. It was a sign of things to come. "I must say that artistically, </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Jonathan David Brown</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> was a genius," MacDougall said. "Like </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">George Martin</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> with </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">the Beatles</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">, Jonathan enabled and encouraged creativity. He always pulled the best out of me and could always deliver the goods when he himself was challenged."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">In addition to being listed as producer and engineer, JDB ("Your Local Hokie Okie") also mixed the album at Producer's Workshop in Hollywood.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcg6Uz7vQUR3U2glJ9HkiQxHeC2U8nhjUe1zTWq5eV3M1wZqvUesRDamiFzLczei3GPdzRdyu5n_kDQ1QX1XeBX75QbhihijL1bPfB53FUSOEvQjHyPv3MIfnoI8p2Dia79Bwz-hagAB0XrllyD3ryWXCrFVNOcZuOr3Y61TM8R7R2aJXTqjYoKGTmRg=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcg6Uz7vQUR3U2glJ9HkiQxHeC2U8nhjUe1zTWq5eV3M1wZqvUesRDamiFzLczei3GPdzRdyu5n_kDQ1QX1XeBX75QbhihijL1bPfB53FUSOEvQjHyPv3MIfnoI8p2Dia79Bwz-hagAB0XrllyD3ryWXCrFVNOcZuOr3Y61TM8R7R2aJXTqjYoKGTmRg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Now, if you were a casual <b>Daniel Amos</b> fan or Jesus Music fan in 1977 and flipped the record over and dropped the needle on side two, you probably thought, <i>"Wait...what? What the heck is this?" </i></span><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Well, congratulations. You just stumbled upon a mini-rock opera on end times events. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">The Wikipedia page for <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> says this side two suite "featured lush orchestrations and a string of rock songs linked together in a way that was reminiscent of <b>the Beatles'</b> <b><i>Sgt. Pepper's </i></b>album. The band even made a number of concert performances at this time with a full orchestra backing them." <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZUU9aDSDAI4o0BkZLaReNaHwFokzOIzr35zH7On6h1AaGDz7wBy9Bs7Qr7tIpJdMxc7WX_MsVWzlykwd5krt4Bt6v86TAbSPJS5b5Vkf2u5stuE4q5eOF4V1aen0xqDyyHna7I9TN9kDtXs4dLKVzj4xp3h_qc0b2S5_CRr0Dd7YlTgyiWfPyjtZsFQ=s1280" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZUU9aDSDAI4o0BkZLaReNaHwFokzOIzr35zH7On6h1AaGDz7wBy9Bs7Qr7tIpJdMxc7WX_MsVWzlykwd5krt4Bt6v86TAbSPJS5b5Vkf2u5stuE4q5eOF4V1aen0xqDyyHna7I9TN9kDtXs4dLKVzj4xp3h_qc0b2S5_CRr0Dd7YlTgyiWfPyjtZsFQ=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Alex MacDougall</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"I remember tearing up when JDB and the boys played me side two in the studio," <b>Alex MacDougall </b>recalls. "I was trying to figure out what I could contribute, and it was like listening to the <b>Beatles</b> or the<b> Beach Boys</b>. I could not believe the incredible musical and lyrical growth in such a short time. I remember performing these songs with <b>DA</b> before I actually joined the band. It was always a big deal performing side two of <b><i>Shotgun</i></b> - lots of anticipation and adrenaline on my end. It was always a very moving experience to see the impact that it had on concert goers."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Mike Rimmer summed up the rock opera quite succinctly while writing for crossrhythms: "The 7-song sequence of the second half of the album is a concept piece interpreting the book of Revelation. With its string overture and interlocking songs, it's by far the most adventurous Christian recording of the era."<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQEEv_hzp3Kwz_iplqXhjiqBskij25xj7sqDg_ijtYU31eY7HCtTzxfphjXMTaN50TEGrgHELbd4zN0V78wvoL35JEPcgEphsixouaUwBqRloAD6RiMfYkY4Le3vyw-u2VK5eCEAekR_lEcXzhO32R0rmN2z7KDmi5NfW8T1goPwrvDeS07XAFidc6ng=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQEEv_hzp3Kwz_iplqXhjiqBskij25xj7sqDg_ijtYU31eY7HCtTzxfphjXMTaN50TEGrgHELbd4zN0V78wvoL35JEPcgEphsixouaUwBqRloAD6RiMfYkY4Le3vyw-u2VK5eCEAekR_lEcXzhO32R0rmN2z7KDmi5NfW8T1goPwrvDeS07XAFidc6ng=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">I also like the way Marty Phillips describes the side two suite in his work for jesusrocklegends.com: "It was as if the <b><i>Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band</i></b> got together at the <b><i>Hotel California</i></b> and made a rock opera about Revelation. Starting side two with orchestration and spooky nuances, the music and lyrics bring you face to face with the end of the world."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Other reviewers weren't so sure.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Mark Allendar of Allmusic deems the mini-musical "a little too wide-eyed and doom-saying for most modern audiences."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">And historian/podcaster David Lowman says that while he considers the album to be one of his all-time personal favorites, he disagrees "with nearly every single idea...expressed on side two."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Professor Mark Allen Powell, author of the voluminous <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i>, says that the rock opera is what the album is famous for; that it "incorporates snatches of <b>Queen, Pink Floyd</b> and <b><i>Abbey Road</i></b>, but really sounds like nothing ever produced in contemporary music, Christian or otherwise." But then he laments the fact that the theme of the suite was derived from various teachers and teachings that he considers unsound...including the <i>unfortunate</i> (his word) end-times views of <b>Daniel Amos'</b> pastor <b>Chuck Smith</b>.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgevAkPzclmed19v8vHE-Uku7Qef8RUk0DFNVPtdKJ6X4HGUXbN345nYltPkpSTJGXyO7IXEVQpQKkjWl4JSrbgZgRiImt98qOmeP1lnAkIj6xYqJLvzfd15WZtE8WPArVZuv-0rHldeg9wTkzqQIrm0a_MA73FvD0BeZUevdNqm8jt7sG8yb1tIANjEw=s650" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="650" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgevAkPzclmed19v8vHE-Uku7Qef8RUk0DFNVPtdKJ6X4HGUXbN345nYltPkpSTJGXyO7IXEVQpQKkjWl4JSrbgZgRiImt98qOmeP1lnAkIj6xYqJLvzfd15WZtE8WPArVZuv-0rHldeg9wTkzqQIrm0a_MA73FvD0BeZUevdNqm8jt7sG8yb1tIANjEw=w400-h369" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pastor Chuck Smith</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">So we continue to have this debate because so many of these great albums of the 70s contain songs that talk about the rapture of the Church, as so many Christians have understood it from the Scriptures for my entire lifetime. Now, lately, certain pockets of evangelicals and progressive Christians have poo-poo'd the traditional Scriptural understanding of end-times events. They say that we're just not understanding the Bible correctly and that our beliefs were popularized by some preacher in the 1800s (a guy that I'd never even heard of until about 15 minutes ago). I'm not a Bible scholar. I don't read Greek or Hebrew. My ultimate position on all of this is to stay ready to go and let God sort out the details. But I will say this... I just watched a video last week from a Calvary Chapel pastor by the name of </span><b style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Mike Winger</b><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"> (he's also a very popular YouTuber in the apologetics and theology space) and he concurs with the position that I see when I read the Bible...the same position that my own pastor espouses (and he's a solid Bible teacher with a few decades under his belt). Last thing I'll say on this is that the inside album sleeve comes with the Scripture verses that pertain to these songs literally printed on it. So consult those verses and make up your own mind. We report; you decide. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEX37-ODpmWUT0aafEaQ_pY-1iAk7aDzpHimnXGQL4wTboKi1IqTuO597GZs0sN1j-0F_cCiO_qfrvG5ExZckMCalYOsdfZ5C_cWva5_VQfjJAakVCbykytdnO-izMgzJsNg0EB61oPU7tV87YZB3ziN2CYxLTutqXunuXLjOmCaXrIMgGwYmC7LSokg=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2184" data-original-width="3264" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEX37-ODpmWUT0aafEaQ_pY-1iAk7aDzpHimnXGQL4wTboKi1IqTuO597GZs0sN1j-0F_cCiO_qfrvG5ExZckMCalYOsdfZ5C_cWva5_VQfjJAakVCbykytdnO-izMgzJsNg0EB61oPU7tV87YZB3ziN2CYxLTutqXunuXLjOmCaXrIMgGwYmC7LSokg=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">All of that said...musically, the side two suite of songs is a thing of beauty. It's unique, it's creative, it's eerie, it's rock and roll, it's all of these things. And to be fair, even those who disagree with the theology of the rock opera still find much to praise. Lowman, for example, writes that "it is so beautifully crafted, stunningly performed and brilliantly conceived that no differences in positions can detract from singing its praises."</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Despite the raucous rock treatment of <i>He's Gonna Do a Number on You</i>, one cannot help having an uneasy feeling as the anti-Christ's appearance on the world stage is described...</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>The morning paper is not the same</i></span></div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><div style="text-align: center;">A man is smiling, do you know his name</div><div style="text-align: center;">He's shaking hands with the president</div><div style="text-align: center;">It almost seems as though he's Heaven-sent</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He's gonna do a number on you</div><div style="text-align: center;">(A very strange tattoo)</div></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>He's got a friend, it seems there is no end</i></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>To the tricks he will do, always on cue</i></span></div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><div style="text-align: center;">Standing in line, it's so divine</div><div style="text-align: center;">Can we choose the place, my hand or my face</div></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>"Next...next...next..."</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">It's chilling stuff.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsCytS1cIHgcgqiGuwWNlERDbSoc6et-jPGd3y07WivTvUKKUYYEQoctU2lgWmyfmMiXVFX7y1_KD6YKogvrr6bOrMQuAoNoeldRE3SafhbfH76tkKcj653OrKtmbQ1Z9KKSWJpzqVcIoCmArd9mM3XzpuubGCJAz58N2FEKgCfN8DiBC7Am9E9QicbA=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1604" data-original-width="3264" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsCytS1cIHgcgqiGuwWNlERDbSoc6et-jPGd3y07WivTvUKKUYYEQoctU2lgWmyfmMiXVFX7y1_KD6YKogvrr6bOrMQuAoNoeldRE3SafhbfH76tkKcj653OrKtmbQ1Z9KKSWJpzqVcIoCmArd9mM3XzpuubGCJAz58N2FEKgCfN8DiBC7Am9E9QicbA=w400-h196" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">And in the song <i>Better</i>...how could <b>Daniel Amos</b> <i>in the mid-1970s</i> have envisioned debit cards? No, it's a serious question. I was alive and remember enough about the Seventies to know that ATM machines and a cashless system was nowhere on the horizon back then. Maybe it was on the drawing board of financial wizards and Washington elites, but certainly not on the radar screens of the average Joe. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Taylor & Company accurately predicted a thing or two in this song...</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>I said take my groceries and put 'em in the sack</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>No checks, no cash, don't give me no flack</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>It's getting better, so much better</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>I don't have no worries, don't have no frets</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>My little number never failed me yet</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>It's getting better, so much better</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>I love convenience, I said it's so keen</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>He took our money mess and he swept it clean</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>He is the wisest man this world has seen</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> ends on a triumphant note. <i>Posse in the Sky</i> and <i>Sail Me Away</i> are two of the finest country-rock songs you'll ever hear, bringing this diverse, classic LP to a close.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wBsmkiPBR8s" width="320" youtube-src-id="wBsmkiPBR8s"></iframe></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">How about one more sampling of comments from music critics:</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i>"Compelling arrangements, superb musical performances and a transcendent vocal blend that will leave you breathless"..."Few Christian albums at the time possessed such stellar production, unique creativity and complete and utter abandonment to the art. From the album cover to the final note there is little to complain about here"..."There is not a bad apple on the album and both sides are equally cherished for me"..."It's an eighteen-wheeler of great tunes"...</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglU_ioMpBaPNS_eXP_hCkOfNZhe2twe41lz4RtzNzHdTnGeXQoR7A2VLCDJWGFib83-TifT2bxOFXEVWLLySZFHMWBPaOIDJlMC7Qvy1T3iOBZ_Pw2VoF2wGADUqr3QRLXXDziR4KsJbMKCI9Z4BSpj9z6VSEFxXznR5pG2Jn7cV4nc7WYUC8GyPq66g=s571" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="571" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglU_ioMpBaPNS_eXP_hCkOfNZhe2twe41lz4RtzNzHdTnGeXQoR7A2VLCDJWGFib83-TifT2bxOFXEVWLLySZFHMWBPaOIDJlMC7Qvy1T3iOBZ_Pw2VoF2wGADUqr3QRLXXDziR4KsJbMKCI9Z4BSpj9z6VSEFxXznR5pG2Jn7cV4nc7WYUC8GyPq66g=w400-h311" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">And we'll give <b>Alex MacDougall </b>the last word on the album: "<b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> was and is the finest of the finest that Christian music could offer. Creativity with a decent budget, great producer-engineer, and a long leash was allowed. The inmates were running the asylum! So the project was hugely impactful with listeners and concert goers."<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4r_ADbwjM92DRokLZYlGKEK53p8qsmPpLqz45wh0OwpbvFVsGtJyXJaw6aV58BkjlPLYro79lBRGe9gf-Zv0m0VB-1jdRS-2mAMVZLYVVKQBMJQQrFmg6xgz_DWn_lGBzqWXAWxgoeJ_bugPLGXu5TNXiiRZUNQ2MegMPstvA-OCc8fFed5vt1b3S1A=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1604" data-original-width="3264" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4r_ADbwjM92DRokLZYlGKEK53p8qsmPpLqz45wh0OwpbvFVsGtJyXJaw6aV58BkjlPLYro79lBRGe9gf-Zv0m0VB-1jdRS-2mAMVZLYVVKQBMJQQrFmg6xgz_DWn_lGBzqWXAWxgoeJ_bugPLGXu5TNXiiRZUNQ2MegMPstvA-OCc8fFed5vt1b3S1A=w400-h196" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">What we didn't know at the time was this: when the final notes of <i>Sail Me Away</i> faded out, <b>Daniel Amos</b> was bidding farewell to the cowboy hats and the country sound for good. These guys were about to reinvent themselves multiple times over several decades.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">"The creativity on <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> just literally took off in the months following its release," <b>Alex MacDougall </b>remembers. "I joined the group later in 1977. Somewhere in time, I began moonlighting with them in live performances, but always on percussion only, which I found to be limiting. It was when I joined that Ed and I were able to do our double drum 'shtick.' I had always loved that in <b>The Mothers, The Allman Brothers</b>, and <b>The Grateful Dead</b>. Sometimes I would match exactly what Ed was playing, and sometimes I would play around him. And when called for, I would run over to my percussion setup (which was very large) and contribute from the far-left side of the stage." </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><b>DA</b> has always had a rabid and devoted group of hardcore followers, but the band's penchant for change and growth sometimes left the casual fan scratching his or her head. "Like <b>Bob Dylan</b> going electric at the <b>Newport Folk Festival</b> in 1965, the audience was divided when we started to branch out and do the songs that would become <b><i>Horrendous Disc</i></b>," MacDougall admits.</span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXVphm3l88AOD3BE7AIV7auwwhosYPK-oUeD8SmlIWI5jKuSPJz6f-JHneE26lTy9bu4uourcqpxKdCHk7WPivIn6cxP2EqXvAOLnsVS06NUtE_-PLCxAISLGZGygsKWgaqH0iWrsqnQlDbbRXTMm11Neq6YCq4BLbP8qRovV1gDjmegMnCvi5uU1TBQ=s960" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXVphm3l88AOD3BE7AIV7auwwhosYPK-oUeD8SmlIWI5jKuSPJz6f-JHneE26lTy9bu4uourcqpxKdCHk7WPivIn6cxP2EqXvAOLnsVS06NUtE_-PLCxAISLGZGygsKWgaqH0iWrsqnQlDbbRXTMm11Neq6YCq4BLbP8qRovV1gDjmegMnCvi5uU1TBQ=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A more recent photo of <b>Alex MacDougall</b> and <b>Jerry Chamberlain</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Alex explained how the seeds of even further musical experimentation and eventual transformation were being sown within the band as far back as the late 70s. "Interestingly," he said, "during that same period, we would leave the shows and listen to new wave music alongside whatever we thought was good at the time. One of those recordings, <b>Talking Heads:</b> <b><i>77</i></b>, was recorded during the same period as <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b>." <b><i>The Alarma Chronicles</i></b> were not that far away.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMeZpxXIe_M_3mVlfi-sOMBq9T-Nvum-mKmev-7xSF7Xk6V7keAoHbkuYtr_mrwCrLf9ok5GJ_QypzNE0Si3NuW4epIAzISncq8IE5ZTnk118FIVstExuGcEVhg1v98icLDbQuABqr6xse2hTiCAMuB1ZoVoFsDIkFmxWCrOqmLCU0ECzovIFhs1jG8w=s3988" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3988" data-original-width="3988" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMeZpxXIe_M_3mVlfi-sOMBq9T-Nvum-mKmev-7xSF7Xk6V7keAoHbkuYtr_mrwCrLf9ok5GJ_QypzNE0Si3NuW4epIAzISncq8IE5ZTnk118FIVstExuGcEVhg1v98icLDbQuABqr6xse2hTiCAMuB1ZoVoFsDIkFmxWCrOqmLCU0ECzovIFhs1jG8w=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">For more on what the band did post-<b><i>Horrendous Disc</i></b>, <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2017/10/39-horrendous-disc-by-daniel-amos-1978.html">click here</a>. Commercial success seems to have eluded them, but they have been one of the most prolific and most critically-acclaimed bands in Christian music history. "I've said this before," stated <b>Alex MacDougall</b>, "but my time in <b>DA</b> was one of fabulous friendships, respect, laughter, and solid performances and ministry. And I count each one of them dear to me to this day."<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-sSjQFXMozQKPdVZoA6uEl0qiEPquKNr6TJPZc8dJ3kojqrAJ31A2IKr3XcDFVc0Rct86G4VzvGpPg9joqEwtCvzGI0FAR5Jo2Q0x-C8AIXq5A-3hp891Bav7FqYiVRPRdZSMfZlpuMA8CT8Q3Qe8JJ5A_2OBBwlZxclHPxvWOkvMRVxbbMI4IgBLiw=s511" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="493" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-sSjQFXMozQKPdVZoA6uEl0qiEPquKNr6TJPZc8dJ3kojqrAJ31A2IKr3XcDFVc0Rct86G4VzvGpPg9joqEwtCvzGI0FAR5Jo2Q0x-C8AIXq5A-3hp891Bav7FqYiVRPRdZSMfZlpuMA8CT8Q3Qe8JJ5A_2OBBwlZxclHPxvWOkvMRVxbbMI4IgBLiw=w386-h400" width="386" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Terry Taylor</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">Unbeknownst to most of us at the time, Maranatha Records was about to shift direction and move toward children's ministry and Praise albums. That meant <b><i>Shotgun Angel </i></b>would be one of the last recordings for a rock band on the storied label. In a <b><i>Harvest Rock Syndicate</i></b> interview, Brian Quincy Newcomb asked <b>Terry Taylor </b>if the parting was amicable. "Pretty much," Taylor answered. "I think they were feeling it was time to get out of dealing with bands and personalities. We had families and children and growing concerns."<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieYzLZhDwtCdT1OeAZNmv_WAXz2_byQUe4rG4z7TD0UlKmKVoVK1v4bsPWBVEJ4Wd_oq3ivdr6HyrmHx9z0nss-Zg-DBmiWuHwuvDeMMR5gw5wYmZg-n1nf6DL2P-iUluP16svQcm3MgKfAiAc6ckJyTAU1r455ajmLp2gENsQffCnhjDE16oABLfWQw=s597" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="597" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieYzLZhDwtCdT1OeAZNmv_WAXz2_byQUe4rG4z7TD0UlKmKVoVK1v4bsPWBVEJ4Wd_oq3ivdr6HyrmHx9z0nss-Zg-DBmiWuHwuvDeMMR5gw5wYmZg-n1nf6DL2P-iUluP16svQcm3MgKfAiAc6ckJyTAU1r455ajmLp2gENsQffCnhjDE16oABLfWQw=w400-h398" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">If you missed <b><i>Shotgun Angel</i></b> the first time around, as of this writing you can pick up a special deluxe edition reissue from the band's website - <a href="http://danielamos.com">danielamos.com</a>. It's got lots of extras - bonus tracks, alternate versions, demos, interview clips, you name it.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyPu2TUC66A-NYY315hlDJbIvvCUDAWUDNfAgjZKvWGse9tLDS6pFDSouRbxkY96PUTKemnsE-cSIMRGValQHaBqYoPugkLiNhfEMnKIwbKicdQbbGAX7Ztbg8kydcKOJJBPnpr2REXLxSthu3B28La1jfTjF-pHjPyQFFGQ5ED3FcYOvj92-bgmzupw=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="500" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyPu2TUC66A-NYY315hlDJbIvvCUDAWUDNfAgjZKvWGse9tLDS6pFDSouRbxkY96PUTKemnsE-cSIMRGValQHaBqYoPugkLiNhfEMnKIwbKicdQbbGAX7Ztbg8kydcKOJJBPnpr2REXLxSthu3B28La1jfTjF-pHjPyQFFGQ5ED3FcYOvj92-bgmzupw=w400-h361" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">I think I speak for a lot of people when I talk about how special this album was and still is. A lot of us have done a whole lot of living since 1977. We've had our share of mountains and valleys, ups and downs...we've been done wrong, we've sometimes been victims of circumstance, and we've also gotten ourselves into a few scrapes here and there. But the Lord never leaves us. His presence is a constant. He never lets us wander so far that He can't reel us back in again and tuck us under His wing so that He can finish what He has started in each of us. </span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #212529; font-family: helvetica;">You might even say that we've all got an angel or two riding shotgun. And they're riding with us all the way. <br /><br /><br /></span></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-4873168148642249162022-01-26T18:33:00.007-08:002022-01-27T05:39:25.666-08:00Remembering B.J. Thomas<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyzId0At8SeKF6GBwezLG1m2knU6H7odlU-1sGaUgfMu-cY13aMExDfAvEKrGtME3Z7bs28Wv1qQHki7M0NaBn7Pql3TwYmwH7CXWj7arZ64FFD_vJ9RNUNxlfjUGM0-Zt0NOh8mtcv3DSkZ8noZfDddq8NFyK8U0xn_ouJR7hmSh8C6ncM3Fb1XLqdg=s1611" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1611" data-original-width="1296" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyzId0At8SeKF6GBwezLG1m2knU6H7odlU-1sGaUgfMu-cY13aMExDfAvEKrGtME3Z7bs28Wv1qQHki7M0NaBn7Pql3TwYmwH7CXWj7arZ64FFD_vJ9RNUNxlfjUGM0-Zt0NOh8mtcv3DSkZ8noZfDddq8NFyK8U0xn_ouJR7hmSh8C6ncM3Fb1XLqdg=w321-h400" width="321" /></a></div><br />What a voice.<p></p><p>"I've always tried to do more with a note than just hit it," he once wrote. Well, he certainly succeeded. His voice had a distinct sound. He was a record-selling machine. He was also a former drug addict, transformed by the grace of God. He was a complicated man and his was a complicated story. He's gone now, but his music will live on forever. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbOMz1y4Zs5gK7fARoZZH-zVdLETT81_pLGupdwp6B9vsDrOF0_2gJRLz_KS3LflqTXLTA36yf5ebg3o3Zkbf2s4P7TxaREGDkedjIr76hi4amVXbOP8ih-kU-7TNPSY9E8N0aZpav8ZtcFk8K1S56pC6dzebBoyFntchrobmVLkdWzRLSF6GDMBc_3Q=s1585" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1585" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbOMz1y4Zs5gK7fARoZZH-zVdLETT81_pLGupdwp6B9vsDrOF0_2gJRLz_KS3LflqTXLTA36yf5ebg3o3Zkbf2s4P7TxaREGDkedjIr76hi4amVXbOP8ih-kU-7TNPSY9E8N0aZpav8ZtcFk8K1S56pC6dzebBoyFntchrobmVLkdWzRLSF6GDMBc_3Q=w400-h256" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Thomas family. That's Billy Joe, 2nd from right.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b>Billy Joe Thomas</b> was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Texas, focused on baseball and music (spoiler: music won out). As a kid he walked the aisle of a Baptist church and said the sinner's prayer, later confessing that he only did it because of peer pressure. Thomas' mother was, in his words, "a fantastic example of clean living," though not necessarily a Christian. His father had a drinking problem that often resulted in violent behavior. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1QpfAoF3MigDP9SGrgjvhM5JQrjwcLZQZZAeamaglBjq0r1kJcoUnzRf4tRsSl1nbKWJkCoQ4SGt89n0ElTCS6St_5or0dvxGLE2vUgufjdkREP_fxoQJUo2rrLXxYxPck6Hik2DRIKFO-DbESvHbQchybscHvvCC1WauoiH_ey4hEJqJG8pAOY_J6A=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="902" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1QpfAoF3MigDP9SGrgjvhM5JQrjwcLZQZZAeamaglBjq0r1kJcoUnzRf4tRsSl1nbKWJkCoQ4SGt89n0ElTCS6St_5or0dvxGLE2vUgufjdkREP_fxoQJUo2rrLXxYxPck6Hik2DRIKFO-DbESvHbQchybscHvvCC1WauoiH_ey4hEJqJG8pAOY_J6A=w283-h400" width="283" /></a></div><br /><p>He started going by the initials B.J. because there were too many kids named Billy or Billy Joe on the little league baseball teams. The nickname stuck but the interest in baseball began to wane because his team just wasn't very good. It was around this time that B.J. heard <b>Elvis Presley</b> and <b>Hank Williams</b> on the radio of his Uncle Jack's car. Thomas said that from that time on, music was always in the back of his mind. He first sang publicly at Temple Oaks Baptist Church on 34th Street in Houston, not as a soloist but in male quartets and as a member of the church choir.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgf8fqRneINAkTT15SjBtJE5o4XHh8hgrc64AZvqcxwnsbcWD-8FQwToMdTbIc1ffXqEs1PnN36WuFqjjtc2kSguujBsz-fY-HAmNIJ4fSmzNv82iuyoRNe5rHDXs6iuOXjmBuEGd-MLSLXpnuktczDlGQq1m3XmdyTxq3PQ0UzhD2aC0I-xKQlIQZ0hg=s1671" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1671" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgf8fqRneINAkTT15SjBtJE5o4XHh8hgrc64AZvqcxwnsbcWD-8FQwToMdTbIc1ffXqEs1PnN36WuFqjjtc2kSguujBsz-fY-HAmNIJ4fSmzNv82iuyoRNe5rHDXs6iuOXjmBuEGd-MLSLXpnuktczDlGQq1m3XmdyTxq3PQ0UzhD2aC0I-xKQlIQZ0hg=w400-h274" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">B.J. (3rd from right) with The Triumphs</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>B.J. became a big fan of an R&B singer by the name of <b>Jackie Wilson</b>. He credited Wilson with influencing his vocal style more than any other artist. Thomas became the front man for <b>The Triumphs</b>, a regional band that played small dances, teen canteens, American Legion halls and the like. Their first gig was in January of 1958, when B.J. was a junior at Lamar High School. It was with <b>The Triumphs </b>that he was first introduced to drugs. "Every year we made at least one trip to Garner State Park, ninety miles from San Antonio and not far from the Mexican border," Thomas wrote in his autobiography <b><i>Home Where I Belong </i></b>(Word, 1978). "It became an annual habit to make a run into Mexico to score some cheap grass or pills (it was always available and always cheap south of the border) and get blasted. We'd do the drugs and stay up all night staring at each other and laughing," he remembered. This was the beginning of a huge stronghold in B.J.'s life, one from which he would one day be set free by the power of God.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ46_IQ2O3Zrgh9bD50xz1gRnCwy_mrCaKEN6X9GqXpWQQLbpeMmDLnBXDxSHrgELJGFKzgKylhuZDQtzDz3k1_fzYYyDKyQDvtoFace1SFBI9JG7I3BdI_YW0CJw3S4gutxfIwc93JibYnxFi4lPtk86a0lEygL0_AiZqN52hBptyHGiyi2ApU2uVoA=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhZ46_IQ2O3Zrgh9bD50xz1gRnCwy_mrCaKEN6X9GqXpWQQLbpeMmDLnBXDxSHrgELJGFKzgKylhuZDQtzDz3k1_fzYYyDKyQDvtoFace1SFBI9JG7I3BdI_YW0CJw3S4gutxfIwc93JibYnxFi4lPtk86a0lEygL0_AiZqN52hBptyHGiyi2ApU2uVoA=w400-h399" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Tensions developed and jealousy arose within <b>The Triumphs</b> when <b>B.J. Thomas </b>proved to have much more star power than the other band members. B.J. was noticed for his unusual vocal talent and was asked to make a solo recording. He had his first hit with a remake of <i>I'm So Lonesome </i>by <b>Hank Williams</b>. "I could really get into singing it, and when we did it for Dad it made him cry," Thomas recounted. In three weeks' time, it was the #1 song in Houston and #78 out of the top pop songs in the country according to <b><i>Cashbox</i></b>. Within days, B.J. had offers to open for <b>James Brown</b> and go on the road with <b>Dick Clark</b>. <b>B.J. Thomas </b>was off and running.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKAvrN1wjE9WLcte5E3on37nwP7liHt8tlrp0TW7AtvbAVXQNnZxtkJq6viKkhBmEG0LcLuTzEQf7AXYhXRihoXOjRSD3ocMWmB0SvSeTEEVFmHQb3ehgVBsLju6torPj7TX_3skKy_jKrOOienzizjq7iV1lpbPsEU7wAzNAE1c1pH4WoWZFS7YClJQ=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="640" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKAvrN1wjE9WLcte5E3on37nwP7liHt8tlrp0TW7AtvbAVXQNnZxtkJq6viKkhBmEG0LcLuTzEQf7AXYhXRihoXOjRSD3ocMWmB0SvSeTEEVFmHQb3ehgVBsLju6torPj7TX_3skKy_jKrOOienzizjq7iV1lpbPsEU7wAzNAE1c1pH4WoWZFS7YClJQ=w400-h279" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>By 1967 Thomas had sold four and a half million records and was pulling down $2,500 a night. He said that hundreds of thousands from record sales, royalties and personal appearances were spent on cars and clothes and gifts - extravagant things that he neither needed or really even wanted. "I was drunk with the freedom to have anything and everything I saw," he said. B.J. met and married <b>Gloria Richardson,</b> a decision that would eventually save his life.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvN83wOQrdZviGjHRIm1tEKAZdkD0W4Fa1jUvgWaEFe-BhsyF0MbdkxxOshp-S1QgedoGeh8ijPrU9cIZNlUsbFFHCW50CmNwmdPRU2DitVAtn3dZHLkgSfCooUQaTBE-c4vGXb8BD-aYW-JehN8xDxxkZH18IZQQ7XEOoX4lbiDQNGkgJKaJhf1wG0g=s677" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="677" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvN83wOQrdZviGjHRIm1tEKAZdkD0W4Fa1jUvgWaEFe-BhsyF0MbdkxxOshp-S1QgedoGeh8ijPrU9cIZNlUsbFFHCW50CmNwmdPRU2DitVAtn3dZHLkgSfCooUQaTBE-c4vGXb8BD-aYW-JehN8xDxxkZH18IZQQ7XEOoX4lbiDQNGkgJKaJhf1wG0g=w400-h284" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i>The Eyes of a New York Woman</i>. <i>Hooked On A Feeling. Mighty Clouds of Joy. Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head. </i>The hits just kept on coming. From 1969 thru 1975 <b>B.J. Thomas </b>would gross about 13 million dollars. "But I loved the drugs more than anything," he revealed. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYdERWeZPAvEwDmQ7CbL2ppdx-PUU2nGxLdgLTr5sXnxav3BUY-3Umq9ymFclDKDgbrIOJ-DSvLcCp6hFa0UsJGDhjEiRwTQIgsRF5ZKquiN-jHonWl-QBv56ahEfYfHXGU9RZ2wL0rzFV4qtU7QMahc98wafAftMz6GfkBXy--2wFVZl48rSRdZ_Axw=s912" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="758" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYdERWeZPAvEwDmQ7CbL2ppdx-PUU2nGxLdgLTr5sXnxav3BUY-3Umq9ymFclDKDgbrIOJ-DSvLcCp6hFa0UsJGDhjEiRwTQIgsRF5ZKquiN-jHonWl-QBv56ahEfYfHXGU9RZ2wL0rzFV4qtU7QMahc98wafAftMz6GfkBXy--2wFVZl48rSRdZ_Axw=w333-h400" width="333" /></a></div><br /><p>I purchased Thomas' <b><i>Home Where I Belong</i></b> autobiography when it first came out and I still have it today. I read it again in preparation for this blog post...and I was astounded at B.J.'s own descriptions of his dependence on drugs. <i>Thousands </i>of pills a month, sometimes 500 on a weekend. Literally awake for days. Demonic manifestations. Even detailed descriptions of what could only be described as domestic violence. Things were bad. <i>Really</i> bad. He said that during that era he never once performed or recorded without being high. Recording sessions became nightmares for all involved. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEk8MP5gM79vAq-GhuZCu5f0E57Tc2Ub9aPPDhfVZWa9_6L6P89Qf85HWtky6RDq3bcOUJFWrs-fGYOIm4HWvBGqffUmfZ_qQO9BgNWPlhA9-JFEC62dkWeX39QpeE65i6uZ0WClk-XP8na5m4lGohe8PfmpRJITFaL8n6A8_MhKRkOMZcmNjRDEgomA=s2350" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2350" data-original-width="2012" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEk8MP5gM79vAq-GhuZCu5f0E57Tc2Ub9aPPDhfVZWa9_6L6P89Qf85HWtky6RDq3bcOUJFWrs-fGYOIm4HWvBGqffUmfZ_qQO9BgNWPlhA9-JFEC62dkWeX39QpeE65i6uZ0WClk-XP8na5m4lGohe8PfmpRJITFaL8n6A8_MhKRkOMZcmNjRDEgomA=w343-h400" width="343" /></a></div><br /><p>And then...remember those tropes about rock stars trashing their hotel rooms? Yep, you guessed it. B.J. threw at least one television set out of a hotel room window. "More than once I left with a bill for as much as $8,000 in damages," he admitted. "Dope was my career. The singing was simply a means to an end."</p><p>And then a friend introduced him to cocaine. </p><p>Thomas said the cocaine got him into trouble with women, only adding to problems on the home front. B.J.'s world came crashing in on him when his wife Gloria left him and took their daughter Paige with her. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaUwDQXncDaSR2gWT6bJWuhej7iWog18ctDdVOHdvWFCRAL21lWBksQiesEMFs8ht3aeN9mAznOGksL8NfYn6AEfj8JYUD9AGie5jK3P-dYV0q4nR2WRKCoIzvlSzT4nwseukWmNLAt_LjSic8rvmXE8RqQ1u37Tpp2vwsSpXdm2edQL8QTHpr3FfGqw=s980" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="980" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgaUwDQXncDaSR2gWT6bJWuhej7iWog18ctDdVOHdvWFCRAL21lWBksQiesEMFs8ht3aeN9mAznOGksL8NfYn6AEfj8JYUD9AGie5jK3P-dYV0q4nR2WRKCoIzvlSzT4nwseukWmNLAt_LjSic8rvmXE8RqQ1u37Tpp2vwsSpXdm2edQL8QTHpr3FfGqw=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Things finally came to a head when Thomas pulled a knife on his producer in the recording studio, threatening to kill him. And then landed in a hospital with a near-overdose. </p><p>Meanwhile, Gloria was witnessed to by friends <b>Jim and Micah Reeves </b>and ended up surrendering her heart to Jesus on December 27, 1975. "When I was finished and stood I just grinned, loving God so much that I couldn't think of anything else," she explained. "I didn't know how much to hope for with B.J. and me, but I knew that my relationship with God had just begun. And it was right."</p><p>Thomas' career was finally beginning to suffer as a result of his substance abuse. "No other jobs were lined up because my reputation had spread," Thomas said. "My managers didn't think I'd be able to continue performing for long anyway so they were afraid to book anything too far ahead of time. My professional life was over. No gigs were planned; everything was off. People were saying, <i>'Don't book him - he's flipped out.' </i>No one would book a drug addict."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhYREQO-VTna6QOjXDgDdgW6JhKgmp-XnFeU0ULBbrg6HWm9yqrTNtpmEYSpLsWE2q5qfJhVRDIFz2dzaXQ_O68kraR9tpwvmaLpH-oELetLAnj5xydJLWmDnOAJBKHT1wbXmWxASV5NJQJ1UHMKws-JNYm8D0XqqyZqXzEroopE4DZRz6uDyaedsv5Q=s793" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="793" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhYREQO-VTna6QOjXDgDdgW6JhKgmp-XnFeU0ULBbrg6HWm9yqrTNtpmEYSpLsWE2q5qfJhVRDIFz2dzaXQ_O68kraR9tpwvmaLpH-oELetLAnj5xydJLWmDnOAJBKHT1wbXmWxASV5NJQJ1UHMKws-JNYm8D0XqqyZqXzEroopE4DZRz6uDyaedsv5Q=w400-h265" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Though separated, B.J. and Gloria kept in touch. During one phone call, with divorce papers just days from completion, <b>Gloria Thomas</b> said, "I'm different, B. I've become a Christian and have turned my life over to Jesus Christ. He is the answer to why I am different. Come home. There's help for you here."</p><p>B.J. eventually took her up on her offer. The end result was an intense counseling and deliverance session with <b>Jim Reeves</b> and <b>Bobby Guess </b>while the wives were in another room, praying. Thomas reported being able to relax and feel a peace that washed over him - something he hadn't felt in many years. He prayed what he remembered as a 20-minute prayer, "the most sincere thing I had ever done in my life," he reported. "And I know the Holy Spirit authored it. I knew from the minute I opened my mouth that I was talking to the living God, the Creator of the universe, and He was going to answer. I got straight with the Lord everything I could think of, and the bridge between ten years of hell and a right relationship with God was just twenty minutes - the most unforgettable twenty minutes of my life. When I looked up after saying amen, it was midnight, January 28, 1976."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyso1Pmcm1dWp4ZyYERWNNNzGxWRER7oqmsWKZx1lDE-aTluvUrHBS3kjWcuDXzEnjYC6TGqfVIxY7Z_8k8Bt3brlaud-yIkMGbZeWhZQAZnnS48biiIUOVGTEX6QcJNbyaXuaRhkuFQub8I_VAgZQzZouW0UXomgpOmvdn89qnppbQ4idJ8jrPEzmLg=s1656" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1457" data-original-width="1656" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyso1Pmcm1dWp4ZyYERWNNNzGxWRER7oqmsWKZx1lDE-aTluvUrHBS3kjWcuDXzEnjYC6TGqfVIxY7Z_8k8Bt3brlaud-yIkMGbZeWhZQAZnnS48biiIUOVGTEX6QcJNbyaXuaRhkuFQub8I_VAgZQzZouW0UXomgpOmvdn89qnppbQ4idJ8jrPEzmLg=w400-h353" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>"I was so relieved and free I could have jumped through the roof," Thomas said. "I smiled so big it hurt."</p><p>The first miracle was B.J.'s salvation. The next miracle was that he quit drugs cold turkey <i>with no withdrawal. </i>Amazing.</p><p>Another amazing thing was about to happen. <b>B.J. Thomas</b> was going to record a very consequential album for a genre of music that barely even existed at the time.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyjDfcOak46ci5uCMjnrtfy6g3F4ux7du_VxwGlh5tqRaQP6JVwMRSfx3IKnd-ZI1omcYLbffEqw62QqkMi6c2ytz2vrRRNMALO4wY2WrQJvVGcHc7oJ4uDPt8wd6pn8VuI1fx0J3f8hMmtb0903sm2p8_VJFUsGz032OeIuJIwacROKcjyQQIjhoKEQ=s1275" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1185" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyjDfcOak46ci5uCMjnrtfy6g3F4ux7du_VxwGlh5tqRaQP6JVwMRSfx3IKnd-ZI1omcYLbffEqw62QqkMi6c2ytz2vrRRNMALO4wY2WrQJvVGcHc7oJ4uDPt8wd6pn8VuI1fx0J3f8hMmtb0903sm2p8_VJFUsGz032OeIuJIwacROKcjyQQIjhoKEQ=w371-h400" width="371" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas with producer Chris Christian</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Jesus Music and "Gospel Rock" had been around since the late 60s. <b>Larry Norman, Love Song,</b> and the <b>Second Chapter of Acts</b> were doing their thing on the West Coast and artists like <b>Randy Matthews, Honeytree </b>and <b>Petra</b> operated from the Midwest. But <b>Stan Moser,</b> head of sales and marketing for Word Records had something a little different in mind. A young, unproven producer by the name of <b>Chris Christian </b>had purchased a home near Nashville and built a studio in the basement. Moser heard an album that Christian had produced for the group <b>Dogwood</b> (his first) and on the strength of that album, Moser approached Christian about producing a faith-oriented record by <b>B.J. Thomas </b>for Word's contemporary label, Myrrh. This was a huge opportunity...it would only be <b>Chris Christian's</b> second album in the producer's chair...and his young lieutenant <b>Brown Bannister's</b> first-ever job as a professional engineer. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2ZMboC4lCdZ89ubl1EkCTvile0N511eFuwyMBI-ZiQlY2p_vb63xcW8LJbIlmRDOhunk-kDzfOtjRBcwMdGWCYJ3IwmsDqysh2l0WhYdtjc_liE5y54F7ZOEqsAEn_8uzn8gZUTLZjQ33bEZrP40Ui0c3DKSGP_d4gT2yWG4dntdlLPdewsF5FsHFtw=s1720" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1720" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2ZMboC4lCdZ89ubl1EkCTvile0N511eFuwyMBI-ZiQlY2p_vb63xcW8LJbIlmRDOhunk-kDzfOtjRBcwMdGWCYJ3IwmsDqysh2l0WhYdtjc_liE5y54F7ZOEqsAEn_8uzn8gZUTLZjQ33bEZrP40Ui0c3DKSGP_d4gT2yWG4dntdlLPdewsF5FsHFtw=w400-h253" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brown Bannister & Chris Christian</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>There had been other successful secular artists who had recorded Christian music - <b>Johnny Cash, Pat Boone</b> and <b>Barry McGuire,</b> to name a few. But <b>B.J. Thomas </b>was a pretty big pop star who was still at the top of his game, at the height of his powers. And Moser's vision for this album was for it to sound like a pop album, every bit as good as B.J.'s mainstream hits, just with a much smaller budget. In his autobiography <i><b>A Grandmother's Prayer,</b></i> <b>Chris Christian</b> recounts the experience: "[B.J.] came in filled with the joy of the Lord and was totally affable and easy to work with. He gave every song that distinctive <b>B.J. Thomas</b> touch that millions of fans had come to recognize."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4L7oOGyuOgkwxH6ldwCJW_GASfBR_gdTloEDCMDrBZh8A2CBLFx8-FYb_VRNBv47ONdG-Pp9-8kz6DWgofXrGM4LYmdEy4cYP4wAa6xAHJ9uqnRYZ-EYQXJIxOzahQFyIShrWDAgK3DvBo5YAGJnnzUEFBz4lOEwmhtmgGb1PrPczHKzsJ64RQNg6Bw=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1313" data-original-width="3264" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4L7oOGyuOgkwxH6ldwCJW_GASfBR_gdTloEDCMDrBZh8A2CBLFx8-FYb_VRNBv47ONdG-Pp9-8kz6DWgofXrGM4LYmdEy4cYP4wAa6xAHJ9uqnRYZ-EYQXJIxOzahQFyIShrWDAgK3DvBo5YAGJnnzUEFBz4lOEwmhtmgGb1PrPczHKzsJ64RQNg6Bw=w400-h161" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Within a year of its release <b><i>Home Where I Belong</i></b> had sold more than 350,000 copies. First it went Gold; it eventually went Platinum, winning both a Grammy and a Dove Award. <b><i>HWIB</i></b> was a bestseller for more than a year. The title track gave songwriter <b>Pat Terry</b> some much-deserved recognition, and <b><i>HWIB </i></b>was the first Christian recording to get a cover review in Record World magazine. It was #1 on the Gospel chart in Cashbox for about 4 months.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlm9lqrjcLbGplUEf5t4wxNViMuUeMMve9z135RlMzp8R0vfb2dbRqlMY8158YgY5ROevHj1PJEvVBgOEped-nTgm0VgZuVQ2GVm0JZ420ECkcnCbwE82TpC31Jos8zlVw7vpcNz88tM4H6IPDzXoRLNctxMrPBuJrkeq8gxNdy-TEZLFkuZ2zBFgDiQ=s1336" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1336" data-original-width="878" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlm9lqrjcLbGplUEf5t4wxNViMuUeMMve9z135RlMzp8R0vfb2dbRqlMY8158YgY5ROevHj1PJEvVBgOEped-nTgm0VgZuVQ2GVm0JZ420ECkcnCbwE82TpC31Jos8zlVw7vpcNz88tM4H6IPDzXoRLNctxMrPBuJrkeq8gxNdy-TEZLFkuZ2zBFgDiQ=w421-h640" width="421" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Based on the tremendous success of <b><i>Home Where I Belong</i></b>, <b>Stan Moser</b> came up with a scheme to get <b>Chris Christian </b>to find five other artists and produce five albums per year for the next five years. These were to be Christian albums with essentially that same commercial, soft rock/pop sound as <b><i>Home Where I Belong</i></b>. No one really knew it at the time, but this was basically the birth of a new genre of music. We were leaving Jesus Music behind and entering the world of "contemporary Christian music" or CCM for short. And <b>B.J. Thomas</b> was a big part of that.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_h77BSOHPj5ovGlqk3fwXYe4z_PtU1-hLd9O0sVzOlp2NBgM3PiY3EliWKpdDcy99tsSkaBldqn15sSog074wj2Lfaxh2FbloodEaYYPTzHITAjo4A9qPmpJFkJCQ59Znin6g4SBHBpx7x_dd69sobpcw5_9ZIrdzRAVmGyro-F8MCJY9ygOn9DXE-A=s1705" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1705" data-original-width="999" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_h77BSOHPj5ovGlqk3fwXYe4z_PtU1-hLd9O0sVzOlp2NBgM3PiY3EliWKpdDcy99tsSkaBldqn15sSog074wj2Lfaxh2FbloodEaYYPTzHITAjo4A9qPmpJFkJCQ59Znin6g4SBHBpx7x_dd69sobpcw5_9ZIrdzRAVmGyro-F8MCJY9ygOn9DXE-A=w374-h640" width="374" /></a></div><br /><p>B.J. & Gloria's marriage was restored. They were in love again. "The old hassles were gone," he said. Thomas said that post-drugs, there was a power and energy in his singing that hadn't been there in a long time. He was pumped about performing again. He made it a point to share his testimony with audiences, and then experienced the peace of a good night's sleep after the concerts. "The Scriptures began to mean more and more to me," he said. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMsfIFoUAQroE7o7K_SceXdwPHMyJ99ok5FJArv5qhq8c-QYbY3AiMAyeMQbhPV8DhdhPugFj91I5qZxy6MhNXc_HHAyEgQ8iED6Jv1wwCP4BzAjEIS7EyXNmNViNUTbaG5q-yMU7ulI_eaIUXeRw51_FvIgjM9wj6ggzBayiPgU1LkDvqM6lCpNjp5g=s1200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMsfIFoUAQroE7o7K_SceXdwPHMyJ99ok5FJArv5qhq8c-QYbY3AiMAyeMQbhPV8DhdhPugFj91I5qZxy6MhNXc_HHAyEgQ8iED6Jv1wwCP4BzAjEIS7EyXNmNViNUTbaG5q-yMU7ulI_eaIUXeRw51_FvIgjM9wj6ggzBayiPgU1LkDvqM6lCpNjp5g=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Several other Christian albums followed for B.J., but none had the impact - or the sales figures - of <i><b>Home Where I Belong</b></i>. </p><p>Much has been made of a rift that reportedly developed between Thomas and some of his fans in the Christian record-buying public. I won't recount the back-and-forth in any great detail here. But in an attempt to understand what happened, I offer the following: a lot of people who came to faith during the Jesus Movement were used to singers and musicians functioning essentially as ministers. Thomas' background was in entertainment. But he was presented to the Christian record-buying public as being in the same <i>category </i>as, say, <b>Andrae Crouch</b> or the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b>...<b>Dallas Holm</b> or <b>Don Francisco.</b>..artists with a hyper-focus on ministry, who viewed their music more as a tool in their toolbox. This unfortunately created some unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings. Sort of like when two people from <i>very</i> different backgrounds get married. I'm not excusing bad behavior...just offering another way to think about what went down. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlUQE5dRjmVdkSmKnkT8o6WnELbFptmArpeRgqumCjOL9UgzStzwU5bWqdcbwc-c05YH108wvpqFGtJvfjxzkg6loL0jR08fa3ISmcIpnQ0qQHwu3FP3ekvw4gg7WpXc5MtM_5ajHUgjFQMlh7jZykh_RiKtzrobgjsC_8hfAphRfZI9sX53BvbLklfQ=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlUQE5dRjmVdkSmKnkT8o6WnELbFptmArpeRgqumCjOL9UgzStzwU5bWqdcbwc-c05YH108wvpqFGtJvfjxzkg6loL0jR08fa3ISmcIpnQ0qQHwu3FP3ekvw4gg7WpXc5MtM_5ajHUgjFQMlh7jZykh_RiKtzrobgjsC_8hfAphRfZI9sX53BvbLklfQ=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Back in 1978 Thomas was quoted as saying, "Some day this kind of life has to end. One day you wake up and find yourself thirty-six years old and sitting in the Holiday Inn in Minneapolis for the fourteenth time in your life and you have to wonder what it's all about. I have to quit traveling some day soon." </p><p>He never did, really.</p><p>Thomas had more successes in mainstream pop, country and CCM, winning a total of 5 Grammy awards and enjoying a very lengthy career. It was announced on March 23, 2021 that he had stage four lung cancer. Just nine weeks later, <b>B.J. Thomas </b>was Home. He was 78 years old. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWTJCkdQNf3VxHi9qgDJoEP4VpTJd8XdGp9IBxIRoaGHY1L4lyk7InF8kuQPE13y3E8BGLgB9n2459fH46Mz-xDGfBvADu3058niz-4N1nrjkZvujCOXu8w5r_ClgZLAtZ_uositYiB_E-83W3wlO9vw59j2DC6AQ1-R2qsr20lq0pC0044lDtroovLw=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWTJCkdQNf3VxHi9qgDJoEP4VpTJd8XdGp9IBxIRoaGHY1L4lyk7InF8kuQPE13y3E8BGLgB9n2459fH46Mz-xDGfBvADu3058niz-4N1nrjkZvujCOXu8w5r_ClgZLAtZ_uositYiB_E-83W3wlO9vw59j2DC6AQ1-R2qsr20lq0pC0044lDtroovLw=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>B.J.'s music is still bringing comfort to people today. I have walked through a tremendously difficult trial in my own life over the past three years and I can remember lying on my bed one night and listening to <b>B.J. Thomas</b> sing...</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He's got it all in control</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>God's got it all in control</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He put that reassurance way down in my soul</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He's got it all in control</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>and</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He's the hand on my shoulder</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>When I need to know Someone cares</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>He's the hand on my shoulder</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Assuring me that He's always there<br /><br /></i></div><br />...and tears came as the realization of that truth returned and bolstered my faith.<br /><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFJjemJK-KnvaUqWtqqHuQuWAhxBIFPk0uZOoNZTSrQzIoKy_eFKAU96i4MhPtWWFwUZ8d_B9EBbBGMFClQBoiFkGXbeLZNQniDZE5r9DuzIomxDA5j07O_6T6mWRdEwO90BUM8eWJOpDt547oJu-BBOqBqKg_AJDWvk9QhhIH_1v2NwzOdayxcJrsoQ=s1466" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1349" data-original-width="1466" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFJjemJK-KnvaUqWtqqHuQuWAhxBIFPk0uZOoNZTSrQzIoKy_eFKAU96i4MhPtWWFwUZ8d_B9EBbBGMFClQBoiFkGXbeLZNQniDZE5r9DuzIomxDA5j07O_6T6mWRdEwO90BUM8eWJOpDt547oJu-BBOqBqKg_AJDWvk9QhhIH_1v2NwzOdayxcJrsoQ=w400-h368" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><p>"When I think of the odds against my surviving the thousands upon thousands of drugs I poured into my body, I know that God spared me for a reason," Thomas penned in his autobiography. "I knew I was being drawn back to Him. I believe He laid claim on me as a child and wouldn't let me go."</p><p>"This old earth is really pretty to a mind that's been cleared by the power of God," B.J. said in '78. "But when we leave here, we'll <i>really </i>be home. Home where we belong." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rlwon4AQJL4" width="320" youtube-src-id="rlwon4AQJL4"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-91622151229522337572022-01-17T16:18:00.003-08:002022-01-17T16:27:28.209-08:00Remembering Ralph Carmichael<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfh-zpFtDF_GqRjbLC4pcjHWox8ahKmhZ_3Nh_PIkaGzyEhicw_DHPVsSuC5YBvyRa_2Goqph7S3blXCN61b3mBgrYhfv8zZEY-b8lABkENddNFxyXgtUHOQHlZMY7GCWP1ILOzT_gOnKaA-uhHO0UqBQcH45cjV4pxL5keGOVzBvfJcgMU4-t9l8F2w=s681" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfh-zpFtDF_GqRjbLC4pcjHWox8ahKmhZ_3Nh_PIkaGzyEhicw_DHPVsSuC5YBvyRa_2Goqph7S3blXCN61b3mBgrYhfv8zZEY-b8lABkENddNFxyXgtUHOQHlZMY7GCWP1ILOzT_gOnKaA-uhHO0UqBQcH45cjV4pxL5keGOVzBvfJcgMU4-t9l8F2w=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ralph Carmichael</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My hometown of Greenville, South Carolina puts on a Christmas parade every year on the first Saturday evening of December. Bands, floats, dance teams, Santa, the whole drill. Thousands of people - families, friends, young and old - come out and line the streets every year as the <i>Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade</i> serves as the official kickoff to the Christmas season in Upstate South Carolina. Greenville's mayor likes to say, "It's a Christmas parade the way Christmas parades used to be." Before the parade actually begins, a vehicle from the Greenville Police Department and a vehicle from the Greenville City Fire Department travel down the street. They are not officially part of the parade. Their job is to clear the way. I've been told by city employees (who take this stuff very seriously) that the police car and fire truck are <i>not</i> parade entries. Their symbolic purpose is to clear the streets - to pave the way, if you will, for all of the "holiday magic" that is to follow.<br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq884niI-YSqNT5zFlULYs1hVMpuVaN8QdTR2xTMwYUkm1qgEGl7R0VRvICNOwudXYQdTrjGBYjDD2YVBVMCBDSUXyl-l6e_f_ewbSJYrT7d2cAGhphlvNWPISJmdgKZnEEoduOZCmbpcI4qj6OxC-eEsZHuvtzW59nGKOrOSZe0SajKOsK9BMfHIN1w=s1100" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1100" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq884niI-YSqNT5zFlULYs1hVMpuVaN8QdTR2xTMwYUkm1qgEGl7R0VRvICNOwudXYQdTrjGBYjDD2YVBVMCBDSUXyl-l6e_f_ewbSJYrT7d2cAGhphlvNWPISJmdgKZnEEoduOZCmbpcI4qj6OxC-eEsZHuvtzW59nGKOrOSZe0SajKOsK9BMfHIN1w=w400-h274" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Looking back, <b>Ralph Carmichael</b> served a similar purpose. He began cutting a path. He helped clear the way. He helped clear the streets, if you will, for what God was going to do during a revival now known as the Jesus Movement. Carmichael's music was not full-blown Jesus Music and it certainly wasn't rock and roll. But it was an important, albeit controversial, incremental step in the right direction. And Christian young people sat up and took notice.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOFK3U79S5B9O95ttwrH9YbUnof_1z64LbpzOolEiQiXblpZPyyPCTvOP1f9iamEMkdMuKPLSBi9jD0xhpD21qRcBP75jxuZt_-8sfnAOKBpm9mRl9jkxerPHsr2nna7zYlZhRA7ckDBGkZcl8q5YfLvJLFcerfx6AODLFLFtXknpEwRnrbxMf0KhdNQ=s1986" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1986" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOFK3U79S5B9O95ttwrH9YbUnof_1z64LbpzOolEiQiXblpZPyyPCTvOP1f9iamEMkdMuKPLSBi9jD0xhpD21qRcBP75jxuZt_-8sfnAOKBpm9mRl9jkxerPHsr2nna7zYlZhRA7ckDBGkZcl8q5YfLvJLFcerfx6AODLFLFtXknpEwRnrbxMf0KhdNQ=w400-h222" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Ralph Carmichael </b>was born in Quincy, Illinois on May 27, 1927. An Assemblies of God preacher's kid, Ralph grew up immersed in music, but he enjoyed the popular music that he heard on the radio more than what he heard at church. "I was captivated by the chordal expressions I heard on the radio," Carmichael said. "Our church orchestra sounded weak and terrible by comparison. Why? Why did we have to settle? Why couldn't we use those gorgeous rhythms, sweeping strings, the brass, the stirring chords? That started to control everything I did." </p><p>Sound Familiar? Jesus Rock pioneers like <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>Randy Matthews</b> expressed similar sentiments in the late 60s and early 70s. But Carmichael apparently had this epiphany decades earlier.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhulbvmEbX_nf15Paf6Q6x0L7axVFUmIkWJRv7677MzQpxIsZk73t3qPRpWvnri0lkbzm_SUY5qVYqwTQvpxQewH1-2_pApr16dp_JX1WZAukxzI1afTkk-jWefv9zsipwDFxEWTx0jnw9znMiaxkK4Kr1n9mAS8POatF4ygwdSkfkGDMaTRmU4S40RJg=s225" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhulbvmEbX_nf15Paf6Q6x0L7axVFUmIkWJRv7677MzQpxIsZk73t3qPRpWvnri0lkbzm_SUY5qVYqwTQvpxQewH1-2_pApr16dp_JX1WZAukxzI1afTkk-jWefv9zsipwDFxEWTx0jnw9znMiaxkK4Kr1n9mAS8POatF4ygwdSkfkGDMaTRmU4S40RJg=s16000" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>As a Bible college student, Ralph started a campus male quartet as well as some mixed vocal ensembles. Most Christian colleges utilize music groups to help with recruiting. Well, Ralph's efforts did more harm than good in the eyes of the school's Old Guard, because he attempted to blend some classical and jazz techniques into the music. His efforts <i>were not</i> appreciated. Thus, he was branded controversial, was not allowed to store his baritone sax on campus, and his music groups were dis-invited from many churches. </p><p>It just wasn't time yet. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ihDi2-w9h8g" width="320" youtube-src-id="ihDi2-w9h8g"></iframe></div><br /><p>After college it became clear to Carmichael that he was better suited to a career in music than as a pastor. In 1951 he was asked to score a film for the <b>Billy Graham Evangelistic Association</b>. Graham & company had a desire to attract and hopefully reach a younger demographic; <b>Ralph Carmichael's </b>music was seen as a potentially effective tool in their toolbox. Meanwhile, doors began to open in the secular entertainment world as well. Carmichael began to work on hugely consequential television shows like <b><i>I Love Lucy, My Mother the Car,</i></b> and <b><i>Bonanza</i></b>. He was invited to work with big stars like <b>Rosemary Clooney, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Bing Crosby</b> and <b>Nat King Cole</b>. </p><p>But it was Carmichael's efforts on behalf of "sacred" or "church music" that mean the most to those of us who love Jesus Music and CCM. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiyp_ZuShiePfOEL5NwaRQjRDcd6DxMj7Y-QJcctrc8EmtAC7cjoaLN-vEwSCww9ZTJ7LedXA55XFPzdEttK75j-W4rkiXNMIFtxaRknXGdj3lpVDYQQKidZYkjTSEWKVTXZgpJEHxkQUJRSv4EJXem1WHXU3-mxjyCY0Bm7bnjm6-XHV0NJkL842zog=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiyp_ZuShiePfOEL5NwaRQjRDcd6DxMj7Y-QJcctrc8EmtAC7cjoaLN-vEwSCww9ZTJ7LedXA55XFPzdEttK75j-W4rkiXNMIFtxaRknXGdj3lpVDYQQKidZYkjTSEWKVTXZgpJEHxkQUJRSv4EJXem1WHXU3-mxjyCY0Bm7bnjm6-XHV0NJkL842zog=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>By the mid-1960s, <b>Billy Graham</b> was again noticing too many grey heads at his crusades and had a desire to create a film to speak to youth culture. The movie was called <i><b>The Restless Ones</b></i> and it was scored by <b>Ralph Carmichael</b>. The film contained a song that would become a breakout hit, a folk anthem that was beloved by Christians teens around the world. <i>He's Everything To Me</i> had a "straight-eights" rhythm and just a hint of a backbeat. It ended up selling 5 million copies of sheet music and was covered by <b>Cliff Richard, The Imperials,</b> and more than 200 other artists. It even made its way to me - another Assemblies of God PK in south Alabama in the early 70s. I remember playing it from a red songbook full of other such "mod" Christian folk songs, many of them penned and arranged by <b>Ralph Carmichael </b>and <b>Kurt Kaiser.<br /><br /></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1y-pPy1soRP0Xp7f9Aaby0imn_4co-EJ5PwGdNSDc7enXUGR8aeFHOQY3aaSoUC8GDJ6_MpGf4rr0hGUFPl3dmX10_-xm7s4RpixjNgy9XTA7Y7S39YnuRFDgpaiK3RPojiP2z6X5uKf4pR8L5kUzVJ1rCEXi4gddBy2-hRqgds41ZJgBfY2c1Q-Ivw=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1y-pPy1soRP0Xp7f9Aaby0imn_4co-EJ5PwGdNSDc7enXUGR8aeFHOQY3aaSoUC8GDJ6_MpGf4rr0hGUFPl3dmX10_-xm7s4RpixjNgy9XTA7Y7S39YnuRFDgpaiK3RPojiP2z6X5uKf4pR8L5kUzVJ1rCEXi4gddBy2-hRqgds41ZJgBfY2c1Q-Ivw=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p>Other musicals followed - <b style="font-style: italic;">Tell It Like It Is, The Cross and the Switchblade, For Pete's Sake, Natural High, </b>and more.<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b>There were songs like <i>Love is Surrender, Pass It On, A Quiet Place, The new 23rd, A Bright New World, Reach Out to Jesus, </i>and <i>I Looked for Love</i>.</p><p>Was this stuff rock music? No. But it was new. It was a different sound. This music was sung by fresh-faced young people. Carmichael's folk musicals were clearing the streets for what was soon to follow. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKErnQvX-6dHe2-ASoKb6Cqda83Z7Pm1tecgobeFPRYESfxGzRT3Rcx1WUbCSsj00A2xwDf0hON8nZS6PJPLEvWtvgu3NcEkUPkg1MYRk2F8WkOsJMciusH4rKK2plNPg07bEKA0YzACEnkZIFtatNI182DuYLliLqv5lc7jDx16IKQMvm74FnBYGEuw=s1860" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="1860" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKErnQvX-6dHe2-ASoKb6Cqda83Z7Pm1tecgobeFPRYESfxGzRT3Rcx1WUbCSsj00A2xwDf0hON8nZS6PJPLEvWtvgu3NcEkUPkg1MYRk2F8WkOsJMciusH4rKK2plNPg07bEKA0YzACEnkZIFtatNI182DuYLliLqv5lc7jDx16IKQMvm74FnBYGEuw=w400-h270" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carmichael (seated) signing <b>The Archers</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b>Ralph Carmichael </b>and his record label, <b>Light Records,</b> is also credited with "discovering" supremely talented artists such as <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples </b>and <b>The Archers</b>, bringing their music to attention of a world starved for excellent musical expressions that were also spiritually solid. It was said that Carmichael started <b>Light Records</b> to give Jesus Music a wider hearing. In addition to Crouch and <b>The Archers,</b> Light became label home to artists as diverse as <b>Jamie Owens-Collins, Danniebelle Hall, The Hawkins Family, Bryan Duncan, Glad, The Winans, John Fischer, Dino, Jessy Dixon, Sweet Comfort Band, Allies,</b> and even <b>Resurrection Band.</b> <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5a4_i3gjX8szKVC7UsK5cFGZ9XURK6GR22Ad1CY-kXJKEiybzC-IgBlgp0-SeDWBhY_S2fV-1mko5U8lbho32az0VOBmrjwUKy-dqn3fM9bQv5S3wwXIsjvvRNeLsok4GxGPi-qUHIvXVVRyJs0Jwd-f9m1DkpMdsLd3VSEyySsT9TGporXs299AIzQ=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5a4_i3gjX8szKVC7UsK5cFGZ9XURK6GR22Ad1CY-kXJKEiybzC-IgBlgp0-SeDWBhY_S2fV-1mko5U8lbho32az0VOBmrjwUKy-dqn3fM9bQv5S3wwXIsjvvRNeLsok4GxGPi-qUHIvXVVRyJs0Jwd-f9m1DkpMdsLd3VSEyySsT9TGporXs299AIzQ=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><p>Always on the cutting edge, Carmichael even released an entire album of nothing but Moog synthesizers in 1970. As an aspiring keyboardist, I owned that album and thought it was mind-blowing.<br /></p><p><br />All in all, Carmichael scored or produced about 200 albums and wrote about 3,000 musical arrangements. His Christmas songs recorded with <b>Bing Crosby </b>and <b>Nat King Cole </b>will be enjoyed forever. He was inducted into the <b>GMA Hall of Fame</b> in 1985 and the <b>National Religious Broadcasters' Hall of Fame</b> in 2001. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFlnP6C5KiyCD11y4wLJzpgkLY3T5dmA5GbWfM5xuIpgyj6nz8e0ZLLCemz6MHvIvgF--6gZh4npFvrbnkftL5gLFd_RzGOFZ916kh-nLtvIfjI0PcyDvwdtb-1UwldciIob42iXqMnrk7ic3amS231x_Ek7GmFFNRYs1yDpe1wdKM0nbhzpzYdl2ftQ=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="3264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFlnP6C5KiyCD11y4wLJzpgkLY3T5dmA5GbWfM5xuIpgyj6nz8e0ZLLCemz6MHvIvgF--6gZh4npFvrbnkftL5gLFd_RzGOFZ916kh-nLtvIfjI0PcyDvwdtb-1UwldciIob42iXqMnrk7ic3amS231x_Ek7GmFFNRYs1yDpe1wdKM0nbhzpzYdl2ftQ=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b>Ralph Carmichael </b>passed from this life on October 18, 2021. He was 94.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitZLOeM7qgZjU8WUajJ0ADfWvmUQxOZ2ttZEbLAtZgQ86gDNfS9Geb_MUZ3mFltuOGUWgEwo2ck_RW9JwRANp-gvdDAGyS0Hn8nlrVSQQyh-Iz0VhG8Do9iY93DKEefa2Q7T3WD2svww4TQbIHPt4cTLX4WRJA5vAVgX5LBMs2ismUbFA_DYaQxPz6qg=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1336" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitZLOeM7qgZjU8WUajJ0ADfWvmUQxOZ2ttZEbLAtZgQ86gDNfS9Geb_MUZ3mFltuOGUWgEwo2ck_RW9JwRANp-gvdDAGyS0Hn8nlrVSQQyh-Iz0VhG8Do9iY93DKEefa2Q7T3WD2svww4TQbIHPt4cTLX4WRJA5vAVgX5LBMs2ismUbFA_DYaQxPz6qg=w418-h640" width="418" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgivk9sN43NRJUk2ONNfoGIRWq3uZRr5UjMJkvmo-Y34UPaPL7g-bwWHr46nbY043MppkWJ069uJ_egqBJ9AQphnVqpQ2g6T-SGDcWEBzDb1g0xT5lxx7Tba4IjVXfSMj7zMaUXK-NFGHDOh24rMRTY8XjkNy8-FYU25NimzIySDwyNE8lrmBmpmUCwUA=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1376" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgivk9sN43NRJUk2ONNfoGIRWq3uZRr5UjMJkvmo-Y34UPaPL7g-bwWHr46nbY043MppkWJ069uJ_egqBJ9AQphnVqpQ2g6T-SGDcWEBzDb1g0xT5lxx7Tba4IjVXfSMj7zMaUXK-NFGHDOh24rMRTY8XjkNy8-FYU25NimzIySDwyNE8lrmBmpmUCwUA=w430-h640" width="430" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9ww3ZNFe5jSp5q0xCHT4YR6JZ3kfu-y6vahsoLXdoxZb-7h_Kg9DyJqOymGJ3R5eqUDSamGH9MRDHd0KJBGeirvAMtE7fuwIn7RIOjdKPGmIUcftMjvvWIjTg3kxnhevu-J5cZxiar-ScqbNM18ya8aEojYQsu64krWBJEnX3NeGa_tLqi98nM_njXQ=s2048" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1323" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9ww3ZNFe5jSp5q0xCHT4YR6JZ3kfu-y6vahsoLXdoxZb-7h_Kg9DyJqOymGJ3R5eqUDSamGH9MRDHd0KJBGeirvAMtE7fuwIn7RIOjdKPGmIUcftMjvvWIjTg3kxnhevu-J5cZxiar-ScqbNM18ya8aEojYQsu64krWBJEnX3NeGa_tLqi98nM_njXQ=w414-h640" width="414" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f_DGoPzPua8" width="320" youtube-src-id="f_DGoPzPua8"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-54736062617171404872021-06-01T08:59:00.014-07:002021-06-01T12:09:48.937-07:00#24 THE PRIZE by Alwyn Wall Band (1977)<p style="text-align: left;"></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEakJ0H9YXrKfRkVDPJPSeYB6gvE8xHiXwugNTwrU7t9MODLKLYjzMyj5jAxn8yYyBMQSFpLPjwWLBrrVcnICc4eDCrzesyNEmXwHnznL2mtOV-JDf_sCW-Lp_m9ZRplpwFs6yzEV6Ell/s1757/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+%25282%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1753" data-original-width="1757" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEakJ0H9YXrKfRkVDPJPSeYB6gvE8xHiXwugNTwrU7t9MODLKLYjzMyj5jAxn8yYyBMQSFpLPjwWLBrrVcnICc4eDCrzesyNEmXwHnznL2mtOV-JDf_sCW-Lp_m9ZRplpwFs6yzEV6Ell/w400-h399/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Remember record & tape clubs? Man...those were awesome days, right? Remember the old ads in magazines for the <b>Columbia House </b>record club? Their introductory deal to get you hooked was something like 13 albums for a penny. <i>Are you kidding me?!</i> 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. <p></p><p>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 <i>was</i> too much.</p><p><b>The Columbia Record Club </b>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.</p><p>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. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsan-N6NsmQKkIi2WhqwEJohWQqhkA5WL3n66aH7ud9zoNlIUMEqfanX9viv_Zgrb_P0dxJ3bigNdeDTUvvpYm1glNH0KTGkYNgzlApDVFw__1jrFWsmGGYzKDlCEUV5bXwVlhBmWWg7Qo/s949/5584822951_3c4ee67be7_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsan-N6NsmQKkIi2WhqwEJohWQqhkA5WL3n66aH7ud9zoNlIUMEqfanX9viv_Zgrb_P0dxJ3bigNdeDTUvvpYm1glNH0KTGkYNgzlApDVFw__1jrFWsmGGYzKDlCEUV5bXwVlhBmWWg7Qo/w472-h640/5584822951_3c4ee67be7_o.jpg" width="472" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p>Raise your hand if you were ever a member of the <b>Word Family Record & Tape Club</b>! (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. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRBxlih54DjBgL-tIuIXMu8DdiuG92fsnu4pt5X-kP680TyGMIWoqmbDkkV6WjMFUu5fjlUhaxSWUHXAE51WxfyfSazldDlR3VlRTTkzHmg7-D4oa-6xhm7NzOYBfuNEXMs3rL9voPVOa/s2015/180583944_1135217600329606_8146663771217976460_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2015" data-original-width="1532" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRBxlih54DjBgL-tIuIXMu8DdiuG92fsnu4pt5X-kP680TyGMIWoqmbDkkV6WjMFUu5fjlUhaxSWUHXAE51WxfyfSazldDlR3VlRTTkzHmg7-D4oa-6xhm7NzOYBfuNEXMs3rL9voPVOa/w486-h640/180583944_1135217600329606_8146663771217976460_n.jpg" width="486" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to Christian Gonzales for the photo!</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>My brothers and I obtained the debut album from a sixteen-year old artist named <b>Amy Grant </b>through the Word Family Record & Tape Club. The debut album from a then-unknown group called <b>Glad </b>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: <b>Alwyn Wall</b>. We knew, of course, about <b>Malcolm & Alwyn</b>, the beloved Jesus Music duo from across the pond. Their <i><b>Fool's Wisdom</b></i> and <b><i>Wildwall </i></b>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 <b><i>The Prize </i></b>by the <b>Alwyn Wall Band.<br /><br /></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw74hcD46Mx2-BYNkiKmTeYhJX7A_RXisl2McdemNAA6F961856alMf4_UOWaU8yI517pioVph2VzHhE2V4thTx7qMfxFgEKZ5WAIeJpGIsxe9kjsgWjlMfSfZWQruwNOiE-fEgbwiHcqf/s480/hqdefault+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw74hcD46Mx2-BYNkiKmTeYhJX7A_RXisl2McdemNAA6F961856alMf4_UOWaU8yI517pioVph2VzHhE2V4thTx7qMfxFgEKZ5WAIeJpGIsxe9kjsgWjlMfSfZWQruwNOiE-fEgbwiHcqf/w320-h240/hqdefault+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b><i>The Prize</i></b> is a beautiful rock and roll album. It is a <i>band album</i>. These guys weren't just ringers hired to stand behind Alwyn; each of them played an integral part. I've always considered <b><i>The Prize</i></b> 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. <b>Alwyn Wall </b>was quite the poet. The wisdom expressed in the lyrics, the musical performances, the tone, the attitude...it all just works.</p><p>Let's take a closer look at the band members. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0CJIVOJx5UvfTofRVvxX3gEO3nxgtXb4yiFPs7IX-qWji-Tao3x7Mr_BwnopDzQOJa-qlnHNLCWf0mwsEA352T3eZ6vXpq2R6vjuuJsJSxwQWSUmmchqG9nSGdgrTOtoOCAOuTFnYK1J/s726/A-1349129-1488632953-7209.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0CJIVOJx5UvfTofRVvxX3gEO3nxgtXb4yiFPs7IX-qWji-Tao3x7Mr_BwnopDzQOJa-qlnHNLCWf0mwsEA352T3eZ6vXpq2R6vjuuJsJSxwQWSUmmchqG9nSGdgrTOtoOCAOuTFnYK1J/w264-h320/A-1349129-1488632953-7209.jpeg.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Norman Barratt</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Guitarist extraordinaire <b>Norman Barratt</b> found success in 1969 fronting an English progressive rock band called <b>Gravy Train</b>. 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. </p><p>While with <b>Gravy Train</b>, <b>Norman Barrett</b> surrendered his heart and life to Jesus Christ. John O'Regan quoted him as saying: "When we were making the first <b>Gravy Train</b> album, my old manager in <b>The Hunters, Norman Littler,</b> 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."<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEqfJTAFurCRDxCXgb2x621WpHwecnHI78lgVYV0inNkz5OIzITusTedK4zavoPZUVjvgKmb1twDBI-s0q7jMphKXeLo3MCSFd1waXecYXJ1EuEHDAyNlIMmMmtZHCgjrHIN_WHUhIesO/s812/29472231_198971524035718_5961429758155640491_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="812" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEqfJTAFurCRDxCXgb2x621WpHwecnHI78lgVYV0inNkz5OIzITusTedK4zavoPZUVjvgKmb1twDBI-s0q7jMphKXeLo3MCSFd1waXecYXJ1EuEHDAyNlIMmMmtZHCgjrHIN_WHUhIesO/w400-h398/29472231_198971524035718_5961429758155640491_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gravy Train</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Professing Christians within the secular progressive rock scene were definitely few and far between. But <b>Cliff Richard's</b> 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 <b>Gravy Train. </b>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."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjflcIr9N3hDN8Lp2VB8nEY4UcVYPVvg7OCbS6JvP_SNe15t6TSDBuMK6Cttnj2_nVN4FhF33pgu6KPvjjuZubpN_E3yoD3ZD5IhkWmoGezsbmf9Woyn-k_sMObaX_xEAc6-jiD0HfJxw_9/s1440/28947228_198972304035640_477987151280060121_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="809" data-original-width="1440" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjflcIr9N3hDN8Lp2VB8nEY4UcVYPVvg7OCbS6JvP_SNe15t6TSDBuMK6Cttnj2_nVN4FhF33pgu6KPvjjuZubpN_E3yoD3ZD5IhkWmoGezsbmf9Woyn-k_sMObaX_xEAc6-jiD0HfJxw_9/w400-h225/28947228_198972304035640_477987151280060121_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gravy Train</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Critical acclaim notwithstanding, <b>Gravy Train</b> succumbed to a lack of commercial success, internal frustration, and financial losses. The band came to an end in 1975.</p><p>Barratt ended up lending his considerable talents to a little-known British Jesus Music band called <b>Mighty Flyers </b>- a group that was home to drummer <b>Nick Brotherwood </b>and bassist <b>Tony Hudson.</b> <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVcR73VznfIHF1ADY2VYMV0iHnEIWwk0xs8wpMg0hwcuxeRT8kOXFJ7DRBMUD0KKgouNBtp62d4mQSEPOKwcy5eIqKsD2jNFZ65Tufe_ed1_G-g9Qqqd1lzrTB8y-QSFBTr2Zs4LYvUYA/s300/A-1667388-1488632913-1118.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVcR73VznfIHF1ADY2VYMV0iHnEIWwk0xs8wpMg0hwcuxeRT8kOXFJ7DRBMUD0KKgouNBtp62d4mQSEPOKwcy5eIqKsD2jNFZ65Tufe_ed1_G-g9Qqqd1lzrTB8y-QSFBTr2Zs4LYvUYA/w320-h320/A-1667388-1488632913-1118.jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Nick Brotherwood</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WPViJfLYDr6nzv1N1aoQgdap-GRqU94aQZXhDsQ75RIYaswM0TtJDTRwshJ3ER9t7uvWFB-vVCeAdTNx9CRroloIPhknr5DMd9IORmCbJAtUbHnnEAM-jeXwvacqBcFxZoZYkvN7B09L/s300/A-473405-1488632881-5949.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="248" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WPViJfLYDr6nzv1N1aoQgdap-GRqU94aQZXhDsQ75RIYaswM0TtJDTRwshJ3ER9t7uvWFB-vVCeAdTNx9CRroloIPhknr5DMd9IORmCbJAtUbHnnEAM-jeXwvacqBcFxZoZYkvN7B09L/w265-h320/A-473405-1488632881-5949.jpeg.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tony Hudson</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>The <b>Mighty Flyers </b>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 <b>Mick Abrahams,</b> former guitarist for <b>Jethro Tull.</b> <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8BN5_hSsCwus1ezDTe9mR6XB0qpC5udAALLRPnEvjjIovqoo5DDSVaiwEgq3jUX1jVClZy78j_nnePBKA57EZTr-5TcGghLjXPfYcVyLLguaTMJnNtKhkrsYeccB_Mc6qiaXwdkrfJ1Zh/s300/A-3083515-1488633005-5779.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8BN5_hSsCwus1ezDTe9mR6XB0qpC5udAALLRPnEvjjIovqoo5DDSVaiwEgq3jUX1jVClZy78j_nnePBKA57EZTr-5TcGghLjXPfYcVyLLguaTMJnNtKhkrsYeccB_Mc6qiaXwdkrfJ1Zh/w320-h320/A-3083515-1488633005-5779.jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Phil Holmes</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Keyboardist <b>Phil Holmes</b> is said to have played in a band called <b>Apple Crumble</b>, although I have not been able to confirm that or find any info on that band.<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTZCQt6VnqImSodgiLqI2N4gOrZPdN-pvpy9yPyS5_flWxh4lyPPzFg_VGBJtH-i8Zln5yHNGNUIVVExI5cMygk74ZaU2jVIUbDJcKAr3XlBuAY8sb-ngiXSzc37Qq1ujJ8mqgnQDCNCP/s300/A-1411865-1488633036-4895.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTZCQt6VnqImSodgiLqI2N4gOrZPdN-pvpy9yPyS5_flWxh4lyPPzFg_VGBJtH-i8Zln5yHNGNUIVVExI5cMygk74ZaU2jVIUbDJcKAr3XlBuAY8sb-ngiXSzc37Qq1ujJ8mqgnQDCNCP/w320-h320/A-1411865-1488633036-4895.jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Alwyn Wall</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Of course, the group's namesake was somewhat well known, as I already mentioned, for his time spent in <b>Malcolm & Alwyn,</b> 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 <b>AWB </b>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 <b>Alwyn Wall Band </b>to make their mark...and to tell a whole lot of people about Jesus.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaU7kZkbxKt9ovoZEmiJnomQ6IfwEiOy6GISLximUzM4k-Q-thJsqn81OtZQTEHbubUMhIlV8l_8zQDg925jkEviwCWNfTOrloTAvyaTaPZwmcLvIxcUNGY16uGZhyphenhyphenJctRb01ol7s-xxg/s600/R-11589645-1519005966-8507.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaU7kZkbxKt9ovoZEmiJnomQ6IfwEiOy6GISLximUzM4k-Q-thJsqn81OtZQTEHbubUMhIlV8l_8zQDg925jkEviwCWNfTOrloTAvyaTaPZwmcLvIxcUNGY16uGZhyphenhyphenJctRb01ol7s-xxg/w400-h400/R-11589645-1519005966-8507.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Side One of <b><i>The Prize </i></b>opens somewhat gently with an easily accessible pop/rock track that's also a prayer. In <i>Fly Me,</i> 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. </p><p><i>Fly me, I'll be an arrow<br />Bend me, I'll be a bow<br />Shoot me to the straight and the narrow<br />And point me in the way that you want me to go<br /><br />And I will go where You want<br />All I want is You to ask me to<br />And I will do as You ask<br />All I ask is do you want me to<br /><br />Read me, I'll be a letter<br />Write me, I'll be a pen<br />Things could only get better<br />If You keep in touch with me every now and again</i><i><br /><br />Play me, I'll be a piano<br />Sing me, I'll be a song<br />We could make music so warm and mellow<br />We'll pick out the tune as we sing along<br /><br />And I will sing what You want<br />All I want is You to ask me to<br />And I will play what You ask<br />All I ask is do You want me to<br /><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TbOvvMG8QHU" width="320" youtube-src-id="TbOvvMG8QHU"></iframe></div><br /><i><br /></i><br />In addition to the excellent message of asking to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, <i>Fly Me </i>is a near-perfect little 3-minute pop song. Alwyn's distinct British accent always came thru beautifully when he sang leads with <b>Malcolm & Alwyn</b>; the same is true here.<br /><br />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 <b><i>The Prize,</i></b> for writing a melody that conveyed the message of a song simply and memorably." Lowman added that, in his opinion, <b>Alwyn Wall's</b> writing was equal to anything <b>Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill</b> and <b>Terry Taylor</b> were writing at the time. Ray Mansfield with <b><i>Real 80s CCM</i></b> concurs: "The standout aspect of this album is Alwyn's lyrics. He truly is one of the best writers of the time."<br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgss1qQdUPM63tIVfh7vlZMLaVVgfSTQS5ywClH233fXQ3PP10K0onFiPMBOzoE30V_oW-c3HltX9wIS0J0IHhH7sRD0jLKcz80amnXxuzl5Y72ky84OjBLkcYHFrYhEKBk_eja1gHRaQts/s1722/Alwyn+Wall+-+1982+-+Invisble+Warfare+UK+back+%25282%25292.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1722" data-original-width="1529" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgss1qQdUPM63tIVfh7vlZMLaVVgfSTQS5ywClH233fXQ3PP10K0onFiPMBOzoE30V_oW-c3HltX9wIS0J0IHhH7sRD0jLKcz80amnXxuzl5Y72ky84OjBLkcYHFrYhEKBk_eja1gHRaQts/w355-h400/Alwyn+Wall+-+1982+-+Invisble+Warfare+UK+back+%25282%25292.jpg" width="355" /></a></div><p><br />A case in point is the song in the 2-hole. It's a five and a half-minute rock ballad titled <i>Dreams on Sand</i>. After digesting lyrics like these, we should've known that Alwyn would eventually end up a pastor:<br /><br /><i>But faith is a rocketship climbing far above the stars<br />And doubt is a submarine going down<br />Every man must bear his own scars<br />That life's gonna bring him from time to time<br /><br />And life's no children's game we play<br />Even children have to have to grow someday<br />It's worth too much to to throw away<br /><br />Catching your dreams may take a lifetime<br />But losing may only take one day<br />All of us seem to spend too much time building dreams on sand<br />And see them falling from our hand<br />Upsetting everything that we have planned<br />When we build our dreams on sand<br /><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U_9_PsbnYzM" width="320" youtube-src-id="U_9_PsbnYzM"></iframe></div><br /><i><br /></i><br />"<i>Dreams on Sand</i> is just a revised version of a parable that Jesus gave about a man who built his dream on sand," <b>Alwyn Wall </b>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."<p></p><p>Musically, <i>Dreams on Sand </i>is an epic track that makes use of an actual string section, not just keyboard "strings." At some point, keyboardist <b>Phil Holmes</b> 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 <b>AWB's</b> 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 <b>London Philharmonic </b>and they were actually used on some of <b>The Beatles'</b> work, like <i>I Am a Walrus</i>. So we didn't have the whole orchestra, but we had a string section come in and they packed out the room there. <b>Roger Hand </b>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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_zul5ElW4d1jw5tMCbJFY0VWHNK9cQlGkWsXNxLkI9njCTpJcyXXcFAm0h8HToT1Ykg9CHAxdcETnU8SRAa6p2x2_6zz9YMBjdlwL-UFiPcBIKdTuBHrhDNQ9vF-G5HGov4l903KepZo/s600/A-2528137-1368797929-6807.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz_zul5ElW4d1jw5tMCbJFY0VWHNK9cQlGkWsXNxLkI9njCTpJcyXXcFAm0h8HToT1Ykg9CHAxdcETnU8SRAa6p2x2_6zz9YMBjdlwL-UFiPcBIKdTuBHrhDNQ9vF-G5HGov4l903KepZo/w400-h400/A-2528137-1368797929-6807.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />The mood lightens quite a bit with <i>South California</i> - 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 (<b>Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa</b>). Wall would later credit <b>Chuck Smith</b> as a leading influence on his own decision to become a <b>Calvary Chapel </b>pastor. So it just makes sense that Wall would have a soft spot in his heart for Southern California.</p><p><i>South California</i> is mid-tempo rocker that references the <b>Hollywood Walk of Fame</b> and <b>Disneyland</b> ("<i>Man, you know that place is built for fun</i>"). Wall talks about teaching his wife to swim ("<i>just east of San Diego</i>"), throwing a frisbee along the beach, and the beautiful sunsets. He also gives a shoutout to "<i>Mexican people with their brown velvet skin</i>," calling them "<i>beautiful people</i>." 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.</p><p>In his review of the album, historian David Lowman says <i>South California </i>is a "joyful number that has a distinctly <b>Beach Boys</b>-influenced melody and vocal arrangement." </p><p>"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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1vA4NB3YcQ7uW0qiIOuKbZJrahtA8xg93xL-JyWrxEwkStGTKgnTCU1Eyg8_ELDWD8DNnUMY6A0admJWurSeMOzONSkJzc5-0Qgcz1QqlAIIEkoHnpqkhrXgOq3vGe-EiZLlPOOIQN1k/s1664/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+%25282%25292.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1664" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS1vA4NB3YcQ7uW0qiIOuKbZJrahtA8xg93xL-JyWrxEwkStGTKgnTCU1Eyg8_ELDWD8DNnUMY6A0admJWurSeMOzONSkJzc5-0Qgcz1QqlAIIEkoHnpqkhrXgOq3vGe-EiZLlPOOIQN1k/w400-h153/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+%25282%25292.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b><br />Norman Barratt </b>turns in a tasteful guitar solo on this track, and <b>Phil Holmes' </b>skills on electric piano are put to good use as well. Holmes' work was somewhat understated on <b><i>The Prize.</i></b> 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 <b>Fender Rhodes</b>. Or I had one of the very first synthesizers. It was a <b>Roland</b>, 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 <b>Alwyn Wall Band</b> were played on the Rhodes. The Rhodes has a very distinctive sound."</p><p>The next track describes Jesus as a <i>Music Maker.</i> 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...</p><p><i>Oh, I can hear music<br />I can hear music in my ears<br />I can hear music when You're near<br />Oh, I can hear music<br />I can hear music in the air<br />I can hear music everywhere<br /><br />And Jesus, You're music to me, yeah<br />Jesus, you're music to my ears<br />Jesus, You're a music maker</i></p><p><i>Music Maker </i>features more solid work by <b>Norman Barrett </b>and a sweet harmonica solo by Alwyn himself. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAUrkhXCA1ToDOSSXa3sMID6FT1ZAgtLi3bZuamRlxr4ggb4NT44sZSY6tQmEqx09g4cbvlZ5tY3gSCZgv98GevAhyphenhyphenEpziZDG8n4_LcsCYrJM5onHbXnhpiB4q3CJR3djKABRRm5OFudJ/s701/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="701" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAUrkhXCA1ToDOSSXa3sMID6FT1ZAgtLi3bZuamRlxr4ggb4NT44sZSY6tQmEqx09g4cbvlZ5tY3gSCZgv98GevAhyphenhyphenEpziZDG8n4_LcsCYrJM5onHbXnhpiB4q3CJR3djKABRRm5OFudJ/w400-h190/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Wrapping up side one of <b><i>The Prize</i></b> is a song near and dear to my heart. For a number of years, my family traveled year 'round in full-time ministry. <b>Alwyn Wall's</b> 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...<br /><br /><i>I've been around from town to town, doin' my songs<br />And I know I did my best<br />Just get on the road, that's what they said<br />You do your stuff, they said<br />We'll take care of the rest<br /><br />I learned how to sing, learned how to dance<br />I took my chances<br />And I didn't care about the money<br />I traveled so far, me and my guitar<br />I learned all the chords I could<br />And I even tried to be funny<br />Life's funny<br /><br />All those lonely days and those lonely nights, away from the one you love<br />It soon takes its toll<br />And yet I suppose it's part of the price of having two lovers<br />Your wife and good old rock and roll<br />It'll steal your soul<br /><br />So stay on the road, follow the signs,<br />Stay between the white lines<br />Does this highway ever end?<br />You meet a lot of people, shake a lot of hands<br />Talk over dinner, make your plans<br />But I never made me a friend<br />In the end</i><br /><br />#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 "<i>didn't care about the money.</i>" 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 "<i>learned all the chords we could</i>" and "<i>even tried to be funny</i>"...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. <b>Alwyn Wall</b> understood that and expressed it beautifully in <i>Musical Thing.</i> Oh - speaking of beautifully, the string section made another appearance on this track and really enhanced the song. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-y_QQE2YfCBOp7iv0KcyBP6JybajpvHC1reF7iX4QQnRm6jesbqlZijrBDLUWFYpgke3HkQiT-UPYeVz34mtxRn0-7VBVblmd22Q0XfbGazcNd7q18zfSgJVTYQxRfgPN69nrO6F9e972/s1757/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1753" data-original-width="1757" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-y_QQE2YfCBOp7iv0KcyBP6JybajpvHC1reF7iX4QQnRm6jesbqlZijrBDLUWFYpgke3HkQiT-UPYeVz34mtxRn0-7VBVblmd22Q0XfbGazcNd7q18zfSgJVTYQxRfgPN69nrO6F9e972/w400-h399/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+back.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><p><b><i>The Prize</i></b> was recorded in June of 1976, "fifteen feet below Queensway" at <b>Redan Recorders</b> in London. "I really don't remember where the studio is, except to say that it's in the middle of London," said <b>Phil Holmes</b>. "I remember that it was the <b>Queen's Silver Jubilee</b> year and there were lots of celebrations going on." </p><p>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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2mkkRdpB1pCCth9yoAxxNRqShncIFsUqJJRLR7nA3MmlX32VaH5rBEF-c3zYkuMy8owWIywoSUSQh9GNBAzO5m8VeIJ3-2OswSmG6i0QkGzaCBQduYUQhPvJQDugf-oyY5ouVhi-k_6b/s480/hqdefault+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2mkkRdpB1pCCth9yoAxxNRqShncIFsUqJJRLR7nA3MmlX32VaH5rBEF-c3zYkuMy8owWIywoSUSQh9GNBAzO5m8VeIJ3-2OswSmG6i0QkGzaCBQduYUQhPvJQDugf-oyY5ouVhi-k_6b/w400-h300/hqdefault+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>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. <b>Tom Robinson</b> was recording around the same time, so sometimes we would meet at the cafe with those guys, too. <b>Ray David</b> and <b>the Kinks</b> were around; they were doing some recording at the same time." </p><p>"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." <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qPN3R4grjyCe9urK37CVZtPXsnSWFRKGVDNyzaDtz0A5aOcJOjfZMPoCVUxx4f-pnECdPfMFcsTV8bKBfJbWnKIy4DTHFEIsejM8r5sid_J53G6aze5zEZXeM6R_NSyAvZC_PfOkPAOE/s480/hqdefault.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qPN3R4grjyCe9urK37CVZtPXsnSWFRKGVDNyzaDtz0A5aOcJOjfZMPoCVUxx4f-pnECdPfMFcsTV8bKBfJbWnKIy4DTHFEIsejM8r5sid_J53G6aze5zEZXeM6R_NSyAvZC_PfOkPAOE/w400-h300/hqdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b><i>The Prize</i></b> was produced by <b>Jon Miller, Rod Edwards</b> and <b>Roger Hand</b>. About the production team, <b>Phil Holmes</b> 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." </p><p>The songs were arranged by the band; the strings were arranged by <b>Rod Edwards</b> and <b>Roger Hand</b> (they also played a little percussion), while <b>Roger Wake</b> served as the engineer and <b>George Peckham</b> was in charge of mastering.<b><i> <br /><br /></i></b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV0JRM5NCZiBlqpSXGFZmgHdCjymY-ptey6IpZjTHfrXNbp__Zgahw9H8LKbF7EaJ_-HqUY29kMPz7LtvgFo12sicERtnltYhzdoLBUi0OfUQQ_iloWz27VsqVuK3RFLZ0weWK0ml9djh/s601/R-4277795-1608384677-1581.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV0JRM5NCZiBlqpSXGFZmgHdCjymY-ptey6IpZjTHfrXNbp__Zgahw9H8LKbF7EaJ_-HqUY29kMPz7LtvgFo12sicERtnltYhzdoLBUi0OfUQQ_iloWz27VsqVuK3RFLZ0weWK0ml9djh/w399-h400/R-4277795-1608384677-1581.jpeg.jpg" width="399" /></a></b></div><b><i><br /></i></b><p></p><p><b><i>The Prize</i></b> sported a unique and memorable cover. <b>Tony Cantale</b> handled the design and <b>Keith Bernstein</b> took the photos. The inside sleeve contained a plethora of really cool photos of the band. According to <b>Phil Holmes</b>, 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. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVr3xmkw033ZLSf94ip0_YhQHE72iIj0RwPmbRm2LgkI5TgvSL74nx13pYtrr22ZRYiKOBG1GZ9naHzNIpsF93a2hWqtwq8DFbIL0CF063CHoiOZyy3S3ISNAMsR2YNAcAcABVBD-Lp0Rw/s605/R-4277795-1608384681-8004.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVr3xmkw033ZLSf94ip0_YhQHE72iIj0RwPmbRm2LgkI5TgvSL74nx13pYtrr22ZRYiKOBG1GZ9naHzNIpsF93a2hWqtwq8DFbIL0CF063CHoiOZyy3S3ISNAMsR2YNAcAcABVBD-Lp0Rw/w396-h400/R-4277795-1608384681-8004.jpeg.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>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."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2DgrWzrDKTMXwC6QX64ObFlzNGCSymaNpzd1s5biNiT85_Uh7s5PuC_7ZpdOShw-RkFk0OrswFyv1qobyDh7GQnzuiIZoCWzWMmBwC1eg4jyBh85m17s-nJmUwSrndJkKc89_INlyuEI/s600/R-11589645-1519005962-3846.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq2DgrWzrDKTMXwC6QX64ObFlzNGCSymaNpzd1s5biNiT85_Uh7s5PuC_7ZpdOShw-RkFk0OrswFyv1qobyDh7GQnzuiIZoCWzWMmBwC1eg4jyBh85m17s-nJmUwSrndJkKc89_INlyuEI/w400-h400/R-11589645-1519005962-3846.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Dropping the needle on side two, we get a bit of a jolt...with some heavy rock and roll guitar on <i>That's Life</i>. A while back, <b>Alwyn Wall</b> sat for an interview with Jerry Bryant, host of the <b style="font-style: italic;">Full Circle </b>Jesus Music radio show and podcast. Jerry asked Alwyn about the inspiration behind <i>That's Life</i>.</p><p>"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."</p><p><i>Three o'clock in the morning<br />I can't get no sleep<br />Thoughts are crawling inside my head<br />And I can't get no relief<br />Children dying and hungry<br />Bullets loaded to kill<br />Everybody's out for what they can get<br />And someone else will pay the bill<br /><br />This world is turning the wrong way<br />There's pictures running through my head<br />From a TV show I saw last night<br />There's millions crying to be fed </i></p><p><i>Oh, I guess that's life<br />Oh yeah, that's life<br />That's what they say, it's life<br />I should've known it's life</i></p><p><i>I took a look at it all<br />I seen it for what it is<br />But full-speed ahead<br />But all the lights are showin' red<br />It's no use just cryin'<br />Or tryin' to bury your head</i></p><p><i>The free ride is over<br />The smile has disappeared from your face<br />Stop the world, I want to get off<br />Come on, shoot me into space<br />Get me out of this place<br /></i><br />Of course, it wouldn't be like <b>Alwyn Wall</b> to paint such a bleak picture without at least alluding to the Hope of the Gospel...<br /><br /><i>He came and died on a cross of wood<br />And yet He made the hill on which it stood</i></p><p>"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 <i>That's Life</i> came from." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wv6hshkwa88" width="320" youtube-src-id="Wv6hshkwa88"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>That's Life </i>rocks harder than anything else on <b><i>The Prize.</i></b> Christian rock historian David Lowman said he considers <i>That's Life</i> to be guitarist <b>Norman Barratt's</b> finest work on the album.</p><p>"People were really pretty much against us at that time for playing rock and roll," said <b>Phil Holmes</b>. "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.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80o-RP_TA_T88d5pgZymoYroEOz8A4l5Nc2TtbmQDT0fWYnZ6OYacHS_F7Z_fvZp9q81icUD9SIUHeBj812WrD55JIVUJV-DxUA261Cqzww_EyyZYVMFCUXM_vFYLs280Pdfi77OJx3r1/s718/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%25292.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="718" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80o-RP_TA_T88d5pgZymoYroEOz8A4l5Nc2TtbmQDT0fWYnZ6OYacHS_F7Z_fvZp9q81icUD9SIUHeBj812WrD55JIVUJV-DxUA261Cqzww_EyyZYVMFCUXM_vFYLs280Pdfi77OJx3r1/w400-h374/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%25292.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><i>Hall of Mirrors</i> is another epic, 5-minute track that speaks of being bold in your witness. <b>Alwyn Wall</b> 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.<br /><br />Wall's lyrical prowess and spiritual discernment was again on display, with lines like these:<br /><br /><i>The devil's a magician<br />Turning faith into dust<br />Love into lust<br />And gold into rust</i></p><p><i>Hall of Mirrors </i>was a good vehicle for <b>Norman Barratt</b> and <b>Nick Brotherwood</b> 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."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U5WMF2lGHeM5V2cfoDgO2Pv_ltGwjuxGuU6cKsjjgI5GL_IoNEAAeh-C1guYsqFpn7q1qbFy_4j0HZzOFvAhDn0UoWXueZdr4d_kFI1RWMTxUY9EZlCYlCNFTtc61oHa91GI7NGwa2-4/s1028/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%25293.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="1028" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7U5WMF2lGHeM5V2cfoDgO2Pv_ltGwjuxGuU6cKsjjgI5GL_IoNEAAeh-C1guYsqFpn7q1qbFy_4j0HZzOFvAhDn0UoWXueZdr4d_kFI1RWMTxUY9EZlCYlCNFTtc61oHa91GI7NGwa2-4/w400-h169/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%25293.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><i>All That Really Matters</i> is another smooth rock track. This one was inspired by a friend named <b>Howard Davis</b>, who worked in a factory with <b>Alwyn Wall</b> and<b> Malcolm Wild</b> somewhere along the way. Turns out Alwyn was the first person to ever share Jesus with Mr. Davis. Sounds like <b>Malcolm & Alwyn</b> shared Jesus with a few other coworkers as well...</p><p><i>Wisest man I've ever known<br />Drove a truck that was factory-owned<br />Told me things I'd never heard<br />Things I once would've thought absurd<br />But now, look and see<br />What's my friends gonna make of me, yeah?<br />Oh, I guess it doesn't matter much anyway</i></p><p><i>Working on the factory floor<br />People come and listen some more<br />Told them everything I knew<br />I'll leave the rest 'cause it's up to you<br />Oh Lord, come what may<br />Give me strength to live another day<br />'Cause that's all that really matters anyway.<br /></i><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8eBloY0Pk_SSr4X6dT8La4FaR6ge5wbQr_EU7hY9spJfdJggVjNpQYkBnnyJvGb7sm6NnRwtYqcUlZEZ-RsuSXfhcWp81DtsEp3_cUgY5FmK9o0Fsg0XKmpCbxUbIH3IMxSTHTT2-aot/s1043/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%25294.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1043" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8eBloY0Pk_SSr4X6dT8La4FaR6ge5wbQr_EU7hY9spJfdJggVjNpQYkBnnyJvGb7sm6NnRwtYqcUlZEZ-RsuSXfhcWp81DtsEp3_cUgY5FmK9o0Fsg0XKmpCbxUbIH3IMxSTHTT2-aot/w400-h279/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+sleeve+photos+%25282%25294.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p><i>I Don't Care</i> is a fun song. It's sort of a funky, quirky worship song...</p><p><i>Oh Lord, I love You and it's understood<br />You know I've tried but it's just no good<br />Without Your love I would fade away<br />Like putting a match-ch-ch<br />To a stack of hay<br /><br />Your love for me is like a precious flower<br />That grows and grows with each passing hour<br />You alone have the pow'r to set me free<br />And I know that You're doing it, yeah, yeah, yeah,<br />You're doing it in me<br /><br />Sun and moon, they are Your worshipers<br />They'll sing Your song until they die<br />The stars, they twinkle and they dance for You<br />Across that stage in the sky...</i><br /><br />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 <b>The Sounding Board</b> in Easley, South Carolina in January of 1981. We recorded an album that was produced by <b>Nick Bruno</b>, a guy who had backed <b>Elvis Presley</b> 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 <b>Bachmann Brothers Band</b> album were <i>Fly Me</i> and <i>I Don't Care</i> by the <b>Alwyn Wall Band</b>. Now, that was a long time ago and we were pretty young. But listening back...I think our "tribute" versions hold up pretty well!<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBtW_w5tI6zAVEPgP_Z-7mM4MiXYNuzJ3d2DeF_CkeCBWToikiBFKlozLDl91pq75ldq8smcllSqYsBm2ohXhVtniAA0it3bMnCqVt29kvVTQSH-iTwPqucSqQVxmuUoc8LGxFfMUjUzZ/s1280/maxresdefault.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBtW_w5tI6zAVEPgP_Z-7mM4MiXYNuzJ3d2DeF_CkeCBWToikiBFKlozLDl91pq75ldq8smcllSqYsBm2ohXhVtniAA0it3bMnCqVt29kvVTQSH-iTwPqucSqQVxmuUoc8LGxFfMUjUzZ/w400-h225/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b><i>The Prize</i></b> closes with a powerful expression of love and devotion for God. It's called <i>All Because of You.</i> This one contains some nice background vocals, more from the live string section, and a scorching lead guitar solo from <b>Norman Barratt</b> that closes out the album.</p><p>And so ends a seriously underrated album of 1970s British pop/rock. The <b>AWB</b> served as <b>Larry Norman's</b> opening band on some European tours and came to the states to tour the album. But due to reasons unknown to me, only <b>Alwyn Wall, Norman Barratt</b> and <b>Phil Holmes</b> 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 <b>Phil Holmes</b> remembered them as a very good rhythm section. It's been said that momentum could have continued to build for the <b>AWB</b> if only <b>Alwyn Wall</b> 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 <b>Alwyn Wall Band</b> 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.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe5lNboQKY0xglbBmkqIsdnCRELRwx9SXcUdm3ggTumnXMyEaHd7ldch4TBqLN2e3mdgstvAP8Qdv6NGl2824TUsgCAG6DGJxtP7MG51NGDVQEDO2eMi4A7Sc0CyJxr02OH2xngpRADzs/s250/Norman+Barratt+1991.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEe5lNboQKY0xglbBmkqIsdnCRELRwx9SXcUdm3ggTumnXMyEaHd7ldch4TBqLN2e3mdgstvAP8Qdv6NGl2824TUsgCAG6DGJxtP7MG51NGDVQEDO2eMi4A7Sc0CyJxr02OH2xngpRADzs/w320-h320/Norman+Barratt+1991.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Norman Barratt</b> 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 <b>Steve Taylor, Barry McGuire, Sheila Walsh, Phil Keaggy, Steve Camp</b>, 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. <b>Norman Barratt</b> passed away due to complications following surgery in 2011. </p><p>Not much is known of the whereabouts or life stories of drummer <b>Nick Brotherwood</b> and bassist <b>Tony Hudson</b>; it is believed that keyboardist <b>Phil Holmes</b> resides today in St. Augustine, Florida.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRFp-R5YhlejDaX49PIHFJt373xbCdUMozEviNJ0WvYHU_5euRFQp2KL_7PfBpAYTSbUE29Fwqoie3LcVMsfNf8_xM5BOeubiHNjKfev5JU6sYhmhXQjYqsiyjM7ZgDWvStDJRm2cYSv0/s599/R-4470973-1432423401-2435.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="599" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRFp-R5YhlejDaX49PIHFJt373xbCdUMozEviNJ0WvYHU_5euRFQp2KL_7PfBpAYTSbUE29Fwqoie3LcVMsfNf8_xM5BOeubiHNjKfev5JU6sYhmhXQjYqsiyjM7ZgDWvStDJRm2cYSv0/w400-h399/R-4470973-1432423401-2435.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b>Alwyn Wall</b> would go on to record a solo album in 1982 titled <b><i>Invisible Warfare</i></b> (read all about it <a href="http://greatest80salbums.blogspot.com/2017/03/287-invisible-warfare-by-alwyn-wall-1982.html">HERE</a>). Wall's old friend <b>Larry Norman</b> served as producer, arranger, engineer, chief cook and bottle washer. But Wall would eventually find his calling as a <b>Calvary Chapel</b> pastor, following in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, <b>Chuck Smith</b>.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUaNcx3yuo-c2WSuRh4dNc7dgA7seox-CPHl8uQgWsGQmndz4aUC2k_B2GMTgUFAS9Chmy7ZA6XRroBAjrr2n_9DsAFuznwecDthbmUFqoOzzDpjVX_GexYoE3mdtShVXCfEC-nZlEjg3/s1250/20170213_DSF4489-15-38-18.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUaNcx3yuo-c2WSuRh4dNc7dgA7seox-CPHl8uQgWsGQmndz4aUC2k_B2GMTgUFAS9Chmy7ZA6XRroBAjrr2n_9DsAFuznwecDthbmUFqoOzzDpjVX_GexYoE3mdtShVXCfEC-nZlEjg3/w320-h400/20170213_DSF4489-15-38-18.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Alwyn Wall</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Not long ago, radio host Jerry Bryant asked <b>Alwyn Wall</b> 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, <i>Lord, use me where I can be at home more</i>."</p><p>Hmm. That reminds me of a song. A song called <i>Fly Me</i>...</p><p><i>I will go anywhere You want<br />Just as long as You go with me<br />I'll cross the jungle or a sea of blue<br />I'll even stay home if You want me to</i><br /><br />Thanks, Alwyn & Co., for a really fine album. You guys made some catchy music. And you helped us draw closer to Jesus. <i>And that's all that really matters anyway...</i></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zxH9epYKqnP9DCz7G20IJri_5rX6ce8o5IvrV9w4X7KF3iVCAMuru159PRKV-F1F2aKSygk5r0QFA8A_zr30EtN7tIxAXGbpyGQk0y1scvG_tHCnqWhHUJ1nyTJ848-ZTFdX9YgGYXQC/s915/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+back+%25282%25297.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="915" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zxH9epYKqnP9DCz7G20IJri_5rX6ce8o5IvrV9w4X7KF3iVCAMuru159PRKV-F1F2aKSygk5r0QFA8A_zr30EtN7tIxAXGbpyGQk0y1scvG_tHCnqWhHUJ1nyTJ848-ZTFdX9YgGYXQC/w400-h122/alwyn+wall+band+-+prize+back+%25282%25297.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><u></u> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-12676771225633500372021-04-26T11:28:00.017-07:002021-04-27T09:59:37.945-07:00#25 SON OF DUST by Randy Matthews (1973)<p><i></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOWoL3RMcFhx8WarRKPS0QWnybBIAIctbVrVFzaDDq0lYtEp21y5r87MmDsowBjAwJKdOi8ZB1hyesMJOXntSZl0-bJwbhWr4487sqFhnh0_plZzw5yc822gASNpNcf_BIRxln8So6uXZ/s1023/71OwUwp5TIL._SL1023_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="999" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOWoL3RMcFhx8WarRKPS0QWnybBIAIctbVrVFzaDDq0lYtEp21y5r87MmDsowBjAwJKdOi8ZB1hyesMJOXntSZl0-bJwbhWr4487sqFhnh0_plZzw5yc822gASNpNcf_BIRxln8So6uXZ/w390-h400/71OwUwp5TIL._SL1023_.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SON OF DUST</i></b> by <b>Randy Matthews</b> (1973)<br />Myrrh - MST 6515</td></tr></tbody></table><i><br />Anyone who wants to can!<br />Whoa, any woman, any man! Yes you can! I said...<br />Anyone who wants to can! (Alright!)<br />You got to take yo' place in th' holy band!</i><p></p><p>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?</p><p>After a slowed-down intro with a group of folks cheering and hand-clapping in the background, Christian artist <b>Randy Matthews </b>comes blasting through the speakers at the :23 mark of <i>Holy Band,</i> sounding very much <i>unlike</i> 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. </p><p>What a way to kick off <b><i>Son of Dust.<br /><br /></i></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFBrHHe36VliP-zxoBDuqXJu2yiNblnLDKCORCXlrNEz8VV4t6HawSuZgyoJg6pmDmLYdHU-N7FB_TaiPinddsHSr0k52odbAXGatRpDThlj7v6-DSBkuf1ETtPQdHZ96vmB1KnPZJ5bJ/s486/unnamed.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="486" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFBrHHe36VliP-zxoBDuqXJu2yiNblnLDKCORCXlrNEz8VV4t6HawSuZgyoJg6pmDmLYdHU-N7FB_TaiPinddsHSr0k52odbAXGatRpDThlj7v6-DSBkuf1ETtPQdHZ96vmB1KnPZJ5bJ/w400-h343/unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Jordanaires</b><br />Randy's Dad, <b>Monty Matthews</b>, is pictured on the far right.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Given his background and upbringing, it was almost pre-ordained that <b>Randy Matthews</b> 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 <b>Matthews Brothers Quartet</b>, the <b>Foggy River Boys,</b> and the <b>Jordanaires </b>(the same <b>Jordanaires </b>who went on to back <b>Elvis Presley</b> before <b>The Imperials</b>). 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 <b>The Revelations</b> and <b>The Zionaires.</b> 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 (<b>Jesus House</b>), 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.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_rPw9U_QgT1B8lc3Iu9qJVkGudCy0qaRem-6DvXIi10JptnY7ywFjn2sv8e42Aou5dJcB3xGJiaLBQEo2VXYK-TgPfhR_M62J7tAhWykOrD4Cd5JViWyoNbp5ebceL7ldje_e-3Ifv8_/s2048/BeFunky-collagermjb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="2048" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv_rPw9U_QgT1B8lc3Iu9qJVkGudCy0qaRem-6DvXIi10JptnY7ywFjn2sv8e42Aou5dJcB3xGJiaLBQEo2VXYK-TgPfhR_M62J7tAhWykOrD4Cd5JViWyoNbp5ebceL7ldje_e-3Ifv8_/w400-h251/BeFunky-collagermjb.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jerry Bryant</b> (L), and <b>Randy Matthews</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>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."</p><p>Matthews says he had no knowledge of <b>Larry Norman, Love Song,</b> or the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts </b>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 <b>Elvis Presley</b>. His name was <b>Mylon LeFevre</b>.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdm9r4l4ba-3cRR6TMAfhyphenhyphenyZvkZeDGCVHA1pyP1I_yvmtF0EHyUz8vmWdA9uk1QUfKIEPIRURFS4PalVovmKUKKlYwdGzQgx7nm7b7QfgKCkmx2vLR7HFEclgSTJxziIcTC2qDE6CtzY8/s450/bc_0054.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="349" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdm9r4l4ba-3cRR6TMAfhyphenhyphenyZvkZeDGCVHA1pyP1I_yvmtF0EHyUz8vmWdA9uk1QUfKIEPIRURFS4PalVovmKUKKlYwdGzQgx7nm7b7QfgKCkmx2vLR7HFEclgSTJxziIcTC2qDE6CtzY8/w310-h400/bc_0054.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mylon LeFevre</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>"My first 'Jesus Music' record was by <b>Mylon LeFevre</b>," Matthews said. "And I listened to that and I went, <i>Oh my Lord, there's somebody out there already doing what I'm wanting to do. </i>And so it was encouraging to me, the newness of the thing and the daringness of it; of course, all those classics like <i>Gospel Ship </i>was on that record and that was a very favorite song of mine."</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcV4dnu1E5bnxXow6xjq__jHPO8obHdjXDh41PIC3lhgY-l6RdpJmupzmEDxsNZkrwQGIz2Ff04W3ZPHVNqylQIi3uk1q85vHWRA9RILSlFr6NwX8PZiKltmEXNb8xZ7WYrm37PnYjveSF/s877/2883f13cd56fd0c84f6ca4c1302bae8a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="770" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcV4dnu1E5bnxXow6xjq__jHPO8obHdjXDh41PIC3lhgY-l6RdpJmupzmEDxsNZkrwQGIz2Ff04W3ZPHVNqylQIi3uk1q85vHWRA9RILSlFr6NwX8PZiKltmEXNb8xZ7WYrm37PnYjveSF/w351-h400/2883f13cd56fd0c84f6ca4c1302bae8a.jpg" width="351" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mylon, 1970s</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqQ_s_yAWLM1JiYBMgLFNHLh2qqIVtxaUXmAu5fJ2oZNrCbkdq44oNGGqcEKx-Sghz435R2OlWYRhaj8KyOR_yUxpgYlGjKiz83YbgE2EYgwkVP5t9co5fkZZ0rfd-U8hOrgBPj8YL3gv/s500/10291745_768114466567098_8983415966189638214_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="500" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqQ_s_yAWLM1JiYBMgLFNHLh2qqIVtxaUXmAu5fJ2oZNrCbkdq44oNGGqcEKx-Sghz435R2OlWYRhaj8KyOR_yUxpgYlGjKiz83YbgE2EYgwkVP5t9co5fkZZ0rfd-U8hOrgBPj8YL3gv/w400-h329/10291745_768114466567098_8983415966189638214_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Great story, but let's get back to the early 70s. Here's <b>Randy Matthews</b>, 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 <b><i>Full Circle</i></b> 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 <i>this is what the Lord wants me to do and I'm gonna go do it full time </i>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.”<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-P75D5ALYy_BsIlpQXESPdo81_dMjJVlCLAo9OpSHaEomKZVB6t-EymFWUvwClEh4CllmvVBLJyPMQdPvfaqe8fkuyr3XXEpdmkYGlBkyKiiZjtIt0BTph7GrIWHyZFcZW_YX3g3yH5f/s426/gettyimages-1078840912-612x612.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="426" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-P75D5ALYy_BsIlpQXESPdo81_dMjJVlCLAo9OpSHaEomKZVB6t-EymFWUvwClEh4CllmvVBLJyPMQdPvfaqe8fkuyr3XXEpdmkYGlBkyKiiZjtIt0BTph7GrIWHyZFcZW_YX3g3yH5f/w400-h359/gettyimages-1078840912-612x612.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Arthur Blessitt</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>When Matthews made Cincinnati his home base, he met a man named <b>Arthur Blessitt.</b> 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." </p><p>By 1971 <b>Randy Matthews</b> had come to the attention of Word Records. And the rest is history.</p><p>"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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmn3jfmIxyhdwfxA0_v0PfTkMYjh8c3iNi0vtU7GD32zog8z18_wMNFCo9QGaeXg3PIANaWepb5pTiPgbpRDHlSEjS-DZS-j1icfe3AXoa3IgUKi4uJjDNb0dRPsOM4vI4E46vTMV-XKD/s600/R-3154998-1318290612.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmn3jfmIxyhdwfxA0_v0PfTkMYjh8c3iNi0vtU7GD32zog8z18_wMNFCo9QGaeXg3PIANaWepb5pTiPgbpRDHlSEjS-DZS-j1icfe3AXoa3IgUKi4uJjDNb0dRPsOM4vI4E46vTMV-XKD/w400-h399/R-3154998-1318290612.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Randy's debut album on Word Records was 1971's <b><i>Wish We'd All Been Ready,</i></b> 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. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KKZDbcSIc0LzyNlzPuZthq1vnmw4oqR-aB7PrDLEimC5eHgu9KhP3tFkB-H-jqOQ0siXDiuMCVA1R0o95wnQfkLmCykaNcUywG4U0IlrD0YX2A9z3TgB4i8uvy4iqzYSFeuwH9NtFW49/s480/11114067_1571571883130846_8349096652693896931_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="480" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KKZDbcSIc0LzyNlzPuZthq1vnmw4oqR-aB7PrDLEimC5eHgu9KhP3tFkB-H-jqOQ0siXDiuMCVA1R0o95wnQfkLmCykaNcUywG4U0IlrD0YX2A9z3TgB4i8uvy4iqzYSFeuwH9NtFW49/w400-h275/11114067_1571571883130846_8349096652693896931_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The late<b> Billy Ray Hearn</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>"I was very lucky," Matthews said. "<b>Billy Ray Hearn </b>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." <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2uUyyBNzeKC7Ww0Eubloaq5u3Q406y4uGc1EffiN3Y23w7DwK1eq0PaYtbvFXq-Jtd2BbQT0R2pwLgVC2qr9TfjkzTDfNx_54c_gylbUWlvzfveYktp1A3S3WdO2y9OkA2hg0FdvbqUV/s1100/9586386_orig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1100" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2uUyyBNzeKC7Ww0Eubloaq5u3Q406y4uGc1EffiN3Y23w7DwK1eq0PaYtbvFXq-Jtd2BbQT0R2pwLgVC2qr9TfjkzTDfNx_54c_gylbUWlvzfveYktp1A3S3WdO2y9OkA2hg0FdvbqUV/w400-h263/9586386_orig.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Larry Norman</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>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 <i>Father of Christian Rock</i>. "Well, long before I knew Larry, or even knew <i>of </i>Larry, <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> 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 <i>his</i> tune. I didn't know it was his tune at the time. But he didn't mind." </p><p>What happened next altered the Christian rock soundscape for many years into the future. </p><p>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. </p><p>And that's how Myrrh Records came to be. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbr25p5NoDn8fBLuFK8dTPeF9ZaAu6TT1s5T2J7K99hHNlk_pIBW4Bxe-UFtufPu68p_-lZ0mugh6nRV-qRyIQ7G7MA6ku5DYN6GklugVrJKQuDIdWjTMROmfUYbV8CmmsWMK17EwEWuYu/s599/R-2085103-1484792501-6458.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="599" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbr25p5NoDn8fBLuFK8dTPeF9ZaAu6TT1s5T2J7K99hHNlk_pIBW4Bxe-UFtufPu68p_-lZ0mugh6nRV-qRyIQ7G7MA6ku5DYN6GklugVrJKQuDIdWjTMROmfUYbV8CmmsWMK17EwEWuYu/w400-h398/R-2085103-1484792501-6458.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>"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 <b>Amy Grant, Billy Preston, Petra, Michael & Stormie Omartian, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Steve Taylor, The Choir, Phil Keaggy, Randy Stonehill, </b>and so many more. But first, Myrrh gave early Jesus Music a home by releasing records by <b>Barry McGuire, Honeytree, the Pat Terry Group, Malcolm & Alwyn,</b> and the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts.</b> And it came into existence due to the forward-thinking <b>Randy Matthews</b>. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDYbCtI5ubtSfQlBmj7B8_d418DEExZ8HcMa2AfrQtj1_F2GcfRr7tSK0Do3cMO_yZm-N53pv0FUhfPZqJHEAsu0iDactj_hXRGfNgJ2zV6BmnhXQH2DH-NipmXkDypFKrq8w0DOrX7kK/s604/10291171_980480955323595_6018251577639632686_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDYbCtI5ubtSfQlBmj7B8_d418DEExZ8HcMa2AfrQtj1_F2GcfRr7tSK0Do3cMO_yZm-N53pv0FUhfPZqJHEAsu0iDactj_hXRGfNgJ2zV6BmnhXQH2DH-NipmXkDypFKrq8w0DOrX7kK/w400-h300/10291171_980480955323595_6018251577639632686_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Barry McGuire</b> (L) with<b> Randy Matthews</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b><i>All I Am Is What You See,</i></b> Matthews' sophomore album, is described by author Barry Alphonso of <b>Billboard</b> as “a grittier-sounding album, toning down the production and allowing the electric guitars more prominence.”</p><p>The stage was set for <b><i>Son of Dust</i></b>.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UDYIBe4ZL3u81L4q1rXkVzXZcxzhkeZ-lM85fLH9PKfaWB38VZbt4FLQxyyINKDMZxYMAi-B4_Cq0U-XicwGJBUWwini-Aes5XvqZ6XH0vqq5NQkhg_Oplhyphenhyphenivn0sn8gv5UXCpUF4-X7/s960/20292643_10212543139306028_4103502444590625322_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UDYIBe4ZL3u81L4q1rXkVzXZcxzhkeZ-lM85fLH9PKfaWB38VZbt4FLQxyyINKDMZxYMAi-B4_Cq0U-XicwGJBUWwini-Aes5XvqZ6XH0vqq5NQkhg_Oplhyphenhyphenivn0sn8gv5UXCpUF4-X7/w400-h300/20292643_10212543139306028_4103502444590625322_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Brian Quincy Newcomb</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>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. </p><p>Newcomb was a teenage pastor's kid in Western New York state back in the early 70s. He loved music and was a big <b>Beatles </b>fan. He had also given his heart to Jesus, but felt like he just didn't fit in at church. </p><p>Enter <b>Randy Matthews</b>.</p><p>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.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCwNVISw3_44yYBcbslggccNZi3pXGBPC1pf8xFUwXU2yDCqovCq2OgZtbtz8l9aYLP_Jrr1fI0opiYzr6eVMdBLcW8rbc5m8HnPpJyj0pec3AS1p8pZNTUGhdB3Id0UV9ZIpLoCwqwa4/s868/1505203_1531233983789672_6491929158368062502_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="868" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCwNVISw3_44yYBcbslggccNZi3pXGBPC1pf8xFUwXU2yDCqovCq2OgZtbtz8l9aYLP_Jrr1fI0opiYzr6eVMdBLcW8rbc5m8HnPpJyj0pec3AS1p8pZNTUGhdB3Id0UV9ZIpLoCwqwa4/w400-h281/1505203_1531233983789672_6491929158368062502_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>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." <b>Randy Matthews</b> 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 <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>at that coffeehouse and took it home with him. "<b>Randy Matthews</b> 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. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQYzL6sZeVSboaMFoFuqH2qLQUWlDmYp8Y6g8s0THVqCsNBGFBMFsBWAF6QDKJwFK_oLKfdrY8y9HjxwaqBgvInJYfL2G1M_fh3iPuPkHTG20FgwTTXV2cb1dwuDHKaSz6pjsYg4wrMyM/s600/R-7143961-1434703511-9668.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQYzL6sZeVSboaMFoFuqH2qLQUWlDmYp8Y6g8s0THVqCsNBGFBMFsBWAF6QDKJwFK_oLKfdrY8y9HjxwaqBgvInJYfL2G1M_fh3iPuPkHTG20FgwTTXV2cb1dwuDHKaSz6pjsYg4wrMyM/w400-h396/R-7143961-1434703511-9668.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Let's drop the needle on <b><i>Son of Dust.</i></b></p><p>It's always a good sign when your album begins with a bonafide classic. Author Mark Allan Powell calls <i>Holy Band</i> a signature tune for Matthews. "<i>Holy Band</i> is a roaring concert opener," Powell writes in his <i><b>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music,</b></i> "that uses the metaphor of being in a band as a descriptive image for becoming part of the people of God." </p><p>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 <i>Anyone who wants to can | Take your place in the holy band.</i> "This song...combined two very important concepts," Newcomb wrote. "The <i>anyone</i> 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."</p><p>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."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GaqRE9tKfBU" width="320" youtube-src-id="GaqRE9tKfBU"></iframe></div><br /><p><br />I'm writing this post in Spring of 2021. As I listened to <i>Holy Band </i>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:</p><p><i>It's time we stopped it<br />I mean, what have we gained by our conflicts in the street<br />I hear the music<br />Whoa, don't it sound so sweet<br />Grab your sister and brother<br />Come on, laugh with each other</i></p><p><b>Lloyd Green</b> gets bonus points for creative use of peddle steel in a rowdy rock song.</p><p>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 <b>Holy Band.</b> 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.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB05e6tQyAZSwO7KgwnAHpkIk585pJYwgjYbLgp45QnubN934To4HUoQL-Ctnq0Pvyurk7Fc2FVX90ZuvVx5hXUzL10bzc5QyGmdHFZQjxzzw7u9nDcIdWmZAmzkAbXcmnDiqmvYNW9oYS/s240/3115134.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB05e6tQyAZSwO7KgwnAHpkIk585pJYwgjYbLgp45QnubN934To4HUoQL-Ctnq0Pvyurk7Fc2FVX90ZuvVx5hXUzL10bzc5QyGmdHFZQjxzzw7u9nDcIdWmZAmzkAbXcmnDiqmvYNW9oYS/s16000/3115134.png" /></a></div><br /><p><b><i>Son of Dust</i></b> actually begins with a <i>trio </i>of amazing songs. Next up was <i>The Bad Has Made It Better,</i> a song that reminds us that <b>Randy Matthews</b> was not a typical <i>Jesus makes me happy, He'll make you happy, too</i> 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.</p><p><i>I been east<br />I been west<br />Lay my head on a curb with my feet in the street for to rest<br />One meal a day<br />Don't keep the pain away<br />I mean the hurt that you hurt deep inside from the food you ain't ate but once a day</i></p><p><i>I been north<br />You know that I been south<br />And the sun on my face made the burn on my lips dry my mouth<br />I been alone<br />I mean on my own<br />So I talk to the wind for the wind has a voice of its own</i></p><p><i>Ooo, well the bad has made it better<br />Because of You, well, I kept it all together<br />Through it all, well, I walked with my head held up high<br />In Your love<br />I did it in Your love</i></p><p>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. </p><p>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 <b><i>Now Do You Understand?</i></b>. 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 <b><i>Son of Dust.<br /><br /><br /></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZvJuh1KMcNA" width="320" youtube-src-id="ZvJuh1KMcNA"></iframe></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p>In the three hole is <i>It Ain't Easy,</i> 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 <b>Mark Heard </b>and <b>Steve Taylor </b>for their honesty? Son, <b>Randy Matthews</b> was honest way before honest was cool.</p><p>While some of the new converts in Orange County were writing that Jesus would simply take away all your problems, <b>Randy Matthews</b> was writing stuff like this:</p><p><i>I want to go to Heaven but I'm scared to die<br />I've been living here all my life<br />Some say I'm right, some say I'm wrong<br />But four long years I've sung Your song<br /><br />Livin' ain't easy in a narrow way<br />You ask so much of me each day<br />I hope I'm not complainin' or askin' much<br />But stay close to me, the way is rough<br /><br />One day I'm up, the next I'm down<br />It's good to know You're around<br />To hear my laughter, share the pain<br />In the sunshine, in the rain</i></p><p><i>And oh...oh...oh, it's not easy<br />Whoa...no...whoa, it's not easy<br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0M_FuQ9hNkeoIBFJvVo9yexMuzlcsOqLNp_FKbB_no7lZFSG4jCRqOOwddUYVmNkXTDiVkz6LPT4HR9hVRhk8t26x2v3kvHS4ZyfWo0vD8mhM9LMkZvBMDOofd2ltChq3rIcF3hDPBcd/s2048/BeFunky-collagelpj.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2048" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0M_FuQ9hNkeoIBFJvVo9yexMuzlcsOqLNp_FKbB_no7lZFSG4jCRqOOwddUYVmNkXTDiVkz6LPT4HR9hVRhk8t26x2v3kvHS4ZyfWo0vD8mhM9LMkZvBMDOofd2ltChq3rIcF3hDPBcd/w400-h203/BeFunky-collagelpj.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>This song served as my introduction to <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>when it was included on the highly influential <b><i>Love Peace Joy</i></b> Myrrh compilation album in '74. Sandwiched right in between <b>Honeytree's</b> <i>I Don't Have to Worry</i> and <b>Love Song's</b> <i>Think About What Jesus Said</i> was <b>Randy Matthews </b>saying, <i>Hold up, y'all...it's not easy.</i></p><p><i>It Ain't Easy </i>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.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5_RpvQ1jd7LmzQ_sUpSX-DL2m77Q8mpFmoSNO6zeNTWBYzgix2fkq0EEmL1ZaIMUWceLYR-zU6xz7hil2-RIoOTY2z9HoWy_ORs7zGrzgrd6IEbACl57KAv-834oTtcZkpZD4yg0YAGy/s960/50737507_10216806222243452_6082095036017672192_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="766" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5_RpvQ1jd7LmzQ_sUpSX-DL2m77Q8mpFmoSNO6zeNTWBYzgix2fkq0EEmL1ZaIMUWceLYR-zU6xz7hil2-RIoOTY2z9HoWy_ORs7zGrzgrd6IEbACl57KAv-834oTtcZkpZD4yg0YAGy/w319-h400/50737507_10216806222243452_6082095036017672192_n.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Randy does his best <b>Mick Jagger</b> on <i>Mighty Fine</i>, a song that could totally have been a <b>Rolling Stones </b>tune if they had, well, you know, known Jesus. </p><p>A romantic love song titled <i>Brown Eyed Woman</i> closes out side one of <b><i>Son of Dust.</i></b> There's some fancy banjo pickin' by <b>Robert Thompson</b> 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.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLthKid6i1wj6lkjAp81pPPLPuCUBcpKuxci9OX31HgXr-L6CWqYoDDy_pig4yYfLJfrEpCkY-ccGaiIzUPx8Nm0WJ2y1bzpCYt2udg-8iA3FKaeFbmHFY1lMsYdkBjSA7ffCj5IpOAmkE/s1440/17761097_10155231517024711_5336246817282098915_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLthKid6i1wj6lkjAp81pPPLPuCUBcpKuxci9OX31HgXr-L6CWqYoDDy_pig4yYfLJfrEpCkY-ccGaiIzUPx8Nm0WJ2y1bzpCYt2udg-8iA3FKaeFbmHFY1lMsYdkBjSA7ffCj5IpOAmkE/w400-h225/17761097_10155231517024711_5336246817282098915_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Now, if you were a <b>Randy Matthews</b> fan in 1973 and owned his first two albums, I think one glance at the <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>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 <b>Bill Grine </b>(<b>Janny's</b> husband). </p><p><b><i>Son of Dust</i></b> was produced by <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> and arranged by <b>Bergen White</b>. It was recorded at <b>Woodland Studios </b>in Nashville. The engineers were <b>Tommy Semmes, Rick Horton </b>and <b>Rex Collier.</b> <b>David McKinley </b>and <b>John Brandon </b>were credited as "recordists."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnfutGIQ4j2_LN0k1zFC0JwwU0h6gh8xNKOHkx5GdSMWxunQUmqfct334_hY_fH86h7P3qQmUZRXGLOFEabvyrMTq8V0paPpJdhl_E6WseBvdLQP-qxEZ8sBC78c7t71H-NUASvElDhmV/s599/R-7143961-1434703517-1697.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="599" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnfutGIQ4j2_LN0k1zFC0JwwU0h6gh8xNKOHkx5GdSMWxunQUmqfct334_hY_fH86h7P3qQmUZRXGLOFEabvyrMTq8V0paPpJdhl_E6WseBvdLQP-qxEZ8sBC78c7t71H-NUASvElDhmV/w400-h399/R-7143961-1434703517-1697.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p><b>Randy Matthews, Reggie Young, John Cristopher, Billy Sanford</b> and <b>Charlie McCoy </b>played the guitars; <b>Bobby Wood </b>and <b>David Briggs</b> played keyboards; <b>Tommy Cogbill </b>and <b>John Williams</b> played bass; <b>Kenneth Buttrey</b> and <b>Jerry Carrigan </b>were the drummers; percussion was supplied by <b>Jerry Carrigan</b> and <b>Farrell Morris</b>; the aforementioned <b>Robert Thompson </b>was on banjo, while <b>Bill Puett </b>blew the saxophone and <b>Lloyd Green</b> played the steel guitar. The Moog synthesizer was listed separately from keyboards in the credits and was played by <b>Rick Powell</b>. Of course, <b>Randy Matthews </b>sang on the record and he was backed by <b>Rick Powell, Billy Ray Hearn </b>(!) and <b>Bergen White</b>. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq82CSrKST_7gPzOULSutgWUO7mM0NWk0SPuAweG8mYxPkk7QzOiq_kgf-0ZqUaprKg2GViCIu4tV7KZLN22AketrA82SGGPYEBKMK9v_cyke0iOOS8X2SQzfj39F4Yz0TldtuH_s7nR7-/s605/R-2960953-1435744447-6722_jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq82CSrKST_7gPzOULSutgWUO7mM0NWk0SPuAweG8mYxPkk7QzOiq_kgf-0ZqUaprKg2GViCIu4tV7KZLN22AketrA82SGGPYEBKMK9v_cyke0iOOS8X2SQzfj39F4Yz0TldtuH_s7nR7-/w396-h400/R-2960953-1435744447-6722_jpeg.jpg" width="396" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Side two of <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>kicks off with <i>Here I Am,</i> a funky, soulful number that has Randy saying <i>Here I am | I'm not much | But I'm the best I got... </i></p><p>Next up was a song called <i>On the Road.</i> 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.</p><p>"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."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehkEz0mQlkPTU6BYYwwl7NuRwIEW4X1suVUvm-PHY4Kw9V84FD87nzPjHLJjaFSqVAixZcSyE2bG4-Hu83lbFb-X8fckvIsaexqE4MOHP6RJhJqRJUQq0zYuoGr3y0kjepfS0v8zeffpx/s960/10644480_1531234497122954_4971451521102844384_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="960" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehkEz0mQlkPTU6BYYwwl7NuRwIEW4X1suVUvm-PHY4Kw9V84FD87nzPjHLJjaFSqVAixZcSyE2bG4-Hu83lbFb-X8fckvIsaexqE4MOHP6RJhJqRJUQq0zYuoGr3y0kjepfS0v8zeffpx/w400-h270/10644480_1531234497122954_4971451521102844384_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>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."</p><p>For my money, <i>On the Road</i> was the only misstep on <b><i>Son of Dust.</i></b> 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 <b>Dave Boyer </b>instead.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LUZaoymc-Rg5UGQdTPJLZDB6v7uRpj3SpBmXzm_3ZyfehgTTWoGn0xH_8E6IG5N5Ku3vbAQF9g8zS3JQgNqoeLoUZn6gXZWKwAuaza-3YW187Ks7TruWr2OpDA8ho849tgeDpRFr2eSs/s960/10685490_1531235003789570_5294264694378676091_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="960" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LUZaoymc-Rg5UGQdTPJLZDB6v7uRpj3SpBmXzm_3ZyfehgTTWoGn0xH_8E6IG5N5Ku3vbAQF9g8zS3JQgNqoeLoUZn6gXZWKwAuaza-3YW187Ks7TruWr2OpDA8ho849tgeDpRFr2eSs/w400-h270/10685490_1531235003789570_5294264694378676091_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>began with a strong trio of songs and it ends with an equally strong trio of tunes.</p><p>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 <i>Evacuation Day.</i></p><p><i>When the ship comes in<br />Gonna be a celebration<br />From the smallest town<br />To the largest nation<br />Gonna leave that day<br />Said we made a reservation<br />Ain't no turnin' back<br />There ain't no cancellation<br />No, sir<br /><br />I'm gonna fly, fly, fly<br />Get on that ship and fly<br />With a ticket marked 'one way'<br />Evacuation day<br /><br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUKwhAJOiNBiHH5JPASIt3ipxrDU3JiTCY74-xsTZaEooeQGtF4ylfxguRYw9EffScEpDGEUXAeHYkRg4CA5E9tWhE84JRPQRFJhkLOKE7__ChlcKEm-jBsLrFVINLPLx7BtbUWz6TAAb/s2048/A11fAZmiPdL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1498" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUKwhAJOiNBiHH5JPASIt3ipxrDU3JiTCY74-xsTZaEooeQGtF4ylfxguRYw9EffScEpDGEUXAeHYkRg4CA5E9tWhE84JRPQRFJhkLOKE7__ChlcKEm-jBsLrFVINLPLx7BtbUWz6TAAb/w293-h400/A11fAZmiPdL.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>If <i>Holy Band</i> was one of two signature songs for the early chapter of Matthews' career, <i>Didn't He</i> 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. </p><p>"<i>Didn't He </i>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."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikhCCKy9d0qXoE9acE0tgY2xGFmID1czpoMV9FsI8NoRxPC-jrzpIbBztNGlqoFr5nluffRQlwMfZ2vXMeLEA7Xd4KVjvodwnJBrLT2o6WnEUwNIzCHWzl1A_yn3ug2MT3egzGEeucXBP/s960/10689894_1531234353789635_8706461155147256721_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="648" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiikhCCKy9d0qXoE9acE0tgY2xGFmID1czpoMV9FsI8NoRxPC-jrzpIbBztNGlqoFr5nluffRQlwMfZ2vXMeLEA7Xd4KVjvodwnJBrLT2o6WnEUwNIzCHWzl1A_yn3ug2MT3egzGEeucXBP/w270-h400/10689894_1531234353789635_8706461155147256721_n.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>According to CCM historian Mark Allan Powell, Matthews previewed <i>Didn't He </i>at the iconic <b>Explo '72</b> festival in Dallas, Texas, the summer before <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>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." <br /><br />Today, David Lee is a mortgage lender based in Oklahoma. But roughly five decades ago, he was in that sea of faces at <b>Explo '72</b>. "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 <b>Explo '72</b> album and it sounds good...but sitting there live, with eighty thousand people...hearing that sudden noise was absolutely riveting." </p><p><i>Didn't He</i> is one of five songs on <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>that I just think are more effective on the live album <b><i>Now Do You Understand? </i></b>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 <b>Randy Matthews </b>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, <i>Holy Band, The Bad Has Made It Better, Evacuation Day, Didn't He</i> and <i>Pharaoh's Hand</i> 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 <i>Didn't He </i>is not great, emotionally powerful and awe-inspiring (because it is all of those things). <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3xPnyU6ypag" width="320" youtube-src-id="3xPnyU6ypag"></iframe></div><br /><p>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 <b>Randy Matthews </b>was put on this earth to write and record:</p><p><i>And the hammer fell<br />On the wooden nail<br />Through His flesh, into the tree<br />And they laughed at Him<br />As He cried for them<br />There He hung<br />The faultless One<br /><br />Now, didn't He live, oh, didn't He?<br />And didn't He give, now, didn't He?<br />Didn't He die for you and me?<br /><br />Spilled His precious blood<br />Sacrifice of love<br />We didn't take His life from Him<br />He gave it willingly<br />Complete the prophecy<br />What's black is white<br />What's wrong is right<br /><br />Bugler, blow your horn<br />Now the curtain's torn<br />And the battle's done<br />I know the victory's come<br />Drummer, you drum your drum<br />He broke death's chains<br />The Lamb is slain<br /><br />Now didn't He live, now, didn't He?<br />And didn't He give, now, didn't He?<br />But didn't He die for you and me?<br /><br />Now, doesn't He live, my brother, doesn't He?<br />And doesn't He give, sweet sister, doesn't He?<br />But didn't He die for you and me?<br /><br />But didn't He die<br />For you<br />And for me?<br /></i><br />Matthews turned in an anointed vocal performance on this song. <i>Didn't He</i> was later resurrected for a new generation when it was covered by <b>Geoff Moore & the Distance.</b> Matthews also performed and recorded a new version of this classic song for the <b><i>First Love </i></b>gathering of classic Jesus Music artists in the late 1990s.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLzMMruxIW1fQfPL64IXzPev4s1nVqe3vE0Zd_LifJ4mflp9zYHekyr4cuJVXM1JnxE32vgSl4visoc3hxGk-f6M5yyF67r-RnyAUuCaQUrsDpaoAfkuFwxDDBccaz39ycGk20SNwrDt_/s960/10610786_1531235300456207_7630738378277051956_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="960" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbLzMMruxIW1fQfPL64IXzPev4s1nVqe3vE0Zd_LifJ4mflp9zYHekyr4cuJVXM1JnxE32vgSl4visoc3hxGk-f6M5yyF67r-RnyAUuCaQUrsDpaoAfkuFwxDDBccaz39ycGk20SNwrDt_/w400-h270/10610786_1531235300456207_7630738378277051956_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Matthews ends <b><i>Son of Dust</i></b> 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. <b>Randy Matthews </b>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. </p><p><i>Oh, smell the filth here<br />Oh, hear the cries<br />A baby's dying<br />It's got flies in its eyes<br />Oh, hear the gunfire<br />Oh, see him run<br />Killing men for a loaf of bread<br />With a stolen gun<br /><br />With no beginning<br />There is no end<br />Without a center, friend<br />No circle ascends<br />Oh, we're decaying<br />From deep inside<br />We lost the roots of the family tree<br />And there's no place to hide<br /><br />Some of you live in fantasies<br />Others live in dreams<br />Some of you live in lies<br />You say, I see no disease<br />But what is happening<br />Has long been foretold<br />Close the door<br />Lock the latch<br />Let the story unfold<br /><br />Been too long underneath this Pharaoh's hand<br />Been too long underneath this Pharaoh's hand<br />And it's time we made our stand<br /><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxd9MbcEbk3uZB9ozHTN4p7NjAdBo1kGXjyYfAvaFqcbVmAr0M5GF-t0t4vqreIg2Exi1bZn8qvkH2k3BfsZ51ljgwqSMQKkoCbq8KxS8f48FOrh7CbZAdgb_WEHoFHaVFp_UT5njJeie/s960/1780764_1531234417122962_4774400669490605613_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="648" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxd9MbcEbk3uZB9ozHTN4p7NjAdBo1kGXjyYfAvaFqcbVmAr0M5GF-t0t4vqreIg2Exi1bZn8qvkH2k3BfsZ51ljgwqSMQKkoCbq8KxS8f48FOrh7CbZAdgb_WEHoFHaVFp_UT5njJeie/w270-h400/1780764_1531234417122962_4774400669490605613_n.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><i><br /></i><p></p><p>"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 <b><i>Full Circle</i></b> 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."<br /><br />Brian Quincy Newcomb calls <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>one of Matthews' "strongest collections of songs, recorded at the height of the Jesus Movement," adding that <b>Randy Matthews </b>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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwF5usrjAkTwawgT9ecliJ2LnGwMah_jPRk-ws8R3wz9I7mFwLvxaIhhawXrv07XcZeVH707DHrLb0QbibUO-Kxt29vymJ4ENSP3PMiPd641y4BHh-B-clEDtGAcjgcTGEjzJIwA7kD4ic/s960/10372054_1531234577122946_7117435466986718790_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="648" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwF5usrjAkTwawgT9ecliJ2LnGwMah_jPRk-ws8R3wz9I7mFwLvxaIhhawXrv07XcZeVH707DHrLb0QbibUO-Kxt29vymJ4ENSP3PMiPd641y4BHh-B-clEDtGAcjgcTGEjzJIwA7kD4ic/w270-h400/10372054_1531234577122946_7117435466986718790_n.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br /><p><b><i>Billboard's</i></b> Barry Alfonso wrote, "<b><i>Son of Dust</i></b>...was probably his most interesting work, full of energy and bite. Matthews dressed up his tunes with acoustic piano, banjo and peddle steel. <b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>was an archetypal Jesus Music album, capturing the unkempt zeal of a hippie street revival." <br /><br />"<b><i>Son of Dust </i></b>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 <b><i>Jesus Music</i></b> says makes the first two albums 'sound like easy listening' by comparison. There is not a bad cut on the album."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkYxvZ1OQ01vDKhFDBIByreTuqGsGhlyDdZikM3G-VJs9iAyb9vWFtQ2891x2-x3uSEtOCYYvwPUXWj_esqnMovw511q0Trg9Iqf4a4OQ4NfDRwEpPgXgF_btZONolVBTxf0qVrPEkez2/s2048/BeFunky-collagerbr9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkYxvZ1OQ01vDKhFDBIByreTuqGsGhlyDdZikM3G-VJs9iAyb9vWFtQ2891x2-x3uSEtOCYYvwPUXWj_esqnMovw511q0Trg9Iqf4a4OQ4NfDRwEpPgXgF_btZONolVBTxf0qVrPEkez2/w400-h400/BeFunky-collagerbr9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>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 <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2015/12/56-eyes-to-sky-by-randy-matthews-1975.html">HERE</a>). In '75 his record company actually released two of his albums back-to-back - <b><i>Now Do You Understand? </i></b>and <b><i>Eyes to the Sky</i></b>. Then he put a little trio together with a couple of Jesus Music veterans, <b>Mike Johnson</b> and <b>Danny Taylor</b>. They made an album that was actually quite good (you can read all about it <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/04/88-matthews-taylor-and-johnson-by-randy.html">HERE</a>). 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 (<b><i>Randy Matthews</i></b> and <b><i>Plugged In</i></b>)...but then fell off the radar again. He came back six years later with <b><i>Streets of Mercy</i></b>, 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 <b><i>The Edge of Flight</i></b> is a sonically excellent album that was produced by <b>Billy Smiley</b> of <b>White Heart</b>. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vtNQUEna7Ee71Zh5NM0aO9O5tAkO8My29oopDN_ugblNkv1dj2w5_YnKvo3vFdQz433XAaXs3KDhTUOxN2QOCUQOy7K1BBRh6G82pudGgfx62XV5XL7Ga7rDIiB6JZjWhjOr6bAtvA-K/s1394/16252092_10212019060054452_9051197472755340791_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1323" data-original-width="1394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vtNQUEna7Ee71Zh5NM0aO9O5tAkO8My29oopDN_ugblNkv1dj2w5_YnKvo3vFdQz433XAaXs3KDhTUOxN2QOCUQOy7K1BBRh6G82pudGgfx62XV5XL7Ga7rDIiB6JZjWhjOr6bAtvA-K/s320/16252092_10212019060054452_9051197472755340791_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Randy Matthews</b> on tour with <b>White Heart</b> in Greenville, SC</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>In fact, Matthews was given the opening slot on a national <b>White Heart</b> 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.<br /><br /><i>What?!</i></p><p>"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 <i>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 </i>- 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 <i>was</i> 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."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUabWi8_4iAqFHAoZgY7S-IW-2ZspFH0Cbg0_3H14JJt5FIURNEtovb6CyKQwzaC5ky1DLU7XM4n_iF6Mn8IDT41nt5aqCaJemO7wLvqUuGBHYZaeiOVXr7LTKKhWqZBZA5cSovplj736/s2048/BeFunky-collagerb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUabWi8_4iAqFHAoZgY7S-IW-2ZspFH0Cbg0_3H14JJt5FIURNEtovb6CyKQwzaC5ky1DLU7XM4n_iF6Mn8IDT41nt5aqCaJemO7wLvqUuGBHYZaeiOVXr7LTKKhWqZBZA5cSovplj736/w400-h400/BeFunky-collagerb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Working under the stage name <b>Red Beard</b>, Matthews released an album of pirate songs and tall tales entitled <b><i>Red Beard, Pirate King</i></b>. <br /><p>In 2015, F-O-R (friend-of-Randy) Bim Ingersoll spearheaded the project of re-releasing and re-mastering <b><i>Son of Dust</i></b> 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." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWS0hByhANsiiW-OnRlDFCff7_zwlaDfBT-UaT1zI-kfOycDXZIKrE3AXuClyGbPH9_v7RxL4T9_dYp_G-Cqm0vMiQLnDqNY57kl7CrdApHVShnln4rUHX0irYMTlBpSsQnVuTmlwjt_D/s600/R-7486756-1442479895-9468.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="600" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWS0hByhANsiiW-OnRlDFCff7_zwlaDfBT-UaT1zI-kfOycDXZIKrE3AXuClyGbPH9_v7RxL4T9_dYp_G-Cqm0vMiQLnDqNY57kl7CrdApHVShnln4rUHX0irYMTlBpSsQnVuTmlwjt_D/w400-h395/R-7486756-1442479895-9468.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>"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."</p><p>Oh, we remember, Randy. In fact, we'll never forget. </p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-42229801077250924702021-03-12T15:00:00.027-08:002021-03-15T07:52:20.866-07:00#26 LIVE by The Imperials (1973)<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5FXQ5oFzPh01VAiPvYw7yDB2MGiiIbLpyE2HnOHFIddPiz_2MpV9qJWBmkt8BuytB5q5BsY8sqaz7UwaFGdIZg1kuthyphenhyphenz2T1no7RklOtKC8rjQHLaV92DSq547d-OtujYZK7d1dFzqVd/s635/1200x630bf.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="635" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5FXQ5oFzPh01VAiPvYw7yDB2MGiiIbLpyE2HnOHFIddPiz_2MpV9qJWBmkt8BuytB5q5BsY8sqaz7UwaFGdIZg1kuthyphenhyphenz2T1no7RklOtKC8rjQHLaV92DSq547d-OtujYZK7d1dFzqVd/w400-h396/1200x630bf.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>IMPERIALS LIVE</i></b> by <b>the Imperials</b> (1973)<br />Impact • R-3215</td></tr></tbody></table><br />"In many ways, <b>the Imperials</b> were my true introduction to what became known as Contemporary Christian Music, and the first album I had by<b> the Imperials</b> was their 1973 live collection. I was a teenager just beginning to work out my own Christian faith, and I listened to it over and over, impressed with their harmony arrangements, the individual voices, and the songs themselves. I was especially moved by <i>Jesus Made Me Higher</i> and <b>Sherman Andrus'</b> deep sincerity as he talked about the importance of a love relationship with Jesus as the gateway to spiritual growth. I know that this album helped lay the foundation upon which I began to build my own work as a Christian songwriter. The album will always remain an important touchstone in my spiritual and musical life." <br /><i>-Dwight Liles</i><p></p><p><b>Dwight Liles</b> went on to have roughly one thousand of his songs recorded by a virtual "who's who" list of Christian artists over a 30-year span. </p><p>That's the kind of reach, the kind of influence that <b><i>Imperials Live</i></b> had.</p><h1 style="text-align: left;">indiana</h1><p>I had a chance recently to speak separately with <b>Terry Blackwood</b> and with <b>Sherman Andrus</b> of <b>the Imperials</b> and <b>Andrus, Blackwood & Company. </b> Both of them graciously agreed to be interviewed for this blog post and I asked how it was decided that <b>the Imperials</b> would release a double live album in 1973. "We had a good working relationship with the Benson company," <b>Terry Blackwood</b> replied, "but we didn't really make the decision on when records were recorded or released. I guess [producer] <b>Bob MacKenzie</b> was probably the one who said it was time to do a live album. And since we had so many songs available, he just decided we should do a double album." </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGM1iZzExPeH1TIol08K59b7pSOUg0111106xHlguHX9YBP0hyphenhyphenPjH-eRYuHYcJdvGLyJ5_S3_fajKRF9FDAJNFyKQ_HlsOvkpeW8QRdSeU0wH1p6quzOwMrL-E9rzruvNj132R5YHIg5zX/s302/HoF-Website-11+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGM1iZzExPeH1TIol08K59b7pSOUg0111106xHlguHX9YBP0hyphenhyphenPjH-eRYuHYcJdvGLyJ5_S3_fajKRF9FDAJNFyKQ_HlsOvkpeW8QRdSeU0wH1p6quzOwMrL-E9rzruvNj132R5YHIg5zX/s0/HoF-Website-11+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bob MacKenzie</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Terry said that MacKenzie was very "high energy" and influential when it came to things like song selection. "But Bob was more of a motivator for us than a great producer," Blackwood stated, candidly. <b>Sherman Andrus </b>said that MacKenzie, who was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in the year 2000, had a lot of clout within the Benson company and was the main producer for a while for <b>the Imperials</b>, <b>Tim Sheppard</b>, and the other contemporary artists on the Impact label. "He had very strong opinions, musically and otherwise," Andrus said. "He was a very hard working guy. Unfortunately, he died rather young. I don't know the nature of his illness, but he worked so hard I wouldn't be surprised if it was stress-related." MacKenzie was also responsible for <b>Sherman Andrus </b>becoming an Imperial (more about that a little later). <b>Bob MacKenzie</b> passed away in October of 2000. He was only 62 years old.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkjm_tymlYq0kTDaSBMu7fSXTjNl3alHNrbwg0SbZnM8aKfDIaW5xvofsvtftiCUSdBLHtJowbj2hLmDSha2RT6fOBudy5aWppIbfUn3dWXTmmzlqho8otTB8skbRKCE_dI9u-u-KanUL/s534/medium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="534" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkjm_tymlYq0kTDaSBMu7fSXTjNl3alHNrbwg0SbZnM8aKfDIaW5xvofsvtftiCUSdBLHtJowbj2hLmDSha2RT6fOBudy5aWppIbfUn3dWXTmmzlqho8otTB8skbRKCE_dI9u-u-KanUL/w400-h300/medium.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <b>Tivoli Theatre</b> in its prime</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>This album was released the same year that <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples </b>recorded <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2021/02/28-live-at-carnegie-hall-by-andrae.html">a live album</a> at the famed <b>Carnegie Hall </b>in New York City. I asked Terry what caused <b>the Imperials </b>to settle on the Tivoli Theatre in the mid-sized city of Richmond, Indiana. "We had been working with a promoter in Indiana quite a bit," he answered. "His name was Jan Clark. And he took us all over Indiana - well, all around the area where he lived. In fact, Indiana was one of the states where we were most popular. We sang at colleges and auditoriums all over Indiana." </p><p>The historic Tivoli Theatre, originally opened in 1928, was damaged by fire in the mid-80s and later fell into near-total disrepair. For a while, a jewelry store (Hoppe Jewelers) operated from the front of the building. It also became a movie theater ("Sidewalk Cinema"). From what I've been able to dig up online, it is now permanently closed but the building is still there. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-7vkQBZOWKe7uo9HRZpgtal2UQTDGOjxJjLPSxhBmEGauAFrIQSiwG47G7XodaXYIMZuwrhSp6hcpeLIHRGBJMLiEnPjmiB8m-CTNh749c0gKlLALibSB0ZYxanMMm6pbag8nInRe076/s640/large.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="640" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-7vkQBZOWKe7uo9HRZpgtal2UQTDGOjxJjLPSxhBmEGauAFrIQSiwG47G7XodaXYIMZuwrhSp6hcpeLIHRGBJMLiEnPjmiB8m-CTNh749c0gKlLALibSB0ZYxanMMm6pbag8nInRe076/w400-h233/large.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /><br />Terry continued: "Indiana is probably the state where we were most in demand. I'm not sure why, exactly. They just really liked what we did." </p><p>So...it would be a 2-record set recorded live at the Tivoli Theatre in the Hoosier state. But let's back it up a bit and learn more about what led up to this moment. <br /><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">beginnings</h1><p><b><br />Jake Hess</b> was born in 1927 to poor sharecroppers in Alabama. He had eleven brothers and sisters. At age 16, Hess started singing with gospel quartets. By the time the early 60s rolled around, <b>Jake Hess </b>was a legendary singer of southern gospel music, having sung with <b>The Statesmen</b> from 1948 to 1963.<br /> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIL4cpb-cGuKheLNOa7ED32ZZ3ot5ZAMWbT67zNzjgxlKRDST1fmNu_gp0iuQ4ex2iyH6OTmdFJk_G16UF6v2DpgYRk2pcsDznEq-MFsGCg4LnzGAgRHtp_Q6PxwEzi4V2Cw9sSk0FNxp/s2000/hess_jake.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1652" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIL4cpb-cGuKheLNOa7ED32ZZ3ot5ZAMWbT67zNzjgxlKRDST1fmNu_gp0iuQ4ex2iyH6OTmdFJk_G16UF6v2DpgYRk2pcsDznEq-MFsGCg4LnzGAgRHtp_Q6PxwEzi4V2Cw9sSk0FNxp/w528-h640/hess_jake.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jake Hess</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>At that point, Hess had the idea to hand pick those that he considered to be the best singers at each position in order to create something of a "super group." Normally, a new group would be formed by auditioning young or "unattached" singers. But Hess approached successful, well-known singers <i>who were already established in other groups </i>and offered them the chance to be a part of this new endeavor. Those who initially said yes were: tenor singer <b>Sherrill Nielsen</b> from the <b>Speer Family;</b> baritone <b>Gary McSpadden</b> who was with the <b>Oak Ridge Boys </b>at the time; and a smooth bass singer from L.A. named <b>Armond Morales, </b>along with pianist <b>Henry Slaughter,</b> both coming over from the <b>Weatherford Quartet.</b> <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32wABVYRscPMxyjzEs4OUrAptdpyTJ2gGnZi8lUzhCrvjGoonz-UHxwRLcYpycH-4s89bT92gG3ajZqFFwWrPJYo5HG4JX6iRwI5QjjkaHPzMFSjalgzwACr2DPO2czcljU2xVWn3dxNC/s920/52778861_976683655861733_4082814422886645760_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="920" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32wABVYRscPMxyjzEs4OUrAptdpyTJ2gGnZi8lUzhCrvjGoonz-UHxwRLcYpycH-4s89bT92gG3ajZqFFwWrPJYo5HG4JX6iRwI5QjjkaHPzMFSjalgzwACr2DPO2czcljU2xVWn3dxNC/w400-h274/52778861_976683655861733_4082814422886645760_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />This new group would be called <b>Jake Hess and the Imperials.<br /><br /><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNd-GPMoGaXDjQrZoof7U8CuUDWB6cJ8_gG3rgA20fUavnbj6KclkyGGt8qFhQ74NXgX_YasZZdiX6nosrRHj8JDpaV0UMlfdrTftfhq5a1MxLuQYfVuCM_VoJs9w9UqgBjlZp3MGRcdSO/s1473/70558332_1106232296240201_8023000480886030336_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1473" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNd-GPMoGaXDjQrZoof7U8CuUDWB6cJ8_gG3rgA20fUavnbj6KclkyGGt8qFhQ74NXgX_YasZZdiX6nosrRHj8JDpaV0UMlfdrTftfhq5a1MxLuQYfVuCM_VoJs9w9UqgBjlZp3MGRcdSO/w400-h253/70558332_1106232296240201_8023000480886030336_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Jake Hess' </b>new venture would differ from other groups in a couple of important ways. First, there was a morals clause that members of <b>the Imperials </b>were required to sign. This was important because, unbeknownst to many devotees of southern gospel music, many of the members of the most popular groups...well...let's just say they didn't exactly walk the straight and narrow when not on stage. Alcoholism and womanizing was rampant. Hess had no patience with all of that. Later on, Hess decided to use electric guitars and drums on stage, which raised eyebrows and caused some grumbling back in the 60s. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYfedgp_d4H8824LNeuvfY16qzLNtZ1ebG_kt5jNrwsMsFfESWbv0DF8j1GqTUqFvDpGITA6NGX9YICYtJIQOLF71lbBUCIaWbf5GoYBRzxzqTOTe8eqli0KRfCHbF0rq0fbXKhkNG5D_/s720/153888999_232388701929563_834035895703584966_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYfedgp_d4H8824LNeuvfY16qzLNtZ1ebG_kt5jNrwsMsFfESWbv0DF8j1GqTUqFvDpGITA6NGX9YICYtJIQOLF71lbBUCIaWbf5GoYBRzxzqTOTe8eqli0KRfCHbF0rq0fbXKhkNG5D_/w400-h320/153888999_232388701929563_834035895703584966_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Jake Hess and the Imperials</b> hit the ground running, recording multiple albums <i>per year </i>in the early days of their existence. In 1966, Nielsen left the group and was replaced by a young singer with a crystal clear tenor voice from Lansing, Michigan by the name of <b>Jim Murray</b>. After that, Slaughter left the group and was replaced by an Italian New Yorker named <b>Joe Moscheo.</b> Next to go would be McSpadden (the only man who could ever say that he sang with the <b>Statesmen, Oak Ridge Boys, Imperials, </b>and <b>Bill Gaither Trio,</b> four huge franchise names in gospel music). McSpadden was replaced by <b>Roger Wiles</b>. But a huge blow came when doctors told <b>Jake Hess</b> that his health was such that he needed to come off the road, effectively forcing him into an early retirement. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu2tV0CWHZkeBoCdjnUKGUmTBjHfO5ENu5QMKbFK5Ra_z_OqyuDFYRt4qU44iuThdu9tkHFatzSV5ePDglK3h5HLfF2YQCwQCcwWpd-h0Y4LhU9yJdEdfKk03ZSWHOoMoRW69Woc6gBQj/s1115/gary%252Bblog%252BImperials4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu2tV0CWHZkeBoCdjnUKGUmTBjHfO5ENu5QMKbFK5Ra_z_OqyuDFYRt4qU44iuThdu9tkHFatzSV5ePDglK3h5HLfF2YQCwQCcwWpd-h0Y4LhU9yJdEdfKk03ZSWHOoMoRW69Woc6gBQj/w574-h640/gary%252Bblog%252BImperials4.jpg" width="574" /></a></div><br /><p>In the liner notes of the 1967 <b><i>New Dimensions </i></b>album, <b>Imperials </b>founder <b>Jake Hess </b>wrote these words:</p><p><span><i>"...most of my professional dreams were about organizing <b>the Imperials</b>. Now, if you ever had to turn a dream loose about the time it seemed to be the brightest, you know something of what I felt when the doctor said I couldn't travel with the boys anymore...I'm proud to have been associated with <b>the Imperials. </b>The next time you see them on stage you can say to yourself, old Hess may be at home in his living room, but there's his dream, in a new dimension, bigger than ever - Jim, Terry, Roger, Armond and Joe."<br /></i></span><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChZaB4HgKrx2do3TIfrj2cpPGRXwTfTBTNfd_T7QDyXHBD2mxCvwV5wTJYPD-gD6WoyY6RK6PVNmgwYEn46BgeJt9orRd5__3BKF-Tj0-trT4VtX1xJx_LCaGRnPWtD3ORUp88B79mGAE/s960/141119790_211884813979952_2810493727788586385_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="759" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiChZaB4HgKrx2do3TIfrj2cpPGRXwTfTBTNfd_T7QDyXHBD2mxCvwV5wTJYPD-gD6WoyY6RK6PVNmgwYEn46BgeJt9orRd5__3BKF-Tj0-trT4VtX1xJx_LCaGRnPWtD3ORUp88B79mGAE/w506-h640/141119790_211884813979952_2810493727788586385_n.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><br /><p><span>Hess' considerable shoes were capably filled by the son of a first-generation gospel singer from the deep south. His name was <b>Terry Blackwood.</b> <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIexsTirxsWrborKi22pxoO1W_QTKScJHeecmQad_NvSlV8nQMrSCrN2wTUG-1PmeAEg6Jc3Nvm6lb3wyh49zSUw9al9MEBDDrdopdRsapv90qd13R-AqHm8cVJsiL8Z6ZXZQglCHbZ_k8/s600/R-2794887-1391978469-2020.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIexsTirxsWrborKi22pxoO1W_QTKScJHeecmQad_NvSlV8nQMrSCrN2wTUG-1PmeAEg6Jc3Nvm6lb3wyh49zSUw9al9MEBDDrdopdRsapv90qd13R-AqHm8cVJsiL8Z6ZXZQglCHbZ_k8/w400-h400/R-2794887-1391978469-2020.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span>At this point, <b>the Imperials </b>began to experiment - ever so slightly - with music that was just beyond the boundaries of southern gospel. 1968's <b><i>New Dimensions</i></b> included the youth group favorite <i>He's Everything to Me </i>and a show tune/pop song titled <i>The Impossible Dream</i>. <b><i>Imperials...Now,</i></b> also released in '68, had a campfire/folk vibe and contained a cover of the secular hit <i>A Thing Called Love</i>. In 1969, they put out a groovy rendition of <b>The Rascals'</b> <i>People Got To Be Free</i> and a handful of youth-oriented <b>Ralph Carmichael </b>songs on their <b><i>Love is the Thing!</i></b> release. Little by little, <b>the Imperials</b> were becoming more "hip" and less "square." <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBwjh9pVcTMovdH86Ul40c7L6cRlxa1ddRFUjSZpMotsM9eQD2Q6J8Gna8ywDbqTv69l8BqM-afijEp7QGOiS9CZ3wxDZUCzpYWIScGFiyLC6sqmBG6eg5sxaLiz45-EM1zo8VBX9h76X/s542/Imperials-28.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="542" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBwjh9pVcTMovdH86Ul40c7L6cRlxa1ddRFUjSZpMotsM9eQD2Q6J8Gna8ywDbqTv69l8BqM-afijEp7QGOiS9CZ3wxDZUCzpYWIScGFiyLC6sqmBG6eg5sxaLiz45-EM1zo8VBX9h76X/w400-h274/Imperials-28.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With <b>Duke Ellington, Mike Douglas</b> and<b> Jimmy Dean</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUeqntfgbEbKV1I_2LlMCHfXqGYB0WMXa2gWGU0PFM7jtfavl2a_vAzy9r9abFEYzVqR2peqEr1LPq_l0UyfFUDq15wvk-Gmj4Rr-oJAoMqC3nmnmWotM6kLr8VKqdFdTdfboRpy8c1Gjz/s555/141281770_211883303980103_256365640096787777_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="555" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUeqntfgbEbKV1I_2LlMCHfXqGYB0WMXa2gWGU0PFM7jtfavl2a_vAzy9r9abFEYzVqR2peqEr1LPq_l0UyfFUDq15wvk-Gmj4Rr-oJAoMqC3nmnmWotM6kLr8VKqdFdTdfboRpy8c1Gjz/w400-h265/141281770_211883303980103_256365640096787777_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span><p></p><p><span>Their talent and impressive vocal blend began to open doors for them. It was during this time that <b>the Imperials </b>started doing live appearances and TV work with the likes of mainstream entertainers <b>Mike Douglas, Jimmy Dean </b>and <b>Carol Channing</b>. It's probably worth noting that they also became the backup vocal group for the King of Rock and Roll - <b>Elvis Aron Presley</b>. </span></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">vegas</h1><p><span>I wrote at length in a recent post about <b>Elvis Presley's</b> Christian upbringing and undying love for gospel music. To revisit those details, <a href="https://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2021/02/27-upon-this-rock-by-larry-norman-1969.html">click HERE</a>. <b>The Imperials</b> served as backing vocalists for Presley off and on (mostly on) from 1966 thru 1972. They backed him on the Grammy-winning <b><i>He Touched Me</i></b> album, which featured Elvis singing several Imperials songs, as arranged by the group; they backed him on the motion picture release <b><i>Elvis: That's the Way It Is</i></b>; and they backed him live on stage in Las Vegas after <b>the Jordanaires</b> decided to stay in Nashville and focus on being studio singers. </span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaFKDE_ykMCRZ_lZ7gEfht1aFeBj_RfXf7bXUcWp12PufVeK5UZMIzlo0e0-zReCDFAlgpG4u_hVUFq_16y1PgU-ycRSzwgoKKAo20WJ-Qc6oWGcNodiDCw_ZiJFlWZag1w3mtzbA3C3J/s954/129781919_2779427305658194_2504602233483204465_n+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="954" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaFKDE_ykMCRZ_lZ7gEfht1aFeBj_RfXf7bXUcWp12PufVeK5UZMIzlo0e0-zReCDFAlgpG4u_hVUFq_16y1PgU-ycRSzwgoKKAo20WJ-Qc6oWGcNodiDCw_ZiJFlWZag1w3mtzbA3C3J/w400-h216/129781919_2779427305658194_2504602233483204465_n+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Imperials</b> with Elvis in the motion picture <b><i>That's the Way It Is</i></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span><br /></span><p></p><p><span>So <b>the Jordanaires</b>, <b>the Imperials</b>, and <b>J.D. Sumner & the Stamps </b>all served as backing vocalists for Presley's Vegas gigs and live tours. He was the biggest pop music star in the world at that time, and yet it seems he was determined to have gospel singers on stage with him. I asked <b>Terry Blackwood</b>, who grew up in the same neck of the woods and whose name is synonymous with gospel music, to shed some light on the connection.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ4WDmR66fM-zR0veSihA691ksbi_EgI8uPykaVx05StJCnCoE_ELtXJA2wYdUxVsumf-5afQJ46qp8C7DHYHkEzCjg0mZ5IjY7h9ILvQq8ATHRLl0_R6vtM3hWy-6Ty4vIlH_LyQJAho/s2048/IMG_4506.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ4WDmR66fM-zR0veSihA691ksbi_EgI8uPykaVx05StJCnCoE_ELtXJA2wYdUxVsumf-5afQJ46qp8C7DHYHkEzCjg0mZ5IjY7h9ILvQq8ATHRLl0_R6vtM3hWy-6Ty4vIlH_LyQJAho/w480-h640/IMG_4506.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A replica of the church Elvis attended as a child stands today in Tupelo, MS</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span><br /></span><p></p><p><span>"Well, Elvis was born in Tupelo," Blackwood said, "and I was born in Mississippi as well. He lived in a little shotgun house and had nothing, no money. They were just poor people, as were the <b>Blackwood Brothers</b>. My people were sharecroppers down in Choctaw County, Mississippi. But there was a lot of Gospel influence in Elvis' life, even as a kid. He attended the Assembly of God church there." Terry said that when the Blackwoods relocated to Memphis, they began attending First Assembly of God on McLemore Avenue. By this time, Presley had been "discovered" and had moved to Memphis as well. "Whenever Elvis heard that the <b>Blackwood Brothers</b> were going to be at First Assembly," Terry recalls, "he would leave Graceland and go over to McLemore and listen to the <b>Blackwood Brothers</b> sing. And that's where I first met Elvis. So he'd been a gospel music fan all his life."<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T0d7arAm6eaTu2dCHHC-oLIgAkAozjEioyep7PB5PuwZKUI2h8-mF9YIkAC65BDS33p1eeH5mCAmC8qd1k6o5EYOl96rKxpWEO2JR-iMRmt7gddp6j5y_x6MLfm92B-Jeeu5-Cff_ye-/s1408/the%252520imperials%252520en%252520elvis%2525201970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1408" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T0d7arAm6eaTu2dCHHC-oLIgAkAozjEioyep7PB5PuwZKUI2h8-mF9YIkAC65BDS33p1eeH5mCAmC8qd1k6o5EYOl96rKxpWEO2JR-iMRmt7gddp6j5y_x6MLfm92B-Jeeu5-Cff_ye-/w400-h338/the%252520imperials%252520en%252520elvis%2525201970.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span><p></p><p><span>We've all heard by now of the all-night singing sessions in Presley's penthouse hotel suite in Vegas. But did that really happen? I asked <b>Terry Blackwood</b>. "Oh, yes," he maintained. "When we were in Vegas, we would finish the second show and he would invite us up to the penthouse and we would sing gospel music around the piano. We wouldn't sing his rock and roll hits, we would sing his favorite gospel songs." <br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbgx9wuzHASmcVWziiHrK15sLnJX07xyUpIkASmvJ6XdX3uA2HixTLFKEf_k-_AefcllGm47CIUma1KTPFf1flJ-tjZJqgrZVz2yf_XEaNRQ2HfrjScSSvB-oJquXvt4LSFkDUM_ZBtDg/s605/1971_february_25_with_larry_gatlin+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="605" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbgx9wuzHASmcVWziiHrK15sLnJX07xyUpIkASmvJ6XdX3uA2HixTLFKEf_k-_AefcllGm47CIUma1KTPFf1flJ-tjZJqgrZVz2yf_XEaNRQ2HfrjScSSvB-oJquXvt4LSFkDUM_ZBtDg/w400-h299/1971_february_25_with_larry_gatlin+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span><p></p><p><span>Blackwood told of one particular night when this impromptu singing session in Presley's suite seemed to really strike a chord in the heart of one of the invited guests: "There was one particular night that we were up there and <b>Mama Cass</b> of the <b>Mamas & the Papas</b> came upstairs, and she was standing around the piano with us. <b>Joe [Moscheo] </b>was at the piano and we were standing around, singing. Somebody suggested <i>Amazing Grace</i>. So we started singing <i>Amazing Grace</i> and I looked over at <b>Mama Cass </b>and she was crying. We finished all four verses of <i>Amazing Grace</i>, and after we finished, there was just a hush over the room. And she said, 'That's the first time I've sang that song since I was a little girl.'"<br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheRZQbEIskehrhzLj-v_fJwmVHC9Tj70eDw6SmSIiXB1P2ElvdqQwh8-QvOh-EeNhfRYw65GCaakapeGGrVj2xJdQnbgu_q-Pzdacch7EHzmcQ3ss8hyqt2PzsPk8jFeNPeOeVS_1sHmJ/s949/129722275_2779426975658227_775244461316039647_n+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="949" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheRZQbEIskehrhzLj-v_fJwmVHC9Tj70eDw6SmSIiXB1P2ElvdqQwh8-QvOh-EeNhfRYw65GCaakapeGGrVj2xJdQnbgu_q-Pzdacch7EHzmcQ3ss8hyqt2PzsPk8jFeNPeOeVS_1sHmJ/w400-h213/129722275_2779426975658227_775244461316039647_n+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span>"I really believe that the Holy Spirit was always pulling on Elvis' heart, I really do," said Blackwood. "Every time we would go to that penthouse and we would sing gospel music, he would get tears in his eyes. I really do think that Elvis had a good heart. But he was just overwhelmed with success. I don't think he sought it; I think he just wanted to make a record for his mother and from there it just exploded. It was just more than he could handle. </span>If Elvis could've made it as a gospel singer, I believe he would have. But by that time, the people demanded the songs that he had made famous." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzi6fRAHAM2oXSPO2ME6ARMrAqZLTFIhaogZJaBpQdCaARwAvHddBcpLZkSuJPcsyZbTXfV8M71S-ylwhavRqJ_V8Iguyvg_dp8AfrO1lhbV9vphm5LN46FlQnGKLY0xGAwy2bgUaUDkG/s3264/BeFunky-collageimpsEP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="3264" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzi6fRAHAM2oXSPO2ME6ARMrAqZLTFIhaogZJaBpQdCaARwAvHddBcpLZkSuJPcsyZbTXfV8M71S-ylwhavRqJ_V8Iguyvg_dp8AfrO1lhbV9vphm5LN46FlQnGKLY0xGAwy2bgUaUDkG/w400-h116/BeFunky-collageimpsEP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1jLFjhflT6KOmIL7KgOUIuC1s3-lPgtYoUh8vBO648yt835tJyiHiXAOpALJaSquNTSIL-oB2dILsKVMzf4DvDR2osgPJxapTUCij56p9pO8tOWFdcMUSBqAXIqq2HGeNjJQYCSAhVO0/s960/129601940_2779427048991553_6303673991262184954_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1jLFjhflT6KOmIL7KgOUIuC1s3-lPgtYoUh8vBO648yt835tJyiHiXAOpALJaSquNTSIL-oB2dILsKVMzf4DvDR2osgPJxapTUCij56p9pO8tOWFdcMUSBqAXIqq2HGeNjJQYCSAhVO0/w400-h225/129601940_2779427048991553_6303673991262184954_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I mentioned how unusual it was for a major secular star to include Christian music in his concerts. "He couldn't do a whole show of nothing but gospel, but he would always include songs like <i>How Great Thou Art,</i>" Terry said. "We would do songs like that on stage with him, and especially up in the penthouse, we'd do them. There were also a lot of black gospel groups that Elvis liked - <b>the Harmonizing Four</b> and all of those west coast black gospel groups. That's the kind of stuff we would listen to when we were in the penthouse."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GHvjV7YHL7QZAds3rTMKL0XKei6CJ53-8JSw2mXnnn7CE4CFgXlrYLmUZEfaG76z6rg4PCBrfq2Af2q960m_StS63lX1OnhLz2vNbV0IQW2VkNHEjPzmhWT0RZ5rcz_Pn1Py4KpZBWQS/s960/30594957_769917503205017_2136479061319352320_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="960" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GHvjV7YHL7QZAds3rTMKL0XKei6CJ53-8JSw2mXnnn7CE4CFgXlrYLmUZEfaG76z6rg4PCBrfq2Af2q960m_StS63lX1OnhLz2vNbV0IQW2VkNHEjPzmhWT0RZ5rcz_Pn1Py4KpZBWQS/w400-h369/30594957_769917503205017_2136479061319352320_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>During the Elvis years, <b>Roger Wiles </b>left the group and was replaced for a very brief time by <b>Larry Gatlin</b>. But Gatlin quickly got an opportunity to go to Nashville and focus on a country career. So he was replaced by <b>Greg Gordon</b>. <b>The Imperials</b> were looking and sounding less and less like your daddy's southern gospel group and more like some kind of gospel-pop crossover band. In 1970, it is true that the group released a single-disc live album, recorded in St. Louis, that was in many ways a throwback to their southern gospel roots. But then came <i><b>Time to Get It Together.</b></i> <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9JbGnnVU90aF55ctUkwC5zRAxJHW07fA2fdxaHBv6dPDmPoik6p_njUDLKmtvcf4-nvGwCweUEkUNUH9elfKiX3rhMDrGpnegxcIeQ0zmSXIx604VyAKEuFCjtJOUO2vBrASfKgkXHns/s2048/BeFunky-collagetkjkjtmkloooo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="2048" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9JbGnnVU90aF55ctUkwC5zRAxJHW07fA2fdxaHBv6dPDmPoik6p_njUDLKmtvcf4-nvGwCweUEkUNUH9elfKiX3rhMDrGpnegxcIeQ0zmSXIx604VyAKEuFCjtJOUO2vBrASfKgkXHns/w400-h205/BeFunky-collagetkjkjtmkloooo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The iconic "One Way" graphic on the front cover...the modern illustration of a hipper-looking group on the back cover...and especially the songs - secular covers of the likes of <b>Simon & Garfunkel </b>and <b>The Beatles</b>, as well as Jesus Rock written by <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>Michael Omartian</b>...it all combined to signal that <b>the Imperials</b> were doing a new thing.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF35vWqVi-abgnDD14PdA_at56j3joKn5tRlNlN3mca2gmQGYv-U_3_DKor216owTw5ugu8j7Tlp7cv-OjTuRWGUqviVZf3dc8ejRMo2BLbsLk9_0IdQcerkTo2PRwa2ott2Dq7Uub6Jn/s773/18485469_10155306445189233_456967161216796729_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="773" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF35vWqVi-abgnDD14PdA_at56j3joKn5tRlNlN3mca2gmQGYv-U_3_DKor216owTw5ugu8j7Tlp7cv-OjTuRWGUqviVZf3dc8ejRMo2BLbsLk9_0IdQcerkTo2PRwa2ott2Dq7Uub6Jn/w400-h311/18485469_10155306445189233_456967161216796729_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>"I think we had gotten into kind of a rut with the typical four-part southern gospel harmonies," <b>Terry Blackwood </b>admitted. "We wanted to stretch ourselves and try something new. I would say that there was an attempt to change the music, yes, to make us different from the rest of the southern gospel crowd. </p><p>Little did they know just <i>how</i> different. They weren't aware of it quite yet, but they were getting ready to break the color barrier.<br /><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">bridges</h1><p></p><p><br />"I loved Andrae," said <b>Sherman Andrus</b>. He was talking, of course, about <b>Andrae Crouch</b>, songwriter, singer, musician and bridge builder. Andrus continued: "I give Andrae most of the credit for my being able to do what I did. I came from Louisiana, that's where I was born. And I went out to California when I was about 18 years old, and I didn't know anybody. And Andrae heard me sing in a choir. And he said if he ever got a male group, he wanted to talk to me. At that time, he had a mixed groups of girls and guys called <b>The COGICS</b> (the Church of God in Christ Singers). So he just heard me in a church, singing in the choir, and he introduced himself to me. You know, everybody was real friendly back then." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47_Apge-uD-5UpweMx2pOUYI_E0dRJ62JLCPw3cPenmvgBdqFekoa84U3mHVc1sFYlhMYY054vGLqOIcbL9UV0l4DwXaQqiUod_O784dOSVqi1CwJaxTJu2ev8UNjirmPsT76epzXa8-V/s452/2015-01-16-AndraeCrouch2015-thumb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="452" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47_Apge-uD-5UpweMx2pOUYI_E0dRJ62JLCPw3cPenmvgBdqFekoa84U3mHVc1sFYlhMYY054vGLqOIcbL9UV0l4DwXaQqiUod_O784dOSVqi1CwJaxTJu2ev8UNjirmPsT76epzXa8-V/w400-h301/2015-01-16-AndraeCrouch2015-thumb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Well, that might've been more than just a friendly personality on Andrae's part. I think it might've been a divinely-inspired appointment.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzJAVEkHBKQIHezqLiRI78M3eKZgWc8fNgi90xTBjq6KqDUaE6K0PlGc8J3BRASF9CIolC6mItEfLZqU7wp7uy8YjRb5nvnRHYKmMyuCP_7g8_-IcSMMu8eFeij8fiMqaRtUpWMw5jKtBf/s200/original_disciples.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="200" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzJAVEkHBKQIHezqLiRI78M3eKZgWc8fNgi90xTBjq6KqDUaE6K0PlGc8J3BRASF9CIolC6mItEfLZqU7wp7uy8YjRb5nvnRHYKmMyuCP_7g8_-IcSMMu8eFeij8fiMqaRtUpWMw5jKtBf/w200-h151/original_disciples.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p>"Well, I was in the National Guard," Sherman said, "and I went away on active duty. But when I came back from the Guard, Andrae had already contacted my sister and said he had put a male group together and he wanted me to sing. And when I joined, he made me the lead singer of the group." Sherman's trademark humility was on display when he added, "He obviously heard something that nobody else heard!"<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtmZ9nkzxSm6v_AuH5NEwl0gRYsOTN3ViWcL4kUnVGabV58g2J337vhDdIB0W9Q7vbzU_55SyDvG9VRtkPLjEKi2O2aGVrbXsPLBh60LpIldbl6cHVTxgavCd9DeYsMxwljSbWZImEhHP/s1616/10499468_10203630139646779_8527347927421090856_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1616" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDtmZ9nkzxSm6v_AuH5NEwl0gRYsOTN3ViWcL4kUnVGabV58g2J337vhDdIB0W9Q7vbzU_55SyDvG9VRtkPLjEKi2O2aGVrbXsPLBh60LpIldbl6cHVTxgavCd9DeYsMxwljSbWZImEhHP/w400-h249/10499468_10203630139646779_8527347927421090856_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /><br />Sherman joined Andrae, <b>Bili Thedford, Perry Morgan</b> and <b>Ruben Fernandez</b> to form <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b>, a pivotal, contemporary group that would form a bridge between black gospel and Jesus music. "The guys were great," Andrus said, "but Andrae's tutelage was the thing that really helped me. See, he was contemporary. He was trying to have a contemporary group, and I had just come from the South where I was trying to sing like all the old black quartets, with all of this growling and carrying on, and he and his sister Sandra both would always tell me, <i>'No, no, no, don't sing like that. Use your pretty voice!'</i> I mean, I was singing like what I heard growing up! But Andrae told me to sing the pretty stuff and said he would sing the hard stuff. And so that's how I evolved into that group."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRQ7v2UBetghSy8QF33U2X1UdHFvTPTOVBpNJl0ObH580HK13fLa5qcmcyOKYsIHIltZnuYe719L5Ab0TwC1Tr1K8TQo2EFmU-8NBlNJoTqxlK4-XJiMqPNonSnbY7RAHLC2shVOB8SLN/s640/andrae_crouch_take_the_message_everywhere_original.sized_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRQ7v2UBetghSy8QF33U2X1UdHFvTPTOVBpNJl0ObH580HK13fLa5qcmcyOKYsIHIltZnuYe719L5Ab0TwC1Tr1K8TQo2EFmU-8NBlNJoTqxlK4-XJiMqPNonSnbY7RAHLC2shVOB8SLN/w400-h400/andrae_crouch_take_the_message_everywhere_original.sized_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Sherman told me the hardest thing he ever did was to leave <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b>. "Because there was no problem," he explained. "It's just that God has a way of troubling the water. You don't know why you feel the way you feel, you just know that He has something else for you. I just knew it was best for me to get out of the group."</p><p>Sherman said that in the end, he felt that his departure ended up being good for both Andrae and himself. "My dream was to make a living for my family and to minister for my entire life through music," he said. "And I knew I couldn't do that with Andrae. But when I went with <b>the Imperials</b>, that introduced me to a whole different sector of the country." <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHy0NXzOPYmgSeWxmBGYdwSJTGU1sVOEpD2Wjj13wzdm9n7bIAoH0KWJDOj5i0AmncSA8Jsi4N_Mjdh07xBzbNtIOfneGSizPEaLb_CZTmN3H4j2rHofK7j6QTu4WEsTzFoUmk-HhQVtGk/s2000/16836589_10210283088027048_3724433504713202410_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHy0NXzOPYmgSeWxmBGYdwSJTGU1sVOEpD2Wjj13wzdm9n7bIAoH0KWJDOj5i0AmncSA8Jsi4N_Mjdh07xBzbNtIOfneGSizPEaLb_CZTmN3H4j2rHofK7j6QTu4WEsTzFoUmk-HhQVtGk/w400-h320/16836589_10210283088027048_3724433504713202410_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>So <b>Sherman Andrus</b> ended up as the only human alive to have been a member of two of the most dynamic, storied franchises in Christian music history. And in so doing, he helped <b>the Imperials</b> break the color barrier in southern gospel music. "Sherman was the first black man, to my knowledge, to ever be in a southern gospel quartet," his friend and former musical mate <b>Terry Blackwood</b> stated. Perhaps remembering briefly what the world was like in the early 70s, Blackwood said, "We took a chance." </p><p>"Adding Sherman to the group was <b>Bob MacKenzie's</b> idea," said Blackwood. "Sherman had been with Andrae and was working as a soloist, and MacKenzie said, 'I know a guy who would probably fit right into the group.' So when <b>Greg Gordon</b> left, Joe called Sherman and asked if he would be interested."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQ51fNIpjcbyLYjZTXEO_tyiAktdHj8bvX91U1rvirb-K5Ao7iU3UeRdJKRG6yIGii5AfsohnLSPcGj-2tFkns8C5dopr2xqPbdchSGAiDl-eva_JT557Ye5ecIuTlU9clhW45hBzAnve/s600/R-4809095-1376188771-9067.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQ51fNIpjcbyLYjZTXEO_tyiAktdHj8bvX91U1rvirb-K5Ao7iU3UeRdJKRG6yIGii5AfsohnLSPcGj-2tFkns8C5dopr2xqPbdchSGAiDl-eva_JT557Ye5ecIuTlU9clhW45hBzAnve/w400-h400/R-4809095-1376188771-9067.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Andrus admits to having been quite nervous about the audition.</p><p>"When I joined the group, they were the greatest voices you'll ever hear in any kind of group," Sherman said. "They actually sent for me to come and audition. And because I hadn't been singing much, I didn't think I had done a good job. But they wanted me. And my wife Winnie asked me, 'Well, what do you think?' And I told her I felt like I was singing for my life! Now, don't get this wrong, and I don't mean this in a braggadocios way, but on the West Coast with Andrae, I was the lead singer and everything revolved around me. And I didn't have to learn parts or anything, I was it! But these guys? Everybody could sing!"</p><p>"I think at that time, Sherman was anxious to do it," said <b>Terry Blackwood</b>. "Obviously, he had never been in a white group before. It was a big change for him and a big change for us."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVQlmZfgRKDI1DkoTNtiX3rC46wv7cs-gGdcXDZOs3_Vn3gDpi6gEYJR52MlX2ry_-Crszg-Jn08zi6Yhonju8xC9GJ4lxY0ZEu4Ca_UjhpVO4NS-zWYmakM74UECn0ymhPzZay2TX-bO/s1077/812727_498495103525034_2083925885_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="1077" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVQlmZfgRKDI1DkoTNtiX3rC46wv7cs-gGdcXDZOs3_Vn3gDpi6gEYJR52MlX2ry_-Crszg-Jn08zi6Yhonju8xC9GJ4lxY0ZEu4Ca_UjhpVO4NS-zWYmakM74UECn0ymhPzZay2TX-bO/w400-h279/812727_498495103525034_2083925885_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>And it would mark the second time that <b>Sherman Andrus</b> had been a part of a group of bridge builders. Andrae's group found great success building bridges between the black church and the Jesus people, which was no small task. But <b>the Imperials</b> had an equally tough task at hand: building bridges between southern gospel culture (which permeated much of the traditional church world at that time) and this vast audience of believers out there who were ready for a cultural expression with which they could identify. And to be a visible demonstration of the unity that could be achieved where race relations were concerned. Win-win. </p><p>As I write this post in 2021, there's been a lot of talk in recent days about racists, race in America, systemic racism, etc. Millennials and Gen Z can be forgiven, perhaps, because they are simply believing what they've been told in public schools and higher ed, or what they hear from their media and pop culture sources. But people my age have short memories all of a sudden. I remember when there was clear, identifiable racism being practiced and expressed as part of daily life. Having been born in 1962, I was alive and walking around on the planet when segregation was still a thing...when separate rest rooms and water fountains were still a thing. I grew up in Alabama, where my favorite college football team (<i>Roll Tide!</i>) did not have a single black player until 1971. We have traveled such an incredible distance. And I think the story today should not be 'How many racists are left?' but rather, 'Look how far we've come!' <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAZoYexLz6YWprFcDW8eGl4yzvekZ8oEWgB_tuNo9BDnDXTKz16TUzIqoiwsijRmQRcduLL-3tpmsv-iCpz4fMwdlkPo4h8D39nfbtXqvQHmbzDQsAwqejx8F5f7vEsM7hvr0Nln7uLnh/s1082/861417_499302630110948_1574926118_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="1082" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAZoYexLz6YWprFcDW8eGl4yzvekZ8oEWgB_tuNo9BDnDXTKz16TUzIqoiwsijRmQRcduLL-3tpmsv-iCpz4fMwdlkPo4h8D39nfbtXqvQHmbzDQsAwqejx8F5f7vEsM7hvr0Nln7uLnh/w400-h276/861417_499302630110948_1574926118_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>But yes, things were still tenuous in the early 70s, and <b>Terry Blackwood</b> was right when he said <b>the Imperials</b> took a chance by adding Andrus to the lineup. I asked Terry how <b>the Imperials'</b> audience responded to Sherman. "Our audiences loved him," he answered. "They responded very positively to him. In fact, I never heard one word of negative feedback. At least not to us. Some of the southern gospel people may have had a problem with it, but they wouldn't tell us that. I imagine it was just something that was said in the back rooms, I don't know. But having Sherman in the group never hurt us at all, especially not with the people. As someone has said, <i>singers don't buy tickets, people do</i>. So when you're needing to sell tickets for concerts, you want the congregation, the people, to buy the tickets. And I think we had great success with Sherman. <br /><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;">tcb</h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">Andrus told me that one thing most people probably would not have guessed is that he was actually more conservative than the other guys in the group. He joined<b> the Imperials</b> during the tail end of the Elvis years, and singing in Vegas sort of ate away at his conscience at first. "I grew up with the idea that if you sang anything but gospel music, you were gonna bust hell wide open," Andrus told me, with a smile in his voice. "So in Las Vegas, I was the most uncomfortable guy on stage! I did what I was supposed to do, but it frightened me because of my upbringing. So that was part of what the guys learned about me as we went along. But I was very conservative."<br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhue5rKeOhunzV9ZsdvYnz0loNrpyQSToWcvjbVymfOg6Ug0YdYhNzlTNGVtSctbcAusSjOvE62MqO4c9DDe_qdnVcg1RqEN62PUyEVpdO6YaXlXPcGpO8vxqlE-Hhkj1a5-GhKGjtK3iQP/s618/elvis-sign-at-international.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="618" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhue5rKeOhunzV9ZsdvYnz0loNrpyQSToWcvjbVymfOg6Ug0YdYhNzlTNGVtSctbcAusSjOvE62MqO4c9DDe_qdnVcg1RqEN62PUyEVpdO6YaXlXPcGpO8vxqlE-Hhkj1a5-GhKGjtK3iQP/w400-h265/elvis-sign-at-international.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br />Andrus was able to take part in the whole Elvis experience during his early days with<b> the Imperials</b>. There are literally thousands of stories out there about Presley's legendary generosity. Here's one more from <b>Sherman Andrus</b>:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">"Elvis made me feel so special. I didn't think he would be as outgoing with me as he was. But he was just like a big country boy. And he welcomed me the minute the guys brought me to his suite. He said, 'Now you're one of us. You're a member of the Memphis Mafia.' And I joked around with him, and I said, 'Yeah, but all the guys that you say are part of the Memphis Mafia, you give these TCB chains to. And I don't have one.' And he said, 'I'm gonna get you one.' A few nights later we were all at the Desert Inn backing up <b>Jimmy Dean</b>. Elvis waited until the curtains were almost opened, and he put these jewelry boxes in each of our hands. So when the curtain opened, there we stood with jewelry boxes in our hands. So we did our little segment and went back to the green room, and when we checked our boxes, everybody had a bracelet. Except for me. I had a bracelet <i>and</i> a TCB necklace. The guy was very thoughtful."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDIiYSR6JNOUerrfG1RJmY_u0ZaNpW3oUU9dPiO5a1QsyKssYgfY5qhMs3uqo4Ram6r5QScICTxpyyvf31T4moWh_iAgIUktq6UaBLgGjJCa_dQ0hkg2Fw_irAptQEwkP02MeWcmzUgCL/s1500/712nxuLbZRL._SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1485" data-original-width="1500" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDIiYSR6JNOUerrfG1RJmY_u0ZaNpW3oUU9dPiO5a1QsyKssYgfY5qhMs3uqo4Ram6r5QScICTxpyyvf31T4moWh_iAgIUktq6UaBLgGjJCa_dQ0hkg2Fw_irAptQEwkP02MeWcmzUgCL/w400-h396/712nxuLbZRL._SL1500_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">Sherman agrees with Terry that there was more to Elvis than <i>Jailhouse Rock</i> and <i>Blue Suede Shoes</i>. Something much deeper. In fact, strange as it might sound, Andrus told me he believes Presley was actually anointed by God to do what he did. "I talked to him about that," Andrus revealed. "I said, 'I have never seen anybody loved the way you are.' People just loved him. I told him, 'It's not a natural thing. That's a God-given thing. That's not something a man could give to you. They love you because God's hand is on you.' And he agreed with me."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">"He was quite a guy," Sherman recalls. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">This man from conservative Louisiana, who felt entirely uncomfortable about even singing in Las Vegas hotels told me, "I thank God that we were able to sing with him. It was one of the great thrills of my life, getting to hang with Elvis and just to see how God blessed him."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">Well, all good things usually come to an end, and the time did come when <b>the Imperials</b> just could no longer afford to be at <b>Colonel Tom Parker's</b> beck and call any longer. <br /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7TbAI4iVnud7N4PGzY2UoF8MzlFBefsACdgW1vXgYe6LLPsLVNww9UWrhDGrUsr3dhywQ7gI5X6MnCuRjqeyJgfQxInHlMYJ1CpeKJSvP1M47QRWyOG6jNph99D5RTrrPtXHxeBBe0ep/s1276/maxresdefault+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="1276" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7TbAI4iVnud7N4PGzY2UoF8MzlFBefsACdgW1vXgYe6LLPsLVNww9UWrhDGrUsr3dhywQ7gI5X6MnCuRjqeyJgfQxInHlMYJ1CpeKJSvP1M47QRWyOG6jNph99D5RTrrPtXHxeBBe0ep/w400-h185/maxresdefault+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colonel Tom Parker with Elvis</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">"When you worked with Elvis, you kind of just had to put the rest of your contacts on hold until he called," explained <b>Terry Blackwood</b>. "If he called, great. But if he didn't, you just sat there by the phone waiting for a call. Actually, it wasn't Elvis that would call you, it was <b>Tom Diskin</b>, <b>Colonel Tom Parker's </b>assistant. In fact, I never spoke a word to the Colonel. Never. Joe was actually the spokesman for the group; he's the one who kind of got us into the Elvis arena. Joe's the one who talked for the group, but I don't think he ever talked to the Colonel either! He talked to <b>Tom Diskin</b>, his assistant, because the Colonel wouldn't talk to us! Joe would ask the Colonel a question, and then the Colonel would lean over to Tom and say,<i> 'Tell him I said such-and-such.</i>'" Blackwood chuckled as he said, "I don't think he was necessarily trying to be mean, but he made it seem like, <i>'You know what, you guys aren't really necessary. We could find anybody to do this.' "<br /><br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMlqILL6_wdr9n-ESWful_63JQOMY7ctSMf5gxmscUs5Kd__ZoGJReVqhfvfHtFIcTBmzXGXDK-uDLiXkn_NsJwVeboGnF8GeBdGMjmffjNguBNBKKeDZbI2SndG5XevVa83ibtNdCVtd/s1200/colonel-tom-parker-1909---1997-the-dutch-born-manager-of-entertainer-elvis-presely_photo-by-frank-edwards_fotos-international_getty-images-square.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMlqILL6_wdr9n-ESWful_63JQOMY7ctSMf5gxmscUs5Kd__ZoGJReVqhfvfHtFIcTBmzXGXDK-uDLiXkn_NsJwVeboGnF8GeBdGMjmffjNguBNBKKeDZbI2SndG5XevVa83ibtNdCVtd/w400-h400/colonel-tom-parker-1909---1997-the-dutch-born-manager-of-entertainer-elvis-presely_photo-by-frank-edwards_fotos-international_getty-images-square.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">"He didn't realize that he had probably the best male group he could get," <b>Terry Blackwood</b> stated. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><b>The Imperials</b> ceased working with <b>Elvis Presley</b> due to scheduling conflicts. Within a year, they would stop backing <b>Jimmy Dean</b> as well.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><h1 style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">'lost our marbles'</h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br />"The very first album I did with <b>the Imperials</b> had a brown cover and was just called <b><i><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/07/81-imperials-by-imperials.html">Imperials</a></i></b>," Andrus recalls. "And it would be perfect for today. But back then, people really thought that we had messed up!" Sherman said the group wanted his first outing to be something special, because there were rumors and stories going around within the industry about how Sherman being with <b>the Imperials</b> just might "mess everything up." "So we put out this album in 1972," he said, "with songs written by <i>Kris Kristofferson, Stevie Wonder, Ray Stevens, Richard Carpenter</i> and <i>Carole King</i>. I think we only had one or two songs that were outright gospel. But the album's production was incredible. The guy who wrote out all of the arrangements was a man named <b>Bergen White</b>." <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgp-tzSagq2nEWHgr4syJ1PXFRoUpobkrQWvHZp-oPunqCINnlSZJPlXZI7XPsPQsfJhmHV8r9MD1G95mIrYxbuGA689kR5FMjhyphenhyphenkulYaqkw7T0EUk6nD8ScENwPAKATZS_Gr2JGOnAQJ/s600/R-2682551-1296396984.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="597" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgp-tzSagq2nEWHgr4syJ1PXFRoUpobkrQWvHZp-oPunqCINnlSZJPlXZI7XPsPQsfJhmHV8r9MD1G95mIrYxbuGA689kR5FMjhyphenhyphenkulYaqkw7T0EUk6nD8ScENwPAKATZS_Gr2JGOnAQJ/w398-h400/R-2682551-1296396984.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">"But when that album came out, people thought we had lost our marbles," Sherman said. "I loved the production on it, and it would be great for now. But it wasn't received so well back then. That record didn't do anything."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;">"So then here comes the live album," said Andrus.<br /> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><h1 style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">side 1</h1><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /><u></u></p><span style="background-color: white;">Let's drop the needle on <i><b>Imperials Live. <br /><br /></b></i></span><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQUFlSj7No8phC6wavEgRRsEiiEsuKxKmqwLUv_E694mGiRMNX4ZCPwp292Duy8pzgctzKRxTSMnTOl5MnhHEYt7fJVJRjORfn9QQc1zEcqr_zmNCKOGkqKqfU3JmqHl1uVli4tCrTRjv/s600/R-5573766-1396936649-3081.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQUFlSj7No8phC6wavEgRRsEiiEsuKxKmqwLUv_E694mGiRMNX4ZCPwp292Duy8pzgctzKRxTSMnTOl5MnhHEYt7fJVJRjORfn9QQc1zEcqr_zmNCKOGkqKqfU3JmqHl1uVli4tCrTRjv/w400-h400/R-5573766-1396936649-3081.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></b><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">After the briefest of introductions and a rambunctious drum fill, <b>the Imperials</b> tear into <i>Time to Get It Together.</i> They had previously recorded this song as the title track of their 1971 album, but here it has more energy. In fact, counting the various medleys, this 2-album set contains 20 different songs, and fourteen of them were repeats from earlier LPs. But the versions contained here on <b><i>Live</i></b> were more intense, more dynamic, and had more of a rock and roll swagger than the studio versions.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">This song, written by <b>Smokey Roberds</b> and also recorded by <b>Leslie Uggams</b> and <b>Leonard Nimoy</b> (!), never won any awards for being deep...but it does contain phrases and sentiments that were right in line with what was happening with young people of the era. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>There's a whole lot of people been tryin' to get it together</i></div><div><i>Like you and me, that's all we need to be free</i></div><div><i>Just a little more time to get it together<br /><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN02-jj-oUw6IbBkKukiF9y0GFnqLoW7lX5fcUiSebeZlomfmL7Wsq4Zv3E0IAVojjG7m5_CvbZwt8HfirL0QF5PqxLoin-PMKaZgGIdskgoyGsrEUNIoA8N6g3xo5hBJxlBUFhYabvQMx/s2048/IMG_1824+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1963" data-original-width="2048" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN02-jj-oUw6IbBkKukiF9y0GFnqLoW7lX5fcUiSebeZlomfmL7Wsq4Zv3E0IAVojjG7m5_CvbZwt8HfirL0QF5PqxLoin-PMKaZgGIdskgoyGsrEUNIoA8N6g3xo5hBJxlBUFhYabvQMx/w400-h384/IMG_1824+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, a stronger appeal to "the youth" was a river that ran thru this project from one end to the other. Side One alone would include three spiritually-aware pop covers, as well as <b>Imperials</b> versions of songs by the holy trinity of Jesus Movement artists - <b>Larry Norman, Love Song</b> and <b>Andrae Crouch</b>. There was clearly a shift taking place here in an attempt to broaden <b>the Imperials'</b> audience. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn3D8a0vo2GPZ-uJdKE1NEo79KEghoZSL9W8kXqbcq3W1_4ukUROBRnXcL23hCf8fi7uU1nNEcggWJ0nAgejpEXUwXB1BinaLHRIZIeH3OJP0l5nmm74NaoGsSwgbBWTd7u-Bfigesi_m/s960/22405377_10213066150042678_6939490207510794626_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="876" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFn3D8a0vo2GPZ-uJdKE1NEo79KEghoZSL9W8kXqbcq3W1_4ukUROBRnXcL23hCf8fi7uU1nNEcggWJ0nAgejpEXUwXB1BinaLHRIZIeH3OJP0l5nmm74NaoGsSwgbBWTd7u-Bfigesi_m/w365-h400/22405377_10213066150042678_6939490207510794626_n.jpg" width="365" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I asked <b>Sherman Andrus</b> if that was by design - a strategy on the part of the group - or did it just happen organically? "I think it was a strategy," Sherman replied. "We were trying to be different from everybody else." Of course, when he says <i>different from everybody else</i>, he's referring to the other groups in southern gospel. So to be different from them would necessitate becoming more like the Jesus Music bands that were gaining a foothold in California and other pockets around the country at that time. "Everything was always<i> iffy</i> with <b>the Imperials</b>," Andrus said. "We didn't dress like everybody else, and some of the guys had long hair, and all of these things were no-no's back then! We started to play a lot of colleges, especially after I got in the group. It made us more college-friendly. Colleges and universities were a market that, up to that time, had been untouched. But we had the right look. And we even had a band called <b>Solid Rock</b>! It was a fun time for the most part. There were some difficulties, but for the most part it was just fun."<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9Ew_bUexFg0qsMb-NDM2cJ8gFwuXtnALLPsJEkS9GhXmTuCMPhMNBDX9XC-pI6Y8Z7Wqe0nC1weJHcoQ-eIfrrX1L-AlolRdE2CSLdUmEHNnACmJH4P0PpFpFkuP30HS4O8Q4HNY4cKj/s1172/26232070_1500366886748162_6010967958661906308_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1172" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9Ew_bUexFg0qsMb-NDM2cJ8gFwuXtnALLPsJEkS9GhXmTuCMPhMNBDX9XC-pI6Y8Z7Wqe0nC1weJHcoQ-eIfrrX1L-AlolRdE2CSLdUmEHNnACmJH4P0PpFpFkuP30HS4O8Q4HNY4cKj/w400-h295/26232070_1500366886748162_6010967958661906308_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><i>A Thing Called Love</i> was technically a secular song, but it put forth a Christian message. It was recorded by <b>Elvis, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Jimmy Dean</b>, and <b>Jerry Reed</b> (the song's writer). And I know I'm biased...but the only one of those mainstream heavyweights that even <i>approached</i> <b>the Imperials'</b> version was Elvis. And that's because <i>they</i> were backing him up and he was using <i>their</i> arrangement. The vocal blend is impressive, with Armond Morales' melodic bass supplying the bottom end. Highly recognizable is the familiar sound of <b>Joe Moscheo's</b> electric piano. That's a Wurlitzer, not a Rhodes. I've owned three Wurlitzers in my lifetime and used to play them all over the place, so I'd know that sound anywhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>As many songs have done before and since,<i> A Thing Called Love</i> does its best to describe true, lasting love. And does a pretty good job of it...<br /><br /><i>Can't see it with your eyes, hold it in your hand<br />Like the wind that covers our land<br />Strong enough to rule the heart of any man<br />This thing called love<br />It can lift you up, it can put you down<br />Take your world and turn it all around<br />Ever since time, nothing's ever been found stronger than love<br /><br /><br /></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzVukmURHTboi7zuSr6Q1n6UBgXpWIIKOm3Uq0qHNz1XoeyTiNd4bXdGZu5eKKSblueWZS_lFYihYSa-K4kXVeF5e5G6OPso6hr-uQo8SxT5F4fFxTHYC1WJx7_VQI9z4a1YJTka8afnh/s2048/IMG_1829+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1987" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzVukmURHTboi7zuSr6Q1n6UBgXpWIIKOm3Uq0qHNz1XoeyTiNd4bXdGZu5eKKSblueWZS_lFYihYSa-K4kXVeF5e5G6OPso6hr-uQo8SxT5F4fFxTHYC1WJx7_VQI9z4a1YJTka8afnh/w388-h400/IMG_1829+%25282%2529.JPG" width="388" /></a></div><br /><br />Cue up the Jesus Music heavy hitters. Next, <b>the Imperials</b> would cover songs by <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>Andrae Crouch. Terry Blackwood</b> was featured over a driving beat on Norman's youth group anthem, <i>Sweet Sweet Song of Salvation</i>. I asked Terry if the songs they chose to record caused young people from the Jesus Movement to give <b>the Imperials </b>a listen. "Of course, yes," he answered, enthusiastically. And then he told a story about what I can only assume was the famed <b>Explo '72</b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently, <b>the Imperials </b>were not on the bill to sing at <b>Explo '72.</b> But they were there.<br /><br /><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAoj8uXbV86ZDbS6RGJmh1k79Ge0tD8UUt5ylRFhA4C1MKPbiJIJEnyjZv5yCwD6fv5bOn0qPb_v21fMivJux0kNx9fw1DmWPiYR-ah0CLQGce4JnkgLNn18MWmWYmFGTupTdjG6yiuzH/s2820/BeFunky-collagetkjkj.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="2820" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAoj8uXbV86ZDbS6RGJmh1k79Ge0tD8UUt5ylRFhA4C1MKPbiJIJEnyjZv5yCwD6fv5bOn0qPb_v21fMivJux0kNx9fw1DmWPiYR-ah0CLQGce4JnkgLNn18MWmWYmFGTupTdjG6yiuzH/w400-h159/BeFunky-collagetkjkj.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Andrae Crouch</b> and <b>Larry Norman</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>"The first Jesus festival that I can remember was in Dallas, Texas," said Blackwood. "At the time we were working with <b>Jimmy Dean</b> at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas. We would sing in this really fine hotel, and then when that gig was up, we rode the bus over to the Jesus festival, right there in Dallas. That's where <b>Larry Norman </b>sat on the stage, barefoot, and <b>Andrae Crouch</b> sang. Most all the Jesus people were there for that festival. And later, we ended up doing just about every one of the festivals. There was <b>Jesus Northwest,</b> there was <b>Fishnet</b> in Virginia, we did all of those. And I think that working with people like <b>Larry Norman</b> allowed us to see that there was a huge world out there besides southern gospel. And being at those festivals showed us that we could branch out a little, musically, ourselves. And so we did."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT9AkzzOTP2q-sBF1n2kCPx5S8AQhKiC0i-3VZhaRqnoqaBSp1FYQebVbaofOI-uKoIT_P9ED7igcLO8SBBTwXyvjjLjWaeRZ5XiGjMzOcDLR2RuIDJiHCWqryHpTq33I21BqpHahFjqn/s524/R-4809095-1376188771-9067.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="332" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT9AkzzOTP2q-sBF1n2kCPx5S8AQhKiC0i-3VZhaRqnoqaBSp1FYQebVbaofOI-uKoIT_P9ED7igcLO8SBBTwXyvjjLjWaeRZ5XiGjMzOcDLR2RuIDJiHCWqryHpTq33I21BqpHahFjqn/w406-h640/R-4809095-1376188771-9067.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" width="406" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><br /></div><div><b>Sherman Andrus</b> gets his first turn in the spotlight on this album - in a <i>big</i> way - on <i>I've Got Confidence.</i> It's a song that <b>the Imperials</b> recorded on <b><i>Love is the Thing!</i></b> before they ever met Sherman...and a song that Sherman sang and recorded before he ever met <b>the Imperials</b>. "Yeah, even though Andrae wrote <i>I've Got Confidence,</i> I was the first person to ever record it," Sherman noted. "That was the title song of a solo album that I did back in '67 or '68. It was on the Benson label, Impact Records, same as <b>the Imperials,</b> and <b>Bob MacKenzie </b>was the producer. Bob came out to California and he signed me up to do that because Andrae's group was on Light Records that was owned by <b>Ralph Carmichael.</b> And Benson couldn't get the group, so they just signed me."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQnL4563wGpiGcXfnrD1t0GZIfNOwz-E2B86o2ZC7gmyQWKxAKOOxgtfK6S0oeEJ-UtU9Sl90Dgekpii_kdiV3J0b9X0VTjXf0T8rmIIfQ6ACCiwUiY-1dAUT42xLacgR0Wsq3VYpnb_LX/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-008+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1628" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQnL4563wGpiGcXfnrD1t0GZIfNOwz-E2B86o2ZC7gmyQWKxAKOOxgtfK6S0oeEJ-UtU9Sl90Dgekpii_kdiV3J0b9X0VTjXf0T8rmIIfQ6ACCiwUiY-1dAUT42xLacgR0Wsq3VYpnb_LX/w509-h640/Imperials-Songbook-008+%25282%2529.jpg" width="509" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Andrus turns in a very memorable, electrifying performance of this well-known song (complete with wah-wah guitar effects), which uses the story of Job from the Bible to offer encouragement to those who are experiencing doubt...troubles...worry...despair. "<i>I've Got Confidence</i> turned out to be a big song for <b>the Imperials</b>," said Sherman, "and to have it sung by the first guy who ever recorded it, that just kind of gave it an instant boost. And Elvis wanted to meet me because he recorded the song as well. He was the third artist to record it." <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ery6iFlK_RU" width="320" youtube-src-id="ery6iFlK_RU"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br />After <i>Confidence</i>, we finally hear the spoken word coming from <b>Joe Moscheo</b>. Joe begins by saying some very nice things about Sherman...but then regrettably repeats a few cringe-worthy prepared jokes/remarks that haven't aged well. There's a video making the rounds on YouTube of <b>Jimmy Dean</b> doing the same thing while introducing the group on his television show. I'm sure it was something Sherman just had to put up with a lot back in the day. Then again, it really was a different time...I was watching some old reruns of <b><i>Sanford & Son</i></b> and <b><i>The Jeffersons</i></b> with my kids a few years ago, and we were all shocked to hear the 'n-word' being used by the black characters on those network TV shows, like it was nothing. Needless to say, we're all a lot more sensitive to such things today.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rDe1iwfkmLWPwCcGWQ3FD4FmmEsLpXSvRRYbRx_1Ixi7dAfSIbQ5ch_4oBKE7S3hkJ59yLmHz037aHuoaJEGTmYine_f_8eHOEGYPLUOJ2PGyrgfhdkYQM7MUot8Gvm2F4dXmC2s8HKu/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-013+%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1461" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rDe1iwfkmLWPwCcGWQ3FD4FmmEsLpXSvRRYbRx_1Ixi7dAfSIbQ5ch_4oBKE7S3hkJ59yLmHz037aHuoaJEGTmYine_f_8eHOEGYPLUOJ2PGyrgfhdkYQM7MUot8Gvm2F4dXmC2s8HKu/w400-h285/Imperials-Songbook-013+%25284%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Side One wraps with an interesting, six-minute medley that was, again, quite timely in 1973. Joe's Wurlitzer (with the tremolo set just right), Sherman's soft falsetto, and the group's rich harmonies are featured on the ballad <i>Think About What Jesus Said</i>, a song originally recorded by <b>Love Song</b>, a group sometimes referred to as <b>the Beatles</b> of the Jesus Movement (although that's not fair to <b>Love Song </b>if you ask me). That song blends seamlessly into <i>Day by Day</i> from the musical <b><i>Godspell,</i></b> which gives <b>Jim Murray</b> a chance to shine a little toward the end. <b>The Imperials</b> not only turn in a better rendition than the original <i><b>Godspell</b></i> cast, but what other gospel group would even have the idea to include such a song in their live shows? In fact, this medley, covering both <b>Love Song </b>and <b><i>Godspell,</i></b> only strengthen the case that <b>the Imperials</b> are doing some serious outreach here to a younger audience.</div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">side 2</h1><div><br /></div><div>Time for a little audience participation bit on Side Two. It's a 6-minute medley of <i>He's Got the Whole World in His Hands</i>, the popular mainstream hit <i>Put Your Hand in the Hand</i>, and the chorus to the <b>Three Dog Night </b>classic <i>Joy to the World.</i> Moscheo plays the role of the wisecracking emcee and gets some great laughs as well as some impressive results from the crowd. <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4oZ3wqeshQsJDk3JMgxUHrt254pNRI2OfLeL1YYuU2mYGn-SZB6z-JZPzoBVRNtY1pqYWicA4gPazk9jKn1hpSMqCBKaUFnuRXndTQD49r4We9qfaY_an2qzkfUvSm_3BZQwag93LakhQ/s376/passbild_joe_moscheo2+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="343" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4oZ3wqeshQsJDk3JMgxUHrt254pNRI2OfLeL1YYuU2mYGn-SZB6z-JZPzoBVRNtY1pqYWicA4gPazk9jKn1hpSMqCBKaUFnuRXndTQD49r4We9qfaY_an2qzkfUvSm_3BZQwag93LakhQ/w365-h400/passbild_joe_moscheo2+%25282%2529.jpg" width="365" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>Joe Moscheo</b> had been involved in southern gospel music for a very long time, having been a member of groups like <b>the Harmoneers</b> and <b>the Prophets</b> before joining <b>the Imperials.</b> Moscheo did not seem to be a great piano player in the tradition of, say, an <b>Andrae Crouch</b> or <b>Keith Green</b> or <b>Michael Omartian</b>. And he definitely wasn't a great singer. But he had a lot of personality. There had long been a role in southern gospel music for the smiling, entertaining pianist who introduced the group, did the audience participation stuff, and just generally served as the emcee (or MC) for the evening. In that way, Joe was kind of a throwback, I guess. "Joe was the lighthearted guy who warmed the audience up to us," said <b>Terry Blackwood.</b> "Everybody loved Joe. He used to say things like <i>I'm going to amaze you right now with this song. And you're going to look over to your neighbor and say, my, my, is there no end to this boy's talent?</i> Of course, everybody knew Joe was joking because he couldn't sing at all. But he was a great emcee." <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qg5Hb4mLEko" width="320" youtube-src-id="Qg5Hb4mLEko"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br />From <b>Three Dog Night</b> to <b>Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young</b>. I hate to repeat myself...but what other southern gospel group could begin to get away with this?! The guys deliver a very smooth rendition of <i>Teach Your Children</i> by <b>CSNY.</b> I was curious about how <b>the Imperials</b>' audiences responded to all of the secular cover tunes that they worked into their shows. "Well, at that point we could do no wrong," <b>Terry Blackwood</b> candidly stated. "Everything we did, people loved. I think they accepted it because they knew that our lives were consistent. And this material that we did was different, it was unlike anything they had ever heard. And so they just loved everything we sang. If we'd had moral issues or things like that, it would've been tougher. But I think our reputations were such that the people understood that <i>hey, these guys are trying to do something a little different. Let's encourage them.</i>" <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9xefu-LggaDaMUGnjZo07zWi_xt8EcLpaBjS8pl28mC5YBpxnLvYOMHNI0iXOqFO1OoJHJuTat5ByMRmfosxlvpaWqPBPVrTgOhjUsXM6cz-foXknoC4v6Nd6TCcXAuT_p6ICnhFep5I/s300/R-5573766-1396936663-4796.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9xefu-LggaDaMUGnjZo07zWi_xt8EcLpaBjS8pl28mC5YBpxnLvYOMHNI0iXOqFO1OoJHJuTat5ByMRmfosxlvpaWqPBPVrTgOhjUsXM6cz-foXknoC4v6Nd6TCcXAuT_p6ICnhFep5I/w400-h400/R-5573766-1396936663-4796.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Up next was an introspective ballad that featured Terry and some great harmony parts from the rest of the group. Titled <i>You Should Have Come Sooner,</i> it offers Jesus' love to those who may be at the end of their rope...</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Where do you go when you've come to the end of the road<br />Who really cares when your song is sung<br />When you've seen all you wanted to see<br />And become what you wanted to be<br />And you still don't really know where you belong<br /><br />Where do you fly when your dreams have kissed you goodbye<br />When your friends have gone and here you are alone<br />When there's no place for you to hide<br />No one to take your side<br />And you feel like the only one out on your own<br /><br /></i></div><div><i>You go to the place where Life begins<br />To a Love that never ends<br />To the One whose arms are open wide<br />Run on inside<br />You should have come sooner<br /><br /><br /></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizekR-LA3Se8pHIEyyNMOjVapcdhqHAW0IYPdlwwfA9ZWk-twwiemAKDT9doZih4xdyCnpFFrvS2Rxmhp56K4W-26DAlOEEX1gsX3TZQOADxryXCOLBbBW4OPC5VJD3a5jip8Is6u4KwRo/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-002+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="2048" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizekR-LA3Se8pHIEyyNMOjVapcdhqHAW0IYPdlwwfA9ZWk-twwiemAKDT9doZih4xdyCnpFFrvS2Rxmhp56K4W-26DAlOEEX1gsX3TZQOADxryXCOLBbBW4OPC5VJD3a5jip8Is6u4KwRo/w400-h231/Imperials-Songbook-002+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Wrapping up Side Two was <i>Old Gospel Ship</i> - where rock and roll and the church hymnal collide. This was quite a treat for my young ears back in 1973, what with all of the fuzzy electric guitar solos, <b>Terry Blackwood</b> delivering a solid lead vocal, and <b>Jim Murray</b> soaring above it all. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraxeG4uRAUOKPB7TKou_EzggJ2h1B_sEesBXCPFKPTaIAHM7meSssKsdrgfuwTkc_42kTUYJPeC_34D7QuobP_jiTNuYoTFn5GcuK1rTvftTiiFLLX00fI3cYZyxb4xp2ut_at4YmbXL4/s1835/53078664_2205335852821332_5510901077555281920_o+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1485" data-original-width="1835" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraxeG4uRAUOKPB7TKou_EzggJ2h1B_sEesBXCPFKPTaIAHM7meSssKsdrgfuwTkc_42kTUYJPeC_34D7QuobP_jiTNuYoTFn5GcuK1rTvftTiiFLLX00fI3cYZyxb4xp2ut_at4YmbXL4/w400-h324/53078664_2205335852821332_5510901077555281920_o+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>One thing that made <i>Gospel Ship</i> work so well was <b>the Imperials' </b>band. This was a 3-piece group that <b>Joe Moscheo </b>actually put together; they took on <b>Solid Rock</b> as their moniker, and they looked the part! I've got to believe that these long-haired guys - and the high profile they received with so many photos on the double gatefold album cover - also helped build that impression that <b>the Imperials</b> were turning a corner and leaving southern gospel in the rear view mirror.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMd5fFiMnKnn_WFXnegV0gsIEf9xjD-tXjECRCdcciv3vVnTe4toINPu-QUXVmqGdJ56CzwbywL7oIFrqZ8ooAoMywcF2GB_0agJnCMaqrFWQ6sHRMz7p3LboWSWptKseImdUdVOrPRDG/s2048/IMG_1832+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1375" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMd5fFiMnKnn_WFXnegV0gsIEf9xjD-tXjECRCdcciv3vVnTe4toINPu-QUXVmqGdJ56CzwbywL7oIFrqZ8ooAoMywcF2GB_0agJnCMaqrFWQ6sHRMz7p3LboWSWptKseImdUdVOrPRDG/w430-h640/IMG_1832+%25282%2529.JPG" width="430" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>I asked <b>Terry Blackwood</b> if he knew where <b>Solid Rock</b> is today. "Yeah, the drummer, <b>Mike Padgett</b>, went on to work at Dollywood in the corporate part of the company," Blackwood said. "I had a picture made with him at least ten years after he left <b>the Imperials</b>. Unfortunately it was not long after that that he died of a heart attack." </div><div><br /></div><div>Terry continued: "I think the bass player, <b>Steve Ford</b>, lives in a small town up north of Nashville, the last I heard. He came to see me when I did a solo concert a while back. And we affectionately called Steve 'Sally' for some reason. I don't know why that stuck. But he had this long, curly hair, and he was tall and gawky. He would always laugh at Joe's jokes. He was kind of our comic relief."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDETUJUfvTpmLjBOmXO_67_9NqC_Ols6838-hIVyyKCKR2V_qKRgIrLrgww5yFwPZbr7EHiebVhUZfAOUH6d4ieEJG0FlkNfzZKerwtBk9Q-c3fHDBzfR9fVojQKdDeIS0HDkAEFtgtCGj/s2048/IMG_1830+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="2048" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDETUJUfvTpmLjBOmXO_67_9NqC_Ols6838-hIVyyKCKR2V_qKRgIrLrgww5yFwPZbr7EHiebVhUZfAOUH6d4ieEJG0FlkNfzZKerwtBk9Q-c3fHDBzfR9fVojQKdDeIS0HDkAEFtgtCGj/w400-h263/IMG_1830+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>"And <b>Keith Gregory</b> was the guitar player," Blackwood recalled. "I think he still lives in Nashville and works at a guitar shop. I think he sells guitars at a place called Guitar City. But I would say that those guys really added a lot to the energy that we needed. Of course, the kids loved them because they had long hair and they weren't like us at all! But we got along great with those guys, had a great relationship with them. I saw <b>Keith Gregory</b> at a meat-and-three in Nashville twenty years after he had left the group and he looked the same. Exactly the same. He still had the long hair, just a few more lines on his face. But I knew right away it was Keith. He was always a great guy, always fun to talk to, had a great attitude. I don't think I ever saw Keith with a frown. He was always a happy guy."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2AbBXTGCYZHui-bEvoTu9X5FzsCIPMMBVfoARxaQ4xz3kVRAbAlXOQVy-GzGCn-s7zrbrRXd76gismsLip7YXK_imGuZveJbQfkCG5rT0MtYhQygAUtXLycdBBwdXmLaleyT2qDqjkIk/s5555/IMG_1831+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5555" data-original-width="4159" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX2AbBXTGCYZHui-bEvoTu9X5FzsCIPMMBVfoARxaQ4xz3kVRAbAlXOQVy-GzGCn-s7zrbrRXd76gismsLip7YXK_imGuZveJbQfkCG5rT0MtYhQygAUtXLycdBBwdXmLaleyT2qDqjkIk/w480-h640/IMG_1831+%25282%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Sherman Andrus</b> confirmed that <b>the Imperials</b>' idea for <i>Gospel Ship</i> came from <b>Mylon LeFevre's</b> rocked-up version on his 1970 album <b><i><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/11/71-mylon-we-believe-by-mylon-lefevre.html">We Believe</a></i></b> (I suspected as much). But like Sherman said, <b>the Imperials</b> were <i>a lot</i> more active in Christian circles than Mylon was in the 70s, so their version ended up being heard by countless more people. "It was very well-received and often requested in our concerts," Sherman said. </div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Old Gospel Ship</i> would be a staple of <b>Imperials </b>concerts for decades to come.</div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">credits</h1><div><br /></div><div>We've already established that <b><i>Imperials Live</i></b> was produced by <b>Bob MacKenzie</b>. The live recording was accomplished through an outfit call <b>Celebration</b>, with <b>Fred Cameron</b> as engineer and <b>Lee Hazen</b> as the remix engineer. All songs were sung by Jim, Terry, Sherman, Armond and Joe; no other vocalists appeared on the album. The music was played by <b>Joe Moscheo</b> and the <b>Solid Rock</b> band. <b>Farrell Morris</b> added some additional percussion and <b>John Darnall</b> added some additional guitar. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrsgSf6BKzXk8EtDAzyrxTwojcRSmdoDbL7MbDRfnSSMjSzvPwVV1TpJ-qAimIjP6wvmksKFQXCnk2nps_ka_Q459CaWOcgO3YN5Yj2T7-2uoF33gHpMsrJ-pZNKfBVwupqPlDh-mzM1o/s600/R-5573766-1396936641-9937.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrsgSf6BKzXk8EtDAzyrxTwojcRSmdoDbL7MbDRfnSSMjSzvPwVV1TpJ-qAimIjP6wvmksKFQXCnk2nps_ka_Q459CaWOcgO3YN5Yj2T7-2uoF33gHpMsrJ-pZNKfBVwupqPlDh-mzM1o/w400-h400/R-5573766-1396936641-9937.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>One really cool feature of this album was that big ole gatefold album cover with 48 photos on it. <i>FORTY-EIGHT</i> photographs taken by <b>Bill Grine</b> (Janny's husband). The art direction was credited to <b>Bob McConnell.</b></div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">side 3</h1><div><br /></div><div>Disc two, side three of <b><i>Imperials Live</i></b> opens with a throwback to an earlier era. At first listen, <i>On The Other Side</i> seems like a stereotypical southern gospel song about Heaven and the afterlife. Heck, if I had $5 for every time I heard a gospel quartet sing about Heaven, I'd have a lot of money! But this is actually another secular cover. <i>On the Other Side</i> was originally made popular by an Australian folk group called <b>The Seekers</b>. Like I said, it <i>seems</i> to be about Heaven, and you could take it that way, I suppose...but there are a few clues in the lyrics that it's actually a Sixties folk song. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>River, river, soon I'm gonna be over on the other side<br />Water, water, I just gotta be over on the other side<br />It won't be long now, 'cause I'm movin' on<br />In the mornin' you're gonna find me gone<br />Movin' over on the other side<br />Movin' over on the other side<br />Come on and follow me, you'll be satisfied<br /><br />No more lonesome city misery over on the other side<br />That's why everybody ought to be over on the other side<br />Now don't you tell me to get at work at nine<br />I'm gonna do things in my own sweet time</i></div><div><i>Movin' over on the other side<br />Movin' over on the other side<br />Come on and follow me, you'll be satisfied<br /></i></div><div><i><br />On the other side (the sun will shine)</i></div><div><i>On the other side (everything is fine)<br />On the other side (we'll learn to be content)<br />I know (where the grass is green)<br />We're gonna step ashore (and the air is clean)<br />There we'll weep no more <br />Leave your troubles far behind on the other side</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Seekers</b> did a fine job with <i>On the Other Side</i>. But I'm gonna say it again: <b>the Imperials</b> did it better.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81Dx2VTKD5joOl2C-C6rGiavn36kdiKNNZN_se3QLRpfcdN_hujB_TKxFRcNul_UjHcADqGg_We0Q6obnbfukDyA7eLyoklbKNRIk3CgwmWWOu_jI-y8PtWPXlDIhYFRZxCFG5vB-5wxI/s600/R-5573766-1396936672-1602.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81Dx2VTKD5joOl2C-C6rGiavn36kdiKNNZN_se3QLRpfcdN_hujB_TKxFRcNul_UjHcADqGg_We0Q6obnbfukDyA7eLyoklbKNRIk3CgwmWWOu_jI-y8PtWPXlDIhYFRZxCFG5vB-5wxI/w400-h400/R-5573766-1396936672-1602.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br />Next up is yet another mainstream cover tune. <b>The Imperials</b> take on <i>Invocation</i> by <b>The Carpenters</b>...and it is a thing of beauty. The arrangement, the majestic harmony and exquisite blend...completely a capella, and without being drenched in reverb. Of course, today you would hear a track like this and think to yourself, "I wonder how much of that had to be fixed in the studio?" Turns out the answer is <i>none</i>. <br /><br />"Back then, I don't think we knew that you could go into the studio and fix your vocals," <b>Terry Blackwood </b>admitted. "So I think that everything on here is actually what went down on tape. Of course, they mixed it in the studio, but we didn't do any adjustments to the vocals. That's unheard of nowadays." Yes. Yes, it is.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmnc1Ef1l0v9mGPlrlnBaRIhocMbsLuJM1Y89Rxj5fQv_k5xaj4ZWPq2rdjCvd5G6hlPl9j9A_7h7kcDdzBi3hpSZD_-z0LD7Ge-_HWel9zmr3s8fDXdCxZ6y9aYwgwoUtpq9a04IewMk/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-014+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1183" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwmnc1Ef1l0v9mGPlrlnBaRIhocMbsLuJM1Y89Rxj5fQv_k5xaj4ZWPq2rdjCvd5G6hlPl9j9A_7h7kcDdzBi3hpSZD_-z0LD7Ge-_HWel9zmr3s8fDXdCxZ6y9aYwgwoUtpq9a04IewMk/w370-h640/Imperials-Songbook-014+%25282%2529.jpg" width="370" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Next, we come to one of the highlights of this album. On their <b><i>Time to Get It Together</i></b> release, <b>Greg Gordon</b> was featured on a very memorable song called <i>Jesus Made Me Higher</i>, a song that used the vernacular of the day to describe an authentic relationship with Christ. The songwriter had a name you might recognize: <b>Michael Omartian</b>. You might remember that <b>Michael Omartian</b> and <b>the Imperials </b>would cross paths again about a decade later...and the results would be spectacular. But I digress.<br /><br />So Omartian was young, and was already a respected session player for secular bands, but Jesus (and a girl named Stormie) had gotten a hold of his heart and he was actually involved on the periphery of the Jesus Movement. So this becomes one more alliance between<b> the Imperials</b> and the Jesus people. With Gordon gone, <b>Sherman Andrus</b> took the lead on the song now, and made it his own. Sherman took it to another level.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqGI48Uhgo9m26bb8tEvAL6HQT3Z8pzt8oN-Xx3Q_LJpJz6dohjtVB9dTSPxJRm20AhhSasykdKWl2y0eHoAX5lYUVgwn65-RhXtcXPj-qQy_OaPVUBaG34crFCJl1DmtyOUqLAoNdL_L/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-013+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="2048" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqGI48Uhgo9m26bb8tEvAL6HQT3Z8pzt8oN-Xx3Q_LJpJz6dohjtVB9dTSPxJRm20AhhSasykdKWl2y0eHoAX5lYUVgwn65-RhXtcXPj-qQy_OaPVUBaG34crFCJl1DmtyOUqLAoNdL_L/w400-h203/Imperials-Songbook-013+%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>On <b><i>Live</i></b>, <b>Joe Moscheo</b> says that <i>Jesus Made Me Higher</i> was the song that had the greatest influence over <b>the Imperials'</b> audiences at that time. He then hands it off to Sherman to talk about the meaning of the song in greater detail. Andrus talks about seeing the difference Jesus made in the lives of drug addicts and alcoholics at Teen Challenge in Los Angeles, explaining that <i>when you're really following Jesus, He will take you from one plateau to another...He just keeps taking you higher and higher. <br /><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pZlfgBcRa9TlRlsoFuKbgC4gFgWgf2jkez0Y5oAwM_bCPmKaq3vAt23-ptaLOY1I8zU26PO7g5RMm20-xsu2onQqpIZf6Vz_kzKSVp-aRfeyQg3ibvh0I0Kzbe10ErVafOTk9ADPuDTJ/s2048/91aP2BbROML.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1448" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pZlfgBcRa9TlRlsoFuKbgC4gFgWgf2jkez0Y5oAwM_bCPmKaq3vAt23-ptaLOY1I8zU26PO7g5RMm20-xsu2onQqpIZf6Vz_kzKSVp-aRfeyQg3ibvh0I0Kzbe10ErVafOTk9ADPuDTJ/w452-h640/91aP2BbROML.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div><div><br /></div><div><i>"The beautiful thing about it is you don't have to come down from this joy. Even in the midst of turmoil, you can have peace within because you've really given your heart to Christ and you know He's gonna help you over those rough spots."</i> Sherman does an excellent job of planting seeds for the invitation which would come later in the evening.</div><div><br /></div><div>The song itself is simply powerful. And anointed. After it's over, Sherman again exhorts the audience and they go into a reprise. I still get a little teary-eyed sometimes when I listen to this song, even today.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgNVZaWRSMNzy39NMXN9V2LRkMsISoiDHRHeNrBDnG50lFGPMxE9chhd7vJrxmDdPA7q75hyS9InSmRa2C_F7kJVRGZW5ZPv5aZ6_GVLoQ_wrw_7snoXuuqBtCl5Nmj5SjLso85bo1Pfo/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-004+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1467" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgNVZaWRSMNzy39NMXN9V2LRkMsISoiDHRHeNrBDnG50lFGPMxE9chhd7vJrxmDdPA7q75hyS9InSmRa2C_F7kJVRGZW5ZPv5aZ6_GVLoQ_wrw_7snoXuuqBtCl5Nmj5SjLso85bo1Pfo/w458-h640/Imperials-Songbook-004+%25282%2529.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>I noticed that Sherman seemed to do most of the testifying on the album, most of the verbal ministry coming forth from the stage. I asked if that was by design.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Well, the guys never did that before," he said. "And that was a point of contention when I joined the group. After a few months with the group, they asked me what I would do to change their program to make it better. And I said, 'What you should do is give testimonies. You know, share with people and let them know why you do what you do.' And I did have some resistance from the guys. I was talking to Joe and Armond, and they were the ones in charge at that time, and they said, 'Well, we tried that before but it doesn't work.' And I said, 'It's not supposed to <i>work</i>. It's just supposed to be a statement of fact: this is why we do what we do.' And they acquiesced, grudgingly, you know, but it became kind of a turning point for the group when people realized that we were not just good singers, but we really had a reason for doing what we do. So it was not something that was planned, it was just something that happened because they did not feel comfortable doing that. And later on, Armond said that was a turning point for the group. And it also really accelerated our popularity, when we started to commit to ministering between the songs. Joe never felt comfortable behind the piano giving the invitation, so I would take it for the invitation."</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Sherman added: "And you know that part of <i>Jesus Made Me Higher</i>, where I'm ministering to the people? One night, Elvis made us sit in a circle, hold hands and listen to that for about <i>an hour</i>. All of us. Over and over again. That's how much that ministered to him." <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kwCp13nQ46E" width="320" youtube-src-id="kwCp13nQ46E"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div>Of course, Andrus acknowledged that he had a great teacher. </div><div><br /></div><div>"<b>Andrae Crouch</b> was great at ministry," he said. "And I learned a lot from him. Of course, I grew up in a similar circumstance, and I learned a lot from my Mom and from my sister and older sister. And then when I got with Andrae, he did the ministry time for the group. You know, we all gave our testimonies, but he was the one who gave the invitation. So it became very easy for me to fit into that slot."<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEich488r2KuqdjphNc8jM7TFu_H2VCKA5F0TrGq6lIKVNPzrWoWWcKGXwlgiQ7cE3dV9ADrDQ47tzwLg6gXavKLNUkioAhqsxvNNzWELHNcoaRqlAqKQp43BSGClIqNRkA8fHHhPm_NoDXS/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-005+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="2048" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEich488r2KuqdjphNc8jM7TFu_H2VCKA5F0TrGq6lIKVNPzrWoWWcKGXwlgiQ7cE3dV9ADrDQ47tzwLg6gXavKLNUkioAhqsxvNNzWELHNcoaRqlAqKQp43BSGClIqNRkA8fHHhPm_NoDXS/w400-h270/Imperials-Songbook-005+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>After such a powerful track, side three concludes with a canned studio song, for some reason. It's called <i>One Solitary Life</i> and honestly sounds like a throwback to the years when Roger Wiles was with the group. It has kind of an <i><b>Up With People</b></i> vibe and it features Armond with a lengthy recitation of the well-known poem of the same title. Bass singers used to get tapped for recitations quite a bit in southern gospel music, so that's another thing that led me to think that this was just a time-filler from some previous era. I was pretty sure it was added later due to the fact that it fades out at the end instead of ending for applause as you would typically do on a live record. </div><div><br /></div><div>I asked <b>Terry Blackwood</b> about it, and he said, "You are right, that song was done in the studio after everything else had been recorded. That was a studio cut." But Terry said that Sherman was actually on that song, so that blew my theory about it being from the 60s. It's a song with a fine message on the life of Christ and His central role throughout history, and Armond does a nice job on it. But it's not exactly the high-water mark on the album for me. <br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIlEsl6fA-ZE9-eHRd5rnahSN0PCIJvc2UotwntC1IRBUiruHMshliMWq8148sIrbAbuRLC7CT8t8iqhyqRkPNnbdPcnxarxtVb8RfBJwfbXf_2nGN_-lcUY3tBLHX3ZrkNNell9CRTtL/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-006+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1447" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIlEsl6fA-ZE9-eHRd5rnahSN0PCIJvc2UotwntC1IRBUiruHMshliMWq8148sIrbAbuRLC7CT8t8iqhyqRkPNnbdPcnxarxtVb8RfBJwfbXf_2nGN_-lcUY3tBLHX3ZrkNNell9CRTtL/w452-h640/Imperials-Songbook-006+%25282%2529.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of Armond (the only original Imperial still in the group in 1973), I can't help but notice as I go back and study this album all over again, that there were very few of those unique <b>Armond Morales</b> bass lines that stood out in later years and separated <b>the Imperials</b> from so many other CCM groups. I'm talking about those familiar lines that he had on songs like <i>Sail On, Free the Fire, Someday, Heed the Call, He Made My Life Come Together, Trumpet of Jesus,</i> and lots of others. His presence was definitely felt on this album, as that smooth velvety bass voice that thickened up the harmony and was a big part of <b>the Imperials'</b> trademark vocal blend. Those special solo bass lines weren't there yet...but they soon would be. See <i>Jesus Got A Hold Of My Life</i> from <b><i>Follow The Man With The Music</i></b>, the very next year, to hear what I'm talking about.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdVcydgcI1slkpJCd2hZqOHu5ePvBJzeCdj6tnVtGn53cDfANO3BvkX2_j5lDXK_jqp1mI4rEZTj5KQOcT9uKmIX3VUHFn6Exe8GujpQNWEFbk7Qkz4YF_IN1abOyfWHLwlszAytKU7p4/s2048/IMG_1823+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2004" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdVcydgcI1slkpJCd2hZqOHu5ePvBJzeCdj6tnVtGn53cDfANO3BvkX2_j5lDXK_jqp1mI4rEZTj5KQOcT9uKmIX3VUHFn6Exe8GujpQNWEFbk7Qkz4YF_IN1abOyfWHLwlszAytKU7p4/w391-h400/IMG_1823+%25282%2529.JPG" width="391" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs06QCWq9VA7ST2OWhTlmfFymSL2HB7xITGFY45S9fyKQjZ2QRXBiIfGYfUqbTpduZkluuLw1t1AKMqcc_rA0UoyKzQGCJAPDA9g3_9AmPc-lkWA0PeA6OzPcykr-jZhUo-npjnYXM5c5/s2048/IMG_1823+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1401" data-original-width="2048" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs06QCWq9VA7ST2OWhTlmfFymSL2HB7xITGFY45S9fyKQjZ2QRXBiIfGYfUqbTpduZkluuLw1t1AKMqcc_rA0UoyKzQGCJAPDA9g3_9AmPc-lkWA0PeA6OzPcykr-jZhUo-npjnYXM5c5/w400-h274/IMG_1823+%25283%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">side 4</h1><div><br /></div><div>Another of the album's highlights opens side four: <i>Oh Happy Day</i>. Having been a huge hit for the <b>Edwin Hawkins Singers</b>, <b>the Imperials</b> give it a shot with Joe (barely) singing lead over a driving rock beat. After a false ending, the drums kick back in and Joe says, <i>"C'mon Sherman, show me how to do it!"</i> And from that point on, the Tivoli Theatre must've been completely up for grabs. "I did a lot of what I would typically do in the black church on <i>Oh Happy Day</i>," Sherman said. "That one added another dimension. And it would always bring the house down." I'll say.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhCe8bIO2CVszOLg8dK7ANWdXB3qyclLOmAdoK2-U6bS6aUdAJiJnr78MHuNIYdUs0qPn2NKifvMjEqtg3FGe4kHQh5svV2-qpo6tY9VBUrhCZ3AbGXz9dwiAJ6rn4alOC1j2MoFHkRPt/s600/R-5573766-1396936681-8982.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhCe8bIO2CVszOLg8dK7ANWdXB3qyclLOmAdoK2-U6bS6aUdAJiJnr78MHuNIYdUs0qPn2NKifvMjEqtg3FGe4kHQh5svV2-qpo6tY9VBUrhCZ3AbGXz9dwiAJ6rn4alOC1j2MoFHkRPt/w400-h400/R-5573766-1396936681-8982.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>From there, the guys head into a song that is not attributed on the album label to any songwriter. It sounds sort of like an old spiritual with updated lyrics to reflect the times. Sherman took the lead and sang...</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Jesus</i></div><div><i>Jesus, won't You come back to earth<br />Jesus<br />Jesus, come back to earth</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Save us from the marijuana</i></div><div><i>Save us from the things we say</i></div><div><i>Save us from the people thinking that the world is OK</i></div><div><i>Save us, save us, hallelujah</i></div><div><i>From the fighting nations<br />From the segregation<br />And the love of death<br /><br />The destruction of love</i></div><div><i>The destruction of happiness</i></div><div><i>The destruction of freedom</i></div><div><i>The destruction of the world</i></div><div><i>Save us, save us, good God Almighty, hallelujah</i></div><div><i>Save us from the devil</i></div><div><i>Save us from satan</i></div><div><i>Save us from hell</i></div><div><i>Save us, save us, Jesus</i></div><div><br /></div><div>About halfway thru this 8 and a half minute track, Sherman again exhorts the audience to truly <i>know</i> Jesus - not with just a head knowledge, but a heart knowledge. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7sZznexwPjGV7hLmiJc21JwODr10eLfvYW6zN5FcdEP1B4qcfuzdWWPWRghTVyUDJO7Mn0N47ZIzuKpL6hJGAZ-81Ksy0YPYvu3i45bUlUgu4fi2633b_KXsTjeh1HC79FrAWIPkM2MU/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-007+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2027" data-original-width="2048" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7sZznexwPjGV7hLmiJc21JwODr10eLfvYW6zN5FcdEP1B4qcfuzdWWPWRghTVyUDJO7Mn0N47ZIzuKpL6hJGAZ-81Ksy0YPYvu3i45bUlUgu4fi2633b_KXsTjeh1HC79FrAWIPkM2MU/w400-h396/Imperials-Songbook-007+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>During our conversation, I told Sherman that there seemed to be an anointing of the Holy Spirit on him to minister and witness the way he did with <b>the Imperials</b> and subsequently with <b>Andrus, Blackwood & Company.</b> I asked him if he thought that was true, and he told me of how he had always felt like he was not worthy...and yet, ministers would always find him and confirm, repeatedly, that God had a work for him to do. "You know how we think we have to be perfect? I strove to be perfect," he said. "And every time, even with <b>Andrus, Blackwood & Company</b>, whenever we were on stage or ministering with people who were ministers of the spoken word, they would seek me out. I would try to hide from them on stage! Because I felt that my life did not add up to what it should be, and I didn't want them to notice me. But they would always call me out from among the group and lay hands on me, and I'd be knocked out! There I was, laid out in front of the world! And that happened to me so many times. And I even feel that way now in a lot of ways, and I don't mean that to try to sound uppity or anything, and I never felt like I deserved that, but God had His hand on my life. There was this one evangelist by the name of <b>Vicki Jamison</b>, and we did a couple of things with her. And I would try so hard to disappear, just <i>Please don't let her look at me,</i> you know, and then there I'd be, laid out on the stage. <b>David Wilkerson</b>, same thing. And they would all say the same thing, that <i>'God has His hand on your life.'</i> And I always felt unworthy. But I guess that's a good place to be." <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MhbWuullNWZwSU6_wIei52wHWJIyGoHlFTBHM-sR64GUJt3Id5-G1GdlLhwNWQxfZgDUWX4cyHMkWFKqg5V-eaxln2haAIIBAzm8WeVUa2zPVLMURonNEZ7h7urXS-BSlKD8B0Ese_Bc/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-010+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1994" data-original-width="2048" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MhbWuullNWZwSU6_wIei52wHWJIyGoHlFTBHM-sR64GUJt3Id5-G1GdlLhwNWQxfZgDUWX4cyHMkWFKqg5V-eaxln2haAIIBAzm8WeVUa2zPVLMURonNEZ7h7urXS-BSlKD8B0Ese_Bc/w400-h390/Imperials-Songbook-010+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>We head into the home stretch with a high-energy <b>Imperials</b> classic called <i>God Speaking to You</i>. This one has some really cool harmony parts and breakout lines by the various singers. It was written by <b>Sonny Salsbury</b>, brother of <b>Ron Salsbury</b> (of <b><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/02/99-forgiven-by-ron-salsbury-jc-power.html">J.C. Power Outlet</a></b> and <b><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/06/82-hit-switch-by-pantanosalsbury-1977.html">Pantano/Salsbury</a></b> fame).<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2jMxoDNzMvCvYaVSxzFNmh8MVlNDQJn0dQ-Hc6MAT_LTu39_FfiT6L_uVlfiYerfHDdVWySl8HczXhvpqnkGcSnpUBAX3ZmivALcgKz3lOpNNDRT7v1_aq1FMHz14wHhOzGW4mVu7UmW/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-012+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1566" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic2jMxoDNzMvCvYaVSxzFNmh8MVlNDQJn0dQ-Hc6MAT_LTu39_FfiT6L_uVlfiYerfHDdVWySl8HczXhvpqnkGcSnpUBAX3ZmivALcgKz3lOpNNDRT7v1_aq1FMHz14wHhOzGW4mVu7UmW/w490-h640/Imperials-Songbook-012+%25282%2529.jpg" width="490" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Joe then sets up the invitation song, a traditional chorus called <i>I Have Decided to Follow Jesus</i>. He talks about all of the decisions that we make every day, large and small, and how following Jesus is the most important decision any of us will ever make. Now, remember...this was a group used to the bright lights of Vegas. They could've gone out with a show-stopper. They could've saved the most impressive song for the end, could've gone out with one of those big endings, causing the crowd to chant "We want more." </div><div><br /></div><div>They didn't do that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Instead, at the end of <i>I Have Decided</i>, Joe asked Sherman to simply pray...to pray a heartfelt prayer.<br /><br /><i>"...Lord, we thank You for all that You've done here tonight. We thank You for the presence of Your Holy Spirit. We're not trying to take any of the glory or any of the honor away from You, Lord. We came here to praise and lift up Your name...and we pray, Lord, that everyone that's here tonight...just let them come closer to You, Lord...and let this night stand out in their lives as a night that they have really, indeed, decided to follow You..."</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">impact</h1><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>"This album is probably still the best seller that <b>the Imperials</b> made," said <b>Terry Blackwood</b>. "I can't explain it, I mean, how old is it? It'll soon be fifty years old!"<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyApoAek0_5r0gJNhd-fBoaunMBvD1L7DUwSEICPPOzLXjUBak_F8Lcx5-ANSW4OxcjeMQ-RTJvqCceZNI_VH3R8uX1_zZb2-WKWaRjuihbNt4w-ku9YqbHSX0vgLkntGQG8Heiyv-S6_o/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-009+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1453" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyApoAek0_5r0gJNhd-fBoaunMBvD1L7DUwSEICPPOzLXjUBak_F8Lcx5-ANSW4OxcjeMQ-RTJvqCceZNI_VH3R8uX1_zZb2-WKWaRjuihbNt4w-ku9YqbHSX0vgLkntGQG8Heiyv-S6_o/w454-h640/Imperials-Songbook-009+%25282%2529.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>"It really was a transformational album for <b>the Imperials</b>," Sherman added. "With this album, we shared testimonies. And we gave an invitation. And this album was our biggest seller while I was in the group. Of course, when <b>the Imperials</b> went to Word Records, Word did something that the Benson company did not do - Word actually promoted them! For all the years I was with the group, we averaged 200 dates a year. You were gone all the time. But we just never had the promotion. So we sold records out of the bus."</div><div><br /></div><div>"But this album was a turning point for the group," Sherman said. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipmWSvOlcP8VpoF66pWZ8j5b0Q5QlWaKs3HBBfMqSnHxTZS409RatfZaXlVwx-p_FD_4RzTULQAvlKmzhETxVBH-WPrDEbhZWMNMpOrzByUj3OSgqB5SAp5kEawK10h-oNUkK3lplkPYDq/s2048/IMG_1823+%25284%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="2048" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipmWSvOlcP8VpoF66pWZ8j5b0Q5QlWaKs3HBBfMqSnHxTZS409RatfZaXlVwx-p_FD_4RzTULQAvlKmzhETxVBH-WPrDEbhZWMNMpOrzByUj3OSgqB5SAp5kEawK10h-oNUkK3lplkPYDq/w400-h211/IMG_1823+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I asked <b>Terry Blackwood</b> if he thought this live album sort of set <b>the Imperials</b> up for the success that they enjoyed in the next several years. "I think it did," he agreed. "After the double live album, we came back with <i><b>Follow the Man with the Music</b></i>, which was probably, in my opinion, the best record I did with the group. It got nominated for a Grammy. I was beginning to do all of the vocal arrangements for the group. And then after that we did the <b><i><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/01/54-no-shortage-by-imperials-1975.html">No Shortage</a></i></b> album, and I arranged all of those songs. And that album won a Grammy. Yeah, I think the live album put us in a new direction and we decided we wanted to change our style a little bit."</div><div><br /></div><div>It's 10 p.m. on a Thursday night as I write this...and I would have to stay up all night long - and maybe several nights - to tell you about every accolade that came <b>the Imperials'</b> way over the next three decades following the release of this album. Awards, albums, airplay, magazine covers and articles, television, concerts and festival appearances, hall of fame inductions, the list goes on. It has truly been a storied, iconic franchise. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKjUBNkzNhrTQcvXC5eGy4g-Eq3aP0txY-j0OSvLZy2_E5bWtJS-WysPQHkQEUEbUKn58bx6wOuUCrRe92my6TtDqeQdVnIbPzR4mBj-V-SLSsSdhTqQwM2UbxB3MtNYuzsaohMF9hoAm/s2048/imps9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQKjUBNkzNhrTQcvXC5eGy4g-Eq3aP0txY-j0OSvLZy2_E5bWtJS-WysPQHkQEUEbUKn58bx6wOuUCrRe92my6TtDqeQdVnIbPzR4mBj-V-SLSsSdhTqQwM2UbxB3MtNYuzsaohMF9hoAm/w400-h400/imps9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There was one problem.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The only thing is that we didn't have consistency with the group," said Andrus. "The members changed too often. And this is just my personal opinion. But I talked with Armond when we were all together again in Hawaii one time, and as far back as the lineup with<b> Russ Taff,</b> if they could've just kept the group together they could've seen the same level of success as the <b>Oak Ridge Boys</b>. The <b>Oak Ridge Boys </b>were not as creative, their music was not up to ours in the sense that - and don't get me wrong, they were good singers, but they were <i>performers</i>. They were real performers and they did not care about some of the things that <b>the Imperials</b> cared about. But we just never could stay together. There were too many changes in the group. But the music was <i>always</i> excellent." </div><div><br /></div><h1 style="text-align: left;">influence</h1><div><br /></div><div>I've saved my personal story for last. You see, I grew up in a pastor's home in the deep South, immersed in southern gospel music. A lot of the groups came to our church - <b>Jerry & the Singing Goffs</b>...<b>the Sego Brothers & Naomi</b>...<b>the Palmetto State Quartet</b>...even <b>the Klaudt Indian Family!</b> My brothers and I would get screwdrivers from out in the garage, put a record on the record player, then stand in a line and sing into the screwdrivers as if they were microphones, pretending we were a gospel quartet. We had it bad. But we really didn't know that anything else existed.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyDV3YVmm09vWjTHY-Yn2SkHRbh6eCMig4-kVg6fY564tdbfrz1q3oVUqKz-QFOiJKhUfctPDU8L5staVgTdHy8S0phmlDGzMWR8qHL1vtff0lMgLHqFvmNOnYhT0tsTis7fWrzJ_oY5Z/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-003+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1524" data-original-width="2048" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyDV3YVmm09vWjTHY-Yn2SkHRbh6eCMig4-kVg6fY564tdbfrz1q3oVUqKz-QFOiJKhUfctPDU8L5staVgTdHy8S0phmlDGzMWR8qHL1vtff0lMgLHqFvmNOnYhT0tsTis7fWrzJ_oY5Z/w400-h297/Imperials-Songbook-003+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And then one day I was spending the night at a friend's house in Eufaula, Alabama. This friend's parents were very musical and maybe just a little more hip than my parents. They had a copy of <b><i>Imperials Live</i></b> from 1973. Someone put it on the stereo...and as it began to play, I vividly remember turning to look at the record player and asking, <i>"What is that?"</i> It just had a certain sound. And then I saw the album cover. And I knew that this was<i> my</i> music and these were <i>my</i> people. (OK, I'm being a little overly dramatic here, but just go with it.) Yes, in some ways it seemed akin to southern gospel, but this album was more like southern gospel's really cool cousin. These guys had long hair. They wore cool clothes. They sang songs by <b>Love Song</b> and<b> Larry Norman</b> and <b>Andrae Crouch</b>. They did mainstream covers. They called their band <b>Solid Rock</b>, for crying out loud...and they had <i>real </i>electric guitars. Add to that the talent, vocal blend and cool factor of Murray, Blackwood, Andrus, Morales and Moscheo. This live set was something special. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineP0Z6LLc7s_rIBtkP4ZSc7GVoakyfVi5kf6YvNZhHkDLxcka8oZOmWTpLNPeEy8tpy3YL4V9s0F6kMOpeYJIxZeXvSGYmGlazMhzhKtzjuj1JWRNiy6T3fn1v9Z2ESIHOqTF9q_zoL1w/s2048/BeFunky-collagetkjkjtmkl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1674" data-original-width="2048" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineP0Z6LLc7s_rIBtkP4ZSc7GVoakyfVi5kf6YvNZhHkDLxcka8oZOmWTpLNPeEy8tpy3YL4V9s0F6kMOpeYJIxZeXvSGYmGlazMhzhKtzjuj1JWRNiy6T3fn1v9Z2ESIHOqTF9q_zoL1w/w400-h328/BeFunky-collagetkjkjtmkl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>So I went back home and begged my parents to take me to the local Woolworth's store in Phenix City, Alabama. And there it was! I didn't have enough money to buy it right then and there, but my Mom helped me <i>put it on lay-a-way</i> - I think she was just trying to teach me something about how money worked...or maybe something about patience. After 2 or 3 weeks, I had it paid in full. I took it home...and basically didn't come out of my room for 2 or 3 months. I devoured that album. Didn't just listen to it, I studied it from one end to the other. I memorized it. I absorbed it. I imagined what it would have been like to be at the Tivoli that night. <b>The Imperials</b> became my childhood heroes. I even took an <b>Imperials</b> songbook with me to school when I was in the 8th grade. It's impossible to overstate the importance of this album in my own musical and spiritual development. And it was a thrill to be able to tell Terry and Sherman this story and thank them personally for their faithfulness and for the positive influence they've had in my life. And I'm just one of probably hundreds of thousands with a similar testimony. <br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBChSJNguO1ooNeaFCstz0fK4v7jMqAQBtN_JRo3qzy6Nax5PrwRacv52MRocnplpEwA1ZFHN7FIS995GtDWCwwyF4GptsO9LU955ZSJA_N0y0V6st4CIZAMr1k3MzdXqsRQqf4lJ7KPt/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-015.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1488" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTBChSJNguO1ooNeaFCstz0fK4v7jMqAQBtN_JRo3qzy6Nax5PrwRacv52MRocnplpEwA1ZFHN7FIS995GtDWCwwyF4GptsO9LU955ZSJA_N0y0V6st4CIZAMr1k3MzdXqsRQqf4lJ7KPt/w464-h640/Imperials-Songbook-015.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So, yes, <b>the Imperials</b> were Bridge Builders. I know, because I traveled across that bridge that they built. Because of their impact on my life, I would soon discover albums by artists with names like Norman and Crouch and Stonehill...and groups like <b>Love Song</b> and the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b> and the <b>Pat Terry Group</b>. And then my knowledge of and interest in this stuff that we call Contemporary Christian Music exploded in the late 70s and beyond. My brothers and I formed a band (or 2 or 3) and I played and sang the music myself in 35 states and Canada. Then I became a radio host and producer with a Christian music show of my own every weekend for 15 years, where I was able to share "Jesus Music" with a secular, classic rock audience...what a mission field! Now I write a blog to remember and to celebrate what God did through this wonderful music and these awesome albums. This blog began as a hobby and a labor of love. It's still a labor of love...but it has, as of today, over 336,000 page views from countries all around the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>And it all started with <b><i>Imperials Live</i></b> in 1973.</div><div><br /></div><div>God knew. </div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37zwgBhOT_lI7qXJxQ7x8GsaYz-HDtb4fJdY7uToyGDDROvE8ueo_eQEcJkuVfBMtdDLQw79-J-739cmUnr3-U1kkWBrh7n4jBxOJ_4gBDgywuC5sp2CuigqOWiBSR1KHtASyo0hlEciO/s2048/Imperials-Songbook-001+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1979" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37zwgBhOT_lI7qXJxQ7x8GsaYz-HDtb4fJdY7uToyGDDROvE8ueo_eQEcJkuVfBMtdDLQw79-J-739cmUnr3-U1kkWBrh7n4jBxOJ_4gBDgywuC5sp2CuigqOWiBSR1KHtASyo0hlEciO/w386-h400/Imperials-Songbook-001+%25282%2529.jpg" width="386" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Remember <b>Dwight Liles,</b> the songwriter that I quoted at the very beginning of this post - the one who talked about being greatly influenced by this album? "One of the most beautiful moments of my career," Dwight said, "was when I finally had one of my songs recorded by <b>the Imperials</b> in the early 90s. It became a charting single for them! It was a song called <i>We're All Looking</i> from their <b><i>Stir It Up</i></b> album." Dwight said that one of the things that pleased him the most was that it sounded more like that classic 70s <b>Imperials </b>style than most of the songs they were doing at that time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"So it was really a 'coming full circle' event for me," he said.</div><br />Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-24554897285829422292021-02-21T18:01:00.011-08:002021-02-22T15:09:30.369-08:00#27 UPON THIS ROCK by Larry Norman (1969)<p><i></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXp46UZafIAVzLgsUnNfmVq3Gym8mQnjHT1GcdHfpD-Xhy6tt1dbLXvTsSEGeZa5cgxRll4l23KzjBAKZLKc4bxyGU4WmOaWpLnbNJl02PLoGHF4tv1VB8Az_v5JjJ7gO9mxR-SVyjXia/s575/R-3427788-1386535309-5181.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXp46UZafIAVzLgsUnNfmVq3Gym8mQnjHT1GcdHfpD-Xhy6tt1dbLXvTsSEGeZa5cgxRll4l23KzjBAKZLKc4bxyGU4WmOaWpLnbNJl02PLoGHF4tv1VB8Az_v5JjJ7gO9mxR-SVyjXia/w400-h400/R-3427788-1386535309-5181.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>UPON THIS ROCK</i></b> by <b>Larry Norman</b> (1969)<br />Capitol Records • ST 446</td></tr></tbody></table><i><br />"The first major label record to marry rock music with the Gospel."</i> -CBN<p></p><p><i>"The album that first recruited rock in the service of salvation."</i> -Stephen H. Webb </p><p><i>"A first-rate album, full of terrific songs with arrangements that are by turns soulful, baroque, and introspective."</i> -pop geek heaven</p><p><i>"The departure point for the 70s Jesus Music movement, and it remains a transcendentally powerful work."</i> -iTunes</p><p><i>"A wildly eclectic folk/rock record often referred to as the first Christian rock record of any consequence."</i> -CCM</p><p><i>"Practically every song on it would become a Norman classic." </i>-Mark Allan Powell</p><p><i>"Blatantly evangelistic, unapologetically eschatological and occasionally surreal."</i> -Chris Willman</p><p><i>"The first truly accomplished and relevant Christian rock testimony ever recorded."</i> -Jason Anderson</p><p><i>"Vintage Norman, mixing apocalyptic Christianity with psychedelic rock and roll." -Paul Baker</i></p><p><i>"Now considered to be the first full-blown Christian rock album."</i> - John J. Thompson<i><br /></i><br /><br />Well, there ya go. That just about covers it. Goodnight, drive safely!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGHYDpVfmS7Uo0XBX4w8bEvJ3kjPN2Xlu18dbuZkfBxXwgbTgJyOVYbJg2bjDY4u8kJxy3s_7166xvmyEpgM11FnmXJUPd-tj0lu6PMTESM1W_p9pZc5Vw0dYY4ka-wgcNug-rtHa-3sq/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGHYDpVfmS7Uo0XBX4w8bEvJ3kjPN2Xlu18dbuZkfBxXwgbTgJyOVYbJg2bjDY4u8kJxy3s_7166xvmyEpgM11FnmXJUPd-tj0lu6PMTESM1W_p9pZc5Vw0dYY4ka-wgcNug-rtHa-3sq/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p><br />Just kidding.</p><p>Now, before you start doing the math, I know that this album was technically released before the 1970s. But we called an emergency meeting of our Board of Directors and they decided that due to the historical significance of the album, and since it was released <i>less than one month</i> ahead of the 70s, it could be green-lighted for inclusion on our list. <i>Whew! That was a close one...<br /><br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWvJfGgJ8HOiYucIIudChCN2Ri7FoXIETPl1W8DJJ0m5OQ6gys9AlmoXxhKztAPVnnFNb97A_VNv3m3czGV3yhLktFPMdpk7tOvFpYEYsh2Zb8Wc-p7QBmBo6cWD9QdG34d-YYP_Oezjf/s527/1101710621_400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWvJfGgJ8HOiYucIIudChCN2Ri7FoXIETPl1W8DJJ0m5OQ6gys9AlmoXxhKztAPVnnFNb97A_VNv3m3czGV3yhLktFPMdpk7tOvFpYEYsh2Zb8Wc-p7QBmBo6cWD9QdG34d-YYP_Oezjf/w486-h640/1101710621_400.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>So after a decade full of assassinations, racial strife, anti-war protests, hostility between the sexes, and a huge spike in drug use and sexual promiscuity, God knew what He was about to do. What's the old saying - it's always darkest before the dawn? In 1969, at the tail end of a tumultuous decade (to put it mildly), conditions were ripe for young people in this country to begin to "turn on" to Jesus by the tens of thousands. While arguments can be made that others were first to play, sing and record early attempts at "Christian rock" - including <b>The Crusaders, Isabel Baker, Agape, John Fischer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe</b> and others - it's abundantly clear that when a 22-year old <b>Larry Norman</b> released <b><i>Upon This Rock </i></b>on Capitol Records, it was a watershed moment in Christian music history. Blunt Christianity and psychedelic rock 'n roll had a shotgun wedding...and everything changed. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTe56enbUgBmGbYW6VpT36WFyPZUufxLHGTgONAq7BqxAd4qud4eK9UvAWE_QDnO2FFP7qDuUYUsDdhwYJrLw-FaxsFvJ7-cYkU2koXK6TZJg1t7n3FMzFLGtw7uKqqeE5SnsBMP9UcbEG/s1100/2760623_orig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1100" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTe56enbUgBmGbYW6VpT36WFyPZUufxLHGTgONAq7BqxAd4qud4eK9UvAWE_QDnO2FFP7qDuUYUsDdhwYJrLw-FaxsFvJ7-cYkU2koXK6TZJg1t7n3FMzFLGtw7uKqqeE5SnsBMP9UcbEG/w400-h264/2760623_orig.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Love Song</b> at <b>Calvary Chapel</b>, Costa Mesa</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I know it's difficult to believe now, but up until <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b>, the feeling was that popular music and Christianity were simply incompatible. <b>Larry Norman</b> put those fears to rest. A couple of years later,<b> Love Song</b> and other happy, friendly groups based out of <b>Calvary Chapel</b> in Costa Mesa, California would help to usher in a full-fledged Jesus Movement, making it cool to attend a "little country church." But first, a strange, abrasive guy with long, blonde hair, who had been a Christian and a bit of an outcast since age five, would give Jesus all the street cred He would need.<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9GfzxNM8RABLd1tw_foVlckqNu9s_jRVW9h54eDrTER7CrIRqipYBGnrZGiUFKYWhOsI0WD6c8oY4QcmGO5Wz3APoG6VNcJMlO3I1XcrvLT-RAT1R2jaq4pH0L-cPLIwE15sN9Z-cOOD/s2040/Untitled-179.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1992" data-original-width="2040" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9GfzxNM8RABLd1tw_foVlckqNu9s_jRVW9h54eDrTER7CrIRqipYBGnrZGiUFKYWhOsI0WD6c8oY4QcmGO5Wz3APoG6VNcJMlO3I1XcrvLT-RAT1R2jaq4pH0L-cPLIwE15sN9Z-cOOD/w400-h390/Untitled-179.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My family on an Easter Sunday in the '60s.<br />I'm the li'l gangsta on the left.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>But let's back up a bit. Once upon a time, Christianity - or at least the cultural trappings and traditions of the Western Church - had a much larger influence on life in general than it does today. Even before the Great China Virus Scare of 2020-2021, church attendance was already on the wane and Christians were one of two identity groups in America that could be routinely lampooned and insulted with impunity (the other was husbands/fathers). But after the government easily and quickly caused people to almost completely abandon live church services, including <i>cancelling Easter Sunday</i> in 2020 out of fear ("we're all in this together"), religious services moved to social media, which is a pitiful substitute for the real thing. People tuned out. And now it seems that "church" as we once knew it is on life support. It's anyone's guess as to what comes next. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbp9I-ORFadsMEx4OG0ntPA9rlP8Z6FAPIGuusP1Hcd_WcwSJIkBiiMnKX8PgzA9zpSxtJ44ivPUyNhMhlQS5RFfSA_M-Q1tLxWCVF1EY6Dii5cQVcIJmEX7F4e_hHpdgW3xMb_O_4HOF/s2048/BeFunky-collagemissmeert.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1402" data-original-width="2048" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbp9I-ORFadsMEx4OG0ntPA9rlP8Z6FAPIGuusP1Hcd_WcwSJIkBiiMnKX8PgzA9zpSxtJ44ivPUyNhMhlQS5RFfSA_M-Q1tLxWCVF1EY6Dii5cQVcIJmEX7F4e_hHpdgW3xMb_O_4HOF/w400-h274/BeFunky-collagemissmeert.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>But in the 1950s, American life was connected, to a large extent, to church life. In most mid-century cities and towns, what happened at your house was all about what happened at the school house, the court house, and, yes, the church house. Many artists who went on to become major stars, including names like <b>Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tina Turner, Diana Ross</b> and more, got their start singing in church. And that includes one <b>Elvis Aron Presley</b>, born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1938. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIPSQmLdRSqkzJhrMKvNIZlsC9ybuQwLs0E4YMKjdkN6NHbvmmzJXUp3QRwPBsNzsIPzBn8dqQzTBjZ36aa9O_HPOWyRc6imt6xx2LIEZwAhIPJGe4PymXnwOK-kdweXMoJG5e78jNfCr/s2048/IMG_4505.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIPSQmLdRSqkzJhrMKvNIZlsC9ybuQwLs0E4YMKjdkN6NHbvmmzJXUp3QRwPBsNzsIPzBn8dqQzTBjZ36aa9O_HPOWyRc6imt6xx2LIEZwAhIPJGe4PymXnwOK-kdweXMoJG5e78jNfCr/w480-h640/IMG_4505.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0L3ky071qVkhRVzeI8m8aWGF1tTB6-p_ITT2ysc8pLUR14Cvb4y_E_T_9_BPTX0JCUoxIt-bwKh4jVOcFHDWLyUc4QV5IztFbkHi7KB14qNVcJEmA01XeMX4KNMPbzU8qBW-R-5rRvF89/s2048/BeFunky-collagemissmeerte.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1402" data-original-width="2048" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0L3ky071qVkhRVzeI8m8aWGF1tTB6-p_ITT2ysc8pLUR14Cvb4y_E_T_9_BPTX0JCUoxIt-bwKh4jVOcFHDWLyUc4QV5IztFbkHi7KB14qNVcJEmA01XeMX4KNMPbzU8qBW-R-5rRvF89/w400-h274/BeFunky-collagemissmeerte.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Growing up in the 1940s, <b>Elvis Presley</b> and his family attended a small, nondescript Pentecostal church in Tupelo, Mississippi. In the summer of 2020, I took my daughter (who is the world's biggest Elvis fan) to Memphis and to Tupelo, where we toured <b>Graceland</b> and Presley's boyhood home. And there it was, in Tupelo: a reconstruction of the Assembly of God church (pictured above) where Elvis sang his first "specials" and learned to play guitar. Then the family moved to the big city of Memphis. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP7iyGzJPG9rewUSr3-6DqUtR_9pvK7wvfMKfzzQPaF_uwGygtZRYu1bmbfQ213cCdZCcyrh2PINkFDIbCjd8gYcU4j3D9bAGPswZj9sc0H0MFhiXU9_dsL80Ld1qQyJcaY1hXt3xl3Y2/s1500/02523f42bde50ba4c66546b13d370442.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1500" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP7iyGzJPG9rewUSr3-6DqUtR_9pvK7wvfMKfzzQPaF_uwGygtZRYu1bmbfQ213cCdZCcyrh2PINkFDIbCjd8gYcU4j3D9bAGPswZj9sc0H0MFhiXU9_dsL80Ld1qQyJcaY1hXt3xl3Y2/w400-h319/02523f42bde50ba4c66546b13d370442.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In the 1950s, black music and white music, black church and white church existed along parallel lines. It was said that Sunday morning was the most segregated time in America. But <b>Elvis Presley</b> walked in both worlds. He was influenced by the legendary secular bluesmen of Memphis, Tennessee and by the spirituals that came out of the black churches. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsat9pUoQvZrWLe8TzTQqzgeUAjuYDync2Zpb5jt421q4Ir-kz1o8vMhe8wvRT1VNUEDnnWYkii2bSb0l_0s7h38gLk_YiASbyanBmgTRZBoikOkf-2Na6N_6LdM88oOE20aT3YBdcvdM/s665/bb_king_elvis_presley.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="508" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXsat9pUoQvZrWLe8TzTQqzgeUAjuYDync2Zpb5jt421q4Ir-kz1o8vMhe8wvRT1VNUEDnnWYkii2bSb0l_0s7h38gLk_YiASbyanBmgTRZBoikOkf-2Na6N_6LdM88oOE20aT3YBdcvdM/w488-h640/bb_king_elvis_presley.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Elvis</b> with <b>B.B. King</b>, 1956</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>But he also developed a soft spot in his heart for the southern gospel groups that regularly blew through town and put on extraordinary concerts at the <b>Ellis Auditorium</b> in Memphis. Young Presley was especially thrilled by the <b>Blackwood Brothers Quartet,</b> and caught their act as often as he could. The Blackwoods' tall, charismatic, and freakishly low bass singer, <b>J.D. Sumner</b>, befriended the boy and told him, "You don't need any money, son. When we come to Memphis, you just come to the stage door and ask for me and I'll let you in." Sumner later smiled at the irony, and he said, "A few years later, he was the one on stage and he had to let me in to come and see his concerts." <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVi2iyuTIGQm-6Va6umvcChoibpK7Ed-vJuZKTmB9l8thyphenhyphenaJs4Ere5zpEFi9NgvuH7-Ms-YJNy0kHOkuqUZ-0OwqY27jBWEEGlrSDH-jmtuxjl2i49OyOW2a3EJ1BpJhYfD5Ch-vlGgUx/s800/b7fad588c3aa1b785192d44271b193bd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="800" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVi2iyuTIGQm-6Va6umvcChoibpK7Ed-vJuZKTmB9l8thyphenhyphenaJs4Ere5zpEFi9NgvuH7-Ms-YJNy0kHOkuqUZ-0OwqY27jBWEEGlrSDH-jmtuxjl2i49OyOW2a3EJ1BpJhYfD5Ch-vlGgUx/w400-h295/b7fad588c3aa1b785192d44271b193bd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Elvis</b> with the <b>Blackwood Brothers Quartet</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>It is said that what drew Elvis to the great gospel groups of that day was the underlying rhythm of the white quartets, a rhythm <i>first heard in the black church.</i> Presley would soon learn to sing, play guitar and shake his hips in a way that made cash registers ring, made girls scream and made parents furious. It was a far cry from the Negro spirituals and southern gospel classics that caused him to fall in love with music in the first place. But the kid from Tupelo was onto something.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFzkv5_nsMzSAbN82Q0oTnhcPMY9zc2tekfbkm7lu5Fn5M8V0E7RXx2_r3q7wqsDNmOtKEerS6d7p7hvVuOSbwx2GHkaYZB3j2HlISvO-_2_EgMjZ9XHJLUcLk4J7Cit-e2DDXTX4Fcsg/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFzkv5_nsMzSAbN82Q0oTnhcPMY9zc2tekfbkm7lu5Fn5M8V0E7RXx2_r3q7wqsDNmOtKEerS6d7p7hvVuOSbwx2GHkaYZB3j2HlISvO-_2_EgMjZ9XHJLUcLk4J7Cit-e2DDXTX4Fcsg/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b>Larry Norman</b> was obsessed with music from an early age. His grandmother bought him a toy piano when he was just two years old. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkRzMk5P73My1QbnrYaVrx6LJFWQ9sMytmXM5WJWsqy4A45Wbm-7fZpESKfaOMQWoZlmevr3XEnXBUHbQTGbyHSi0HfpUBq5OMPguB_v37kw6Sfr_wY-SLLWgRsgAngLRYYvnKM-9PwRe/s527/ggggggggggg.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="527" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkRzMk5P73My1QbnrYaVrx6LJFWQ9sMytmXM5WJWsqy4A45Wbm-7fZpESKfaOMQWoZlmevr3XEnXBUHbQTGbyHSi0HfpUBq5OMPguB_v37kw6Sfr_wY-SLLWgRsgAngLRYYvnKM-9PwRe/w400-h270/ggggggggggg.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>When he was old enough to attend school, he was teased because he would sing to his classmates on the playground during recess rather than run and play. This led to Larry being bullied at school. Church wasn't much better; he was spanked for "dancing in the aisles" of First Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, Texas. After a while, the Normans relocated to the Bay Area in California, where Larry grew up in a multi-cultural community. [He often claimed to have grown up in an "all-black neighborhood," but there were Hispanics and working-class whites there as well.] <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgog-rMqPKJCIOCU5w0erTg3DSQwlAi_lmR_JqjEg4nauyfZ2UKFP7B8H6UJuhBK7qELDNavyQSfyurqFbBF18Y6qGgzlVEUetEpojtSdi5T_iFTVqm54-v_pXOkw7w96I0Xx93V5ulVJ3/s320/Capturannnnnnnn+%25281%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="320" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgog-rMqPKJCIOCU5w0erTg3DSQwlAi_lmR_JqjEg4nauyfZ2UKFP7B8H6UJuhBK7qELDNavyQSfyurqFbBF18Y6qGgzlVEUetEpojtSdi5T_iFTVqm54-v_pXOkw7w96I0Xx93V5ulVJ3/w400-h333/Capturannnnnnnn+%25281%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Larry's interest in music was again stimulated when he found a ukulele in the closet in his parent's bedroom. His parents' room was off-limits, but rather than reprimanding his son, Larry's father instead asked, "Why don't you play me a song?" This caused young Larry to feel like a million bucks. He never forgot that feeling.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lvBTasgG5jqaH5C-oJW_6bGUEBAa3QbFnCVqBtflhMARdK9FZOD3g0pLQ6x3TaWBlXtOB10CoZzIyfXYQFjQXXKAMkkg12Q1Yr1eXlGTvqb13-65XU36FRxD1S9QK9oCT06EMTZVjFW0/s582/ddddddddddddddddd.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="582" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lvBTasgG5jqaH5C-oJW_6bGUEBAa3QbFnCVqBtflhMARdK9FZOD3g0pLQ6x3TaWBlXtOB10CoZzIyfXYQFjQXXKAMkkg12Q1Yr1eXlGTvqb13-65XU36FRxD1S9QK9oCT06EMTZVjFW0/w400-h240/ddddddddddddddddd.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>It is said that he had a difficult relationship with his father. Larry's dad, Joe, was a structured kind of guy who saw the world in black and white. Meanwhile, Larry's world was all about shades of grey (as his Solid Rock proteges would discover down the road a bit). In his biography of <b>Larry Norman</b> titled <b><i>Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music - Larry Norman and the Perils of Christian Rock, </i></b>author Gregory Alan Thornbury writes that Larry thought his mother could do no wrong. Thornbury says that over time, Larry became a sort of composite of both parents: driven, righteous, intelligent and aloof like his dad, and a dreamer and poet like his mom. Other family members were also important to Larry's development, especially <b>Aunt Nina</b> (who had been a burlesque performer) and her husband, <b>Uncle Frenchie</b>, a clown who did rope tricks. It was Frenchie who taught Larry to play actual chords on the ukulele, and Nina bought him his very own ukulele. Larry would use it to write his first song when he was nine years old. It was about this time that Larry started writing songs in earnest - <i>real songs</i>. Songs like <i>Lonely Boy</i>...<i>My Feet Are On The Rock</i>...and <i>Country Church, Country People</i>. He actually auditioned for the TV show called <b><i>The Ted Mack Amateur Hour</i></b> in 1959.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXt54XgznLWthODGgekQpegKBdenI1AeEP43efQNTx9OsKyptLk5C1HrtaEBn-ps0PtDQhm2PLGPlzTL8VimzrmWMPC3PiF9iKxCoxpH9GA3w6lECx9KZg1_A9QTexem5TJmBcLdcraKkL/s706/2644919.0.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXt54XgznLWthODGgekQpegKBdenI1AeEP43efQNTx9OsKyptLk5C1HrtaEBn-ps0PtDQhm2PLGPlzTL8VimzrmWMPC3PiF9iKxCoxpH9GA3w6lECx9KZg1_A9QTexem5TJmBcLdcraKkL/w454-h640/2644919.0.jpg" width="454" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>In 1960, the Normans moved to San Jose, and Joe signed on as a high school English teacher, boasting a young <b>Steve Wozniak</b> as one of his pupils (long before Wozniak and <b>Steve Jobs</b> would team up to create <b>Apple</b>.) So Larry's in high school now, and he lands performances in musicals like <b><i>Oklahoma!</i></b> and <b><i>Carousel</i></b>. He acquired a reel-to-reel tape recorder and used it to teach his sisters harmony parts. He also became aware of and disturbed by the plight of blacks during the Jim Crow era and developed a strong sense of justice and righteousness regarding the poverty and racism that plagued so many. It was all beginning to come together.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pga7ZHzJVtCNm1XzXJ-IeOCKqLyOro_ljkwoTpwcv8DuhY0Q217uYjJRWfa2bKe7u5G6uVkKB5yc1cJIGfMR0FeqLTTr5wxFcxhH_iEa0Zt0quJPl7NAhqN6kngqzyC9LxpbE0-vC_Gi/s508/1956-september-26-tupelo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pga7ZHzJVtCNm1XzXJ-IeOCKqLyOro_ljkwoTpwcv8DuhY0Q217uYjJRWfa2bKe7u5G6uVkKB5yc1cJIGfMR0FeqLTTr5wxFcxhH_iEa0Zt0quJPl7NAhqN6kngqzyC9LxpbE0-vC_Gi/w400-h320/1956-september-26-tupelo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Years earlier, while riding in his father's Chevrolet car, Larry heard the name <b>Elvis Presley</b> on the radio. In his book, Gregory Alan Thornbury quotes Larry as saying that "the very mention of Elvis's name seemed to be a special magic, an exciting energy." A few weeks later, Larry's cousin Bonnie Sue came to visit Larry and brought a 45 single by Elvis. "The most exciting and puzzling song I'd ever heard blasted out of the cheap, portable record player speakers," Larry recalled. "<i>You ain't nothin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time.</i>" Larry was reportedly mesmerized by the bounce of Elvis's vocals and the reverb-drenched twang of <b>Scotty Moore's</b> rockabilly guitar. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTEu8OowZz15h-r0FInTKWHT5lBdZWnDkpiR7Dy8pmH5eDycDQgRi5Nn_X3q-3f5omGqlfmYNKvUnZ_jHkAHvE2zWbY4dD5g4nflZEC7wI6fR2LYwTSe-vrFuXkxLUxp9WM9VWHNmE_vv/s599/R-8758464-1468143988-7344.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="599" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTEu8OowZz15h-r0FInTKWHT5lBdZWnDkpiR7Dy8pmH5eDycDQgRi5Nn_X3q-3f5omGqlfmYNKvUnZ_jHkAHvE2zWbY4dD5g4nflZEC7wI6fR2LYwTSe-vrFuXkxLUxp9WM9VWHNmE_vv/w400-h398/R-8758464-1468143988-7344.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>When I took my daughter to <b>Graceland</b>, we viewed a $1,000 check to the <b>First Assembly of God Church</b>, written by Elvis and on display in one of the museums. Also prominently featured were the Christian albums that Elvis recorded, all of them leaning heavily to southern gospel and away from rock and roll. Incredibly, Presley won only three Grammy Awards during his lifetime. All three were for his Christian recordings. He even called on a group known as <b>The Imperials</b> (yes, <i>those</i> <b>Imperials</b>) to back him on one of the gospel LPs and also in his live stage show in Vegas. When<b> the Imperials</b> had to cut ties with Presley due to scheduling conflicts, Elvis called upon his old friend <b>J.D. Sumner</b>. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqI4_a6ekt_uDPW0wepXkizzoutkGOcEamGEjl5XUwx8sv1kFBbmjgkt5vjjUouFNR9ZGgXSGmLFEOKB-5RDXHqdgW4mcHsIEGGSLoUntx_1zBJnoS5ZVipYBFbe4MTtnVFgqDvIIeKkF/s600/jd-elvis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="434" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqI4_a6ekt_uDPW0wepXkizzoutkGOcEamGEjl5XUwx8sv1kFBbmjgkt5vjjUouFNR9ZGgXSGmLFEOKB-5RDXHqdgW4mcHsIEGGSLoUntx_1zBJnoS5ZVipYBFbe4MTtnVFgqDvIIeKkF/w462-h640/jd-elvis.jpg" width="462" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Presley with <b>J.D. Sumner</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b>J.D. Sumner & the Stamps Quartet</b> would back Presley for the next several years on stage in Las Vegas and on the road. Never mistaken for a choir boy, J.D. said that by this time he was "one of the best functioning alcoholics you ever saw in your life" and the only member of Presley's team that was allowed to drink on stage. "Drinkin' actually helped me sing better," J.D. told a daytime talk show audience in the 1980s, evidencing the dichotomy that often swirled around Presley. As Presley's life was unraveling in the mid-70s, he still included meaningful gospel songs like <i>How Great Thou Art</i> and <i>Sweet, Sweet Spirit</i> in every show. The gospel groups that backed him say that he never fully got away from his Christian upbringing, his love of gospel music, and his hunger for spiritual things. After doing two shows a night in Vegas, he would summon <b>the Imperials</b> or <b>the Stamps</b> to his hotel suite and stand around a piano with them, singing gospel music until the sun came up. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWP8zIh-IhMqYnWiBZ9I0Z2hpobVlm9awqS62Se-0Xt8_0xGgNMh95F-aVli077wxwOF2SaOYN6nQlDzPuPf_kw1zqwbcdKt09s6t3d1td3HeMFmbVjyq9L6mO5eCf6ocGP5dS3TOl70z/s700/elvis_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWP8zIh-IhMqYnWiBZ9I0Z2hpobVlm9awqS62Se-0Xt8_0xGgNMh95F-aVli077wxwOF2SaOYN6nQlDzPuPf_kw1zqwbcdKt09s6t3d1td3HeMFmbVjyq9L6mO5eCf6ocGP5dS3TOl70z/w400-h266/elvis_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />As early as the late 50s, a young <b>Larry Norman</b> became convinced that somewhere along the way Elvis had stolen rock and roll from the black church in America. And Larry was determined to steal it back. Larry once said that he was nine when he first pondered this radical concept of combining the musical sounds of Elvis with stories from the Bible and the words of Jesus. This didn't sit well with Larry's dad. In fact, just the idea of pursuing music or performing as a career path was foreign to the elder Norman. Joe is said to have yelled at Larry, "No son of mine is going to grow up to be <b>Elvis Presley.</b>" And something about how "God and rock and roll could never go together." </p><p>"I was just a kid when Elvis came along," Larry recalled. "The music he was singing was hailed as something new. But I had grown up in a black neighborhood. And I knew that this style of music was from the black church."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm0wvz6mx_VdO3czTavsi30x_hwbfpKS8sfzFVZ0lWjTC58AEWYYcIw0R3dW-OhA4N0WnFK75XnIWemWy1mthDjpoRpIDMoDxI0VHHwyuBs3sOOLS2zncAU-gm-Rpga0jhM82Cz3kOlALT/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm0wvz6mx_VdO3czTavsi30x_hwbfpKS8sfzFVZ0lWjTC58AEWYYcIw0R3dW-OhA4N0WnFK75XnIWemWy1mthDjpoRpIDMoDxI0VHHwyuBs3sOOLS2zncAU-gm-Rpga0jhM82Cz3kOlALT/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Larry never quite seemed to fit in with his peers. He had a look that made him stand out. He was called a pansy and a queer in the high school gym class locker room - due, probably, to his high-pitched voice. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnnGElYGOnMsucA4HBNQWlRp6zPXEvnBU3JZFI9Y7VtBIhGVWnyBsgjPPUlSA1bFVGRXklPePMFoWrcDcb5v7qghH4rfjEBTtG5GDrwHE5JOuERDSpa4c9H5kfRgE-xb4jyx7bElg1rCA/s550/543696_554449267906204_574447813_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="550" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnnnGElYGOnMsucA4HBNQWlRp6zPXEvnBU3JZFI9Y7VtBIhGVWnyBsgjPPUlSA1bFVGRXklPePMFoWrcDcb5v7qghH4rfjEBTtG5GDrwHE5JOuERDSpa4c9H5kfRgE-xb4jyx7bElg1rCA/w400-h220/543696_554449267906204_574447813_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />Like so many, it is said that he was inspired by the success of <b>The Beatles</b> to actually seek a career as a performer. There's a photo somewhere of Larry and his then-bandmates in 1964, dressed up as <b>Beatles</b> look-alikes, complete with wigs. His first real band was a group called the <b>Back Country Seven</b>. His sister Nancy and friend <b>Gene Mason</b> were also in the group. They mostly played parties in the Bay area. After dropping out of San Jose State College after just one semester, Larry hooked up with a group called <b>People!</b>, a psychedelic rock band out of San Francisco. As for the name, Larry has said that other bands were <b>Byrds, Beatles, Turtles, Animals</b>...so they thought they would just be <b>People!</b> <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp_-p6z-zZ06Mcpl4DoxJqj6hhe7NN3t7wPv0eFkAkY0AaPdwJB-LMsjw15eoDF4YbnFXx_4bzVPWoEKtQrLqklvM16F8Z6Pv4jzTDbiRiD_haCCcXMd3vwtnc72u5uiBhrbuz13-ynXO/s830/14906854_1753386368256091_3402697348091191537_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="830" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp_-p6z-zZ06Mcpl4DoxJqj6hhe7NN3t7wPv0eFkAkY0AaPdwJB-LMsjw15eoDF4YbnFXx_4bzVPWoEKtQrLqklvM16F8Z6Pv4jzTDbiRiD_haCCcXMd3vwtnc72u5uiBhrbuz13-ynXO/w400-h324/14906854_1753386368256091_3402697348091191537_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><p>Biographer Gregory Alan Thornbury notes in his book <b><i>Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music</i></b> that Larry "wasn't rugged or conventionally handsome." In fact, "he looked like a choirboy" and "his voice was queer, so much so that studio executives often wouldn't let him take lead vocals on his own songs." He had over a hundred songs to his credit by this time. "We practiced five hours a day and did shows at night," Larry said. "I loved it. Music, music, music." Soon a Capitol Records VP heard <b>People!</b> and signed them to the storied label. The year was 1966. Since Larry wasn't yet 21 years of age, his parents had to convince a judge that they were cool with their son signing his first songwriting deal with Capitol. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5teIxU2VPv9LH4f_UO4k2ecZTLtoWBM3q3LwLTAdjWwOlIsBum91rtQObdLU6mVlXtg_xBGIQkv7sRM-fwlPowvOWCvEXOko9o9OJLPeyZcu40t-fHZAgwgYkcSM0i4Wnt8LOrzx4AHa/s816/10530935_1473246229586757_8516796523702990826_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO5teIxU2VPv9LH4f_UO4k2ecZTLtoWBM3q3LwLTAdjWwOlIsBum91rtQObdLU6mVlXtg_xBGIQkv7sRM-fwlPowvOWCvEXOko9o9OJLPeyZcu40t-fHZAgwgYkcSM0i4Wnt8LOrzx4AHa/w393-h400/10530935_1473246229586757_8516796523702990826_n.jpg" width="393" /></a></div><br /><p><b>People!</b> languished for awhile until they recorded a cover of a <b>Zombies</b> song titled <i>I Love You</i> in 1968. Boom. One hit wonder status was quickly achieved. <i>I Love You</i> went to #1 in Japan, Australia, South Africa, Israel, and the Philippines. It rose as high as #14 here in the United States. <b>People!</b> had a hit.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6E6v8ifcvtVhP3jVpIeSL0sMlKySkkqQL0fGFnnKOX8HDbq6mCa1NEdmYG_b48OVfX0Yb97up9-CNLS0OuzkI-xGam9XZbiExNZ0cJI5tD_pmYBkzCZv1oONpPwgS9b2c7-IwbB_8sbV9/s813/12540773_1640403779554351_1608861746922298689_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6E6v8ifcvtVhP3jVpIeSL0sMlKySkkqQL0fGFnnKOX8HDbq6mCa1NEdmYG_b48OVfX0Yb97up9-CNLS0OuzkI-xGam9XZbiExNZ0cJI5tD_pmYBkzCZv1oONpPwgS9b2c7-IwbB_8sbV9/w345-h400/12540773_1640403779554351_1608861746922298689_n.jpg" width="345" /></a></div><br /><p>Almost as quickly as they experienced success, cracks began to appear in the group's foundation. Some of the group members were embracing Scientology at the same time that Larry wanted to infuse his Christian faith more and more into the band's songs. The band had never really clicked as a tight-knit group, relationally, so these tensions centering around religious expression caused a lot of friction within the group. This may or may not come as a surprise to you...but some of the other members of <b>People!</b> complained that Larry "rubbed them the wrong way"...that he was a narcissist with a "difficult" personality. Arrogant. Hard to get along with. <i>Our Larry?</i> No way. [insert sarcasm emoji here.] <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8QMvuF5TyeCd0jTBZWa2BqH7IIN8dC3vM3Vl2Z46UPTQUbanDs9Wj3x9dEXHidB9Xe2f-xak65NFUeuSlBo3GZZGrHzKBwlAQPzcH_s0b7s1EBUSMDnrt_ORosnP-_lIB0GGsxZ_8aud/s600/people-i_love_you_s_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8QMvuF5TyeCd0jTBZWa2BqH7IIN8dC3vM3Vl2Z46UPTQUbanDs9Wj3x9dEXHidB9Xe2f-xak65NFUeuSlBo3GZZGrHzKBwlAQPzcH_s0b7s1EBUSMDnrt_ORosnP-_lIB0GGsxZ_8aud/w400-h400/people-i_love_you_s_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Larry's side of the story was that these guys were getting into a bunch of weird trips...not only Scientology, but also transcendental meditation. He said they showed disdain for his Christian faith and also complained that Larry wasn't demonstrating enough of a rock star swagger. Not enough "animal magnetism." For his part, Norman says that last part was actually true. "I wanted nothing to do with girls," he said, "and certainly didn't put out any vibe that encouraged girls to be attracted to me."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJw2E1bmqr6vF9VvW75cL1BiL0gfsxKRPab1xaMo5HIhLBL38lL0dHRqLOaLuEeA4CydxuPaSiJmWZ3LVLF5EjFj0tDFp5Xj_ou5dv0HVDWpThCdiwxm8UX7qUnBAZxGLLojzm9NWd7H4/s600/11947509_1037256029618390_4587834631562835284_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="600" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJw2E1bmqr6vF9VvW75cL1BiL0gfsxKRPab1xaMo5HIhLBL38lL0dHRqLOaLuEeA4CydxuPaSiJmWZ3LVLF5EjFj0tDFp5Xj_ou5dv0HVDWpThCdiwxm8UX7qUnBAZxGLLojzm9NWd7H4/w400-h368/11947509_1037256029618390_4587834631562835284_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>After experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Larry said he felt a stronger call to be more explicit about his faith. He told the guys in <b>People!</b> that he was moving on. They were reported to have said, "You can't quit because you're fired." The group's promoter piped up with, "You just fired the talent." The promoter turned out to be prophetic. <b>People!</b> never had another hit.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ4YdQZm341nuVdOpuyhh0txaEq9CQX0jm4cgiqy2DhacjJGgwwW6KeXyiC_A3MkRBwVdsBh0tBWp56yFw859DN1ztiH7Ab1IV4eW2ZUpE8FsVgRxkiTqhZjiDhidsMPyi64qAg2PRooK/s470/11781627_1589300457998017_7054954163242649688_n+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="412" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZ4YdQZm341nuVdOpuyhh0txaEq9CQX0jm4cgiqy2DhacjJGgwwW6KeXyiC_A3MkRBwVdsBh0tBWp56yFw859DN1ztiH7Ab1IV4eW2ZUpE8FsVgRxkiTqhZjiDhidsMPyi64qAg2PRooK/w351-h400/11781627_1589300457998017_7054954163242649688_n+%25282%2529.jpg" width="351" /></a></div><br /><p>At this point Larry had a lot of songs...and a lot of valuable experience performing with <b>People!</b>...but no money and no means of gainful employment. So he did what a lot of today's millennials and GenZ'ers would do: he went back home with his tail between his legs and moved back in with mom and dad. He wasn't there long when a job offer came. The VP and General Manager of Beechwood Music wanted <b>Larry Norman</b> to go to Hollywood to write musicals. Larry didn't have to think about it. He rented a one-room, "flophouse" apartment on Gower Street, or Poverty Row (as it was also known). The <b>Hollywood Walk of Fame</b> started on Gower street in those days, and <b>Paramount Studios</b> sat on the corner of Gower and Melrose. <b>Larry Norman</b> was right there in the middle of it all. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhO4qGIBLWyJ8z02uTHo5Cob5yEzGHk5pdP7HwWirG7fFT2SqEdH9iSvag6q4piuFhb_7dAVPvbSMJxksS2bYHEeJvxTn7F6EljMyKVWukXs7ZBwOkb05lrIV6AqL82NpO_ZZi6TrIC4Y/s412/12512228_1664064377188291_6769730483602196171_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="261" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhO4qGIBLWyJ8z02uTHo5Cob5yEzGHk5pdP7HwWirG7fFT2SqEdH9iSvag6q4piuFhb_7dAVPvbSMJxksS2bYHEeJvxTn7F6EljMyKVWukXs7ZBwOkb05lrIV6AqL82NpO_ZZi6TrIC4Y/w254-h400/12512228_1664064377188291_6769730483602196171_n.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Larry wrote songs for a musical called <b><i>Lion's Breath</i></b> in exchange for a paycheck. But increasingly, the call of God to witness to the lost hippies, hookers and drug addicts around him pulled at his heart. <b>Larry Norman</b> became a rock and roll evangelist. He came at this thing in a very different way from those who had miraculous conversion stories during the Jesus Movement. Larry had been a Christian since the age of five. He wasn't one of the "Jesus People." In fact, he said he couldn't really identify with them. </p><p>"I didn't particularly feel comfortable with the Jesus Movement," Larry told <i>Contemporary Musicians</i> magazine. "I was not one who had recently become a Christian. I did not have any scintillating testimony of giving up drugs, girls and the pursuit of material possessions."</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Reporter: "You are, are you not, the leader of the Jesus Movement?"</b></span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Larry Norman: "No. Jesus is."</b></span></blockquote><br /><br /><p></p><p>His was an established faith, being shared not in Bible studies and revival meetings, but on street corners.</p><p>It was during this time that Larry had a unique experience. Well...it was unique to him and to <b>Randy Stonehill</b>. Remember Randy talking about how he wrote <i>One True Love</i> in his sleep? The same thing happened to Larry. It turned out to be a song called <i>Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation.</i> Other songs came quickly - with titles like <i>Ha Ha World, Forget Your Hexagram, The Last Supper,</i> and <i>I Wish We'd All Been Ready. </i>God was about to do something monumental.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1Klg6W54Gwgn6IEBRmxlqfs9uhjYrQm2pwpXyzQ-sawWdm1ZGWeEFZ2pNdiG8mNlL8b0RpMYGhicgxTjFrtvtLh9jOkrHh_oCxSJxkonuj7pyj1i-tXyoETaMU-nW24dBxUrTDWik_cf/s955/c8a1dd45c76a17d07754490de11c2218.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="955" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1Klg6W54Gwgn6IEBRmxlqfs9uhjYrQm2pwpXyzQ-sawWdm1ZGWeEFZ2pNdiG8mNlL8b0RpMYGhicgxTjFrtvtLh9jOkrHh_oCxSJxkonuj7pyj1i-tXyoETaMU-nW24dBxUrTDWik_cf/w400-h391/c8a1dd45c76a17d07754490de11c2218.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Capitol Records was now headed up by <b>Mike Curb</b>. You might recognize that name - Curb has always had a soft spot in his heart for artists who were good at expressing their Christian faith through music. In the summer of 1969, Capitol Records asked <b>Larry Norman</b> if he would like to record a solo album. Instead of simply jumping at the chance, Larry said yes, but on one condition: Capitol would not be able to censor the message of his songs. He wanted to sing about Jesus. With Curb at the helm, the label agreed to Larry's terms. "Finally, <b>Larry Norman</b> would be able to make a statement for Christ like he wanted to do with <b>People!</b>," wrote author Gregory Alan Thornbury. "Better yet, American record executives would foot the bill."</p><p>The label believed in him based on his talent. Larry believed in his mission, his calling. The result was <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9qdij4kVhI4hlhJwZHYI6eirQIfrzXL3v4EgvdaAMACQi5R4f3d9gh-QA7trOeeJSt1yhyHLQc2CSeWHH50iAxSOtFHTvW1iTFqkPyk9s_CMxw18Lmm4pjZBP5eGwQXMVIzfotGnNX5r/s575/R-3427788-1386535322-3977.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9qdij4kVhI4hlhJwZHYI6eirQIfrzXL3v4EgvdaAMACQi5R4f3d9gh-QA7trOeeJSt1yhyHLQc2CSeWHH50iAxSOtFHTvW1iTFqkPyk9s_CMxw18Lmm4pjZBP5eGwQXMVIzfotGnNX5r/w400-h400/R-3427788-1386535322-3977.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The original Capitol release of<b><i> UTR</i></b> began with a <i>Prelude/Overture</i> that I find to be a little pretentious...but hey, I've never been into orchestras and musicals and the like. It takes lines and snippets from the various songs on the album and merges them into a medley that sounds less like a rock and roll album and more like a Broadway show. Which is understandable, I guess, since Larry had just spent a lot of time writing musicals before recording <b><i>UTR</i></b>. Musicals were popular with young people at that time. There were several musicals that were popular among the Jesus People. But they sound dated and almost silly today. I guess I can understand Larry opening the album this way in 1969. But in 2021, this "overture" business is definitely skip-over material. Of course, Larry being Larry, this track seamlessly blends into the album's first real song. Larry's middle name should've been <i>crossfade</i>.</p><p><i>You Can't Take Away the Lord</i> turns out to be a nice choice for <b><i>UTR's</i></b> first "real" song, as it's an upbeat, hooky track that also establishes Larry as a Christian right off the bat. In the song, Norman puts the devil on notice: you can basically strip me of everything and everyone, as with Job, but you can't destroy God's Word, His Church or His Presence. You can't take Him from me.</p><p><i>Well, He made me and He saved me<br />Ba, ba-ba, ba<br />And I follow after<br />Everywhere He leads, there's peace and laughter<br />Laughing in the Spirit<br />Listen and you'll hear it</i><br /><br />Yeah, <i>You Can't Take Away the Lord</i> might be the only CCM song that's ever mentioned "holy laughter." But, after all, the <b>Vineyard</b> church movement <i>did</i> start as a Bible study in Larry's home. But I digress.</p><p>When pressed on the meaning of the song, Larry said, "No one can take God from you except you, yourself. Because you have the power to accept or reject." </p><p>Musically, this one owes a lot to a beatnik, folk rock vibe, powered by <b>Mike Deasy's</b> guitar and plenty of bongos. The lyric raised eyebrows for its mention of the birth control pill; it's also relatable even today to divorced men (<i>You can take away my kids...You can take away my house...</i>) after 50+ years of so-called "no fault divorce" in the United States, which began in California in - wait for it - 1969. </p><p>Pop Geek Heaven's Bruce Brodeen wrote, "The lyrics are at once irreverent and steadfast - a real feat and one of the hallmarks of Norman's writing." In 1993, the band <b>Audio Adrenaline</b> expressed a similar sentiment in their song <i><b>You Can't Take God Away.</b></i> Except that instead of directing it to Satan, they were talking to government leaders and school administrators (which isn't all that different when you think about it).</p><p>Of course, Norman was famous for repackaging albums and for releasing multiple versions of albums and even multiple versions of most of his best songs over the years. He got the most mileage possible from the great records that he made from 1969 to 1977. But historian Mark Allan Powell points out that <i>You Can't Take Away the Lord</i> is a true gem of a song and one of only three songs on <b><i>UTR</i></b> that do not turn up on any subsequent Norman albums.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SvhNCbPGTY231AMbOavIDEDKtJuRWtA-bW9qWxGn5iXc0NCuLCfBCrrruExC-D1uHvAtKFNmQEzNBBB61Sh0X-f8GK0sy87Ey-9zi1jBl9QkC_9y59AVeazr5NcG9qhiKDAjVACjEFAm/s300/R-13586008-1557001601-2169.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="300" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SvhNCbPGTY231AMbOavIDEDKtJuRWtA-bW9qWxGn5iXc0NCuLCfBCrrruExC-D1uHvAtKFNmQEzNBBB61Sh0X-f8GK0sy87Ey-9zi1jBl9QkC_9y59AVeazr5NcG9qhiKDAjVACjEFAm/w400-h393/R-13586008-1557001601-2169.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In 1969, the message delivered on most Gospel or Christian albums was fairly straightforward. Of course, <b>Larry Norman</b> started changing all of that on this album. At first glance, a song title like <i>I Don't Believe in Miracles</i> was jarring...a sentiment that seemed not only out of place, but diametrically opposed to the Scriptures. Ah, but then we realize that Larry is basically playing a character in this song and not speaking for himself. In the verses, he seems to be playing the part of a jaded agnostic...</p><p><i>I don't believe in miracles<br />I know what's real, I don't pretend<br />I don't believe in miracles<br />Or stories with a happy end<br />Life is no one's friend</i></p><p><i>I don't believe in miracles<br />I've been around, I've seen enough<br />The only way to get along, you must be strong<br />You must be tough<br />Life is one big bluff</i><br /><br />But then...redemption. Sort of. The singer acknowledges that he's had some type of spiritual experience, perhaps some type of encounter with God? And even so, he's still questioning...<br /><br /><i>But when we met I felt so free<br />And suddenly I felt a change come over me<br />Do you suppose a miracle is happening to me?<br /><br />But then You opened up the door<br />And walked right in, and all my fears fell on the floor<br />Do you suppose a miracle is happening to me?</i></p><p>As the songwriter, Larry allows the question to stand.</p><p>Larry sings<i> I Don't Believe in Miracles </i>in a plaintive, at times quavering voice with a flat affect; it sounds like he's slightly agitated. And then, here comes this lovely little bridge with the background vocalists singing their <i>ba-ba-pa-pa's</i> in a way that reminds you that we're in the late Sixties. Seriously, the bridge that begins at the 1:36 mark sounds like it could've been the music bed for an automobile or soft drink commercial from back in the day! <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmNX2IJ6-R89NBB2w5hzGh5Z422x8RFuHv8apWvVlndZo33UFxC5rRg7xe4UzrxJJ2Ek3qIpoYALb_xRwgW2dVGoVxEw06gQVlDs_uGqdWAHkDU2uzs1tdo6-AYITB61UrkYQsVvA9rid/s302/R-13586008-1557001594-1538.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="302" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmNX2IJ6-R89NBB2w5hzGh5Z422x8RFuHv8apWvVlndZo33UFxC5rRg7xe4UzrxJJ2Ek3qIpoYALb_xRwgW2dVGoVxEw06gQVlDs_uGqdWAHkDU2uzs1tdo6-AYITB61UrkYQsVvA9rid/w400-h391/R-13586008-1557001594-1538.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Up next is a song that Larry claims to have written as a child. It's here on<b><i> Upon This Rock</i></b> "in all of its church camp glory," wrote Mark Allan Powell in his <i><b>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</b></i>. <b><i>Billboard's</i></b> Barry Alfonso calls it a Bible story retold in "comical hipster lingo." <i>Moses in the Wilderness</i> was a favorite of my kids when they were young, due in part to the <i>"milk and honey, milk and honey"</i> lines delivered in a sing-song kind of way by the backing singers. In fact, I think my children even referred to the song as <i>"Milk and Honey."</i> They thought it was hilarious. </p><p>Norman doesn't even bother to sing this one, it's more like a recitation or a spoken-word track with music underneath. And again, a dry, flat delivery from Larry. He elicits a chuckle or two with some humor in the lyrics of <i>Moses</i> - especially concerning Moses bugging the Pharaoh and the Egyptians "taking a bath" in the Red Sea. One reviewer said it's "talking blues with a great psyche bridge that alternates between aggressive stabs and gentle fairy voices. I know of no other song like it."</p><p>Larry coughs a couple of times during <i>Moses</i>. I always thought it was part of the act...but author Gregory Alan Thornbury gives a different explanation. He says that Larry decided to sit in the producer's chair for <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b>, but just days into the recording sessions, he came down with cold or flu symptoms and went missing for a few days. When Larry returned to the studio, the story goes, he was dismayed to find that the band and a low-level Beechwood Music employee had done a lot of production work without him - spending much of the recording budget on ridiculous string arrangements and "preposterous overdubs." It is said that Capitol forced Larry to sing while not fully recovered, and that is why you hear the coughs at 1:40 and 3:08. As with most things Larry...we report, you decide.</p><p>Who knows, maybe it was <i>Moses in the Wilderness</i> that inspired other Jesus Music artists to try their hand at telling new versions of the stories of various people from the Bible. <b>The Pat Terry Group</b> gave us <i>Daniel</i>, <b>Mark Heard</b> did one on <i>Jonah</i>, and <b>Honeytree</b> sang about <i>Mary and Martha</i>. <b>Don Francisco</b> had a slew of 'em...and <b>Keith Green</b> told his own Moses story in <i>So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.</i> Come to think of it, <b>Pat Terry</b> also did one on Moses: <i>I Got To Go Down</i>. <b>Paul Clark</b> did one on the parable of the "good Samaritan" and <b>Keith Green</b> had one on the prodigal son. And <b>DeGarmo & Key </b>gave us <i>Mary</i>. I'm sure there were many more, those are just the ones that quickly come to mind without the help of an iPod or search engine. </p><p>After telling the story of Moses and the children of Israel escaping Egypt, at the very end of the song Norman offer this salient piece of advice for no particular reason: <i>Never borrow money needlessly.</i> Followed by a cough.<br /><br /><b><i><u>UPDATE:</u></i></b> Paul Casey, a reader of this blog (and, apparently a student of mid-century finance and advertising!) filled me in that the Household Finance Company had a string of radio and TV ads in the 60s that used "Never borrow money needlessly" as their tag line or slogan. And one of the ads was about a TRAVEL loan. Which could have been the connection to Moses and the children of Israel roaming around in the wilderness. Who knew?!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9cOHe0tRfTI" width="320" youtube-src-id="9cOHe0tRfTI"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvxAQQTf0Mi577F_BRRmqHwNXwSaJZv6UZk5pcnxXjDO7mNAEF3jOqlAHdPsZ_yAbK5L3iyvOqLuAXmaECzsFCeLMx7V1fvajO1iKMa6MLHMnvQv2IiYKhs3wO0uKStkDf0jJAKBrJeQl/s575/R-3427788-1386535315-1856.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvxAQQTf0Mi577F_BRRmqHwNXwSaJZv6UZk5pcnxXjDO7mNAEF3jOqlAHdPsZ_yAbK5L3iyvOqLuAXmaECzsFCeLMx7V1fvajO1iKMa6MLHMnvQv2IiYKhs3wO0uKStkDf0jJAKBrJeQl/w400-h400/R-3427788-1386535315-1856.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Larry switched to a prettier singing voice (and sang with himself) on the ballad <i>Walking Backward Down the Stairs,</i> another song where Larry was not necessarily singing about his own experience, but the experiences of young people in general. </p><p><i>People stop to watch me<br />Wonder what I'm doing<br />What direction I'm pursuing<br />I pretend I'm free, but actually I'm</i></p><p><i>Walking backwards down the stairs<br />Trying to get higher<br />How can I get anywhere<br />Walking backwards down the stairs</i></p><p>Mark Allan Powell calls it a "brilliant prophetic folk song" and Gregory Alan Thornbury says it expresses "the aimlessness of the flower children" of the late 60s. Powell did say that in his opinion, this version of <i>Walking Backward Down the Stairs</i> suffers from too much slick orchestration. Again, no solution or moral-of-the-story is given. The lyrics do not resolve. There's not even any suggestions offered. Just a recognition that a lot of people are on the wrong path and headed in the wrong direction. Larry knew that he didn't have to present the entirety of the Gospel in one 3-minute song; he had the whole album for that. The solution to this problem would be offered up in other songs. Reviewer Jason Anderson has said that Larry's music on <b><i>UTR</i></b> was, for its time, "amazingly unapologetic and free of dogma."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK88Lk3IfeZYC4BQXqKx5jK0PzH6irJ4Z_7j_X7bfVQS8bI3A_ALURRfSs3ZDf_VaGZpYUlwPMtVHtD0ZlpM9a9H-9wovq8Ufpdrw7XBCNmshuydCq0pZCj8YVBeJhcwSTYIULH8em-Mcc/s478/13412979_1692584661002929_7933770472023856953_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="478" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK88Lk3IfeZYC4BQXqKx5jK0PzH6irJ4Z_7j_X7bfVQS8bI3A_ALURRfSs3ZDf_VaGZpYUlwPMtVHtD0ZlpM9a9H-9wovq8Ufpdrw7XBCNmshuydCq0pZCj8YVBeJhcwSTYIULH8em-Mcc/w400-h264/13412979_1692584661002929_7933770472023856953_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Side One of <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> closes with a true gem. In <i>Ha Ha World</i>, Larry delivers avant-garden imagery and apocalyptic language over a churning folk rock groove and psychedelic sound. It's amazing. And weird. And awesome. And disturbing. And intelligent. And confusing. In other words, it's all the stuff that we loved about <b>Larry Norman</b> but didn't know it yet. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hd2UYi9pShs" width="320" youtube-src-id="Hd2UYi9pShs"></iframe></div><br /><p><br />Larry was asked by Lee Randall of the <b><i>Powerline</i></b> radio program to explain <i>Ha Ha World</i>. "A man goes through his life and at the end of a portion of his life, he discovers that he's not happy," Larry answered. "In <i>Ha Ha World</i>, he discovers God and he discovers that without a vision, the people perish. Without God, the world can't hope to find peace."</p><p>By the way, Larry got "cool points" with a lot of Christian young people at the time for being willing to use the phrase "burning like hell" in a song. Most of us weren't even allowed to say that out loud.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtgWpMRALu7TAJZFimvX7WCOZx1cQ56a3s93-HBWuBWEr2zsamKz8kOVOFSnbr0sleuAFxo-NJTFIOrOq8XeldFD3iTyPTvwDyCuLkuU3SNP-aBXRIK9AUICQ9akRGgzPvIfzdGXI8IE9/s650/Figure-8_3-Small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="650" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtgWpMRALu7TAJZFimvX7WCOZx1cQ56a3s93-HBWuBWEr2zsamKz8kOVOFSnbr0sleuAFxo-NJTFIOrOq8XeldFD3iTyPTvwDyCuLkuU3SNP-aBXRIK9AUICQ9akRGgzPvIfzdGXI8IE9/w400-h266/Figure-8_3-Small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> was produced, conceived, written and performed by <b>Larry Norman</b>. <b>Hal Yoergler </b>was the album's executive producer. Larry sang, of course, and played guitar and piano. Future fellow Jesus Music artist <b>Mike Deasy</b> played additional acoustic guitars, while <b>Hal Blaine</b> sat behind the drums and<b> Joe Osborne</b> played bass. <b>Larry Knechtel</b> played keyboards. <b>Anthony Harris</b> is to blame for the orchestrations. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgNhs-aFseMfP6PLP6w3mctYi-gtLSAH1tbxiJZkvdkkK1Fn1ayynJsEAa_X5z9aJDuWomHuXqSNFxjBGMIBWSdp4sqtBgHz4d6M8NkmyftINvxOHXPEI-zRrCI1fwOh2CfdG_MHk0-sd/s370/AHS1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="370" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmgNhs-aFseMfP6PLP6w3mctYi-gtLSAH1tbxiJZkvdkkK1Fn1ayynJsEAa_X5z9aJDuWomHuXqSNFxjBGMIBWSdp4sqtBgHz4d6M8NkmyftINvxOHXPEI-zRrCI1fwOh2CfdG_MHk0-sd/w400-h293/AHS1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Nelly, Matthew & Annie</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Credits say that the backing vocals were contributed by <b>The Inspirations, The DannieBelles</b> and <b>Annie, Matthew & Nelly</b>. Yes, that would be the group of siblings that would later call themselves <b>The Second Chapter of Acts. Matthew Ward</b> had to be, like, 11 years old?! It's amazing that the Wards got to contribute their talents to the record that is considered to be the first true Christian rock album ever.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOWyVM3Qydrs5-CvHpBiUEtfo8VvNM8BePy-kapMpSD30i4bT3RTrRkAEn1JB5JRrQYq7O-LRLU5MF7WQMPreXCm0quGoc1FpFvQpbyGmhxU0VMcyydmx1wDtr4aKjKB1GrSlgnorcCfM/s600/R-15358106-1590255160-1449.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOWyVM3Qydrs5-CvHpBiUEtfo8VvNM8BePy-kapMpSD30i4bT3RTrRkAEn1JB5JRrQYq7O-LRLU5MF7WQMPreXCm0quGoc1FpFvQpbyGmhxU0VMcyydmx1wDtr4aKjKB1GrSlgnorcCfM/w400-h400/R-15358106-1590255160-1449.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Larry's vision for eye-catching and sometimes controversial album art was there from the start. The cover shows our hero, shirtless and with arms outstretched. He appears to be flying through the air. It definitely stood out. Especially down at the Mom & Pop Christian bookstore! The album design was by David Coleman.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8Ij0wuLUzfUQOfCHuxlaAEZgoxvwDHInBmpVyaHB7tpZ6jUMHgxyywG82skb8qIbEngRYO2YZMZavXg5r_emmxK-v3EcKN_u4HXljkg6g6wJlehyC2I7FHLYXbgblOynXl4RzhRBk-6O/s575/R-3427788-1386535326-9734.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd8Ij0wuLUzfUQOfCHuxlaAEZgoxvwDHInBmpVyaHB7tpZ6jUMHgxyywG82skb8qIbEngRYO2YZMZavXg5r_emmxK-v3EcKN_u4HXljkg6g6wJlehyC2I7FHLYXbgblOynXl4RzhRBk-6O/w400-h400/R-3427788-1386535326-9734.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Side Two of <b><i>UTR</i></b> begins with a catchy, youth group sing-along song for the ages: <i>Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation</i>. An iTunes write-up calls it a sunny, Gospel-pop ditty. It was really a song that rallied the troupes to go out and witness...to fulfill the Great Commission...to share their faith with others...<br /><br /><i>Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation<br />And let your laughter fill the air<br />Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation<br />And tell the people everywhere<br />Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation <br />To every man in every nation<br />Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation<br />And let the people know that Jesus cares</i><br /><br />Larry says that <i>when you know a wonderful secret, you tell it to your friends</i>. This was the song that God first inspired Larry to write in his sleep. One writer called it "a generational theme song for young believers."It would become his second best-known song from the early years of his ministry (I'll let you guess the first). It would end up in church songbooks. And it would be covered dozens of times by artists like <b>the Imperials, Marj Snyder, the Sons of Thunder, Rebecca St. James, the Pat Boone Family, Selah, Evie, The Kingsmen, Paul Colman, JD Sumner & the Stamps, Hovie Lister & the Statesmen, Nina Hagen, Blake Bolerjack, Good News Circle,</b> and many others. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BaPxuJTtSYg" width="320" youtube-src-id="BaPxuJTtSYg"></iframe></div><br /><p><b>The Imperials</b> recorded <i>Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation</i> both on their 1970 studio album <b><i>Time to Get It Together </i></b>and their double <b><i>Live</i></b> album in 1973. That was probably a mutually beneficial arrangement. Because<b> the Imperials</b> were transitioning at that time in hopes of reaching a younger audience and benefited from any association with Norman; and with the Imps having been an established and highly decorated gospel group, they could also be of use to Norman by making him seem less scary to the Church.</p><p><i>Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation</i> was another one of my kids' favorites...mostly due to Larry's vocal performance - fused with healthy doses of grit and attitude - during that <i>"na-na-na-na"</i> part...on the intro and on the turnaround. They <i>loved</i> it.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9s7RedaQMfdI5Imh_GZZoxL3dHbmVS9UWKcWWOpbQ5DGyfiU-E_t83Ar1dVwx7eFZR1_fTfxXHhD-YyooXKNI2pRN3XDKVN-ryPji4fsvgsO_9lczTWVpwJ5MPsSun-VnbTS20cq3eBZj/s600/R-15358106-1590255213-3417.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9s7RedaQMfdI5Imh_GZZoxL3dHbmVS9UWKcWWOpbQ5DGyfiU-E_t83Ar1dVwx7eFZR1_fTfxXHhD-YyooXKNI2pRN3XDKVN-ryPji4fsvgsO_9lczTWVpwJ5MPsSun-VnbTS20cq3eBZj/w400-h400/R-15358106-1590255213-3417.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>On <i>Forget Your Hexagram</i>, Larry confronts the darker side of astrology, witchcraft, and the occult as being unscriptural. And he does so in a blunt, direct, matter-of-fact way at a time when these things were quite popular in Southern California.</p><p><i>Forget your hexagram, you'll soon feel fine<br />Stop looking at the stars, you don't live under the signs<br />Don't mess with gypsies or have your fortune read<br />Keep your table on the floor and don't you listen to the dead</i></p><p>He also "cancels" reincarnation...and then delivers a brief yet effective salvation message...</p><p><i>You can't hitchhike your way to Heaven<br />The devil's closed the roads<br />You live once and you die once<br />with no reincarnate episodes</i></p><p><i>You can't hitchhike to Heaven<br />Or get there by just being good<br />The rules were set down long ago<br />When the spikes went in the wood</i><br /><br />This one had a cool, psychedelic hippie vibe...with Osborne's bass and Blaine's drums doing most of the heavy lifting. <b>Allmusic's</b> Jason Anderson said it had "an undeniable grooviness."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1WGRGl8BlA0L-aXR73NUstAQH-z_Pv-vev6YU5UkPRsoG52YA8Tu2tR58hyphenhyphenl-8SRduXurwVWYBz_2dkMPbFBA1CdHxVCOapKsoJJuMG4xxy-WdUF8j60YkfevENIcJS5MJLrgpkPJ0C2/s600/14100450_1724063367855058_1759211857184403882_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc1WGRGl8BlA0L-aXR73NUstAQH-z_Pv-vev6YU5UkPRsoG52YA8Tu2tR58hyphenhyphenl-8SRduXurwVWYBz_2dkMPbFBA1CdHxVCOapKsoJJuMG4xxy-WdUF8j60YkfevENIcJS5MJLrgpkPJ0C2/w400-h398/14100450_1724063367855058_1759211857184403882_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>And then, as seems to happen often on this record...a hard left turn to something <i>completely</i> different. It was very noticeable that, unlike some of Larry's later albums, the songs on <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> are not thematically or musically related to one another. A <b><i>Washington Examiner</i></b> article put it this way: "<b><i>Upon This Rock </i></b>is in fact a straightforward collection of unrelated songs, but the album's lack of a concept just makes its sudden shifts in mood stranger." In short, this album is all over the place. </p><p><i>The Last Supper</i> is crazy cool. But mostly crazy. And scary! I'm really at sort of a loss for words on how to describe the song. It was just Larry singing over acoustic piano. There are lots of wrong notes and issues with both Larry's playing and singing that could've been fixed with some overdubs. But I think he wanted it that way. It had to be intentional. On the one hand, my children and I would laugh our heads off when Larry would start beating the piano indiscriminately halfway through the song. On the other hand, the whole thing is unsettling. It's the kind of song and type of performance that kind of makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, you know? </p><p>Again, from the <i><b>Washington Examiner</b></i>: "In <i>Ha Ha World</i> and <i>The Last Supper</i>, the food imagery alone is far more terrifying than anything conjured by the voices inside your local psych band's head. A snake crawls around on a plate. Bread turns to dust. Norman receives a mysterious phone call about his missing chicken while his kitchen's temperature fluctuates wildly. Upon hearing these songs, bewildered believers throughout L.A. shook their heads and called the health department."</p><p>Not everyone was crazy about it. "<i>The Last Supper</i> is the most challenging track on the album, even harrowing" wrote Bruce Brodeen over at the <b><i>Pop Geek Heaven</i></b> website. "It features only piano and voice and recounts the familiar tale of the Last Supper before falling apart in a free-form improvisation that I think most listeners will find self-indulgent and off-putting." He adds, "I'm a big fan of the album and I'm not even sure what to make of it." </p><p>"Well, I know what it means to me," <b>Larry Norman</b> said in an interview with the <b><i>Powerline</i></b> radio show. "But everyone who hears the song comes up and tells me what the song means to them, and they've all got a different story. Perhaps <i>The Last Supper</i> is one of those art pieces like a crazy painting on the wall, and everyone says the painting means something else." <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqq589folaiCjwsL04No_QIutnAE0AVXLwVEMkG-9C0zXjfimbf09Yp1oOj-xokWGuNuxyKlScX9kwiD9y0Ng519GGnC3dWEH0rBxr9Q9iCf0NBw5Wne46MQQeLgCr-IByILNAkd4iNAP/s599/R-13586008-1557001581-2413.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="599" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqq589folaiCjwsL04No_QIutnAE0AVXLwVEMkG-9C0zXjfimbf09Yp1oOj-xokWGuNuxyKlScX9kwiD9y0Ng519GGnC3dWEH0rBxr9Q9iCf0NBw5Wne46MQQeLgCr-IByILNAkd4iNAP/w400-h314/R-13586008-1557001581-2413.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><i><br />The Last Supper</i> is followed immediately by<i> I Wish We'd All Been Ready</i>. Talk about a one-two punch...</p><p>My goodness...what a song, right? It became the unofficial anthem of the Jesus Movement there for a while...and it probably caused more people to pause and seriously consider their relationship with Jesus than any sermon preached during the era. It was featured in movies back in the 70s - movies like <b><i>A Thief in the Night</i></b> which was intended to literally scare the hell out of youth group kids. It's been recorded by <b>The Hoppers, the Oak Ridge Boys, Evie, Good News Circle, the Sammy Hall Singers, Pat Boone, The Random Sample, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Cliff Richard, Pelle Karlsson</b>, and the <b>Sonlight Orchestra</b>. It was given renewed popularity when it was covered by <b>dc Talk</b> in the year 2000. It's even been covered by <b><i>American Idol</i></b> star <b>Jordin Sparks</b> for the <b><i>Left Behind</i></b> movie series. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3nXygw84VlQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="3nXygw84VlQ"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt;"><b><i>Billboard's</i></b> Barry Alfonso calls <i>I Wish We'd All Been Ready</i> the album's centerpiece, "a dramatic narrative describing the earth's final days. Intentionally frightening, the song went on to become a Christian music standard." </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt;">Larry's high-pitched, no-frills vocal is perfect for the song. And quite eerie.</p><p></p><p><i>Life was filled with guns and war<br />And everyone got trampled on the floor<br />I wish we'd all been ready<br />Children died, the days grew cold<br />A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold<br />I wish we'd all been ready<br /><br />A man and wife asleep in bed<br />She hears a noise and turns her head, he's gone<br />I wish we'd all been ready<br />Two men walking up a hill<br />One disappears, and one's left standing still<br />I wish we'd all been ready<br /><br />There's no time to change your mind<br />The Son has come and you've been left behind<br /><br />There's no time to change your mind <br />How could you have been so blind?<br />The Father spoke, the demons dined<br />The Son has come and you've been left behind</i></p><p><br />According to author Mark Allan Powell, <i>I Wish We'd All Been Ready</i> features brilliantly poetic and mysterious imagery. He says it has a haunting melody to match its disturbing theme. But...</p><p>He also says that the song is "completely off base," theologically, and that a "rapture" of Christians prior to the great tribulation is a non-scriptural invention of politically motivated fundamentalist thought. Powell is not alone in thinking this way; it's become the popular theological position of all the cool kids on the interwebs these days. Or at least the ones on the Religious Left. I don't know quite what to make of the whole debate. Now, in addition to being a music critic, Powell is also a New Testament scholar and former seminary professor. On the other hand, my Dad was a pastor and state presbyter, I was raised on the second pew of the church and was there every time the doors were open, and I can read...I have an actual, ongoing relationship with God...so I like to think that I at least have a clue about these things myself. </p><p>Mark Allan Powell says that Larry is describing events from Matthew 24, and that Matthew 24 is talking about the <i>parousia</i> of Christ. So I did a search for <i>parousia</i>. And here's what I found: "The word parousia is mainly used in Christian theology to refer to the second coming of Christ." </p><p>OK. </p><p>It goes on to say, "Some sources specifically cite that the term refers to the rapture, the first of three stages of the return. Other scholars interpret it as Christ's spiritual presence in the church."</p><p>I know that the word 'rapture' does not appear in Scripture. [Nor does the word 'trinity' and a lot of other words.] The word 'rapture' also does not appear in <i>I Wish We'd All Been Ready</i>. I also know that there are passages of Scripture in Daniel, Matthew, I Thessalonians and Revelation that seem to support what I was taught about end times events, growing up in <b>Assemblies of God</b> churches. I read the verses again in Matthew 24 and I Thessalonians 4 just a few minutes ago. The same Bible still says the same things that I was taught in the 1970s. This insistence that it's all some kind of plot dreamed up by a European preacher in the 1800s and that it's somehow political...I don't know, sounds like a conspiracy theory to me. </p><p>Apparently, it all comes down to interpretation. And I don't know that I can fully trust any man's interpretation. We've got people running around out her today claiming Scriptural support for abortion and homosexual marriage. So people can twist God's Word to say whatever they want, obviously. </p><p><i>What I know for sure is that none of us know for sure.</i></p><p>At the end of the day, I think the point of Larry's song is: Live as if Jesus is returning any minute, but work like He's coming back a thousand years from now. <b>Allies</b> had a song that said, <i>If you believe He's coming back tomorrow, then live like He is coming back today.</i></p><p>In the meantime, God gave <b>Larry Norman</b> an amazing song. It has been used to cause people to re-evaluate their standing with the Lord. So let's just appreciate it for what it is.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVISutt3UR3AWBApujgsWl3uhJADXEIICQ152KwoiCLiZrp-CuNhRXaNoGOgxri32YEyWLlPFkAVz3Sas1Ndybsn7FKdGOYGpN_3MNEZZQ6NwQLR-nAiAWy0gjP4JilFA8sBt2QQwgLmP/s960/13394002_1690393754555353_5652491806563655077_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="652" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVISutt3UR3AWBApujgsWl3uhJADXEIICQ152KwoiCLiZrp-CuNhRXaNoGOgxri32YEyWLlPFkAVz3Sas1Ndybsn7FKdGOYGpN_3MNEZZQ6NwQLR-nAiAWy0gjP4JilFA8sBt2QQwgLmP/w434-h640/13394002_1690393754555353_5652491806563655077_n.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><br /><p>The last full song on <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> is <i>Nothing Really Changes</i>, probably my least favorite song on the record. It's about history and philosophy, and Larry name-drops <b>Shakespeare</b>, the corner cop, <b>Romeo</b> & <b>Juliet, Nelson Eddy</b> & <b>Jeanette, Bacchus, Caesar, the Mets, Icarus, Samson, Henry VIII, Cleopatra, Beethoven, Ben Hur, Aristotle, Cain</b> & <b>Able</b>, and <b>Satan</b> himself. This one has "show tune" written all over it. And then it transitions into a <i>Postlude</i>...which really sounds like something from a Broadway play from hell. Sorry, I know that's a little dramatic, but I just really do not care for these audio murals that open and close the album. </p><p>And there you go. No one knew it at the time, but Christian rock music was off and running.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Reporter: "Isn't it true that the Jesus Movement started in your living room?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Larry Norman: "Well, if it did, I wasn't home at the time."</b></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><p> </p><p>"<b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> was written to stand outside the Christian culture," Larry explained. "I tried to create songs for which there was no anticipated acceptance. I wanted to display the flexibility of the Gospel and that there was no limitation to how God could be presented. I used abrasive humor and sarcasm as much as possible, which was also not a traditional aspect of Christian music. I chose negative imagery to deliver a positive message. My songs weren't written for Christians. It was not a Christian album for those believers who wanted everything spelled out. It was more like a street fight."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZfwPmUF_EuZ7ds_3kPJKtummw2dSyzXf6TdypzD-JpbjMPdh3jzl6speCUJwONOsZIUPPicxWxfP-x6t3fgx93aRC1gChMB6-RPAU9KFD0NSD791zqnLJbjJm9iokBeJ31HhRz1wWRXO/s731/151614621_10225024592110333_3820009164346997641_n+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="731" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJZfwPmUF_EuZ7ds_3kPJKtummw2dSyzXf6TdypzD-JpbjMPdh3jzl6speCUJwONOsZIUPPicxWxfP-x6t3fgx93aRC1gChMB6-RPAU9KFD0NSD791zqnLJbjJm9iokBeJ31HhRz1wWRXO/w400-h275/151614621_10225024592110333_3820009164346997641_n+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>According to <b><i>musicianguide.com</i></b>, Norman wanted to "push aside traditional Gospel quartet music, break down the church doors, and allow the hippies, prostitutes and other unwashed rabble into the sanctuary."</p><p>When Larry heard the finished product, he was reported to be extremely unhappy. "When I heard the final mixes at a private playback party, I wanted to cry," he revealed. "I felt humiliated. All of my beautiful songs sounded stupid. Where was the restlessness and loneliness I wanted? The alienation and anger? I thought it gave the overall impression of being a children's record. This was a nightmare."</p><p>Well, <i>that</i> was a pretty extreme reaction.</p><p>It's interesting that Larry was shrewd enough in his early twenties to know that his target audience would more than likely respond to a gritty, street-wise, more earthy and angry presentation over a smiley, happy, I-just-love-the-Lord-and-you-should-too presentation. Larry had thought about this. He had done the math. A lot of the early Jesus Music bands that followed him into the pool didn't really strategize all that much... For them, it was just, <i>"I love Jesus and I wrote these songs, so..."</i> In the end, God blessed both approaches with His favor.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmpoqteTyMJLrA7hCkTmcsRNQtVPavCLt8H8Ogun3c0rY3Cz1OxbxZXkWQcc9SnKWAqMUnyl1EjcCAD1_6C8hnhel4SLPbZQP0dlmG9IAwfkUk9sWKcQTbDdEUY_bIYcm8qkgnYtq5_EO/s828/12512438_1651653438429385_3771013252457661757_n+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="828" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmpoqteTyMJLrA7hCkTmcsRNQtVPavCLt8H8Ogun3c0rY3Cz1OxbxZXkWQcc9SnKWAqMUnyl1EjcCAD1_6C8hnhel4SLPbZQP0dlmG9IAwfkUk9sWKcQTbDdEUY_bIYcm8qkgnYtq5_EO/w400-h326/12512438_1651653438429385_3771013252457661757_n+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Larry's initial reaction to his own album was negative, but the reaction from critics was mixed. It was famously called "The Sergeant Pepper's of Christian Rock" by one excited reviewer. <b><i>Screen Stars</i></b> magazine said that <b><i>UTR</i></b> was lyric rock that sounded like it came straight out of a revival meeting. They called it "...a strange album, but definitely a good one" and gave it their Album of the Month designation. It also drew rave reviews from the <b><i>Los Angeles Herald Examiner</i></b> ("...a whole new school of song.") and the <b><i>Citizen News</i></b> ("...I don't care if his talent comes from his Creator or...from <b>Genghis Khan.</b> He's great!). A <b><i>Billboard</i></b> reviewer wrote, "By turns funny, angry, and enraptured, the album's songs are as well written as they are fervent." </p><p>The record was also panned by some outlets, including magazines like <b><i>Screw</i></b> and <b><i>Entertainment World</i></b>. The latter called <b><i>UTR</i></b> a "hunk of hubris" and said that God might've given <b>Larry Norman</b> a record deal, but He forgot to give him a decent singing voice. Another reviewer called Larry "a hermaphrodite" and labeled <b><i>UTR</i></b> a "musical misery tour." Ouch. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCxpFTt0cx_PdIrZE4Gh7lT0CIfoGmDRecmMKugYqP5I2PpzljSamoa2ZhBFMlPTQhmbAJpXxnG089NCoWWjDeEaKMWwnbxZK27r4zi2rUUMTQAvFM5vrR6L40e3m8pktAT2tlga9vC_C/s960/13336061_1690393454555383_703043322094132172_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="660" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCxpFTt0cx_PdIrZE4Gh7lT0CIfoGmDRecmMKugYqP5I2PpzljSamoa2ZhBFMlPTQhmbAJpXxnG089NCoWWjDeEaKMWwnbxZK27r4zi2rUUMTQAvFM5vrR6L40e3m8pktAT2tlga9vC_C/w275-h400/13336061_1690393454555383_703043322094132172_n.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><br /><p>The album didn't sell well and in February of 1970, just two months after its release, Capitol dropped <b>Larry Norman</b> from their label, determining that there apparently wasn't a market for this type of music. Larry's analysis of the situation reminds me of an old <b>Mark Heard</b> song titled <i>Stuck in the Middle.</i> "It was too religious for the rock and roll stores, and too rock and roll for the religious stores," he said.<br /><br />Capitol decided to sublease the album for two years to Benson, a Christian music company. It would be re-released on their Impact label, making <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>the Imperials</b> label mates. Larry was not immediately fond of this arrangement, as he was hoping that non-Christians would be the audience for his music. "I was out to create a dialogue with people who believed they hated God," he said. "I wanted to be on the battlefield, fighting a spiritual battle, trying to convince and convert the undecided and get them to cross the battle line to stand together with other new believers." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMV-3t5ViZHRM4lR06X6ppCq-3JYww_M8Y1vYgPBB0di0i6szVIQX4xpOa3PfIIsCTCl77pHNrPyHfFe2riiHoHDi8NE9gZghmeRySZrryuj5YVT-9hcfCLDAK2MO5sKTjvJ0DzqSoY3Y/s600/R-12828636-1611044618-2932.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMV-3t5ViZHRM4lR06X6ppCq-3JYww_M8Y1vYgPBB0di0i6szVIQX4xpOa3PfIIsCTCl77pHNrPyHfFe2riiHoHDi8NE9gZghmeRySZrryuj5YVT-9hcfCLDAK2MO5sKTjvJ0DzqSoY3Y/w400-h400/R-12828636-1611044618-2932.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>But he reluctantly agreed. <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> was an instant hit for Impact. </p><p>In his book <b><i>Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music</i></b>, author Gregory Alan Thornbury reveals that the Impact re-release of <b><i>UTR</i></b> sold tens of thousands of copies in the U.S., 23,000 copies in the U.K., and sales were brisk in South Africa and Australia as well. </p><p><b>Larry Norman</b> was becoming a household name among young Christians worldwide. And Jesus Rock was born.</p><p>A couple of things to point out about this business deal between Capitol and Impact:<br /><br />1. This established a template of Christian rock albums being sold primarily in Christian stores, and making Larry's original vision and mission much more difficult. It could be argued that an entire "industry" would result from this one deal. And Christian artists, as a result, would end up singing to the choir. Now, if you're a choir member, like me, that's not a bad thing. But Larry and a lot of other artists really desired to take their music and their message well beyond the confines of the local Mom & Pop Bible/Book Store. <br /><br />2. Benson reportedly sold <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b> for seventeen years without paying Larry a penny in royalties, sowing the initial seeds of distrust between Larry and Christian record companies. He would try the crossover route one more time with MGM/Verve...but Norman would soon start his own label (One Way) and then another one (Solid Rock) and then a third (Phydeaux), rather than work with the Christian labels. Then, in 1986 he signed a deal for a comeback album after being out of the spotlight for many years. This would be a big deal. He signed with Benson...under the condition that they pay him the back royalties owed from <b><i>Upon This Rock</i></b>. The story is told that Benson sent Larry a check for $50,000. They thought it was money to begin work on the <i><b>Home At Last</b></i> comeback album. He said he thought the 50K was a "first installment" on the back royalties from <b><i>UTR</i></b>. Benson threatened legal action and Larry threw together a bunch of demos, existing studio songs and unfinished tracks, which Benson released as <b><i>Home At Last</i></b>. And with that, <b>Larry Norman</b> was officially done with the CCM record industry. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc959bbFtFL8n0lPRYlWh2stL6GjbH1KJSTeOGBUfL8OQWkt-bPJ2Neh-2zgYPxBQqTxTYZQw0d5Ay1XEvclfMl9nsP0qXlBI_osy-vrgIgLORX5T5ny7xEwlwd_tA3yngWExGwZzpNvpD/s600/R-12828636-1611044618-2116.jpeg.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc959bbFtFL8n0lPRYlWh2stL6GjbH1KJSTeOGBUfL8OQWkt-bPJ2Neh-2zgYPxBQqTxTYZQw0d5Ay1XEvclfMl9nsP0qXlBI_osy-vrgIgLORX5T5ny7xEwlwd_tA3yngWExGwZzpNvpD/w400-h400/R-12828636-1611044618-2116.jpeg.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Thus concludes the story of how the ultimate righteous rocker started a whole new genre of music.</p><p> CBN.com offered this tribute: "<b>Larry Norman</b> survived death threats, censorship, relentless touring, and harsh criticism. He made his name preaching to the outcast, offending the Church and making record executives nervous with his brand of Jesus Rock. Norman wrote songs that spoke to the heart but aimed for the jugular. It was nothing less than legendary for the original Jesus freak."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_f48rDyHSzHDUHJtDQIKvBd4FgTHKvRqlIaBQObovbix4LnZJg2-GO1BEP6OOOXqGuGpu08y2QaekdU0k-R-o9RPTtJYwJmcS390Xi2e_kXfj4OyTA-nV2UCO3ju_MeeSHQQB5TU2k92P/s960/119966536_10224632098336383_6562329002394783638_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="790" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_f48rDyHSzHDUHJtDQIKvBd4FgTHKvRqlIaBQObovbix4LnZJg2-GO1BEP6OOOXqGuGpu08y2QaekdU0k-R-o9RPTtJYwJmcS390Xi2e_kXfj4OyTA-nV2UCO3ju_MeeSHQQB5TU2k92P/w329-h400/119966536_10224632098336383_6562329002394783638_n.jpg" width="329" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Larry Norman</b> went on to record some of the most important albums ever pressed into vinyl throughout the decade of the 1970s. After that, he was limited by an injury, serious health problems, and various legal and personal issues. After struggling with heart disease for a decade or so, <b>Larry Norman</b> went Home on Sunday, February 24, 2008. He was only 60 years old. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4YuOQxXc-nlFiqd8BuNFatAKIpiS-m5HaXaQQSf-IuhX2_6aHRN9qhOXEHen1dQCiVQaBsD-h1Drhoh9dHmAYyWcVx7RYpyPxhpLOoxYSTX_IbOxEMJzL5HdXvLgTjadBwfwz5SZEzbU/s576/evangelist2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="576" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4YuOQxXc-nlFiqd8BuNFatAKIpiS-m5HaXaQQSf-IuhX2_6aHRN9qhOXEHen1dQCiVQaBsD-h1Drhoh9dHmAYyWcVx7RYpyPxhpLOoxYSTX_IbOxEMJzL5HdXvLgTjadBwfwz5SZEzbU/w400-h300/evangelist2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>"It is certainly no overstatement to say that <b>Larry Norman</b> is to Christian music what <b>John Lennon</b> is to rock and roll or <b>Bob Dylan</b> is to folk music," said <b><i>CCM</i></b> magazine. "His contributions deserve to be discovered by future generations. God used him to accomplish amazing things."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhLcRTimGVWC-H7a3IdxjowvsA4Iw0FFR_nfO4xZuiFbJ6nkfaAeJOFob9ww1pw_Qzc22b-InQKo0b2ufqJgpCWxYBRnioKCsaIIm-csv9AaxZqF1G0zDVpCooj5atnE7DEiS6wJjVTWG/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhLcRTimGVWC-H7a3IdxjowvsA4Iw0FFR_nfO4xZuiFbJ6nkfaAeJOFob9ww1pw_Qzc22b-InQKo0b2ufqJgpCWxYBRnioKCsaIIm-csv9AaxZqF1G0zDVpCooj5atnE7DEiS6wJjVTWG/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt;">In the end, <b>Larry Norman</b> kept his promise and completed his mission to "steal rock and roll back." </p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>Elvis Presley</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> would become known as the King of Rock and Roll. And </span><b>Larry Norman</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> would become known as the Father of Christian Rock. They would both be photographed with presidents. <br /><br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbfK1356sOJMPD5ud3XbGVv9K1TgX_4Feigsn4bjfjMw0LtdFKbj0JOFTVQEMKi1tJkRCYjgad2C644XP18tg8NpLZvlxXJ5wVWsBK2s1e6qGMLTL8IAUM40V_7-KwP83MB2LfGGTcpDP/s2855/BeFunky-collagemissmeerte66.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1101" data-original-width="2855" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbfK1356sOJMPD5ud3XbGVv9K1TgX_4Feigsn4bjfjMw0LtdFKbj0JOFTVQEMKi1tJkRCYjgad2C644XP18tg8NpLZvlxXJ5wVWsBK2s1e6qGMLTL8IAUM40V_7-KwP83MB2LfGGTcpDP/w400-h154/BeFunky-collagemissmeerte66.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Tinos; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Elvis always kept his spiritual yearnings and his rock and roll separate. Larry found a way to blend the two. They would both die early, shells of their former selves. </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-2a7ee8e9-7fff-30e2-3731-6f83d5082f0b"></span></p><p>And both men would be inducted into the <b>Gospel Music Hall of Fame</b>...together...in 2001.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASQW06x0Z6hcNqqPSrkeMhz65iHiXWOy4LVVBeVjI9dS8dFEw6wmp8Y99GZpG6N9t9YCEdSReZ74CgPLRJ5M-iXvNWaY5waEW4DM0wctfMGByBPnS9d6a0yoBaK13Lis_uARL7vTXuYju/s784/000000larrynorman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="632" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASQW06x0Z6hcNqqPSrkeMhz65iHiXWOy4LVVBeVjI9dS8dFEw6wmp8Y99GZpG6N9t9YCEdSReZ74CgPLRJ5M-iXvNWaY5waEW4DM0wctfMGByBPnS9d6a0yoBaK13Lis_uARL7vTXuYju/w323-h400/000000larrynorman.jpg" width="323" /></a></div><br /><p>Kelefa Sanneh, a music critic for the <b><i>New York Times</i></b> and <b><i>The New Yorker</i></b>, made the point that when Larry passed away in 2008, two things were evident: how little the modern Christian music industry resembles <b>Larry Norman</b>, and how much it still stumbles through those uneasy spaces he opened up. "Worship musicians now find hot, new songs in subscription databases," he wrote. "Christian singers regularly score crossover hits and mind their media placement portfolios, while Christian radio exists to be 'positive and encouraging.' These things are all tools. Used well, they help faith to flourish. But lurking behind these tools are the testy paradoxes and unanswered questions of <b>Larry Norman</b>, advising us not to borrow money needlessly. And coughing in our faces."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rB_RYZ6qDpg" width="320" youtube-src-id="rB_RYZ6qDpg"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-18755974070643206962021-02-02T19:24:00.003-08:002021-02-03T05:38:04.968-08:00#28 "LIVE" AT CARNEGIE HALL by Andrae Crouch & the Disciples (1973)<p style="text-align: left;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdd7X78HmTFplTbnZU2Tpg2rGfLT8NDYQwyR2C2zpgrZmwc5xqEaAwMAgu3kMaWEEsfop1VnjLchqDwO9lwyAreJQP9cNXiYqa2mkVERQo86PDPJReuqV5pWxdSYvAQV0jt9WVegNRCS_/s600/R-1680570-1236497582.jpeg.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdd7X78HmTFplTbnZU2Tpg2rGfLT8NDYQwyR2C2zpgrZmwc5xqEaAwMAgu3kMaWEEsfop1VnjLchqDwO9lwyAreJQP9cNXiYqa2mkVERQo86PDPJReuqV5pWxdSYvAQV0jt9WVegNRCS_/w400-h399/R-1680570-1236497582.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>"LIVE" AT CARNEGIE HALL</b> <br />by <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b><br />Light Records • LS 5602<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">"Ladies and gentlemen, Carnegie Hall will never again be the same..."</p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p><i>You can say that again.</i></p><p>The album actually begins with someone leading the audience in the "Jesus cheer" that was popular in the early 70s. The announcer with the deep baritone voice delivered the pronouncement above, and the crowd roared its approval. </p><p>"And it's with Jesus' joy I present to you...<b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b>!"</p><p>Usually, live albums sort of have a short shelf life. They're a bit like comedy albums in that regard - enjoyable and interesting at first, but less so with repeated listening. There are exceptions. And this is one of them.</p><p>Now, be sure to read all the way through this post because Andrae's drummer, <b>Bill Maxwell</b>, shares some information that may shock you. I know it did me. But first, let's dig into why this live album is still so beloved all these decades later.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZj4_0Sl3bbicNOFiNVIXaaTRbV4BN68-O2cVoemTf1vl-vHsvd76ZytDbBpkK5KNbB9lb83faxhI2kVZZEC8ts0TLkoCf52-AgNQs3z-KtIp3aGrbAyU6JtFxh0cRFKCsRwpmjTDsZxu/s600/R-1680570-1236497605.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="600" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZj4_0Sl3bbicNOFiNVIXaaTRbV4BN68-O2cVoemTf1vl-vHsvd76ZytDbBpkK5KNbB9lb83faxhI2kVZZEC8ts0TLkoCf52-AgNQs3z-KtIp3aGrbAyU6JtFxh0cRFKCsRwpmjTDsZxu/w400-h395/R-1680570-1236497605.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>I had a chance to talk with Maxwell and I asked him about the popularity of <i><b>"Live" at Carnegie Hall</b></i>. "<b><i>Carnegie Hall</i></b> was more indicative of what <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b> were, live, at that time," he said. "And his previous records were nothing like this one. You know, <a href="https://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/10/45-keep-on-singin-by-andrae-crouch.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Keep On Singin'</i></b> </a>was kind of a very white-bread, up-with-people kind of record. And on <b><i><a href="https://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/02/52-soulfully-by-andrae-crouch-disciples.html" target="_blank">Soulfully</a></i></b>, he just hired a bunch of Motown arrangers and it was like an Andrae version of a Motown record - not really indicative of his music. But this was really him. And it was the first time <i>that sound</i> had been released. And things kind of broke for us at that point."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihA3vX1iyXxUm19OuyZqgC3gpQcq09MqPkhhj9aVXdI_3Esz3eWwt4g96wN1Goydmvc-ZVZ7p_Dn1VZNHSV9z6kIreJqAJWOXtyBpZ4R4_8Fy7JyMqG2hBl4gfBTma01-NMNVdDjMNJ0hT/s480/kk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihA3vX1iyXxUm19OuyZqgC3gpQcq09MqPkhhj9aVXdI_3Esz3eWwt4g96wN1Goydmvc-ZVZ7p_Dn1VZNHSV9z6kIreJqAJWOXtyBpZ4R4_8Fy7JyMqG2hBl4gfBTma01-NMNVdDjMNJ0hT/s16000/kk.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>When <b>Bill Maxwell</b> says "that sound," he's not just talking about a style of music. He's talking about the anointing of the Holy Spirit...something Andrae called "having church." There was a focus on praising God and, yes, there was an anointing on Andrae's live performances. The Holy Spirit ministered powerfully through <b>AC&D</b>. I don't mind telling you that it happened again to me just this morning. I was listening to this album on my way to work for the first time in quite a while, and at a certain point the presence of the Lord was so strong in my car that I began to weep. I was enjoying it so much...but then I said to myself, <i>"You've got to get yourself together, man! You've got to go into the office soon and everybody's going to wonder what's going on..." <br /><br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddIMaP5cjzawhvWXFBV4P8FzYJpiZOVZouaG3DK0WGNqYKS-rZjhGycXVCviJ3tC6Y_s05dGfKsgmDnBnhJ4MyXT13-9_jr6-XmFRZwRdiWxuCZz9KpqT1RJ7rsClHPW0bwKOrqYNRY3b/s602/R-1680570-1326671255.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddIMaP5cjzawhvWXFBV4P8FzYJpiZOVZouaG3DK0WGNqYKS-rZjhGycXVCviJ3tC6Y_s05dGfKsgmDnBnhJ4MyXT13-9_jr6-XmFRZwRdiWxuCZz9KpqT1RJ7rsClHPW0bwKOrqYNRY3b/w399-h400/R-1680570-1326671255.jpeg.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I shared this quote in my post about <b><i><a href="https://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/10/72-live-in-london-by-andrae-crouch.html" target="_blank">Live in London</a></i></b>, but it's worth revisiting:</p><p>"Really, with Andrae, my favorite thing was the way he led worship when the Holy Spirit would show up. That's what separated Andrae from just being a band. There was an anointing on it. God would just show up. It happened for a long time, and when it was happening, we knew it. Because it was like, you're on stage and you could feel that something was happening. That's what made Andrae special. It was a gift that was on him."<br />-<b>Bill Maxwell</b></p><p> Andrae's former road and stage manager <b>Steve Giglio</b> said, "I can remember Andrae being on stage for three hours, and the power of the Holy Spirit was non-stop."<br /><br /></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">"This is not a concert tonight; we're havin' church!"</div><div style="text-align: center;">-Andrae</div></blockquote></h1><br /><br />Most people have heard the story of how the Lord supernaturally granted Andrae the ability to play the piano. And then Crouch has also told about his Holy Spirit baptism in two different songs - <i>Satisfied</i> and <i>Take A Little Time</i>. But he went into a great degree of detail about that experience in his autobiography <b><i>Through It All</i></b>, written with <b>Nina Ball</b> and published in 1974. For more on that, go back and read our post on the album <a href="https://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/02/52-soulfully-by-andrae-crouch-disciples.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Soulfully</i></b>.</a><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTyZeGpyiLaqXPCvCnC6_ZZ_Br_Np8d_JeNh8uDH8mIfEdojpR6o6uk2bJmzckQQ5pmUV3q8jfY3GQIsNQ2-RviWd3JR0HxJ6u7E7eDejEe6ZFpURv4SzWMGknvjrOEdJL9x70BrclJGI/s600/R-1680570-1254485489.jpeg+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="600" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTyZeGpyiLaqXPCvCnC6_ZZ_Br_Np8d_JeNh8uDH8mIfEdojpR6o6uk2bJmzckQQ5pmUV3q8jfY3GQIsNQ2-RviWd3JR0HxJ6u7E7eDejEe6ZFpURv4SzWMGknvjrOEdJL9x70BrclJGI/w400-h385/R-1680570-1254485489.jpeg+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Frankly, all this Holy Spirit stuff was new to some in Crouch's audiences. There's a reason he spent time joking about "the First Church of the Frigidaire." There was a reason that he said to the crowd, "If you come from the other side of the tracks, or if you know what goes on on the other side of the tracks..." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D19kQOfWp0g" width="320" youtube-src-id="D19kQOfWp0g"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Up until <b><i>"Live" at Carnegie Hall</i></b>, Andrae, although himself a product of the Church of God in Christ denomination - a primarily black denomination that was open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit - for whatever reason, played to mostly white audiences. Sometimes it would be a bunch of Jesus Movement hippies in Southern California. Such was the case the first time <b>Alex MacDougall</b> saw Andrae live. "A 1970 Jesus Music concert was loosely organized on a Huntington Beach high school football field, and the groups all shared a small stage," MacDougall recalled for a story in <b><i>Worship Musician</i></b> magazine in February of 2019. "The audience was white, and the Jesus Music played on stage very much resembled the singer/songwriter, country-rock sounds of the day. However, Andrae sounded nothing like that at all! He performed with such exuberance, joy, and confidence that it was contagious." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPR616PljZcMe44SJR7tM8cm3i1V9WYUUrmOvBrHqTu5UFsenrlazSTEu542CbOaF7sG6D3dIHDUccVryi_F8lG9A3SpRHYbMyeKyVL8T4y0HFKPRjTonzFbdBPdBx6wY2WYxRfVqf5EbO/s1000/67ffce58d3a8c40fc1da907d79328fad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPR616PljZcMe44SJR7tM8cm3i1V9WYUUrmOvBrHqTu5UFsenrlazSTEu542CbOaF7sG6D3dIHDUccVryi_F8lG9A3SpRHYbMyeKyVL8T4y0HFKPRjTonzFbdBPdBx6wY2WYxRfVqf5EbO/w480-h640/67ffce58d3a8c40fc1da907d79328fad.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>So Andrae fit in just fine with the Jesus People...but often he would find himself singing to crowds of a more conservative nature. A <b>Billy Graham</b> Crusade, <b>Robert Schuller's</b> Crystal Cathedral, TBN...places like that. "Our audience was 90% white," Maxwell said. "Andrae would do somewhat relatable and conservative songs for the first part of every concert, and then when he felt the audience was comfortable with him, he'd switch into a black gospel expression." Oftentimes, this would be the first time that these audiences had ever been exposed to such a concert. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUsiZROqnQXmjvKDJbZor2L4OX2RK-TOGxyPRdEjfyn-JfuT7358XHtkhJph8JBMoFmYl9FPXMmZVG0_OwI-vOfU3IRFw0kEmS8WMWsNo9r6rcLX166kE4xllwm2hJHMHkv9mQS59CzEb/s862/andrae1a.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="851" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUsiZROqnQXmjvKDJbZor2L4OX2RK-TOGxyPRdEjfyn-JfuT7358XHtkhJph8JBMoFmYl9FPXMmZVG0_OwI-vOfU3IRFw0kEmS8WMWsNo9r6rcLX166kE4xllwm2hJHMHkv9mQS59CzEb/w395-h400/andrae1a.JPG" width="395" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NBNUvo4s_v0" width="320" youtube-src-id="NBNUvo4s_v0"></iframe></div><p><br />Sure enough, <b>Bill Maxwell</b> said that the Carnegie Hall crowd was essentially an all-white audience. "But when everyone heard the finished product, it was the first album Andrae had done that got black people listening. I joined Andrae in the summer of 1972. Very few black people embraced his music at all, but after <b><i>Carnegie Hall</i></b> they did because there was an excitement to it, and that Pentecostal environment." Maxwell said that after <b><i>"Live" at Carnegie Hall</i></b> had been out a little while, the group played a concert in Detroit. There was a guy that attended that concert by the name of <b>Marvin Winans</b>. "Marvin came to the concert expecting a segregated hall," Maxwell said. "He arrived and went up to the balcony to sit where he thought he was supposed to sit, but instead found the balcony occupied by both blacks and whites. And this was in the mid-70s!" It was a time when both race and music caused deep divisions not just in the Church but in society at large. Maxwell said that <b>Marvin Winans</b> was surprised to find not only an integrated audience, but also an integrated band on stage. "Marvin said it was one of the most liberating moments of his life," Bill remembers. "I don't know anyone else besides Andrae that broke down those barriers." By the way, <b>The Winans</b> would record their very own <b><i>Live at Carnegie Hall</i></b> album in 1988. </p><p>In 1977, <b>Bill Maxwell </b>was producing an album for <b>Keith Green </b>and ran into a bit of a time constraint. So <b>Alex MacDougall</b> was given the opportunity to hit the road with the Disciples as a fill-in drummer. "I was amazed at everyone, every race and every age group coming together as one during those concerts," MacDougall recalls. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEnxPeXGe6_e1A1CQZacoi038uAwvp82rvwsgXMQG94V4I9UVDvmQ9sjO23jeJI_vGbCiidTVyjyeXIirrMQl_SLS7tKomHIRnmFkWT590tIemWvWU9Vxg676kQfj49R7Uk63ZPEm03Pg/s480/hqdefault.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEnxPeXGe6_e1A1CQZacoi038uAwvp82rvwsgXMQG94V4I9UVDvmQ9sjO23jeJI_vGbCiidTVyjyeXIirrMQl_SLS7tKomHIRnmFkWT590tIemWvWU9Vxg676kQfj49R7Uk63ZPEm03Pg/w400-h300/hqdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />The album is <u>full</u> of hits: <i>I Don't Know Why, I Didn't Think It Could Be, You Don't Know What You're Missing, Jesus is the Answer, It Won't Be Long</i>. There's a rowdy rendition of <i>Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus </i>and <b>Bili Thedford</b> gives a hair-raising performance on the <b>Dottie Rambo</b> classic, <i>He Looked Beyond My Fault</i>. And Andrae drew on his abilities as a worship leader when he led the audience in that 70s worship chorus that had only one word in the lyrics...<i>Alleluia</i>. Or <i>Hallelujah</i> as Andrae called it. (I used to joke that <b>Jerry Sinclair</b> probably stayed up all night writing that one.) </p><p>You may notice that I'm not dedicating much space to reprinting song lyrics...because, to be honest, most of them were very simple expressions... <i>Jesus is the answer | for the world today | Above Him there's no other | Jesus is the way...It won't be long | 'til we'll be leavin' here | It won't be long | we'll be going Home...I don't know why Jesus loved me | I don't know why He cared | I don't know why He sacrificed His life | Oh but I'm glad, so glad He did...</i></p><p>Maybe the simplicity was the secret. Don't misunderstand - Andrae was a spectacularly successful songwriter. But his songs took root in our hearts not because of lyrical depth and complexity. Again, I believe it was because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMf3QS6c-XYYzP8pzZCd4Z0QcOBtT0EpdnAfyhZ7ddYO4go7YwJZgM1C0bHE9u8Zp16Gg_4tThVlNqEPCOarfUnvGiiuny64QBfx9jvn5lVqvmWB6HBUQY6VkfMt9S_g9sDRflz5ooRbc/s720/200656_10150168735203013_2777323_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="501" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMf3QS6c-XYYzP8pzZCd4Z0QcOBtT0EpdnAfyhZ7ddYO4go7YwJZgM1C0bHE9u8Zp16Gg_4tThVlNqEPCOarfUnvGiiuny64QBfx9jvn5lVqvmWB6HBUQY6VkfMt9S_g9sDRflz5ooRbc/w446-h640/200656_10150168735203013_2777323_n.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bill Maxwell</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b>Bill Maxwell</b> has said that Andrae would often begin a song with the chorus (which, of course, is not typically done; you would normally start a song with the first verse). "He would start with the chorus and then repeat it once or twice before ever going to the verse," Maxwell said. "That way, the song imprinted in everyone's mind by the time the verse was sung. We used that template a lot during those years." He did it with <i>Jesus is the Answer, It Won't Be Long, Soon and Very Soon</i>, <i>Take Me Back</i>, and many others.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFF5bvwvDpyBEz2cZjHzvTUjDEwu7UnQuC_rqsmviVkglwDeCppipaWt0yFwUmzbpRoJDshsRh-VmVcyMb7oezE3UHwAXvN-RU5jbvy4c3pPRakW42jSKIawV5LEwXv6MwX3uIus0feln/s893/19399701_10158944309480338_6689302718368428442_n+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="717" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtFF5bvwvDpyBEz2cZjHzvTUjDEwu7UnQuC_rqsmviVkglwDeCppipaWt0yFwUmzbpRoJDshsRh-VmVcyMb7oezE3UHwAXvN-RU5jbvy4c3pPRakW42jSKIawV5LEwXv6MwX3uIus0feln/w514-h640/19399701_10158944309480338_6689302718368428442_n+%25282%2529.jpg" width="514" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Historian Mark Allan Powell says <b><i>"Live" at Carnegie Hall</i></b> was the first live album to come out of the Jesus Movement and was one of the two or three best (with <a href="https://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2017/10/38-to-bride-by-barry-mcguire-2nd.html" target="_blank"><b><i>To The Bride</i></b> </a>by <b>Barry McGuire</b> and the <b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b> being its biggest competition). Powell writes in his <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i> that this album "offers at least a glimpse of what (besides great songs) made <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b> an international phenomenon: electrifying live performances. The fact is - as a few non-Christian rock fans discovered - in the early 70s, Crouch and company were on a short list with <b>The Who</b> and the <b>Rolling Stones</b> for providing one of the best concert experiences to be had. Andrae called it 'having church,' and you couldn't get out without hearing a lot of preaching-to-the-beat music." In fact, there's an entire track on this album that's simply titled <i>Andrae Preaching</i>. Not to belabor the point, but this record seriously served as an introduction to "black church" for so many white Christians in America and even around the world. Powell says the album also received a good bit of crossover attention in secular R&B/pop radio.<br /><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><blockquote style="text-align: center;">"I want the ushers just to close the doors; we're gonna be here for a few more minutes."</blockquote></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><blockquote style="text-align: center;">-Andrae</blockquote></b></span></div></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>In the book <b><i>Through It All</i></b>, Crouch said, "The hardest thing about always being on the go is leaving your home, your local community, the relatives and friends you see every day to suddenly open up your life to everybody all over the world. You become involved with more and more people and there is so much heartache it can break you. I had to learn to rely totally on the Lord. Totally."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkz8tlfcylQs9F1S9s3oWK5SO7-sDjhX_dAgB1rSsx-EqAFrE4mJT50J4iXkdsOW6sHC739jmoF2GQ7pwFYZeTopxlvM9EFjn592T1cYUgATRKHtFls3fRnU5U9Fyd8TWpuUR_QjXnUlW/s2048/throughitall.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1314" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivkz8tlfcylQs9F1S9s3oWK5SO7-sDjhX_dAgB1rSsx-EqAFrE4mJT50J4iXkdsOW6sHC739jmoF2GQ7pwFYZeTopxlvM9EFjn592T1cYUgATRKHtFls3fRnU5U9Fyd8TWpuUR_QjXnUlW/w410-h640/throughitall.JPG" width="410" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The one and only time I ever saw <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b> live was under a large pavilion at <b>Six Flags Over Georgia </b>in Atlanta, around 1976. The <b>Pat Terry Group</b> opened the concert. I was young and it was a long time ago, so I'm afraid I don't remember many details from that event. I do remember Pat, Sonny and Randy sitting on their stools, playing and singing. And I just remember the buzz...the overall excitement and anticipation of what seemed to me like a very large crowd, gathered to see and hear Andrae and his group.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgWPgfounJRi1LOxdl4GE6e8B2W9oGIo6pJF6JCWpHvsz8Ivi-lJ3pdaE5WXao8WV-vwhyphenhyphenKrtJqmjSbzCfwWyvsmqfMfwIPL2jBuE1CGq9tjKiiqo2FSo0eXdg2ngIryXU_xxqEPbHK2t/s604/38346_410654666635_2161177_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="604" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLgWPgfounJRi1LOxdl4GE6e8B2W9oGIo6pJF6JCWpHvsz8Ivi-lJ3pdaE5WXao8WV-vwhyphenhyphenKrtJqmjSbzCfwWyvsmqfMfwIPL2jBuE1CGq9tjKiiqo2FSo0eXdg2ngIryXU_xxqEPbHK2t/w400-h226/38346_410654666635_2161177_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /><br />"Sometimes when we arrive to do a concert it seems to us as if the people believe that since they paid their money, now we are to pour out to them," Andrae told <b>Nina Ball</b> in his 1974 autobiography. "That attitude becomes so demanding that sometimes I ask them to pray for us before we sing. But once they are in the Spirit with us, they minister to us and us to them and all of us to the Lord. Then the body is functioning as a body, in unison, and there is no way a non-Christian can leave untouched. We can always sense if people have come to be fed, entertained, or just to ridicule us and ask, 'Who are these people?' We don't profess to be anybody or anything but sinners saved by the grace of God whom He has chosen to do a work."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7T-8fX03FFRouTAfW-tAUjQGMSOs8pqf9VC2Rk-xnihseMqZi6UAJUIoSQmJpbYIqKOSWkXiRkO5_DM4Kue1r5IdtUPGJZ9Bpw8By2zB0Ozz6yZbER91m7tUewS-zwfNtKYFc9byz9Vz9/s2009/IMG_E1593.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1980" data-original-width="2009" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7T-8fX03FFRouTAfW-tAUjQGMSOs8pqf9VC2Rk-xnihseMqZi6UAJUIoSQmJpbYIqKOSWkXiRkO5_DM4Kue1r5IdtUPGJZ9Bpw8By2zB0Ozz6yZbER91m7tUewS-zwfNtKYFc9byz9Vz9/w400-h394/IMG_E1593.HEIC" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Sandra Crouch</b> sang a memorable solo on <i>Jesus Is The Answer</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Here's a funny life-on-the-road story from the book: "I remember one summer when the Disciples sang in a park in Nebraska. Was it ever hot! Many people were wearing shorts, muumuus, and Levi's, but there were a number of church people in black suits, hats and ties, who were sitting on blankets. Sandra had never worn anything but a dress to sing in up until that time, but I had told her to buy some culottes to wear because we would be singing on the back of a flatbed truck and climbing up and down. After the concert, one of the brothers wearing black suits came up to Sandra. 'You all are an anointed group but, sistah, you got to come out of them britches!' Sandra put her hands on her hips, looked at him and asked, 'Right here?' I ended that conversation with, 'God bless you, good to have you here today.'" <br /><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ-xSq7As4Z_X4FByQkkGZDJrOs1wqFJWoqPOxDXOD336jKs6EtmxJczZ0AIh5P2EetbE7OBT2YblbL7Wfgjs6dV1m5I-Hkl8Oo_hElE_v81Ub17by8uPLkDejjIJnCwq5abdyvx4gmdH/s918/andrae3a.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="918" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZ-xSq7As4Z_X4FByQkkGZDJrOs1wqFJWoqPOxDXOD336jKs6EtmxJczZ0AIh5P2EetbE7OBT2YblbL7Wfgjs6dV1m5I-Hkl8Oo_hElE_v81Ub17by8uPLkDejjIJnCwq5abdyvx4gmdH/w400-h276/andrae3a.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrae's parents: <b>Rev. Benjamin & Catherine Crouch</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Andrae said he never forgot the words of his pastor father, spoken when he first started touring: "Son, God is going to use you. As you travel, your name may be in lights but if you don't care about people, if you get on stage and don't feel for those people, don't have a burden, a compassion to win them at any cost, then is the time to come home."</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aO9kv1phCBB-Iaq2GIKtKeDsIfdHajdcKMNPqPPYlgvgk-ERrlsbdHvSNxw5Kkm03CLPttyH3D_V6cTlsyztAuUllDv2KGb3q7Db_RNTBnNo1ntMnWvxdN0EJEHU0jKw7OUrw4xVfMmY/s598/R-1680570-1236497582.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="598" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aO9kv1phCBB-Iaq2GIKtKeDsIfdHajdcKMNPqPPYlgvgk-ERrlsbdHvSNxw5Kkm03CLPttyH3D_V6cTlsyztAuUllDv2KGb3q7Db_RNTBnNo1ntMnWvxdN0EJEHU0jKw7OUrw4xVfMmY/w400-h173/R-1680570-1236497582.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Andrae's crisp and energetic piano playing certainly stands out on this album. I was a kid just learning to play when this record came out, and I was influenced by Andrae's playing probably more than anyone else. I'm nowhere near in his league, but I can remember imitating his fills when I was in my early teens...and I still do. </p><p>The liner notes on the back of the album say that 1,500 people jammed the Baptist church across the street because they couldn't get in. It says, "The Disciples played in the church first and then ran back to the famed Carnegie Hall where thousands of people were anxiously waiting to praise Jesus." It goes on to make a point that "this album is not a slick or watered-down album. It is rough and honest." Yeah, to be blunt, despite the fact that this record is a cultural touchstone for the Jesus Movement and despite the anointing that's obviously on it...well, I'm just going to say it. There's some sloppiness on this album where it just doesn't sound like the rhythm section is firing on all cylinders. </p><p>Turns out there's a good explanation for that.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0yLmI7w579kNFk9x5S6hiJDYsglBZOgwSFtzdegZUmwd7kmcR2fzCQXTzG9jkOjitazz0IrZkjgc7UQhMpAkWiPF-cWr3B8Ie2ZgPkbwBLtbfm4wPk6gXdHFFFPjM_8ygOIC_FW1dxEjq/s828/CJANew5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="576" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0yLmI7w579kNFk9x5S6hiJDYsglBZOgwSFtzdegZUmwd7kmcR2fzCQXTzG9jkOjitazz0IrZkjgc7UQhMpAkWiPF-cWr3B8Ie2ZgPkbwBLtbfm4wPk6gXdHFFFPjM_8ygOIC_FW1dxEjq/w278-h400/CJANew5.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bill Maxwell</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>Here's the part that's going to blow your mind. You might want to sit down. Or at least grab something to steady yourself.</p><p>Telephone interview | June 2017<br /><br /><b>Bill Maxwell</b>: <b><i>"Live" at Carnegie Hall</i></b> was recorded in February or March of 1972 and what most people don't know, and I don't mind saying, is that I wasn't there.<br /><br /><b>Me</b>: Wait...what?! You're in the credits. On the album cover. You played drums, right?</p><p><b>Bill</b>: The whole album was overdubbed.</p><p><b>Me</b>: You're kidding.</p><p><b>Bill</b>: Nope. They recorded the concert and Andrae wasn't happy with his band. He had a band of amateur musicians. And when everyone heard the finished product...</p><p><b>Me</b>: So...wait...what are you saying?</p><p><b>Bill</b>: Andrae had the tapes and he told the record company that he didn't like it. He didn't like the band, didn't like the way the thing sounded. The only thing he liked was the audience and his own performance. And so he said he'd like to try to work on it and fix things. And the record company was just sure that he was going to mess it up. And they wouldn't give him the masters, but they made him a copy of the masters. </p><p>As you might imagine, as I'm hearing Bill say these things over the phone, my mind is racing. I mean, it's common for a live album to have an overdub here, maybe fix a little something over there...but this was taking overdubs to a whole other level. Bill continued, and got a little technical with his explanation of how Andrae saved the Carnegie Hall album.</p><p><b>Bill</b>: The piano was recorded with a pickup, which is not a microphone, so it just picked up the sound of the strings in close proximity and it didn't have much leaking. So you didn't hear drums or vocals in it, and his vocal mic was very clean, so we essentially replaced everything. <b>Hadley Hockensmith</b> replaced the bass and the guitars. I replaced the drums - even though sometimes the drummer messed up and the beat got kind of flubbed around, I just had to go with it and try to match it. <b>Harlan Rogers</b> overdubbed the organ and then they replaced all the background vocals.</p><p><b>Me</b>: But what about the crowd noise?</p><p><b>Bill</b>: The crowd was the crowd. Now, he couldn't bring it up too much in the mix if the band was in it, so it had to be where it wouldn't expose the fact that it was a different band playing. But all of those responses, it was all from that crowd. That was the main thing - the only thing Andrae overdubbed was "Good night and God bless you!" That was done after the fact and that applause was brought in there at the end, obviously. But pretty much, that's what the crowd did. They were wild and loud. That was them.</p><p>Wow. Unbelievable. So I guess maybe that's why the word "Live" is in quote marks on the album cover? I had never noticed that before.</p><p>Just to be clear, for the record..."So you, <b>Fletch Wiley, Hadley Hockensmith</b> and <b>Harlan Rogers</b>, <i>none of you </i>were actually at the concert?"</p><p>Bill smiled and said, "No. But people swear they saw me there."</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jmngNAdQS18" width="320" youtube-src-id="jmngNAdQS18"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p> </p><p>Fun Facts:<br /><br />• There have been at least 17 albums that have been titled <b><i>Live at Carnegie Hall</i></b>, including records by <b>Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull, Liza Minelli, Stevie Ray Vaughn,</b> comic <b>Ray Romano</b> and <b>Billy Joel</b>.<br /><br />• There have been at least 92 albums, total, recorded at the prestigious theatre in New York City. They include projects by <b>Benny Goodman, Frank Zappa, Buck Owens, Dizzy Gillespie, The Who, Chicago, Groucho Marx, Glenn Miller, Greg Allman, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, </b>and <b>Paul Simon</b> (whose album <b><i>Rhymin' Simon</i></b> includes <b>Jessy Dixon</b> singing (and some woman totally <i>over-</i>singing) Andrae's song,<i> Jesus is the Answer</i>).</p><div class="mw-category-group" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></div><div class="mw-category-group" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></div>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-35095653773049052342021-01-30T10:12:00.006-08:002021-01-30T19:42:43.593-08:00#29 THE SKY IS FALLING by Randy Stonehill (1977/1980)<p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12YA9YY49bw948-Usq7yL91s3APxjRNm1SlGODYJx2tt0vITweonkOiGQjapTewTbCGygh0EbKEtyLHsw9_GJmmlFRClDuMQunguTSFA7eANAVdMaBgAOzKh9tf_t4qP3aSy0PfWfyra0/s1745/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1745" data-original-width="1745" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12YA9YY49bw948-Usq7yL91s3APxjRNm1SlGODYJx2tt0vITweonkOiGQjapTewTbCGygh0EbKEtyLHsw9_GJmmlFRClDuMQunguTSFA7eANAVdMaBgAOzKh9tf_t4qP3aSy0PfWfyra0/w400-h400/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE SKY IS FALLING</i></b> by <b>Randy Stonehill</b><br />(Recorded in 1977 | released in 1980)<br />Solid Rock | SRA 2005<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />"Where <b><i>Welcome to Paradise </i></b>was sweet and gentle, emotionally, <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b> was a walk down a broken road toward the end of the world." <p></p><p>OK, maybe. But I've rarely heard a walk down a broken road sound half as good or be nearly as much fun as this one. </p><p>That quote above was penned by the album's producer, one <b>Larry Norman</b>, in the liner notes for the criminally-late CD reissue of <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b>, which wasn't made available for purchase until <i>1994.</i> We suffered without our digital copies of <b><i>The Sky is Falling </i></b>for about a decade and a half. Some fans wailed and complained while others of us suffered in silence. But suffered we did. And it was so worth the wait.</p><p>Waiting fourteen years for a CD is pretty extreme. Come to think of it, there was another time that I went to extreme measures in order to get my Stonehill fix. I caught wind that Randy was going to be giving a live concert at an Assembly of God church in my hometown on a Sunday night in April of 2014. Well, I certainly wasn't going to let this opportunity pass me by. Even though by this time I had seen <b>Randy Stonehill </b>at a college and at two different coffeehouses in Columbia, SC; twice at the <b>Cornerstone Festival </b>(including a turn as an "Honorary Eddie" while singing with the <b>Swirling Eddies </b>in Grayslake, IL); and twice at my then-home church in Greenville, SC (flying solo on Sunday morning and then sharing the stage with the great <b>Bob Bennett </b>later that night). But still...if he's anywhere near, you don't pass up that opportunity, am I right? </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBqrjFmimduNueqt6laHF2J-bblWiQHy_dtSt4iAaIawFm9uv4SDki2DXqQh0dpSJfh1Rg11qv39Y_s5yG0lUdm4VYwanKFHH8LrC1Uv2ahVrld7Yd4UvLTBwZPAQU_YWqHCgM7UA-2rv/s1155/RandyStonehill_BobBennett_144+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="1155" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBqrjFmimduNueqt6laHF2J-bblWiQHy_dtSt4iAaIawFm9uv4SDki2DXqQh0dpSJfh1Rg11qv39Y_s5yG0lUdm4VYwanKFHH8LrC1Uv2ahVrld7Yd4UvLTBwZPAQU_YWqHCgM7UA-2rv/w400-h249/RandyStonehill_BobBennett_144+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bob Bennett</b> and <b>Randy Stonehill</b><br />at College Park Worship Center | Greenville, SC<br />June 24, 2012 </td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><br />There was only one problem. I didn't have a set of wheels that day. I think we had one car in the shop and my wife had gone to her mother's (of course) for a little Sunday afternoon visit. Those visits always dragged on forever...and she wasn't answering her cell phone. I tried other friends and family members and couldn't get anyone to answer. So I left a voice message on my wife's phone and then did what any half-maniacal Stonehill fan would've done...I struck out walking. </p><p>Ten miles. </p><p>Along a busy (i.e. <i>dangerous</i>) 2-lane highway with no sidewalk and no shoulder for much of the journey. </p><p>I had trekked about 4 miles or so when my wife, who had finally heard my voice mail, pulled up and motioned for me to get in the car. Keep in mind that I was a grown man in his fifties when this ridiculousness transpired. Hey, I had to see Uncle Rand one more time. Whatever it took.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCSJgyMNJ2fBq354NhqWH6AvjgXBSV5Jaua34nsMD_MSSf_dqIRidoE2HBisf6215IfRHpwZDzINl-kXCZen94-qQXhaVLI8ztBuhb-ZOHLHrfU3fB2cC1Ug9SaGXeik5FNS6a17RmR0v/s2048/BeFunky-collagers2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1077" data-original-width="2048" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCSJgyMNJ2fBq354NhqWH6AvjgXBSV5Jaua34nsMD_MSSf_dqIRidoE2HBisf6215IfRHpwZDzINl-kXCZen94-qQXhaVLI8ztBuhb-ZOHLHrfU3fB2cC1Ug9SaGXeik5FNS6a17RmR0v/w400-h210/BeFunky-collagers2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>A <b>Randy Stonehill </b>concert is an experience like no other. Much has been made over the years of his ability to have you laughing one minute and crying the next (which is absolutely true, by the way). In preparation for this blog post I reached out to the prolific and inestimable Mr. <b>Alex MacDougall </b>(who played drums and percussion on <b><i>The Sky is Falling)</i></b>. "Randy had the very rare ability to enter a stage and completely captivate an audience," MacDougall said. "That's a very rare gift. He was a high energy performer and deeply talented. I toured North America and did the U.K. Greenbelt Festival with him during the late '70s, as well as an early 'Amos 'n Randy' U.S. run. He and I would always go out front stage to talk and pray with concertgoers following an event." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IJR12RaQAF5NUVNpFaKWFjkJoFDW39U7x2_BaAMtMT5RGb8koxDe1eaq_iGxC3zHgqZ1wra-iPWRDkHrdpFTmUqmEJaO1iArVMhh_qkM3ZPMLPrKooHktPcHoOsGQWqXYwS3d7uStFRG/s960/66822776_2333927873370389_7573689512371421184_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="660" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IJR12RaQAF5NUVNpFaKWFjkJoFDW39U7x2_BaAMtMT5RGb8koxDe1eaq_iGxC3zHgqZ1wra-iPWRDkHrdpFTmUqmEJaO1iArVMhh_qkM3ZPMLPrKooHktPcHoOsGQWqXYwS3d7uStFRG/w440-h640/66822776_2333927873370389_7573689512371421184_n.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p>For his part, Randy told author Steve Rabey in 1986 that live concerts were a wonderful opportunity to actually look into the faces of the audience - the people that he wrote and recorded for. "You're on stage and you try to give your heart, try to give something real," Stonehill said in the book <i>The Heart of Rock and Roll.</i> "I try to save up all my energy, jump in, and give 105 percent. I love what I do, and I feel like if I'm not losing a lung or some vital organ for the audience I'm cheating them." The man's energy and productivity over all these years has been astounding. As I write this in 2021, he continues to tour. He's never stopped. Oh - and if you'd like to read all about that concert that I tried to <i>walk </i>to...<a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-concert-review-randy-stonehill.html">click here.</a> <br /> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdepUSXWxJ4DEwToIAu-lmGtANj9SUcd3oGrN6tyx32-1mxnsggu-y55fIUBZgXdeyrtFh951Y3EiWor1vQVKU3LhD1yAUvWxF2nhfa5uaopJQWz5IFATBsFw0XOavTBJ6085Psbc6tBuF/s1782/randy-stonehill.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1782" data-original-width="1782" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdepUSXWxJ4DEwToIAu-lmGtANj9SUcd3oGrN6tyx32-1mxnsggu-y55fIUBZgXdeyrtFh951Y3EiWor1vQVKU3LhD1yAUvWxF2nhfa5uaopJQWz5IFATBsFw0XOavTBJ6085Psbc6tBuF/w400-h400/randy-stonehill.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Most of us were introduced to <b>Randy Stonehill </b>via 1976's <b><i>Welcome to Paradise</i></b>, effectively his debut album and an absolute masterpiece. I know that <b><i>Born Twice</i></b> came before, but <b><i>Welcome to Paradise</i></b> was his first nationally-distributed album, his first "real" album...and the one that most folks heard first. [It will surprise no one that <b><i>WTP</i></b> will no doubt turn up later on this list.] <b><i>Welcome to Paradise </i></b>set a very high bar and raised expectations for a sophomore release...a sophomore release that would surely come a year later, right, because you always strike while the iron's hot, right? But '77 came and went with no album. Then 1978. Then '79. Still no record. <i>What in the Sam Hill heck was goin' on here?<br /><br /></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6Eqv9enS0-H18O81yVilWzIZa23XfaR1gOj2rv7QFrD4w7Ca2IezLE07RsP_xIT0Zwq9WcKAonJtvq9VOGj2_NpoDgi_ZA2EzzNY0Wn-KYwwhsEKMYeoRClTR6N1ddxUHWGMyt2RVvuF/s1741/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1737" data-original-width="1741" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6Eqv9enS0-H18O81yVilWzIZa23XfaR1gOj2rv7QFrD4w7Ca2IezLE07RsP_xIT0Zwq9WcKAonJtvq9VOGj2_NpoDgi_ZA2EzzNY0Wn-KYwwhsEKMYeoRClTR6N1ddxUHWGMyt2RVvuF/w400-h399/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+back.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p>With <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b> being released on Solid Rock Records, it naturally came complete with liner notes and an album sleeve loaded down with photos, interviews, an album review, etc. (back in the day, a Solid Rock gatefold album cover and packaging was a treat for the eyes almost as much as the album was for the ears). So in an interview that was included as part of the package, Randy was asked by an anonymous interviewer (with long, blonde hair, perhaps?), "Is it true that you wanted to release the album in 1977?" To which he responded, "We all did. But there were problems, so we didn't." And that was that. Stonehill dealt with the 3-year delay by deftly swatting away the query as effectively as the proverbial politician who's asked, "Senator, is it true that you finally stopped beating your wife?" Years later, we would learn that the delays of albums like Stonehill's <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b> and <b><i>Horrendous Disc</i></b> by <b>Daniel Amos </b>were really inexcusable and the source of great consternation within the small, tight-knit artistic enclave known as Solid Rock. I asked <b>Alex MacDougall </b>if he knew anything about the delay. "Some of <b><i>TSIF</i></b> rough mixes and scratch vocals were shared with me in late '77 or '78," he said. "I don't know about the reasons for the delay of the release, but in retrospect, I think that some of the Solid Rock artists' careers, while 'managed' by <b>Larry Norman</b>, were also subordinate to his own release schedule, attention, ego and energies." Enough said.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvFfxQXcKA8Vzh-Ca1JUjvOrjU4_XoK9OnsaO5wn8WY5feqAamwmZG_28cpDBxXMPcctC7CmCBBIk-fVdm0M3Fi4JAMaXMQQo9XDvJuocNa_oIdXO64LEIi79kzzuFZuDwd3wuHXe-Ge7/s1741/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+sleeve+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1721" data-original-width="1741" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvFfxQXcKA8Vzh-Ca1JUjvOrjU4_XoK9OnsaO5wn8WY5feqAamwmZG_28cpDBxXMPcctC7CmCBBIk-fVdm0M3Fi4JAMaXMQQo9XDvJuocNa_oIdXO64LEIi79kzzuFZuDwd3wuHXe-Ge7/w400-h395/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+sleeve+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>So this album finally saw the light of day - or at least the record bins of Christian bookstores - in 1980. But since it was recorded in 1977, we've made an executive decision to include it on our 1970s blog and <i>not</i> on our 1980s blog. Musically, it's much more of a 70s album anyway. </p><p><i>Billboard's</i> Barry Alfonso wrote that <b><i>TSIF</i></b> was unusually well-produced for a 70s-era Christian market album. Well, sure. It was produced by <b>Larry Norman </b>and it was on Solid Rock Records. Goes without saying. For all of his faults/contradictions/eccentricities, Mr. Norman flat-out knew his way around a recording studio. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Uty4S3x4Y4sa2kGnM38kNTXYayLDw7ZKXgOPGEcunmTxqkjUlhcxAebrifiMAiOsoWJJiDeJpTvOPhqR9W2-DcWU2EIgDN6yA9fNypiQDHtYJ30Nw2gN3Qyu8Po6hSYPAq120_PkAEXm/s1397/randy+stonehill-Sky+is+falling+cd+inner2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1397" data-original-width="1394" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Uty4S3x4Y4sa2kGnM38kNTXYayLDw7ZKXgOPGEcunmTxqkjUlhcxAebrifiMAiOsoWJJiDeJpTvOPhqR9W2-DcWU2EIgDN6yA9fNypiQDHtYJ30Nw2gN3Qyu8Po6hSYPAq120_PkAEXm/w399-h400/randy+stonehill-Sky+is+falling+cd+inner2.jpg" width="399" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Randy Stonehill</b> and <b>Larry Norman</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Christian teenagers (like me) in the mid-70s considered Randy and Larry to be <i>our</i> dynamic duo, a "bromance" made in rock and roll heaven. Due to a series of complications that involved broken promises, bad business dealings and some pretty bizarre relationship drama with the weaker sex, they would sadly become "frenemies" and nurse a grudge in sometimes very public, albeit passive aggressive ways throughout the 80s and 90s. Thankfully, the two found a way to bury the hatchet and make at least some semblance of peace before Norman's homegoing in 2008. I'm not going to write or report or speculate on any of the back-and-forth about marriages or songwriting royalties or professional jealousies, so if you were hoping for that, turn away now. You can see/hear/read all of that at any number of other places. I will say this, though: my brother Drue and I had the privilege of taking Randy and his wife Leslie to lunch in 2013 following Randy's concert at our church. I will only tell you that when the conversation turned to Larry, the pain on Randy's face and in his voice was palpable, a full five years after Norman's death. And yet God saw fit to use the unlikely pairing of those two men to reach so many people. We will never know this side of eternity the spiritual fruit that was produced by the partnership of <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>Randy Stonehill. <br /><br /><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWRsFX9vPCXNZFEB2xLoH-emzAHBVDp6shv9JT5JnNCQFynrDphxBvQyt_UK0Bjz6jvTT8srgLOkGN-pOtmuz_jyI7s4eK-YlXKYiOltlfrmTB8lAa0d8kmP_3aDZFTUwBwM7t9ly3qIY/s445/R-3427230-1330001574.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="445" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWRsFX9vPCXNZFEB2xLoH-emzAHBVDp6shv9JT5JnNCQFynrDphxBvQyt_UK0Bjz6jvTT8srgLOkGN-pOtmuz_jyI7s4eK-YlXKYiOltlfrmTB8lAa0d8kmP_3aDZFTUwBwM7t9ly3qIY/s16000/R-3427230-1330001574.jpeg+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In his <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i>, historian Mark Allan Powell claims that <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b> is a more diverse but more inconsistent album than <b><i>Welcome to Paradise.</i></b> That's fair, although I wouldn't use the word <i>inconsistent.</i> I would say that <b><i>TSIF</i></b> is a broader album in terms of both musical style and lyrical themes. <b><i>WTP</i></b> was more of a concept album that stayed in its lane, while <b><i>TSIF</i></b> jumped around a bit, giving us a preview of what Stonehill's recorded output was going to sound like in the future. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaX3pcAbstPLGAZTQhwMCsJXqPtUwWzFL3Y0ewwIRcPO8xG3NN0x53lIfcpw-JlVdbZV523Igo4nGwlbdjFIfc-NrlQ9XGbG2JkZtUu4DdL52hfluG54VSR9S583SJhEDusi53r8lT2hK/s617/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+2+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="617" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaX3pcAbstPLGAZTQhwMCsJXqPtUwWzFL3Y0ewwIRcPO8xG3NN0x53lIfcpw-JlVdbZV523Igo4nGwlbdjFIfc-NrlQ9XGbG2JkZtUu4DdL52hfluG54VSR9S583SJhEDusi53r8lT2hK/w400-h300/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+2+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Powell has written that Stonehill's material tends to fit into three broad categories:<br /><span> 1. <b>Acoustic pop ballads</b> that offer incisive reflection on the human condition<br /><span> 2. <b>Faith anthems</b> with a heartland rock/rockabilly sound to them<br /></span><span> 3. <b>Uncle Rand songs</b> - wacky, humorous ditties that satirize pop culture<br /></span><br />All three categories were on display on <b><i>The Sky is Falling.</i></b> In the <i>Billboard Guide to Contemporary Christian Music, </i>Barry Alfonso said TSIF "swings between emotional extremes, brooding on mortality one minute and spoofing pop culture the next." Yes. That's called a <b>Randy Stonehill </b>album. Yes, please.<br /><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygXS0LSxIoLc1fiVOZ5vVcVCaPFpUSb0ptLLazJixsv4MdnOYSIZQrFi7fe0Rsn_6TUuho2A95W2-kBl5Kdo1PSYHret6P7qSCi7JEChzdtpp-i6Q1hgPK5DNac2QdxAY8Xor_sEu9sEZ/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygXS0LSxIoLc1fiVOZ5vVcVCaPFpUSb0ptLLazJixsv4MdnOYSIZQrFi7fe0Rsn_6TUuho2A95W2-kBl5Kdo1PSYHret6P7qSCi7JEChzdtpp-i6Q1hgPK5DNac2QdxAY8Xor_sEu9sEZ/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span><p></p><p><span><b><i>TSIF</i></b> begins with a gritty rock song that Stonehill claims to have written in his sleep. If that's true, he writes better alseep than most people do wide awake. In an interview included with the album, Randy says that just before he woke up one night, he could hear himself singing this song, and could even "see" his hands on the neck of his guitar. When he awakened, he grabbed a guitar and tried to remember the song before it faded. He could remember the melody and chords, and enough of the lyrics to have a general sense of what the song was about. He says it was all in a subconscious code, like a dream language. <i>The work of the Holy Spirit, perhaps? <br /><br /></i></span></p><p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kSjZoPBql7w" width="320" youtube-src-id="kSjZoPBql7w"></iframe></span></div><span><br /><i><br /></i></span><p></p><p><span>That song turned out to be <i>One True Love</i>. It's a rollicking way to kick off the album and benefits from some highly recognizable vocal harmonies by <b>Larry Norman</b>. There's also a barn-burner of a slide guitar solo by the late, great <b>Jon Linn</b>. <b>Alex MacDougall </b>said, "Randy always introduced the band in our live shows and he would often look at Jon and say, <i>'I love you. I hate you.'</i> That's because Jon was extraordinary. He was like an animal when he played a solo." </span></p><p><span><i>One True Love</i> is basically a song that serves as a hip, rock and roll tract to the unsaved. The lyrics are a bit on the confrontational side for <b>Randy Stonehill</b>, some might even say it's a tad preachy:</span></p><p><i><span>You might spin till you're dizzy<br /></span>Just trying to stay alive<br />But you're so busy hustling<br />You never arrive<br /><br />Don't try being a loner<br />'Cause that's your first mistake<br />Go on once and admit that<br />You need a break<br />Well, we all need a break<br /><br />You need one true love<br />Someone who's always there<br />Don't try to act like you don't care<br /><br />You need one true love<br />Go on and get it straight<br />You're only losing while you wait</i></p><p><i>You need one true love<br />Then you can really live<br />You only get back what you give<br /><br /><br /><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUiCVzI7A_Tr8ODjFF8cuUJaKOeuhVN90Cj4WiyYGGpsFgXM2oc5hMh1PPXZvy4i_FmdevfEax1k2WY6yvioR6nCSTLgq6PCXx-wDkr3IqUa-_O75uSEHozSfkJdQqJzEcuvfIlcvRYgv/s800/randy-stonehill-the-sky-is-falling-2-ab.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="800" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUiCVzI7A_Tr8ODjFF8cuUJaKOeuhVN90Cj4WiyYGGpsFgXM2oc5hMh1PPXZvy4i_FmdevfEax1k2WY6yvioR6nCSTLgq6PCXx-wDkr3IqUa-_O75uSEHozSfkJdQqJzEcuvfIlcvRYgv/w400-h398/randy-stonehill-the-sky-is-falling-2-ab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Next is the hauntingly beautiful <i>Through the Glass Darkly</i>. I'm reminded that this record was made in the 70s when I see that this tune clocks in at just under six minutes...and has a 46-second intro. No regard for radio airplay...because there wasn't any to speak of! Great songs like this one were allowed to stretch out and breathe. </p><p>Critic Mark Allan Powell says that Stonehill tries his hand at social commentary on this track, "offering a backward glance at the failed agenda of the Kennedy era and the hippie movement." If you just read the lyrics, this song can come across as somewhat hopeless and more than a little depressing. Randy said the song was about people looking for answers and finding none. You might say it's a little like the book of Ecclesiastes set to music... <i>It seems like all our dreams turn into tragedies / and I wonder if we'll learn from the mistakes we've made / Now I'm waiting at the bus stop for the bus to arrive / And I know there must be more to life than staying alive / Well, I don't know where I'm going when I climb in / But it can't be any emptier than where I've been... <br /><br /><br /></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPnYJQtB1xVNHm0O-ueBiVs41ik3YAfY0HMNVk5A5vS_GicPdLY7sBoHLvp4fNQAjHUqnAao7xsAfPS_8WOxZ1zP4NGq3qetFQiYDn_4xaALRC24rq-bR_RoKRyx3CXF5B8CQ_XH0J0vj/s2048/BeFunky-collageguru.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1747" data-original-width="2048" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPnYJQtB1xVNHm0O-ueBiVs41ik3YAfY0HMNVk5A5vS_GicPdLY7sBoHLvp4fNQAjHUqnAao7xsAfPS_8WOxZ1zP4NGq3qetFQiYDn_4xaALRC24rq-bR_RoKRyx3CXF5B8CQ_XH0J0vj/w400-h341/BeFunky-collageguru.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "guru"...then and now?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Verse one talks about a young man that was put forward as a god. Larry and Randy heard that the 15-year old <b>Guru Maharaj Ji </b>(who was actually more like 22, but was advertised as 15) was holding forth at Alexander Palace in London. He was billed as The Great Master. <b>Randy Stonehill </b>recalls being utterly disappointed in the guy's "plastic divinity," as Randy put it. (By the way, his real name is <b>Prem Pal Singh Rawat, </b>he's still alive, and you can read all about him and the stir he created in the early 70s at his Wikipedia page.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7cx2Go7qGxc" width="320" youtube-src-id="7cx2Go7qGxc"></iframe></div><br /><p>The 2nd verse takes on overzealous Christians who were long on dogma and short on love. And the 3rd verse recounts a brush with <b>Jimi Hendrix</b> on the night before his overdose. I'm pretty sure Randy was taking some creative license here to simply point out that even famous rock stars were lost and alone at the end of the day. Randy made the point in the liner notes that Hendrix, Clapton, <b>Pete Townsend</b>, and <b>Elton John</b> were all worshiped as though they were gods...but they had no answers. Even with six minutes to fill, Stonehill resists the urge to spell out the Answer; he's content to simply drive home the idea in this track that man has made a mess of things. (Although, it seems to my ears that the background singers are saying something like <i>He loves you, baby, ooh la la...He loves you, baby, ooh la la...</i> at the very end of the song. But it's somewhat buried in the mix.) </p><p>It really is one of the most memorable songs on the album. Somber. Thought-provoking. Disturbing. Beautiful. </p><p>Incidentally, there's a very nice groove that takes place at about the 2:33 mark and again at 4:52 of <i>Through the Glass Darkly. </i>It was clear that these singers and musicians knew one another well and were a very strong unit when playing together.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB67xi9x5theg7poREB_-UXBMfZxMGUKxfdghqCCro6b48jQfylx6I5kR32wGhmMTTWWBmwPSZ7BSfdiJwkXHjes_BTxsm4HWaYhcD4uJ95P7yHqGJ3V3VJBAK9B6q9ZAAOCOJdYWbPnhb/s529/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+3+%25285%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB67xi9x5theg7poREB_-UXBMfZxMGUKxfdghqCCro6b48jQfylx6I5kR32wGhmMTTWWBmwPSZ7BSfdiJwkXHjes_BTxsm4HWaYhcD4uJ95P7yHqGJ3V3VJBAK9B6q9ZAAOCOJdYWbPnhb/s16000/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+3+%25285%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>The emptiness of stardom is a theme that continued on the muscular rock anthem <i>Teen King</i>. This line always made me laugh:</p><p><i>Now that you're a star all the chicks in the bar know what you're drinking</i><br /><br />Stonehill let it be known that this was inspired by <b>The Eagles' Glen Frey</b>. If there was any doubt, consider the following lyric:</p><p><i>Hey, you were right when you said it's hard to tell the night time from the day <br />But you're ending up a desperado anyway</i><br /><br />Randy was quite direct and uncharacteristically blunt in an interview printed on the album's liner notes. "I did want to write a kind of warning of getting swept away by false images of self-importance or living in a fantasy world," he said. "I think <b>the Eagles</b> have been very eloquent in describing human phoniness and pointing out the dilemmas and heartaches of the human condition. They seem very clever at pointing out what is wrong...but they haven't been giving many answers. Which is okay. Maybe they realize they don't have any answers."<br /><br />"When you're a popular rock star, your fans know all your hits and your true fans even know the B-sides of your singles," offered <b>Larry Norman</b>. "But if you're <i>really</i> famous, people who have never heard any of your music or watched you on <b>The Midnight Special </b>will know what kind of car you drive and who you're living with thanks to the photographers and journalists from <b><i>People</i></b> magazine. <i>Teen King</i> is a somewhat snide look at fame and the pressures of rock and roll living." </p><p>In the record's liner notes, Randy extends a special thanks "to Glenn and Don stuck in the fast lane...may you find the narrow path."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptz9MF4SBNdcr1xfH5ZnKMl-NYT7oIq1ERc1X2SDkjY5Dd1sELbFtNvhZC2E6ZT8-wrCrUHKQPN_YnuAnjZJsZfE19oPtnsxuqiIO5t8-sP88W_JeW5rUXnDRcBQYfd39RevXMN9MnPmr/s420/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+3+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptz9MF4SBNdcr1xfH5ZnKMl-NYT7oIq1ERc1X2SDkjY5Dd1sELbFtNvhZC2E6ZT8-wrCrUHKQPN_YnuAnjZJsZfE19oPtnsxuqiIO5t8-sP88W_JeW5rUXnDRcBQYfd39RevXMN9MnPmr/s16000/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+3+%25283%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>Next up, strap yourselves in for a wild and wacky take-down of too much television. First he destroyed cigarette smoking in the song <i>Lung Cancer </i>on <b><i>Welcome to Paradise</i></b>. This time, Randy places television squarely in the cross-hairs and effectively rips TV a new one, you might say. </p><p><i>The Great American Cure</i>, a rambunctious rocker, is another memorable moment from <b><i>TSIF</i></b>. <b>Jon Linn</b> is absolutely on fire with his guitar work here. MacDougall's percussion and Norman's harmonica also add a lot to the track. </p><p>Oddly, <i>The Great American Cure</i>, even though it's one of the hardest-rocking songs on the album, sort of allows <b>Randy Stonehill </b>to find common ground with legalistic, fundamentalist preachers of the time. Because they were always warning people about "wasting too much time with the boob tube" and "watching them filthy soap operas on that old one-eyed devil box"...you know, stuff like that. Randy's admonition was much more cleverly phrased:</p><p><i>I went to the doctor all nervous and crazy<br />I told him the way things were<br />He smiled quite nicely and without thinking twice he said<br />Just try the great American cure<br /><br />Put your brain in neutral<br />Turn on the television set<br />Kick off your shoes and don't worry<br />They haven't cut the power off yet<br /><br />So I went on home and I tried his prescription<br />I watched till my eyeballs dried<br />The good guys are winning, I can't keep from grinning<br />And I dream about the TV Guide<br /><br />So if you feel faint when you pick up the paper<br />If politics make you ill<br />If people upset you and high prices get you<br />And you're just too broke to purchase a thrill<br /><br />Put your brain in neutral<br />Turn on the television set<br />Kick off your shoes and don't worry<br />They haven't cut the power off yet<br /><br />All night movies, think it's time to tune out<br />Prime time boob tube, baby's getting burned out</i><br /><br />Randy says he wrote <i>The Great American Cure</i> in the back seat of a car after an all-night recording session. He was thinking about how sad it was that so many people spent their free time watching, not doing. "I think that probably 90% of television programming is a waste of time," he said. And he was bothered that Christians were even spending too much time watching Christian television (which was in its infancy) and sending money they didn't have to finance so-called television ministries.</p><p>This, of course, was several years ahead of <b>Farrell & Farrell's</b> <i>People in a Box</i>. And keep in mind, <i>The Great American Cure</i> was written when most folks could only pick up four channels - and one of those was PBS. Somebody check with Uncle Rand and see how he feels today about cable TV, satellite dishes, DVRs and on-demand streaming. </p><p>Stonehill has turned critiquing pop culture foibles into a cottage industry over the years. He told Steve Rabey, "I just keep my eyes open, and there are so many absurd and ludicrous things going on here in this arena we call modern civilization that I just can't resist poking fun at them." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQx_1RSXMpB2VExWRv2qN0MrC5rW_NPVK36nkykqRJgGRvV5HeYRFwtAQaFlxpuVzdTzewpeqK8kAEiXJPEruM8N7sBw10w4TUb_PfBL5b9OZWy2bww34ZOtlU9vQwdU3Fg4BH7S7majNz/s1065/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+sleeve+12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="667" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQx_1RSXMpB2VExWRv2qN0MrC5rW_NPVK36nkykqRJgGRvV5HeYRFwtAQaFlxpuVzdTzewpeqK8kAEiXJPEruM8N7sBw10w4TUb_PfBL5b9OZWy2bww34ZOtlU9vQwdU3Fg4BH7S7majNz/w251-h400/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+sleeve+12.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><p>Rounding out side one of <b><i>TSIF</i></b> is a breezy 7-minute song with a laid back, island vibe. It's called <i>Venezuela.</i> Today, that name is synonymous with socialism, food shortages and political corruption. In the 70s, it just seemed like a really cool place to disappear for a while. </p><p>The song began with <i>My best friend's in Venezuela</i>... and my teenage self said, <i>"Wait...I thought Larry was his best friend!" </i></p><p>"<i>Venezuela</i> was written for Randy's friend <b>Ray Bissell Ware</b>," <b>Alex MacDougall</b> told me. "Bissell was only in our imaginations at that time. However, while in Calgary, Canada, on tour, the famous Bissell showed up backstage. It was a delight." </p><p>All of the percussion instruments heard on <i>Venezuela</i> are also a delight. Stonehill goes into great detail about the story behind this song in the aforementioned interview that came with the album. I'll hit the highlights for you here:<br /><br />1. Stonehill and Ware grew up fast friends and did drugs and chased girls together.<br />2. Stonehill got saved (in "Norman's kitchen") but Ware did not.<br />3. Ware had suicidal thoughts and went to Venezuela to just chill.<br />4. Years later Ware contacted Stonehill and told him that he had become a Christian.</p><p>This is apparently the same <b>Ray Ware</b> who later headed up an artist management company and represented Randy, <b>Bryan Duncan, Phil Keaggy, Bob Carlisle</b> and others. </p><p>In the album's liner notes, Stonehill gives a shout-out to "<b>Ray Bissell Ware </b>for meeting Him all the way."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8qGmrvQ0FOt5FKmP5f3KF42WZI-1kShj5B2LlmPOyVhV7iyq9Xiy1KKxhuxYyyBEgsPZrlLg3OwT8v16C2rm9UlZO05F0nfpxc-cem51we9o38E84MLZgZ3sRzeXgBLNStsfuQyvQH9X/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8qGmrvQ0FOt5FKmP5f3KF42WZI-1kShj5B2LlmPOyVhV7iyq9Xiy1KKxhuxYyyBEgsPZrlLg3OwT8v16C2rm9UlZO05F0nfpxc-cem51we9o38E84MLZgZ3sRzeXgBLNStsfuQyvQH9X/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I've previously written on this blog about the <i>cool factor</i> of a Solid Rock Records release. All of the early releases were gatefold album covers. There was always a plethora of photos, interviews, album reviews and miscellaneous extraneous information. For a teenage Jesus Rock fan, getting a hold of a new Solid Rock release always felt like Christmas morning. That was Larry. All Larry. He was a PR genius and he knew what people wanted, what they would respond to. Were the album reviews sometimes insufferably pretentious? Yes. Were the interviews at times an indulgence in self-promotion, littered with half truths and chock full of name-drops? Absolutely. But we <i>loved</i> it. For <b><i>TSIF</i></b>, Larry is given credit for "photography, album design, artwork, sandwiches and kitchen sink."<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXC8bMJheJzWU7hm1AkwEppbG8fzMUK9uPxvMkdXWGTTp979E3bGZCGE5acrArj_6ub92oNZAnXEQ2E1WMZo_X0cYnKjYwu9tbNum_6BSOa8Mdj-UhifggnRQ1qJqDwuanxjN3MvlaQ1Zy/s1705/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+sleeve+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1705" data-original-width="1697" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXC8bMJheJzWU7hm1AkwEppbG8fzMUK9uPxvMkdXWGTTp979E3bGZCGE5acrArj_6ub92oNZAnXEQ2E1WMZo_X0cYnKjYwu9tbNum_6BSOa8Mdj-UhifggnRQ1qJqDwuanxjN3MvlaQ1Zy/w398-h400/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+sleeve+2.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The Solid Rock years have almost a mythological quality that was built up around them over the years and then torn down by books and documentaries. But still...guys like me imagine that it must've been <i>so cool</i> to be in that exclusive club of outlaws for the short number of years that it was thriving in the mid to late 70s. <b>Alex MacDougall</b> was there. I asked him to describe what it was like to be in that small group of artists that were part of Solid Rock in its heyday. "I was in the Solid Rock 'club' before <b>Daniel Amos</b>," he said, "as I was playing with both Randy and Larry, and on multiple Solid Rock albums. Having been associated with a church-owned record label, Maranatha! Music, the constraints put on the artists were at times pretty nasty and unprofessional. Being with the Solid Rock guys was a breath of fresh air. I felt I was with some real human beings." I'll just interject and say that I can totally relate to what Alex is saying here. During my radio years I worked for a Christian station (which has now grown into a large network of stations). The management was uptight and always overly conscious of their dependence on donations from listeners in order to keep the whole thing afloat. I was constantly getting called on the carpet for some song I played or something I said...or even for growing my hair out too long. After leaving that outfit, I was hired to do a weekly 2-hour show on a secular, classic rock station. I finally had the freedom I had long craved. It felt like I had gone from Victorian England to the wild west. No restrictions, no dress code, "just do good radio." And I loved it. Kept that gig for the next 15 years. And I played A LOT of Solid Rock albums on that show while I was there. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLI5K-QcFHK2rINCXJcyI9PTK-Tq3Nia5CKPulBjUpNq2jNkJFqGU2Tr2qXnQU5O6oIRxRg54QPzlZQl_l4FmNeCPLsbvSowLy7WsVR6Je9eQULKaRR_X1xzd7Vc92VQlGlLACi7AJc_E/s714/IMG_1467+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="714" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLI5K-QcFHK2rINCXJcyI9PTK-Tq3Nia5CKPulBjUpNq2jNkJFqGU2Tr2qXnQU5O6oIRxRg54QPzlZQl_l4FmNeCPLsbvSowLy7WsVR6Je9eQULKaRR_X1xzd7Vc92VQlGlLACi7AJc_E/w400-h233/IMG_1467+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>But I digress.</p><p>Getting back to the album art...I've got to point out that the idea to have Randy posing on what looks like the set of <b><i>Gilligan's Island</i></b> in that harsh light, looking up at the sun with a little fake piece of cut out "sky" in his hand was...well...let's just admit it, it was cheesy. But the rest of the packaging more than made up for that lapse in judgment.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNK8YQnZtvkirwgWoQL-PYIhrOCY4QHWdnqkM7jmX7mPnRRqXg6sMAfgTQc5hF322EM5KM9VhlogJFEr8aTJz9PbtdHwDyVVq-f4Hhvpdr9D-Oqc3EhZvN90NQoEbKdj_xQipyrpzaRqvp/s1744/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1744" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNK8YQnZtvkirwgWoQL-PYIhrOCY4QHWdnqkM7jmX7mPnRRqXg6sMAfgTQc5hF322EM5KM9VhlogJFEr8aTJz9PbtdHwDyVVq-f4Hhvpdr9D-Oqc3EhZvN90NQoEbKdj_xQipyrpzaRqvp/w400-h241/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><b>Randy Stonehill</b> sang lead and backing vocals on <b><i>TSIF</i></b>, and played acoustic and electric guitars. Can we talk for just a moment about what a good singer and guitarist Stonehill is? Because I think that sometimes his personality and near-constant flow of humor tend to upstage his gifts. He's always been an underrated guitarist (if you've ever seen him at a live gig, you realize just how well he plays). Some have said that his voice has a "pinched nasal" or "reedy" quality. All I know is that it works very well with his material and style of music. And he goes in and out of a falsetto singing voice as effortlessly as I've ever heard it done. When he's in that falsetto mode, his pitch is always spot-on...and having that tool in his toolbox expands his vocal range by <i>a lot</i>. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCiJSxYtVV-S6RWORLzD9uaXQ6OAPuXIU6obcIL9LAJ1LutqNyh6q5tHawqimz1_qVvid7SogOgHvgmg8t9soELIX6EDE06cYqekChtA2GGsECacSo2U5qpNbZvFIoiITyLhJhZfen1EM/s437/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+2+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="303" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCiJSxYtVV-S6RWORLzD9uaXQ6OAPuXIU6obcIL9LAJ1LutqNyh6q5tHawqimz1_qVvid7SogOgHvgmg8t9soELIX6EDE06cYqekChtA2GGsECacSo2U5qpNbZvFIoiITyLhJhZfen1EM/w278-h400/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+2+%25283%2529.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br /><p><b>The Sky is Falling </b>was produced and arranged by<b> Larry Norman</b>. Norman is also credited with playing piano, marimba, harmonica, Japanese koto, electric and acoustic guitars, autoharp, steel drums, and electric bass. Larry was always quite the versatile and industrious fellow! </p><p>Solid Rock mainstays <b>Tom Howard</b> (piano, Moog, orchestration and other keyboards), <b>Jon Linn</b> (electric, slide, and volume control guitars), and <b>Steve Scott</b> (jungle chanting) all made appearances. <b>Dave Coy</b> and <b>Billy Batstone</b> played bass, and <b>Sara Finch</b> (the subject of <i>Song for Sarah</i> and, later, mucho controversy) was credited with singing some backing harmonies. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJkMSCLAT8CGGZz9SOQYb0_HTp00sPXcpLFYrBAmI9JcfxOCDvc0vouMCu2lUPIgPbDae8DPeOKF3sLMnuMW57H84g6fjiAfURR-5JEqfpBWy5aFnTf_CyucwoTdVc1f_lXxIJH53VeUR/s2810/BeFunky-collageguruthree.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1119" data-original-width="2810" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJkMSCLAT8CGGZz9SOQYb0_HTp00sPXcpLFYrBAmI9JcfxOCDvc0vouMCu2lUPIgPbDae8DPeOKF3sLMnuMW57H84g6fjiAfURR-5JEqfpBWy5aFnTf_CyucwoTdVc1f_lXxIJH53VeUR/w400-h159/BeFunky-collageguruthree.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L-R: <b>Tom Howard, Billy Batstone, Alex MacDougall</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b>Peter Johnson</b> and <b>Alex MacDougall</b> shared the drumming duties, while MacDougall also played a myriad of random percussion instruments. "I don't remember too much about the sessions," MacDougall admitted in a recent email exchange. "Some of the basic tracks were already finished when I first heard it. Randy had been listening to me play from backstage at a Christian festival in Nebraska. I was there playing with <b>Terry Talbot</b> in 1977. Afterward, Randy walked up to me and said, 'Hey, you're pretty good. Would you like to be in my band?'" MacDougall gave Stonehill his phone number and a few weeks later <b>Tom Howard</b> called and invited him to Pasadena to listen to some songs. He was instructed to bring his drums. "Tom was acting as the Musical Director of this new band that Randy was putting together," Alex remembered. "We spent some hours together and he gave me a cassette tape to study some songs for upcoming rehearsals and tours." That tape turned out to be rough mixes for <b><i>The Sky is Falling.</i></b> "As I listen again to the tracks," MacDougall says, "I can definitely hear Peter [Johnson] and, at times, myself. Drum fills are usually the dead giveaway. I've always had the highest regard for Peter's playing." <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwu_rrY_Um9fEpQFiPR7LzzzXZ_BYKCJriqUCarGO-GkTi2V0WAtbB4mBckM8qFvhnBMj7gRo0bUiaIUKGOw3RJ6-ACo4ImJkcguhQJMmpHjTzBvmAFLxhhC-yKtOyhdLe37YHSPBbRvhi/s1693/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1693" data-original-width="1665" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwu_rrY_Um9fEpQFiPR7LzzzXZ_BYKCJriqUCarGO-GkTi2V0WAtbB4mBckM8qFvhnBMj7gRo0bUiaIUKGOw3RJ6-ACo4ImJkcguhQJMmpHjTzBvmAFLxhhC-yKtOyhdLe37YHSPBbRvhi/w394-h400/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+1.jpg" width="394" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Ken Suesov</b> and <b>Andy Johns</b> handled engineering and mixdowns. And <b>Little Bobby Emmons</b> was credited with "paste-up and doo-wops." There...now you're all up to date on who did what. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFaL7GSs7_n7xl10Kp7p44LrnIbpiKisI4ZwzKRzzoCbZ7EJwMFm9hqiPv04k67HlvuRYNHxagmMb1yQFBSnnaHiuVvbqDs6uw28c7Xn4jNEQbaQO0FMfwVYg6U82OP2ubQmRBnz4KrmG/s607/musicline49.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="80" data-original-width="607" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFaL7GSs7_n7xl10Kp7p44LrnIbpiKisI4ZwzKRzzoCbZ7EJwMFm9hqiPv04k67HlvuRYNHxagmMb1yQFBSnnaHiuVvbqDs6uw28c7Xn4jNEQbaQO0FMfwVYg6U82OP2ubQmRBnz4KrmG/w400-h53/musicline49.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br />Side two of <b><i>TSIF</i></b> begins with another long song (5:30) with a :58 intro. (Don't you miss those?) </p><p>The Jesus Rock of the 70s wasn't just about Jesus. The devil also got his due every now and then. The <b>2nd Chapter of Acts</b> happily announced that <i>The Devil's Lost Again</i>; <b>Michael Omartian</b> warned that he's <i>Alive and Well</i>; and <b>Sweet Comfort Band</b> said he was the essence of evil and a master of disguise. <b>Keith Green</b> seemed a little obsessed with the devil, recording <i>Dear John Letter (to the Devil)</i> and <i>No One Believes in me Anymore (Satan's Boast)</i>, and later <i>Cut the Devil Down</i> and <i>Lies</i>. <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples </b>told us to <i>Leave the Devil Alone</i>. In the 80s, <b>Petra</b> got in on the act with <i>Angel of Light</i>, <b>Allies</b> said <i>The Devil is a Liar</i>, and <b>Stryper</b> famously told him to go to hell. In the 90s, the <b>Lost Dogs </b>were asking why he's red and <b>Three Crosses</b> loudly proclaimed that <i>The Devil Ain't Got No Hold On Me</i>. </p><p>But one of the very best "devil songs" of all was <i>Counterfeit King</i> by <b>Randy Stonehill</b>.</p><p><i>Counterfeit king in a garden that he stole<br />He's the outlaw with the diamonds in his eyes<br />Like an angel of light he'll seduce your wandering soul<br />He's a master of the beautiful disguise<br /><br />He has reaped what he's sown in his fatal act of pride<br />And he tumbles down like lightning from the sky<br />And his only desire is to brand us just like him<br />For in loving our own lives we're doomed to die<br /><br />Now we're all out on a tightrope, too proud to think we'll fall<br />You can choose the freedom of God's love or laugh and lose it all<br /><br />So beware of the words that he'll whisper to your heart<br />For he'll burn you with his twisted tongue of fire<br />And the song that he sings, it's like poison to the soul<br />He's the counterfeit king and he's a liar<br />He's just a liar<br />A beautiful liar</i><br /><br />Wow. No preacher ever said it better. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luCPgVjLojE" width="320" youtube-src-id="luCPgVjLojE"></iframe></div><br /><p>Stonehill's always been recognized as an excellent songwriter, even from the earliest days of his career, but I am sometimes in awe of the theological underpinnings that allow him to make profound spiritual pronouncements in ways that are at once poetic, biblical and hair-raising. "Counterfeit King" is such a deserving moniker for the enemy of our souls. All he ever does is supply counterfeits to God's design, God's purpose, God's plan. And so many of us are so easily distracted by the false promises, the false thinking. Some Christians even accept counterfeits to God's design in the name of love and tolerance. </p><p>Our friend <b>Tom Howard</b> lends his considerable talents to this song, both on acoustic piano and the Moog synthesizer. <i>Counterfeit King</i> is a great example of the perfect marriage of music and lyrics, with the musical tone and arrangement helping to give proper weight to the serious subject matter. </p><p>By the way, just to make sure that we don't let down our guard, Stonehill recorded two more songs about Satan on 2011's <b><i>Spirit Walk</i></b> - <i>Remember the Devil </i>and <i>That's Where the Devil Lives</i>. <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mSEyBkAsAf3SCJRUlBBxfIhyQpkrOnttJKsyH27jwFkCfhYXmf1JLIZBl9g9h5rnshcgHNxsn45aCL84wgTJWcmTf7Fbf85FyAW96gCiF7RWL-rEYznx7FeckRszaSm3VLGzvU47VOof/s304/4uslabel2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="304" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mSEyBkAsAf3SCJRUlBBxfIhyQpkrOnttJKsyH27jwFkCfhYXmf1JLIZBl9g9h5rnshcgHNxsn45aCL84wgTJWcmTf7Fbf85FyAW96gCiF7RWL-rEYznx7FeckRszaSm3VLGzvU47VOof/w400-h397/4uslabel2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Trivia:</b> <i>The word 'counterfeit' was misspelled on the album label. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The next song, <i>Jamey's Got the Blues</i>, was originally recorded on the ill-fated <b><i>Get Me Out of Hollywood</i></b> release in 1973. In that version, Jamey was a guy. The version that we hear on <b><i>TSIF</i></b> is definitely an upgrade, and Jamey is now a girl. But not really.<br /><br />Randy reveals in the interview that comes with the album that <i>Jamey's Got the Blues</i> was actually another song about his friend <b>Ray Ware's</b> struggle with depression. It's an easy, mid-tempo rock track that's competently performed...but it's a bit of a bummer due to the subject matter. If you ever bump into <b>Ray "Bissell" Ware</b>, don't tell him I said this...but <i>Venezuela</i> and <i>Jamey's Got the Blues</i> are probably my two least favorite songs on the record. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-AKeB68TDLwLqy05huD3gCv9nW1j5WPmL_qNxuq1mpIXsJTBgL4euOl0J8cxs-5zI0oTqFHetwt9w63eHRGOIYwQYyiqvy2rAP23vpYLv7NKyM7ijTzL_QFrZcdgno0ob2yM9PxlHmVM/s688/Randy+Stonehill+-+Get+Me+Out+of+Hollywood+cd+back2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-AKeB68TDLwLqy05huD3gCv9nW1j5WPmL_qNxuq1mpIXsJTBgL4euOl0J8cxs-5zI0oTqFHetwt9w63eHRGOIYwQYyiqvy2rAP23vpYLv7NKyM7ijTzL_QFrZcdgno0ob2yM9PxlHmVM/s16000/Randy+Stonehill+-+Get+Me+Out+of+Hollywood+cd+back2.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>As he is wont to do, Randy shifts gears dramatically for a tune called <i>Bad Fruit</i>. "<i>Bad Fruit</i> is kind of a Jamaican song," Randy explains. "I picture old men with dark skin, flashing white smiles, down by the shore, hauling in their nets. They're kind of singing as they work...the song is a gentle warning...you know, it's the kind of advice you might get from the wise philosopher who lives in the thatched hut up on the hill." </p><p>It sounds like the guys were having much fun in the studio on this one. A number of unique sounds and percussion instruments are used to enhance this track. "I remember layering the percussion parts on <i>Bad Fruit</i>," said <b>Alex MacDougall</b>. "Randy told me he wanted some tropical coloring on it." It's also been revealed that Larry used a variable speed oscillator and had Randy, Sara, Steve Scott and himself sing <i>koomi-kala, koomi-kala</i> at the end of the song, hoping that it would "sound like the jungle at night." I guess you could say that <i>Bad Fruit</i> was sort of a precursor to <i>Shut De Do</i>. (But I like <i>Bad Fruit</i> a lot better.) </p><p><i>History repeats itself, our troubles never end<br />Each new generation just fouls it up again<br />Well, you'd think that we'd get awfully tired of going where we've been<br />What a shabby state we're in<br /><br />Don't eat of that bad fruit<br />Don't drink of that sweet wine<br />It may look great from a distance <br />But it gets you every time</i><br /><br />Even with all of the silliness going on, <i>Bad Fruit</i> is one of only three songs on <b><i>TSIF</i></b> that present an <u>overt</u> Christian message...<br /><br /><i>Love can fill the hole in your soul<br />Watch your life begin again<br />Come and let the Master take control<br />Open your heart, you've found a Friend<br /><br />Don't wait for tomorrow<br />Grab hold of that lifeline<br />There's Someone dying to love you<br />And He sings the sweetest song<br />And that's where you belong</i></p><p>Overall, <b><i>Welcome to Paradise</i></b> was more open and overt in its messaging with songs like <i>King of Hearts, Puppet Strings, First Prayer, Song for Sarah, Christmas Song (For All Year Round)</i> and <i>Good News.</i> <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b> was a little darker and more secular in its theme and approach, making this one CCM album among many that totally give lie to the claim that there was a "J-P-M" quotient that artists had to meet in the 70s and 80s (meaning mentions of "Jesus" per minute in their songs). I've always thought that too much was made of that. It may just be a CCM urban legend of sorts, fabricated by disillusioned radio reps. The name "Jesus" was mentioned exactly zero times on <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b>. I'm not saying that's good or bad. I'm just saying that people who still push the narrative that there was a JPM requirement in place, put there by radio stations or Christian bookstores...nah. That didn't happen.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTsiGI34-_CJRVC8OkW7rdnsuqlJEUW5eUO7Z6AUHW93aWzvuAZAGxFMHiaj97omu3tofWUHgJFHa5ggnWjUy-GmEB3nMumEK_yKgJMSSbfyl-ITw6rINFgoPGIl3wy0FI0gHwr8bT5Ds/s591/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+4+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTsiGI34-_CJRVC8OkW7rdnsuqlJEUW5eUO7Z6AUHW93aWzvuAZAGxFMHiaj97omu3tofWUHgJFHa5ggnWjUy-GmEB3nMumEK_yKgJMSSbfyl-ITw6rINFgoPGIl3wy0FI0gHwr8bT5Ds/s16000/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+4+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>That takes us to what I have always said is the saddest song I have <i>ever</i> heard. </p><p>I know for a fact that sometimes I shed tears - real ones - when listening to this song back in the day. It has since been revealed that the song was about an experience that Randy had, watching and dealing with the death of <i>someone</i> close to him. Someone. But not Emily. He never had a sister named Emily. That knowledge left me feeling just a bit like I had been played a few decades ago...that my emotions had been manipulated. But upon further reflection...it <i>was</i> about <i>someone's</i> death. And the sentiments and principles mentioned in the song ring true to those of us who have had loved ones close to us pass from this life to the next. So it's all good. </p><p>Cue the sadness and grab a tissue:</p><p><i>I will not forget my sister's face the day that she died<br />Such a frail little girl, I remember how I cried<br />When she reached out to squeeze my hand, I knew her time had come<br />And when her fingers slipped from mine, I knew that it was done</i></p><p><i>Oh, sweet Emily, you're going Home<br />Sweet Emily, and I can't go</i></p><p><i>Looking back upon our younger days when we'd go out to play<br />She was weaker than the rest of us so we'd laugh and run away<br />But sometimes I'd lie awake at night and wonder what was wrong<br />I had the feeling even then that her days would not be long</i></p><p><i>Sometimes I almost hear her calling me<br />But Heaven seems so far away<br /><br />I will not forget my sister's face, the strange way that she smiled<br />Like the times she'd gaze up at the sky when she was just a child<br />And I still can hear the echo of the last thing she could say<br />This life is but a moment in the morning of my day<br /><br />Oh, sweet Emily, you're going Home<br />Sweet Emily, and I can't go...</i></p><p>Stonehill gives a thoroughly convincing vocal performance on this song. All in all, one of the most impactful songs on death that I've ever heard. And a powerful reminder that life is precious. And fleeting. <br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtTSndLnm4ChQzUjiQ7bQFANFGC1DLFVP5M6piMiyRFczMRr3H2HrBWoRBNcyvc4GKoXZgPsH62obM-KJkUJ5bWNUxZ3nyT3WiLBcJhEFL7FIUO-wCmKbsMWKNR7fKVSPsKWgEe9eNT_X/s794/il_794xN.859419252_jda1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="794" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtTSndLnm4ChQzUjiQ7bQFANFGC1DLFVP5M6piMiyRFczMRr3H2HrBWoRBNcyvc4GKoXZgPsH62obM-KJkUJ5bWNUxZ3nyT3WiLBcJhEFL7FIUO-wCmKbsMWKNR7fKVSPsKWgEe9eNT_X/w400-h213/il_794xN.859419252_jda1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p>Randy goes out with a bang (literally) on the album's final track. It's an ominous hard rock song that leaves one feeling a bit unsettled. Hey, if <b>Randy Stonehill</b> thought the sky was falling and trouble was coming in 1977, I wonder what he thought about 2020? And 2021 isn't off to such a great start, either.<br /><br /><i>Trouble Coming</i> was about as subtle as a sledgehammer.</p><p><i>I see trouble coming closer every day<br />I see trouble coming, I just got to get away<br />I hear distant thunder rumbling at my feet<br />I see people going crazy in the street<br /><br />I keep having these falling dreams<br />And I wake up screaming<br />I don't really know just what they mean<br />But my nightmare never ends<br />Over and over again</i></p><p>And it just got worse from there.</p><p>Musically, this is mid-70s hard rock and roll - fuzzy guitars, power chords and all. There is passion and urgency in Randy's voice, and Jon Linn is again on fire.</p><p>The song just builds and builds to a frenzied climax...and the last thing you hear is a bomb going off, signaling, I guess, the end of the world.</p><p>Well, the world has not ended just yet. But we were on a bad path in 1977. The pill, the welfare state, removal of prayer from schools, feminism, war, abortion, political corruption, the energy crisis, shortages...yeah, we were headed down the wrong road to put it mildly. In the liner notes, <b>Larry Norman</b> says <i>Trouble Coming</i> was about the personal armageddon that each man fights in the privacy of his own heart, while <b>Randy Stonehill</b> said it was a song for hardened street people, written from the point of view of a non-Christian. Either way, we were on a bad path spiritually, socially, economically, morally...just about any way you chose to take our collective temperature, we were sick. And <b>Randy Stonehill</b> seemed to know that, even as a young man. </p><p>I'm struck by the fact that <b><i>Welcome to Paradise</i></b> ended with proclamations of <i>Good news! Christ is returning!</i> This record ends with an apocalyptic warning about icy winds, gathering clouds, and vultures circling their prey. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35PqABjD_TPD9qz_E95O2pZALNAOPHcICUbQdYCpqZ3H487eNe-ag-pEGElGZ-irUzT0vmlFmcRPAK2Pf81OZd6kaxVZcIdf1YtzijjXcWcz1EIf3xxupzVmy7g3FLoSg5eAkssw91XLK/s2048/BeFunky-collageguruthree8track.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1988" data-original-width="2048" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35PqABjD_TPD9qz_E95O2pZALNAOPHcICUbQdYCpqZ3H487eNe-ag-pEGElGZ-irUzT0vmlFmcRPAK2Pf81OZd6kaxVZcIdf1YtzijjXcWcz1EIf3xxupzVmy7g3FLoSg5eAkssw91XLK/w400-h389/BeFunky-collageguruthree8track.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>We didn't know it at the time, but when <b>Larry Norman</b> produced <i><b>The Sky is Falling</b></i>, that began a twenty-year Stonehill tradition of recording two consecutive albums with any given producer. Randy's next two projects (<b><i>Between the Glory and the Flame, Equator</i></b>) were produced by <b>Terry Taylor</b>; then came <i><b>Celebrate This Heartbeat</b></i> and <b><i>Love Beyond Reason</i></b>, produced by <b>Barry Kaye</b>; followed by <b style="font-style: italic;">The Wild Frontier </b>and <b><i>Can't Buy a Miracle</i></b>, both produced by <b>Dave Perkins</b>; and the next two (<b><i>Return to Paradise, Until We Have Wings</i></b>) were produced by the late <b>Mark Heard</b>. Stonehill circled back around to <b>Terry Taylor</b> for 1992's <b><i>Wonderama</i></b>...but the routine was finally broken when <b>Jimmie Lee Sloas</b> produced <b><i>The Lazuras Heart </i></b>in 1994. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAI1xRn2j9mMmK3Od9bo887OsOHRc9cIxDtTThCvibh1bjVaQyUIQj7XdKGOqJt2E8yofYXdxCkN51WR8vg5DLr1g9I1mGdzOZbV-NCcEidvrCjklYn_wZVZGcbyZZyGjD-LWXKectgk8/s2510/randy+stonehill+-+welcome+to+paradise+cd+inner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="2510" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAI1xRn2j9mMmK3Od9bo887OsOHRc9cIxDtTThCvibh1bjVaQyUIQj7XdKGOqJt2E8yofYXdxCkN51WR8vg5DLr1g9I1mGdzOZbV-NCcEidvrCjklYn_wZVZGcbyZZyGjD-LWXKectgk8/w400-h200/randy+stonehill+-+welcome+to+paradise+cd+inner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>"I remember my early relationship with Larry, which for a season of time was a mutually nurturing thing," <b>Randy Stonehill </b>told CCM magazine in 1990. "I prefer to remember the productive stuff and to remember the good times. It was a really good chemistry between us. I learned a lot about controlling my turf on a concert stage from Larry, and I learned a lot about songwriting from Larry. I think Larry learned a lot about some of the primal elements of rock and roll from me. So it seemed to be a nice exchange."</p><p>Within a year after the release of <b><i>The Sky is Falling</i></b>, the ground beneath Solid Rock gave way and the magic that had resulted in <b><i>Welcome to Paradise...In Another Land...Hit the Switch, Appalachian Melody...View From the Bridge...Something New Under the Son</i></b>...and, of course, <i><b>The Sky is Falling</b>.</i>..faded away forever. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirkFozLwKvM8dRexYa4ZoZ1sthSroZRy3JWNcP9-yYOEdAgvO_EKC06yKI8SXtLwYGZtJuWuW7EOYU0l354cF7hDEXOn36BdOVHmJo-GJm-oH_pAW11Dx1IpJ5s-veguVw05ReAM7Ou3iG/s239/randylarry3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirkFozLwKvM8dRexYa4ZoZ1sthSroZRy3JWNcP9-yYOEdAgvO_EKC06yKI8SXtLwYGZtJuWuW7EOYU0l354cF7hDEXOn36BdOVHmJo-GJm-oH_pAW11Dx1IpJ5s-veguVw05ReAM7Ou3iG/s16000/randylarry3.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Stonehill sat for some interviews that were part of a 2009 documentary on Larry titled, <i>Fallen Angel.</i> "In doing those interviews...I found myself revisiting the anger at times," Randy confessed to Dave Trout in 2013. "I found myself tearing up at times, and not just because of being wounded but just the strange mystery of remembering this season with a guy that I deeply love and frankly, I will always love, in spite of all the damage. I love him. I even find in strange ways that I miss him at times. He was such a totally unique - albeit dysfunctional - but he was a unique and wonderful guy in a lot of ways and sometimes I'll find myself going about my daily business and I'll be humming one of his songs..."</p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxSdvzaZWSzK7bgaYlzUhYBJJoXqlMv3ijbjY1UbrI3oC_CJJ9BZpDMhyHMgLlPonBjptEZvi8U8e9jsda0u9Ns9Ac6qgpeVeX88Syblo2eNyIhfpLW7tpqB26sixYryXdnXR0dADMSeE/s661/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+3+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="661" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxSdvzaZWSzK7bgaYlzUhYBJJoXqlMv3ijbjY1UbrI3oC_CJJ9BZpDMhyHMgLlPonBjptEZvi8U8e9jsda0u9Ns9Ac6qgpeVeX88Syblo2eNyIhfpLW7tpqB26sixYryXdnXR0dADMSeE/w400-h310/randy+stonehill+-+the+sky+is+falling+lp+insert+page+3+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy, left, with <b>Terry Taylor</b> of <b>Daniel Amos</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>But here's the thing. After 1980, Norman's career kind of tanked and we went for long stretches - years at a time - without ever seeing him or hearing anything from him. <b>Pantano/Salsbury</b> never made another record together. Larry along with <b>Tom Howard</b> and <b>Mark Heard</b> have all passed away. And while <b>Daniel Amos </b>haven't officially broke up, they never tour...they just release occasional boxed sets of old albums and record something new every 5 or 10 years. <b>Randy Stonehill</b>, on the other hand, has remained a constant in our lives. Randy, <b>Phil Keaggy</b> and <b>Bob Bennett</b> are like Energizer bunnies. They just won't stop. In fact, as I write this, Randy just released another new studio album just weeks ago. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFiaQcFw8SC_XUMZD5aXBTqllfdLm7JfkdqdOGaRz3FSxOFtIBMx4TLUjlwVr82e1lmSdfgmpsQpR1hraZhFuSytRKU582Gxxy4yf3AJ9-EapMUxyBGBbs0FnHeHLawNiBReZykZPcyyJT/s960/72750533_2919501778083699_2019843374651015168_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="730" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFiaQcFw8SC_XUMZD5aXBTqllfdLm7JfkdqdOGaRz3FSxOFtIBMx4TLUjlwVr82e1lmSdfgmpsQpR1hraZhFuSytRKU582Gxxy4yf3AJ9-EapMUxyBGBbs0FnHeHLawNiBReZykZPcyyJT/w304-h400/72750533_2919501778083699_2019843374651015168_n.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>"I enjoy the gift of these days more fully than I ever did as a young turk who could see the road stretching out endlessly in front of him," Stonehill said in an interview with CBN. "I had a tendency to take it for granted. I am more passionate about my days now and what I do with them. I'm enjoying my life more than I did when I was younger and it sped by with a blur." No doubt his wife Leslie helps to keep Randy young. I'm guessing that vitamins and exercise keep him agile enough to continue to execute his trademark high leg kick in concert.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4r7ZaWSJzuFEecOJh6i-T423Xb8Uh2r7XxHDxr3PtFRcfIpD-K0psqEukilHgo2_OQH7qgc35-EOR8PcM5EJWzSF01t63swGvJEP0qS_L-Q03wuHafG4bgXYWLhOsAZgE-w-cBMmEaoox/s500/stonehill01-500px.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4r7ZaWSJzuFEecOJh6i-T423Xb8Uh2r7XxHDxr3PtFRcfIpD-K0psqEukilHgo2_OQH7qgc35-EOR8PcM5EJWzSF01t63swGvJEP0qS_L-Q03wuHafG4bgXYWLhOsAZgE-w-cBMmEaoox/w400-h266/stonehill01-500px.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leslie and Randy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>He won a <b>Dove Award</b> in 1998 and was inducted into the <b>Christian Music Hall of Fame </b>in 2010. But he doesn't seem too impressed with himself. "I think if you rest on your laurels, then somehow you're not living in the now," he said to CCM magazine. "God has things for you to do <i>now.</i> It's nice to tip your hat to the past, and I'm grateful that God maneuvered me into the right place at the right time, but life's too short to be living in a time warp. And if you do that, I think your creativity and your vision start to atrophy, and then all you've got is this past that you've got to keep dusting off." <br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgrhru-24c7JwUmr9DiNWsEWvPe7vYpZhhPraVgBTjYtHA5Q5oySNpX5UMfdPek3cGRCUFkK6WRML1Hb46kl_oNXwXAh6jyPyCytMcyYPrtj3Oikl7bJk9Dikr-GrfFctaZ-mRD_S1R41/s2048/BeFunky-collage4banger2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1565" data-original-width="2048" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgrhru-24c7JwUmr9DiNWsEWvPe7vYpZhhPraVgBTjYtHA5Q5oySNpX5UMfdPek3cGRCUFkK6WRML1Hb46kl_oNXwXAh6jyPyCytMcyYPrtj3Oikl7bJk9Dikr-GrfFctaZ-mRD_S1R41/w400-h306/BeFunky-collage4banger2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Randy performing with...(clockwise from top left):<br /><b>Matthew Ward, Bob Bennett, Larry Norman</b> and <b>Phil Keaggy</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>Wondering what a legend like <b>Randy Stonehill </b>thinks about the current state of CCM? He was asked about that. "There's a lot of stuff that I hear on the radio and I think, you know, this is sincere and it's biblically sound, but it just bores me. It doesn't have any edge to it, it doesn't take chances, there's not enough humanity in it." Bingo. He continued: "It's our responsibility, as we try our best to be artists, to find new and compelling ways to articulate the greatest news you could ever share with anybody, to articulate the wonder of God's love and the incredible rich fabric of the Gospel."<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLC30dXjfiXgsOu9sRmtLmVnW-8K0NwUqhjfzjFVW8fIT0FBLbJKf9NZlPrgn768cnHetrXmM4SxCav41zlIopQzdtJae4pcO3KvQblfetiJJ4qcBnjM4y3HNmoK-brd0QIn0X697MVsK/s1242/Randy+Stonehill+-+Celebrate+This+Heartbeat2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1242" data-original-width="1210" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLC30dXjfiXgsOu9sRmtLmVnW-8K0NwUqhjfzjFVW8fIT0FBLbJKf9NZlPrgn768cnHetrXmM4SxCav41zlIopQzdtJae4pcO3KvQblfetiJJ4qcBnjM4y3HNmoK-brd0QIn0X697MVsK/w390-h400/Randy+Stonehill+-+Celebrate+This+Heartbeat2.jpg" width="390" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Like you, perhaps, I have laughed along with <i>Great Big Stupid World</i> and <i>Big Ideas (in the Shrinking World</i>). I have been moved to tears by <i>Coming Back Soon</i> and <i>Christmas at Denny's.</i> I've had my righteous indignation stirred by songs like <i>Angry Young Men</i> and <i>Stop the World.</i> I've been convicted by songs like <i>That's Why We Don't Love God</i> and <i>In Jesus' Name.</i> I've used songs like <i>Turning Thirty</i> and <i>Whatcha Gonna Do About That </i>to mark milestones in my life. And in some of my darkest days on this planet, I have gained hope and spiritual sustenance from songs like <i>Faithful</i> and <i>Breath of God</i>. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZIp5Fg1XuIaEChRLK4-LfFPgy94xYHKHWCT_eETjOeDCSAQx05w4EMzJx9LLc5h17ovaN0N-sKu5BLaGlhdPeSIZ4Yx2MiYAX15RyZvVbqac_wCriCSHBS8hlz65E3jq58vRaFMrYVck/s400/stonehill+norman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZIp5Fg1XuIaEChRLK4-LfFPgy94xYHKHWCT_eETjOeDCSAQx05w4EMzJx9LLc5h17ovaN0N-sKu5BLaGlhdPeSIZ4Yx2MiYAX15RyZvVbqac_wCriCSHBS8hlz65E3jq58vRaFMrYVck/s16000/stonehill+norman.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Randy Stonehill's</b> last Christian radio hits were on the <b><i>Thirst </i></b>album in 1998. After that, he sort of bumped into the Christian music industry's glass ceiling. You know, that's the one music industry that fails to honor its pioneers. I guess that's why this blog is here. I think back over all that Randy has done...his work with <b>Compassion International,</b> his role in the <b>Compassion All-Star Band</b>, his groundbreaking video album, his children's album (<b><i>Uncle Stonehill's Hat</i></b>), his album collaborations with Keaggy, Bennett, <b>Buck Storm</b> and others, his duet with <b>Amy Grant</b>, all the festivals, and countless concerts. And in case you didn't hear, he teamed up with <b>Larry Norman </b>for a very public reunion at the <b>Cornerstone Festival </b>as the two shared the stage together again in 2001. A year later Randy wrote and recorded a masterpiece of a song called <i>We Were All So Young</i>, found on his <b><i>Edge of the World</i></b> album. He enlisted the help of fellow legends and pioneers such as <b>Annie Herring, Phil Keaggy, Love Song, Russ Taff, Barry McGuire</b> and, yes, <b>Larry Norman</b>, as they all took turns singing the verses on the song. It is an <i>amazing</i> song. If you've never heard it, seek it out.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2nv0r_k-F7ksJigaoVc-LzmJHXk8NLo6GR9VtOuGeRpuO7ttKxe_W6t9J-bSbRVZVKpTzTbC0_NQLvH7bDXt_ZoalqLbL-nC2xaVV8g3OPIQ7R2ZitUwJYJMOJlb2KMk5dU0ft0Yju4W/s1200/RandyStonehill_CPWS_064.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2nv0r_k-F7ksJigaoVc-LzmJHXk8NLo6GR9VtOuGeRpuO7ttKxe_W6t9J-bSbRVZVKpTzTbC0_NQLvH7bDXt_ZoalqLbL-nC2xaVV8g3OPIQ7R2ZitUwJYJMOJlb2KMk5dU0ft0Yju4W/w400-h266/RandyStonehill_CPWS_064.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>I asked <b>Alex MacDougall </b>what he thought about <b>The Sky is Falling</b> after he listened to it again for the first time in decades. "I think it's one of the best albums from that time period and a great one for Randy," he offered. "I am amazed at how good it sounds after 40+ years! It was such a creative time for us and the camaraderie could not have been better...or a sweeter memory."<br /><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-4850234883449764612021-01-18T14:52:00.006-08:002021-01-18T15:01:25.707-08:00Remembering Tom Stipe<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkCytxVi6gzo7wSIPDd3QRYc3nbmAN2YNDOoOOKCVVPKoZMbuan29IDK9w8OiDPfc2Wm3LyIkSge9LnAdoOMrekTCZ7QoiS_vkEcpRp0QeFdcnQN_OhrsSWZVf7IqtwzO16eF1iywtH2O/s458/hcpesrGM.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkCytxVi6gzo7wSIPDd3QRYc3nbmAN2YNDOoOOKCVVPKoZMbuan29IDK9w8OiDPfc2Wm3LyIkSge9LnAdoOMrekTCZ7QoiS_vkEcpRp0QeFdcnQN_OhrsSWZVf7IqtwzO16eF1iywtH2O/s320/hcpesrGM.jpeg" /></a></b></div><b><br />Tom Stipe</b> has gone Home.<p></p><p>He was not a household name. But Stipe was a giant in the Kingdom of God. He passed from this life on new year's eve, 2020, surrounded by his family.</p><p>"It is with mixed emotions, always, when a believer has to say goodbye to one dear to their heart," wrote former Calvary Chapel Broomfield pastor and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee <b>Richie Furay</b> in the immediate aftermath of Stipe's homegoing. Furay continued: "<b>Tom Stipe</b> was a friend and co-laborer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will be missed by many, but the hope of many more is the promise we have in our Lord that one day we will be together again." Stipe had been a member of the <b>Richie Furay Band</b>; he played keyboards and co-wrote several songs on Furay's classic <b><i>I</i></b><i><b>'ve Got a Reason</b></i> album in 1976. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdvz458V1EwJ691dgmSJ71Y80yUH5Xz_6B0RhHiiRAnpIRNhtjjKfdwHW_NTZLrhI3rWgCGkHdFsa9mD_7ABQoonJbkKuysctThbN1yB-eekyLHMu359QgrCctaai5Ynh8f76Axhinzxx/s430/1149037_10203642205074669_269756988_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="430" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBdvz458V1EwJ691dgmSJ71Y80yUH5Xz_6B0RhHiiRAnpIRNhtjjKfdwHW_NTZLrhI3rWgCGkHdFsa9mD_7ABQoonJbkKuysctThbN1yB-eekyLHMu359QgrCctaai5Ynh8f76Axhinzxx/w400-h281/1149037_10203642205074669_269756988_n.jpg" title="Richie Furay Band" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Richie Furay Band</b><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">(L-R: Jay Truax, John Mehler, Tom Stipe, Richie Furay)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>A website called phoenixpreacher.com published an article that <b>Tom Stipe </b>wrote in 2018. Titled, <i>The Calvary Chapel Chronicles: The Music,</i> it basically re-lived the early Jesus Music days as experienced by one who was there. "I was a 19-year old piano player and self-taught guitar strummer and I was stunned to hear <b>Love Song</b> for the first time," Stipe recalled. "It was my kind of music performed flawlessly while openly expressing love for Jesus." Stipe remembers approaching <b>Tommy Coomes </b>of <b>Love Song</b> and asking him what he thought about taking popular secular songs from the day and changing the lyrics to reflect Christian themes. "With a look of complete disgust," Stipe remembered, "as though I had suggested drinking a Slurpee from the holy grail, he said, 'Why don't you write your own?'" And so <b>Tom Stipe</b> did.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PJ7n-A6dBsihDayvrjHzRNUDS-b0x-BhcKYjc0HrF8wvVbOzNpDB0F6Nvz-bKO4ZvI0jzyo2Rqu7ZhwDdMnYFQgKDyX1BYDLdo6NKDDggOEWRfvJ_0B0DOim-3EfxXWHAkAHw2znzcsM/s450/2_fb_tom3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PJ7n-A6dBsihDayvrjHzRNUDS-b0x-BhcKYjc0HrF8wvVbOzNpDB0F6Nvz-bKO4ZvI0jzyo2Rqu7ZhwDdMnYFQgKDyX1BYDLdo6NKDDggOEWRfvJ_0B0DOim-3EfxXWHAkAHw2znzcsM/s320/2_fb_tom3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tom Stipe</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Stipe became part of a sizable, organic community of musically gifted Christ-followers who were ready, willing and able to tell their stories of faith through song. "We were mirroring but not mimicking the rest of Southern California's rich, creative, if not drug infested, mainstream musical atmosphere," Tom said. "No line between sacred and secular had been drawn yet. We were just being part of our 'rock generation,' penning our life stories and core beliefs in song."</p><p>Stipe led a Tuesday night Bible study and helped host the popular <b>Saturday Night Concerts</b> at the Mother Ship - <b>Calvary Chapel </b>in Costa Mesa, California. He also organized a musicians fellowship group and even tried his hand at being a radio DJ at KYMS in Santa Ana.</p><p><b>Tom Stipe's </b>early musical contributions to the Jesus Movement came through two bands, <b>Country Faith</b> and <b>Wing and a Prayer </b>- neither of which ever recorded a proper record but were featured on Maranatha! compilation albums. </p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-5Mb-V2oF1CEw5xTLk1RRVHgPBxsOm607T8rMM-B_i8D9tR2b8RhUFTZFbBrtr6QDvpAT2Cxpp50q8qIdtPclhv5pAZRUcI1kzljWelT3jxOEjNBkKO8t3HQ_bv8rs6g3z-m4Q-hVLGf/s458/1933981_104374187190_1486646_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-5Mb-V2oF1CEw5xTLk1RRVHgPBxsOm607T8rMM-B_i8D9tR2b8RhUFTZFbBrtr6QDvpAT2Cxpp50q8qIdtPclhv5pAZRUcI1kzljWelT3jxOEjNBkKO8t3HQ_bv8rs6g3z-m4Q-hVLGf/w349-h400/1933981_104374187190_1486646_n.jpg" width="349" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Country Faith</b><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Chuck Butler, Tom Stipe, Scott Lockwood) </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b>Country Faith's</b> <i>Two Roads</i> is one of the best songs on the classic <b>Everlastin' Living Jesus Music Concert </b>album. <b>Country Faith</b> may not have recorded an album together, but that didn't stop the band from being active in evangelism efforts that were such a hallmark of the Jesus Movement. Stipe recalled how charismatic street preacher <b>Lonnie Frisbee </b>would almost always want musicians to accompany him as he sought to minister to street people. "One time he called me at 3 a.m. from England saying, 'You've got to bring <b>Country Faith</b> to London right now! Revival is breaking out!' Forty-eight hours later we were standing in front of thousands with Lonnie, <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>Arthur Blessitt,</b> guitars in hand, sharing our faith," wrote Stipe.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvb9YkyMAkzOk2w3i_doOVHeRagKUIUIc2NhY2rKgOeWBuax829xnkg7zIVsLcca83m-ERD2unTO0JzDPYx1TvOdcg75DCxY2hVb8rzjogOyc-WyHbMmMLsUvwY6eZu0DYp9jZYEXp6XG_/s500/4832_104152867190_8215342_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="500" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvb9YkyMAkzOk2w3i_doOVHeRagKUIUIc2NhY2rKgOeWBuax829xnkg7zIVsLcca83m-ERD2unTO0JzDPYx1TvOdcg75DCxY2hVb8rzjogOyc-WyHbMmMLsUvwY6eZu0DYp9jZYEXp6XG_/w400-h296/4832_104152867190_8215342_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Wing and a Prayer</b><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Tom Coomes, Tom Stipe, Jay Truax, John Mehler, Al Perkins)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>According to Mark Allan Powell's <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i>, <b>Wing and a Prayer </b>was essentially a second edition of <b>Love Song,</b> and <b>Tom Stipe </b>replaced <b>Chuck Girard</b> in that group. Joining Stipe in <b>Wing and a Prayer </b>were <b>Tommy Coomes, Jay Truax</b> and <b>John Mehler</b>, all formerly of <b>Love Song</b>, and <b>Al Perkins</b>, one of the best peddle steel players around. You can check out <b>Wing and a Prayer</b> on the <b><i>Maranatha! Four </i></b>collection.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXDpZOyRvzPaAN2_PcbJ21Obr7qNm1Gs8zpug3_CUULtmlMiKiPMAH_wTxkUDxEktuxBikH01VSUUOvTPhqoydhK1lHg2tattNclXEf3efmg-Hq2OWpc5n2o-7yMDu8AGqelDaSIJcGmK/s600/R-1643249-1519584857-8746.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmXDpZOyRvzPaAN2_PcbJ21Obr7qNm1Gs8zpug3_CUULtmlMiKiPMAH_wTxkUDxEktuxBikH01VSUUOvTPhqoydhK1lHg2tattNclXEf3efmg-Hq2OWpc5n2o-7yMDu8AGqelDaSIJcGmK/w400-h400/R-1643249-1519584857-8746.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Take away Coomes and Perkins but add <b>Richie Furay</b>...and you've got the <b>Richie Furay Band</b>. <b>Tom Stipe</b> co-wrote four songs on the seminal <b><i>I've Got a Reason</i></b> LP. (Much more about that album coming up later in the countdown.)<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1agxumNemZBXm3cMHXyDZh_7lb-Oi66XGOZkeIkTxyeYlHDVwwldGT9W8r0FLmy95bFWdXjZSZwCgsOReN-sPGYORAt6WsWIDIo5sfRg2mTrp6oo0cZZ8acxzc63P751f6CEZER6a3IJZ/s300/R-12491355-1536339217-9200.jpeg+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1agxumNemZBXm3cMHXyDZh_7lb-Oi66XGOZkeIkTxyeYlHDVwwldGT9W8r0FLmy95bFWdXjZSZwCgsOReN-sPGYORAt6WsWIDIo5sfRg2mTrp6oo0cZZ8acxzc63P751f6CEZER6a3IJZ/s16000/R-12491355-1536339217-9200.jpeg+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Tom Stipe</b> became a record label executive for a while, heading up the short-lived <b>Bluestone Records</b>, label home to alternative rockers <b>The Violet Burning </b>and <b>Danny Daniels</b> (formerly of <b>Bethlehem</b>). And he recorded a critically acclaimed solo album in 1991 that has been called "one of the finest country albums of the year...like a visit from an old friend." <b><i>Never Too Late</i></b> contained sentimental, heart-tugging songs about the lives of everyday people. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAZFWf1puA8gGJpUnN65Xd6cyIGQrpESbYZBjO3BgQthzwzPP9OUa6qRc4NxRp8ed1pm5p44uo1C1X5wyLeBk2P-vC9roEbwPWt8pSy2jwUeQPcgkAQLOJFVMHhjqmRFYKUy1RZqvwJj5/s600/mvd7id-b781201888z.120131027225611000gqd1gm76q.1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="600" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAZFWf1puA8gGJpUnN65Xd6cyIGQrpESbYZBjO3BgQthzwzPP9OUa6qRc4NxRp8ed1pm5p44uo1C1X5wyLeBk2P-vC9roEbwPWt8pSy2jwUeQPcgkAQLOJFVMHhjqmRFYKUy1RZqvwJj5/w400-h264/mvd7id-b781201888z.120131027225611000gqd1gm76q.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>But it was as a pastor that perhaps Tom's greatest impact was felt. It is said that Crossroads Church in Colorado was founded in Tom and Maryellen Stipe's Boulder home in the fall of 1976. Today it is a thriving Calvary Chapel community of believers in the suburbs of Denver. It is clear that the people of Crossroads Church loved Tom dearly. </p><p>As did his Jesus Music brothers.</p><p>"The very first session that I ever played on was a 45rpm single with <b>Tom Stipe</b> and <b>Country Faith</b>," <b>Alex MacDougall </b>told me recently. "That was probably in 1972. He was one of the few pastors that could also be 'one of the guys' when around musicians. Four years later I toured and roomed with him at times in the <b>Richie Furay Band</b>. We also held the very first Calvary Chapel Boulder church in his basement, and I was there. As a pastor he challenged me in a profound way, and I still carry his words to me in my mind." Alex said that he last saw Tom about four years ago at a worship conference in Dallas, Texas. "It was a warm and sweet time to be with him," MacDougall said. "He always gave great place to worship and music. He did not just facilitate them in church. He loved them both and was a good man and dear brother."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jAGNt9-QD6eYYHmmihzjCGbsMnz0ZnSu5JZOPF-qdzCaKtL6wam_gan659EMtOuR_tKzz6L2gvr-wJcyTEoRtODUVUF6_ZCYAcaSQ3EiaD9TJ52r2qnPdvRsAtN6ikfmHV0OQhryE8_K/s2048/BeFunky-collagealex.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1059" data-original-width="2048" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jAGNt9-QD6eYYHmmihzjCGbsMnz0ZnSu5JZOPF-qdzCaKtL6wam_gan659EMtOuR_tKzz6L2gvr-wJcyTEoRtODUVUF6_ZCYAcaSQ3EiaD9TJ52r2qnPdvRsAtN6ikfmHV0OQhryE8_K/w400-h206/BeFunky-collagealex.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Oden Fong </b>and <b>Alex MacDougall</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b>Oden Fong</b>, another Jesus Music veteran who would later become a Calvary Chapel pastor, called <b>Tom Stipe</b> a "good friend" and "buddy" and said, "This brother's gifts and talents and deeds are so vast that it's difficult to cover all that he has done over the past fifty years."<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMny8CnXqWcWPyBj8W7Pd4lp_H2BrA_iMXTix8wCpB1m97poRcAH89EJsanQxtrXjSNjJ_qVQKN325tgIlZpofwqv-h0KypwyN2ALFp2PlT0iUxLf0fBR-Jq8r3j1rPWtdrGS3YpT85qR/s604/10399970_107166937190_877203_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMny8CnXqWcWPyBj8W7Pd4lp_H2BrA_iMXTix8wCpB1m97poRcAH89EJsanQxtrXjSNjJ_qVQKN325tgIlZpofwqv-h0KypwyN2ALFp2PlT0iUxLf0fBR-Jq8r3j1rPWtdrGS3YpT85qR/w356-h400/10399970_107166937190_877203_n.jpg" width="356" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Country Faith</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>When reflecting on his early Jesus Music days, Stipe said, "We witnessed culture penetrating evangelism against a backdrop of Biblical literacy. I think that Jesus referred to this kind of activity as 'casting seed.' We were not reaching out to the culture, we <i>were</i> the culture...with a belief that Jesus could somehow change lives." </p><p><b>Tom Stipe</b> certainly did his part to see that the lives of people here in this world were changed for the better as a result of the grace and the love of God, not just during the Jesus Movement revival but throughout his earthly life. </p><p>Our prayers are with his family.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwp5kRvRByoQqyESO1XVvtH4VgNIwgkyQAAwJ4gDS3OBOyKo-eA5jKjvUjO84sn7Xyu59AKJHpdOx7tTCHtSrRkU_OEx8AeD_gb9SaFkOTc6STXJ7nhyCSOUitADi0opW93mHfEFbKrZn5/s1755/scan-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1755" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwp5kRvRByoQqyESO1XVvtH4VgNIwgkyQAAwJ4gDS3OBOyKo-eA5jKjvUjO84sn7Xyu59AKJHpdOx7tTCHtSrRkU_OEx8AeD_gb9SaFkOTc6STXJ7nhyCSOUitADi0opW93mHfEFbKrZn5/s320/scan-1.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tom and Maryellen Stipe</b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xGATcoa2LDM" width="320" youtube-src-id="xGATcoa2LDM"></iframe></div><br /><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Ubuntu, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bmbI2TcomPI" width="320" youtube-src-id="bmbI2TcomPI"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qdrn5GmBFZs" width="320" youtube-src-id="Qdrn5GmBFZs"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LJvtmMjMWio" width="320" youtube-src-id="LJvtmMjMWio"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Ubuntu, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-63433020806740221412020-02-05T19:11:00.002-08:002020-02-25T07:45:54.648-08:00#30 WELCOME by Terry Clark (1978)<div style="background-color: white;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>WELCOME</b> by <b>Terry Clark</b> (1978)<br />Good News Records GNR-8107</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Ugadano Thawanu Maija.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"What?! What is that, some sort of foreign language?</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No, just a catchy title of an equally catchy song. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ugadano Thawanu Maija</i> was the first song that many people heard from <b>Terry Clark's</b> <b><i>Welcome</i></b> album; after all, it occupied a top ten position on radio airplay charts for months, and it inspired t-shirts and bumper stickers. Clark's recording of the song instantly stuck in your head, with the memorable percussion and keyboard work. The main thought communicated by this track is that we need to <i>know</i> God. "Y</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ou gotta know the One who made you." </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which is entirely appropriate since knowing God - and encouraging others to know Him - has remained the central thrust of <b>Terry Clark's</b> ministry over the past 40+ years. As we think about songs like <i>I Am Yours, You're All My Life, Knowing You,</i> and so many others, how fitting that the most popular song on this, his debut album, would focus on <i>knowing</i> God. </span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Take His love down in your hear</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Let Him fill your life with purpose</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>'Cause if you really want to make a new start</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ugadano thawanu maija</i></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He's the One that we all wanna know</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He's the love that we all wanna show</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">L-R:<b> Nancy Clark, Terry Clark, Jon Linn</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The song had sort of an 'island' feel to it and a hook that got stuck in your head for days on end. It also gave percussionist <b>Burleigh Drummond</b> (<b>Ambrosia</b>) a chance to shine.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the summer of 2019, I had a chance to talk to <b>Terry Clark</b> and do a sort of deep dive into this album. One of the first things I wanted to know was how the funky spelling came about for <i>Ugadano Thawanu Maija</i>. As you might imagine, there's a story that goes with that.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> "Well, we thought the title was too long," Terry explained. "So in the stew of that quandary, I remembered seeing signs written on slices of tree trunks for sale in truck stops, out on the road, that would say sentences too long for the space by mashing up the syllables. Like Kwicherbelyakin! Stuff like that. So, a little experimenting produced the final title, and it became a hit because of the effect that it had on people."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I mentioned, the phonetically-spelled phrase ended up on bumper stickers, which would sometimes cause a mild case of road rage (before we even used that term). "Yeah, cars would come up close to the back of my car on the highway, trying to figure out what language was on the sticker and what it meant," Clark remembered. "And whether on a bumper sticker or on a T-shirt, all it takes is to hear yourself read the syllables out loud. You could tell when the people in the car figured it out, because they would burn rubber and speed around us! In line at a pizza place, we could tell people were trying to figure it out by the mumbling. They would eventually ask what language it was. I would just get them to read it out loud a couple of times." Terry smiled and said, "I wish we had video of the facial expressions from the people in line behind us when they figured it out, and the hand signals from the cars as they stood on the horn and sped around us! But I'm pretty sure that it had to be written that way because Jesus wanted to expose how ugly people are who reject Him, even in a moment of being confronted by Truth, live and in their face."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Terry Clark</b> grew up knowing and living that Truth, having been raised in a God-fearing home in Texas. Somehow, just a few years later he would end up in what amounted to an insane asylum in Munich, Germany with a prognosis of "no hope." But God had other plans.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Terry Clark</b> grew up in an environment of intense prayer and devotion to the Word of God. "I was born into a wonderful early childhood - about as good as you could get," Clark revealed. "My parents were active, very committed Christians. Everybody on my mother's side of the family were either pastors or evangelists or some other kind of Jesus freaks whose lives were centered around the supernatural involvement of a loving God." Terry says his grandmother was a fire-breathing preacher, and he recalls an uncle who actually had one of those old-school revival tents, complete with sawdust on the ground and an upright piano on a platform constructed of wooden planks. He has vivid memories of standing on that piano bench as a child. He also speaks of very real memories of responding to altar calls as a child, no older than 4 or 5, crying out to Jesus and surrendering his life to the Lord.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking back on those years, Clark is thankful for the godly heritage but also mindful that he grew up in a bubble of sorts. "Unfortunately, a bubble is just that," he acknowledges, "and at some point we begin to break out of those bubbles. There weren't any Christian schools there at the time, so I attended regular public schools that introduced me to life outside the bubble. Pretty abruptly. Every day."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clark says he began to adapt to his surroundings and basically became a chameleon. Small in stature and lacking (or so he thought) a distinct personality to call his own, he decided to hang with the tough guys. He felt compelled to join up to a group that would give him identity. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I would be God's little gift to the planet at church and at home," Clark recalls. "But when I got to school, I was among the best at saying the things that <i>they</i> said and doing the things that <i>they</i> did. Or at least looking like I was very comfortable doing those things." He's an author these days, but <b>Terry Clark</b> says he graduated high school without ever reading a book. By the way, guitarist <b>Dean Parks</b> attended high school with Terry in Fort Worth. "Not only was I envious of his musicianship in the school's stage band," admits Terry, "I was also really jealous of his baby blue 1958 Chevy." Parks would go on to become a world-renowned musician (<b>Koinonia, Sonny & Cher, Rod Stewart, Bob Segar, B.B. King</b> and others) and would end up playing guitar for his old school mate on <b><i>Welcome</i></b>.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Dean Parks</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next, Terry attended Bible college, immersing himself in music and gaining experience as a touring musician; he was part of a trio and a choir that traveled to promote the school. Looking back on that time, he said, "I didn't have time to get in trouble, I guess."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But money got tight, and Terry needed to go to work. Here was a new and different environment to which he would adapt. And adapt he did. "I met a whole other circle of people," Terry remembers. "Gamblers, drunkards, and drag racers. I became addicted to the adrenaline of all that. Slowly, the bubble that I had always kind of gone back to had dissipated. I wound up in desperate straights." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry's family thought that a change of scenery would do him good so they sent him to live with one of his pastor uncles to attend another Bible college in Costa Mesa, California. But Terry only went to part of one class, got a job at Times Mirror Press and moved to Newport Beach, just steps from the Pacific Ocean, where the push-and-pull began all over again with what seemed like an endless sea of young adults who drank and partied all night. The chameleon was doing his thing. But life as Terry Clark knew it was about to change in a more drastic fashion than he could've ever imagined.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>People on their merry-go-round</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Their complicated lives go round and round</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't know </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't know what true life is</i></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People on their merry-go-round</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Screwing themselves right into the ground</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't know </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't know who my Lord is</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't know</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't really know who Jesus is</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People on their merry-go-round</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They don't have the time to hear the sound of Jesus calling</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, Jesus is calling to them</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For many years <b>Terry Clark</b> was on just such a merry-go-round, so he was probably drawing on personal experience when he wrote this song, the fourth track on side one of <b><i>Welcome</i></b>. Originally recorded by <b>Children of Faith</b>, an early Jesus Music group that featured Terry and his (future) wife Nancy, <i>Merry-Go-Round</i> was a funky little number that featured some tasteful sax work by the legendary <b>Ernie Watts</b> (a star woodwind player on <b>The Tonight Show</b> with <b>Johnny Carson</b> for twenty years) and an amazing trio of backing vocalists. <b>Sherlie Matthews, Venetta Fields</b> and <b>Clydie King</b> are three women of color who were among the very best in the music business. The effect on Terry's Fender Rhodes gives the song a unique feel, but the message of <i>Merry-Go-Round</i> is an important one. "The song is like a movie illustrating our lives until the end, when wisdom from above breaks through," said <b>Terry Clark</b>. At the end of the song, the tempo slows dramatically, perfectly illustrating the last few lyric lines...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>People on a merry-go-round</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Pick yourself up and turn around</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Let Jesus slow you down</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Vietnam War was going strong in the Sixties. One day, while still working and partying in Southern California, <b>Terry Clark</b> received an envelope in the mail. It was an invitation to report for the draft in Fort Worth, Texas. But after his training, instead of immediately being deployed to Vietnam like 90% of his class, Terry was sent to Japan, where his skill at blending in with his surroundings again came in handy. "I became a Japanese," Clark says. "I adapted well. I listened attentively and learned the street language. I had Japanese friends from Sapporo to Tokyo." Clark was only in Japan for nine months before Uncle Sam ordered him to pack his bags for Thailand. "They had a party for me when I was fixing to leave and there were hundreds of Japanese - bar owners and taxi drivers and prostitutes. You know, the<i> real </i>people. And they were all crying and blubbering in their beer and giving me gifts. But I flew Air America to the jungle of Thailand up near the Golden Triangle. They dropped me into there and I had a culture shock."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry tells of being around natives with water buffaloes as friends. He talks of being introduced to hallucinogenic drugs that were like nothing he had ever experienced before. "I became a Thai," Terry says. "I adapted very deeply into the culture." After being stoned out of his mind for seven months straight, Terry's closest Thai friend committed suicide. It fell to Terry to take care of the body and give his friend a proper Thai funeral. "That dealt a blow to me that I didn't really see until I arrived at the next foreign country," Terry said. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After coming back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for reset, Clark's world tour continued as the Army decided to send him to Germany this time. He was finally tired of the whole chameleon thing. "When I got to Germany, I wasn't really in the mood to adapt anymore," Terry said. "I was tired. I didn't want to hear people speaking German, much less learn it." Of course, the drugs were just as prevalent, only in this part of the world it was mostly hash. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Germany, the cumulative effect of the drug use and the horrific things that Terry had seen up-close-and-personal began to weigh heavily on his mental and emotional state. "One night I came to a conclusion that changed everything," he said. "I had seen everything that humans can do, and I had participated in most of it. And I was just so disgusted to be a human being, I couldn't stand it anymore. So I decided to totally reject everything that had anything to do with the human existence of <b>Terry Clark</b>."</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">U.S. Army Hospital • Munich, Germany • 1960s</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Exactly what happened next is not entirely clear. It might've been the ill effects of drug use, perhaps an extreme case of PTSD (before we knew to call it that), or maybe what my parents would call a good old-fashioned nervous breakdown. Terry describes it by saying that he stepped across a little white picket fence in his mind. "For the first time in my life I was free," he says. "Free from the expectations of other people, free from having to perform, and free from even my own desires to be accepted and approved." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What we do know is at that point, Terry was judged to be insane. "They showed up in their little white coats, put me in a van, and took me to a hospital," he reports. "They put me in the mental ward of a military hospital in Munich, Germany." Doctors soon determined that Terry's psychosis was too deep to expect any kind of recovery. They felt that this was a result of things that happened during Terry's time in Thailand, and that there was no hope of him ever regaining his sanity. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What happened next was a miracle.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Look</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why don't you come on and look</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>See what that Man sees</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>when He looks at you</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And sees you on your knees</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Love</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why don't you let go and love</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Feel what that Man does</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>When He takes, when He takes the blame for us</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, men of earth</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Your eyes came with birth</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But lies taught your eyes to hate</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, so let's close them before it's too late</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look through those loving eyes</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, those living eyes</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Those living, loving eyes of Jesus</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Those loving eyes of Jesus...</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As he lay in a psych ward of a hospital on the other side of the world, <b>Terry Clark</b> was about to experience a visitation from the Lord Jesus...the One that he lovingly calls his childhood friend. Like the song says, lies had taught Terry's eyes to hate. But Jesus showed up right on time. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Living, Loving Eyes</i> is another song that was originally recorded by <b>Children of Faith</b> for inclusion on an early Jesus Music sampler back in Texas. But the definitive version is found here on <b><i>Welcome</i></b>. Terry's piano work, the vocal harmonies, and <b>Stephen Houston's</b> strings combine to make this, the album's closer, a highlight. Houston had been a member of a famous Irish "high rock" group known as <b>Frupp</b>, but he came to know the Lord following a live performance of <b>Jimmy & Carol Owens' <i>If My People</i></b> musical in the U.K. Terry says that at that point, <b>Stephen Houston's</b> life radically changed. <b>Terry Clark</b> describes Houston as an incredible musician and songwriter; they met when they were both asked to join the band <b>Liberation Suite</b>. "So we brought Stephen in from Northern Ireland to North Hollywood and Mama Jo's, just to do the strings on <i>Living, Loving Eyes</i>," Terry told me. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<i>Living, Loving Eyes</i> was a very visual depiction of physical actions suggesting that we can see the world, people and daily circumstances through His eyes," said Terry. "This would follow the fact that He has 'shed abroad in our hearts His Spirit.' That means everything about His disposition is there in our hearts and informs our minds to operate our bodies according to the disposition of the new creature. <i>His</i> perspective, <i>His </i>desires, and <i>His </i>ways." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So Terry was lying in a room on the psych floor of a military hospital in Munich, with a "no hope" diagnosis...when he heard a familiar voice. "My childhood friend was suddenly in the room," Terry recalls. "I didn't have to debate about who it was when He began to speak to me. Jesus said to me, 'Terry, I know how you feel. I've seen everything that humans have ever done. And believe me, I'm grossed out, too. But I want you to see the difference in our response to that. You have decided not to be a human being. But I chose to become one.'" </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clark says that Jesus then flooded him with how He feels toward human beings. "I was instantly drowned in a passion and a love that eclipsed my disgust and humiliation," Terry said. "In that moment I knew why Jesus went to the cross." <b>Terry Clark</b> says that in that visitation, Jesus swept away the ashes of his burned-out brain and replaced it with a fresh one. "I wanted back in the game," he said. His diagnosis went from "no hope" to "recovering satisfactorily." Within a week, they sent him home. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry reconnected with his parents in Corpus Christi, Texas, and began attending church there. That's where he became aware of the aforementioned group <b>Children of Faith</b>, a group whose members included his brother Duane and his future wife Nancy. Their piano player had moved on, so they talked Terry into playing piano and serving as the leader of the group. In 1972, while <b>Larry Norman</b> and <b>Love Song</b> were making headlines in the Golden State, <b>Children of Faith</b> released a full-length Jesus Music album and started making waves in the Lone Star State.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Children of Faith</b> played a lot in the Texas hill country, especially at a popular coffee house in San Marcos operated by <b>Hill Country Faith Ministries</b>. That ministry put on an annual Christian music festival and one year they invited both <b>Children of Faith</b> and <b>Liberation Suite</b> to play the festival. [<b>Liberation Suite</b> was signed to Myrrh Records and was gaining a national following.] This would prove to be the hand of God at work in Terry's life and ministry. Let me explain.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Terry Clark</b> is 2nd from the left</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <b>Children of Faith</b> drummer couldn't make the gig, so <b>Randy HIll, Liberation Suite's</b> drummer, sat in with <b>Children of Faith</b>. Friendships were formed and before the festival was over, an invitation would be extended for Terry and his brother <b>Duane Clark</b> to join <b>Liberation Suite</b> on a European tour in 1975, one that included stops at concert halls and universities all over the United Kingdom. <b>Liberation Suite</b> was perhaps even more popular in the U.K. than in America, so it was decided that they would play a large role in introducing <b>Chuck Girard</b> (formerly of the foundational and internationally-acclaimed group <b>Love Song</b>) as a solo artist during a 6-week tour of the U.K., Europe and Scandinavia. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Terry and his brother Duane</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Liberation Suite</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This would lead to Terry becoming friends with Girard and later becoming a member of the <b>Chuck Girard Band</b>. It was Girard himself who would suggest that Terry sign with Good News Records as a solo artist. And when <b>Terry Clark</b> went to Mama Jo's to record <b><i>Welcome</i></b>, <b>Chuck Girard</b> sat in the producer's chair. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Chuck is a great producer," said <b>Terry Clark</b>, "from knowing what musicians to use on specific songs to gently being able to bring the best out of the singer whose name is on the project, as well as helping each unique, professional musician in their assigned parts." Terry then offers a unique assessment of his friend Chuck's producing talents, one that is unlike anything you've probably heard before: "It's like cutting into a hot loaf of fresh bread and getting the full cloud and astounding explosion of sensational pleasure, and knowing that it's been recorded to be experienced over and over." (I warned you. You'll notice that <b>Terry Clark</b> is one more deep thinker...and expresses himself in ways that are uncommonly thought-provoking.) </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Chuck Girard</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mama Jo's</b> was a Southern California studio with a star-studded history. <b><i>Welcome</i></b> was recorded there, and it was engineered by a seasoned veteran by the name of <b>Joe Bellamy</b>. "Joe and I became very close, eternal friends during those long days and nights of recording," Terry reports. "He was a truly professional engineer but even more of a pro at the piano and the B3." [Bellamy would be tapped to produce <b>Terry Clark's</b> sophomore release, <b><i>Melodies</i></b>, in 1980.]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How did I first hear <b>Terry Clark</b>? It was through a promotional sampler album called, <b><i>Bringin’ A New Song</i></b>. It was a full-length vinyl LP that came as a bonus when you purchased an album from one of the featured artists. Turned out to be a pretty effective way for Word to showcase a lot of their new artists for a wider audience. The sampler contained songs from "youngsters" with names like <b>Amy Grant, Steve Camp, DeGarmo & Key</b>, and the <b>Alwyn Wall Band</b>. That "sampler platter" introduced me to artists like <b>Wendell Burton, Nedra Ross</b> and <b>Fireworks</b>. But it was a song called <i>Time Enough</i> by <b>Terry Clark</b> that stood out over all the others. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's an intimacy, an immediacy, to <i>Time Enough</i>...no intro, no frills, just a great vocal by Terry and his then-signature Fender Rhodes electric piano. Later, strings come in to lend a little auditory support. Terry says the track was arranged in such a way as to penetrate the heart of the listener. It's a bluesy ballad about love...loving your neighbor...and selflessness.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Feel around until you touch someone</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Make them burn their bridges for your smile</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Take them in your arms until their tears are gone</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>It will only take a little while</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's time enough to give yourself</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>To feel you've helped someone</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>There's time enough to take your love off the shelf</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Stop thinking of yourself and what you've done</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And love someone </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Take some time out just to think of someone else</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You may find another kind of love</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Make them count on you each time they need your help</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>'Cause that's what real love is made of</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'Cause there's much more to life than livin'</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You were made to do some givin'</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You will find there's much more of yourself than you could see</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If you sing some harmony</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the strength of that one song, my brothers and I knew we had to add this album to our collection. We were not disappointed. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The up-tempo songs <i>Let's Have a Good Time</i> and <i>Make a Noise</i>, both on side one, are still live concert favorites all these years later.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clocking in at right around two minutes, <i>Let's Have a Good Time</i> is a real treat. Sounds like a song <b>Ray Charles</b> could've had some fun with. In fact, if you weren't familiar with Terry, you just might assume he was a black man after listening to this song. He sang it with a healthy dose of soul. It's a piano-based blues track that makes good use of the talents of the previously mentioned all-female backing trio. But again, Terry's vocal is the main attraction here.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked him about the origins of <i>Let's Have a Good Time</i> and he said, "Once we've come to Him and He's come into us, we intuitively understand what a 'good time' really is. And that's in stark contrast to what the world has led us to believe. I say let's get in and do it to the max!" </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Let's have a good time</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Put a big smile on your face</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Let's have a good time</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Girls sing tenor, boys sing bass</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>May be the last time we get together here on earth</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>So for Heaven's sake, let's have a good time</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I mentioned the enthusiastic reception given to this song by live audiences, Terry said, "That's precisely because our hearts instinctively long for the joy that only comes when we're with Him and are drowned in the sea of His grace, love, peace, and pure, abounding joy!"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"There's a homing device in every human heart," he added.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next up is a scripture song called <i>Make A Noise</i>. A toe-tapping favorite centered around the piano, this song is an excellent way to memorize the 100th Psalm. Terry joyfully sings, shouts and growls his way through this one, and the late, great <b>Jon Linn</b> turns in a very memorable twin-harmony-guitar solo. "There's a reason they called him Wonderfingers," Terry said with a smile.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Side one of <b><i>Welcome</i></b> concluded with something entirely different from the rest of the album. <i>Red Cloud</i> was dark...haunting...chilling...an apocalyptic tour de force. "That song was a reaction to living Scripture," Terry said. "It's about the third of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The red cloud is rising</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Reflections are on the shore</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can feel it in the wind</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Soon time will be no more</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You know love is dying</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>'Cause you can feel nothing in your heart</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You know you hear someone crying</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But you don't know where to start</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The giant is on the horizon</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He's come to wage war</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And the black steed he sits upon</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Has bore his master far</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you've got a dollar</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can buy a loaf of bread</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Or maybe a pound of barley</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If there's a price upon your head</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What's that number on your head? </span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Terry Clark</b> says that drummer <b>Jeff Porcaro's</b> genius was on full display on <i>Red Cloud</i>. "When he took the brushes out," Terry said, "and started waving them in front of the mic, the hair on the back of my neck was very responsive." [Porcaro was known for his work with <b>Toto, Steely Dan, Paul McCartney</b>, and others.]</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Jeff Porcaro</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember traveling with my brother to Columbia, South Carolina in the early 2000s to see <b>Terry and Nancy Clark</b> at a cool venue known as the <b>Pavilion Coffee Shop</b> (long since closed, sadly). At that time, Terry didn't know us from Laurel & Hardy. I took the opportunity during the intermission to request a song. I wanted to be a wise guy and, at the same time, demonstrate my love for and knowledge of Terry's extensive catalog of music. So I said, "Can you do <i>Red Cloud</i>?" I remember him just looking at me a little funny and he said something like, "Sure. Yeah...<i>Red Cloud</i>. Right." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He didn't do it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So a lot of people take a look at this cover and they don't immediately recognize <b>Terry Clark</b> because this was before he started wearing his trademark fedoras. But I'll have to say, the bell-bottoms on the cover of <b><i>Welcome</i></b> were pretty awesome in their own right. [Terry says they were Night Flight trousers with Ryder boots.] The cover photos were taken by <b>Ed Caraeff </b>at a studio specifically set up for album cover photo sessions. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We've already mentioned several of the players on <b><i>Welcome</i></b>, but it's worth pointing out that Clark was backed on his debut album by a slew of top-drawer session musicians. "Studio recording is a business," Terry told me. "And it's a joy-filled business when it's carried out by seasoned studio players and singers. I was amazed at the lineup of folks Chuck was able to call in for a <b>Terry Clark</b> album."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'll list a few more of the folks in the supporting cast, followed by Terry's comments...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>Emory Gordy, Jr</b>.: "From a historic family of musicians. <b>Elvis Presley's</b> bass player in the 70s. Played with <b>Billy Joel, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs</b> and others." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>Gary Ferguson</b>: "Worked with <b>Stevie Nicks, Eddie Money, Larry Carlton</b>, and more."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>Paul Humphrey</b>: "Played with <b>Ray Charles</b> and <b>Steely Dan</b>."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>Cliff Woolley</b>: "Was a member of <b>The Association</b> and an early member of <b>Ambrosia</b>."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>D</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>avid</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b> Pack</b>: "Another member of <b>Ambrosia</b> who contributed some excellent guitar styling."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>Jimmy Haskell</b>: "One of the great string arrangers of all time. There's more than twenty pages of albums that he worked his magic on." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>Jon Linn</b>: "A close friend. He was a member of the <b>Chuck Girard Band</b> and the <b>Terry Clark Band,</b> and one of the most authentic, raw, lead guitarists. But also a bit more supernatural. Jon made a much-too-early exit, the victim of a hit-and-run driver, but not before he raised a lot of eyebrows and made his band mates cry out with amazement in the middle of just about any song we performed in all of the countries we played in." [Readers of this blog will remember that Linn was a favorite guitarist of <b>Larry Norman</b> as well.]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Side Two of <b><i>Welcome</i></b> contained a love song at a time when there just weren't that many straight up, romantic love songs on Christian albums. And the word 'doggone' was used in the lyrics. Bonus points for that.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I was alone at Ruxley Lodge with only a nineteenth century, barely functioning piano, waiting for Nancy to arrive from Texas, and <i>Your Love For Me</i> just bubbled up from within my soul," said Terry, "and ripped the lacquer off the front of that piano. I was preparing to sing it for her when we were together. She arrived with nothing but necessary clothes and personal things, but the Lord spectacularly showed off His desire and amazing design for our wedding, including holding the event clear on the other side of the world from our roots and previous lives." Terry says that their wedding day turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day - the only such day at Ruxley Lodge in October of 1975. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Your Love For Me</i> struck a special chord with me as a teenager. When you're young, you tend to be idealistic about love and marriage, and you have all of these questions about who you're going to meet...and how...and where...and dreams of what life is going to be like when godly, romantic love is finally fully given and received. This song was encouraging, and it was a little different, a little more earthy than most CCM love songs in the 70s. Not excessively so...but just enough to make it really compelling. And Terry sings it on this album like a man who is undeniably, madly in love with his lady.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, your love for me</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Is like the freshness of the Spring</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, your love for me</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Is all I needed to make me sing</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You gave me joy</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Made me feel like a brand new boy</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You made me smile</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And all the while</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>There was your love</i></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, your love for me</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Came when I thought love had passed me by</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Then Jesus saw what I needed most of all</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Was a girl whose love wouldn't make me cry</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>So He looked around</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>All over this doggone town</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>For that something new</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>That's when He found you</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And there it was, your love </i></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, your love for me</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, sweet girl</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Filling me up with love so fine</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>In Jesus I'll hide </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And with you by my side</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>There ain't nothin', girl<br />Nothin' gonna keep me from your sweet love</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just me and Jesus and your sweet love</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry says that after his breakdown and subsequent healing in Munich, Nancy and <b>Children of Faith</b> became like family to him. "Nancy became my best friend," he says. "I was still in the early stages of recovery from ending up in the psych ward in that military hospital where Jesus gave me a new mind, so I wasn't very good at expressing myself. And when I did try, most people would get this look on their face like their mother had just called them, and they would disappear. But she actually listened and cared about what the Lord was doing in me. I'm happy to say that still holds true, going on 45 years. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the interest of full disclosure, I've had the opportunity to be in concerts and worship services with Terry and Nancy for probably ten times now. Or more. Church services, yes, but also home gatherings and private meals shared around tables of fellowship. I can tell you that these two absolutely function as a team, especially in their work for the Lord. Nancy is such a strong support for her husband...he just might be in big trouble without her!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I'm afraid my mode of expression is sometimes foreign to her still," Terry admits. "But her natural reflex is to help, not berate, especially when I realize it and become frustrated with my ineptness at communicating. She understands that Jesus is our only source of sanity, and most graphically mine from the time He rescued me in Munich."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Theirs is a very special love story.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Your Love For Me</i> was followed by another love song. <i>For Each Other</i> was a wedding song for some special friends. "This girl was a close friend of Nancy's younger sister and when we came back to the states and moved to LA, we connected just before they were going to get married. So the song was written for their wedding with their names in the song...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Valerie, so beautiful</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Tom, so debonair</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, on <b><i>Welcome</i></b>, the track was de-personalized...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Woman, so beautiful</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Man, so debonair</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry smiled and said, "There have been a few more names inserted over the years." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clark was also pleased with <i>For Each Other</i> from a sonic standpoint. "The combination of <b>Jimmy Haskell's</b> string arrangement and <b>David Pack's</b> guitar work, and the sound that Joe got out of it still astonishes me to this day," he said.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then we move from romantic love to God's love for us. I asked Terry about the motivation for <i>Oh, the Love</i>. "That one was a result of finding myself inside God's heart," he answered. "The revelation is perfectly described by the words, 'God so loved,' but with an astonishing, overflowing passion." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Once again He's calling</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why do you still wait?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why not now?</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You know how</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Please don't hesitate</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Come with Me</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lay your life down at His feet</i></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before you knew, He'd given you all He had to give</span></i><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Now if you know, He just wants to show you how to live</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, the love</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Everlasting love</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I said that <i>Oh, the Love</i> sounds like it could be what we used to call an 'altar call' song, Terry said, "It's basically a musical representation of the invitation that the Spirit germinates in the heart of each and every lost and desperate soul."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTniB0HWuRUgbvx-hEoxG0x73vQzCD0EPHR2h4rrFwVnlv__9GPUwHCWJfP_q3XKfqTqByJZVG2t65nS2Q6idp7Xf4xTHzqs2GlyagKx2Z1s68S9IuXfXNV9te8fNz1KhlEd73pegV8R7d/s1600/BeFunky-collagehlltcnren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="1600" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTniB0HWuRUgbvx-hEoxG0x73vQzCD0EPHR2h4rrFwVnlv__9GPUwHCWJfP_q3XKfqTqByJZVG2t65nS2Q6idp7Xf4xTHzqs2GlyagKx2Z1s68S9IuXfXNV9te8fNz1KhlEd73pegV8R7d/s400/BeFunky-collagehlltcnren.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Terry with Chuck & Karen Girard's oldest daughter, Kristin</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We've got one song left to discuss from <b><i>Welcome</i></b> and that's the title track. It happens to be the very first song on the album and it breaks a lot of norms. Usually, you tap an upbeat, pop or rock tune as that lead-off hitter. You're not expected to begin an album with a mellow ballad, especially one that starts off a little dark. Add to that a vertical worship focus...way before worship was cool. So, of course, I asked <b>Terry Clark</b> about this deviation from expected norms and he said just what I thought he'd say: "Seemed to me like an appropriate greeting in both directions, into the Lord's presence and to the ones He wants to talk to."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had no idea at the time. But looking back, I think it's absolutely appropriate that this song, the very first song that we heard on Terry's debut recording as a solo artist, foreshadowed the worship emphasis that he would so effectively embrace in later years.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry and Nancy became pioneers in true, authentic, intimate worship - more about that a little later - but it turns out that <i>Welcome</i> was a nod in that direction right out of the gate. It's as if God was telegraphing how He intended to use this healed and restored, piano-playing servant of His. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Come be with us, Lord... Open up our hearts today, shed on us Your light...We now welcome You to transform and renew...Breathe into us new life, mold us Your way...</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was there from the start.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Musically,<i> Welcome</i> is anointed and captivating; it also contains a vocal octave jump by Terry that accomplishes a couple of things: 1) it serves notice on the listener that <i>Hey, this guy can SING! </i>and 2) it gives said listener goose bumps (especially the first time you hear it).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked Terry if he was pleased with the finished product...once he was able to hold it in his hands or put it on a turntable and give it a spin, what did he think about it? His answer was that it caused him to re-live the intimate moments and conversations with the Lord Jesus that produced all of those songs. And it also filled him with gratitude as he reflected on the hard work in the studio and the contributions of so many talented and creative professionals. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<i>Welcome, Ugadano Thawanu Maija, Let's Have a Good Time, Make a Noise</i>, and <i>Red Cloud </i>all sparked conversations and discovery from people all over the world," he says, "that was displayed in a myriad of expressions, ranging from surprised delight...to disgust...to silent, internal contemplation." [Ed. note: You can put my brothers and me in the "surprised delight" camp. There was no disgust whatsoever at our house when <b><i>Welcome</i></b> was on the record player.]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two years later, Terry recorded <b><i>Melodies</i></b>, his sophomore release on Good News Records. Produced by <b>Joe Bellamy</b>, it boosted the production values a little and contained some sparking pop/rock CCM that caused more people to find Terry's music and become devoted listeners. But a funny thing happened on the way to album #3.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It was during the updraft of the industry that we were working on <b><i>Melodies</i></b>," Terry recalls. "What I mean is, at that time, the Christian music business adapted the aggressive promotion, timing and pace of the secular industry, as well as their business philosophy. The Lord began to say to me, 'Terry, this turn that's taking place is natural and logical for the business world, but for you and Me it's just an endless cycle around a carousel. We will stay the course, moving straight ahead on the narrow path we started on when you squeezed through that tight gate in Munich, which led to recovery and all that followed. We will continue in the mainstream of what we are about and not get caught in the endless eddys of the record business or entertainment world.'"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Terry continued: "So when <b>Freddie Piro</b> called me in to talk about album #3, I genuinely from my heart thanked him for all that he, Mama Jo's and <b>Chuck Girard</b> had done, but that there wouldn't be a #3. I explained that the Lord had been speaking to us for an entire year about continuing to walk straight ahead with Him. After hugs and handshakes, I walked away and we went on the road. While out on the road, we began to hear within a week, without any coordination between any of us, that several other artists in the 'pioneer' category had made the same decision to stay the course in what all of us knew was the established 'mainstream' for us."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What Terry is talking about is something that CCM devotees were not really aware of as the 70s gave way to the 80s. But I've heard/read that <b>Keith Green, Chuck Girard, Nancy Honeytree</b> and others all arrived at the same conclusion at roughly the same time.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now that Clark had gotten off the Christian
Music train headed for commercial success, he was able to more exclusively aim
at opening up and expanding the conversational intimacy with God, dependency on
God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in the most powerful language ever
created by God Himself - music. In 1983 a friend in Germany (Thomas)
came to California to visit Terry and Nancy. Thomas had heard about a project that was being
finished at that time called <b><i>Living Worship</i></b>. It was being co-produced by Terry
& <b>Joe Bellamy,</b> and was possibly the first-ever full album of continual
songs connected in what <b>Terry Clark</b> calls "conversational continuity." In other words...</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">authentic, intimate worship, not directed to the listener, but directed to Jesus. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">"That was an interesting recording
challenge," Terry remembers, "but with Joe at the helm, the doctor was in." <br /><br />Clark further explains: "Thomas was a part of
the leadership of <b>Living Bibles International</b>, and wanted to put the
two 'Living' projects together and do a European tour with <b><i>Living Worship</i></b>
raising support for Living Bibles International’s project of developing the
Living Bible in a language in remote Northern India." Terry says he flew home after that tour full of joy,
because when the Lord had directed him to stay on the original course that had
been started by Him from the beginning, He had clearly promised to do
a “new thing,” and Terry was ecstatically convinced that He had just
fulfilled that promise. But Terry heard the Lord whisper, "That wasn’t
it," and before the plane landed at LAX, He had mapped out the next 5
years of projects. The first was to release <b><i>Living Worship</i></b> under the Clark’s
ministry label, </span><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Firstfruits</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (now <b>Catalyst</b>) in the U.S., and that
project would continue with a second volume called <b><i>Let’s Worship</i></b> (1986). The
projects that followed <b><i>Let’s Worship</i></b> were done exactly according to the
schedule God had revealed on the plane home from Europe. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A fresh wind began to blow across Christendom, eventually resulting, I believe, in a full-blown worship renewal. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God was doing a new thing and <b>Terry Clark</b> was right in the middle of it. Those albums touched our hearts and made us aware of the presence of the Lord like nothing before. All I know is that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is so strong on those records that...well, it's impossible to explain. I've read accounts where people say that the first time they heard <b><i>Let's Worship</i></b>, they literally had to pull the car over to the side of the road and just weep. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since those landmark recordings in the mid-80s, the Clarks have spent the intervening years crafting other quality recordings (several produced by the late <b>Roby Duke</b>) and leading worship among audiences large and small – everything from <b>Promise Keepers</b> rallies in sports stadiums to house gatherings among friends.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"We're still going with Him where He wants to go, to the people He sends us to," Terry said. "We simply do what He puts in our hands with all the graces that He gives us, keeping a concentrated focus on Him and being immersed together in His book every day. Our Lord has made it clear that our dependency is on Him alone. That means for everything. That takes some deep work of the Spirit in parts of our hearts, and especially in our natural programming. And that is ongoing."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To stay abreast of All Things Terry Clark, visit <a href="http://www.catalystpeople.com/">www.catalystpeople.com</a>. It's an extensive website that features music, reading resources and Scriptural helps, a way to sign up for Terry's weekly emails, and just all kinds of stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I alluded to earlier, I've learned to love <b>Terry and Nancy Clark</b> not just as ministers but as friends. They are the real deal. I’ve been in worship services with the Clarks many times and I never cease to be amazed at the unique anointing that seems to rest on their ministry. Try as I might, I cannot adequately explain it. But it’s a very real thing, and greatly appreciated. I've been walking through my own personal "valley of the shadow of death" over the past year and I cannot tell you how many times God will take control of my playlist, whether it's my iPod Touch or my iPhone or my iPod Classic...and He will cause just the right song by Terry and Nancy to play...at just the time I most need to hear it, redirecting my gaze from my problems and onto the Lord.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The very first time I heard Terry live was when he came to my Dad's church (I'm a PK) in Taylors, South Carolina in the late 90s. It was a Sunday night. Of course, being the fanboy that I was, I took my <b><i>Welcome</i></b> LP, hoping to get it signed. Terry obliged. He took the sharpie and wrote, <i>"Thankful that this music is still touching hearts. Jesus knows."</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I have always had an inner hope that I would hear someday, someone, somewhere had consciously <i>got it</i> and joined in the conversation," he told me. "The prayerful hope is that when we all are together in our new, eternal home with Jesus in the Father's house, that I'll meet someone there that will have that joyous report. In the meantime, I'm perfectly satisfied by the confidence that the conversations that people's hearts engage in, even in the Spirit unconsciously, will bear fruit and will become ravenously hungry for God and His all-inclusive, living Word, Jesus."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I just visited <a href="http://catalystpeople.com/">catalystpeople.com</a> to see what Terry and Nancy are up to. They're all over California - Windsor, Fort Bragg, Chico, Sacramento, San Jose, Costa Mesa...and that's just this month! I keep thinking they'll eventually slow down, but as long as there are "body parts" who need to learn how to worship, I guess they'll just keep on keeping on. Last year they helped audiences in New Jersey, Idaho, Connecticut, South Carolina, California, Texas, Washington, Kentucky, and Maine learn to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth...to sit at His feet...and to simply know Him better.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After all...ugadano thawanu maija.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Come to think of it, that would look good on a t-shirt...</span><br />
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Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-8459066100527366852019-05-26T19:18:00.000-07:002019-05-28T14:12:22.140-07:00HONORABLE MENTION (J-N)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's another grouping from the <i>Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda?</i> category...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizq-PMJuwX8QVSt6o7lKu_SAqxsA_5mBcDGyglFxg2EIyzmCNWDM6-5fWzL3ElQxcpNpOLDTeOEYnT7cGQ90L99PSWwbQejp53ZCNXyoT_qylDbctQkR8gtgDNl3aRI3uHHIvtd0Me53Xx/s1600/DividingLine_38dca4421d364e2fa613e28a40afe980bbb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="75" data-original-width="620" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizq-PMJuwX8QVSt6o7lKu_SAqxsA_5mBcDGyglFxg2EIyzmCNWDM6-5fWzL3ElQxcpNpOLDTeOEYnT7cGQ90L99PSWwbQejp53ZCNXyoT_qylDbctQkR8gtgDNl3aRI3uHHIvtd0Me53Xx/s400/DividingLine_38dca4421d364e2fa613e28a40afe980bbb.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVODoI849_NCEQePLrwpUYgrZo75hzIUjZmINlsJIbFalJwNYly0I6p-ATaThf8X29cDZI_Qz7-MzZjCIOD5yJmVEVzNlwlv8ZPAebm5pFvYmHEqxR8V0PRKpc_mXqhPSoyRkMffBCXVS/s1600/Salsbury-Ron-JC-Power-Outlet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVODoI849_NCEQePLrwpUYgrZo75hzIUjZmINlsJIbFalJwNYly0I6p-ATaThf8X29cDZI_Qz7-MzZjCIOD5yJmVEVzNlwlv8ZPAebm5pFvYmHEqxR8V0PRKpc_mXqhPSoyRkMffBCXVS/s400/Salsbury-Ron-JC-Power-Outlet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>RON SALSBURY and JC POWER OUTLET</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Ron Salsbury and JC Power Outlet</i></b> (Myrrh, 1972)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Raw"..."unpolished"..."rowdy." This was some high-energy rock-n-roll-for-Jesus in 1972. The historical significance alone recommends this one for inclusion. According to historian Ken Scott, this much-loved album from <b>Ron Salsbury, John Pantano, Rick Frye</b>, and <b>Greg Prough</b> featured "fast-pounding drums, chooka-chooka rhythm guitar, in-your-face lyrics, and blitzing hard rock electric guitar solos." Shaggy-haired Jesus freaks with goofy grins and a garage band sound. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>THE EXKURSIONS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>The Exkursions</i></b> (Custom, 1971)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mike Johnson</b> played and sang with this blues-rock trio, formed in Chicago in 1968 and said to be influenced by <b>Cream</b> and <b>Jimi Hendrix</b>. A blog called Jesus Rock Legends says this album was "surprisingly crisp" and had "a great drum sound and groovy stereo effects." The reviewer continued: "It still sounds raw, like someone jamming out in your living room but the production quality is not muddy or muffled like so many other recordings of that period. This is the band's only album and it’s a treasure of fuzz guitar and blues licks with those 'growly hippy' vocals that are just too cool!" And to think that it was 1971. The release date alone argues for inclusion on historical merit. The album's liner notes say, "The most critical factor in their music today is a relationship to Jesus, the Messiah. Their commitment to Him has brought a new sound, a new hope, and a new way." This record has been somewhat overlooked in the historical canvas of Jesus Music, but it shouldn't be. And how about that psychedelic cover?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Randy Matthews</b> (who later recorded with <b>Mike Johnson</b> as part of the trio <b>Matthews Taylor and Johnson</b>) has written about first meeting Mike at a "rather primitive Christian rock festival held in a high school gym" in 1972. <b>Larry Norman</b> was there as well. "I was excited about meeting Larry, but even more so about meeting Mike who, in my mind, was THE true father of what we now call Contemporary Christian Music," wrote Matthews in a blog by Mark Hollingsworth called Embracing the Gray. "It was because of his young visionary work with <b>The Exkursions</b>, a missionary band who worked with the Billy Graham Association and at the same time performed on street corners that had captured my imagination." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>THE ARTIST/THE RIDDLE</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Mike Johnson</i></b> (NewPax, 1976)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This has been called Johnson's finest moment. An oddity was that the album actually had two title tracks: a country tune called <i>The Artist</i> and a Renaissance-influenced track called <i>The Riddle</i> (complete with flute and recorder). The record is said to feature a diversity of styles. Harmony magazine named <b>Mike Johnson</b> "Artist of the Year" on the strength of this album, co-produced by Jesus Music legend <b>Randy Matthews</b>. On the album cover, you notice a smiling Johnson with a sparkle in his eye in the foreground, while the background reflects the peace and tranquility of Christ’s future millennial reign. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Randy Matthews</b> has called Johnson "truly one of the most talented and inspirational [artists] of them all" and "the most prolific writer I've ever known." Matthews also said that Johnson was "without a doubt, the funniest guy I ever met." Coming from Matthews, that's high praise. Author Mark Hollingsworth said, "I always respected his vision, skill, and hard work in wanting to expand God’s kingdom through creative means." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mike Johnson</b> passed away in his sleep of a heart attack on February 9th, 2013 at his home in Nashville. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIEUtzfNZw5Z8Lp2Rg2IQI6ZF5jAfpIyt5xZ3q4VGcVy0qRsQC92_AwpZ9ERHR5DLrPfplkNxn9P70fnvYDzMEFghKFJmkBs4CRK9qIBz9v5kHFq56yhEB7K96BjqW6S-9QsSWd2pOER-/s1600/friendscover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="891" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIEUtzfNZw5Z8Lp2Rg2IQI6ZF5jAfpIyt5xZ3q4VGcVy0qRsQC92_AwpZ9ERHR5DLrPfplkNxn9P70fnvYDzMEFghKFJmkBs4CRK9qIBz9v5kHFq56yhEB7K96BjqW6S-9QsSWd2pOER-/s400/friendscover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>HENCEFORTH I CALL YOU NOT SERVANTS BUT...FRIENDS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Debby Kerner & Ernie Rettino</i></b> (Maranatha! Music, 1974)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, they would eventually be known as the creators of <b>Psalty the Singing Songbook</b>. But they began as a musical duo. Ernie and Debby met at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, where she led worship. They started making music together and have never stopped. Their 1974 release on Maranatha Music had a clunky, somewhat wordy title: <b><i>Henceforth I Call You Not Servants But...Friends</i></b>. Most people just shorten it down to <b><i>Friends</i></b>. <b>Love Song</b> alums <b>John Mehler</b> and <b>Jay Truax</b> played on this one. It includes original songs, covers of songs by <b>Jimmy Owens</b> and <b>Kenn Gulliksen</b>, and some traditional spirituals. Pretty much a gentle, mellow, easy-listening record. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobF2APMgKUYm7bZlEzrUZCYTYfiojHwUQ2T-RZ2m-6WsNjiBqPISalOVND2mfPAcbGbdInhM7T6pzFvWSnGfXpuxVOib4raS97y6_2IynY2hP67jfFIGDY3ZtZ6XMZ-8V7bUH5UcDt5q1/s1600/R-8230711-1548106930-6572.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiobF2APMgKUYm7bZlEzrUZCYTYfiojHwUQ2T-RZ2m-6WsNjiBqPISalOVND2mfPAcbGbdInhM7T6pzFvWSnGfXpuxVOib4raS97y6_2IynY2hP67jfFIGDY3ZtZ6XMZ-8V7bUH5UcDt5q1/s400/R-8230711-1548106930-6572.png.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MORE THAN FRIENDS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Debby Kerner & Ernie Rettino</i></b> (Maranatha! Music, 1976)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The two were married in 1976 and named their next album <b><i>More Than Friends</i></b>. <b>Karen Lafferty</b> and a then-largely unknown <b>Keith Green</b> contributed to <b><i>More Than Friends</i></b> with their talents. The record features everything from orchestrated pop and ballads to kiddie ditties and hillbilly country. And there's a gatefold cover with a wedding photo inside. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2006, Kerner became Director of Worship Leadership at Saddleback Church where she trains and mentors worship leaders. <b>Dr. Debby Kerner Rettino</b> graduated from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2010. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zfxhrTFJBDm_a8WOSzgyk6idoJCKz0XR1yDHijAawFLlKDzyoyaJ7s5_fg3LpEMkw1YX6DpNn5x35oKpv_x9gfEYSOOQcpCVlAREwMXcGmBvtiN4RUO_erl2S0jTdBv4qtVZ0G-jiqks/s1600/front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1544" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zfxhrTFJBDm_a8WOSzgyk6idoJCKz0XR1yDHijAawFLlKDzyoyaJ7s5_fg3LpEMkw1YX6DpNn5x35oKpv_x9gfEYSOOQcpCVlAREwMXcGmBvtiN4RUO_erl2S0jTdBv4qtVZ0G-jiqks/s400/front.jpg" width="385" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BIRD IN A GOLDEN SKY</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Karen Lafferty</i></b> (Maranatha! Music, 1973)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Originally from Alamogordo, New Mexico, Karen graduated from Eastern New Mexico University and unsuccessfully attempted to join a <b>Campus Crusade for Christ</b> musical ensemble shortly after. Intending to pursue a career in secular music, she moved to southern California but soon beginning to perform at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. She wrote a worship chorus called <i>Seek Ye First</i>. And the rest is history. Jesus Music royalty such as <b>Fred Field, Alex MacDougall, Darrell Mansfield</b>, and <b>Al Perkins</b> all contributed to this, Karen's debut album. This record has been called one of her best. Lafferty has been described by David Lowman as "one of the very best songwriters of the era." Lowman says this album's title track would've been a huge Christian radio hit had there been much CCM radio in 1975. Lafferty beautifully describes the freedom found through Biblical faith as being similar to that experienced by a bird flying in a golden sky. "I actually wrote that song for a woman who I new had a lot of personal problems, but she was not open to the Lord at all. That's why I have lines in it like 'Tell me why it is you're crying' and 'I'm singing of my liberty.' It was one of the first songs that I was known for." The album was arranged by <b>Children Of The Day's</b> <b>Peter Jacobs</b> "who tastefully applied horns and strings to Karen's clear, beautiful voice," according to crossrhythms.com. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMIhRnEusaHSIyfcRB97y1oxeJ9vRNe5ilfERaqXHu1aJsSma04gdE856N6chCQJqNX4CIcr27Oj6Lt-PxG152AJxsh-Dp27dgYVrLZ-SSQGmoZFqsn6J7bXGK74p18cn-gOJGSl4Xdds/s1600/fr+scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1530" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMIhRnEusaHSIyfcRB97y1oxeJ9vRNe5ilfERaqXHu1aJsSma04gdE856N6chCQJqNX4CIcr27Oj6Lt-PxG152AJxsh-Dp27dgYVrLZ-SSQGmoZFqsn6J7bXGK74p18cn-gOJGSl4Xdds/s400/fr+scan.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>SWEET COMMUNION</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Karen Lafferty</i></b> (Maranatha! Music, 1978)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Produced by the great <b>Jonathan David Brown</b> early in his career, this one had a bit of a country feel. The album is said to be <b>Karen Lafferty's</b> favorite among the recordings she has made. As she explained to crossrhythms.com, "It actually came out of a very difficult time. There were four people in my life that I was close to that all died within about two years. Most of those songs came out of the emotions of that period. God was with me and ministering to me deeply in that time." A young <b>Kelly Willard</b> supplied backing vocals and played most of the keyboards on the album. A year after the release of <b><i>Sweet Communion</i></b>, Karen relocated to the Netherlands to work with <b>Youth With A Mission</b>. She founded <b>Musicians for Missions</b> in 1981, under YWAM in Holland. Lafferty would spend her entire adult life traveling, teaching and ministering with YWAM.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>ONE WAY</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Danny Lee & the Children of Truth</i></b> (RCA Victor, 1971)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<b>Danny Lee and the Children of Truth</b> bring a brand new sound to religious music," announced the liner notes for this 1971 album, "a sound that can be understood by all generations." This pioneering group was actually an early crossover band since their albums were released by secular giant RCA. Author Mark Allan Powell says frontman <b>Danny Lee Stutzman</b> was an excellent pianist and a great singer who could get pretty funky when he wanted to. This album's title song, the <b>Larry Norman</b> classic, was a theme song for the Jesus Movement. <b>Danny Lee</b> & company were credited with popularizing the song and bringing Larry to the attention of a wider audience within the Church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>SPREAD A LITTLE LOVE AROUND</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Danny Lee & the Children of Truth</i></b> (RCA Victor, 1972)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Produced by <b>Hal Spencer, Danny Lee's</b> sophomore effort was named for an iconic song that would be covered again and again in the early 70s (notably by <b>the Imperials</b>). <i>Spread a Little Love Around</i> ended up being included on the influential soundtrack album for <b>Explo '72.</b> This album's liner notes exaggerate a bit when they compare <b>Danny Lee</b> to <b>Bob Dylan, Paul Simon,</b> and <b>The Beatles</b>. But Lee was definitely a pioneer that I don't believe ever fully got his due. <b>Danny Lee Stutzman</b> passed away after suffering a heart attack in the 1980s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>LIBERATION SUITE</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Liberation Suite</i></b> (Myrrh, 1975)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A hard-rocking Jesus Music band from Texas that incorporated brass? Sign me up! Historian Mark Allan Powell says this album remains one of the most important - and one of the best - contributions of the Jesus Music era. <b>John Pantry</b> produced this record, which contains plenty of Zeppelinesque blues-rock, progressive art-rock, and ballads. Bonus style points for that groovy logo on the front cover. Sometimes compared to <b>Chicago, Kansas, Styx</b> and even <b>Supertramp</b>, <b>Liberation Suite</b> was said to often be even more innovative than what was being produced in the secular marketplace. Powell also wrote that <b>Liberation Suite</b> demonstrated both the passion and the naivete of the Jesus Movement revival. The group later spent a lot of time in Europe, playing many concerts in Ireland, as well as the very first <b>Greenbelt Festival</b> in England. For a time, they were said to be one of the top Christian bands in the U.K.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Gerry Limpic & Mark Rayburn with Dave Pollard</i></b> (Myrrh, 1976)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was actually a custom LP with production values that were good enough for the record to be picked up by Myrrh in 1976. Historian Ken Scott calls it "a catchy blend of wholesome, folky, pop/light-rock and acoustic ballads, with similarities to both <b>Gospel Seed</b> and the <b>Pat Terry Group</b>." <b>Limpic and Rayburn</b> took turns playing acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards. Pollard played bass. Most memorable songs were <i>Sunshine In My Soul</i> and <i>Come To The River.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTiqOouqhkO_PMrHJyOLmQLpUVVu2jcVTQtjoS0LPlkSiT3njt56n9ETkJ_jDCpYitVfWH-680mGfmNsYDqkhT4wGjw-V1jxVO9GtyTUqstGyCOP-6KDGjIYmHt9OI12P-2A0vL_lcxzJ/s1600/R-3154998-1318290612.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTiqOouqhkO_PMrHJyOLmQLpUVVu2jcVTQtjoS0LPlkSiT3njt56n9ETkJ_jDCpYitVfWH-680mGfmNsYDqkhT4wGjw-V1jxVO9GtyTUqstGyCOP-6KDGjIYmHt9OI12P-2A0vL_lcxzJ/s400/R-3154998-1318290612.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I WISH WE'D ALL BEEN READY</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Randy Matthews</i></b> (Word, 1971)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He would go on to become one of the most important pioneers of Gospel Rock and Roll, leaving quite a legacy. And it all started here. This album has been described as very tame and churchy...with lots of piano and female background vocals. But the title track was a cover of <b>Larry Norman's</b> most popular song at the time (Matthews says he just happened to find the song and knew nothing of the author), and the album's liner notes include this quote from <b>Isaac Watts</b>: "Why should the devil have all the good music?" That line, of course, was picked up by <b>Larry Norman</b> as the title of a song about a year later and became a battle cry for Jesus freaks everywhere. This record, conservative as it may be, should've been considered for inclusion on this list due to the historical fact that it was the first non-traditional gospel record to be issued on any gospel label.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYKJMzReuHTA-B4EV4mtbs3uyFQBXLKYJn6pWe5kEhYc0kae7StZc0g0Gt-LlVa61DIAOlcTjsL8MqiycWnNmc63pY38poG-ODoXa9S5I7Y9tnngfve5jXKnhYPfMWdvFzTnx2iQcj3is/s1600/R-2085103-1484792501-6458.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="599" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYKJMzReuHTA-B4EV4mtbs3uyFQBXLKYJn6pWe5kEhYc0kae7StZc0g0Gt-LlVa61DIAOlcTjsL8MqiycWnNmc63pY38poG-ODoXa9S5I7Y9tnngfve5jXKnhYPfMWdvFzTnx2iQcj3is/s400/R-2085103-1484792501-6458.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>ALL I AM IS WHAT YOU SEE</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Randy Matthews</i></b> (Myrrh, 1972) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This record was initially rejected by Word as too radical (bonus points!). So it was <b>Randy Matthews</b> who suggested that Word start a subsidiary label that could release more culturally relevant records without tarnishing the reputation of the parent company (WORD). And they bought it! <b>Myrrh Records</b> was born, <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> was installed as president, and <b><i>All I Am Is What You See</i></b> became the very first release on the storied Myrrh label. Matthews was starting to look like a real live hippie on the cover of this album, although the record itself is actually said to be quite tame, with a few guitar solos here and there. The hand-clapping, foot-stomping <i>Country Faith</i> became a concert favorite. Matthews went on to leave quite a mark as one of the all-time most effective communicators in CCM history.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8JYBq8fr_dRP2jO78YbANpnlSiLiBFtRT-gHxYhDVrwI-WFbZmTO5IETXbU10xVQOhXToYWhkCMcq9rg-olKzcqFWwzZ9I0kAMepg__DJ2J5wIU6bq3qn-ekH3Y63mimCd1r_2pge3JC/s1600/Barry-McGuire-Cmon-Along-front-e1357666885231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8JYBq8fr_dRP2jO78YbANpnlSiLiBFtRT-gHxYhDVrwI-WFbZmTO5IETXbU10xVQOhXToYWhkCMcq9rg-olKzcqFWwzZ9I0kAMepg__DJ2J5wIU6bq3qn-ekH3Y63mimCd1r_2pge3JC/s400/Barry-McGuire-Cmon-Along-front-e1357666885231.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>C'MON ALONG</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Barry McGuire</i></b> (Sparrow, 1976)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The hairy, lovable, folksy Jesus freak known as <b>Barry McGuire</b> had some really influential albums on Myrrh Records. Once he followed <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> over to Sparrow, his recorded output was less consistent, more uneven. A little hit or miss. But a record like <b><i>C'mon Along</i></b> still had its moments. The song <i>Clouds</i> is considered an all-time <b>Barry McGuire</b> classic. It's been described as a sweet and simple ballad about longing for the Lord's return. McGuire is supported on <b><i>C'mon Along</i></b> by an all-star cast that included the likes of <b>Al Perkins, Matthew Ward, Terry Talbot, Richard Souther,</b> and <b>Mike Deasy.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmu4nS1Pl8JuzRZxeYa93TKpOquUa1v8hP7UhkhTan_3wPnqxzdcgLn4N0JAabAN-rhFzeYWB7XKqiBAgGMDEtkDXhqtBo8eDfM14Ljo7p8AFvxc23PUzQK4W6EI3RwNFx26brCZXuD2g5/s1600/Barry-McGuire-Have-You-Heard-front-e1357668553206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmu4nS1Pl8JuzRZxeYa93TKpOquUa1v8hP7UhkhTan_3wPnqxzdcgLn4N0JAabAN-rhFzeYWB7XKqiBAgGMDEtkDXhqtBo8eDfM14Ljo7p8AFvxc23PUzQK4W6EI3RwNFx26brCZXuD2g5/s400/Barry-McGuire-Have-You-Heard-front-e1357668553206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>HAVE YOU HEARD</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Barry McGuire</b> </i>(Sparrow, 1977)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I <i>so</i> wanted to put this one on the list. Let's start with that album jacket. Lots of white space with a stunning photo of a somber McGuire on the front cover and Barry breaking into laughter on the back. Each side opens with a classic - <i>There is a Peace</i> on side one and the unforgettable <i>Communion Song</i> on side two. Author Mark Allan Powell called <i>Communion Song</i> probably the finest song <b>Barry McGuire</b> has ever recorded. I don't know if I would go that far...but it's definitely a classic, and very important from a doctrinal standpoint, as there are far too few songs that deal with the Lord's Supper. The <b>Dogwood</b> song <i>Sometime, Someplace</i> gets an upgrade here by Barry...and who could ever forget <i>Chubby, Chubby</i>? A song that takes Christians to task for being overweight (much like <b>Gary S. Paxton's</b> <i>Fat, Fat Christians</i>). In this <b>Mike Deasy</b> composition, McGuire worries (with tongue planted firmly in cheek) that some Christians will miss the rapture because they'll be too fat to fly. It's just too good. McGuire stretches out and growls a bit on the rocker <i>Light of the World</i>, and deflects praise on <i>Don't Thank Me</i>. Yeah, maybe I should've found room for this one in there somewhere...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>COSMIC COWBOY</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Barry McGuire</i></b> (Sparrow, 1978)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK, what was I thinking here? This record might've made the list on the strength of that epic title track alone! I don't know...people tend to either love or hate the song <i>Cosmic Cowboy</i>. But there's no denying it's a classic. It was the biggest hit on Christian radio in 1978. The problem is that after <i>Cosmic Cowboy </i>there's little else on this record that really sticks with you. The album does benefit greatly, however, from the performances of three members of what I sometimes lovingly refer to as the <b>Koinonia</b> mafia - bassist <b>Abraham Laboriel</b>, drummer <b>Bill Maxwell</b>, and keyboardist <b>Harlan Rogers</b>. Also appearing on <b><i>Cosmic Cowboy</i></b>: <b>Mike Deasy, David Diggs, Bili Thedford, Al Perkins,</b> and <b>Michael Omartian</b>. Truly an all-star cast. If only the songs were better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>SONSHINY DAY</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Ken Medema</i></b> (Word, 1974)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Ken Medema</b> is a classically trained musician who has been blind from birth. He taught himself to play the piano and earned a doctorate from Michigan State University. He got a job in the early 70s as Director of Music and Creative Arts Therapies at a children's psychiatric hospital in New Jersey. While there, he recorded a couple of albums and started playing concerts. One such concert took place in Waco, Texas, the home of Word Records. Word signed him up and <b>Harmony Magazine</b> (forerunner to <b>CCM</b>) wrote that Medema "effectively bridged the gap between contemporary and traditional music," giving him a little street cred with Jesus people. The title track from this album shows off Medema's piano work and was later shared with a larger audience when <b>The Imperials</b> covered it. <i>Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying</i> is remembered fondly and even made it into some hymnals. In the funky <i>You Can't Go Back</i>, Medema enthusiastically sings, "You can't go back to the music of yesterday!" <i>Mr. Simon</i> is another track that made an impact from this record. Medema has been called a consummate musical storyteller. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Medema is basically a spiritual and political liberal these days. He still performs but his lyrics generally provide social commentary on themes such as "justice," hunger, poverty, homelessness, and the like. He and his wife Jane now live near San Francisco, California.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>DAVID</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>David Meece</i></b> (Myrrh, 1976)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He's been called "the Christian <b>Barry Manilow</b>." He was a child prodigy from the Lone Star state, a concert pianist who played with symphony orchestras as a teenager. While attending the <b>Peabody Conservatory of Music</b> in Baltimore, Meece surrendered his life to Jesus. His musical tastes began to change as well, trading an affinity for classical music for psychedelic pop sounds. His debut album on Myrrh Records was pretty tame - lots of easy listening tunes. One author said that Meece came off like a quasi-classical Christian Mancini. The songs <i>Jesus</i> and <i>I Love You, Lord</i> are fondly remembered from this album, with <i>I Love You, Lord</i> having appeared on the influential <b><i>Jubilation, Too</i></b> sampler set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>EVERYBODY NEEDS A LITTLE HELP</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>David Meece</i></b> (Myrrh, 1979)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1978, Meece donned a warm-up suit and posed for one of the most unfortunate album covers of the 70s. And something had happened to David's voice. It was all falsetto, all the time. It sounded like Meece was kidnapped and literally replaced with the <b>Bee Gees</b> on this album. I mean, it was shameless! But here's the thing...the dude flat-out pulled it off. On this album, he did the <b>Bee Gees</b> better than they did! Songs like the title track, <i>God Holds the Future </i>and<i> I Can't Believe It's True</i> sound exactly like the Gibbs brothers and get stuck in your head for days at a time. Put this one in the Guilty Pleasure category.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meece would reinvent himself and recorded a slew of big-time Christian radio hits throughout the 80s and into the 90s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And now, back to your regularly scheduled countdown of the greatest CCM albums of the 1970s...</span></div>
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Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-71311465133223888882019-05-17T14:19:00.000-07:002019-05-19T08:39:56.821-07:00#31 COME AND JOIN US by Petra (1977)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>COME AND JOIN US</b> by <b>Petra</b> (1977)</span><br />
Myrrh - MSB 6582</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"God gave rock and roll to you."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There. Somebody in the Christian music world finally just came right out and said it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Other Jesus Music artists had been walking right up to that imaginary line in the sand but always stopped short of such an audacious proclamation. The sentiment was actually lifted from a secular song, but that didn't lessen the weight of those words. They still packed a punch. It was a rhetorical shot across the bow and there would be no turning back now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"God gave rock and roll to you."</i> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Indeed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fittingly, it was said by a group whose name literally means <i>rock</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"We knew that what we were doing was radical because nobody would play our music on the radio unless they knew us personally," recalls drummer <b>Bill Glover</b>. "It was hard. We did get some airplay on the secular stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but only because the DJs knew us. Otherwise, nobody would play our music. The churches and the Christians didn't really like it because they couldn't, in their minds, marry the two - rock 'n roll and Christianity. So we knew it was radical." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/03/92-petra-by-petra-1974.html">Petra's 1974 self-titled debut</a> was radical, then <i><b>Come and Join Us</b></i>, the group's sophomore release from 1977, was revolutionary. It kicked down barriers, opened doors and paved the way for bands that followed. And it was a noticeable improvement on the 1974 debut on several different levels - production quality, songwriting, musical and vocal performance, even the album art. Calling it louder and heavier than their debut, author Mark Allan Powell wrote that <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> was, in the mind of some fans, the group's proudest moment. "The entire album rocks with an intensity and an integrity that had never before appeared in any national Christian release," Powell argued. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> wasn't necessarily accepted by large segments of American Christendom in 1977...but it refused to be ignored. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So how did the best-known, most successful Christian rock band of all time get its start? I had a chance to speak with the group's original drummer, <b>Bill Glover</b>, and, over the course of an hour-long, wide-ranging conversation, he was more than happy to fill me in. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Bill Glover</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"We all met in Bible college at my home church, Calvary Temple in Fort Wayne, Indiana," said Glover. "The rest of the guys came in - <b>Greg Hough</b> from Indiana, <b>Bob [Hartman]</b> and <b>John [DeGroff]</b> from Ohio. I was already playing drums at this church. It was a large church. It had a Bible college and a youth ministry, a bus ministry, you know, the whole shootin' match. It had a music ministry - you know, choirs and different church bands that went out and played and sang and recorded." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Paul Craig Paino</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill lives on Florida's Gulf Coast these days. He maintains a very active social media presence and still plays drums with a group called <b><a href="http://bandanaband.com/">Bandana</a></b>. He told me his first experience in a recording studio came when he traveled to Nashville with members of his church. "Yeah, in fact, our music pastor was a guy named <b>Paul Craig Paino</b>, and he had already established a couple of bands and he ended up being <b>Petra's</b> first manager. But he had taken several musical groups from our church down to Nashville to record an album. So it was a very enthusiastic atmosphere for music. I was first chair drummer, but we had several drummers. And this was back in the early '70s, so this church was way ahead of its time."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill says he developed a desire to use his abilities for the Lord in whatever way he could - and it was about more than just music for music's sake. "I felt called into the ministry, the music ministry, when I was twelve years old at church camp," Glover revealed. "I really felt a calling, so I knew I would be involved with music ministry all my life." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Of course, I didn't know that we would start a band like <b>Petra</b> or anything like that," he said, as his voice trailed off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, a teenaged <b>Bob Hartman</b> first picked up a guitar at age 13 in Bryan, Ohio. A year later he started his first band. Over the course of his junior high and high school years, Bob played cover tunes in various bands for school dances and parties. He fell in love with music.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hartman attended college at Kent State, but his time there was cut short as a result of the campus unrest that took place in 1970. Four students were infamously shot and killed during a Vietnam War protest. This was, of course, national news but it had a profound effect on Bob personally. He began a search for answers to some pretty big questions. That search culminated with <b>Bob Hartman</b> turning his life over to Jesus. He transferred to Bowling Green State University and earned a psychology degree, but he still had a hunger to study the Word of God. So he moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to attend <b>Christian Training Center,</b> the same two-year Bible school that was sponsored by <b>Bill Glover's</b> church. <b>Greg Hough</b> and <b>John DeGroff</b> ended up there as well. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Petra. </b>L-R: Bob Hartman, John DeGroff, Bill Glover, Greg Hough</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It was funny," Glover remembers, "because they knew I was a drummer at the church and they said, 'Hey, we're musicians, too! We hear you're pretty good. We'd like to start a band. You wanna go jam?' So we went out into the sanctuary and jammed, and that was the first time that Bob and Greg and John and myself jammed. And we were hooked right away. And we were all, of course, called into that type of ministry. It was just neat to be a part of it."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So what was a <b>Petra</b> concert like in the early days? "We were just rock musicians who got saved," Glover says. "That's really what we loved to play, so we figured, 'Well, you know, we can change the words here and there.' We did covers of all of the rock bands that we loved, changed the words, and went off to play wherever we could play. In the early days, we covered <i>Jesus Is Just Alright, God Gave Rock and Roll to You,</i> and some <b>Larry Norman</b> tunes. So it was just a natural thing."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Bob Hartman</b> is the original <b>Petra</b> member who stuck with the band the longest. He's generally regarded as the group's leader. But <b>Greg Hough</b> played an important role as well, especially early on. "<b>Greg Hough</b>, now, he was the <i>'seer'</i> or the <i>prophet</i> (or whatever you want to call it) of the group," <b>Bill Glover</b> told me. "He's the one that got the vision to have a Christian rock band that would travel the world and see many people saved. Greg actually had the vision for the band. Bob wanted to do acoustic rock or country rock or folk rock because he had tried a rock band - two of them, really - and he didn't think that a Christian rock band had any future. So it was really <b>Greg Hough's</b> vision. And I wanted to really make that clear because that's something that the public doesn't know. Only Greg had the <i>knowing</i> (as we Christians would put it), the <i>knowing</i> in his heart that something big was brewing. I was just doing what I knew the Lord wanted me to do, whatever the outcome was." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Greg Hough</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill laughed and added, "We weren't making any money, that's for sure! But we were doing our best."</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dan Brock. </b>1977.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In preparing for this post I reached out to <b>Dan Brock</b>, who served as <b>Petra's</b> manager in the late 70s. I wanted to know how he got hooked up with this ragtag band of Christian rockers. "I knew <b>Petra</b> from their appearances at the <b>Adam's Apple</b> in Fort Wayne," Brock answered. "While attending The University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, KY, I brought <b>Petra</b> to the campus for a few concert appearances over a 3-year period. In the summer of 1976, after I had graduated and became the director of student activities for the school, I was asked by the band if I would be interested in becoming their manager. They knew the former manager of <b>Styx</b> and he had agreed to bring me in and let me learn the art of managing recording artists as I worked alongside him. So in the late summer of 1976, I moved to Chicago and started as the personal manager of <b>Petra</b>. I continued in that role for a little over 3 years."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Dan Brock</b> confirmed that clearing a path for a legitimate Christian rock band like <b>Petra</b> was very challenging in the mid-1970s. "It was very difficult arranging concerts for <b>Petra</b> at that time," Dan said. "As was true of <b>Larry Norman</b>, <i>'They were too Christian for the rock crowd and too rock for the Christians.' </i>During that season, colleges were the best places to play and would pay a reasonable concert fee for an appearance. The band did do some free concerts of an evangelistic nature in parks when possible. But most churches stayed away unless they had a strong youth group outreach that their pastor supported." </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bill Glover</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> had a good time telling me about an early gig that got the guys in hot water with a pretty famous television evangelist: "We played one time out at Tulsa. Our pastor booked us out there in the early days at </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oral Roberts University</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and they had just opened up the new facility for concerts and everything. And they were very proud of it. And we were the first band booked in there. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Evangelist <b>Oral Roberts</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oral Roberts</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> had no idea, no clue who </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Petra</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was and what we were going to do. So we played our concert there and then they took us out afterward. So not only did our music completely turn him off but afterward they took us out to eat and we ordered beer and wine with our meals. And when </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oral Roberts</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> heard about that, he said, 'You guys will never, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NEVER</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> play here again!' But they did invite us back eventually. But it was funny. I mean, the people who took us out, they all ordered wine and stuff with their dinner, so we did, too. But boy, </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oral Roberts</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> did not like that! Of course, he'd already heard about the concert and that probably had already set him off to a negative attitude anyway."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> was recorded at <b>Golden Voice Studios</b> in South Pekin, Illinois (population: 1,146 in 2010). And there's a story that goes with that. But to understand it, we first have to do a little time travel back to <b>Petra's</b> beginnings - even <i>before</i> their debut album was released.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Well, Pastor <b>Paul Craig Paino</b> took us down to Nashville," <b>Bill Glover</b> recalls. "He had some connections down there because he had gone to college in Tulsa at ORU and met a lot of people. He had traveled with the singers there. So he had a lot of connections in the recording business. That's why we had already been down to Nashville with the church group to record. So he took <b>Petra</b> down there and he had <b>Benson</b> and he had <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> and all these guys come in who were the executives of the Christian music labels. They were really more Southern Gospel at that time but they had the idea to 'go contemporary' because of what was happening in the Jesus Movement. So we set up and I remember that <b>Randy Matthews</b> was there - he was interested in having us back him up, so we thought that might be an idea."</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Randy Matthews and Petra did eventually tour together, both managed by Dan Brock.)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Bill Glover</b> continued: "But we got a contract through that with <b>Myrrh</b>. The only problem was they wouldn't give us any money. So there was a studio near Champaign, Illinois. We had played there on a college campus. There were Christian organizations that would bring us in to play at these secular colleges, and that's pretty much all we could do was play at these secular places and get some secular airplay locally because the Christian stations, colleges, and churches did not really know what to do with us. But in any case, we did record the first record there and we had to pay for it. But the people that owned the studio - <b>Golden Voice</b> in Peking, Illinois - they were behind us and they said, 'We'll let you record here just for the cost of the tape.' So that was about $500. So that first album was made for about five hundred bucks. And we really did it on our own. We didn't have anybody to produce us, so we pretty much produced that ourselves no matter what the album says [the album says that <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> was the producer]. It was all our own stuff. The engineers and the owners of the <b>Golden Voice Studios</b>, they did as much for us as they could as far as answering our questions because we didn't have the money to hire anybody." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill continues: "So the people at Golden Voice said, 'OK, you can do the record here, but if the record label picks you up and you get a contract, then the next time you'll have to come back here to record your next album.' And we said, 'OK, that's a deal.' And it was a successful album, being our debut and everything, it was successful for being rock and roll. I mean, it wasn't a big seller compared to other Christian artists who were popular at the time, but it was good work and it helped us get a contract with Myrrh, and then Myrrh put us in the studio." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And that's how <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> came to be recorded in South Pekin, Illinois. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It was a money thing, really," Bill offers. "We had more songs than we knew what to do with because <b>Greg Hough</b> and <b>Bob</b> both wrote songs all the time. So it wasn't a lack of material, it was a money thing. But finally, Myrrh paid for us to do <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b>." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speaking of money, <b>Bill Glover</b> says there was precious little of it in <b>Petra's</b> early days. And he was also able to solve a mystery for me: why were Bob, Greg, and John listed as members on the album cover, while Bill was listed as a guest musician?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I had already resigned from the band," he says. "I had gotten married and <b>Petra</b> wasn't making any money. In fact, we traveled in a Plymouth Duster with a U-Haul trailer on the back when the first album came out. We decided, 'We're gonna need to go get a travel vehicle.' So we found a motor home that we could afford. And we went to get it and we all had to sign the contract, and they still wouldn't give it to us. So my Mom had to come and co-sign for us to get our first motor home and trailer package for the road. I mean, we did not make <i>any</i> money at all. There was just no money."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill laughed as he recalled giving his bandmates the bad news. "When I got married I said, 'Boys, I gotta quit. My wife, she's not going for this.' I was the first to resign, so I wasn't there for a lot of the recording of <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b>. But they came to me because they weren't able to find anybody that could really fill the bill on drums. And I'm not trying to sound conceited, it wasn't because of my talent, I mean, the Lord put me in that situation. But it was more than just a drummer that <b>Petra</b> needed. They needed someone that was a Christian <i>minister</i> and could play. At the very least, they needed a <i>Christian</i> drummer. And that was hard to find! They went through several guys. They couldn't put just anybody in there. <b>Petra</b> was very much a ministry-oriented band of dedicated Christian men. We all had flaws, of course. We weren't perfect or anything, but at least we were Christians. So they hired me to play on that second album. That's why I'm listed as a guest musician instead of a member." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Petra's</b> drum throne was basically a revolving door for the remainder of the decade. "I ended up having to leave the band around 1975," Bill remembers. "I was only with the band three or four years before I got married. So it was '75, '76, something like that. They had used several other drummers out on the road because I had to get a job, you know, being married. So they went with several during that time, but they never used any of them in the studio or made them a member. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I'll have to ask Bob about that one day, why he never hired any of those drummers," chuckled Glover. "Maybe the personality wasn't right, who knows? But they had a big problem trying to find a drummer after I left." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Glover gave a hearty laugh and said, "I didn't know I'd caused them so much pain."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<i><b>Come and Join Us</b></i> was my first album to work on with a record company as a manager of one of their bands," said <b>Dan Brock</b>. "<b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> had left Myrrh to start Sparrow Records and Myrrh decided to exercise an option for a second recording under the new leadership of <b>Buddy Huey</b>. To the best of my memory, we got off to a rough start as he was new at the label and I was new as a manager (taking my cues from the former manager of <b>Styx</b>). I hired <b>Austin Roberts</b> to produce the record." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Austin Roberts</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Austin Roberts</b> is best remembered for a 1975 secular hit titled <i>Rocky</i> and an earnest, eclectic, downright weird Christian rock opera from 1976 titled <b><i>Eight Days (A Personal Journey).</i></b> <b><i>Eight Days</i></b>, released on <b>Gary S. Paxton's Newpax</b> label, contained some pretty hard rock so maybe that factored into Brock's decision to have Roberts at the helm for <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b>. Although, <b>Bill Glover</b> remembers it as more of a team effort.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Austin Roberts</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"We had several producers, actually," said Bill. "We had lots of people involved on that album. I don't remember ever meeting <b>Austin Roberts</b>, to tell you the truth. I might've met him, I mean, I probably had to go in the control room at some point in time during that day when we were recording. I was a young guy. We recorded that in 1977 and I don't think I even knew who he was back then."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I said, <b>Petra</b> is listed as a trio in the credits, with <b>John DeGroff</b> on bass and <b>Bob Hartman</b> and <b>Greg Hough</b> both playing guitar and both supplying vocals. "We were very proud of the album," Glover said. "I thought everything on it was really good, even <b>Greg Hough's </b>and <b>Bob's</b> vocals. I didn't particularly like either one of them as a vocalist, but they each sang their own songs. That had been the typical arrangement - <b>Greg Hough</b> would sing the songs that he wrote, and <b>Bob Hartman</b> would sing the songs that he wrote, and the rest of us would sing back-up." <b>Greg Hough's</b> and <b>Bob Hartman's</b> singing had definitely improved since the first album. I was pretty hard on the vocals on that first record...but there are moments on <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> when <b>Greg Hough</b>, especially, showed that he was growing into a very fine rock singer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Under the "Guest Musicians" designation, we find <b>Steve McElyea</b> on keyboards (maybe some strings here and there and some synth sounds on <i>Woman Don't You Know</i>...but <b><i>C</i></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>ome a</i></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>nd Join Us</i></b> contains none of the synthesizer and organ solos that would be such an important part of future <b>Petra</b> albums). <b>Austin Roberts, Karen Morrison</b>, and a young <b>Steve Camp</b> are listed as guest vocalists. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh - and one other gentleman appears in the credits as a guest singer. His name is <b>Greg X. Volz.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Yeah, Austin was not happy with the lead vocals of the original group," <b>Dan Brock</b> recalls, "so we asked <b>Greg Volz</b> (who we knew from the <b>e band</b>) to come in with no strings attached and do a couple of lead vocals and some harmonies and just see how it goes." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I didn't even really know <b>Greg X. Volz</b> at that time," Glover revealed. "But I was really happy with the vocals. I only knew of <b>Greg Volz</b> and his band, <b>e band</b>, because they had played with us in different concerts. They were from Indiana so we would run into them here and there." When he thinks about <b>e band</b>, <b>Bill Glover </b>heads down a bit of a rabbit trail regarding a song that <b>Petra</b> recorded just a few years after <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> was released. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Coloring Song</i> would prove to be historically significant for the band. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>e band</b><br />(<b>Dave Eden</b> is on the far left. <b>Greg Volz</b> is next to him.)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<b>Dave Eden</b> was the drummer for <b>e band</b> and I was a good friend of his," Bill says. "He's the one that wrote <i>The Coloring Song</i> that put <b>Petra</b> on the map back then. That song really did a big, big number on making Petra legitimate in Christian circles. That was the song that everybody was looking for. We'd been trying to find a song to put out there - we had material back then that we recorded in local studios that was acoustic rock. It was like stuff by<b> The Eagles</b> and, you know, California Rock. We were writing this stuff and putting it together, and it was really good. But it wasn't good enough or MOR enough to cross over and be considered acceptable for these Christian stations back then. We tried and we tried but it seemed like there was nothing we could do about it. But then <i>The Coloring Song</i> came along by <b>Dave Eden</b> and it was great. And things went really good after that."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to the album credits, a whole gaggle of people played percussion on the album including <b>Steve Mergen, Allen C. Hornung, Steve Pfeiffer, "Cowbell Bob," "Houghie I,"</b> and <b>Steve Camp</b>. Last, but not least, as I previously mentioned, <b>Bill Glover</b> was listed as a Guest Musician on drums and percussion. Due to his status as a studio musician and no longer a full-fledged member of <b>Petra</b>, Bill's involvement with <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> was a whirlwind experience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I went in and rehearsed with them one day," Bill recalls, "then went in the next day and laid down all the drum tracks. So I was there for two days! I pretty much knew all the stuff. There was only one song that I didn't already know and that was <i>God Gave Rock and Roll To You</i> (and I knew that from hearing it on the radio). So after those two days, I was gone. I went back home. I missed a lot by not being a member of the band for that album because I would've loved to talk to <b>Steve Camp</b>. He's one of my favorites. And I loved the way <b>Greg Volz</b> sang on the record. Gosh, what a great voice! It would've been nice to have been able to sit and talk to him. But that's the way it goes. I went in as a sideman on that, a studio musician or whatever, and I didn't even go into the control room to listen to the cuts. If the guy said good, we went on to the next one. So it was boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and I was out of there. I do have a vague memory about them examining all my drum tracks because, like I said, I wasn't a member then and I had no real input on what the drums sounded like. If everybody liked them, then I was happy. Now, don't get me wrong - I played what I wanted to play. I did <b>Bill Glover</b>. I just wasn't involved with mixing and producing like I was on the first album. We were all heavily involved with the first album. <b>Billy Ray Hearn</b> was there, but he wasn't a producer. He was more of an executive." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Billy Ray Hearn </b>in the 70s</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The music on </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Come and Join Us</i></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was arranged by the band. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terry Jamison</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> engineered the album and he was assisted by </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allen C. Hornung</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bill Olszewski</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. It was mastered by </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lanky Linstrot</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> at </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ABC Records</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in Los Angeles. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Come and Join Us</i></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was a much more sophisticated recording in many aspects than <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/03/92-petra-by-petra-1974.html">the 1974 self-titled release</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The album begins with that now-famous cover song. "As I remember it, I championed the idea of <i>God Gave Rock and Roll to You</i>," said <b>Dan Brock</b>. "I had been a fan of that song after hearing <b>Argent</b> record it." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Bob Hartman</b> reportedly wanted to <i>title</i> the album <i>God Gave Rock and Roll To You</i>, but the suits and ties at Myrrh nixed that idea in no time flat. Word Records was very dependent in those days on what we called "Mom & Pop Bible Bookstores" to sell the product. Contemporary Christian albums, 8-tracks, and cassettes were sold primarily in Christian bookstores that were independently owned and operated...and a lot of them would've simply refused to stock an album with such a title. <b>Chuck Girard</b> had already experienced this exact same controversy when he wanted to title <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2016/05/49-chuck-girard-by-chuck-girard-1975.html">his debut solo album</a> <b><i>Rock and Roll Preacher</i></b> and the label said, "No way."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Title track or not (in this case, not), <i>God Gave Rock and Roll to You</i> made an incredibly important statement. It was actually a cover of a secular song by the band <b>Argent</b>, but <b>Petra</b> re-wrote the lyrics, "Christianizing" the song somewhat, but not at all with a heavy hand. It is, for my money, the single greatest version of this song that's ever been recorded. And that includes the original along with versions by <b>KISS, Bride</b> and <b>DOC</b>, a British band called <b>The Truth</b>, and even <b>Petra's</b> own remake in 1985. "I agree," said <b>Bill Glover</b>. "I agree with you. I love it. I really liked the acoustic intro."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That acoustic intro that Bill mentioned gives way to <b>Bob's</b> and <b>Greg Hough's</b> familiar twin-lead guitars...and then Glover's drumming and some iconic power chords grab our attention...then there's a subtle tempo shift before we finally hear <b>Greg X. Volz</b> sing - a full two minutes into the song! It was a heck of an intro. And, according to Glover, a pretty difficult song to nail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The hardest song to record on the album was <i>God Gave Rock and Roll To You</i> because we tended to rush it a little bit," Glover admitted. "They put <b>Greg Hough</b> out in front of us when I recorded the drum tracks. When we recorded, we recorded everything as a live band. So we only overdubbed things that we couldn't play at the time. So <b>Greg Hough</b> laid down the rhythm track for that song and he acted as a conductor. He picked up a couple of my drum sticks and acted like an orchestra conductor and directed us through that song so that we wouldn't rush! That song was the hardest one on there. The rest of them I knew, and I was in and out of there." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lyrics are credited to <b>Russ Ballard</b> of <b>Argent</b> on the <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> label and album cover, even though the verses had definitely been rewritten by someone, referring to the Lord as "the Source" and "the Rock"...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can learn to dance</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Or you can be a square</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can let the music take you anywhere</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But where will you be when the music's gone</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can learn to sing</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And you can play guitar</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can learn to rock</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can be a star</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But where will you be when the music's gone</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If you love the sound</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Then don't forget the Source</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can turn around</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can change your course</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>'Cause it's never too late to change your mind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You can love the Rock</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And let Him free your soul</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Or you can let the old man take his toll</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>It's never too late to change your mind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>God gave rock and roll to you</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Gave rock and roll to you</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Put it in the soul of everyone </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Great way to start the album.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the #2 hole was a funky little number that focused on the Third Person of the Godhead. Christian rock music gave us so many songs, of course, about God the Father and Jesus, His Son. But the Holy Spirit has always been treated like the red-headed stepchild of the Trinity by CCM songwriters. In comparison to God and Jesus, the Holy Ghost has pretty much been ignored altogether, despite the fact that He's the One Jesus sent to comfort, help, lead, guide, empower and instruct. Christian teacher and author <b>John Bevere</b> says the Holy Spirit is the most ignored and misunderstood person in the Church today. I think a lot of that is based in fear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I grew up as an Assembly of God pastor's kid and we regularly sang an old hymn titled <i>Old Time Power...</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They were in an upper chamber</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They were all with one accord</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>When the Holy Ghost descended</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As was promised by the Lord</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Yes, the pow’r from Heav’n descended</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>With the sound of rushing wind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Tongues of fire came down upon them</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As the Lord said He would send</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Yes, this old-time pow’r was given</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>To our fathers who were true</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>This is promised to believers</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And we all may have it too</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>O Lord, send the pow’r just now</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And baptize every one</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So "Holy Ghost power" was not a strange concept to us. The Holy Spirit was welcome and spiritual gifts were in operation in almost every service. But the phrase "Holy Ghost power" would've scared my Southern Baptist friends half to death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prior to 1977, of the few Jesus Music songs that did talk about the Holy Spirit, most focused on the "sweet" and "gentle" aspects of the Spirit's character and attributes (<i>Sweet, Sweet Spirit</i> by <b>The Imperials</b> and <i>Come, Holy Spirit</i> by <b>Dallas Holm</b>, for example), and not on His power. But there were three recordings in 1975 that bucked that trend. One was <i>Holy Spirit, Speak To Me</i> by<b> The Imperials</b>. Another was <i>It Ain't No New Thing</i> by <b>Andrae Crouch & the Disciples</b> (<i>The charismatic experience / That sure ain't no new thing / 'Cause it started in the Upper Room / A long time ago</i>); and the third (and perhaps more notable) exception was 1975's <i>Holy Spirit Song</i> by <b>Children of the Day</b> which featured lyrics like these:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ooo, the Holy Spirit</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ooo, the Holy Spirit </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He wants to fill you up and then flow right through </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>So that all will receive when they come 'round you</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Some people say that He's not for today</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Other people laugh at Him and just turn Him away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Don't be afraid to let Him come and take command</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Yielding to the Holy Ghost is God's good plan</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Open up your heart and ask the Lord to bless</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You might find a joy that words just can't express</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the ground had at least been tilled for <b>Bob Hartman</b> to feel comfortable singing these words...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Gonna go to church, gonna end my search </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Gonna fill my soul with power </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Holy Ghost power gonna fill you today </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Holy Ghost power gonna take you away </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Holy Ghost power gonna fill you within </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Holy Ghost power gonna save you from sin </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It wasn't exactly an in-depth examination of the purpose and moving of the Holy Spirit in the Church today...but at least it was <i>something</i>. Musically, many people have called <i>Holy Ghost Power</i> a nod to disco. Doesn't sound like disco to me. It's just funk. And the humor in the verses makes it seem akin to a novelty song that could've been recorded by <b>Gary S. Paxton</b>. Not every reviewer appreciated the song's attempts at humor, however. CCM historian Mark Allan Powell writes in his <i>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music</i>, "<i>Holy Ghost Power</i> could have been a <b>Rare Earth</b>-style anthem to the Pentecostal experience, but it is ruined by silly cartoon voices that turn it into a novelty track."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Also in 1977, <b>Janny Grein</b> sang about being <i>Spirit Born</i> and <b>The Edwin Hawkins Singers</b> "had church" with a song called <i>Holy Ghost</i> on their album <b><i>The Comforter</i></b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In future years, the Holy Spirit would turn up in CCM songs, but sparingly. These would include <i>Holy Ghost Blues</i> by <b>Bethlehem</b> (1978); <i>In the Spirit</i> by <b>Bob and Pauline Wilson</b> (1981); <i>Come Holy Spirit</i> by the <b>Second Chapter of Acts</b> (1983); <i>Holy Spirit</i> by <b>Dan Peek</b> (1984); <i>By My Spirit</i> by <b>Leslie Phillips</b> (1984); <i>By His Spirit</i> by <b>Silverwind</b> (1985); <i>In the Spirit</i> and <i>Let His Spirit and His Word</i> by <b>David Baroni</b> (1987); <i>Come, Holy Spirit, Come</i> by <b>David Teems</b> (1993); and a cover of <b>Bill Gaither's</b> <i>Come Holy Spirit</i> by <b>Bryan Duncan</b> (1996). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">David & the Giants</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the group that has had the fewest reservations when it comes to writing and singing about the Holy Spirit would have to be <b>David & the Giants</b>. In songs like <i>Upper Room Experience, I've Been Drinking</i> and <i>New Wine</i>, <b>David Huff</b> and the boys celebrate the power and Person of the Holy Spirit: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Not too long ago</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I was lost and searching</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I found myself a little church house</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I got down on my knees</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I repented for all my sins</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And my Lord, my Lord took them all away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Then suddenly a sound came from Heaven</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I was filled with the Holy Ghost</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I had an upper room experience</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I began to speak with other tongues</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Some people thought I was drunk, and I was</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I was drunk on that new wine</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I had an upper room experience</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>David & the Giants</b> are not at all shy about the things that Paul taught us concerning the Holy Spirit. They even sing about what people from my side of the tracks call being <i>slain in the Spirit</i>. Check out this verse from their song <i>Never Had It So Good</i>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>It was one of those nights and I was looking for something to do</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Had a lot of emotion that needed release in my shoes</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I got a surprise when I walked thru the church door</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Holy Ghost hit me, laid me out right on the floor</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I ain't never, never, never had it so good </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But I digress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway...<i>Holy Ghost Power</i> by <b>Petra</b> was a funky novelty track, but it was more than that. For a rock and roll band on Myrrh Records to sing about being filled within by the power of the Holy Ghost was a big deal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next up was <i>Woman Don't You Know</i>, a <b>Greg Hough</b> composition that was notable for a couple of reasons - <b>Greg X. Volz</b> showed us what he was capable of, vocally...and <b>Bill Glover</b> delivered a memorable drum solo in the middle of the song. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjoRnPSfjjcFjnjBofXha_t8CKquC2Dm-I2hZ2J-xaYQjxzSD-rHyL39-o8bV5NygQ3a7jLACjkC5hANPi8OkiCREVyXPfBtEwxV-97fNU4xRg08yeU5Ygz4BrcGbuRCU5hgDx-QVYSr4/s1600/20622090_1113360652130977_8352447273965861260_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="604" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjoRnPSfjjcFjnjBofXha_t8CKquC2Dm-I2hZ2J-xaYQjxzSD-rHyL39-o8bV5NygQ3a7jLACjkC5hANPi8OkiCREVyXPfBtEwxV-97fNU4xRg08yeU5Ygz4BrcGbuRCU5hgDx-QVYSr4/s400/20622090_1113360652130977_8352447273965861260_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Bill Glover</b> and the 17-piece drum set that he played<br />on <b><i>Petra</i></b> and <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Yeah, we did that in one take, I remember that," said Bill. "I was used to doing the song with them. It was written by <b>Greg Hough</b>." [<b>Bob Hartman</b> also receives writing credit on the song.] Bill continued: "Greg wrote some phenomenal songs but he wasn't a theologian. Most of his songs were just taken from everyday life. Like on <i>Woman Don't You Know</i> - he's telling his girlfriend or this woman that's hitting on him or whatever, that, you know, Jesus is the way and he ain't gonna have nothing to do with whatever she's into, you know? I was used to doing a drum solo live with <b>Petra</b>, so I had one worked up and when they said, 'You want to do a drum solo?' I said, 'Sure, I'll just incorporate what I already do in the live situation - even though we hadn't played live together for a couple of years at that point. So we had to do the song in the studio as pretty much a seamless situation; there wasn't a way for me to just come in and do the drum tracks separately. So we did the whole thing live and it came off really well and they liked it."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill was happy with his solo, but let's just say he's not a big fan of having to compete with synthesizers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The only thing that had to be added was the sound effects," Glover told me. "I don't know if it was <b>Austin Roberts</b> who did that or who did it, but I wouldn't have added those sound effects, personally. Back then I guess they were OK. They had some of those things that drummers were using, those electronic drums that made those - I think they were stupid sounds, really. I just liked the drum solo! I thought it turned out good, I was proud of that and I was happy that they liked it and everything and that we didn't have to go back and add anything to it. The only thing that was added was those weird sound effects that you hear." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked Bill what he thought of the Volz vocal on <i>Woman Don't You Know</i>. "Well, I didn't hear any of the vocals until the album was done," he answered. "And then when they gave me my copy of the album and I listened to it, I thought <b>Greg Volz</b> did a phenomenal job on the vocals on that song." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Woman Don't You Know</i> also gave the other musicians a chance to stretch out and shine, with some scorching guitar leads and even a short call-and-response section between bass and lead guitar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the best songs on the 1974 <b>Petra</b> debut was <i>Backsliding Blues</i>. Well, the backsliding theme is revisited in the song <i>Sally</i>. It's a plodding, snarly rocker about a young woman who "<i>used to be so happy, walkin' down that street with a smile upon her face</i>." In the lyrics, Hough seems pretty smitten with "Sally"... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>...when she came to see me she would brighten up my face </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sally was that kind of girl, sure would like to know </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And we know that Sally was a Christian because <i>everywhere that Sally went, the Lamb was sure to go. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But alas, 'twas not meant to be. Sally suddenly fell in with the wrong crowd from <i>"the other side of town."</i> She started <i>"smokin' weed and drinkin' and probably foolin' 'round."</i> Which led <b>Greg Hough</b> to question out loud: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why would she want to run away from God and all His love </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And go back in that world and live so hard and rough </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked <b>Bill Glover</b> if <i>Sally</i> was based on a true story. "Yes, it's about a real person," he answered, "but Sally was not her real name. That was Greg. He was always writing about real-life circumstances in his songs. Really heartfelt, emotional and spiritual, too. Greg is an incredibly gifted musician, but his songwriting was always about whatever life and the Lord gave him. He didn't really use a lot of Biblical theology in there like Bob did. Now, Bob was very careful about that and I really commend him for it because we had everybody breathing down our necks because we played rock and roll and we were Christians at the same time. We would get scrutinized and criticized and labeled by Christian preachers who thought there was no way that rock and roll and Christianity could be married together. We were under a searchlight, so our songwriting had to be the best. And Bob did a great job. I really feel that that's the reason why <b>Petra</b> was so blessed was because of that songwriting." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the way, <b>Larry Norman, Honeytree</b> and even <b>The Imperials</b> had already referred to marijuana in various songs, but <i>Sally</i> might be the first time the phrase <i>smokin' weed</i> ever appeared in a Christian song.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the next three songs - <i>Come And Join Us, Where Can I Go,</i> and <i>Without You I Would Surely Die </i>- the guitars were turned up to 11 and <b>Petra</b> definitely lived up to their name. They even threw in some 70s rock and roll cowbell here and there. "Those were straight ahead rock and roll songs," Glover says. "I really liked them. Greg and Bob brought those to the rehearsal. Those three, along with <i>Killing My Old Man</i>, were all songs that we'd been doing in concert, so I knew them all really well. They were just good, straight-ahead rock tunes and we were very enthusiastic about recording those."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The title track was the happiest-sounding of this trio of great rock songs, with some of the band's trademark twin-harmony guitar parts and some nice harmonies on the chorus. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Bill Glover</b> and <b>Bob Hartman</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On <i>Where Can I Go</i>, <b>Bob Hartman</b> reached somewhere deep down within and delivered the best rock vocal performance of his life. On the song's bridge, especially, he almost sounds like a real lead singer for a rock band (<i>Darkness is the same as the light to You / Daytime is the same as the night / When You put Your chains of love around my soul / I know it won't be long before I let You take control.</i>) Lyrically, <i>Where Can I Go</i> was a creative way to revisit Psalm 139, where David asks...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where can I go from your Spirit?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where can I flee from your presence?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I go up to the heavens, you are there;</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I rise on the wings of the dawn,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I settle on the far side of the sea,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Even there your hand will guide me,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Your right hand will hold me fast.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Bob Hartman</b> says it this way:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could take a plane to New York City </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could hitchhike all the way to L.A. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could follow the sunrise tomorrow </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But be as close to You as today </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm beginning to see what You mean to me </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I just can't get away from Your love </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where can I go without Your love there to haunt me </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I do believe You're playin' to win </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I can't understand what makes You really want me </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I'm feelin' like it's time to give in </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could climb the golden stairway to heaven </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could catch the crowded highway to hell </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I could find a place nobody has ever been </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I bet You'd probably be there as well </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I don't know why I've waited so long </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could take a submarine to Atlantis </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could take a flying saucer to Mars </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I could ride on the Milky Way someday </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But You've already numbered the stars </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm beginning to hear Your voice is so near </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Tellin' me You love me again</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The last track in this trilogy of rock anthems is <i>Without You I Would Surely Die</i>. It's the most rambunctious of the three and <b>Greg Hough</b> actually turns in a very impressive lead vocal. Maybe he and Bob were inspired and challenged a bit by the presence of <b>Greg X. Volz</b>? Who knows. <i>Without You I Would Surely Die</i> is a rowdy love song to Jesus, complete with cowbell. Ya gotta love it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jesus Rock historian Ken Scott has written that <i>"the title track, Where Can I Go and Without Him are all sturdy rockers that bristle with excitement."</i> The band sounds nice and tight on these songs. The guys just sound like they were having fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The group then offers a complete change of pace. <i>Ask Him In</i> is the mother of all altar call songs, set to gentle, acoustic rock that's reminiscent of early West Coast Jesus Music. At least one reviewer wrote that <b>Bob Hartman</b> sings this song <i>"in his <b>Larry Norman</b> voice."</i> It was a simple, compelling, effective presentation of the Gospel... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Now that you've heard the music </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where do you go from here </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You see music only takes you to the place </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where you're ready to hear </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We could sing and tell you we love you </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And you could say it wasn't true </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But how can you say that about a man </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Who died for you </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus is holding out His love to you </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But He made it so that you have to choose </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>How can you walk away empty again </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>When you know that you've got nothing to lose </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ask Him in </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You could probably think of a reason </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>To wait until another day </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But the Spirit is speaking, telling you </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Today is the day </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus gave His life as a ransom </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Was crucified and laid in a grave </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But He rose again and made a new way </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>For man to be saved</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ask Him in</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He loves you</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"We were very evangelistic," said <b>Bill Glover</b>. "That was the main thrust of <b>Petra</b> - getting people saved. It wasn't a praise and worship type situation back then." Bill was briefly overcome with emotion and his voice cracked as he said, "We were out there as ambassadors for Christ in a lost world. It was a real different ballgame back then. There's hundreds of thousands of people all over the world serving the Lord to this day because of <b>Petra.</b>" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill further explained the purpose of <b>Petra</b>: "We definitely tried to play to our highest abilities, you know? Back in the earliest days, we were a lot more unproduced or raw because our equipment back then in the early 70s, even though it was the stuff that everybody was using, it didn't sound as good as what was available later on. But we always wanted to put on a great show and then at the end give everybody a chance to get saved. And I'm pretty sure that as long as <b>Bob Hartman</b> was in control of the band, the key to the ministry of <b>Petra </b>was Bob's songwriting and his ability to incorporate sound doctrine into rock and roll. It was phenomenal. And through his songwriting, he always gave people listening to the albums a chance to get saved, too. Bob taught in Bible college. When the rest of us were attending there, he was already <i>teaching</i>. I think he was teaching Systematic Theology or something."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Earlier, Bill mentioned the song <i>Killing My Old Man</i>. It's long been rumored that that song was recorded for <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> but was left off the album. I asked Bill if this was true.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Yeah, they thought it was too controversial," he said. "It was scriptural, but they thought it was too controversial. And, you know, they were supposed to be the ones wanting to make sure that everything was theologically correct. We had managers and producers and all that stuff who were concerned about the message of every song. We thought that message was killer! We really thought it was a great message. We weren't trying to be controversial with that. There was nothing in that song that was not true. It was only controversial because of the title. They thought, 'Well, somebody might hear that and not know what it's talking about' or whatever. I guess that could happen."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Dan Brock</b> also confirmed the story. "<b>Bob Hartman</b> was very fond of <i>Killing My Old Man</i> and yes, we did record it for the album. But after we had the album mastered, Myrrh decided that song was not appropriate for the record. Even though it was sound theology, the title scared them off so they had the album remastered without <i>Killing My Old Man</i>. That experience taught me to have more band-controlled language on future contracts I would negotiate." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> version of <i>Killing My Old Man</i> was never released. It was reportedly present on the original test pressing and, sadly, is presumed lost. In 1981 a new version of the song was recorded for the album <b><i>Never Say Die</i></b> and nobody died. No one even got hurt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe the deletion of <i>Killing My Old Man</i> is the reason this album seems a little short, clocking in at under 36 minutes. And maybe that's the reason they felt the need to include an otherwise unnecessary reprise of <i>God Gave Rock and Roll to You</i>. The reprise begins creepily, with children singing the melody and no instrumental accompaniment. Then the band slowly fades in. It's almost 3 minutes of just a repetition of the chorus to <i>God Gave Rock and Roll To You</i>. There is one nice thing about it, though - it gave <b>Greg X. Volz</b> a chance to <i>sky</i> a little bit and give us a preview of coming attractions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I would be remiss if I didn't mention the cover art by <b>Dennis Bellile</b> and a great <b>Petra</b> logo by <i>Craig Yoe</i> of Yoe-Yoe Studio in Akron, Ohio. It's a classic album cover that, to me, belongs right up there with some of the best.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I asked <b>Bill Glover</b> what he thought when he finally got a chance to hear the finished product.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Oh, I was real proud of it," he said. "I was very happy with it. I think it's a great album. I think both of the <b>Petra</b> records that I played on have endured the test of time. <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> has a better drum sound on it, in my opinion, than any of the <b>Petra</b> albums after it until, I would say, <i><b>Jekyll and Hyde</b></i>. But that's just my opinion and my taste. But I do realize that it was groundbreaking work. And I'm very proud to have been a part of it and very fortunate to have been there at the time."</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dan Brock</b> today</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I liked the evangelistic tone of <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> lyrically," added <b>Dan Brock</b>. "Musically, my favorite moments were when the two lead guitars of <b>Bob</b> and <b>Greg Hough</b> came together. Considering the year - 1977 - and the recording and marketing budget available at that time, I think it turned out pretty well. I do know that everyone involved worked hard and gave it their best effort. The project was a real learning experience for all involved and I remain grateful to have been able to launch my management career with it. In 1978, I took the band to <b>Star Song Records</b> where they remained for many years after I departed as their manager."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b> was originally released on LP, 8-track, and cassette. But when Word Records struck a distribution deal with <b>A&M</b> in 1985, the album gained a wider hearing as it was reissued for the mainstream market on LP and cassette. In 1995 it was released on compact disc, in the Christian market by Word and in the mainstream market by <b>Epic</b> (albeit with a new, unfortunate track order that made no sense). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's been rumored that <b>Bill Glover</b> had an opportunity to sign back up and serve a second tour of duty as <b>Petra's</b> drummer. Is that really true? "Bob and I are real good friends and I've visited him on several occasions where we've done some reunions and different things," Glover said. "He approached me after they had to let Louie go and wanted me to come back to the band, but they wanted me to move to Nashville and I wasn't real hip on that. Because <b>Petra</b> had been together for, what, forty years at that point? And they weren't really selling records anymore. I said, 'You want me to move to Nashville?' I said, 'That's not gonna work.' Because I was, like, who knows if <b>Petra</b> is gonna be around tomorrow? And sure enough, after that <i><b>Jekyll and Hyde</b></i> album was released, <b>Petra</b> disbanded. So I'm glad I never moved to Nashville!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you're reading this, you know how this story ended, right? The group struggled in the immediate aftermath of <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b>. But after a few years of wandering around in the wilderness, <b>Petra</b> developed into the most durable, successful and effective band in the history of Christian rock music. A career that spanned more than three decades...20 studio albums (including 3 Spanish language albums and 2 live recordings)...10 million albums sold...nominated for 13 <b>Grammy Awards</b>, winning 4...and 10 <b>Dove Awards</b>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They had a song reach the #1 position on 3 Christian radio charts simultaneously. At the height of their popularity, they performed an average of 160 concerts per year. They were among the first bands to tour with extensive light shows and special effects. They were the only Christian band invited to play at the historic </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farm Aid</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> festival. They were the subject of numerous ‘greatest hits’ compilations, including a tribute album that featured modern rock acts covering their favorite </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Petra</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> songs. They were the first Christian band to be enshrined in the </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hard Rock Café</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. And they were inducted into the </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gospel Music Hall of Fame</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in the year 2000. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most importantly, they saw multiplied thousands of people born into the kingdom of God as a result of their efforts. And they strengthened and encouraged the faith of countless numbers of believers around the globe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It wasn't like we planned any of that," said <b>Bill Glover</b>. "It was all in the Lord's plans. He's the One who put it together, we just happened to be there at the right time. And it was groundbreaking work, I realize that. There's a lot of people who aren't Christians who have never heard of <b>Petra</b>. But as far as Christians go, especially ones that are my age, your age, and even younger - a lot of them have experienced Jesus because of <b>Petra</b>, we recognize that. But it's really a humbling situation. And it's an honor."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bill's voice softens as the weight of his words seem to register with him as he's speaking. "We didn't plan this. We make our plans but the Lord orders our steps. And He just put it all together. That's all I can say." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Fun Fact:</i></b> In the credits for <b><i>Come and Join Us</i></b>, the band thanks the following people (among many others) for their "inspiration and support of <b>Petra</b> through the years"...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>John Lloyd</b> (of <b>Adam's Apple</b> fame), <b>Al Perkins, Mark Hollingsworth</b> (who would eventually become their manager), <b>Honeytree, Steve Camp, Randy Matthews</b> and <b>Phil Keaggy.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-8001407475448191112019-01-27T15:55:00.000-08:002019-01-31T13:43:35.763-08:00#32 AWAITING YOUR REPLY by Resurrection Band (1978)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqbdZLAr10CVBv5r0WPyjfa-4g_oCz0-SCH7ftpoUjnSvw0cYi7T5cQlfIKaoK6JBFOX_6p0u-3qzwoq4XaXMFDVcx2jWHOT5IGwePljPt8ym9OmW0_yn3hkosX8Dm0kJtbw1NY_xwsIm/s1600/R-3223394-1321176315.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDqbdZLAr10CVBv5r0WPyjfa-4g_oCz0-SCH7ftpoUjnSvw0cYi7T5cQlfIKaoK6JBFOX_6p0u-3qzwoq4XaXMFDVcx2jWHOT5IGwePljPt8ym9OmW0_yn3hkosX8Dm0kJtbw1NY_xwsIm/s400/R-3223394-1321176315.jpeg.jpg" width="393" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AWAITING YOUR REPLY by Resurrection Band (1978)<br />
Star Song | SSR 0011</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I still remember the first time I listened to this album in the Christian Bookstore on Oahu. I thought for sure I'd get arrested for public disturbance." </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Rich Jacobson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I got saved hearing this record in '78. Perfect cure for this one-time Kissaholic." </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Ricky Stokes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I remember being instructed by the Dean of my college to only play this album after 11pm on our college radio station." </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Frank Parker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I saw an ad in a magazine for <b>Awaiting Your Reply</b> and mailed off for it based on the cover alone. It blew me away." </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-David Haddock</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I was shocked when I first heard <b>Awaiting Your Reply</b> on vinyl in 1979 until I unlearned some false theology...that rock and roll isn't of the devil!" </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-Dale Joseph Trujillo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I was assigned by my high school to work a gospel concert in our little theater. I was the sound and lights guy for the school. Well, these hippies showed up with electric guitars and long hair. One song in and my heart was pierced. I stood at the light panel until the final song, and when <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> walked off stage and saw me crying, he asked what was wrong. Needless to say, that night changed my life."</i> <br />-Jim McNicholas</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcHrbrXHJZbOaiMkVoJot1-BCDBhw8LtCR9n9Yvk9tUHtL-wIiZdjvpEpW3LQ8mGTUjknSeT_I5xg8rEOBcaVxhmRFUnY0qh2QzN2o7B4GdSIOFaO08F0gpdj-wsAHxQgggZtUW45Jc-H/s1600/rez10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="651" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcHrbrXHJZbOaiMkVoJot1-BCDBhw8LtCR9n9Yvk9tUHtL-wIiZdjvpEpW3LQ8mGTUjknSeT_I5xg8rEOBcaVxhmRFUnY0qh2QzN2o7B4GdSIOFaO08F0gpdj-wsAHxQgggZtUW45Jc-H/s400/rez10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This one was a game changer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A band called <b>Agape</b> had recorded some hard rock in the early 70s. The early <b>Petra</b> albums had some hard-edged rock here and there. And <b>Austin Roberts'</b> rock opera <b><i>Eight Days</i></b> included some pretty heavy rock in 1976. But <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> by <b>Resurrection Band</b> felt different. Here was an entire album of authentic, hard rock music by an authentic, hard rock band. It was so revolutionary at the time that many Christians mistakenly labeled it as heavy metal. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMzYCz1FId5_JM7EMYvQgjSOXjHjZZnhmNEB5q7raq2DZKuHv56kPaeXV3HxoaN4YpE3bkeEskmeeu3t5p5DXUGfYMG-ydycangIeSup4oy4zggAplvJAxiZKr_keTBK01HJ7Thg3uU3d/s1600/1459156_10152072926129711_358024552_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="960" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMzYCz1FId5_JM7EMYvQgjSOXjHjZZnhmNEB5q7raq2DZKuHv56kPaeXV3HxoaN4YpE3bkeEskmeeu3t5p5DXUGfYMG-ydycangIeSup4oy4zggAplvJAxiZKr_keTBK01HJ7Thg3uU3d/s400/1459156_10152072926129711_358024552_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Released in 1978, the album was recorded for only $8,000 of borrowed money over a period of two weeks in marathon, all-night recording sessions wrapping up on an Easter Sunday. <b>Glenn Kaiser</b>, the band's frontman and lead vocalist, told the story to Tony Cummings of crossrhythms.com in 2010: "We ended up producing ourselves," Kaiser said. "It was in the morning church announcements that we gave a notice that we needed prayer because we thought it was time for <b>Resurrection Band</b> to record a professional album. Well, a couple who had come to church for some years with us there [Tim and Candy Lampman], one of their grandparents had passed away and left them a large sum of money. They said, 'How much do you need?' I said,' I don't even know.' So we found out that we could do this album in two weeks by doing the overnight sessions, the cheap time, and by recording and producing it ourselves we could save a lot of money. We could do it for about $8,000. Well, they said, 'That's no problem. If you want to pay us back someday, fine. We don't care.' They literally signed a check for $8,000 and we didn't spend a dime over that and made <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b>." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIjdb5YFcvbdeWteS80LIAS59p9lBSTMB5mL2dO2SCk_AvDLZ0LM5jSTC4277Uf2dQRi_mfWjv6qWMtOuJ8UcPHlcRSzO8fDrHYFhS-evV_zxqmtJT72NSA_NLtY59CkWbWuIdd9_P0mj/s1600/252290_10150938516724711_513074758_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIjdb5YFcvbdeWteS80LIAS59p9lBSTMB5mL2dO2SCk_AvDLZ0LM5jSTC4277Uf2dQRi_mfWjv6qWMtOuJ8UcPHlcRSzO8fDrHYFhS-evV_zxqmtJT72NSA_NLtY59CkWbWuIdd9_P0mj/s400/252290_10150938516724711_513074758_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Due to the album's sound and the flashy cover art, no established Christian record label in the United States would agree to distribute the album. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enter Star Song.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Wayne Donowho</b> and <b>Darrell Harris</b> left Word Records to start Star Song in 1976. "In the '70s, we were noticing the shift in the pop culture," recalls Harris. "All the 14- and 15-year olds were hanging out in game rooms listening to <b><i>Cat Scratch Fever</i></b> and such. There were no Christian bands we knew of speaking that musical language. One day we dropped by the <b>United Saints Records Store</b> in Pasadena Texas. We asked Jimmy Womack if he knew of any such. He asked us if we'd ever heard of <b>Resurrection Band</b> and JPUSA. We had not." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbcK08eOARMznFHzhBB1HAaIpKe_Ymod4i_yBykLJccIp7L577ViK2QhVpl4ThCdifB1_GirslwEXEse5LI7D74qeO1fw3aFdTzaOV1Br6-yO_8SSe5jrwczLmY7Xob4Ck5b2tDjx757x/s1600/10941909_10153064301039711_3592418769747901528_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbcK08eOARMznFHzhBB1HAaIpKe_Ymod4i_yBykLJccIp7L577ViK2QhVpl4ThCdifB1_GirslwEXEse5LI7D74qeO1fw3aFdTzaOV1Br6-yO_8SSe5jrwczLmY7Xob4Ck5b2tDjx757x/s400/10941909_10153064301039711_3592418769747901528_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I got ahold of everybody I knew," said <b>Glenn Kaiser</b>, "and I knew most everybody by then throughout the US, Canada, and UK, and every Christian label turned us down. Several secular labels said, 'Great stuff, could you change the lyrics?' The Christian labels said, 'It's too intense, too loud, from the music to the lyrics, it's too shocking for church folk and Christian bookshops.'" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Darrell Harris</b> said, "Jimmy Womack gave us a copy of <b><i>Cornerstone</i></b> magazine that included an ad about the band. I called and had a chat with <b>Glenn Kaiser</b>. He told me they had a finished master - but that we probably would not like it. They had already been turned down by all the majors. I asked him to please let us give it a listen."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50tE05oocta32GAPB2aBxq6RsuuHzMPEaM0REjLoM-sbuWKq8qCtqUrajYH2bjRigoxnvAhqRTep6ak92EMwkDf3lko89iGgzs9EBGLiuLfw6zoI4ptn00HOYP5Zc8dm2ui3E-LYCXTR9/s1600/18739968_10158774939100416_7689457239149870422_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50tE05oocta32GAPB2aBxq6RsuuHzMPEaM0REjLoM-sbuWKq8qCtqUrajYH2bjRigoxnvAhqRTep6ak92EMwkDf3lko89iGgzs9EBGLiuLfw6zoI4ptn00HOYP5Zc8dm2ui3E-LYCXTR9/s1600/18739968_10158774939100416_7689457239149870422_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Darrel A. Harris</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser concurs: "Yeah, this little custom label in Texas at the time called Star Song said, 'We don't have any money; we were actually going to call you to do a swap. We have a studio and we were going to offer <b>Rez</b> a full recording in our studio if you will give us a full page in <b><i>Cornerstone</i></b> magazine to promote our label because we would like to be better known throughout the country.' I said, 'Too late. We've already finished the mastering of the first album, are you interested in me sending it to you? If not, then it's cool, if God wants us to press this thing up and sell it at concerts, that's up to God.' They said, 'Well, we don't have a dime, but we want to be open to the Lord, so send it.' I'm not going to get into all of what they said later but essentially, he said the staff came together and started crying and said they'd been praying for a band like this to show up for about a year and a half. So they signed us."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Darrell Harris</b> remembers: "When the master copy arrived we listened to <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> at our recently built Rivendell Recorders. I wept like a little girl. It was the answer to my prayer. It communicated the Gospel of Jesus in the language that was speaking to the younger part of our pop culture. So we got to distribute their first two albums. And I am so grateful."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2attaG-zO8Ti-vQTw6UITxQIZFBepnIgS9uluW-MIxhQ4qSZDMhf0jJmHg7KfNSV7rxLbgd74hkxZRvAHpxEp16uPwerJdBPQIWRfSoksMEje0rEvKtlE0FU0z0sSUHjAfIjvl8EMK8q/s1600/469095_10150692006084711_1213103469_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1013" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2attaG-zO8Ti-vQTw6UITxQIZFBepnIgS9uluW-MIxhQ4qSZDMhf0jJmHg7KfNSV7rxLbgd74hkxZRvAHpxEp16uPwerJdBPQIWRfSoksMEje0rEvKtlE0FU0z0sSUHjAfIjvl8EMK8q/s400/469095_10150692006084711_1213103469_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fans of <b>Rez Band</b> know that the group eventually created their own record label - Grrr Records - in 1988. But in an interview with Scott Weldon of classicchristianrockzine.com, <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> revealed that there had been talk of doing their own thing from the very beginning. "Yeah, we talked before we even released <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> in '78 about doing our own record label," Kaiser confirmed. "But, I mean, first of all, you had to have capital. You had to have enough money to be able to have warehousing, and, you know, you had to put together a staff that would be educated and understanding of how the record business would be run from manufacturing to shipping, publicity, etc. There's so much involved there, financially and also from the perspective of just understanding how to go about it all, that we were actually very thankful that Star Song said, 'Go for it,' you know, 'we'll sign you.'"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I really could not believe that the other companies had passed," said Harris. "The fervency of <b>Resurrection Band's</b> message and presentation were simply irresistible!"</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEodTqR-o5gSa9MTvc200ofmC33fQrYS1JskJ8gqn_xrahIdx-mMItArOk6a6-BtHcMiR1zg7lt7FYYY-3sEiXoj7X2qAT8Kvgv8nddZf7X8APk5DacwCGGgA7LpAKbVS__FGkNJ3imOI/s1600/1909802_118725449710_3260354_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEodTqR-o5gSa9MTvc200ofmC33fQrYS1JskJ8gqn_xrahIdx-mMItArOk6a6-BtHcMiR1zg7lt7FYYY-3sEiXoj7X2qAT8Kvgv8nddZf7X8APk5DacwCGGgA7LpAKbVS__FGkNJ3imOI/s1600/1909802_118725449710_3260354_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the fledgling, independent label known as Star Song Records took a gamble and signed the controversial <b>Resurrection Band</b> to a recording deal, making them labelmates with groups like <b>Petra, Chalice</b>, and <b>Arkangel</b>. Seeming to prove the old axiom that "all publicity is good publicity," the release of <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> helped put Star Song on the map. It would later become one of the largest independent labels in contemporary Christian music. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Resurrection Band</b> had previously existed under the name <b>Charity</b> and already had a couple of inferior custom projects under their belts. But <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> was the official first step in a lengthy journey that in some ways continues to this day. They recorded 17 albums, hosted the world's preeminent Christian rock music festival for 18 years, became the conscience of Christian rock music (at least from the center-left side of the aisle), and, most importantly, saw multiplied thousands of people surrender their lives to Jesus as Saviour and Lord. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesP1lCPiSwFBKJKObf0102CCh5xkQfpyLwhonKn7zE8pm7kPj-JQISQb7ohMDq0S0XOA_nwn6abUJ4t5wpceFmal2yXn8BUot1YsoFG79xt6aOcKNebYMuEF5aE67ZI-PS7kxvpSpxYzp/s1600/1463298_10152017962684711_1844299529_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesP1lCPiSwFBKJKObf0102CCh5xkQfpyLwhonKn7zE8pm7kPj-JQISQb7ohMDq0S0XOA_nwn6abUJ4t5wpceFmal2yXn8BUot1YsoFG79xt6aOcKNebYMuEF5aE67ZI-PS7kxvpSpxYzp/s1600/1463298_10152017962684711_1844299529_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In my <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/10/75-rainbows-end-by-resurrection-band.html">post</a> on <b>Resurrection Band's</b> sophomore release, <b><i><a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/10/75-rainbows-end-by-resurrection-band.html">Rainbow's End</a></i></b>, I related the story of how my brothers and I were given a copy of <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> while on the road in full-time ministry with our parents. At that time, we traveled the country, living in a customized bus 365 days a year. It was fun and the bus was nice, but quarters were tight. When we first dropped the needle on the debut album by <b>Resurrection Band</b> we quickly realized that this was a record we could only enjoy through headphones...because Mom and Dad were never going to understand <i>this</i>. It was just a different sound, a different attitude...a whole new level of intensity.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTx0TfJZhkwJQWSjyaMGZMLmuHxcUYOdU0yRt3Acf7WOWEqVkoRWUhIQOI1yVis3GOSuPmutwwpUfPOzRahAYeYAHHR6Y8hMTtoqpGQCJppt90bDiem93Kzp6SwnWPwrEZAsb1JBI8KjRe/s1600/rez8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="842" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTx0TfJZhkwJQWSjyaMGZMLmuHxcUYOdU0yRt3Acf7WOWEqVkoRWUhIQOI1yVis3GOSuPmutwwpUfPOzRahAYeYAHHR6Y8hMTtoqpGQCJppt90bDiem93Kzp6SwnWPwrEZAsb1JBI8KjRe/s400/rez8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The record began with a very memorable introduction - a spoken-word novelty track that many people can still quote from memory. A radio is clicked on just in time to hear the announcer say...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"...and the hits just keep on coming! This is Jolly Jonah Jamison, your DJ, kickin' off the jams all day, all night on WBCR! That was The Archies with 'Sugar, Sugar.' Just makes you wanna cry, don't it? Our thousand-dollar winner will be announced two hours from now, so hang in there as we play some music by...Resurrection Band?! How'd this get in the stacks? Oh well, here's hopin'..."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With that, the song <i>Waves</i> came crashing through our Koss headphones like a tsunami slamming into a 5-star resort on some Malaysian beach. From the first few notes, it was clear that this band would be making waves, all right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few things were evident from the outset.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First, this was heavy duty rock and roll. Not the kind we'd come to expect from <b>Children of the Day</b> or <b>Mustard Seed Faith</b> but, rather, something akin to <b>Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath,</b> and <b>Jefferson Airplane</b>. Blogger James Case described it as "raw and gritty with soulful vocals and a passion that saturates the songs." Case said that <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> was nothing less than "a blues rock classic." "This was no watered-down imitation of the real thing," wrote author Mark Allan Powell, "this <i>was</i> the real thing and, Christian or not, no serious rock fan could doubt it." Powell also argued that <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> created a shift in the Jesus Music genre, "leaving memories of Maranatha Music far behind." Powell said it was "the Christian music equivalent of <b>John Belushi</b> smashing <b>Stephen Bishop's</b> guitar in <b><i>Animal House</i></b>" and made <b>Love Song</b> sound like <b>The Archies</b> in comparison.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Secondly, this was a hard rock outfit that was fronted by a husband/wife team, which was very unusual in Jesus Rock. "Vocalist/guitarist <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> will raise the hair on your neck and arms with his guitar playing and bluesy voice," James Case penned, "while wife <b>Wendi Kaiser</b> will conjure up images of former <b>Jefferson Airplane</b> vocalist <b>Grace Slick</b>." <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> was asked in a 2015 interview what it was like to share lead vocals with his better half and he gave an honest and revealing answer: "The band mostly had us pitch songs near the top of my range, so the truth is we couldn’t have done it -- I sure could not have -- without Wendi sharing lead vocals! Plus the importance of a woman front-person rocking and saying what she did during shows was of immense importance. Not to mention how much of a bummer had I had to tour without her all those years." Listeners became acquainted with Wendi's voice right up front as she shared lead vocals on <i>Waves</i> and also played a starring role on the album's second track. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPPMXlmnvQKkYeOPL3F6VgRuUEL01xazuSX6PatI-Gnum2Rzvjd1rnVJjThj2w0vq-XTyH1CPUhvTiuhE7SWWQwQNQ_hTgrNG4tRGG94n7Z43w7QbQ5CQPoSgS9_DASh7hM9ds8jjNMaa/s1600/BeFunky-collagewendi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQPPMXlmnvQKkYeOPL3F6VgRuUEL01xazuSX6PatI-Gnum2Rzvjd1rnVJjThj2w0vq-XTyH1CPUhvTiuhE7SWWQwQNQ_hTgrNG4tRGG94n7Z43w7QbQ5CQPoSgS9_DASh7hM9ds8jjNMaa/s400/BeFunky-collagewendi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lastly, here was a band that would never soft-peddle the Gospel of Jesus Christ. <i>Waves</i> made that clear from the get-go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>When will you begin to receive the love of God?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus wants to touch you, enfold you with His love</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Look into your life and tell me what you see</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Don’t you realize what He offers is for free?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I know that there’s a Heaven and soon I’ll be there</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>No lying, no crying, no dying, no fear</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If you wanna join us, you can come along</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>With His blood He bought you and to Him you’ll belong</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Come along</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We see wave after wave of sailors every day</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Drowning in the surf of their sorrow</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We’re reachin’ out to you, pointing to the way</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He’ll give you a better tomorrow</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And to those of our friends who know the King is your King</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Keep shinin’ till we meet again</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Waves also features a gritty, hair-on-fire harmonica solo by <b>Tom Cameron</b> that was unlike anything ever heard on a Christian album up to that point.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6VI164Nk1S7kGQYag-GvuTZvtMcn2O91xl23bIa_rZ1tX1ZJKbfwrSAeEgFVfEIVdH12vyICrycdsk55391rFveKqKyFwMUHTvNZPQ7Avu4BnC6Fmti5DW_RE9b_NLJtwpifEQhi8Ecg_/s1600/1454967_10152022484164711_978897876_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="830" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6VI164Nk1S7kGQYag-GvuTZvtMcn2O91xl23bIa_rZ1tX1ZJKbfwrSAeEgFVfEIVdH12vyICrycdsk55391rFveKqKyFwMUHTvNZPQ7Avu4BnC6Fmti5DW_RE9b_NLJtwpifEQhi8Ecg_/s400/1454967_10152022484164711_978897876_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The album's title track describes a pretty heavy spiritual trip and again showcases the Truth of the Gospel. <b>Wendi Kaiser</b> sings about having received a letter from God Himself, signed in blood and mailed into her heart. The letter ends with the words, <i>"I love you. Awaiting Your Reply." </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's a slow, deliberate rock track with a heavy dose of analog synthesizers. <b>Resurrection Band </b>never approached the kind of keyboard artistry of groups like <b>DeGarmo & Key</b> and <b>Petra</b>, but they picked their spots very effectively. On this album, guitarist <b>Stu Heiss</b> is also credited with playing Moog Mark II, ARP Odyssey, Omni, and Avatar synthesizers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Musically, this song was in an altogether different rent district, but it was thematically related to songs like <i>Shotgun Angel</i> by <b>Daniel Amos</b> and <b>Barry McGuire's</b> <i>Cosmic Cowboy</i> in that it reads almost like a weird, surreal, out-of-body experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I was lying in my bed</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Trying to arrange my head</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>When a letter came in from Him</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Saying I was dead</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>So I called Him up</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Asked for Him by name</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He passed me the ticket</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I boarded the plane</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We pulled out onto the airport runway</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We began to climb as the whole world exploded</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'd just asked Him for His lifeline</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The blood, the blood of Jesus is His lifeline</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The song concludes with an invitation for the listener to read God's letter to him or her, which is obviously the Word of God...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>So sit down and read His letter</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>His love is clearly defined</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>When you're done with His words</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You won't forget what you've heard</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And in His love He'll haunt you day and night</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Awaiting your reply"</i></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0M7tw7fVyWc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0M7tw7fVyWc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blogger David Lowman called <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> "an altar call set to music," while Mark Allan Powell referred to it as "a masterpiece." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"He loves you, what is your response? is the message," <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> said, "and it's the same message He gives today." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofKRTeRPDXnjovHN0mYI5ayD4vh8M0vfQ4gJG8bzU91gyhLowwy4A2bYO0xEngERbwOaRa-BTlfhMS9M4GA-UAPuMkDGqCLm57JqitzMuJ76myvnbFKa5QlD9cYuE6r8XCq-ebG2aF_y_/s1600/1461183_10152022602009711_796044748_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgofKRTeRPDXnjovHN0mYI5ayD4vh8M0vfQ4gJG8bzU91gyhLowwy4A2bYO0xEngERbwOaRa-BTlfhMS9M4GA-UAPuMkDGqCLm57JqitzMuJ76myvnbFKa5QlD9cYuE6r8XCq-ebG2aF_y_/s1600/1461183_10152022602009711_796044748_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Speaking of altar calls, <b>Glenn Kaiser's</b> own conversion story was pretty amazing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Glenn grew up in rural Wisconsin. His father had once been a very successful manager of a large trucking company but after a health setback and being cheated by a business partner, he found himself leading a destitute family, moving them from house to house. "In the winter, I oftentimes went to bed with all my clothes on, two pair of socks, long underwear and jeans, and two or even three quilts," Kaiser remembered in an interview with the Cstone Music website. The youngest of three children, Glenn says he was basically left to raise himself as his parents did what they could to provide for the family while his older siblings spent all their time with friends. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When Glenn was six years old, two "gray-haired old ladies" came by the house and convinced Kaiser's parents to allow them to pick him up and take him to their church for something known as vacation Bible school. So for six Saturdays that summer, Glenn ate paste and played at recess...but also heard stories about Jesus. And he memorized John 3:16. He was also given a pocket New Testament and an attendance pin, which his mother tucked away in a junk drawer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About a year later, Glenn's mother went to Milwaukee to find work. That's not all she found. His mother's adultery led to the breakup of his parents' marriage. Glenn says he was absolutely miserable during those days. "I think I got along better with my dog than with my mother or father," Kaiser said in a 2009 TV taping with the show Everlasting Love. "I didn't understand what was going on. I could feel that the family was unraveling but I couldn't judge our family on the basis of other families. We didn't connect with anybody. Nobody was ever home. I felt empty, angry, miserable, betrayed. I didn't understand what love meant. I didn't understand commitment. It was very confusing." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Glenn started playing guitar around age twelve and threw himself into his music since his family had already disintegrated. His first band was appropriately called <b>The Lost Souls</b>. As a teen, Kaiser played with several bands, usually of the blues-rock variety, sometimes with a little folk music thrown in for good measure. He also became ensnared with sexual addictions as a result of the influence of neighbors. "It's just a mess," he says, "when you're trying to find love and what you're finding is sex, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with love." And with the music came drugs. So the old <i>sex, drugs and rock and roll</i> cliche wasn't just a cliche for Kaiser. "There were chunks of time in those years - 15, 16, 17 - that I have no idea what happened. People told me about things that I did, people in bands, girlfriends, whatever..." Kaiser says that he overdosed and even contemplated suicide as a teenager. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Remember the gray-haired ladies and their VBS? So did Glenn. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"One night, after I had a horrible trip, I came down and I said to my mom, 'Do you still have that old New Testament and Psalms?' She went, 'What?' She'd been living in adultery with a guy for years, over at his place several nights a week. I said, 'If you've got it, would you give it to me, please?' She gets up, pulls the thing out and gives it to me. I go upstairs and I do one of those things where you just open the Bible to wherever. And I was either reading Matthew 24, Mark 13 or Luke 21. All three of those chapters talk about all the signs right before Jesus returns in that generation. I read the whole chapter. I don't know which one of those three it was, but it was one of those. And I read it and I went, whoa. I shut the book, threw it in a drawer and forgot about it. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DCWs2rCzPG_mEgFz1ye_Jf2S-UuZY2HaP3WQe7bMpg4hUSDDuY2nrBnPNFDcg2UA3mmyjpLM9Xh-8_16pjFn2tAvdlU2P15jJo3P7gasSlf3t48vzjxndNIBGmzt2uBDN7me3BclUepY/s1600/1460068_10152017962814711_1138626846_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="600" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DCWs2rCzPG_mEgFz1ye_Jf2S-UuZY2HaP3WQe7bMpg4hUSDDuY2nrBnPNFDcg2UA3mmyjpLM9Xh-8_16pjFn2tAvdlU2P15jJo3P7gasSlf3t48vzjxndNIBGmzt2uBDN7me3BclUepY/s400/1460068_10152017962814711_1138626846_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few weeks later, Glenn opened a newspaper and noticed that every story on the front page of the paper reminded of him of what he'd read in that pocket New Testament. After discovering that a close relative, his godfather, had passed away, the words of the Bible verse he had learned at age 6 at that vacation Bible school came back to him. "That Scripture flashed through my mind and I just broke down," Kaiser said. "I broke down on the spot and ended up on the floor. I started just crying my eyes out, going, 'Why would You want me? Why would You love me? I've ignored You. I've lived a completely stupid, selfish life. I've wrecked all these people. I've wrecked myself. I've caused so much misery to my parents. I'm the reason a whole stack of people in my school are trashed on dope right now. Why would You love me?' And there was no loud voice, no angels walking in the room, no vision of Jesus talking to me in an audible voice, just a very still, small voice in my mind and in my heart: 'Because I do. Give Me your life.' Some things were instant, automatic. Boom. Delivered. Never again was this or that a temptation. But smoking dope and idolatry through music was so much of a security blanket for me at that point. It took me about nine months to really, absolutely let go. But that night, January 3rd, 1971, I broke down and said, 'That's it. But You're getting ripped off. This is a one-sided deal. You give me eternal life and You get <i>me</i>?' This was the worst, one-sided, rip-off deal I ever heard of! But I got it. I really got it. He wants my life. He doesn't want a prayer. He wants my life. All of it."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Knowing the backstory of Glenn's salvation makes the words of the song <i>Broken Promises</i> even more powerful:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Broken promises</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>We lost the joy that we once knew</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where do we go from here</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>From something old to something new</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Past dreams done gone from me, yeah</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm losing daylight, losing view</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Son of God, where are You now</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Do You feel my need</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm lost within this forest</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Barricaded by the trees</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Will You hear my cry for help</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Would You forgive me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm so far away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I've run so far away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Broken promises</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Broken by me and not by You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus, break me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lord, snap my stubborn heart in two</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lonely hours </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>So many wasted talents that I've sown</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But now I'm ready to follow You, Jesus</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>My dear Lord, I'm coming home</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lord, I want You to change me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Rearrange me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lord, I want You to mold me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I just want You to hold me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sweet Savior, just love me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Your thoughts are so high above me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I confess that I need You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I really know that I need You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Yeah...</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I need You, yeah...</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lord, help me to follow You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus, I'm gonna follow You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I give my whole life to You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus, I'm gonna follow You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>My dear Lord, I'm coming home</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For many of us, <i>Broken Promises</i> was the first time we heard <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> sing with that voice so filled with emotion that it made our hearts ache. Blogger David Lowman said <i>Broken Promises</i> was "one of <b>Glenn Kaiser’s</b> finest vocal performances. So heartfelt and authentic you did not only believe him, you <i>felt</i> him." Like many <b>Resurrection Band</b> songs to come, <i>Broken Promises</i> featured <b>Stu Heiss</b> with what one reviewer called some "heavy acid guitar wah-wah." Unlike most Rez songs, this one also featured not only synthesizers but acoustic piano as well. Clocking in at just under 7 minutes, this epic track was an undeniable highlight of the album and remains a favorite of many <b>Rez</b> listeners today. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4G74JwW7wV2SYBGBnO4xA8cA0fagCLmoxodCZ-9Ub_aKtO5vw7oBlrAN7xC5sOsa_ny6TWmA1R8q1wo46Gw-G5HmX6d2yhK_ZQ0dOp43Q6pse2WU1-XxcEuNTOWTx_8SW-Kzs0ZH6zf5/s1600/480350_10152017963769711_32638557_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="504" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4G74JwW7wV2SYBGBnO4xA8cA0fagCLmoxodCZ-9Ub_aKtO5vw7oBlrAN7xC5sOsa_ny6TWmA1R8q1wo46Gw-G5HmX6d2yhK_ZQ0dOp43Q6pse2WU1-XxcEuNTOWTx_8SW-Kzs0ZH6zf5/s400/480350_10152017963769711_32638557_n.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rounding out side one of <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> was <i>Golden Road</i>, a song that chronicled the emptiness of fame and evinced a mature perspective that was unusual for a debut album. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They told me about a golden road paved with dreams and fame</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I thought I'd try to walk it</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Get down and play the game</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The treasures of the world kept comin'</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>All my dreams came true</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I didn't realize the price I'd paid </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>For the changes I'd gone through</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Changes I'd gone through</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Clinging to the shape of a fantasy</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Rolling down the slope of desire</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Most of the time spent pulling it out of the fire</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I turned away from God and His love</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I worshipped myself</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The idols that I'd built</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>All crumbled on my shelf</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They all crumbled on my shelf</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But all along I realized</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>That if I had to</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I had to choose</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Between love an' my own sweet lies</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Love was bound to lose, yeah, love was bound to lose</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They told me about a broken road paved with death and shame</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I thought I'd try to find it</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Get away from playing the game</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I finally realized the price He paid for changes I've gone through</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I finally realized the price He paid for changes I've gone through</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Changes I've gone through</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The song began with a dulcimer, giving the intro a bit of a hippie vibe. Then Kaiser's gritty vocals and impassioned performance took over. The Scream Heard 'Round the World (the Christian world, anyway) came in at about the 3:02 mark of <i>Golden Road</i>. It was a golden moment if you will, and quite cathartic. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtrqVizgbmPHjxWE_yNXxdjHAqCeV6rdlE_DYzdj9ny1y067QOqhledQbOwrF4EbTkVDA7oAlelyPN6EZu8wR0sLegCtGx4R78wKTX6CoyGGHh7vx-qxeHkOelhx40hS2sCcCdkICcO23/s1600/7a42d0433f8f5606cebff36439386db4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="720" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtrqVizgbmPHjxWE_yNXxdjHAqCeV6rdlE_DYzdj9ny1y067QOqhledQbOwrF4EbTkVDA7oAlelyPN6EZu8wR0sLegCtGx4R78wKTX6CoyGGHh7vx-qxeHkOelhx40hS2sCcCdkICcO23/s400/7a42d0433f8f5606cebff36439386db4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> found Jesus, he also found <b>JPUSA</b> - an acronym for <b>Jesus People USA</b> and popularly pronounced "Japoosa." Kaiser quit his old band, gave away all of his musical gear, and moved into <b>JPUSA</b> in 1971 with little more than a pillow and sleeping bag. <b>JPUSA</b> was a fairly small Christian group known in Chicago for their outreach programs to the elderly, homeless, and addicts. While the group comprised a local church and held weekly services, it also functioned as somewhat of a commune, with members living on-site and having all things common (Acts 2:44-45). <b>JPUSA</b> was labeled by some a 'cult' or 'extremist sect' with a soft spot for socialism. But the organization would eventually be regarded in a positive light for their outreach to the poor and for lending their support to <b><i>Cornerstone</i></b> magazine, the <b>Cornerstone Festival</b> and, of course, <b>Resurrection Band</b>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyVnHsIMvbvM4PGRrLURWFt3sG1Jq_JeTvJ8jt_9elSMA2rZ0ImVD-V9H0blceqmn7ySQ8IJ5BwVDMcOxcfQDL5t8IsB8-djzmevUy9O88lddN8p4ZbDON51pGAhyphenhyphenqZkzzUcA9Q0Xz9ep/s1600/13332881_10154302469219711_6582554275807626591_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="716" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyVnHsIMvbvM4PGRrLURWFt3sG1Jq_JeTvJ8jt_9elSMA2rZ0ImVD-V9H0blceqmn7ySQ8IJ5BwVDMcOxcfQDL5t8IsB8-djzmevUy9O88lddN8p4ZbDON51pGAhyphenhyphenqZkzzUcA9Q0Xz9ep/s400/13332881_10154302469219711_6582554275807626591_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First playing under the name <b>Charity</b> in 1972, <b>Resurrection Band</b> became an entity about a year later when <b>Jesus People Milwaukee</b> split into four groups with one of them located in the inner city of Chicago. The band quickly became a primary focus of the ministry of <b>JPUSA</b>. Like other Jesus Rock pioneers of the era, they played anywhere and everywhere, from prisons to parks to street corners. They even developed a special "folk set" that they would break out for church concerts and nursing homes. In the liner notes for <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> it says, "We bless the Lord for peanut butter, school buses, and church basements without which this band would never have survived." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW7Zyxmr9i2b8m-KmBWCaDWUvKWX7geZ2Ck7kZ8Epmji2CMkkT0zk-9eeTAbVxQfEdgRfhMSfpVBO-qJ98l4SZwyj5if0YevyaBb89mRije0ngJ8h_Lk_-6eBAPMKSyrl2GVUItBYcKmL/s1600/21558895_10155751146579711_2675662054436013627_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="574" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW7Zyxmr9i2b8m-KmBWCaDWUvKWX7geZ2Ck7kZ8Epmji2CMkkT0zk-9eeTAbVxQfEdgRfhMSfpVBO-qJ98l4SZwyj5if0YevyaBb89mRije0ngJ8h_Lk_-6eBAPMKSyrl2GVUItBYcKmL/s400/21558895_10155751146579711_2675662054436013627_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Resurrection Band</b> proved you did not have to be based in Southern California to be part of the Jesus Movement. "We ended up traveling around the country in a school bus with about 28 people," <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> recalled in a 2009 interview with WJTL radio. "The Jesus bus was red and had four-foot letters on the side, white with black outline. We'd pull up at the beach and pull out all this gear, set all this musical gear up, <b>Rez</b> would play and somebody would preach, talk to people, baptize them right in the water, the ocean or the lake or whatever. And we did this for about a year and a half. Ended up coming back up to the Chicago area - the last place we wanted to be. But it is my deep conviction that God actually wanted us to take root in Chicago. We wanted to have a little farm out in the country somewhere. We weren't interested in the inner city. But we started sharing the Gospel on the street and people started praying to receive the Lord. It became obvious that's where we needed to be." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listening to <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> describe the ministry of <b>JPUSA</b>, one gets the feeling that it's a lot less like the stereotype of a "hippie commune" and much more about a modern-day expression of the way the early Church served one another and met people's needs as expressed in the book of Acts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Wendi and I have always lived in one room," Glenn said in a 2006 interview with Lane Walker. "Take for example your average bedroom, that's it, that's where we live, we don't have a house, we don't have an apartment, we have a bedroom! It is a 10-story hotel that we live out of. We live full-time in community there, we share our food, our finances, our honorariums from our concerts and money that comes in from record sales all goes into a common fund and helps to pay the bills and finances the ministry, it doesn't come to me personally. We are constantly reaching out to the outer community, such as the hundred seniors that we take care of, who live within the top three floors of our building. We also have a 380-bed homeless shelter three blocks away. In our apartments, we have 18 families, mostly single moms with kids who came through our shelter programs and God has really worked through their lives. We work with inner-city kids through both our Boys Club and Girls Club. The bottom line is there is a lot of ministry to broken and messed up people. We don't live in a pretty or nice area, we live about four blocks from a very wealthy area, but our area is called uptown and it's poor. There are a couple of rival gangs that have no problem fighting it out for turf (I guess we are the biggest gang so we do get a little bit of respect from those guys). The politics in Chicago as you know is infamous, and it's the truth, we're on the radar because the city sends us people to help. The city has run out of resources and so we are in a very unique situation."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90cbJQ2rf65RVAWil4JKeSBRmNWSYHN1_HWmxzRd_BpwS_3w7ktonXTFhdFwixznqUlNvsB0tnft6zjK71YNWCJqPLz21X7ehZ1eAtjpH0sIITDDfXuOu9lyDYqXM4SylIsS6utigPrJo/s1600/Resurrection%252BBand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="640" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90cbJQ2rf65RVAWil4JKeSBRmNWSYHN1_HWmxzRd_BpwS_3w7ktonXTFhdFwixznqUlNvsB0tnft6zjK71YNWCJqPLz21X7ehZ1eAtjpH0sIITDDfXuOu9lyDYqXM4SylIsS6utigPrJo/s400/Resurrection%252BBand.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser continued: "Whereas a lot of people wanted to be independent of the 'traditional church,' we always wanted to have more commitment. We wanted to have more relationship. We really believe in the body of Christ and we really believe in accountability, it's not just a word, it's saved my neck. I'm on a pastoral team of nine, and all of us really and truly do love one another, pray with each other and confess our sins and minister to one another. We've really tried to live that example out in the whole of community and we have that relationship with the Evangelical Covenant denomination."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sounds amazing...but communal living must obviously have some challenges, right? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0eLDwYe3HO-6ZpHWLOgbGTkfeVnpdavmEwT_QGlpkLoBEQiDHtTZhKKMmQsF3ML2qvoL9O2iAUd2oGCMi0RztzmarCXOlE4dzW4XemRt6S0xIj5Pf6LQL6oFraTfjvESc3Re9YtOG8Yw/s1600/38639290_10156339560571815_7099125059574300672_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0eLDwYe3HO-6ZpHWLOgbGTkfeVnpdavmEwT_QGlpkLoBEQiDHtTZhKKMmQsF3ML2qvoL9O2iAUd2oGCMi0RztzmarCXOlE4dzW4XemRt6S0xIj5Pf6LQL6oFraTfjvESc3Re9YtOG8Yw/s400/38639290_10156339560571815_7099125059574300672_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"When you're living close together day in and day out, not just seeing each other simply one hour a week, the iron is going to sharpen the iron," Kaiser said. "There's going to be some friction, some sparks, there's going to be some shaking, some unsettling moments and you can't just run and go home because you <i>are</i> home! Our 'live-in' membership within our community is huge (about 325 adults and 200 children) and we are constantly fellowshiping, working together, praying together or asking forgiveness and help from one another. When it comes to community, and I want to be clear about this, I don't think God has called everyone to live like <b>Jesus People USA</b>, in the inner-city like we do in Chicago. God has not called everyone to do the exact same stuff in the exact same way, i.e. methodology, in the body of Christ. But God has called all of us to be more interactive than independent and there is an awful lot of folks who just don't get along with other people and aren't willing to pay the price. The truth is if we can't forgive each other and love each other as Christians in the local church, if we find ourselves dissatisfied and always angry and jumping from church to church, a bit like a flea from dog to dog, you know, wherever you go, there you are! And if I keep feeling disenfranchised, maybe the problem is with me! So if you can't love your brother in Christ, whom you might truly disagree with, if you won't forgive the person who has truly and legitimately hurt you, you're going to have a hard time walking with unbelievers, who act like...unbelievers!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>JPUSA</b> has not been without controversy. A book was published in 1994 that leveled charges of abusive behavior and questionable policies. Later, a series of articles published by the <b>Chicago Tribune</b> caused trouble for the group as well. Then in 2015, <b>Buzzfeed</b> (always consider the source) published a lengthy account from a former parishioner who alleged widespread sexual abuse at <b>JPUSA</b>. (It's interesting that since <b>JPUSA</b> has always had a leftward tilt and <b>Buzzfeed</b> is a far-left news & culture site, this could be interpreted as the left attacking its own. At the end of the day, a far left outfit like <b>Buzzfeed</b> will cast labels aside and seize on any opportunity to attack Christianity.) A lawsuit was filed and a documentary produced, but the case was dismissed for "want of prosecution." In each case, <b>JPUSA</b> launched a PR counterattack and fought back. Kaiser continues to support and defend <b>Jesus People USA</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the way, I have seen the documentary titled <i><b>No Place to Call Home</b></i>. It has low production values and takes a very long time to get into the meat of the accusations against <b>JPUSA</b>. But I have to say that it's very troubling. It's hard to believe that so many people would all be lying. On the other hand, professional troublemaker <b>David Di Sabatino</b> is listed in the credits as a "content advisor." That in itself is problematic. <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> says it's not true. <br /><br />I'll go this far: At the very least, watching that documentary has cured me of ever wanting to live in a commune. I don't know what to believe about the allegations. At this point, it's in God's hands and I suppose it'll be up to Him to reveal the truth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2018, <b>JPUSA</b> planted a new fellowship in their neighborhood called <b>Uptown Church Chicago.</b> The group's Facebook post regarding this new church plant said, "We are excited to be part of this new adventure, helping others find hope in Jesus and deepen their faith in Him. In the meantime, we continue to live, to work, and to worship together, seeking to honor God in all we do." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the time of the recording of <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b>, <b>Resurrection Band</b> consisted of <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> (lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, dulcimer); <b>Wendi Kaiser</b> (lead vocals); <b>Stu Heiss</b> (lead guitar, keyboards); <b>Jim Denton</b> (bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals); and <b>John Herrin</b> (drums); Additional musicians included <b>Roger Heiss</b> (percussion); <b>Tom Cameron</b> (harmonica); and <b>Kenny Soderblom</b> (flute and saxophone).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> was recorded at <b>Hedden West</b> in Schaumburg, Illinois (same place that <b>Phil Keaggy</b> recorded <i><b>The Master and the Musician</b></i>). The entire band was credited with producing and mixing the album, while<b> Mal Davis</b> and <b>Stu Heiss</b> were listed as engineers. Mastering was by <b>Ken Perry</b> at <b>Capitol Studios</b> in Los Angeles. A lot of complaints have been registered regarding poor production. The sonic quality of the bass and drums often come in for criticism, and it's been said that the overall sound of the album is somewhat muddy or muffled. Yeah, maybe...although I never noticed any of that back in the late 70s. Hey, try making a full-length LP for eight grand (with 1970s technology) and see how good <i>you</i> can get it to sound. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>JPUSA Graphics</b> handled the art direction and design, which was quite eye-catching. It was also deemed controversial to some "mom & pop bookstore" owners. <b>Janet Cameron</b> took care of the cover art, while <b>Dick Randall, Bob Cox</b> and <b>Lyda Price</b> were also involved on the inside art and layout. From the album's liner notes: "We believe <b>Janet Cameron</b> deserves a big thanks from all of us as well as everyone who enjoys and appreciates her fine artwork in <b><i>Cornerstone</i></b> [magazine]. She puts in hundreds of hours of hard work each month." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ph_iRe6noiiwX9BVerH0b3uzfWnuhma-1ctJWYiL2s36mZyn7_719Eh4AH-DjEqWIlbYKpoCPWdglsvTD4CTJPBo47lomgBOlhFH6Fjswaqx-ssU1v_h0s7hiBbM8si0hoQgjqCm9pRI/s1600/14183820_10154547835754711_2894144363779087337_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="783" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Ph_iRe6noiiwX9BVerH0b3uzfWnuhma-1ctJWYiL2s36mZyn7_719Eh4AH-DjEqWIlbYKpoCPWdglsvTD4CTJPBo47lomgBOlhFH6Fjswaqx-ssU1v_h0s7hiBbM8si0hoQgjqCm9pRI/s400/14183820_10154547835754711_2894144363779087337_n.jpg" width="326" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photography was the work of <b>Chuck Cairo</b>. The gatefold album jacket opens to reveal the lyrics printed over colorful graphics with additional band photos. Memorable, meaningful and eye-grabbing album cover art is something for which <b>Resurrection Band</b> would become known. The album's back cover features a photo of the band in the city, outdoors, at night. If you look closely, you can see "<b><i>Saturday Night Fever</i></b>" being advertised in the distance on a movie theatre marquee, reminding us of the era. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The original gatefold cover is an artistic masterpiece well worth seeking out," writes Jesus Rock historian Ken Scott.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HwJiYwGHUiXCXaNGB8FBvu78A5AfJAL67z_R3IpRgsQJOouVJIbhVdRtrhMRu9XbHUqpaf10lqhzMcl-P8mQvN1ngm6H2h2fnNaNPf_KsreyVP5sZJ-kEJKlie6Md2mbmtdVKJZzlUhj/s1600/34111279_10156464334494711_6914888735150571520_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="672" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HwJiYwGHUiXCXaNGB8FBvu78A5AfJAL67z_R3IpRgsQJOouVJIbhVdRtrhMRu9XbHUqpaf10lqhzMcl-P8mQvN1ngm6H2h2fnNaNPf_KsreyVP5sZJ-kEJKlie6Md2mbmtdVKJZzlUhj/s400/34111279_10156464334494711_6914888735150571520_n.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Side two begins with a hard-rocking testimony song called <i>Lightshine</i>...complete with a <i>"Whoa-oa!" </i>from <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> that made the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention back in 1978. Those metal-edged guitar chords, Glenn's beautifully coarse vocal, and lyrics like <i>"Tell me why did you come, and why were we born where the dogs eat dog and the pigs get all the corn?"</i> made <i>Lightshine</i> an instant classic. Jesus Rock historian Ken Scott calls it a "flawless example of heavy, 70s-style, guitar-based, classic rock." </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fwkm-jC88DE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fwkm-jC88DE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Glenn Kaiser's</b> vocal and guitarist <b>Stu Heiss</b> are the stars of the show on <i>Lightshine</i>. Wendi joins her husband Glenn for a rare harmony vocal on the chorus. In the <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2014/10/75-rainbows-end-by-resurrection-band.html"><i><b>Rainbow's End</b></i> post</a>, I talked about <b>Glenn Kaiser's</b> voice. But I should briefly mention again that he possesses one of the all-time great singing voices in rock and roll history. And that is <i>not </i>hyperbole. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_i6uxOdiiPAnvIesuAVXFYBqfj56Z5cNUnMOx1gg6LMocoZVveEpOB3EvZmLCGd3fOz6pc89tRm6sul-jxzuNSqgE_XdhJCXpv8hkDuxIOhJOT6_2kXTREy1r7nQJDhGZTkGsEgi0VHX/s1600/28059155_10156191273499711_6180937744295638123_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="880" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_i6uxOdiiPAnvIesuAVXFYBqfj56Z5cNUnMOx1gg6LMocoZVveEpOB3EvZmLCGd3fOz6pc89tRm6sul-jxzuNSqgE_XdhJCXpv8hkDuxIOhJOT6_2kXTREy1r7nQJDhGZTkGsEgi0VHX/s400/28059155_10156191273499711_6180937744295638123_n.jpg" width="396" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next up was the strangest moment on the record. First of all, the Biblical account of Ananias and Saphira always freaked me out as a kid. I mean, it was pretty scary stuff, right? And then this song comes along, with <b>Jim Denton</b> singing a rare lead vocal in sort of a creepy way. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I wonder if you noticed</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>'Cause we sure enough are running out of time</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>No doubt in my mind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I can hear Him counting down</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ananias</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They'll carry you away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, Sapphira</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>She went that same day</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And secrets in your heart will sure enough tear you apart</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ananias and Saphira</i>, performed in a delta-blues style and featuring an acoustic slide guitar, is said to have been musically influenced by <b>Led Zeppelin</b>. It was definitely a memorable departure from the rest of the album.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sKBswCKLY0az_YlVbuIKecEioQs22XsWPU7-Q0hg4S09EZT_1jACD60ZkBAMNSwlPlE0rS8gD59vr0ADPbayNbQw0spP09oi6MZPSuuaDf45n3ms0ctzfjdwzcI0g4blPcvBqgEspS98/s1600/R-8839469-1469870803-5460.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="599" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sKBswCKLY0az_YlVbuIKecEioQs22XsWPU7-Q0hg4S09EZT_1jACD60ZkBAMNSwlPlE0rS8gD59vr0ADPbayNbQw0spP09oi6MZPSuuaDf45n3ms0ctzfjdwzcI0g4blPcvBqgEspS98/s400/R-8839469-1469870803-5460.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fifty-five seconds of madness kick off the next track, <i>The Death of the Dying</i>. It begins with what one reviewer described as "a cacophony of drums, bass, distorted guitars and weird vocal effects that gradually build in intensity until the song abruptly stops dead in its tracks." According to the "special thanks" section of liner notes, it also included snoring by <b>Tom Cameron</b>. If I ever played this one on my radio show back in the day, I probably cued it up to :56. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A plodding, heavy rock song, <b>The Death of the Dying</b> contained lyrics quite different from what was popular in Christian bookstores and on the radio in 1978:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Maniacs dangle on the lunatic fringe</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, on the edge of a razor and like a door without a hinge</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"The devil", they cackle, "could be ours in a cinch,"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Quicksand lies sound warning, yeah, yeah</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But they won't budge an inch</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Like Pilate, they fear the death of the Saint<br />Yet they fancy the diamonds, the palace, the paint</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The coward within them clings only to that<br />Of lace and white satin, "N</i></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">o blood on my hand."</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And in the finale, clutched tightly by pain<br />Their glass houses shattered, w</i></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">eeds bent in the rain</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>With a "Why?" in the mind and a curse on the tongue</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Death bellowing hungrily, shadows on sun</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They pass into all that they had ever sown</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Forsaking the answer, abdicating the throne</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If only they'd followed when Christ called and walked on</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, if only they'd followed when Christ called and walked on</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They'd have silenced the madness in the narrow road home</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They'd have silenced the madness in the narrow road home</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Glenn Kaiser</b> has said that <i>The Death of the Dying</i> was basically a creative way of illustrating Jesus question in Mark 8:36: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Nice, gritty guitar work on this one, but the band sounds a little sloppy and the vocal performance (Glenn and Wendi singing in unison) leaves a bit to be desired. Safe to say it's not my favorite track on the album.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Irish Garden</i> is quite a piece of work, traveling through several distinct musical stages. The dulcimer begins with an intro that spans the first thirty seconds or so, followed by a Celtic-inspired musical piece featuring <b>Kenny Soderblom's</b> flute over acoustic guitar. At the 1:11 mark, the sweet stuff gives way to harder-edged rock and roll, with Glenn belting out these lyrics about the conflict in Northern Ireland that was raging at the time (also known as "The Trouble")...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sitting in Irish garden, you melancholy bride</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, your children are dying - blood on the roadside</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Your people are helpless, and no one consoles you</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As bullets keep flying, filling you with holes</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why, oh, why did you run and hide?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>It's a cultural shock to the soul</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You sit in the flames of the fire you set</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The nation is out of control</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sitting in an Irish garden, you broken bride to be,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Rise up through your sorrow, Jesus makes you free</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here the tempo slows as Kaiser sings earnestly with only an acoustic guitar for accompaniment...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Olden days gone by, it was no so then</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Time to play, sing and dance in his holy land</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why did I hide from you, with the serpent at my heel?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm sorry for the way I must have made you feel</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The intensity returns as <b>Stu Heiss</b> unloads with a rough-and-tumble analog synthesizer solo...then Glenn returns to wrap up the song with a plaintive cry over sparse instrumentation... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Humble us to seek you, Father</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Heal our land so lost in sin</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Draw us from the bitter water to the garden once again</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This would mark the first time that <b>Resurrection Band</b> stuck their toe in political waters just a bit. It would not be the last.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpBHK5xEQHyMvLKqGG6KxyxvnKuCFBxg_ZtACgA7hatazbXU3y6t76REMlx0BxlZ1RVhE6T9eYo8qvN3uMpTIy0zVbo0wdGlwh_nxaBrrC5Y6mdHzMWqRJl7sFQk5aVXfrM-KGW7YOvvK/s1600/BeFunky-collagewendirez23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1471" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpBHK5xEQHyMvLKqGG6KxyxvnKuCFBxg_ZtACgA7hatazbXU3y6t76REMlx0BxlZ1RVhE6T9eYo8qvN3uMpTIy0zVbo0wdGlwh_nxaBrrC5Y6mdHzMWqRJl7sFQk5aVXfrM-KGW7YOvvK/s400/BeFunky-collagewendirez23.jpg" width="367" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This band has always been a bit of a dichotomy. On one hand, they always preached an uncompromised Gospel, presenting Jesus as the only way to eternal life (which some on the religious left would say is 'intolerant' or 'exclusionary' or even 'unkind'). They also stood firm against the holocaust of abortion, to the point of even being arrested during clinic protests in the 80s. But they have leaned left in other ways, causing Christian conservatives (like me) to scratch our heads from time to time.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSpfDa6tVo74czRbKx1dx8I8ht1DoNav1FS4W-awzBo7o6cEVz66VMyi0jPrxSNNbV4-IE3TdKdmNpw_Ag-K3mz0Om6N2-iRUrOxP_jaqMnPdbQEkdg-7vzyQx8yqJM5_HMelQk87fU-V/s1600/21529_10153974371874711_3151319440114064057_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSpfDa6tVo74czRbKx1dx8I8ht1DoNav1FS4W-awzBo7o6cEVz66VMyi0jPrxSNNbV4-IE3TdKdmNpw_Ag-K3mz0Om6N2-iRUrOxP_jaqMnPdbQEkdg-7vzyQx8yqJM5_HMelQk87fU-V/s1600/21529_10153974371874711_3151319440114064057_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In their music, the leftward tilt was most often expressed as a zeal against war, racism, and poverty. I mean, who's in favor of war, racism or poverty? Certainly no one I know. And the message was seldom divisive and heavy-handed. People of good faith could disagree on the details, could quibble around the edges and find fault with some of the conclusions drawn in some <b>Rez</b> songs, but it was never a deal-breaker. What united us was always so much greater than what threatened to divide us.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkr_kujvlPKdgTfm3GKY3GireHNjehdAoZ8cOGaJd9ussUdWDGcd-XZKU2dY-M1WiaEXT-0CuUeaHRQjax22gn8jmFCfLdBFC9-7rJmvYXPcngGdDHar5X0D5PO6fREiFrFW4G_iaSZq2/s1600/269108_10150253332469711_2700276_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkr_kujvlPKdgTfm3GKY3GireHNjehdAoZ8cOGaJd9ussUdWDGcd-XZKU2dY-M1WiaEXT-0CuUeaHRQjax22gn8jmFCfLdBFC9-7rJmvYXPcngGdDHar5X0D5PO6fREiFrFW4G_iaSZq2/s1600/269108_10150253332469711_2700276_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the rise of the internet and social media has been problematic. The internet is a blessing and a curse. So many current and former Jesus Music/CCM artists feel compelled to overshare on social media, alienating thousands of former supporters in the process. For the most part, <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> chooses his words carefully and avoids throwing political bombs that he knows would only serve to create controversy. That's smart. But he has said enough in magazine interviews, Facebook posts and blog posts to leave a guy like me feeling disheartened by some of his positions. I'll just leave it at that (we can debate details in the comments below if you'd like). That said, Kaiser does not come off in his online presence as an unhinged, left-wing kook, like a number of former CCM musicians do. That is to his credit. When you read his blog posts and Facebook comments, you can almost hear him wanting to be more blunt, more specific...but he usually manages to control that impulse. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxYbUc7CPeRnnmDCBnm1AAFujWz8DLhzVbYIDPzDKgeDBErArMijGXKiTDIvcHj6k98qY9ZH_DyM3rctlwvfwMz1J7bku52CjB6tHGwrT8Bba8yffU9FfSWOfKlWjfcM86oMKUV7f8V5U/s1600/21740846_1139737829491852_7644040985128201810_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxYbUc7CPeRnnmDCBnm1AAFujWz8DLhzVbYIDPzDKgeDBErArMijGXKiTDIvcHj6k98qY9ZH_DyM3rctlwvfwMz1J7bku52CjB6tHGwrT8Bba8yffU9FfSWOfKlWjfcM86oMKUV7f8V5U/s400/21740846_1139737829491852_7644040985128201810_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Again, what unites us is infinitely more important than political disagreements. At the end of the day, Kaiser's heart for God and passion to bring others to Jesus is what matters. Consider this quote from his book <i><b>The Responsibility of the Christian Musician</b></i>: "Jesus Christ <i>is</i> my life; music-making is simply one of the things I do to obey him. It is one act of worship among several."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKOZX5kzno_OkGcLaDP268FyIsAdc1Og-V3rpcNUN_D9RkG7WtnbqGuUZPsqG6YXF06l6A-vAGWhpEfVFtnuXBMEZcqpNf-vo7Zamln9wEbb7f54Y7i9YT2l5EGeAzLxuSWDkXjkIdSFL/s1600/glenn-kaiser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKOZX5kzno_OkGcLaDP268FyIsAdc1Og-V3rpcNUN_D9RkG7WtnbqGuUZPsqG6YXF06l6A-vAGWhpEfVFtnuXBMEZcqpNf-vo7Zamln9wEbb7f54Y7i9YT2l5EGeAzLxuSWDkXjkIdSFL/s1600/glenn-kaiser.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b> wraps up with a laid back second-coming anthem that has a jazz and blues feel. It's called <i>The Return</i>, and it features <b>Stu Heiss's</b> guitar, <b>Kenny Soderblom's</b> saxophone, and even strings and a Fender Rhodes. <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> has a scratch in his throat that makes it sound like he's been gargling with gasoline (and that's a good thing) as he sings these hopeful lines...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I know it won't be long</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Until the Saviour comes</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, and if you're weary, weary</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Keep on praying</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sometimes we do get down</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>With no one else around</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But in those quiet times</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>He whispers, "You are mine and I love you"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Sometimes we know we're wrong</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And we feel so far from home</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But if you'll listen</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You'll hear His gentle voice saying, "You belong"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The cares of life they sting</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But when we see the King</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, they'll melt away just like the snows in spring</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>No more tears, no more crying</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Behold, I come quickly</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And every eye shall see</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh, every tongue will swear to me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I am the Saviour and I love you."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blogger David Lowman said <i>The Return</i> was "such a great melody and the perfect way to end the album." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And thus concludes a record that would forever alter the possibilities of what Christian music could be. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3eChq7alWFnSVJdjheJRLiQMKHCHCwFT0LRWL39OzPsLB9sbIoVYGTtZMl040IH3aEj9b6DqwuNIcJZuDDPsnm2lzMwPB99qmrpmUSpQ7W9kY65nfliE88eFvKN0tseJHKUkLYJd6m_U/s1600/17218300_10155162844444711_5390408894048391126_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3eChq7alWFnSVJdjheJRLiQMKHCHCwFT0LRWL39OzPsLB9sbIoVYGTtZMl040IH3aEj9b6DqwuNIcJZuDDPsnm2lzMwPB99qmrpmUSpQ7W9kY65nfliE88eFvKN0tseJHKUkLYJd6m_U/s400/17218300_10155162844444711_5390408894048391126_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Again quoting Lowman: "This little band out of a Chicago commune had crafted a damn great album filled with great songs, powerful social messages, and unforgettable rock and roll."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8FXXC4of7fWwkNLk1BDpMuSxNRpTPJmEHfPUFcJyug2jmReTwz7uTFV0_gG9QvDg4kZWB3C6nU_KHTk67BE-p6CcMkqIkQe7sLxdVob-jxSD6aeLJYxSJfLmxXdcgk6HHx8ycTNyXWDD/s1600/R-8839469-1469870797-2942.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8FXXC4of7fWwkNLk1BDpMuSxNRpTPJmEHfPUFcJyug2jmReTwz7uTFV0_gG9QvDg4kZWB3C6nU_KHTk67BE-p6CcMkqIkQe7sLxdVob-jxSD6aeLJYxSJfLmxXdcgk6HHx8ycTNyXWDD/s400/R-8839469-1469870797-2942.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2001, <i><b>Awaiting Your Reply</b></i> was listed at No. 91 in the book, <b><i>CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music</i></b>. Which is ridiculously low, but at least it was included on a list that was culled from every CCM album ever recorded up to that point. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbTcp723opzd5PDzJJRhgV_deoer4WVsPStZ_myZsoQqVwUdo1Khyphenhyphenh-vZMcpcqNUszWGvbcowTc1yTNkqqWJovGS5-iyTLkX72tRhYiVJpqKtBGm5wqMj-Y-mJjWrWStOXHGPB0gHjO4B/s1600/R-8839469-1469870787-9160.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbTcp723opzd5PDzJJRhgV_deoer4WVsPStZ_myZsoQqVwUdo1Khyphenhyphenh-vZMcpcqNUszWGvbcowTc1yTNkqqWJovGS5-iyTLkX72tRhYiVJpqKtBGm5wqMj-Y-mJjWrWStOXHGPB0gHjO4B/s400/R-8839469-1469870787-9160.jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<b>Resurrection Band</b> is a world-class, innovative rock band that has had a transforming effect on their genre," wrote historian Mark Allan Powell in his <i><b>Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. </b></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXMeULsXxm0El_RkVhX03VYcnJ1Il9ZQepJfFaOoZt4QdoxZjcJYHD4zYMv99x5wx3upXHrXGGXNGOkhHOBoW4s7Fcvw1vUNkev1EhHLcgpqqsGaf3Y5V0H67W2YbNZ_0yLQauKkTV44S/s1600/BeFunky-collagewendirez23gwk5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="934" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXMeULsXxm0El_RkVhX03VYcnJ1Il9ZQepJfFaOoZt4QdoxZjcJYHD4zYMv99x5wx3upXHrXGGXNGOkhHOBoW4s7Fcvw1vUNkev1EhHLcgpqqsGaf3Y5V0H67W2YbNZ_0yLQauKkTV44S/s640/BeFunky-collagewendirez23gwk5.jpg" width="372" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaOpPdrwxrQYRnaxmmLya4G8_bH0biL-SwK2mKwdb0NvwAAg30pVX-bNKdrrwsHNZybM4AJmnh5XJY15IPWqmBKNVfG5gyK1FHSU8k9iqdbZO-RNWN9wmtfxW2_Fj5iJ9uBeXtTDuoVvKd/s1600/BeFunky-collagewendirez23gwk55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="934" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaOpPdrwxrQYRnaxmmLya4G8_bH0biL-SwK2mKwdb0NvwAAg30pVX-bNKdrrwsHNZybM4AJmnh5XJY15IPWqmBKNVfG5gyK1FHSU8k9iqdbZO-RNWN9wmtfxW2_Fj5iJ9uBeXtTDuoVvKd/s640/BeFunky-collagewendirez23gwk55.jpg" width="372" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Resurrection Band</b> eventually shortened the moniker to <b>Rez Band</b> and then to <b>REZ</b>. They went wide open, 100+ miles per hour through the 80s and most of the 90s, releasing a string of albums and music videos and touring non-stop. The band's primary message and musical language remained remarkably consistent, although they did tip their cap to new musical iterations such as new wave and synth-pop as those trends came and went. But a <b>REZ</b> concert always ended with <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> not only telling the audience about Jesus but also signing up new members into the family of God (if I may say it that way). </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bDLPrhPAiGPqYY3QxmmgZsEDaEngcrSzYLCjjRW312sLkG5p3NfkuN7AWKoPjV6EHbPioRCdgQjd2cCrex12MhTTSI49iMFHGVlSJBix7XsaO7xAEv4gpJuup93ouIEY4WtknkgDgga_/s1600/34721528_10156474343754711_4329496380633513984_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6bDLPrhPAiGPqYY3QxmmgZsEDaEngcrSzYLCjjRW312sLkG5p3NfkuN7AWKoPjV6EHbPioRCdgQjd2cCrex12MhTTSI49iMFHGVlSJBix7XsaO7xAEv4gpJuup93ouIEY4WtknkgDgga_/s400/34721528_10156474343754711_4329496380633513984_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A more recent photo of <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> and <b>Rob Cassels</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a quick personal aside, the biggest thrill for me at my first radio gig was being given the opportunity to "emcee" a <b>Rez Band</b> concert in my hometown of Greenville, SC in December of 1985. The <b>Rob Cassels Band</b> opened the show and the concert had to be moved at the last minute from Spartanburg to Greenville, causing confusion and depressing the turnout. The promoter probably lost his shirt that night...but I was happier than a pig in a mud puddle just to be hosting <b>Resurrection Band</b>. After all, they didn't travel to the deep south all that often. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It should be noted that the marriage of <b>Glenn and Wendi Kaiser</b> stands as a rare success story among Christian rock artists. If my math is right, they've been married 47 years as I type these words. "Wendi is my best friend, and she's the most beautiful person I have ever known," <b>Glenn Kaiser</b> has been quoted as saying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Glenn was asked in a 2015 interview with Gabe Jones what he's most proud of when it comes to the <b>REZ</b> years. Kaiser didn't hesitate: "Many came to saving faith and I think much of our art stands on its own merit in both lyrics that dealt with real-world issues as well as music worth listening to, with both teeth and heart. I'm very grateful to God for the band and those many years!" As are we, Glenn. As are we.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the words of <b>Jolly Jonah Jamison</b>...<i>"Well, I guess that's all folks!"</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fun Facts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• In the liner notes for <b><i>Awaiting Your Reply</i></b>, the band thanks Gospel Rock pioneer <b>Randy Matthews</b> for advice and encouragement. They also write, "We thank the Lord for <b>Keith Green</b> and his burden for discipleship and the hours we wasted at night listening to his jokes." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• Radio host <b>Jerry Bryant</b> is also thanked in the album's liner notes "for being such a good example to us all." And <b>Bob Sperlazzo</b> and <b>John Vassal </b>are singled out "for bringing contemporary Christian music to Chicago."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• Since 1907, <b>WBCR</b> (mentioned in the album's spoken-word intro by <b>Jolly Jonah Jamison</b>, has been Southern Wisconsin's & Northern Illinois's premiere station for independent programming (according to the station website). "We'd love to have you sign up for a show with us or send us your music," they say. "Programming is open to students, faculty, staff and community members."</span><br />
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<br />Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-91011654815996515352018-11-13T13:34:00.002-08:002018-11-13T13:44:45.324-08:00Remembering Kurt Kaiser<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You may not be instantly familiar with the name <b>Kurt Kaiser</b>...but if you were a church kid in the late 60s and early 70s, you probably sang his songs and listened to his ground-breaking youth musicals. <b>Kurt Kaiser</b>, writer of the familiar songs <i>Pass It On </i>and <i>Oh How He Loves You and Me</i>, passed from this life on Monday, November 12 at his Waco, Texas home following a long illness. He was 83 years old.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser had a six-decade-long career in composing, playing, arranging and producing Christian music. His songs, found in dozens of contemporary hymnals and songbooks, are sung by millions of Christians around the world. He was instrumental in the launch and growth of Waco-based <b>Word Music</b>, which became a juggernaut in the Christian music and publishing industries. Kaiser served as vice president and director of music during his years there. Word was the parent company of the Jesus Music label <b>Myrrh Records</b> and provided distribution for smaller Jesus Music labels such as <b>Good News, NewSong</b>, <b>Seed</b> and<b> Solid Rock</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Born in Chicago, Kurt Kaiser surrendered his life to Christ as a child. "I was 7 years old when one Sunday evening we were all gathered around the piano in the living room of our home, singing, as was our custom each week," he remembered. "I began having a real urge from the Spirit of God to know Him and to give my heart and life to Christ. My mother went with me to my bedroom, and we knelt down by the bed and I accepted Christ into my life." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser moved to the Lone Star state in 1959 with his wife Pat and family. He became involved with Baylor University while his four children attended school there. He was also involved in the <b>Waco Symphony Orchestra </b>and in <b>Seventh & James Baptist Church</b> before helping to start <b>Dayspring Baptist Church</b>, where he was a member, along with his wife Pat.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the 1960s and 1970s, Kaiser and <b>Ralph Carmichael</b> pioneered Christian youth musicals such as <b><i>Tell It Like It Is</i></b> and <b><i>Natural High</i></b>. These musicals had a tremendous influence on church culture. Kaiser's time at <b>Word Records</b>, both the songs he wrote and the recordings he oversaw, planted seeds with young Christians that would shape much of what later came to be known as contemporary Christian music.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a sampling of tributes and memories that have come pouring in online:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“<b><i>Tell It Like It Is.</i></b> Summer 1969. Our youth group performed this musical for an entire week at my home church in Ferriday, LA. I was 15 years old. The church was packed each night. So grateful to <b>Kurt Kaiser</b> & <b>Ralph Carmichael</b> for providing what was to be the beginning of my singing Christian music & early Spiritual growth.<br />-<b>Bruce Fields</b> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kurt was one of the gentlest, sweetest souls who ever lived, a true gentleman. He recorded a beautiful Christmas album late in life, just him at the piano with a little instrumental background. It is one of my favorites every year. It sounds like who he was, warm and lovely. A life well lived. <br />-<b>Jamie Owens Collins</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I used to sing in a band in my church youth group that traveled around in the Madison, Wisconsin area in the late 60's performing at churches, retirement homes, banquets and whoever else would have us. I remember us doing a lot of Kurt's music...fond memories. I think I could still remember every word to a lot of those songs</span>...<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> He definitely left his imprint on the hearts of many... <br />-<b>Susan Miller</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember learning this at church youth camp when I was about 16. I was learning guitar at the same time and this song (<i>Pass It On</i>) was easy to play. I remember some old timers in my home church thought this was "Hippie Music." Now, decades later, it's in our hymnal! <br />-<b>Dave Burkhart</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser came to the fore at a time when teens like myself wanted a spiritual musical expression that was closer to the <b>Beatles</b> than <b>Bach</b>, closer to <b>Wings</b> than <b>Watts</b>. I sang and played <i>Pass It On</i> and <i>Oh How He Loves You And Me</i> at youth groups meetings and camps, not realizing how the songs' theologies of evangelism and grace were permeating my thinking and spiritual life. Kaiser was truly a pioneer among</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> contemporary Christian musicians. Although his songs may seem trite to today's ears, his legacy will live on through numerous music fans and musicians. <br />-<b>Robert White</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“He was a remarkable combination of musical excellence that could not be challenged, and heart and an ear for what the youth of American churches wanted to say,” said </span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terry York</b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, professor of Christian ministry and church music in Baylor University’s <b>Truett Seminary</b> as well as a longtime member of </span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dayspring Baptist Church</b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. “Kids would hear a song, have tears in their eyes and then whistle it for the rest of their lives.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser’s piano playing was marked by his remarkable ability to improvise, a skill he put to use early as a teenager when he played live for radio programs in Chicago, then Billings, Montana. Colleagues also noted his large hands enabled rich, full chords that often showed up in his writing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Kurt was the musical heart and soul of Word," said Baylor professor and CCM historian <b>Bob Darden</b>. "His musical chops, perfect pitch and gracious demeanor in the studio convinced many to sign with Word. He was such a nurturing guy.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser’s compositions number more than 300 copyrighted songs, the most famous of which are <i>Pass It On</i> and <i>Oh How He Loves You And Me</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />"Through the years I had been in the habit of keeping my ears tuned to things that people say, a phrase that may give me an idea for a song," Kaiser said. "I’d write it down quickly. Occasionally, I would pull these things out and look at them. One day I came across this line, <i>Oh how He loves you and me</i>, and I wrote it down. I remember very well writing it across the top of a piece of manuscript paper, and that’s all I had. Well, in 1975 I sat down to think about that phrase and the whole song quickly came to me. I could not have spent more than 10 or 15 minutes writing the whole of it. That’s how rapidly it all came, the lyrics and the melody together. I sent it off to secure a copyright. I could not believe what came back in the mail. The Copyright Office in Washington said that there was not enough original lyric to warrant the granting of a copyright. I was extremely disappointed because I knew the song was very singable. A couple of days went by and I decided to write a companion verse or a second set</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of lyrics. I sent it back to Washington, and this time I got the copyright."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh How He Loves You and Me</i>” has traveled far and wide and into the hearts of millions of people. Many hymnals and chorus books have included it, as well as numerous choral collections.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser's most famous and best-loved song was born in the late sixties. "In 1969, <b>Ralph Carmichael </b>and I collaborated on a musical, <b><i>Tell It Like It Is</i></b>," Kaiser remembered. "It was written to get young people involved in the Church. After reviewing what we had written, we decided there needed to be a closer, a modern <i>Just As I Am</i>. Well, on a Sunday night I was sitting in our den by the fireplace where there were remnants of a fire, and it occurred to me that it only takes a spark to get a fire going...and the rest came very quickly. My wife suggested that I should say something about shouting it from mountain tops, and that ended up in the third verse. It only took about 20 minutes to write the lyrics. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Afterward, my wife and I went for a walk, letting the song ruminate in our minds."</span></div>
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<i style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pass It On</i><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was recorded by many artists, most notably by </span><b style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Evie Tornquist</b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. "I am always amazed how the Lord can take a little song and use it to reach so many people," Kaiser said. "It has been sung at countless weddings and funerals, at ordination services, by the Sea of Galilee, in Rhodesia, on the aircraft carrier Enterprise, and lots and lots of camps."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Christian youth musicals of the sixties and seventies had a major impact on church youth culture, defining the genre. And <b>Kurt Kaiser</b> played an outsized role in creating those musicals. <i>Pass It On</i> gained traction in broader church circles when it appeared in at least eleven hymnals.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser's writing and recording, with 16 solo albums to his credit, earned him a <b>Lifetime Achievement Award</b> from the <b>American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers</b> as well as election to the <b>Gospel Music Hall of Fame</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He held degrees from the <b>American Conservatory of Music</b> and <b>Northwestern University</b> and was awarded the <b>Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service</b> by Baylor in 2017.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser’s lasting impact was with the millions of listeners and singers united in their faith by his work. “His songs created community,” said Baylor University's <b>Terry York</b>. “Especially in our day and time, that’s so important.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kaiser is survived by his wife Pat, as well as four children and their spouses. Other survivors include 10 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a sister and three brothers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Kurt Kaiser's life will always serve as a reminder that it only takes a spark...</span></div>
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Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3378213382666051101.post-62485139211572256222018-05-16T11:18:00.000-07:002019-02-22T12:34:21.990-08:00#33 FIRST THINGS FIRST by Bob Bennett (1979)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FIRST THINGS FIRST by Bob Bennett (1979)<br />
Maranatha! Music MM0061A</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I'm glad it was 1979 and I'm glad I was 24 years old. Because I'm telling you, if it was 2007, I would never have been signed to a label. I would never have gotten off the ground. I would've had no opportunity to do this at all. Now, eventually, everyone enters the do-it-yourself world and you can record an album on your Mac and all of that. But in terms of affiliations with a record company, if I hadn't gotten in on the deal in the 70s I don't think anybody would've touched me. Because I don't have the look or the persona. There's a lot of things that I don't have that are valued by big media conglomerates. So the fact that Maranatha took a chance on me and let me do it, I consider that to be very good fortune."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Bob Bennett</b> is a husband and a father. He's also an affable guy who seems to find common ground with most everyone he meets. He can be self-deprecating in a very endearing way. His razor-sharp sense of humor has served him well over the years. He also just happens to be one of the most gifted artists you're ever likely to hear in the Singer-Songwriter genre. He has crisscrossed the nation more times than even he knows, sharing his songs and stories with audiences large and small - everything from the opening slot for <b>Amy Grant's</b> <i>Unguarded</i> tour in expansive arenas to intimate house concerts for a few close friends. He has recorded albums that received abundant praise from critics and songs that were played ad nauseam by Christian radio stations. But other equally impressive albums and songs of his seemed to be noticed and appreciated only by hardcore fans. He's a poet who long ago found a way to wed musical notes with words on a page to tell appealing stories that we have remembered for decades. His songs have breathed new life into historical accounts from the pages of Scripture, and he has also created fictional characters from modern life that seem so real, we could swear that we've met them sometime, someplace. He was a good singer in the 70s and 80s, and he has apparently taken great care of his vocal cords over the years because he's still a good singer today (maybe that's partly because his songs don't typically call for a lot of screaming or high notes of the <i>dog whistle</i> variety). He's always been an underrated guitarist. Mostly, he's just a really effective communicator. In short, <b>Bob Bennett</b> is a treasure...a gift from God to the body of Christ. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I get the privilege of giving people language to describe things that they probably already know to be true," Bennett told me during a phone interview in April 2018. "I get to provide language. When you hear a song and you resonate with it, generally speaking, there's an aspect of that song or that story that you already know and kind of recognize when you hear it. So the listener is always the final arbiter of what a song means or how useful it is. That's the sacred bargain. That's why it's so much fun to get up in front of people, forty years later, singing the same songs, because the audience always brings who they are to the listening. And it's a great privilege to be a part of that night after night." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Born in Downey, California, in 1955, Bob first began to play guitar as a pre-teen. Then he pursued music in stereotypical fashion by forming a rock and roll band during high school years. Raised Catholic, Bennett's path to a personal relationship with Jesus was influenced by a secular record store and a Jesus Music album. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bob Bennett</b> (L) and <b>Dan Rupple</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"When I started reading my little <i>Good News for Modern Man</i>," Bennett remembers, "and trying to think about this Christianity thing and was this for me, not only was the Hound of Heaven after me in terms of the Holy Spirit, but it seemed like almost every circumstance was pointing me toward the Lord. It's like when you buy a particular model of car and then all of a sudden you see them all over the freeway (because you're driving one now). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, at the time I was working at a <b>Licorice Pizza</b> record store. It was a chain out here in Southern California, and the 'licorice pizza' was a vinyl LP. You know, in the cannabis haze of the 70s it was like, <i>'Hey, cool, man! It's a licorice pizza!' "</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZoxEEI4iUVKyRj9GFVuo4lGCR4FUqfSSyKRDbBiYimGj4NOc9eNxNN6uefd35DMFw3ORgzbXOikeWuvXimWxx40ozAB-TLNve3E2Y8Goe1sykXB1LhHEtWf-5ObvTOW9VWcweGF_oZkl/s1600/f8f24c666fc80771693bda4a1a1fc1b9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXZoxEEI4iUVKyRj9GFVuo4lGCR4FUqfSSyKRDbBiYimGj4NOc9eNxNN6uefd35DMFw3ORgzbXOikeWuvXimWxx40ozAB-TLNve3E2Y8Goe1sykXB1LhHEtWf-5ObvTOW9VWcweGF_oZkl/s400/f8f24c666fc80771693bda4a1a1fc1b9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob continued: "But <b>Dan Rupple</b>, my best friend in this world (who co-founded <b>Isaac Air Freight</b>), he and I both worked in this record store. So what that meant was that we ended up having a great Christian music section in this secular record store. We had a better Christian music section than the Bible bookstore down the street. So what happened was that we started ordering in all of these Jesus Music albums and then we would listen to them in the store. And that's when I first heard the album <b><i>Love Broke Thru</i></b> by <b>Phil Keaggy</b>." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm31W6A4rEeKKvPkKF5eoSMddn79w015S0WZD_-O8c0ONo2-0cwyLnueI5AcFgmWJcwcChV4bVipnyRNVf0WnEgVfAONTW_3RDlXqJp1TXkeSsIv6TrNR44qO0aQoRQ9dB7NQq2zU78WQW/s1600/R-4930454-1379768975-1863_jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm31W6A4rEeKKvPkKF5eoSMddn79w015S0WZD_-O8c0ONo2-0cwyLnueI5AcFgmWJcwcChV4bVipnyRNVf0WnEgVfAONTW_3RDlXqJp1TXkeSsIv6TrNR44qO0aQoRQ9dB7NQq2zU78WQW/s400/R-4930454-1379768975-1863_jpeg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Well, the song that was very much a part of my conversion experience," Bob said, "in terms of sowing seeds that later came to fruition, was a song called <i>As The Ruin Falls</i> which is based on a <b>C.S. Lewis</b> poem. You weren't going to convince me that I was a bad enough guy to need salvation because I had murdered somebody or robbed a bank or something - I was grading on a curve so I didn't get it. But in <i>As The Ruin Falls</i>, Lewis talks about his own self-centeredness - <i>I want everybody to serve my turn, I even want God to serve me, the world revolves around me.</i> That's basically what that lyric is copping to. Well, that was a shoe that fit. That's what really convinced me that I had culpability...in real time." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bennett</b> and <b>Rupple</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So that was 1977. How did <b>Bob Bennett</b> go from <b>Licorice Pizza</b> to <b>Maranatha! Music?</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<b>Dan Rupple</b> and I were roommates at the time and we basically both started going to a local Calvary Chapel out here," Bennett told me. "I sort of half-seriously/half-jokingly call that era the <i>'Don't Miss the Rapture 70s.'</i> Truthfully, that was the hook that got me through the door and then what kept me was the basic Gospel that was taught. So I went to a Calvary Chapel-associated church in my hometown of Downey but I eventually sort of wound up at the Mother Ship because I had heard a lot about it and I was also very much drawn to the Saturday Night Concerts. For many, many years, under two or three different hosts, they held weekly Saturday night concerts. We didn't even know what to call it back then; maybe Jesus Music was as close as anybody ever got to putting a label on it." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once he arrived at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, <b>Bob Bennett</b> was influenced in a positive way by another Jesus Music pioneer. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq7R-7npVzSuYjOckDeihtQsUSq5tA6fpJ964bGozASkxgdUyS0RJsDPfQhciKCMUShSxMNAyx4gK1UsvTA8juCxtsmSvlIDFgvW9QGGQMwbpCuFwRiZrz5hr3jC8kPMvI0V4w8EYA3pW/s1600/BeFunky-collage+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1600" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq7R-7npVzSuYjOckDeihtQsUSq5tA6fpJ964bGozASkxgdUyS0RJsDPfQhciKCMUShSxMNAyx4gK1UsvTA8juCxtsmSvlIDFgvW9QGGQMwbpCuFwRiZrz5hr3jC8kPMvI0V4w8EYA3pW/s400/BeFunky-collage+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malcolm Wild in the 70s (L) and today</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He continues: "What happened at the time was that <b>Malcolm Wild</b> of <b>Malcolm & Alwyn</b>, who were sort of inventing the wheel over in the U.K. for what was happening here in the U.S., he moved over here and went on staff at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and as part of his work there started leading a Sunday afternoon musician's fellowship. And so, there were a bunch of different folks who were sort of aspiring to write and sing songs and perhaps be the next generation of the Jesus Music musicians or whatever, and Malcolm led that fellowship and it was really a great opportunity because it was really good, sort of, early discipling for us - to have somebody who'd already been there and done that kind of tell us, you know, what the work was about. And as a result of that, I became associated with Maranatha! Music and actually took a job and was an intern there before my first album came out."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hey, a job at Maranatha? Sounds impressive, right? Well...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I basically answered all of the unsolicited cassettes and music that was sent in - instead of <b>Tommy Coomes</b> doing it, I did it," Bennett revealed. So, dear reader, if you ever sent a demo to Maranatha back in the day and got a <i>"thanks, but no thanks"</i> response...who knows, you just might've been corresponding with a young <b>Bob Bennett</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"And that was my first association with the label," Bob said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I realized that so many of the 'Saturday night' artists were recording on Maranatha," Bennett says, "and eventually I came to their attention. Initially, I had a song on a compilation album that they did; the song was called <i>Spiritual Equation</i> and it actually predated anything that happened on my first album. Then, as a result of that association, they offered me the chance to do <b><i>First Things First</i></b>." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked Bob about the meaning behind the album title. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I saw the words <i>First Things First</i> on a coffee cup," he said. "And I was young enough and inexperienced enough not to know that 'first things first' is kind of a twelve-step concept or slogan. So I didn't know that, but when I ran across <i>first things first</i>, I thought...<i>my first album</i>...<i>my first songs</i>...<i>perfect!</i> It was as simple as that." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So here's a 24-year old who is only two years old in the faith, with a fistful of great songs but very little experience in the studio. What to do? Why, put him in the very capable hands of <b>Jonathan David Brown</b>, of course.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jonathan David Brown</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"For those who would characterize the late <b>Jonathan Brown</b> as sort of a mad professor, that would be an apt description," Bennett says with a smile. "And I mean that in a good way. Jonathan had a way of making records where he could take a very modest budget and make it sound like about two or three times as much as that amount of money would normally yield. He was such a canny producer and engineer. He was in some ways very precise and wanted what he wanted - and sometimes in order to make works of art, you butt heads a little bit. And that sometimes happened. But mostly, <b>Jonathan Brown</b> taught me how to make records." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">In the studio (1991): Jonathan David Brown, David Wilcox, Bob Bennett (L-R)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bennett continued: "Working with Jonathan basically got me oriented toward the process that I would in one way or another draw upon for everything that came after that. So it was very cool to have that focus. There's nothing quite like being on the hunt for a creative endeavor when you're making a record, there's nothing like it. When you walk into the studio and it's like,<i> 'OK, we're working on an album now, we're going to do the basic tracks, the overdubs, the vocals'</i>...in fact, probably not with the first one so much, but with almost every album that came afterwards, the notion of going into a studio and making a record was such a fertile and creative environment that I virtually would write songs while we were recording that would then also wind up on the album. Because it was so inspiring and so wonderful to be doing that. And so almost every album that I recorded after <b><i>First Things First</i></b> contains songs that showed up at the last minute during the process itself."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did Bob come into the studio armed with songs that didn't make the cut, I wondered? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I did have a few leftovers," he admits, "a couple of which have never made it to a recording - a couple for good reason, frankly. But it's really funny - with me, subsequent to the first album, almost nothing goes to waste. I've written and recorded almost everything that's kind of come down the pike. They say that your first album is the result of ten or fifteen years, and your second album is the result of one or two years after that. What's funny is that I didn't have that much time. With me, it would've been about a two year period, because I came to serious faith in March of 1977 and by the time September of 1979 rolled around we were almost done with this record." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we drop the needle on <b><i>First Things First</i></b>, the first song we hear is <i>Carpenter Gone Bad</i>. It's almost impossible to believe that this song was written by someone we would call "a baby Christian."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A unique take on the life and ministry of Jesus, <i>Carpenter Gone Bad</i> is a song <b>Bob Bennett</b> still sings today in concerts. "As I'm speaking to you right now, I am 63 years old," he said. "And when I sing the song that that 22-year old wrote and I can still mean it and not hang my head and not be embarrassed or whatever, that's kind of a neat thing. I love it when songs have a shelf life."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>There's a man down in the street</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Says He's the Messiah</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Telling people He is the Chosen One</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Says that He is in the Father</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And the Father's in the Son</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Empty nets made full of fish</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And blind eyes that see</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Didn't He used to work with wood in Galilee?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Now He's in the synagogue</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Telling people they are wrong</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>To live as whitewashed tombs</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Full of dead men's bones</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People talking about Him wherever I go</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They say He teaches with authority</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Is there something I don't know?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They say it is His fervent prayer</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>That we stay in the Father's care</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And believe that He is the Word made man</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some say He is the Son of God</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Others laugh and call Him mad</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Well do you think He's who He says He is</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Or just a carpenter gone bad?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The best payday for a songwriter," Bennett said, "is when a song not only evokes nostalgia (because after a certain amount of time it will do that) but that it also is still meaningful in the present tense." Musically, <i>Carpenter Gone Bad</i> was presented in a gentle, acoustic folk style for which Bob would eventually become known.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e9uZaAWT400/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e9uZaAWT400?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I told Bob I felt that the album's next track, <i>The Night Shift</i>, was a preview of things to come. In the song, he took characters that had no names and he brilliantly described their lives and situations to the point that we, the listeners, could just close our eyes and see them in our mind's eye. They were from different walks of life but had in common the fact that they were searching for meaning in their lives. And yet Bennett resisted the urge to have them all meet up at a church during the last verse, walk the aisle and "get saved." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"You're speaking back to me exactly what I had hoped for, even at that young age," he responded. "<i>The Night Shift</i> does indeed prefigure a lot of the songs of mine that came later because it was the most atypical kind of Jesus Music song on the record and it gave me my first glimpse that songs did not need to be the Four Spiritual Laws set to music. They didn't need to be complete, compact, let's give an altar call at the end - that it was OK to sketch things out. I think the best songs give people room to maneuver. When you talk about closing your eyes to interact with the story - I think that's one of the best things a song can do. Because a song will give me language to understand things and think about things, but I think the best songs engage you in such a way that they not only tell their story but then you can connect up your own story with it. It's the wonderful, almost incongruent thought that the more specific I can be sometimes in my own details, the more specificity it will allow you to have. It's almost like bouncing a ball against the wall. A song gives you something to bounce your own stories up against as well as listening to the story itself. I'm a huge believer in songs that are tightly written in terms of craft, but not so tightly written in terms of content that it sends the subtle message, <i>'Hey pal, I'm the songwriter and it's my way or the highway.'</i> I love the fact that the listener brings who they are and where they've been and what they know to the listening of the song and that's the sacred bargain that makes my job so great. That's why I don't get bored out of my mind singing <b>Bob Bennett</b> songs year after year. It's because of the people listening to them." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Somewhere a child is crying himself to sleep</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As I pray the Lord my soul to keep</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As my last amen slowly fades away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The night shift takes over for the dying day</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A short order; facial reflection</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Glares back from a spot on the grill</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And the only sound that makes sense anymore</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Is the jingle of change in the till</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Coffee and conversation, still the tune doesn't feel quite right</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Like an ongoing curse, things have been getting worse</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ever since he started working the night</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A lady paints her eyelids up golden because they reflect the neon light</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And she waits for the man of her dreams to dance across the floor tonight</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>She swears there's no commitment, but you know that she's looking for one</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But she settles for less because she figures it's best to do it in the name of fun</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A soon-to-be-famous musician</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Cranks out top-40 tunes in the bar</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>While his mind is somewhere on vacation</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Far away from his voice and guitar</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seeking a cheap imitation, Valentino tries vainly to score</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But it's forty-five on and fifteen off</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>There's just got to be something more</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He says to himself: "is there really something more?"</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Can anybody tell me, can anybody tell me what I am living for?" </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I noted that the song seemed to have 2 or 3 distinct musical movements, and how unusual it was for a 6 and a half minute song to occupy the #2 hole on a record.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Some of that was due to the fact that the great <b>Harlan Rogers</b> was in the studio" Bob answered, "and we came up with the idea to do that vamp part before it kicks in, and a little bit of a breakdown in the middle...you know, when you've got Harlan in the studio, it's like, <i>'We've got to let this guy do some stuff.'</i> The song in concert is a little more straight ahead when I do it by myself. But on the produced version we were able to work in some different textures." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob also related a story about getting some unexpected airplay, thanks to <i>The Night Shift</i>: "Back before AAA was really a radio format, there was a station out here in Los Angeles called <b>KNX-FM</b>, and they played great songs. That's where I first heard <b>David Wilcox</b> and several others - it was kind of adult-oriented rock and pop music. Well, somebody at that station got ahold of my album and played <i>The Night Shift</i> a few times - in regular rotation on this secular radio station, a station that I listened to, a station that was on my dial in the car all the time. So the first time I heard that song come across the speakers on <b>KNX-FM</b>, I was like,<i> 'Oh, wow.' </i>It was really cool."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob had told me that there's one song on the record that he's just not fond of. I correctly guessed that it would be <i>Whistling in the Dark. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Yep," he replied. "I had a situation where I wanted to 'lay it on the line' for somebody and so I tried to do that by way of that song. So, of course, the offending lines to me are...<br /><i><br />Jesus said He was the way and you must be born again / If you disagree, don't complain to me, You can argue with Him.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i>Maybe, seemingly, fairly innocuous. Until you really think about it. It's kind of like when you walk into a supermarket and there's a sign up on the door that says 'seeing eye dogs only.' <b>David Brenner</b> used to ask, <i>'Who is that sign for?</i> <i>How's that gonna help anybody?'</i> Well, <i>Whistling in the Dark</i> is a little bit like that sign. It sort of rallies the troops in pep rally fashion and makes everybody go, <i>'Yeah!'</i> But to anybody that's a real seeker and inquirer, that's just going to be a smart-alecky and unhelpful thing to say to them. As a young man, I thought it was kind of cool, but not long after I recorded it I wished I hadn't done it. If I could pull one song out of circulation and make it disappear into the black hole of <i>Gosh, I Didn't Do That..</i>.that would be the one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, even <i>Whistling in the Dark</i> had its positives. <b>Kelly Willard</b> and <b>Bruce Hibbard</b> turned in some great performances on backing harmonies and the great <b>Al Perkins</b> played guitar. "And, of course, I knew exactly who <b>Al Perkins</b> was," says <b>Bob Bennett</b>. "To have him in the studio was great."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Next up was a song that <b>Bob Bennett</b> didn't write...but wishes he did. "<i>The Best</i> was written by a guy named <b>John Fowler</b>," Bob said. "And when I cover other people's songs, it's because I say to myself, <i>'Oh man, I really wish I had written that.'</i> I always point out to people: yes, <b>Dion Dimucci </b>had a hit with it and did a fabulous version of it, but he heard it and learned it off of my album! And I know that because I talked to him about it."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Best</i> features a peddle steel guitar and works really well on a <b>Bob Bennett</b> record for a couple of reasons. <br /><br />First...</span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I sit around and make up clever lines / And toss them out as they dance through my mind </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">sounds just like something <b>Bob Bennett</b> would write, am I right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Secondly...<i>Now I can talk all night till I'm blue in the face / Present my argument and state my case / But I'd rather tell you of His wondrous grace</i>...does that not sound like something Bob would say? People that "know" Bob via social media will attest to the fact that he's a lover, not a fighter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next song is one of my all-time favorites. No, not just one of my all-time favorite Christian songs...or just one of my all-time favorite <b>Bob Bennett</b> songs...or even just one of my all-time favorite songs from <i><b>First Things First</b></i>. No, <i>You're Welcome Here</i> is one of my all-time favorite songs - period. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob explains: "<i>You're Welcome Here</i> was basically me keying off the verse in Revelation where Jesus gives the huge indictment to the church in Laodicea but at the end of it, of course, extends the hand of restoration and reconciliation and says, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in and dine with you and you with Me.' Now, at the time, that was always used as a word picture for salvation - <i>Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, open the door and let Him in. </i>Of course, in context, it's a somewhat different take. It's actually the hand of reconciliation being extended after a pretty scathing indictment. But I still think it's a valid word picture. And so that was the idea - <i>Lord, You're welcome here in that way. I'm opening the door of my heart and my life and I want You to come in. </i>Now, here's the interesting thing. A lot of people are probably well aware of a famous tract called <b><i>My Heart, Christ's Home</i></b> by <b>Robert Boyd Munger</b>. This was a famous tract that talks about Jesus coming into your house, wanting access to the different rooms and you've got closets that are locked up tight, and you need to let Him into all these places...and I had no idea that tract existed when I wrote the song. But people who are conversant with that tract thought, 'Well, he just wrote that song based on that famous tract.' But I think it was just the same spirit or something. Because I had never seen that piece until after I wrote the song. And when I read it, I went, <i>'Wow. That's pretty doggone cool.' </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Lord, I hear You knocking</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You've been knocking at the door</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>How long have You been waiting</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Seems I never really heard You before</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I've kind of let the place go</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I'm ashamed at what You'll find</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But You can make Yourself at home</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If You're sure that You don't mind</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are dark rooms deep inside me</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where Your light has never shown</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I tried to hide inside them</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I guess You've always known</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>That one day You would call me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I'd awaken from my sleep</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And You'd take me just the way I am</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And You promised me You'd keep me</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cause when I cry, the roof leaks</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And when the wind blows, the walls are weak</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But a house is known by the company it keeps</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I feel better now that You're near</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I want to make it clear</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus, from now on</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You're always welcome here</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You're Welcome Here</i> is a song that I have played and sung and have listened to over and over throughout my lifetime - especially at important milestones or critical intersections. It's a message that never gets old.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You might recall from my blog post on <a href="http://greatest70salbums.blogspot.com/2018/02/36-blame-it-on-one-i-love-by-kelly.html"><b>Kelly Willard's</b> <b><i>Blame It On The One I Love</i></b></a> that she covered <i>You're Welcome Here</i> on that album. Bob was scheduled to play acoustic guitar on that session but was nixed in favor of <b>Randy Stonehill</b> when Bob just couldn't seem to get the song's timing down well enough to please producer <b>Jonathan David Brown</b>. Well, apparently, by the time this version was recorded, Bob's guitar skills had improved enough to suit Mr. Brown. <b>Jim Fielder's </b>stand-up acoustic bass adds a lot to this track, giving it the feel of a stripped down, acoustic jazz trio. Fielder was an original member of <b>Blood, Sweat and Tears</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It was so great for <b>Kelly Willard</b> to record it first and get it out there," said Bob. "Despite the fact that I wrote a song about my Dad on <b><i>Matters of the Heart</i></b> (<i>A Song About Baseball</i>), <i>You're Welcome Here</i> was always my Dad's favorite song. So that was pretty great." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>First Things First</i></b> benefited from some unique arrangements and excellent individual performances. <b>Ron Tutt</b> played drums on the project. "<b>Ron Tutt</b> played with <b>Elvis</b> for many years and I think he's still out there playing," Bob offered. "He's just a fabulous concert and studio player." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Alex MacDougall</b> handled some of the other percussion instruments. I had a chance to speak with MacDougall in preparation for this blog post. "The rehearsals for <b><i>First Things First </i></b>were also recorded with me playing a light drums/percussion setup," Alex recalled. "The actual record was recorded with me on percussion and various drummers. One of the great learnings for me in my 'Bob process' is the amazing marriage that can take place between the folk and jazz musical genres. I approached Bob's music from a jazz feel, as did some others. The result was magic." </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex MacDougall</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When asked to talk about Bob on a more personal level, MacDougall needed very little prompting. "Bob is one of my dearest friends," he said. "Bob is a fine human being, filled with wonder at the things of God. He's also got quite a sense of humor!" MacDougall also offered that he, Bennett and <b>John Patitucci</b> toured in the early 80s as a trio, performing many of the songs from <b><i>First Things First</i></b> in live settings. "That's a little-known fact," said Alex. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Side Two of <b><i>First Things First</i></b> is about as rock and roll as this record gets. "<i>Forgive and Forget </i>was me channeling <b>Richie Furay </b>as best I could," said Bob. "My friend <b>Dan Rupple</b> and I were huge <b>Poco</b> fans. There's no way to overestimate how much we dug that band. And then when <i>I've Got A Reason</i> came out, that was a huge influence on Dan and me." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Forgive and Forget</i> is a testimony song - Bennett's conversion story set to some toe-tapping music.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I want to forgive and forget</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Won't you let Me?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I said, Nothing doing, Lord</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You'll have to come and get me</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I fought it for a while</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But then I just had to smile</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Cause I let the Lord</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Forgive and forget</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the song's first verse, Bennett reveals his new attitude toward his fellow believers...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I used to laugh at the best of them</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Now I'm right here in a nest of them</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Full of joy that can only be divine</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've said before that I'm a sucker for hymns done right. Well, <b>Bob Bennett's</b> version of <i>My Redeemer Lives</i> was an instant classic. I asked Bob where the inspiration came from.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"In 1977, a month after I was born again I was at an Easter sunrise service at a Calvary Chapel in Downey," Bob recalled. "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And the guy who was leading the songs (Steve Todd), and leading all of the worship choruses you would've expected back in the day here in Southern California, he was raised in the Lutheran church. Well, he pulled out this song and played it and I just fell in love with the song. It's to the hymn tune of </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Duke Street</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I went to a hymnal and found that it had a gazillion verses and I did something kind of presumptuous - I simply cut and pasted together the halves of the ones that I liked best, and came up with four cut-and-pasted verses. Then I came up with the guitar arrangement, and that was that. I still love it. I get to sing it all the time."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The orchestration (horns and woodwinds arranged by <b>James Gabriel</b>) makes <i>My Redeemer Lives</i> all the more special. <b>Bob Sanders</b> played baritone horn, <b>Nils Oliver</b> was on cello, and <b>Terry Winch</b> and <b>Darrel Gardner</b> played flugelhorns. <b>Bill Alsup</b> and <b>Ron Loofbourrow </b>were on French horn, while <b>Val Johnson</b> played trombone and <b>Phil Ayling</b> and <b>John Phillips</b> played woodwinds. Along with <i>Still Rolls the Stone</i>, <i>My Redeemer Lives</i> has become a staple in the annual Easter playlists of many Christians. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The Garden Song</i> is at once beautiful, intimate, haunting, and hope-filled. I asked Bob how he wrote that song. "I put myself in Adam's place," he explained. "If I'm Adam, how do I imagine this conversation playing out?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I hear footsteps in the Garden</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I know the Lord is near</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And He calls me by my name</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Saying, "Where are you hiding?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Where are you hiding?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why do you hide?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I miss you, my son"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I answered more loudly than I might have done</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"I feel naked and ashamed</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I've sinned against you, Father</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I've no one but myself to blame"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And He said, "You are not naked</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You are clothed in the grace of my Son</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Come and let Me lead you</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>To where your journey will be done"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why are you hiding?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why do you hide from Me, my son?</i></span><br />
<i><br /></i> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why are you hiding?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Why do you hide from me</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">When I love you so?</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob did express some minor misgivings about the song. "I was such a young guy, for me to put words in God's mouth - even if I think they might be pretty accurate paraphrases and be plausible - I'd be a lot more careful about that now," he said. "When I say careful, I don't mean fearful, I just mean full of care. <i>The Garden Song</i> was an atypical song for me as it recounts an imagined exchange between God and me. So it's a little different in that respect."</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michele Pillar with Bob Bennett</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I Belong to You</i> was the other song on this record <i>not</i> written by <b>Bob Bennett</b>. This one was penned by the producer, <b>Jonathan David Brown</b>. I told Bob that, while it's a very fine track, to my ears it sounds a little more slick and polished - a little more CCM - than the typical <b>Bob Bennett</b> song. "Jonathan was really good at making commercial records," Bennett said. "His instincts sort of went that way. And that sometimes was the rub in the studio because I would be wanting to go super simple, less polished, a little more dirt under the fingernails sometimes...and so sometimes we would go 'round and 'round about that. But I was really taken with the song when I first heard it and I still think it's a fine song."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob was in especially fine voice on this song. His singing is always very warm. He's been described as having "golden vocal chords" (whatever that means). And here again, the background vocals by <b>Kelly Willard</b> and <b>Bruce Hibbard </b>really enhance the song.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>First Things First</i></b> wraps up with a very personal song called <i>Healings</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus, will you heal me? I've got a terminal disease</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>It's hard for me to talk to You </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Unless I'm driven to my knees</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I don't mean to make demands on You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I know that You are kind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>You see, my eyes are working perfectly</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>But I feel like I am blind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Jesus, will you heal me? I've got blisters on my feet</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I've run everywhere but straight to You</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Now the circle stands complete</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I've no one else to turn to</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And I'm out of breath and scared</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Though my legs seem very able </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They couldn't take me anywhere</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>My eyes were blinded, I could not see what I had long ignored</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>My legs were useless 'cause I was running away from the Lord</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And patiently He waited as I played my foolish game</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And then He made me whole when I called His name</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Oh look, behold it is true</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>To the glory of God, my life is made new</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The more that I seek him, the more He's revealed</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>In the name of Jesus, I proclaim that I am healed</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Praises be to the Healer of my life</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<i>Healings</i> used conditions of the body as the language," Bennett explained, "but it was really about a life that needs healing."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I asked Bob what he thought about the album once it had been released and he was able to hold one in his hands. "I think I was pleased with it," he said. "I was very excited. You know, you spend your whole childhood hoping that you get to make an album. So when you're looking at the thing and popping open the shrinkwrap and pulling out the LP and stuff, you know, it's just an exciting thing."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So how did it do? You know - reviews, sales figures, that kind of stuff?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"It was critically accepted and commercially mediocre," Bennett said with a smile. "I don't know that it sold tons of copies, but people who got it seemed to like it." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"All these years later, I'm mostly not embarrassed by it," he laughed. "What I love about making records is that they exist apart from me at a certain point. So they're out there doing work like a message in a bottle and if I'm having a bad day, if I'm in my bathrobe, if I'm not firing on all cylinders on a particular day...guess what? <b><i>First Things First</i></b> doesn't need me anymore. It hasn't needed me for decades. It's in fixed form. It's something that's a lot more reliable than I am personally. And I'm very grateful to have that kind of a representation with my name on it that has some consistency and still has some value in people's hearing." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>First Things First</i></b> was re-released on compact disc by Maranatha! Music in the early 1990s (with a bonus track). Then in 2007, a limited 25th Anniversary Edition was made available, complete with a new bonus song and audio commentary tracks for each song.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivU5a8t0AxLPMFutGyXDi9digErY5xRGIzWfqIVgdl43J2mdD0-7AT_HwH45V486T4xu9Qw58_Epm3x1a74CHqV723KO6YR-jUCwQfoO153Cmh_aBQ08SyHpgudZLaJLe51hsvc0emGsDK/s1600/11896050_10206177333206806_742728174855948650_nyui.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="640" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivU5a8t0AxLPMFutGyXDi9digErY5xRGIzWfqIVgdl43J2mdD0-7AT_HwH45V486T4xu9Qw58_Epm3x1a74CHqV723KO6YR-jUCwQfoO153Cmh_aBQ08SyHpgudZLaJLe51hsvc0emGsDK/s400/11896050_10206177333206806_742728174855948650_nyui.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our conversation turned to the topic of touring. Figuring out ways to monetize your talent is increasingly difficult these days. To put it bluntly, people generally don't turn out to hear you play and sing if they don't remember who you are. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Yeah, with me, people have either been listening for an awfully long time or they just have no earthly idea who I am," Bob says. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of in-between territory these days. And this is going to sound like a horrible, sour grapes thing to say, and I don't mean it to be precisely that, but I think Christian music is the one genre of music that has the shortest institutional memory of any genre there is. Because if you look at any other type of music - jazz, country, folk music, rock and roll - the younger musicians may not be bowing down and saying, <i>'Hey, thanks,'</i> but they at least have an awareness of who their predecessors were and they're conversant with the music. And ironically, in the Church, where you would think our notion of heritage and who came before and who did what and how can we partner together across demographic lines and age lines and all kinds of stuff - I think we just kind of have amnesia about some of that stuff. Of course, I have a dog in the hunt, so it makes it sound like<i> 'poor Bob Bennett, I hope he gets some affirmation one of these days.'</i> But, for better or worse, we've sort of built up this culture where we are very selective about what we look to in the past. I'm 63 years old and I can't get enough of being around guys who are 80 or 85 or 90. Guys who are old enough to be my Dad. Even at this stage of my life, I want to hang out with those guys, I want to finish well, I want to do what they're doing. Whatever they have to tell me, I want to hear it. It's not going to cost me a doggone thing to hear it."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6qBYpQnp1tKL3Gbotll_5ZVETRF9HaC5z22TCOn2m6qIzzbh-iLUr5CkKBTzB0vpUPiXYDbTBNxuQ1dH-sGWSV_HmSnl0PtfBGG45dKAIRVjnvfz7XcNGVWzH1JF3-Tie0bWcp0g2AWE/s1600/BeFunky-collage+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="1600" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6qBYpQnp1tKL3Gbotll_5ZVETRF9HaC5z22TCOn2m6qIzzbh-iLUr5CkKBTzB0vpUPiXYDbTBNxuQ1dH-sGWSV_HmSnl0PtfBGG45dKAIRVjnvfz7XcNGVWzH1JF3-Tie0bWcp0g2AWE/s400/BeFunky-collage+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After <b><i>First Things First</i></b>, Bennett experienced tremendous success with a much-heralded record called <b><i>Matters of the Heart</i></b> in 1982. <b>CCM Magazine</b> called it the best album of the year. It was full of songs that grabbed our hearts, inspired our imaginations, and fed our souls. That album and the two that followed contained a string of radio hits. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRgqjgrEyXAIN8XMyPGsQpeVAkEpIlVoP0DkKBUTAJH-MHP_yu392BoCzmC1keX4Gi7c7PpbakpCGWjURtGY7q_finc1z45RB71ugxQYbeqBeoSByOeFcjt5I1vrpdxYCMBvHghDTMWiN/s1600/BobBennet-SongsFromBrightAve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="1164" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRgqjgrEyXAIN8XMyPGsQpeVAkEpIlVoP0DkKBUTAJH-MHP_yu392BoCzmC1keX4Gi7c7PpbakpCGWjURtGY7q_finc1z45RB71ugxQYbeqBeoSByOeFcjt5I1vrpdxYCMBvHghDTMWiN/s400/BobBennet-SongsFromBrightAve.jpg" width="397" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then Bob experienced a painful divorce - not exactly a career enhancement for a CCM musician. Instead of papering over this unfortunate event, Bob laid his soul bare and shared his pain with the world on an album called <b><i>Songs From Bright Avenue</i></b>. I was going through my own painful divorce around the same time period. Like Bob, I wondered if I would "ever be able to sit at that table again." Well, eventually Bob did and I did, too. But not before that record darn near saved my life. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUj-MXqDiDSKTkVo1m4b04HO5a-REv-Y7qd2ooRKqXKwtuO2oDQ7TJ-uMtz5cmid3z2geJiA9VmnnJp5VIpcOsxGy_ZVEmmEyAWZw9oTQNTCUVeiH-GcXqH9EJOFtCHC2SDiZTqU1C8vXu/s1600/BeFunky-collage+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUj-MXqDiDSKTkVo1m4b04HO5a-REv-Y7qd2ooRKqXKwtuO2oDQ7TJ-uMtz5cmid3z2geJiA9VmnnJp5VIpcOsxGy_ZVEmmEyAWZw9oTQNTCUVeiH-GcXqH9EJOFtCHC2SDiZTqU1C8vXu/s400/BeFunky-collage+%25283%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After that, a shift began to take place in churches and on Christian radio airwaves. <b>Bob Bennett</b> continued to write and record masterful, story-driven songs on records like <b><i>Small Graces</i></b> and <b><i>The View From Here</i></b>, but he found the "Christian" audience for those songs to be shrinking. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">His explanation: "The style of songwriting and storytelling that was done in previous times is totally missing in action (as far as I can tell). You've got a few guys like <b>Andrew Peterson</b> and <b>Andy Gullahorn</b> and guys like that doing great work and still out there writing those kinds of songs. But the kinds of songs that <b>Scott Wesley Brown</b> and <b>Bruce Carroll</b> and I write are not the coin of the realm anymore. So my little spiel on all of this is that the culture is binging Netflix for 5 and 6 hours at a time because story is still king while inside the confines of the church, musical stories are missing in action. They're not being told anymore. Nobody is sitting at a piano or standing up with a guitar in their hand and telling their story, their testimony, in the music. It's just not a part of the language anymore. So even if I remain anonymous from here on in, I would love to see the Church re-embrace what's happening in the world around her in a good way. This is still important. If you get up to sing a story, people will still listen. But the pastors don't have the vision for it, and these songs are not being sung in the church. If it's all-worship-all-the-time, to the exclusion of everything else, then we've ceded an entire method of communicating, we've cut off an entire means of artistic expression that we could totally run with." He then laughed, "And that's the end of my speech!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob maintains a <a href="http://bobbennett.com/">strong internet presence</a> and makes his music available <a href="http://bobbennett.com/albums/">through his website</a> (including 5 albums recorded since 2007!). He's not going away anytime soon; he still manages to play and sing wherever doors open for him to do so. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumuY35MZDY-ueeEL-p7Ak5ypPt5J0twQOtpuwN4WfrXhyvBdLvN0s5pWBFSFtP5sj0-euik8NVdrfusWdM14dOFAWNIHlPr47mZhqexU9-UCfX7eFNXJh8pGvWOSPc5XWSWXIHR3I_36-/s1600/BeFunky-collage+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumuY35MZDY-ueeEL-p7Ak5ypPt5J0twQOtpuwN4WfrXhyvBdLvN0s5pWBFSFtP5sj0-euik8NVdrfusWdM14dOFAWNIHlPr47mZhqexU9-UCfX7eFNXJh8pGvWOSPc5XWSWXIHR3I_36-/s400/BeFunky-collage+%25284%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"From the time I picked up a guitar at age ten, I wanted to do this job," he said. "I wanted to play concerts. I wanted to make records. I had camped out next to the family stereo listening to <b>The Kingston Trio</b> and I said, 'I want to do that.' Then <b>the Beatles</b> came and all of the singer-songwriters came along - <b>Paul Simon, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Bishop,</b> people like that. I wanted to be <b>Jackson Browne</b>. That was not going to be my path...but I did get a chance to do something really wonderful that has also been a career. I don't count the number of people in the audience and decide how hard I'm going to try. If I've got 5 people or 500 people in front of me, to me, every night is like Carnegie Hall." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qcqmfDE_hvHT_O0A9gi4vRr5xOjHIJLxOvPXl_PNSscKJvz7ikNPc7Wi38PA1qzzbp8bmmiqgyQhP7ZexjqDODYf1zC9twVVVySFCzD2Bpv9gxDEdbnXy1tFTi-2esNiPz2LsZoqblS9/s1600/1918146_184184632827_4814791_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="604" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qcqmfDE_hvHT_O0A9gi4vRr5xOjHIJLxOvPXl_PNSscKJvz7ikNPc7Wi38PA1qzzbp8bmmiqgyQhP7ZexjqDODYf1zC9twVVVySFCzD2Bpv9gxDEdbnXy1tFTi-2esNiPz2LsZoqblS9/s400/1918146_184184632827_4814791_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Turning our attention back to <b><i>First Things First</i></b>, I ask Bob which songs he still sings in his concerts today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Oh, I'm really happy to still be able to sing some of those songs and really mean them," he said. "I can still sing <i>You're Welcome Here</i>, I can still sing <i>Carpenter</i>, I can still sing <i>Redeemer</i> and feel fully invested in those songs." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He smiled and said, "I still have a certain amount of empathy and affection for the young fellow who recorded that record." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So do we, Bob. So do we.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2L4rqzvZ5YQO2mPkHYoGMkjxWJqGe9EFkm2bar3vzFCTtTKTc0JM64_VRR0Z5aqOh3yIXTY0q1cM1-QO2lNK0emQGzfunQHl4BJxqFuzyAETz6r_eFMHzuqNNxvTfteAXNYkZa80Aqv8/s1600/BBM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2L4rqzvZ5YQO2mPkHYoGMkjxWJqGe9EFkm2bar3vzFCTtTKTc0JM64_VRR0Z5aqOh3yIXTY0q1cM1-QO2lNK0emQGzfunQHl4BJxqFuzyAETz6r_eFMHzuqNNxvTfteAXNYkZa80Aqv8/s400/BBM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bob Bennett</b> and me, circa 2014</td></tr>
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Scott Bachmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03723436857124094429noreply@blogger.com11