Many of you who visit this site do so because of the 1960’s and 1970’s music that’s offered either for download or for sale. Before the internet, however, the only way to experience the “Jesus Music” of this era was to dig through second hand shops and garage and estate sales for used vinyl (or cassettes and 8-tracks, if you were really desperate.) For those of us who thought we lived through the era and had the benefit of Christian radio, we thought we knew what was out there.
The Archivist, by Ken Scott, disabuses us of that last concept. Originally published in 1996 and printed in quantities worthy of many of the albums it reviews, the Fourth Edition turns to publishing on demand (a technique many of the artists would do well to emulate) to catalogue and review 3,200 different albums of Christian music from the era 1965-1980. It has become the reference of choice for those of us who are passionate about the Christian music of the era, and has formed the basis for music blogs such as The Ancient Star Song and Heavenly Grooves (not to mention the site one-way.org.)
The term “Christian music” needs a little clarification relative to this book. As Scott himself puts it, the “emphasis is on rock, folkrock, folk, progressive, hard rock, country rock, jazzrock, blues, psychedelic, garage, beat, r&b, funk and some of the more adventurous pop.” What he’s documenting was not only a major step forward in style for Christian music, but also some of the most aggressively evangelistic music that Christianity produced in the last century. Although the genesis of Scott’s work was to be a collector’s guide, it ends up being a kind of history of an era when, in the wake of the social changes of the 1960’s, Christianity rose to the occasion and altered the spiritual direction of a nation–and the world–for many years to come.
Scott, faithful to his collectors roots, is a detailed chronicler of his albums. He writes in a easy to read style, and his objective is primarily to describe rather than to grade (although many of the albums he reviews deserve to be panned.) He’s dealing with a broad spectrum of music, and that breadth includes style, artistic merit, musicianship, recording quality, graphic design (for the cover,) and theology. That last point is important, because, in addition to including some music that is very much on the edge of Biblical Christianity, he includes one genre that is frequently very Biblical but gets overlooked by outsiders: the treasure of Roman Catholic music, itself the result of tumultuous change induced by the Second Vatican Council.
The Archivist is packaged in “one of those generic covers” (a swat at his otherwise excellent review of the School Sisters of Notre Dame) and is densely packed with text in a two-column format. But this book is an achievement, the product of years of diligence and a love for the genre that is only now being appreciated by a wider audience. The Archivist is the definitive work on the subject it treats, and for those of us who are interested, it is indispensable.
Positive Infinity 
Ken, pleasantly surprised to find my first album listed here with favorable review. After a hiatus of some 20 years I am writing,performing,recording again. Would love to get in touch.
Shalom- Will Lowry (aka Bill)
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Down anyone know who the published of the song “We’ve been to the Mountain” by The Group… I am looking for the name of the publisher
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That was a garbled message: Now in English.
Does anyone know the publisher of “We’ve been to the Mountain” on the Album No Time Like the Present, by The Group?
Would love to know
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Before the internet, however, the only way to experience the “Jesus Music” of this era was to dig through second hand shops and garage and estate sales for used vinyl
Well although Ive done my lions share of that there was another way yes before the Internet…we bought our Jesus music brand spanking new from retail outlets and at live concerts! Anybody remember His Place in Oak Cliff or the CFTN bookstore? Whippersnappers! You stand corrected! From one who was there…grin.
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I don’t remember either one. I do remember the Sign of the Fisherman up in University Park and the concerts at the Bronco Bowl…saw Phil Keaggy and John Michael Talbot there.
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Greetings,
I am currently wrestling with an aggravating little problem. I am trying to locate a valid e-mail address for Ken Scott, author of Archivist. The only one I could find is apparently out of date, and his publisher, Lulu, refuses on the basis of their privacy policy to give out any info. Do you have any way of contacting Mr. Scott? If not, would you be willing to dig out your copy of Archivist and see if a record called We Are “His”, by the band His, is listed? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Keith
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I don’t have a recent email address for Ken Scott either. You might visit The Ancient Star-Song and contact the webmaster Diakoneo; I think he’s been in contact with Ken lately. Lulu makes it hard to contact the authors, although I’m a Lulu author and try to make it easy.
In any case, I looked at my copy of Archivist. There are only two albums mentioned by bands call “His”:
1) His Sings (Freelance LFR-1004) 1972?
2) Forever Together (Soul Quest SQ101R) 1974
Hope this helps.
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Greetings Mr. Warrington,
Many thanks for your quick reply, and for the info about the band His. However, when I attempted to e-mail Diakoneo (at diakoneo@windstream.net), I received an error message stating that his account has been suspended. Any suggestions?
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You should try diakoneo@pz27.org. Hope this helps.
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All,
I had looked on rare book search sites before finding Lulu thanks to vulcanhammer’s entry about it. The further expanded fifth edition (2022) is available for purchase there now.
https://www.lulu.com/shop/ken-scott/archivist-vintage-vinyl-jesus-music-1965-1980-5th-edition-budget-paperback/paperback/product-krk759.html
In my signature link I have attached a social media group for readers of The Archivist who want to learn more from other readers. I did not create the group, which now has 1200+ members.
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I have the Fifth Edition, but this is an old post/review, I suppose I should have done a new review.
I am not surprised at the interest on this subject, I know I was thrilled when some of this material became available online about 15 years ago. It’s been a complicated ride but now my online collection is on YouTube, which has resolved the copyright issues.
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