(Music Mountain MMP-PG-1001) 1975 Every now and then an album comes along which, at least in part, takes your breath away, and this is one of them. It is skillfully done, laced with the mellotron, that 1960's and 1970's instrument that's at once the product of technology and yet difficult to digitize, and profoundly spiritual. …
Look Beyond…
Could not resist posting this one... https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/d0OYDuuRrec?version=3&hl=en_GB The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is the best part of Roman Catholicism, and songs like this only made it nice. HT Old Folk Mass.
Sons Unto Glory: The Harvest is Ripe
(DSG-1) 1976 Coming from Aiken, SC (the state that produced Ark and Southern Joy), this is another one of those albums that pushed 1970's Christian music in a more "rock" direction, a direction many wanted to avoid but none could. And they do it in a magnificent, fun, Southern rock style that's deeply evangelistic to …
Stewart Henderson: Whose Idea of Fun is a Nightmare
(Dovetail DOVE 35) 1975 One of the most difficult genres of albums to sell is the spoken word. That's because it's not easy to sustain the listener's interest over a sustained period. Long talking head videos have the same problem. This album is a glorious exception to that. Henderson, originally from Liverpool, regales us with …
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The Alethians and the Right Angle with David Pope: One Way
(Myrrh MST 6506) 1972 UK One curiosity of Christian records in the "Jesus Music" era are albums where one side is recorded by a different group than the other. A helpful way for two groups to share the cost, it had the added bonus of not requiring one group to come up with more that …
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Phoenix Sonshine: Shinin’ In The Light
(Destiny D-4404-S) 1971 "Jesus Music" was, by definition, evangelistic. It also tended to be folksy; there were many in the movement who had strong reservations about the use of straight-up rock 'n roll for Christian music. (There were others who didn't, but I digress.) Phoenix Sonshine epitomised that sound and that message with this evangelistic, …
Frederick Gere and Milton Williams: The Winds of God
Century 27269 (1965) For those of you who survived the 1960's folk Mass scene, some questions: did you ever wonder how "Kumbayah" became emblematic of people sitting around, holding hands? Or why Michael had to row the boat ashore when technology of the time had outboard motors (as depicted on the right)? Or why, with …
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Glide Memorial's Bobby Kent
Glide Memorial's Bobby Kent (Olympia 6052N2) 1976 The San Francisco Bay Area was the scene for much of what made the 1960's and 1970's what they were, and this album is right in the groove of that. Glide Memorial is one of the premier black liberal churches in the U.S. It was in the forefront …
Les Reflets: De l'abondance du coeur, la bouche parle (Out of the Abundance of the Heart, the Mouth Speaks)
When we think of "contemporary" Christian music, most of us restrict ourselves to the US, or throw in the UK for good measure. But the revolution in Christian music in the 1960's and 1970's went far beyond the Anglophone world, and this album--from France--may be the best example of that. It's conventional wisdom to characterise …
Word of God Chorus and Orchestra: Praises for the King
Word of God Chorus and Orchestra: Praises for the King (W/G 8020, 1980) Throughout the 1970's the Word of God, that Catholic Charismatic covenant community par excellence in Ann Arbor, Michigan, had two distinguishing features. The first was its authoritarian headship structure, whose main architects were Steve Clark and Ralph Martin. The second was its …
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Positive Infinity 