Fruit of the Spirit He Loves You and Me (Holiday 12101, 1976) A great deal of the "Jesus Music" of the 1960's and 1970's was performed in coffee-houses. An innovative form of ministry, it broke with the "church" tradition (a breaking churches struggle with perpetuating until this day) and placed the gospel in a laid …
Oasis: Smile for the Sun and Promised Land
Oasis was the touring group for Youth for Christ. As a result of that, their line-up was subject to frequent change, but in the course of that change they put out some pretty interesting music. The best known member of the group was the Scottish vocalist (and later co-hostess of the 700 Club) Shelia Walsh, …
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Achor: A Door of Hope, The Wine of Lebanon, and End of My Day
Achor was a church-based group from London. They produced (AFAIK) three albums, all of which are available on this page. A Door Of Hope (Dove 18, 1975) The first of the albums, a very folksy production more in line with the Fisherfolk/Word of God axis. Part of that includes singing in the Spirit, which one …
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The Lightbearers with Esther Tims, and The Lightbearers: Going Dutch
Polder meets polyester suits as this Dutch group takes on many American Gospel favourites, along with some more "contemporary" fare. And they do pretty well at it, too. One of the few "continental" groups that UK label Dove/Musical Gospel Outreach featured in their line-up. The Lightbearers with Esther Tims (Dove 14, 1974) The group's own …
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Bill Atwood: 3:25 A.M.
Bill Atwood 3:25 A.M. (Dovetail DOVE 35) 1976 It's hard to conceive of a mellower production than this, with Bill Atwood's smooth vocals and the excellent backing instrumentation from John Pantry's production (Cloud's backup vocals add the mix.) This is a favourite of mine, and it's too bad that the follow up from the UK …
Ark: Voyages
Ark: Voyages (1978) When one thinks of Southern music--especially in the 1970's--one thinks of either Country and Western or Southern Gospel. And it's true that much of what came out in that era was one or the other. A good example of that was the Greenville, SC group Southern Joy that we feature on this …
Tom Belt and God Unlimited
Every now and then a group comes along which represents the best of its genre. Its leadership, those who play and sing with it, everything seems to "click." Although picking an absolute best in the turbulent era of the 1960's and 1970's isn't easy, for college campus church based groups, it's hard to beat God …
The Berets: The Mass for Peace
The Berets: The Mass for Peace (1969) Catholics have been composing musical settings for Mass since the days of Gregory the Great and before, but the 1960's and 1970's saw the introduction of entirely new styles of music for the sacred mysteries. One of the more innovative productions was the so-called "Mass for Peace" by …
Jeanne Geidel and the New Horizon: Living Force
Jeanne Geidel and the New Horizon: Living Force (1979) By the late 1970's, Catholic liturgical music was becoming dominated by the products of North American Liturgy Resources (now a part of OCP.) But there still were a few brave souls who ventured out to produce some interesting music for liturgy and just some great Catholic …
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Songs for the Masses
Songs For The Masses (Bradley BRC 4165/NALR 35178, 1974) Liberation Theology buffs will recognise the clever double meaning of the album's title. But this album, which ended up as part of North American Liturgy Resources' offerings, has some very strange aspects to it. To begin with, the albums performers are only designated as "students of …
Positive Infinity 