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 …
Cloud: Free to Fly (Holy Trinity Brompton)
Free To Fly (Dovetail DOVE 16) 1975 Their first album is a lovely group of songs, most of which are drawn from the Scriptures. The cover suggests the album's content: soaring and ethereal. But it's also well executed, with superb musicianship. Free to Fly is one of the best treasures from 1970's British Jesus Music. …
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New Song: A City Set Upon a Hill Cannot Be Hid
New Song A City Set Upon a Hill Cannot Be Hid (New Song NS-0001) 1976 Back when I first encountered the "Jesus Music" of the 1970's, I always wondered: what if they ditched the guitars and tambourines of the "Fisherfolk" and did something orchestrally? Evidently someone else had the same idea. The result of that …
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School Sisters of Notre Dame: Choose Life
School Sisters of Notre Dame Choose Life (Mark MC 4 329) 1976? If you're looking for an album that epitomises the guitar strumming, non-percussional style of music that dominated Catholic Masses during the 1970's, it's hard to beat this album. On top of that, the School Sisters (from Mankato, MN) perform in the cavernous, reverberant …
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Hymn for the Fifth Sunday in Epiphany
The Epistle for the Fifth Sunday in Epiphany (which we don't always get to, but this year Easter is very late) is as follows: Therefore, as God’s People, consecrated and dear to him, clothe yourselves with tenderness of heart, kindliness, humility, gentleness, forbearance; Bearing with one another, and, when there is any ground for complaint, …
Cloud: The Resting Place
Cloud The Resting Place (Dove 62, 1978) Cloud was the large (>10) British folk group whose main claim to fame was its ethereal praise and worship music. The Resting Place continues in that tradition, up to Cloud's excellent tradition of musicianship and composition as well. Cloud was connected with the famous Anglican church Holy Trinity …
Challenges Infinity, and is Soon Gone: The Death of Tony Clarke
Back in November, I posted a brief narrative piece from the Moody Blues' album Days of Future Passed, along with some thoughts on the album's New Age underpinnings and its influence on me and on my novel The Ten Weeks. A snatch of that narrative piece is a good way to note the sad passing …
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Choose Life
Since this is the day we're supposed to think about these things, I'm going to feature an album from The Ancient Star-Song that's a favourite of mine: Choose Life, from the School Sisters of Notre Dame (in Mankato, MN.) Since the album dates from 1976, I would think that, when they recorded the title track …
Positive Infinity 