1970s Christian Music (private press lps etc)

The pure tenor quality of the voice of Harold Montgomery
Gives a special interpretation to the grand old hymn "The Old Rugged Cross"
Chill bumps appear and I am frozen in the web they weave as they reveal their
Innermost selves with the outpouring of their hearts...

On and on the songs roll and soon you are caught up
In the sermon in each rendition as you come to feel
The devotion and dedication that is poured forth.
Suddenly, you know they are real, they mean it!

"Let your light so shine..."
Could not be more aptly applied
As there shines a light from heaven on your heart
Through their singing. As an artist, Rhonda Montgomery
Exemplifies piano artistry. That's Rhonda! An artist!

This album can be the instrument to mend a broken heart
Or to straighten out your life through the sincere testimony
In the songs of The Revelaires. A must!

J. Elmo Fagg, founder and leader of the Blue Ridge Quartet for 23 Years.
Temple Records, LST 390
Planning to make a record?
We are associated with United Music World Recording Studios, Inc.,
West Columbia, S.C.. The Finest Sound Available Anywhere

"The Joy of Knowing Jesus",
Produced by Joel Gentry
Cover/Backliner Design/REESOR

The Revelaires, A must.
The Revelaires.
A must, in their home.

I can't thank of too many really. I guess my family didn't listen to that much of that sort of thing. There was other Christian music around, but it tended not to be rock. Most of it would be of only ironic appreciation value. (The Shorb Borthers anyone?)

charltonlido, since you have now spent a lot more time in a lot of places in the U.S. where I've never really visited, maybe you can explain my country to me.

one that pops up around here (NJ) fairly often is lamb's s/t album on messianic records. not life-changingly great, but some nice folk and sorta country/rural rock elements. "ba ruch ha shem" has some kick ass harpsichord and the catchiest hebrew chorus i've come across. also maybe the only one.

also recommended:
the search party - montgomery chapel (outstanding folk-rock)
harvest flight - one way (ditto)
d.r. hooker - the truth
various - holy fuzz
linda rich - patterns (folk with lovely female vocals)
earthen vessel - hard rock/everlasting life

that "resurrection" comp that came out a while back is worth checking out. and john rydgren's "silhouette segments" lp (old groovy pro-jesus radio spots from the 70s, recent release).

http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildata.php?itemnr=4028383465

in fact there are loads, so many.i shouild start buying

im in roanoke, va now. wonder whats here...

if rockin' is a criteria, you could probably get rid of half of my list...

Subtitled, "The Amplified Side Of Heavenly Grooves". This ain't your momma's gospel music. Nope, this collection brings together some bizarre, funny, and downright groovy '60s/'70s tunes by/for Jesus-loving hipsters. Everything from garage rock to folk to lounge-jazz, and more, including some hilarious spoken word from the "Sunworshippers" (Jesus Freaks up in Eureka, CA). Then there's John Ylvisaker's demented "A Gay Cliche", a song so bad yet so good that it sounds like it belongs on "The Beat Of The Traps". Pat Boone and Dick Hyman also make appearances. Righteous. MOJO writer Will Hodgkinson makes a good point in the liner notes: "I've always maintained that the finest psychedelia is created by people who have only imagined what drugs are like rather than experience them first hand, so who better to make groovy acid rock than Christians?"

agree about the ylvisaker, but his version of "wade in the water" KILLS.

http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildata.php?itemnr=2544352574

"OUR CHOICE, MINIMUM VG++ SHAPE, Shipped to your door for $100.00...some cool ones...Lamb, Ric Masten, Bethleham, etc..."

has anyone heard the Dave Bryan lp?

or Michaels & Hack?

seriously people, yogi records are where it's at.

has anyone heard <I>Pressed Down, Shaken Together, and Running Over</I>? I guess that's the band name and the LP title. Vaguely xian psych/folk from New Knoxville, Ohio. Kinda CSNY sounding, nice harmonies, but simpler arrangements.

Bueller? Anyone? Beuller?

also, i have recently gotten a private american folk LP by PAT DECOU AND TEX LAMOUNTAIN (that's a male/female duo, for those keeping track) called DOWN HERE ON EARTH. It is not xian, but it is nice in a sort of lo-fi, naively enthusiast way. it's really got a very nostalgic ssound for me, for some reason. like an idealized hybrid of uh, not Raffi, but that other guy who was on Nick Jr circa 1986--him, AND like the seldom scene or something? i really get into private country/folk stuff, but so much that looks cool is actually kinda lame.. saw a real promising LP the other day, now of course can't remember who it was by, but it had a black and white sleeve that gave off creepy vibes--song titles like "My Mental Problem." Unfortunately music was boring boring boring. I found the first PENDRAGON LP, which is about 50/50 trad Irish music and indistinguished folk-rock. A buck at a thrift store, and it's got a dragon on the cover.

I need to stop myself from digressing on all the mediocre private folk records I've bought this year. Big year for me with that stuff. I sold my Santo record though; I didn't think I needed it even though there were some tracks with nice fuzz guitar.

also worth mentioning: the second LP on the new Peter Grudzien "Unicorn" issue on Subliminal Sounds is ESSENTIAL. Seriously some great stuff.

omg Petra \m/ \m/

omg this website http://heavenly-grooves.blogspot.com/

somebody download and listen to all this stuff and tell me what's best

john d4rnie11e to thread, please.

Revive! I discovered a lot of these records this past year, some great, some only with great moments.
Norman Ezell - Resurrection Day (sad lonely folk record with strings and banjo, very good from start to finish and you can find it sort of cheap)
Jon Byron - New Horizons (A real masterpiece of soft rock folk, really beautiful arrangements with steel guitar and saxophone)
Scott Wesley Brown -S/T (rural folk rock that doesn't really have a weak moment, even a hippie countrfied version of Sonshine)
Kinfolk - Clean (nice country & western folk record with male and female vocals, not a bad record)
Various - Father's Family (compilation of a Houston,TX hippie church with really nice femme vocals)
Carey Landry - Great Things Happen (Somber folk record with nice guitar and guys got a great voice)
Clearing - S/T (hippie folk with both male and female vocals, really dreamy vibe and not a bad song)
Wild Olive Branch Band- Through A Glass Darkly (The title says it all, rural folk rock with great harmonies and rockin' moments)
Sounds of Salvation- S/T (experimental stuff,I can't really describe this well, really good folk songs with voice effects and I think some tape splicing. Beautiful moments too!)
Sons of Thunder - Day Follows Night Nice jazzy folk rock)

And records I've heard and want to own
Ed Drake - Friend Of Mine
Listen - S/T
John Warren - Land Of New Hope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kj-qNHEHoA

I've been looking for that record, never heard it or seen it.

only seen the cover somewhere?

i LOVE that Family record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOX0QcLIhCA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUeWPdr1o1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkC1QQ1BnLo

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7103/7225714794_e51d9f3333.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YgnlHo59Ac

lots of versions of this song have been recorded, and for some reason I've put off digging into Larry Norman, he's not bad though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1FcTKNXlO0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDUce5B3Y8Y

lots of versions of this song have been recorded, and for some reason I've put off digging into Larry Norman, he's not bad though

there's a great clip of "Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music " (here) where he rants about supposed Satanic backmasked messages in rock songs and ends his performance with a Mick Jagger impression. I feel like half of his appeal came from his stage presence and between-song banter/sermonizing, and as good as his records can be, they don't do full justice to how witty and charismatic he was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_7xvx0iLuM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzbc9TJlIXI

search this album (A Time of Peace) and her next one, Let the Son Shine. sweet and soulful acoustic singer-songwriter stuff with occasional folk-rock and country elements. her third album (My Lifetime Now) is a little more hippified, with bongos and "jesus is my drug" messages (well, it's really just the one song "High on the Love of Jesus" that bugs me), but it's pretty good too. no one else can sing bible camp anthems like "They'll Know We Are Christians" and "I Am the Light" with such quiet conviction. she does quite a few John Fischer covers too.

Catholic liturgical jazz, sometimes with choral backing, which might sound like an awful idea but I really dig this record. The choral prats sometimes have a christmas vibe, and the Jazz actually cooks! Weird idea that a pastor had the notion of playing jazz to reach the youth in the late 60's.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5450/7201283922_f5d0c486b8.jpg

The look/font makes me think of 2008, not 1968 or whenever.

Like that was an Arcade Fire side project.

I was wrong assumed Ed Summerlin was catholic due to being on the Avant Garde label which is mostly catholic folk, but he was methodist. He had a previous record call Liturgical Jazz from 63 that sounds like it has hip beatnik grooves.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5461/7227807596_1cfd87ec29.jpg
I only have one Marj Snyder record but want more. Also these are great femme folk xian records, some of these can be expensive, but can be found cheap if you dig a little
Linda Rich - Patterns
Becky Severson - A Special Path
Crow Johnson - S/T
Barbara Sipple- Journey To Jesus and Sing For Life
Alison & Jill - S/T
Jancis Harvey - Distance Of Doors

I'll second Linda Rich and Becky Severson. will have to keep the others in mind. are the prices high because these are known, sought-after records, or do dealers automatically slap a high price on any unknown private press record that could possibly entice collectors?

I'd also recommend the British singer Judy Mackenzie and her first album Judy - mostly mellow folk-pop and jazz-pop (sophisti-pop?) with funky horn arrangements on a few tracks. I can only find clips of her second album, but that's pretty good too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7_VbcF0tKw

I find out about this stuff mostly through blogs, though. shame on me.

Alison & Jill is on the very collectible Profile label out of Enlgland, most of those records are pricey, most are very good and worth the price. I'm still trying to understand how prices are attached to records, I dunno, a little fuzz guitar seems to help, maybe a flute or organ. Or appearing on a numero comp.

Here's my short list of xian folk records that I'm looking for, I dream big
Aslan - Aslan (Airborn) 73
Aslan - Aslan (no label) 82
Bernard Backman - Portrait Of Man (Mandala) 69
Backwood - Pilgrim's Road (A+R) 76
Bartimeus - Bartimeus  (Sacred Cellar) 78
Barbara Bell - All I Have (Superior) 75
The Berets - Mass For Peace (Avant Garde) 69
Rare Boarding House Reach - S/T (no label) 77
Brad & Brace - Selah (Auburnfolk) 76
Bridge - Jesus Is The Bridge (Good) 72
Brothers - His Kind Of man (Century) 77
Peter Campbell - Of Time and Distance (Trinity) 75
Chrisma - Chrisma Is Raptured (Last Days) 72
Desert Water Band - Come Closer (Mag) 80
Charles Earnst - A Question Of Faith (Waltersdorff) 74
East Of The Altar - S/T (Altar) 77
Grace - S/T (no label) 77
Grace ll (no label) 78
Bill Greenwood - From The Inside Out (Son Songs) 78
Jonathan & Charles-Another Week To Go (Inter-Varsity) 69
Robert Koenigsberg - First Things First (Jesus the Healer) 77
Listen - S/T (Treehouse) 73
Maranatha, PA-The Lord Cometh (Dayspring House) 73
Tom Mahairas - Seekers of the Truth (Janco) 72
Lucine Michaels - Turning Point (Koinonia) 74
Rockwood-self-titled (Dharma) 74
Ron Moore - Wilmore (Airborn) 71
Turley Richards - From Darkness To Light (Siba) 72
Shekina Glory - Have You Considered (IGL) 76
Sons Unto Glory - Harvest Is Ripe (no label) 76
John Warren - Land Of New Hope (Icthus) 73
Washed - S/T (Ageless) 75

I made my first youtube video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHFu0Wp1TOY
expect more soon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZJBF9U9OzU

wow, cool vis jacob! i'll look out for those rekkerds you're after.
i'm scared of getting into xian folkrock. i think it might like some of it i a lot.
i'm always meaning to pick up the Lamb records when i see em cheap.

serious question. what are all these people doing now? are they liberals? did they go over to the darker side of evangelicalism?

Begging scott here to make a comp of this stuff!

My ILV mixtape will mainly be xian ruralfolkrock

As i was gonna say ... or Jacob, looks like you have the deep crates on this one, great stuff

You should join our mixtape swap

These guys rock!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNZANvCIaQs

digging this one

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/547826_10150923406502137_686202136_9903311_1164188775_n.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fqhzwvoD_w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAJ4ta9qQMI

Giant Killers - Power to Power - organ-heavy new wave with apocalyptic lyrics. reminds me of Fischer-Z in a weird way. their first album (Alternative) is heavier and more Doory and not as good, but just look at the cover art:

http://i48.tinypic.com/b63jhk.jpg

that's Giantkiller, not "Giant Killers".

...and the album the clips are from is called Valley of Decision, not Power to Power. I am dumb tonight.

Hey Scott that Tom and Candy Green looks good! It's listed in the Archivist too! They were from Vermont and he says it's the best of their records.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7376184662_7d8095d0d3.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7376183986_8b49bd512c.jpg

this guy came to our church when i was a kid and played:

http://www.shugarecords.com/images/products/large/877e6de8-a490-4d1d-9988-521b6d249c12-0.JPG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY-pcReBVpA

Found these records too, all good in different ways:
Beatnik jazz choir folk
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/7376138432_e2bf724549.jpg
funky choir folk
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7084/7376483696_405365bcdb.jpg
lonely guy folk
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7221/7376138162_6445817f46.jpg

I found a bunch more, 2 by Hope Of Glory, The Keyhole, The Way, Bill Atwood, another God Unlimited and the second Way of The Wolf but haven't listened to them. And I met the wife of a guy who runs a music store here in west texas who used to play in a christian folk band in the 70's who has More records that I'm negotiating to look at/buy!!

This has a really nice homemade sound, not lo-fi, just really clear recording, with a few fuzz solos! A side is secular love songs and B side is about Jesus! kind of reminds me of the 90's.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/7376564670_22d2a01510.jpg

I've never heard that Peter Scholtes album ("They'll Know We Are Christians" is a great song, though), but did you know that his son posts to ilx sometimes? it's interesting how the Rev. Peter Scholtes went from being a priest and Christian songwriter to being a business author and consultant of some note.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPXK2E3T7og

it's a shame this was the only solo song she ever recorded. this blog seems to be the only source of info on the album.

("she" = the soloist Gaye Harry. the rest of the album is high school band/choir stuff, judging by the description)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS6UhgK4ois&feature=related

http://youtu.be/WW3ylvQPYGc

sorry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW3ylvQPYGc&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDkLfON7YJ0&feature=relmfu

I've never heard that Peter Scholtes album ("They'll Know We Are Christians" is a great song, though), but did you know that his son posts to ilx sometimes?

Interesting bit of ILX trivia. That songs was like my pre-teen Christian summer camp anthem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6In2Z0_3uY

been digging this track by The Overcomers (late '60s ska-inflected Christian beat group). I didn't know this kind of thing existed!

(FavoriteJesusMusic is a great youtube channel, btw. I wonder if it all comes from one person's record collection...)

I love these two songs from Maria Barton's The Preacher & The Songwriter LP (although I haven't heard anything else from it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8PsryRpJO8

the sermon is extremely grating, though, and I'm pretty sure there's a sermon after every track. her secular singer-songwriter album Rainful Days is a favorite of mine. riyl Marj Snyder, Becky Severson, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX_OGpF9pJM