Methuselah, Amazing Blondel, Tom Yates

My latest article for Seen and Unseen is entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion'. The article explores how popular music conjures sacred space through a survey of inter-connections between faith and music.

The article includes a link to my Spotify playlist 'Closer to the light' which includes a wide selection of the music I mention in this article. 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' is a review of Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death in which I explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.

My co-authored book The Secret Chord explores aspects of a similar interplay between faith and music (and the Arts, more broadly). Posts related to the themes of The Secret Chord can be found here.

Check out the following too to explore further:

• David Ackles, Chris Bell, Bryan Maclean
• God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You
• Jesus Music - 1 & 2
• The Jesus Rock Revolution and the Jesus Movement
• When Jesus Met Hippies
• A Rough Guide to Christian Art
• Looking down the wrong end of a telescope
• Pop's holy rollers
• Perhaps the most underrated band ever
• Rock gets Religion
• Ed Kowalczyk and Scott Stapp: Angels on a razor
• Hidden Gems - Bill Fay & Michael Morley
• Electric Eden and the New Folk Revival
• Salt and Sweetners
• The mystery at the heart of music - 1 and 2
• Inspiration from the Psalms
• 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' click here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Carrying the theme of my Seen and Unseen article plus my post on Jesus Music, here is some information on three more performers engaging with the sacred:

Methuselah was the band that John Gladwin and Terry Wincott formed before finding success with Amazing Blondel and after Gospel Garden. Methuselah were signed to the U.S. Elektra label and recorded one album, 1969's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Joe Marchese writes: "As the band's moniker might indicate, the first four tracks - named after the writers of the gospels - all had religious-themed lyrics, in essence forming a song suite. The lyrical themes continued on "My Poor Mary" ("My poor Mary, what's the matter/Born Jerusalem in the morning") and the heavy title track. "High in the Tower of Coombe," with its medieval flavor, augured for Amazing Blondel. "Fairy Tale" and "Fireball Woman" both emphasized their hard rock sound, with the latter in a particularly driving vein. The closing jam on the French nursery rhyme "Freres Jacques" (or "Brother John," first published around 1780) veered into jazz-rock territory."

Elektra failed to give the LP a UK release, and the US issue was delayed until October 1969 – by which time the band had split, with John Gladwin and Terry Wincott turning their backs on electricity to work as Amazing Blondel. Now highly regarded by collectors, the Methuselah album combined the group's West Coast-influenced harmony vocals with a late 60s psychedelic-into-progressive hard rock feel, largely down to the one-louder leads of Les Nicol, who'd been Mick Ronson's main rival for guitar hero status in the Hull group wars a couple of years earlier.

Terry Wincott wrote that "Amazing Blondel was formed by John Gladwin and myself after the break-up of too-loud rock band Methusalah. We were soon joined by a talent guitarist Eddie Baird and after a disastrous "showbiz" record signing, Amazing Blondel were recommend by the members of the band Free to Island boss Chris Blackwell. After signing to Island Records and Artists, Amazing Blondel quickly produced three albums with the above line-up and undertook a series of intensive international and national tours to promote them."

John Gladwin wrote that "Blondel was an attempt to re-create a past era and fashion a completely English music":

"Amazing Blondel reflected a further idiosyncratic appendage in the ever-more bewildering animal that was folk rock. The range of ideas and styles being introduced into the realms of folk music by the mid-'70s was so diverse that it even entered the hitherto semi-mythical realms of medieval music with its own peculiar instrumentation, complete with bassoons and crumhorns. While Gryphon catered the more studious, progressive rock end of that style, and City Waits concentrated on more authentic reconstructions, Amazing Blondel successfully bridged the popular gap in the middle. They always seemed slightly eccentric - sweet and a little out of place; Pseudo-Elizabethan/classical acoustic music, sung with British accents to the contemporary transatlantic audience of the day. From this unlikely combination they carved their niche and won a devoted cult following ... It wasn't folk music per se. It was all original period music, derived from Elizabethan and Renaissance inspiration, but palatable to 20th century audiences."

Religious-themed songs continued to feature among their "pseudo-Elizabethan/Classical acoustic music sung with "British" accents" including 'Canaan' (The Amazing Blondel), 'Evensong' (Evensong), 'Celestial Light (For Lincoln Cathedral)' and 'Safety in God Alone' (Fantasia Lindum), 'Cantus Firmus to Counterpoint' (England), and 'Benedictus Es Domine' (Restoration).

Celestial Light. A History of Amazing Blondel is the first book to trace the history of the band and contains interviews with all three members of the band as well as Adrian Hopkins (responsible for orchestration), Paul Empson (guitarist), Erik Bergman (model on the cover of the first LP), Phill Brown (sound engineer), Jerry Boys (sound engineer), John Glover (manager), John Donaghy (roadie), Sue Glover (backing vocalist and ex Brotherhood of Man), Steve Rowland (producer of first LP on Bell), Paul Fischer (luthier) and others.

Tom Yates was a regular on the Cheshire and North West folk scene back in the 1960s/70s before he left for Antwerp where he sang and wrote his songs up to his untimely death in 1993. Tom’s first album was on the CBS label in 1967 and later he released two more LPs in the 1970s. He colllaborated with Duncan Brown on some songs. Tom will also be remembered for the gigs he did in the clubs and for the folk club he ran at The White Horse in Disley where he lived up to his move to Belgium.

David Kidman writes that: "Rochdale-born Tom was just one of the large crop of singer-songwriters who came into prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He got to know Paul Simon on moving to London in the late 1960s, and his first LP (Second City Spiritual) was recorded for CBS in 1967. It was in 1973, around a year after moving to Disley, a village near Stockport (Cheshire), that Tom released his second LP, Love Comes Well Armed." Love Comes Well Armed has been described as "a spiritual journey into the soul of purity and the essence of love".

Song of the Shimmering Way was Tom’s third and final studio recording. Originally released in 1977, it shows Tom’s fascination with the Celts in his songwriting and has a much more lavish sound with orchestra arrangements on some songs. The album reflected the interest in Celtic culture, stories, traditions and mythology that he had begun to embrace in the years since Love Comes Well Armed.

Tom was in the process of preparing his fourth LP when he sadly took died of leukaemia in Antwerp in 1994. His widow provided tapes of Tom’s songs that were recorded in studios in Antwerp, enabling Epona to release his fourth album Love is Losing Ground posthumously. Epona has also released a fifth and final album to complete a quintet of Tom’s musical legacy. A Walk in Other Shoes features songs that he wrote in Antwerp after he connected with the Christian faith and most of the songs reflect his faith. Many of these songs were on a cassette that Tom sold in the local clubs and bars of Antwerp but the album also includes three songs from his unfinished “A Dream of John Ball” plus, as a bonus track, the first recording Tom ever made, the 1965 Pye Records single "Rattle Of A Toy".

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Methuselah - Matthew.

11:59 & Yesterday Today Forever

11:59 were an 'English Christian acid folk band, named after the time on the “Doomsday Clock” ... [who] produced as their only recorded legacy ... a wonderful, pastoral, non-judgmental record.' Their early 1970’s album (released on Dovetail Records c. 1974) This Our Sacrifice Of Praise 'has dreamy, moody production values, with special effects (nature sounds like sea gulls and babbling brooks) set against a beautiful landscape of acoustic guitar, soaring Mellotron, flute, autoharp and male/female vocal harmonies.'

Yesterday Today Forever 'was a musical drama of the life of Christ from Genesis to Revelation.' 'There are three complete stage sets. There's a complicated lighting system. There's quadraphonic sound, a 50-piece choir, a 12-piece band, dance, narration, and great variety in music - rock, folk, classical, Elizabethan, plain song, blues And the film. Back projected on a huge screen, and shot specially for the show, mostly in the USA, by Jim Swackhammer.'

Yesterday Today Forever was 'based in the stirring UK folk and rock style of groups like Cloud, Valley Of Achor and 11:59. In fact most of the members of 11:59 are here, together with a few additional participants. Begins with selections inspired by Genesis (‘Let There Be Light’, ‘The Fall’), on to the life of Christ (‘Behold The Lamb Of God’, ‘I Am’, ‘Blessed Are You’, ‘Father Forgive Them’), closing with the Revelation-based ‘They Have Conquered’ and ‘And There Was Light’. Mostly a gentle progressive folk/praise atmosphere utilizing such instruments as acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizer, piano, string organ, flute, percussion, plus a long list of unusual items (sugar shaker, road drill, baby rattle, cough medicine bottle and plastic guitar to name a few). A few driving fuzz guitar moments here and there, coupled with some harsh dissonant psychedelic experimental passages. Vocals are provided by six different male/female lead singers, along with a small choir that has a moving style very similar to Cloud. A number of spoken-word-over-music portions, alternating the ultra-fragile 13 year-old Hedi Taylor (female) with the bold dramatic tones of Nigel Goodwin (whose poetic readings can also be heard on the UK albums Alive! and Sound Vision In Concert). Includes re-interpretations of ‘The Earth Is The Lord’s’ and ‘The Sacrifice’ from 11:59’s This Our Sacrifice Of Praise. Written by 11:59’s John and Ross Harding. Another peak moment for ‘70s British Jesus music.' (The Archivist, 4th edition by Ken Scott).

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11:59 - Psalm 115 - To Thy Holy Name.

The 10 albums that I enjoyed most in 2013

Here are the 10 albums (in no particular order) that I've got hold of and enjoyed the most in 2013:

The Invisible Way - Low: Alan Sparhawk has said that "Music in general has been the fiber of my faith from the beginning.  Everything I know about God was taught to me in songs & the spiritual milestones of my life have almost always been musical experiences. I think the process of writing songs has helped me learn to listen to the spirit, which then testifies of Christ & His Father." 'Holy Ghost' returns the favour, along with the rest of this inspirational album.

One True Vine by Mavis Staples: "From album opener 'Holy Ghost' (Alan Sparhawk), to the new [Jeff] Tweedy composition 'Jesus Wept,' the gravity in Staples' voice is transfixing, heavy with burdens but blessed with the promise of true redemption that shines through on the deft and driving 'Far Celestial Shore' (Nick Lowe), Can You Get To That' (Funkadelic), and Pops Staples' uplifting 'I Like The Things About Me.'"

Moyshe Mcstiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart by C.O.B.: "It's Middle Eastern, it's contemplative and it's about quite serious subjects." It has a "sad, faintly religious atmosphere" supplemented by C.O.B.'s innovative use of drones created through their invention of the dulcitar. Mick Bennett is a poet with an "amazingly powerful voice" who "contributed a huge amount to the atmosphere and spirituality of C.O.B.'s music."

Jericho Road by Eric Bibb: “The title refers to the road between Jerusalem and Jericho where the Good Samaritan, a traveler of a despised race, stopped to help a stranger in need after better-off religious leaders had passed by and done nothing. On April 3, 1968, the night before his death, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King urged us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, saying:  ‘Ultimately, you cannot save yourself without saving others.’  If this record has a theme, that’s it in a nutshell: have a heart.”

Trouble Came Looking by Ricky Ross is a modern Celtic folk album written as the wheels started to fall off the economy. On the album Ricky captures the sense of helplessness we all felt as governments signed off billions to protect the banks and institutions, and then sat back and watched as normal people lost everything.

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World - Over The Rhine: Linford Detweiler and Karen Bergquist say: "... we try to write music that in little ways helps to heal the wounds that life has dealt us or the wounds we’ve dealt ourselves. We try to write songs that can hum joyfully at the stars when something good goes down. We try to write tunes capable of whispering to a sleeping child that in spite of everything, somehow, all is well. We try to write words that help us learn to tell the truth to ourselves and others."

Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time by Steve Mason, with a title referring to the Buddhist term for an easily distracted brain, " is air punching, proletariat mobilizing, insurrection-pop of the highest calibre." "Lonely soars with melancholic-gospel-ennui, Oh My Lord is Sweet Home Alabama on a Bontempi keyboard, and Fight Them Back – arguably Mason’s finest piece of song-smithery since Dry the Rain." (BBC Review)

The Relatives’ sound bridges the gap between traditional Gospel, Soul and Psychedelia. In the early 1970’s, they recorded three obscure singles and a previously unreleased session—all of which are compiled on the acclaimed 2009 anthology, Don’t Let Me Fall. The release of the anthology brought The Relatives back together as a band, planting the seeds for their 2013 Yep Roc release, The Electric Word.

The Memory Of Grace by The Children is a volume of unconventional spiritual songs dedicated to the Most High; a poetry and music rooted in English lyrical ballads; in Bob Dylan, and the sons and daughters of Bob; in Ezekiel, Matthew and the Psalms; in cultural reggae and the gospel blues.

Bill Fay's classic Time Of The Last Persecution displays empathy in the face of apocalypse. Fay's songs are simply astonishing - simple and melodic yet with unusual imagery and insights (both whimsical and surreal bearing comparison with Syd Barrett and Nick Drake) delivered with gravity and grace.

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C.O.B. - Solomon's Song.

Electric Eden and the New Folk Revival

Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music is an acclaimed history of the evolution of British folk music. Author Rob Young has a fascination with the roots of English folk music and its ties to the British countryside. For the most part the book "is a surefooted guide to the various tangled paths the English folk song has since been taken down by classicists, collectors, revivalists, iconoclasts, pagans, psychedelic visionaries, punks and purists."

The book is in some ways a search for the national psyche which Young notes has been shaped by a "wrestling for possession between competing religious doctrines, heathen, pagan and Christian." Young finds more of interest in folk-rock which is heathen or pagan but, interestingly, he does value the work of Bill Fay, the Biblical references which abound in C.O.B's Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart, and also includes a brief survey of '70's Jesus Music noting that "there were a few groups - After the Fire, Caedmon, Canaan, Cloud, Bryn Haworth, Meet Jesus Music, Narnia, Nutshell, Parchment, Presence, Reynard, Trinity Folk, Water into Wine Band and 11.59 - which managed to make a music that has lasting value, a kind of Eucharistic-progressive sound that sits comfortably with the better acid folk of the period." He highlights, as being of particular interest, Caedmon's self-titled 1978 album, the Water into Wine band's Hill Climbing for Beginners, Bob and Carole Pegg's And Now It Is So Early with Sydney Carter, Carter's A Folk Passion, and the Reflection Records compilation Sounds of Salvation. 

Young acknowledges that set against "the Dada venom of punk, the angular edges of post-punk and new wave and the plastic seductions of New Romanticism," the "irrelevant, parlous state of folk music in the late 1970s" was revealed. From this point on the book loses focus as Young indulges his liking for Kate Bush, David Sylvian, Talk Talk and Julian Cope without (except in the case of Cope) demonstrating their links to what has gone before. In doing so, Young overlooks the links between punk's political attack and folk's role as the voice of the common people; a connection that Billy Bragg clearly recognised and utilised.   

More recently, Young was one of those interviewed along with Bragg, for Get Folked: The Great Folk Revival which takes up the story Young told and explores the current resurgence in folk's popularity:

"Something incredible has been happening in the music scene over the last few years. Folk - a musical tradition with roots in the pre-electric world - is now becoming the new 21st-century pop phenomenon. Is it the antidote to manufactured music, the new punk, or simply evidence of the enduring appeal of this age-old musical form? This programme features first-hand testimony and intimate, specially shot musical performances from a cross-generational cast of legends, new and old. Richard Thompson, The Lumineers, Jake Bugg, Frank Turner, Akala, Donovan, Martin Carthy, The Unthanks, Alt-J, Newton Faulkner, Seth Lakeman, Bob Geldof and Ade Edmondson are among the contributors."

In introducing the new Folk Revival, the programme references visually the influence of Communion artists including Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling. Although not included in the documentary per se, some of these artists, such as Mumford and Sons and Michael Kiwanuka, continue to tap the Christian influence which, as Young notes in Electric Eden, can be found as a strand within English folk music.

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C.O.B. - Martha And Mary.