Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Steve Turner

Presence of the Lord is the first song for which Eric Clapton wrote the lyrics and featured on the only album released by Blind Faith, the band generally reckoned to be rock's first supergroup. The song was sung by Steve Winwood, and the band also included Ginger Baker and Ric Grech.   

The song is a testimony of faith, a 'song of gratitude'. Clapton said the message of the song was to 'say ‘thank you’ to God, or whatever you choose to call Him, for whatever happens.' I first heard of the song through Conversations with Eric Clapton, a book of interviews by rock writer and poet, Steve Turner. In those interviews Clapton spoke about his coming to faith during Blind Faith's tour to promote the album.

The support band on the tour was Delaney & Bonnie and Clapton's "friendship with Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett in 1969 gave him a real encounter with God": "He said, “Delaney’s persona of a Southern Baptist preacher, delivering a fire and brimstone message … could have been off-putting, if it wasn’t for the fact that when he sang, he was … absolutely inspiring.” One night during the Blind Faith ’69 tour two Christians came to his dressing room and asked him to pray with them. he saw “a blinding light” and sensed God’s presence. Afterwards, he began telling people that he had become ‘a born-again Christian.’

But Eric again became addicted to alcohol during his successful solo years of the 1970’s. He eventually says he hit ‘rock bottom’ in 1987. Following rehab, he “surrendered to God” and his life eventually came together again. He writes, “In the privacy of my room, I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether … and, getting down on my knees, I surrendered. Within a few days I realized that … I had found a place to turn to, a place I’d always known was there but never really wanted, or needed, to believe in. From that day until this, I have never failed to pray in the morning, on my knees, asking for help, and at night, to express gratitude for my life and, most of all, for my sobriety. I choose to kneel because I feel I need to humble myself when I pray, and with my ego, this is the most I can do. If you are asking why I do all this, I will tell you … because it works, as simple as that.”'

It was also Delaney Bramlett 'as much as anybody who coaxed [Clapton] to sing and explained the mechanics of phrasing and how to use his voice ... Delaney told Eric, “God has given you this gift, and if you don’t use it he will take it away.” In his autobiography, Clapton said, “I’ll never be able to repay Delaney for his belief in me.”'

Following Presence of the Lord, Clapton wrote and recorded a significant number of spiritually inspired songs, some original, some covers. These include: We've Been Told (Jesus Is Coming Soon); Give Me Strength; Heaven Is One Step Away; Tears In Heaven; Holy Mother; My Father's Eyes; and Prayer of a Child, among others.  

Steve Winwood joined Blind Faith on the back of success in the Spencer Davis Group and Traffic. He went on to enjoy a successful solo career with a string of hit singles and albums in the 1980’s. Many of his earliest musical influences came from the Anglican Church in Birmingham. He has said: 'I was brought up a Christian in the Church of England. As a young boy I was a choir boy and a server at St John’s Church, Perry Bar… and in fact many of my musical influences come from Hymnals, Psalters and organ music from the English church.' However, like many, he drifted away from the Church although always being 'interested in anything religious and spiritual'.

Ralph Burden writes that: 'Things changed for him in 1985 after meeting Eugenia Crafton. She was a dedicated Christian. Thoughts of a new marriage and starting a family directed Steve back to his Christian roots and brought a fresh zeal for music. He says, “It wasn’t until I met Eugenia in 1985 and began to think about a family that I became again interested in Christianity.”

With the 1986 album ‘Back in the High Life’ and the 1988 album ‘Roll With It’ came a new level of success. The renewal of his Christian faith and the positive, spiritual themes in these two particular albums are more than coincidental. Writing of the 1986 album, the music information contributor ’Rockportraits’ notes,

“The acoustic-based title track, ‘Back In The High Life’, seems filled with resolve and self-assurance. ‘My Love’s Leavin’ comes from this album as does the horn-infused neo-soul of ‘Freedom Overspill’. However, the most important track is ‘Higher Love’. Bolstered by backing vocals from funk diva Chaka Khan, this is a prayer of soulful aspiration:

“Think about it, there must be a higher love
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above
Without it, life is wasted time…”

Lyricist Will Jennings (who also had a church background in the United States) seems to be tapping into Steve’s own renewed Christian faith. ‘Wake Me Up On Judgement Day’ has a deep spiritual overtone.”' (‘Rockportraits – Steve Winwood’ – 2014)

Other tracks of particular interest include Holding on, the second US chart topping single from the album 'Roll With It' and State of Grace. a track from Traffic’s 1994 reunion album ‘Far From Home’. Real Love from his 1997 solo album ‘Junction Seven’ is another song brimming with spirituality, while Someone Like You, also from ‘Junction Seven’, is a deeply reflective song with Christian imagery referring to answered prayer.

It is fascinating that two of those involved with Presence of the Lord later came to faith and wrote powerfully and movingly about that experience.

Steve Turner began writing for BEAT INSTRUMENTAL as features editor and has subsequently written for NME, ROLLING STONE, Q and countless newspapers. His books include Conversations with Eric Clapton (1976), Hungry for Heaven (1988), Cliff Richard: The Biography (1993), Van Morrison: It's Too Late to Stop Now (1993), A Hard Day's Write (1994), Jack Kerouac: Angelheaded Hipster (1996) and Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye (1998). He is also a well-regarded poet.

Turner says that: 'Though I didn’t plan it this way, all the artists I’ve written about in depth – Johnny Cash, U2, the Who, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Van Morrison, Kerouac– have explored issues of faith.'

Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption is his acclaimed account of the relationship between religion and popular music. In Turn! Turn! Turn!, Turner, takes an in-depth look at the lyrics and cultural context of 100 of the greatest songs from the 1930s to today to reveal an often overlooked or ignored strand of influence in popular music―the Bible. Indeed, some of the “greats”―including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bono, Johnny Cash, Sting, and others―have repeatedly returned to the Bible for such sustenance, as well as musical inspiration and a framework with which they can better understand themselves. From The Byrds’ Turn! Turn! Turn! to Marvin Gaye’s Wholly Holy, some of the best loved and least likely songs reflect the Bible. Looking at the songs in the context of the time it was written, its influence on the culture, and the way that it incorporates or reflects the Bible will give a different perspective on many of the most loved songs of our time.

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:

• Damien Jurado and David Bazan
• Body Piercing Saved My Life
• The Ocean Blue, Denison Whitmer, Innocence Mission and Sufjan Stevens
• ROCK OF AGES: JESUS IN POPULAR SONGS
• International Times: Dark Intense MusicDavid Ackles and After the Fire
• 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

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blind Faith - Presence Of The Lord.

Damien Jurado and David Bazan

I've written a significant number of posts about different aspects of faith and popular music. The most recent post included mention of David Bazan. This post is about Damien Jurado, a friend of and collaborator with Bazan.

'Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan have much in common, from their shared conservative Christian upbringing to their refusal to conform to the expectations of their growing fan-bases—either the college radio kids in their Weezer t-shirts or the cool church kids, squirming uneasily as Pedro breaks into “Rapture” a vividly descriptive song about adultery.

Before Bazan had college students poring over his lyric sheets, he was drumming for Jurado in a series of local Seattle bands—The Guilty, Linus and Coolidge. They’ve collaborated on most of Jurado’s records and bounced ideas off each other throughout their respective careers.'

'While this artist [Jurado] is known as a sort of darling in the indie folk scene, his roots are in the Christian punk/emo scene of the Pacific NW in the 90s. With connections to Pedro the Lion, Roadside Monument, Poor Old Lu, etc. Jurado released some 7″ singles on the then-fledgling Christian label Tooth and Nail Records. Even his debut was a co-release with Tooth and Nail and SubPop, the latter a connection that came through his friend Jeremy Enigk of Sunny Day Real Estate.'

'Jurado originally signed with “Sub-Pop” records in 1997 releasing Water Ave S., (1997), Rehearsals for Departure (1999) and Ghost of David (2000), all of which share a standard folk flavour. In 2002, Jurado worked alongside David Bazan to produce I Break Chairs, which took a rock-influenced turn, before signing with “Secretly Canadian” records in 2005 to produce five more albums which garnered popularity and a sizable following. But in 2012, Jurado released Maraqopa, immediately noticed for its shift in style and storytelling method, sonically transporting listeners to a dream-like world.'

Jurado's 'eleventh full-length album, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son (2014) stands out as visionary and a triumph of creativity. The album is a distinct stylistic change from his previous Seattle-born acoustic folk/Americana to Jurado’s new latin-inspired, sci-fi, psychedelic spiritual folk. Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son is a concept album along with Jurado’s previous Maraqopa (2012) and his newest Vision of Us on the Land (2016), forming a cohesive narrative-based sci-fi trilogy.'

'Jurado had a dream about a musician on a journey of personal and spiritual discovery, and that dream catalyzed the songs that would become 2012’s Maraqopa. And then he realized he had more of the dream left to tell, and those songs became 2014’s Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son. And now comes Visions Of Us On The Land, the third installment and a conscious post-script to the original dream.

“The first two are really connected in the fact that they follow this story of this musician who sort of disappears from life and just goes out to seek and find himself,” says Jurado. “And while he’s trying to find himself, he sees the deep need for God and love, and wonders, ‘What does all that mean, and if love overtakes me, what will I become? Am I willing to let go of me for this thing called love? What if it transforms me? What is this thing called God? What if it takes over my life? What am I risking here?’ There’s all sorts of levels. The third record is really about him and his life companion going and seeking out whatever that is on what is pretty much Earth, but it’s barren and no longer inhabited by anyone. It’s pretty much an Adam and Eve scenario, I guess. This new album is sort of about experiencing a journey of the mind. What is all that you are?”'

Jurado also says: 'I’ve been a Christian since I was 17. For a long time it didn’t play a role in my music, though in some ways I can’t say that entirely because I’m under the belief that God is in everything I do, whether it is making dinner for my family, driving a car, or writing a song. God is in everything, as is creation. But where does it play in Maraqopa and the new album? It plays into the story in a big way only because the main character doesn’t know whether he’s dead or alive. When he goes back to Maraqopa there are certain things that are revealed to him that he didn’t know before. One is that they are awaiting the second coming of Christ, and it turns out that for them it’s by way of a spaceship. After his car accident the main character undergoes an inner change. He becomes a beacon, or radio tower, between heaven and earth, and the people of Maraqopa realize that they need him.

I think for me, the spiritual side of my faith opened up my music in a giant way. Looking back it’s not that strange. You have so many musical artists, from Johnny Cash to John Coltrane, who were immersed in spirituality. If you are in some ways open to letting God move through you, I guarantee you that you’re going to come up with some of the most creative music you’ve ever heard.'

'Jurado uses science fiction and mystery to open up himself, his faith, his understanding of God to speak in visions and images that are potentially uncomfortable and strange in order to better understand his own struggles with doubt and depression.'

I wrote an article on these themes for Seen and Unseen 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 mentioned in this article. 

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:

• Body Piercing Saved My Life
• The Ocean Blue, Denison Whitmer, Innocence Mission and Sufjan Stevens
• ROCK OF AGES: JESUS IN POPULAR SONGS
• International Times: Dark Intense Music
David Ackles and After the Fire
• 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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damien Jurado - A.M. A.M.

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".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Methuselah - Matthew.

Quiet Day: Jesus Music

 

Here's my introduction to Saturday's Quiet Day at St Mary's Runwell on Jesus Music:

The Jesus Movement in America in the 1960s and 1970s was an extraordinary time of mass revival, renewal, and reconciliation. This counter-cultural movement of Christians also found its own expression in the UK, reshaping the lives of individuals along with the life and mission of the new and existing churches across the nation.

The Jesus Movement included: the emergent Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene; links between the Jesus People and the burgeoning charismatic movement; the establishment of new influential churches like Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel and John Wimber’s Vineyard Fellowship; and ministries that reached out to drug users, bikers, hippies, that came out of, or were parallel to, the Jesus People.

In terms of music, a good description of what went on can be found in the introduction to a 3CD box set called All God’s Children: Songs From The British Jesus Rock Revolution 1967-1974 which provides an overview of the UK element of the late 60s/early 70s “Jesus movement”:

‘During the late 60s and early 70s, the restless, questing nature of the Woodstock generation and the horrors of Vietnam saw the pop scene add a new spiritual element. Many young people embraced Christianity, viewing Jesus as the prototypal long-haired hippie, persecuted by the establishment of the day while dispensing peace and love to a troubled, cynical world.

The American branch of the Jesus movement effectively started in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, but there was also a parallel development in the UK that slowly evolved from beat groups performing in church coffee-bars. By 1971, leading British Xian rock band Out Of Darkness were appearing at notorious countercultural gathering Phun City, while Glastonbury introduced a “Jesus tent” that offered Christian revellers mass and holy communion twice a day.’

‘All God’s Children assembles the best of the British Christian acts, including such respected names as Out Of Darkness … , Parchment, Whispers Of Truth and Judy MacKenzie. It also features the secular alongside the sacred, including the likes of Strawbs, Moody Blues, Amazing Blondel, John Kongos and Medicine Head – bands who, though theologically shyer than their more overtly Christian contemporaries, all wrote songs with a strong spiritual message.’

There had always been a spiritual element to Rock ‘n’ Roll. When it emerged, Rock ‘n’ Roll merged Blues (with its spiritual strand) and Country music (tapping its white gospel) while Soul music adapted much of its sound and content from Black Gospel. For both, their gestures and movements were adopted from Pentecostalism. Some, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam Cooke, felt guilt at secularising Gospel while others, like Johnny Cash, arrived at a hard-earned integration of faith and music. The Church, at the time, generally opposed the secularisation of its music and, as a result, there appeared to be a gulf between the music of the Church and that of popular culture.

The Hippie movement expanded the spirituality already inherent in rock music through the visionary aspect of drug culture and a wider engagement with religion which included significant connections with Eastern religions but also, in part through the Jesus Movement, was with Christianity. In fact, it seems probable that the Jesus Movement led to a growth in songs by secular artists which were about Jesus. This was also the period in which songs such as 'Presence of the Lord' by Blind Faith, 'My Sweet Lord' by George Harrison, 'Fire and Rain' by James Taylor, 'Sweet Cherry Wine' and 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' by Tommy James and the Shondells, 'Let it Be' by The Beatles, 'That's the Way God Planned It' by Billy Preston, 'Hymn' by Barclay James Harvest, 'Jesus is A Soul Man' by Laurence Reynolds, 'Are You Ready?' by Pacific Gas & Electric, 'Spirit in the Sky' by Norman Greenbaum, 'Put Your Hand in the Hand' by Ocean, and 'Jesus Is Just Alright' by the Doobie Brothers, as well as albums like Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace, Al Green's Belle Album and The Staple Singers' Be What You Are became popular. This was also the period of musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell and, from the Jesus Movement itself, Lonesome Stone and Yesterday, Today, Forever.

Gram Parsons, both as a solo artist and with the Flying Burrito Brothers, drew on the Gospel music tradition in Country Music, also taking The Bryds in the same direction. Christian of the World by Tommy James was a mixture of serious religious themes encased in James' well known pop style and featuring many of the studio players and singers he had used successfully on earlier recordings. David Axelrod wrote Mass in F Minor and Release of an Oath for the Electric Prunes, albums which combined religious and classical elements with psychedelic rock in a rock-opera concept. The songs of Judee Sill 'dealt with Christian spirituality, metaphysics, rapture and redemption, and were laden with classical music overtones': 'Her spiritual quest informed much of her writing. Heavenly and temporal love were constant themes. She had been through many relationships, and lust, rapture, and redemption intermingled ... Her interest in Christianity was far more than intellectual curiosity – she was baptized by Pat Boone in his swimming pool, and once described Christ as an elusive lover – “My vision of my animus.”'

Turning back to the Jesus Movement, Electric Liturgy by Mind Garage pre-dated the Mass in F Minor and gave a basis for later rock versions of the Mass/Eucharist such as the Rock Communion by Fresh Claim and U2charists. In Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music, Rob Young 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."

So, it seems probable that the Jesus Movement did have a significant influence on mainstream music in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. That influence is one that is still being felt in a variety of ways and this period remains interesting because it laid the foundation for later developments both within mainstream popular music and Contemporary Christian Music. However, it is interesting primarily because of the quality of the music and the insights found therein in regard to Jesus and that’s what we’re going to focus on in this Quiet Day.

As part of the Quiet Day we listened to music from Amazing Blondel, Anawim, Barclay James Harvest, Sydney Carter, 11:59, The Moody Blues, Nirvana, Larry Norman, Strawbs and Clifford T. Ward. Our songs divided into songs about Jesus and prayers to Jesus.

Future Quiet Days at St Mary's are:

• Wednesday 22 May – Women in the Bible: Spend time getting to know the women whose lives made a significant contribution to the story of God’s relationship with his people. Led by Revd Sue Wise.
• Saturday 15 June – Faith Pictures: Helps us see where God has been present in our lives, how we can talk about that confidently, and how God is active in the world around us and wants us to join in with Him. The focus will be on Traveller’s Tales and Talking Pictures. Led by Gail and Stephen.
• Wednesday 10 July – Psalms: Time to immerse yourself in the prayerfulness, rich imagery and poetry of the psalms. Led by Revd Sue Wise.
• Saturday 14 September – The 7S’s of the Nazareth Community: Silence, Sacrament, Scriptures, Service, Sharing, Sabbath, Staying as a personal Rule of Life. Led by Revd Jonathan Evens.

Cost: £8.00 per person, including sandwich lunch (pay on the day)

To book contact jonathan.evens@btinternet.com / 07803 562329 (27/04, 15/06, 14/09) or sue.wise@sky.com / 07941 506156 (22/05, 10/07)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nirvana - Lord Up Above.
 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tryin' to throw your arms around the world

At the last Unveiled evening I gave a lecture 'Tryin’ to throw your arms around the world' in which I talked about the spirituality of the rock band U2. The talk set out the main characteristics of U2’s spirituality, examines their roots, makes links between their spirituality and themes in contemporary theology and, considers three reasons why U2’s spirituality has connected with popular culture.

To read 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' click here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

My co-authored book The Secret Chord explored 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:

• 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
• Salt and Sweetners
• The mystery at the heart of music - 1 and 2
• Inspiration from the Psalms

Read also my dialogues with musician and poet Steve Scott here, here, here, here, and here, plus my other posts on CCM. In a series of blog posts for Deus Ex Musica I shared rock and pop songs for Easter, Lent, Epiphany and New Year. Also see my Seen and Unseen articles on Nick Cave, Rev Simpkins and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Rock ‘n’ Roll merged blues (with its spiritual strand) and Country music (tapping its white gospel) while Soul music adapted much of its sound and content from Black Gospel. For both, their gestures and movements were adopted from Pentecostalism. Some, such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Sam Cooke, felt guilt at secularising Gospel while others, like Johnny Cash, arrived at a hard earned integration of faith and music. All experienced opposition from a Church angry at its songs and influence being appropriated for secular ends. This opposition fed a narrative that, on both sides, equated rock and pop with hedonism and rebellion. The born again Cliff Richard was often perceived (both positively and negatively) as the only alternative. Within this context the Biblical language and imagery of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison was largely overlooked, although Dylan spoke eloquently about the influence of scripture within the tradition of American music on which he drew.

With the majority of Soul stars having begun singing in Church, many of the most effective integrations of faith and music were found there with Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and the Gospel-folk of the Staple Singers being among the best and most socially committed examples. Gospel featured directly with Billy Preston, Edwin Hawkins Singers and Aretha Franklin’s gospel albums. Mainstream use of Christian themes or imagery in rock were initially either unsustained (e.g. Blind Faith’s ‘Presence of the Lord’ and Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit in the Sky’) or obscure (e.g. C.O.B.’s Moyshe McStiff and the Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart and Bill Fay’s Time of the Last Persecution).

However, this changed in three ways. First, the Church began to appropriate rock and pop to speak explicitly about Christian faith. This led to the emergence of a new genre, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), with interaction between CCM and the mainstream. Mainstream artists such as Philip Bailey, David Grant, Al Green, Larry Norman and Candi Staton developed CCM careers while artists originally within CCM such as Delirious?, Martyn Joseph, Julie Miller, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, Sixpence None The Richer and Switchfoot achieved varying levels of mainstream exposure and success. Second, the biblical language and imagery of stars like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen began to be understood and appreciated (helped to varying degrees by explicitly ‘Christian’ periods in the work of Dylan and Van the Man). Third, musicians such as After The Fire, The Alarm, T. Bone Burnett, The Call, Peter Case, Bruce Cockburn, Extreme, Galactic Cowboys, Innocence Mission, Kings X, Maria McKee, Buddy & Julie Miller, Moby, Over The Rhine, Ricky Ross, 16 Horsepower, U2, The Violent Femmes, Gillian Welch, Jim White, and Victoria Williams rather than singing about the light (of Christ) instead sang about the world which they saw through the light (of Christ). As rock and pop fragmented into a myriad of genres, this approach to the expression of faith continues in the work of Eric Bibb, Blessid Union of Souls, Creed, Brandon Flowers, Good Charlotte, Ben Harper, Michael Kiwanuka, Ed Kowalczyk, Lifehouse, Live, Low, Neal Morse, Mumford and Sons, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Scott Stapp, Social Distortion, and Woven Hand.

I've created a playlist on Spotify called 'Closer to the light'. 'Closer To The Light' is a song by Bruce Cockburn that he said "was written addressed to the late Mark Heard ... He was a fantastic songwriter. His death sent a shockwave through our whole community, and what that did in me was that song." As a result, 'Closer to the Light' is a song that straddles both CCM and mainstream artists suggesting that both can bring us closer to the light. Similarly, this playlist, which includes blues, choral, classical, country, folk, gospel, jazz, pop, rap, rock, and soul music, aims to straddle music from both CCM and the mainstream which also brings us closer to the light.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce Cockburn - Closer To The Light.

Jesus Music (2)

Charisma Records released two albums called 'Songs for a Modern Church'. The first, from 1975 was 'Beyond An Empty Dream (Songs For A Modern Church)' while the second, from 1983, was just entitled 'Songs for a Modern Church'.

The track listing for the first album was:

Clifford T. Ward – Jesus Of Long Ago
Anawim – Give Us The Peace
The Charterhouse Choral Society – Take This Heart

Arranged By [Vocal Arrangement] – W. B. Llewellywyn

Organ [Organist] – Robin Wells

Producer – Anthony Phillips

Written by – A. Phillips, M. Rutherford

John McLaughlin – Guru
Anawim – Lady Of Sorrow
Anawim – Mother Teresa's Prayer
The Friends Of St Francis – The Man Who Turned On The World
Anawim – The Walking Song
John McLaughlin – The Name Of Truth
Anawim – Show Me The Man
Capability Brown – Sympathy

and, for the second:

Clifford T. Ward – The Traveller
Joan McGuinness (2) & Anawim – Prayer Before Birth
Peter Hammill & Van Der Graaf Generator – Refugees
Rare Bird – Sympathy
Graham Bell & 'Every Which Way' – Go Placidly
Lindisfarne – Clear White Light
Sir John Betjeman – Christmas
Paul Phoenix And The St. Paul's Cathedral Boys Choir – Nunc Dimittis
Keith Emerson And The West Park School Choir – My Name Is Rain
Kenny Rowe – Jesus
St. Paul's Cathedral Boys Choir – I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)
Gregory Isaacs – Poor And Clean

Clifford T Ward's "Jesus Of Long Ago" is a charming modern hymn. "The Traveller" was one of the most thought-provoking tracks on his second album "Home Thoughts". This was paired with Lindisfarne's "Clear White Light" as a single to promote the second 'Songs for a Modern Church' album. A later Ward song, from 1986, also worth mentioning in this regard, is the 'remarkable, "Water", which is ostensibly about the crucifixion of Jesus but the sense of betrayal felt by Christ is clearly shared by Ward, not usually the protagonist in his own songs'.

"‘Clear White Light’ is utterly different from anything else Lindisfarne recorded. It starts a capella, with [Alan] Hull’s voice, strong and soaring, singing ‘Do you believe?’ It’s part of a line, and the rest of the band’s singers join him on the word ‘believe’, adding a powerful harmony. He goes on to ‘the clear white light’, with the same arrangement, the band joining in forcefully on ‘light’, before drawing the question into a final line, ‘is going to guide us on’, the band harmonising on the final three words. It’s instant and intense, very personal and immediately spiritual, and it’s this without reference to god or religion, that powers the song. The clear white light of which Hull sings is something beyond, a purity and a cleansing, but more of a natural force that exists and illuminates."

Anawim started life by contributing tracks to 'Beyond An Empty Dream'. Two years later Tom McGuinness and Jim Crampsey, two Jesuit priests, issued 'Mystery Maker' on the tiny Caves Records, which was based at Stonyhurst College, a private Catholic school in Lancashire. Cave Records released three LPs of original music on Jesuit themes. 

Tom McGuinness wrote of 'Take this Heart', a modern hymn written by Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford: 'Reflective doesn't always mean quiet. A much bigger atmosphere is created in this live recording of The Charterhouse Choral Society in their own chapel. Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford wrote this together and both felt that the live recording held a much better atmosphere than the studio recording which was also tried. (The echoes are real).'

John McLaughlin, also known as Mahavishnu, is a pioneer of jazz fusion, his music combines elements of jazz with rock, world music, Western classical music, flamenco, and blues.

The Friends Of St Francis released 'The Man Who Turned On The World' as a single paired with 'How Is The World Today?' in 1974 on Charisma.

'Capability Brown was a band of 6 multi-instrumentalists with terrific vocal harmonies who were equally at home with short, snappy, should-have-been-hit pop songs as they were with complex extended pieces... Kenny Rowe had one solo single on Charisma, Jesus/Water Song.' 'Their second album, "Voice", released in 1973, is considered their claim to fame, incorporating an over-20-minute richly melodic piece called Circumstances (In Love, Past, Present, Future Meet).'

Peter Hammill wrote of 'Refugees': 'In the writing, however, the song developed a life of its own (as is always the best way), and the hope becomes much more than that for reunion with my friends. We are all refugees, and there is no home but hope."'

Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band, formed in 1969. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, the organ-based single "Sympathy" reached number 27 in February 1970, selling an estimated one million globally.
 
'Every Which Way took a more jazz influenced take on Progressive rock... The band recorded their only album at Trident studios soon after formation and signed with the recently founded Charisma label. The finished result was a fine record which earned much critical praise upon its release. The songs were mostly written by Graham Bell, whose superb voice was selected for praise... Highlights included the emotive 'Go Placidly'.

'Paul Phoenix’s long career in the music business began in the 1970’s, when he became a Chorister in St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir in the City of London. He sang in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee service in 1977 and recorded the Ivor Novello award-winning theme ‘Nunc Dimittis’ by Geoffrey Burgon, in the BBC adaptation of John Le Carre’s ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ in 1979, for which he was later awarded a gold disc.'

Keith Emerson said: 'My mother used to work at a school canteen. The headmaster there, when he knew who her son was, said: ‘Would he mind writing a school song?’ I wrote this theme, and I sat down at my barn with my tape-recorder and got the idea together, and sat on it for about 8 months. Charisma records heard it and liked it: ‘Oh it’s great! We’d like to use this on Songs for a Modern Church'.'

Gregory Isaacs was 'reggae’s “Cool Ruler,” whose aching vocals and poignant lyrics about love and loss and ghetto life endeared him to fans of Caribbean music'. 'Poor and Clean' begins "A rich man's heaven is a poor man's hell".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take this Heart.