Well said! They also reminded me of Tom Petty, with Christian lyrics and positive messages. The Elms had a great sound and a guitar-tone unlike many of the commercial Christian rock groups from that time period. I remember seeing them when they played in Alberta several years ago.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it took 172 posts before Chuck Girard / Love Song was mentioned since it was the early to middle 70's when they did their best work. I saw Chuck in concert back then, and then again the next morning. I worked as a bellman at Howard Johnson's. It was early on Saturday morning in below freezing weather. Chuck had on one of those puffy nylon down coats we wore in the 70's and hiking boots. That's how I dressed back then so I could easily relate to him. He was sitting on a wall outside the hotel playing his acoustic guitar. His first solo album has always been my favorite Christian album. Love Ambrosia backing him up. Alleluia has probably been sung and played more times than Stairway to Heaven. And yet, he never became a superstar, just a Rock'n'roll preacher... There weren't a lot of CCM records that I felt were good for the whole album and way too much of it sounds the same. However, there have been some great artists that produced great songs. My favorites, are Bruce Cockburn, Over The Rhine, Bob Dylan, Chasing Furies, Josh White (was the lead singer in Telecast), Josh Garrels, Among Thorns, Eric Bibb, Glenn Kaiser, Jars of Clay, Mark Heard, Keith Green, and Needtobreath. Bruce Cockburn is not CCM, but he wrote some of the best Christian songs ever. In fact, I'm not sure he would say he is Christian as there's a lot of baggage in that title these days. However, I believe that he follows Jesus and writes great lyrics contrasting light and dark! Lord of the Starfields Ancient of Days Universe Maker Here's a song in your praise Over The Rhine, have I mentioned them here before? They are subtle in their approach, dropping hints and phrases in many songs without being preachy. IMO, one of the most interesting songs pointing to Jesus has a couple of f-bombs (not their norm!) The song is called Changes Come and at the end of the song she kind of slurs her words as if she were drunk. She sings "changes come turn this world around" over and over. At some point you realize she's singing "Jesus come change this world around." You may not want to play that one in church... Chasing Furies was actually a tribute to OTR. Three siblings came together for one very good album, but can you image trying to tour with two sisters? They were one and done. You can buy this album for less than $1 on Amazon. "I Would Drown" is worth the price of admission. Josh White's Achor is the exception. Every Christian should own this album. Unfortunately, they won't because there are songs on this album that don't sound like CCM at all. There are songs where the lyrics question whether or not Jesus was real, "show me your hands," he demands. And there are songs with lyrics that will break your heart. Every song has different instrumentation and texture. I can't say enough about this album. I need to buy the new one...
All of the artists you listed are excellent and I'm also a big fan of the Gaither Vocal Band. Probably my favorite station for gospel and country music is the RFD network. If that station is not included in your basic cable package, find out from your provider if it can be added.
Eric Bibb has that Keb' Mo' thing going for him, kind of a Christian Mojo... Love the song Shine On! Glenn Kaiser is an in your face, tell it like it is preacher, but he plays a mean, mean guitar. Sloooooooooow burn! Jars of Clay made the big time and then people found out they were CCM... They have been hit and miss with me over the years, but two songs from Who We Are Instead, Jealous Kind and Amazing Grace (not your momma's) are primo IMO. Everything you'd want in a CCM song. Josh Garrels is the newest and best not-CCM Christian music I've heard in years. I play the album Love & War and the Sea In Between at church regularly. Every time I do, someone asks me who is playing. This is just a great album. I have about 5 of his albums now and none of them disappoint, although the newest one is a little less adventuresome than earlier albums, it's still good.
I visit the US every now and then, so I will definitely take a look in those second hand stores. I certainly believe that US stores have a lot more CCM music to offer than here in the Netherlands or other EU countries. Come to think of it - it's only now that I realize that most 'christian' music comes from the US. From my radio days in the 90s I remember that most of what I played had American origins. The number of CCM artists in my (admittedly, small ) country is extremely small and it's probably the same in most other countries of the world. Except for Iona and Martyn Joseph I can't even think of many UK acts, though I'm sure there are more. Of course, there's lots of artists that are christian that release their music through secular and/or independent distribution channels, think U2, Van Morrison and a host of others. But it seems to me that the US may be the only country that has (or used to have?) a firmly established 'industry' built around christian music. Obviously that has something to do with the fact that it's a much bigger country where a significant part of its inhabitants is still a believer. The situation is different in many EU countries. For comparision: most people in Holland would call themselves atheists. Their number is bigger than christians or any other groups that belong to a religious faith.
If no one minds, I'll throw out the names of a few bands/artists I enjoy who mainly play Christian "dance" music (yep, it actually exists, and a lot of it is very good): Mad At The World (their first album, at least, was dance-type music) Painted Orange Echoing Green Andy Hunter Scott Blackwell Dance House Children AJ Mora Code of Ethics Joy Electric Mortal World Wide Message Tribe This is just scratching the surface. I'm sure there are lots more good ones I'm drawing a blank on right now.
Two of my favourite records: Add to that anything by Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin or Tim Hughes Another artist that gets overlooked is Brian Houston...love his writing....
The first time I met with Leslie Philips, she wrote me a letter, it seemed like, on the cover of her first album. Very inspiring. As with many Christian artists of the era, they were very open and very accessible. Leslie felt that the Christian music field was shunning her because she liked to rock it up. I never saw that and never thought that she was any more wild or up-tempo as Petra and other Christian rock groups. I think that she was more feeling un-appreciated, compared to Amy Grant, who actually moved into secular pop/rock yet was still accepted in the Christian communities. I don't really care for her Sam Philips recordings.
I had a radio station promotional copy of this album when it came out and, like a fool, I gave it away. Years later, I had to find and buy another copy. With Christian artists moving into the mainstream, this was United Artists attempt to get their feet wet.
he original line up of Out Of Darkness was formed in 1969, the various members coming from three bands, The Pilgrims, The Soul Seekers and Insight. Tim picked up the story: "Key Records had known about us as musicians before we came together as a group and they were very interested in us. The Soul Seekers were one of Britain's first black gospel groups and they had toured the continent and released several records. The Pilgrims had also released several singles and I had become a session drummer. Key Records offered us a deal after we had been playing together for only four days." Soon the band went on tour with other Key recording artists, which resulted in the live 'Sound Vision' compilation album on which they were featured. Out Of Darkness created huge waves of excitement at every venue they played and were quickly installed into the City Of London recording studios where they laid down the tracks for their eponymously titled debut album. The line up at the time was Wray Powell on guitar, Carl Grant on bass and gongos, Tony Goodman on vocals and Tim on drums, who also contributed a hammer and wire cutters percussion track to one song. The album was recorded on a basic eight-track machine and was completed in a week. It sold very well on the 'Sound Vision' tour and through record shops and bookshops as well as mail order. It was the best selling gospel album of 1970. However, these were early days for the industry and the numbers sold were relatively small. Interest in the band continued to grow. Out Of Darkness were playing in the major clubs in London like the Flamingo and the Marquee as well as getting good slots at many large festivals including Reading, Phun City and the Jesus Revolution in Edinburgh, which was recorded by the BBC. More here: http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/artic...eminal_rock_band_of_the_early_1970s/40200/p1/
I went to high school with John Davis. He was in the 90's alt band Superdrag. He released a couple of Christian Rock albums. Arigato! is an excellent 90's rock album produced by Nick Raskulinecz which gives it a bit of a Foo Fighters sound.
Getting into early (pre 1980's) CCM: Second Chapter of Acts: This was a 3 member sibling vocal group which is what made their harmonies unique. Matthew Ward went solo. Check out his album "Fade to White".
I always felt the CCM scene was unrealistic or in 70's terms, plastic. I always tried to find artists that believed in God in the secular scene. In my mind, these people were more authentic. This is why artists like Bruce Cockburn & Over The Rhine are my favorites. I love it when artists make it big and then slip a song on their album like this: Leela James - Prayer
