Slate’s running an article about the freaky origins of Christian rock—a look at some of the truly crazy (and influential) musical specimens of the Jesus People movement. My own introduction to CCM came in the 1980s and took the form of Michael W. Smith and Petra; apparently I missed out on some truly crazy/awesome stuff:
The All Saved Freak Band is a different kettle of fish—at once more powerful and more disturbing, and a reminder of how apocalyptic convictions, Christian or otherwise, can go sour. The band began when a drugged-out Chicago guitarist named Joe Markko moved to Ohio, where he met a fiery street pastor named Larry Hill. Convinced that the Chinese and/or Russians were coming, Hill set himself up as patriarch of an isolated survivalist Christian commune, replete with guns and goats. When he performed, Hill wore a wide Amish hat and a priest’s habit, and he sang to hector and convert. But the band didn’t really gel until Hill and Markko were joined by Glenn Schwartz, an incendiary blues shromper who had played guitar for the James Gang but had publicly renounced commercial rock. Living collectively, the band made a handful of intense and very strange records, including the Tolkien-inspired folk-rock rarity For Christians, Elves, and Lovers. In 1975, in response to Hill’s authoritarian brutality, Schwartz’s family attempted to kidnap and “deprogram” the guitarist. The attempt failed, and the band’s third record was called Brainwashed.
Wow… just wow. If you’re like me, your first reaction to learning that there was an album called For Christians, Elves, and Lovers was “Man, I really need to hear that.” The band has a website (of course) at which lamentably short samples of their music can be heard. (But come on… if ever there was music that needs to be released for free, it’s drugged-out Jesus music, right?) More info at the band’s Wikipedia entry.
Much more “Christianity + the 60s + probably a lot of drugs” zaniness described in the Slate article, so go check it out. Anybody readers willing to admit to having been a fan of any of these bands back in their heyday?
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August 17, 2007 at 01:09
OK I’ll fess up. I started following Christ as a teenagers in the 70’s and music meant as much to young Christians then as it does now, we just drove around and listened to our 8-tracks instead of our ipods. I wasn’t a big fan on All Saved Freak Band but I loved Larry Norman, Barry McGuire and Resurrection Band. I still think Andre Crouch and Phil Keaggy are amazing musicians. For pure heart I loved Keith Green, Second Chapter of Acts and Don Francisco. There were a couple of Messianic Jews who had a band called Lamb with this mournful Hebrew sound that was amazing. What some of these guys have to say in their songs are pretty timeless even though some of the music is pretty funny now.
Christian music wasn’t really an industry back then. The sound quality is pretty shabby on a lot of recordings. People just played music and lots of songs spread across youth groups by word of mouth. The seventies were a time when people were really open to new experiences and the Jesus Movement was sort of a departure from organized church. That can lead to some excesses and weirdness. Personally, I think a little weird is better than buying into Christianity as a corporate strucure.
To read more about Jesus Music go to one-way at http://www.one-way.org/jesusmusic/index.html
or have a listen at Jesus Music Oldies radio at http://www.jesusmusicoldies.com
DiSabatino, the author mentioned in the article also has a website about the Jesus People http://www.jesuspeoplemovement.com/
I know I didn’t get the links to work, what do you expect? I’m a child of the seventies and I’m still working through a technology learning curve. In fact I might have sent versions of this post twice and for that I apologize.
I really didn’t climb off the culture train thirty years ago – I still listen to Andre but I also listen to Switchfoot and David Crowder too, and pretty much everything in between (but I draw the line at disco).
September 8, 2007 at 14:43
I’m writing a book about the All Saved Freak Band and the cult the band found themselves trapped in. It’s called IN A DARK PLACE.
My interview with band co-founder Joe Markko can be read at the allsavedfreakband.com website.
Amazing story of the abuse these people suffered at the hands of Larry Hill, the cult leader.
My photos of the band’s 2007 August reunion are at the site. I stopped by Larry’s home—he knows about the book—and he yelled at me, “I HOPE YOU SELL A LOT OF BOOKS!”
And I will.