Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ) [7-inch single]

Description

Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ) is a 7-inch vinyl single by the American pop/rock duo Pratt/McClain (Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain), released on ABC Dunhill Records in 1974 (catalogue number ABC Dunhill D-15004). A longer version of the same song is included on the duo’s self-titled debut album released on ABC Dunhill Records the same year. Recorded by Phil Kaye at ABC Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California; with Michael Omartian and Steve Barri producing. Written, arranged, and conducted by Omartian.

“Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ)”, a song written by producer Michael Omartian, was recommended by Billboard Magazine according to their Billboard’s Top Single Picks feature of July 6, 1974. It was as well included in Record World‘s Single Picks published the same day.

Almost Penderecki-like intro quickly gives way to a r&r exorcising of devilishly strong proportions. Duo’s second single proclaims their inventive oneness proudly. [Record World, Single Picks – July 6, 1974]

If you’re old enough to remember the Happy Days sitcom of the ’70s which featured a pretty naff recreation of 1950s rock’n’roll culture you’ll probably be less than impressed with the information that Pratt & McClain provided the “Happy Days” theme song, surely one of the corniest hits (number five in the US singles chart in 1976) ever. But two years before their breakthrough, Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain, along with producer Michael Omatian, were making some excellent Jesus music of which «Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ)» is their best known song. A powerful piece of pop rock with some biting electric guitar and a rapid-syllable vocal hook very reminiscent of the kind of thing Omartian used on his own album for ABC in 1974 ‘White Horse‘. The lyric is, of course, a warning against a world leader who will one day hoodwink a godless world (“I built my kingdom on a pot of gold”). Powerful stuff. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, 24th August 2017]

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7-inch Vinyl Single tracklist:

Side A. “Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ)” – 3:16
Side B. same

Note: “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, another album track, was also released as a 7-inch single, featuring “Here I Am” on the flip-side (and actually the same catalogue number as the “Here I Am” single, ABC Dunhill 15004).

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Billboard’s Top Single Picks, as featured in the July 6, 1974 issue of Billboard Magazine. The Pratt/McClain’s single “Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ)” is recommended in the pop section.

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“Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ)”, single version. The single version is available on Sonrise Music’s multi-artist sampler The Rock Revival, Vol. 2: Remembering the Future (the single version is slightly shorter than the LP version).

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“Here I Am (Song of the Anti-Christ)”, album version