Description
Lonesome Stone was a Christian rock musical brought over to the UK from California by the American band The Sheep. The storyline set in San Francisco, it aimed to speak to those for whom the message of “freedom and instant love” was turning sour. With financial assistance from the pioneering Deo Gloria Trust, Lonesome Stone was billed as a musical that “Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell failed to present,” being “a story of what Jesus is doing now, by his Spirit, in thousands of lives.” The advertising leaflet widely distributed in the Christian media before Lonesome Stone’s premier at the Rainbow Theatre in July 1973 explained in more detail what the audience could expect from the production:
The theme of Lonesome Stone portrays the search of thousands of today’s youth surrounded by the darkness of materialism, dead religions, sex, new gurus, astrology and mind expanding and bending drugs. They were called the ‘war babies’, conceived in times of frustration and anxiety. A generation born into the atomic age, confused about God and almost everything else. In protest, they searched to change their destiny, but only found discouragement, despair and hypocrisy in themselves, others and everything around them. This brought them one by one to their moment of truth in finally calling out upon God, and finding the true peace and love was to be found in knowing Jesus Christ. This production will no doubt reach deeply into the hearts and minds of many who are searching for these answers still.
Due for a three-month run, Lonesome Stone was first staged at the Rainbow Theatre, a 2,700 seater arena in North London, on July 11, 1973, performed by members of The Sheep and produced by K. P. Frampton and Jim Palosaari. Billed as a multi-media production of the Jesus generation portrayed in music, film and drama, the show’s advertising proclaimed that it would give the punters “what Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar failed to present.” Ticket prices were an eminently reasonable 50p to £1.50, and taking part along with The Sheep would be Larry Norman.
The following year The Sheep and the rest of the cast performed Lonesome Stone at the first Christian arts festival, Greenbelt, complete with high volume and smoke bombs. Like the musical, Greenbelt, held in 1974 at Prospect Farm, Charsfield, was sponsored by the Deo Gloria Trust. Key figures in the organising committee for the event were Matt Spransy and Jim Palosaari. By this time The Sheep and the rest of the Lonesome Stone cast were back in the USA, preparing to launch the rock opera in their homeland. Unfortunately, the US version attracted far less attention, and audiences, than its UK counterpart though Jesus music experts are adamant that the US version of the Lonesome Stone cast album featuring all new recordings is superior to the UK released version.
An album produced by Ian McDonald and Roger Hurrell was recorded at Theatre Projects Sound Studios and released on the UK label Reflection Records in 1973. (Reflection Records, a label connected to the UK group Reflection established in the mid-sixties, was asked to produce and distribute the original soundtrack recording, as well as producing a promotional film.) Featuring “Take A Little Time” written by Andrae Crouch, “Vegetables” written by Randy Stonehill (a song recorded on his 1973-album Get Me Out Of Hollywood recorded in London), “Rejoice” written by Joe Grier and David Eden of E Band, as well as “Lonesome Stone” and “Changes” written and recorded by The Sheep on their self-titled album released in 1973.
Original caste album of rock musical performed by members of the Sheep. Jim Palosarri and Matt Spransy of Servant both appear – a couple of these songs would appear on future Servant LPs. A pair of tunes lifted from the Sheep’s Myrrh UK LP («Changes» and the title track), though the music is not quite as aggressive. Several are simple acoustic numbers, others show the group’s familiar organ-based rock sound. Randy Stonehill’s novelty song «Vegetables» appears (off his impossible-to-find Get Me Out Of Hollywood LP). «Where Do We Go From Here» has some nice spacey reverb. Includes seventeen songs structured around the spiritual journey of the lead character Stone. Other characters include Poppy, Bear, Milwaukee, Queenie, Poppy, Organo, Slim, and a whole lot more. A rather cosmic looking pink/orange face of Christ gazes out at you from the front cover. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. Jim Palosaari – “Narration” – 0:13
A2. The Sheep – “War Babies” – 1:42
A3. The Sheep – “Lonesome Stone” – 2:03
A4. Poppy – “San Francisco” – 1:25
A5. Queenie & Milwaukee – “Queen Of The Street” – 1:53
A6. Organo – “Vegetables” – 1:56
A7. Stone – “Where Do We Go From Here?” – 2:34
A8. Bear – “Bear Boogie” – 0:42
A9. Stone – “Looking For Love” – 2:15
A10. Slim – “San Francisco Ain’t The Place” – 1:30
A11. Slim – “Going Back” – 5:23
Side Two
B1. Milwaukee – “Changes” – 3:13
B2. Stone – “He’ll Set You Free” – 2:47
B3. Queenie & The Sheep – “Studied Lives Of Men” – 1:59
B4. Queenie – “Come Jesus Come” – 4:30
B5. Queenie & The Sheep – “Free” – 2:04
B6. The Sheep & Company – “Rejoice” – 4:40
B7. Company – “Take A Little Time” – 0:30
Note: The album was later re-recorded and released in the US music market in 1975 on the Deo Gloria label.
Lonesome Stone, LP Back.
[Excerpt from the original Lonesome Stone programme]
Jim Palosaari / the originator
All my energy was directed towards making it in the theatre. For 10 years I compeated for the “big break”, losing track of who I was in the scramble. Things started falling apart – a breakdown and broken marriage were part of the pieces. Then came the realization that all my efforts were vanity.
So I fled the New York-Chicago fast world for the promises of the flower scene on the Haight Ashbury. Now the pretending became real life, a whole stage of real muggings, rapes and murders.
Down at the bottom of disallusionment I met my wife Sue, and together we fled San Francisco for the Canadian frontier. Near the border we tumbled into an old fashioned tent revival, where we finally found the love and truth we had looked for all our lives in Jesus Christ.
The west coast Jesus movement didn’t have a name then – we became part of it by osmosis. We joined together with other new Christians, lived communially, organized marches and outdoor festivals – anything we could think of to tell everyone how wonderful it was to have a new life.
The Jesus Family began with 5 others in an old house in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That’s when the rock group, The Sheep, was formed. Within a year we had grown to 150, including families, and spread out across the US. Two years ago we came to Europe with 30, adding more along the way through Scandinavia, Germany and Holland gradually learning a vision that included not only personal discipleship but also Christian community.
Out of desire to communicate to a new generation of seekers came the concept of Lonesome Stone, which is simply our story and our method of telling you who Jesus is.
May we all come together through the one who made is to love. – Jim and Sue Palosaari
[Trivia: The lyrics of the Larry Norman classic “Great American Novel” is printed in the Lonesome Stone programme, though the song itself is not included on the record.]
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CREDITS. Produced by Ian McDonald and Roger Hurrell for Deo Gloria Productions in association with Reflection Records. Engineered by Mike Felton. Recorded at Theatre Projects Sound Studios. Musical Director: Mike Allen. Photography: Jill Furmandusky. Graphics: Dean Schendel. Sleeve Design: Dave Hoyt and Ian McDonald.
Musicians: Featuring from the original London cast: Fred Gartner (Bear), Dave Hoyt (Stone), Rich Haas (Milwaukee), Mary Damrow (Queenie), Caroline Green (Poppy), Mole Barker (Organo), Greg Nancarrow (Slim).
Music featuring The Sheep: Greg Nancarrow (Lead Guitar, Vocals, Organ), Mole Barker (Lead and Rhythm Guitar, Vocals), Matthew Spransy (Organ), Lisa Carothers (Organ, Vocals), Ethel Krauss (Flute), Wilhelm Pinnow (Bass), Nick Malham (Percussion), Reed Mittelsteadt (Vocals), Rich Haas (Vocals), Siv Algotsson (Vocals), Irene Barker (Vocals).
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