Description
History Makers: The Best of Christian Rock, Volume One (1970-1986) is a multi-artist compilation released on Sparrow Records in April 2003, distributed in the US by Chordant Music Group Distributor. “History Makers” is a trademark of EMI CMG (Christian Music Group).
It is a part of Sparrow Records’ History Makers series also featuring compilations like History Makers: The Best of Christian Pop, Volume One (1970-1985), History Makers: The Best of Gospel, Volume One (1965-1990), and History Makers: The Best of Praise & Worship, Volume One (1973-1985).
Landmark recordings, ground-breaking artists, life-changing songs. From its beginnings in the Jesus Movement of the ’70s to its transitional years in the early ’80s, this CD includes some of the foundational recordings of contemporary Christian music, by the artists that helped to establish it.
The history of Christian rock’n’roll does actually stretch further back than Amy and dc Talk but sometimes it feels like the industry has forgotten! This re-release series is very welcome because it gives us a snapshot of some excellent Jesus music and allows some classic tracks to emerge on CD. This is a beginner’s guide to early Christian music though the fact it goes up to songs from the mid ‘80s stretches it a little too far; it would have been better to stay in the ‘70s. That aside, dive into classics like Larry Norman’s «Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus» and Love Song’s «Little Country Church» as well as early Daniel Amos, Steve Taylor, Phil Keaggy (when he was with Glass Harp). There’s heaviness from Resurrection Band, Petra (before they’d signed up a decent singer) as well as some long forgotten bands like Parable and The Way, who were popular at the time. This is good if you want a nostalgia trip or want to discover some of the roots of the modern CCM scene. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, November 2003]
You could be forgiven for skipping over this album. Flipping through the endless sea of bombastically-titled albums which promise and don’t deliver, why would an album with the over-reaching title of “History Makers” be any different? If it comes to that, what chance is there that anything titled “Rock” these days will live up to even the weakest definition of that word? The third strike against this album right off the bat is that it’s “The Best of Christian Rock,” which for many people is an oxymoron since it’s a marketing niche these days for any sort of tenth-rate recycled pop, and “the best” on a compilation generally means whatever songs they couldn’t sell elsewhere.
But against all odds, this is the real deal. That really is Larry Norman holding forth on «Why Don’t You Look into Jesus», famous from his Street Level and Bootleg albums. «Wayfaring Stranger» introduced the passion of DeGarmo and Key on their first album. Mylon LeFevre, who wrote songs for Elvis before fronting his own band, has never been better than on «Old Gospel Ship». «Do Lord» comes from Glass Harp’s excellent and hard-to-find album, ‘It Makes Me Glad‘, although the band gained new listeners when RadRockers recently offered a redone version by Phil Keaggy and Co. at Carnegie Hall (Radrockers.com).
Whiteheart was always too poppy to be called rock, but their fans will tell you this is the album when the rock began to win out. Parable and the Way were two of the greatest bands from the Myrrh and Maranatha labels. Maranatha introduced the first bands back in the day on ‘The Everlasting Living Jesus Music Concert‘, following with the numbered Maranatha! collection albums and an astounding new wave collection called Back to the Rock that introduced Leslie Phillips (now Sam Phillips), with a still-unequalled version of «Bring Me Through». About Love Song, formed by Chuck Girard from his former band, the Hondells, enough can never be said – their self-titled album, Love Song, is an all-time great disc.
It’s a sign of hope that if you buy the Revival praise albums from Britain, there’s a sticker on them about the History Maker CDs. It’s not that this music is better than the new music – but interest in new music is bringing this music back. (Post)modern praise is uniting people across denominations who are linking hands to change the world today, while reaching back across the generations, old school and new school, as the words of the first Maranatha! album put it, in one Everlasting Concert. [Gord Wilson, 2003]
CD tracklist:
01. Mylon LeFevre – Old Gospel Ship
02. Larry Norman – Why Don’t You Look into Jesus
03. Glass Harp – Do Lord
04. Love Song – Little Country Church
05. Petra – Walkin’ in the Light
06. The Way – Do You Feel the Change?
07. Parable – Come Untangled
08. Daniel Amos – Father’s Arms
09. DeGarmo & Key – Wayfaring Stranger
10. Resurrection Band – Broken Promises
11. Steve Taylor – What Ever Happened to Sin
12. White Heart – No Apology
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.