Description
The Misfit is an album by the American singers and songwriters Erick Nelson and Michele Pillar, released on A&S Records in 1979, a sub-label of Maranatha! Music. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Jonathan David Brown, with Erick Nelson co-producing.
The Misfit was included among CCM Magazine’s Top 10 Contemporary/Rock Albums of 1979 – The Misfit presented a look at loneliness and alienation from the inside looking out. A very personal, mature and fully realized concept album that works.
Way mellow string orchestrated pop-rock and ballads LP typical of gentler late-‘70s Maranatha. Electric guitar from Hadley Hockensmith and John Wickham occasionally pulls them out of their MOR/easy listening comfort zone, best exemplified on solid cuts like «Sai On» and «Take Me To The Light». Includes covers of «Love Hurts» (of Roy Orbison and Nazareth fame), Randy Stonehill’s «First Prayer» and Jimmy Webb’s «The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress». The songs work together to tell the story of a misfit and his search to find answers about himself and the world. Produced by Jonathan David Brown. Pillar went on to a fairly successful CCM career in the ‘80s. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “The Misfit” – 3:29
A2. “Carry Me Along” – 3:29
A3. “Stand” – 3:58
A4. “Sail On” – 2:37
A5. “Can’t Find My Way Home” – 3:18
A6. “The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress / He’s Asleep” – 5:10
Side Two
B1. “Hurting People” – 3:41
B2. “Take Me To The Light” – 4:10
B3. “First Prayer” – 3:08
B4. “Love Hurts / He Gave Me Love” – 5:48
B5. “Martyr Song”
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Maranatha! Music, with the vinyl edition housed in a gatefold jacket. Re-issued on CD in 2002. Re-issued once again on CD in 2020 by Michele Pillar, marked “A Special Edition Re-release.”
Michele Pillar met Erick Nelson when he went to see a performance of the rock opera When Jeremiah Sang The Blues (a jazz-rock oratorio based on the book of Jeremiah ), in which Pillar was performing. This rock opera was written by Nelson’s cousin Alf Clausen (today a Grammy-winning movie and TV Composer, best known for his work on The Simpson) premiered at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, in June 1974 and included the song “He’s Asleep” (with lyrics by Tommy Wolf), later to be added to The Misfit.
In 1979, Nelson joined with friend Michele Pillar to record a concept album. The Misfit tells the story of a person who “doesn’t fit in,” of how he finds Christ, and of what happens to him thereafter. CCM Magazine chose the record as one of their Ten Best Albums of 1979 and, more than twenty years later, no less authority than Bob Bennett would relate, “The Misfit was an album way ahead of its time. The songs were challenging and sophisticated lyrically, in many ways open-ended as to interpretation . . . in short, the album gave listeners a lot of credit for having brains and taste and the ability to sort through for themselves. Perhaps not novel today, but back in prehistoric 1979, it’s a wonder the album even got made.” The record has a pop/rock sound consistent in quality with products by male-female duos of the era (The Captain and Tennille, The Carpenters, Peaches & Herb).
«Carry Me Along» is a gorgeous melodic ballad sung by Pillar about discovering guidance through the unpredictable ways of life. «Stand» is an upbeat rocker with lots of electric guitar. «Take Me To the Light» sounds like the sort of genetically engineered surprise that one might expect to result from a cross-fertilization of Elton John’s «Grow Some Funk of Your Own» with Larry Norman’s «Shot Down» – a piano-based rocker that extols resilience and persistence in the face of trials and temptations. The album also has three two-song medleys that present tunes that are thematically linked: 1) «Sail On» and «Can’t Find My Way Home» (not the Blind Faith song) seem to describe the loss of direction that can come upon those who plot their own course in life, seeking only freedom and independence; 2) «The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress» and «He’s Asleep» both have a certain (though perhaps ironic) lullaby quality. The first is one of the earliest recordings of what would ultimately become a classic Jimmy Webb song (voted one of “the ten most perfect songs of all time”). Nelson says that Larry Norman played Joe Cocker’s rendition of the song for him at a Vineyard Bible Study and suggested he do it. The second («He’s Asleep») was written by Nelson’s cousin Alf Clausen, who would later achieve some fame doing music for the television series The Simpsons; 3) «Love Hurts» and «He Gave Us Love» presents one of rock’s classic statements about the pain of love (a Top Ten song by Nazareth in 1976) in tandem with an affirmation of Christ’s sacrificial love for humanity. The album concludes with «The Martyr Song», an anthemic tribute to persecuted heroes throughout the ages that is musically reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s «Chimes of Freedom».
Nelson and Pillar played college settings rather than churches and met with reasonable success. The Misfit was actually released by Maranatha on their new A&S imprint with hope of generating some crossover sales in the general market. Though that did not happen, the project did not go unnoticed. At one point, The Carpenters expressed interest in covering the duo’s «Moon’s a Harsh Mistress/He’s Asleep» medley (The Carpenters were very big on medleys) but they wanted to change a few words to the latter song and Clausen was reluctant to grant permission; negotiations were forestalled by Karen Carpenter’s tragic death. [Mark Allan Powell, The CCM Encyclopedia]
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