Description
Jubilation!, sub-titled Songs of Praise and Worship!, is a multi-artist double album compilation featuring 20 songs by 20 artists, released on Myrrh Records in October 1975, a division of Word. It is the first of three album released by Myrrh Records as a part of their Jubilation! Series. The two other compilations, entitled Jubilation, Too! and SuperJubilation!, were released in 1976 and 1977, respectively.
Jubilation! was preceded by the multi-artist compilation Love Peace Joy released by Myrrh the previous year.
The first of three double sampler LPs touting artists from the Word Music group. I won’t bother to list all twenty artists included but of special interest is the Larry Norman cut «Dear Malcolm, Dear Alwyn» since it never appeared on any of his albums. One of the best Jesus music compilations. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]
Myrrh’s ‘Jubilation!’ is a two-record package representing 20 songs by 20 artists including some heretofore non-Myrrh people. This is the happy result of Myrrh’s Jubilation Group of artists – an experiment in distributing independent label albums under the Myrrh/Word umbrella. Included in the menagerie are Solid Rock Records (Larry Norman), Good News Records (Chuck Girard, Love Song) and the Messianic Label (Lamb).
‘Jubilation!’ is a very noteworthy aggregation of Jesus music. Choosing from such a wide assortment of contemporary Christian music has finally enabled a valuable collector’s edition. The reasonable priced two-record set gives Jesus music lovers a random sampling of artists. Larry Norman followers find a preview cut off is upcoming album, ‘In Another Land‘. Honeytree fans may notice that some barbaric producer has mechanically slowed down her great song, «Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast». The English band, Parchment, makes their appearance along with Myrrh’s recently signed Pat Terry Group. Also included are Barry McGuire, Lamb, Sonlight Orchestra, Randy Matthews, Petra, Walt Mills, Ron Salisbury and the J.C. Power Outlet, Evie, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Ray Hildebrand, Aleksander John, Love Song, Malcolm and Alwyn, Ken Medema, Chuck Girard, and Marijohn.
The package is obviously a commercially designed sales tool, the first cousin to Myrrh’s earlier ‘Love, Peace, Joy‘ product. Despite this apparent purpose and the atrocious art work, ‘Jubilation!’ is an impressive collection. The gospel is clearly outlined, and praise and worship find their place as well. Listening to the two records is like listening to Christian radio without the disc jockey or commercials. There’s not a bad cut in the set. ‘Jubilation!’ should prove valuable to Myrrh, to the 20 artists it gives exposure to, and to Jesus music collectors as well. [Blue Samuel Flying (a.k.a. Ron Moore), Harmony, Vol. 1, No. 6, March/April 1976]
2LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. Barry McGuire – “Enter In” – 5:35 (from Seeds)
A2. Lamb – “The Sacrifice Lamb” – 5:09 (from Lamb)
A3. The Sonlight Orchestra – “Easter Song” – 2:45 (from Love Song and Other Greats)
A4. Randy Matthews – “Johnny” – 3:30 (from All I Am is What You See…)
A5. Petra – “Back Sliding Blues” – 4:31 (from Petra)
Side Two
B1. Walt Mills – “You Got The Power” – 2:55 (from Sincerely, Walt Mills)
B2. Ron Salsbury and J.C. Power Outlet – “I Choose To Follow You” – 5:15 (from Forgiven…)
B3. Evie – “Clean Before My Lord” – 3:05 (from Evie Again)
B4. Parchment – “Light Of The World” – 4:00 (from Shamblejam)
B5. The Pat Terry Group – “I Can’t Wait” – 3:42 (from The Pat Terry Group)
Side Three
C1. 2nd Chapter of Acts – “I Fall In Love/Change” – 4:22 (from With Footnotes)
C2. Ray Hildebrand – “Didn’t He” – 5:08 (from Special Kind of Man)
C3. Honeytree – “Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast” – 2:22 (from The Way I Feel)
C4. Aleksander John – “Days Go By” – 3:15 (from Days Go By)
C5. Love Song – “A Love Song” – 1:46 (from Love Song)
Side Four
D1. Larry Norman – “Dear Malcolm, Dear Alwyn” – 2:36 (non-album track)
D2. Malcolm & Alwyn – “Tomorrow’s News” – 3:30 (from Fool’s Wisdom)
D3. Ken Medema – “Come Let Us Reason Together” – 3:35 (from Fork in the Road)
D4. Chuck Girard & Love Song – “Think About What Jesus Said” – 4:54 (from Final Touch)
D5. Marijohn – “Where I’m Going” – 3:58 (from Where I’m Going)
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape, cassette, and 12-inch vinyl double LP by Myrrh Records.
Album liner notes, printed on the back of the album sleeve:
“There’s nothing new under the sun.” We have all heard that cliche one time or another, and I can think of nothing more exciting than to find something totally new. That excitement came to me back in 1969, when I first heard about Jesus Music.
Jesus Music? Something new? Hasn’t it been around for centuries? Not exactly. Music about Jesus has been around that long. And by now, hymns, spirituals, gospel songs, quartet music, and campfire sing-along-type choruses all share the honors of being in that category. But, the term Jesus Music has come to mean something a bit different from most Christian music. It was the name attached by Christian teenagers to songs which were very much the style of “Top 40” music on the radio – with one difference. The lyrics were about the Christ!
For a few years, during the “Jesus Revolution,” (as the press called it), rock groups and singers had a go at the fad of singing something about God or Jesus in particular. The singers most often didn’t have any personal feelings about Jesus – it just seemed to be the thing to do. But every once in a while a record would come out which would be sung by a performer or group through personal conviction that there was something more to Jesus than just a good way to make a hit record.
Meanwhile, a few performers of rock music and pop music were making decisions to perform as Christians and their repertoires were almost exclusively Jesus Music. At first, it was hard going. The music was “too rock” for many Christians and “too Christian” for many rock music fans. Thus, only a few performers could find support for their work. It was extremely difficult to convince many people that the music, amidst all that rock beat, had a valid message of the Gospel. It was especially hard to persuade Top 40 stations to give the music a chance, because station programmers were convinced that “religious music” was “for Sundays.”
But the tenacious performers hung on. They kept writing Jesus Music, and everyone began to see its value as a great way to spread the Good News of Jesus. Young people and many other Top 40 fans began to get into Jesus Music and really like it.
By now, Jesus Music is being sung in the churches and at weddings; it is being performed to sellout concert audiences around the world; and, it is now being played regularly at some time or another on more than 400 radio stations in the United States. And even more exciting, hundreds of thousands of record albums and tapes of Jesus Music are being played on home phonographs and home and car tape players each day. In fact, that’s most likely where this album you are holding right now will wind up!
In this two-record Jubilation! album is a great collection of what have become some of the most popular Jesus Music songs by the world’s greatest Jesus Music performers: Love Song, Larry Norman, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Barry McGuire, Malcolm & Alwyn, Chuck Girard, Randy Matthews, Honeytree, Ron Salsbury and J.C. Power Outlet, Lamb, Petra, Ray Hildebrand, Ken Medema, Evie, The Pat Terry Group, Walt Mills, Marijohn, Parchment, Aleksander John and the SonLight Orchestra.
Never before has such a phenomenal collection of Jesus Music and its artists been released in one album. In fact, let’s consider this Jesus Music’s first “Oldies but Goodies” album! But these OBG’s have a special ingredient: they all praise the Lord! That’s what making a joyful noise is all about, isn’t it?
Paul Baker
[Paul is host and producer of “A Joyful Noise,” a nationally syndicated Jesus Music radio program.]
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