Description
For Christians, Elves and Lovers is the third album by the American rock group All Saved Freak Band, independently released on Rock the World in 1976.
The album was included among Harmony Magazine‘s Best Albums of 1976, a list of ten albums featured in issue No. 11. (“Harmony picks Jesus Music’s best of ’76” – “Regardless of music style, “the best” were picked on the basis of their ability to communicate beyond the four walls of the church.”)
And what is the result of this musical fusion? An absolutely incredible album which might well become a classic in the annals of Jesus music. The credit for this record’s brilliance belongs to the artists themselves. Because of their talent and versatility, the 14 cuts never suffer from being repetitious or boring. One need only look at the diversity in style from one selection to the next in order to appreciate the creative abilities of these musicians. This is the 3rd album for ASFB and belongs on the shelf of every Jesus music fan. [Russ Proctor, Harmony Magazine, May 1976]
The Freaks discover that J R R Tolkien was a Christian, inspiring the album title and some of the songs on this their sophomore release. This is a more subdued outing compared to their other releases as the blues rockers take a back seat, allowing the folkier, classical elements to be given prominence. Hey, no complaints here – this one gets equal play on my system with their barn-burner Brainwashed. Whereas a lot of orchestration in my opinion tends to covert decent tunes into elevator fodder, here the cello, violin, harp and piano add a tasteful classical edge to cuts like «A Merry Go Round», «Elfin Chimes» and the ballad «By The Fire». The Massmann sisters’ voices are frequently highlighted, and they’ve never sounded sweeter. «You Haunt My Mind» is an effective progressive acoustic track that artfully combines guitar, organ and cello. «Theme Of Fellowship Of The Ring» is a strange gloomy piece with gurgly distorted lead vocals singing about “Mordor, where the shadows lie”. «100th Psalm» is done in a slow boogie style mixing growling fuzz bass with plucked strings and deep hums – just the kinda thing Tolkien’s hobbits mighta concocted. «Water Street» serves some fine lead electric guitar within its minor-key folkrock groove. And «Old Man Daniel» and «Great Victory» remind us that the freaks haven’t lost their love for the blues, the latter song dishing out the lone Glenn Schwartz spicy guitar workout. Good progressive folkrock from the states is hard to come by – I wish that other works were even half as creative as this. Re-issued on CD by Hidden Vision. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
Album liner notes
J. R. R. TOLKIEN, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, said “The birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy.”
It should be of the utmost interest to millions of his readers what Tolkien believed about the Gospel and God, and their relationship to fantasy. And more than fantasy alone, but also to the real world, angels, men, and elves. He talks about these things and more on the inner sleeve of this album.
Our friends think “For Christians, Elves and Lovers” is a great idea. Already requests for the album have been coming from all over.
Most bands think that the way they are going to sell their albums is by selling themselves through big record companies. God’s ways are different than ours, His ways are higher. The circumstances of our first album, “My Poor Generation,” wasn’t a case of trying to sell the album to the public, it sold itself. We had no distributors. We had an original number of albums made up and gave six of them to D.J.’s. By some mystical communication between D.J.’s that we don’t understand, the word got around.
Liner notes on the first album read: “The group had received a large spectrum of attention through T.V. appearances and concerts. The band certainly doesn’t lack illustrious members, such as the former lead guitarist for The James Gang, and Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Glenn Schwartz, rated as one of the five best blues guitarists in the world. Tom Miller, to whom the album was dedicated, the burning brand of the Kent-25, was singing with the group when he and the bass player, Randy Markko, were killed on a journey to spread the Gospel at a rock festival. The final touch of finesse and beauty was added to the band in the persons of Pan and Kim Massmann, whose father conducts the Minnesota University Orchestra. Both girls play acoustic guitar and sing and play cello and violin as well. (No hired musicians on this album!)”
Letters came from disc jockeys from all over the country asking for the album. Soon letters started coming in from record shops, book stores, and private individuals from almost every state in the nation asking for the album. Now, all but eight of them are gone. The album was played on over 400 stations and in about 10 different countries, and requests for the album are still rolling in. It’s just a good example of how God can work in the lives of His people.
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/for-christians-elves-and-lovers/1408944301)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Stephen” – 2:37
A2. “Our Feast Of Love (A Merry-Go-Round)” – 3:25
A3. “By The Fire” – 3:03
A4. “The 100th Psalm” – 5:21
A5. “You Haunt My Mind” – 3:38
A6. “Water Street” – 3:03
Side Two
B1. “Theme Of Fellowship Of The Ring” – 3:59
B2. “Elfin Chimes” – 2:02
B3. “Big Race” – 3:23
B4. “Great Victory” – 3:30
B5. “The Lord Is My Shepherd” – 2:30
B6. “Old Man Daniel” – 3:07
B7. “Valley Of Decision” – 2:02
B8. “Larry’s Song” – 1:25
Note: Re-issued on CD by Hidden Vision Records in 2007.
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