Description
The Prodigal Son is the second posthumous album by the American singer, songwriter, and pianist Keith Green, released on Pretty Good Records in August 1983. Green’s widow Melody and producer Bill Maxwell found gems among live recordings and early studio demos recorded between 1977 and 1982. The album was produced by Bill Maxwell and Melody Green.
The album features one of Keith Green’s most notable songs, “The Prodigal Son Suite”, originally written by Green in hopes of completing a full rock opera based on Biblical stories and parables. Another component of that project – “On the Road to Jericho”, telling the story of the Good Samaritan – was released on Green’s final posthumous album, Jesus Commands Us to Go!, the next year.
‘The Prodigal Son’, recently released through Last Days Ministries in Lindale, Texas, marks the second album presented to the body of Christ since Keith Green’s death in a plane crash last year. The first, ‘I Only Want To See You There‘, was a memorial tribute and compilation produced by Billy Ray Hearn and Bill Maxwell of Sparrow Records. Maxwell produced ‘The Prodigal Son’ with assistance from Keith’s wife, Melody. Containing all new material, the vocal and piano were recorded by Keith at different times during the past few years.
Before his passing, Keith had planned two major album projects. One was a musical, the other an evangelical album specifically aimed at the Top 40 market. We get brief glimpses of both of these projects, albeit indirectly, through some of the songs here. Keith seems to have been heading into new musical territories – especially on the ballads «Love with Me (Melody’s Song)» and «Song to Josiah», two tender and lovely compositions that are stark and haunting in their lyrical imagery.
«Only by Following Jesus» presents a musical side of Keith that we have never heard before, with churning, pumping organ work and an Andrae Crouch-style gospel backbeat. «Keep All That Junk to Yourself» is written from a non-believer’s perspective instead of a Christian’s. Despite an uptempo musical feel, the song’s lyrical bite prompts Melody to label it as the saddest song of the album. It reveals the ultimate tragedy: a person’s self-sufficiency will eventually become his own spiritual undoing.
The most ambitious song is «The Prodigal Son Suite », a 13-minute melodic paraphrase of the well-known parable revealing the never-ending love and grace of our Father in heaven. Somewhat reminiscent of Elton John’s earlier style, orchestration, and vocals, the major difference involves the content: We should run into God’s arms instead of away from them.
Those who attended any of the Keith Green memorial concerts will remember «Open Your Eyes» from the video showed there. The arrangement of this song and the lyrical tag line (“Jesus says…”) propel its message to the forefront. Melody’s lyrics and music sum up this theme perfectly, and it is superbly sung by Keith. It’s quite possibly the album’s strongest song.
As usual, the production and musical performances by Bill Maxwell (drums), Abraham Laboriel (bass), and the London National Philharmonic are first rate, while the background vocalists complement the songs nicely.
One weakness, however, is the lack of a central theme that we’ve grown so accustomed to in Keith’s works. ‘For Him Who Has Ears to Hear‘, his first release, was an explosion of joy and excitement in his relationship to the Lord. ‘No Compromise‘ presented a powerful, evangelical tract set to contemporary music. ‘So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt‘ centered on the theme of grace, using a combination of styles based on the first two albums, and ‘Song for the Shepherd‘ was a straightforward praise and worship album.
In contrast, ‘The Prodigal Son’ consists of songs that appear, at best, only indirectly related to one another. Regrettably, the album has an uncomfortably obvious “pieced together” feeling. (But then, these songs were probably never planned for a particular album project by Keith; we’re fortunate that they even exist in recorded form.) Without Keith’s guidance, it must have been tremendously difficult to put together a work to match the standards set by his previous ones – much less deal with the emotions of those who were so close to him.
Nevertheless, ‘The Prodigal Son’ is a highly listenable record, deeply moving in its simplicity, sincerity, and sensitivity. For those who were closest to Keith Green and his ministry, it truly is a labor of love. [Steve Ledesma, CCM, November 1983]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-prodigal-son/725831593)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “I Can’t Wait To Get To Heaven” – 4:11
A2. “Lord, I’m Gonna Love You” – 2:52
A3. “The Prodigal Son Suite” – 12:21
Side Two
B1. “Keep All That Junk To Yourself” – 3:29
B2. “Open Your Eyes” – 4:42
B3. “Love With Me (Melody’s Song)” – 3:23
B4. “Only By Following Jesus” – 3:17
B5. “Song For Josiah” – 6:25
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Pretty Good Records. Later re-issued on CD.
A full-page advertisement for the Keith Green album The Prodigal Son was featured on the back cover of the August 1983 issue of CCM Magazine.
“The Prodigal Son Suite”
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