Someone to Turn To

Description

Someone to Turn To is an album by the British gospel beat group The Sharons, released on Emblem Records in 1970. The album was recorded by John McLarty and Walter Paterson (both of The Gospelfolk fame) at Emblem Sound Studios with McLarty producing.

The Sharons features Colin MacKenzie on lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar, and harmonica, Colin Bookless on piano and organ, Ernie Shering on bass and vocals, and Dougie Shering on drums.

In the Greenbelt Live! booklet Malcolm Dony gives a brief history of the British contemporary Christian music scene. The earliest groups utilized the post-Mersey pop style known as “beat music”. They tended to combine up-front gospel lyrics with three-chord bashes, usually one or two years behind the times. “Mostly it was dreadful” he says. Well, that seems to describe this Scotland foursome to a tee, though in my opinion they’re far from dreadful. From a technical standpoint there’s a lot purists can find fault with: the garagy, almost non-existent production, the vocals mixed too high in parts, simplistic lyrics. Actually I find these to work to the album’s advantage, giving it an ultra-basement feel and capturing the era wonderfully. This is one of the earliest sounding things I’ve heard. The label says 1970 which would actually make it one of the final entries in the dated Christian beat scene, but it sure sounds more like 1966. Electric guitar, some distortion, big drum sound, organ, with shades of The Standells, The Troggs, The Kinks, and a host of other British invasion bands. «You Must Believe Me» would fit snugly on a Rhino Nuggets compilation. A classic low-tech vinyl document of Britain’s early Jesus music scene. [Ken Scott, Archivist]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “I Never Thought About It Before”
A2. “Dream World”
A3. “Is Life A Drag?”
A4. “Little Olde Lady”
A5. “Someone To Turn To”
A6. “Judy”

Side Two
B1. “The Greatest Sin”
B2. “Believe”
B3. “He’s Coming Again”
B4. “All You’ve Gotta Do (Is Pray)”
B5. “Judgement Day”
B6. “You Must Believe Me”

Note: Pressed in 1000 copies.

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