U.S. Apple Corps

Description

The self-titled debut album by the American rock group U.S. Apple Corps was released on SSS International in the autumn of 1970. SSS International was a subsidiary label of The Shelby Singleton Corp., a company founded by Shelby S. Singleton Jr. in 1966 when he left his job at Mercury Records to start his own music business. (In 1969 Sun Records was actully purchased by Singleton.) The U.S. Apple Corps album was produced by Steve Singleton, the son of Shelby Singleton.

The Jesus movement and the whole hippie thing crossed paths on this excellent big-label Shelby Singleton production featuring bluesy soul-soaked hard rock covers of gospel standards like «Peace In The Valley», «Will The Circle Be Unbroken», «Down By The Riverside», «Ride On King Jesus», «Swing Low Sweet Chariot» and Edwin Hawkins’ «Ain’t It Like Him». Guitars sizzle and jam while a black female lead singer pours on the juice. Includes a large poster lyric sheet. Promo copies on blue vinyl. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]

U.S. Apple Corps was fronted by then 15-year old singer Bryant Sterling (a.k.a. Dennis Lee Bryant). Bryant and his band had apparently begun to attract some late-1960s interest on the club circuit, when they attracted the attention of Shelby Singleton who then signed them to a contract with his Nashville-based label SSS International. Unimpressed with the rest of the band, prior to recording the band’s debut Singleton dumped everyone but Bryant, subsequently teaming him with a group of Nashville studio musicians including drummer Jeff Pocoro, lead guitarist Tommy Shaw and bass player Jacob Stokes. As well an Afro-American female singer was recruited from a church next door to the recording studio.

Recorded in three days, Bryant reportedly came up with the idea to re-record a series of classic gospel and religious tracks with contemporary rock and soul arrangements. Featured on the album are gospel songs like Edwin Hawkin’s “Ain’t It Like Him” (the title track of Hawkin’s album released the year before), “Ride On, King Jesus” by Dorothy Norwood and Thomas A. Dorsey’s “Peace In The Valley”, negro spirituals like “Down By The Riverside” and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”, and the popular Christian hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” written by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. U.S. Apple Corps offered up an interesting hybrid of Jesus rock, Southern soul and conventional rock.

Interestingly, the album received quite some press coverage. The ground breaking effort propelled the band to an unprecedented first album success that topped the Gavin list charts for a solid 6 months. It was then that Billboard, Cashbox and Record Word Magazines all featured the band’s sensational success, with Billboard describing Sterling’s voice as “The Voice That Can Do It All – no hype, just FACT.”

In an article featured in the October 24 1970 issue Billboard Magazine, Shelby Singleton mentioned that “my son cut that particular album, working five months on it. We feel it’s going to be a new trend … call it Jesus Rock.” (probably the first time the term “Jesus Rock” was used by Billboard.) A couple of weeks later, an article titled “Trade Gets R’n’R(eligion)” – featured on the frontpage of Billboard – took a closer look on gospel rock:

Morality – in the form of rock – has come to the music industry and many of the major groups are getting deep into the religious groove…Mylon LeFevre, formerly of the LeFevres gospel group, is carving out a niche with gospel rock on Cotillion Records, and Shelby Singleton, president of SSS International and Plantation Records, is going all out on what he calls Jesus Rock, with a full slate of product including a record released last week by Dee Mullins, “Remember Bethlehem,” with lyrics about the birth of Jesus, set to a melodic rock beat. Singleton also recently issued an album of Jesus Rock featuring the U.S. Apple Corps. “I think Jesus Rock is a trend,” Singleton said. “Too many records are happening in that view to be accidental. Perhaps the kids are going into that aspect as a counter move against drugs … a putdown on the whole drug scene to show that drugs are passe. [Billboard Magazine, November 7, 1970]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Ain’t It Like Him” – 3:35
A2. “Peace In the Valley” – 5:10
A3. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” – 3:44

Side Two
B1. “Down By the Riverside” – 4:31
B2. “Ride On King Jesus” – 3:42
B3. “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” – 5:42

Note: Promo copies were pressed on blue vinyl and apparently included a large insert. There were also two non-LP singles released by U.S. Apple Corps; 1969’s “Prayer for Peace” b/w “Peace-Live” (SSS International catalog number SSS-840) and 1970’s “Elijah Stone” b/w “Closer to the Man” (SSS International catalog number SSS-851).