Montgomery Chapel

Description

Montgomery Chapel is the sole album by the American garage rock band The Search Party, released on Century Records in 1969. The album was recorded by Rudy DeGrood with Rev. Nicholas T. Freund producing. The Search Party channel the spirit of the American 60’s rock scene, with their darkly sullen organs, haunting vocals and mysterious guitar twangery made all the stranger by their genuine religious message.

The Search Party is a group of five young, aware people trying to produce relevant, religious music. Joanie Goff is a superb vocalist and occasional guitarist with a deep folk background. Jim Carvalho, bass, guitar, and vocals, lays a firm foundation musically and psychologically for the rest of the group. Pete Apps, lead guitarist and vocalist, subtly injects his electric ideas into all the group’s arrangements. Tim King, drummer and general cut-up assimilates the group’s suggestions into his own dynamic style and offers objective criticism and opportune advice that often spell a turning point in the songs and their arrangement. Nicholas T. Freund, M.M., S.D.S., is the originator of The Search Party and its ideals. Composer of a greater part of The Search Party’s material, he draws upon his intimate knowledge of a comprehensive scope of music ranging from Gregorian chant to electronics. His experience in counseling and his appreciation of the joys and frustrations of everyday life incited him to use music, the universal language, to reach more people than would otherwise be possible. This album, a product of six weeks’ work, two thousand dollars and a lot of determination, is a demonstration of these five people’s concern for you.

The Search Party wants to thank all those who contributed funds and encouragement for this project, and especially Mr. Owens and the San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, for the use of Montgomery Chapel. [A note printed on the back of the LP sleeve]

“The Search Party is a group of five young people trying to produce relevant, religious music”. Apparently “relevant” here means “psychedelic”. Big-time psychedelic. As in monster. Yepper, this mega-rare only-a-couple-hundred-made custom has shot up over four-digit figures since it’s jaw-dropping discovery in the early ’90s. Heading up this project and composing a fair portion of this material is the Rev. Nicholas Freund, apparently one of those real “out there” types, though I must say he looks pretty benign in his priestly-collared robe. A real trippy San Francisco sound, from powerhouse fuzz explosions like «You And I» and «The News Is You» to more delicately-fashioned haunting acoustic ballads. Alternating male and female leads with lots of piercing organ that gives eerie qualities to wispy tracks like the mesmerizing «When He Calls». The album’s center-piece would have to be the nine-minute «So Many Things Have Got Me Down» – grade-A blow-your-mind Doors-ish psychedelia that builds to a frenzied climax. Lyrically very poetic and artsy, not your typical Jesus music per se. An affordable re-issue sneaked out in 94. Also re-issued on CD. For psych privates this is second only to Fraction. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/montgomery-chapel/1380642945)

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Speak To Me” – 2:50
A2. “Renee Child” – 2:45
A3. “Melayna” – 1:30
A4. “When He Calls” – 4:22
A5. “So Many Things Have Got Me Down” – 9:00

Side Two
B1. “You And I” – 3:08
B2. “All But This” – 4:00
B3. “Poem By George Hall” – 3:40
B4. “The Decidedly Short Epic Of Mr. Alvira” – 3:15
B5. “The News Is You” – 4:40

Note: Only 600 copies of the original LP were pressed and issued on the custom Century Records label. Digitally remastered by Anders Peterson and re-issued on vinyl and as a double CD set (entitled The News Is You: The Sacred And Secular Music Of Nick Freund) by Lion Productions in 2013. Includes The Search Party’s Montgomery Chapel as well as St. Pius X Seminary Choir’s 1968 album release Each One Heard in His Own Language About the Marvels of God, plus bonus tracks taken from ultra-rare early albums by the St. Pius X Seminary Choir and eight Search Party bonus tracks. (The recordings released by the St. Pius X Seminary Choir were made in the year or two which led up to the recording of The Search Party album.) The 32-page booklet is packed with information, thanks to Rev. Nicholas Freund, who was gracious enough to delve into his memory, scrapbook, and photo albums.

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