Description
The self-titled debut album by the American folk/country-rock band The Way was released on Maranatha! Music in 1973. The album was recorded by Buck Herring and Buddy King at Buddy King Studios in Huntington Beach, California; with the band producing. Mixed by Chuck Johnson at Mama Jo’s Recording Studio in North Hollywood, California. Featuring a smooth mixture of folk and country rock that reminds the listener of America (a popular ’70s mainstream band featuring Dan Peek).
The band features Dana Angle, Bruce Herring, Gary Arthur, and John Wickham – all of whom trade off on acoustic and electric guitars, bass, as well as lead and backing vocals. (Drums and percussion present on the album provided by Alex MacDougall, who would join the band as an official member before their next album.)
The first recordings by The Way actually appeared on two multi-artist compilation albums released on the Maranatha! Music label – The Everlastin’ Living Jesus Music Concert (1971) featuring “If You Will Believe” and Maranatha! 2 (1972) featuring “Jesus Is the One” and “Jesus Is All That We Need”. In 1974 the band would also record the song “Have You Ever Heard” for the Maranatha! 4 compilation. (And in 1979, the song “He’s the Reason to Go On” from their debut album, was used by the label on The Best of Maranatha!.) A second and final album by The Way entitled Can It Be? was released in 1975.
Following some appearances on the early Maranatha samplers, The Way came up with this top-notch debut of country-flavored acoustic rock. The group consists of John Wickham, Bruce Herring, Dana Angle and Gary Arthur, all of whom trade off on acoustic and electric guitars, bass and lead vocals. Musically they are reminiscent of the ‘70s group America, especially on the «Ventura Highway»-like opener «Son Come Out». A few crossovers into country rock on heavier-edged songs like «Song Of Joy» and «New Song», sometimes with a hint of Love Song. «Come On Down», «Closer To God» and «Are You Listening?» show the group equally effective in creating stirring ballads. Acoustic guitar lovers will find much to admire here, but there is some fine electric work as well. Piano added to a couple songs, plus Alex MacDougall supplying drums and percussion throughout. Excellent harmonies communicating their love for the Savior and desire for others to know Him. Not as well known as other early bands like Love Song, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Phil Keaggy, etc., but they belong right next to them in the classic Jesus music section. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]
CD Re-issue
The early ’70s saw the explosion of the Jesus revolution which happened on the west coast of America and eventually spreading across the USA. Musically it felt like the epicentre for the coolest Christian music was in California where musicians found faith, formed bands and hit the studio to record the Jesus rock songs they were recording. One band that made the most impact in those early days was called The Way. It’s a joy when vintage vinyl releases make it onto CD re-releases and this 18 track CD captures The Way’s entire debut plus songs from the ‘Can It Be?‘ album. The latter was the first time that Al Perkins produced an album. So what do we have? We have West Coast American rock with plenty of tight harmonies, effective guitar work and songs that these days might sound a little naïve but captured the fresh feelings of revival and purpose. The self titled debut album is probably more acoustic in sound than ‘Can It Be’ but by then the band had hit the road and had been hardened by a hectic schedule of gigging. Standouts on the debut are the gorgeous ballad «Closer To God» and the jaunty «You’re Caught In A World» which features some great guitar work. Talking of great guitar, I absolutely love the twin guitar playing on «Do You Feel The Change?» which is very much of its time production wise with plenty of reverb on the vocals but somehow driven along by an outstanding percussion workout by drummer Alex MacDougall. Another standout is the funk rock of «Livin’ On The Bottle» built around a fabulous clavinet groove. These are seminal Jesus Rock recordings and with the memorable statuettes cover of their debut album faithfully reproduced, everything is in place. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, May 2011]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-way/715741098)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Son Come Out” – 3:58
A2. “You’re Caught In A World” – 4:10
A3. “Song Of Joy” – 3:30
A4. “Come On Down” – 3:45
A5. “Closer To God” – 4:43
Side Two
B1. “New Song” – 3:45
B2. “There’s A Love” – 2:44
B3. “He’s The Reason To Go On” – 2:56
B4. “Harvest Time” – 4:42
B5. “Are You Listening?” – 3:24
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP (in a single slip cover with textured, flat finish slicks) by Maranatha! Music. Later re-issued on CD.
Live in Concert, 1974
Live at the Jesus People Reunion, 1999
The Way were invited to tour. Remembered Dana Angle, “One tour was to the Houston area and the other one was to the Seattle area. While we were in Texas we met a young art student named Tracy Guthrie, whose specialty was sculpture. He invited us to his house to see the sculptures he had made. The first was a front porch setting with people sitting on a swing and the other was a small country train station with people waiting for a train. I’m not sure who had the idea first, Gary Arthur or our new friend, but Tracy decided he was going to take pictures of us posing and then work on sculptures of the band. He took many pictures in several locations. In one shot I was kneeling on the ground with the others standing behind me, when this little dog from down the street came running up to me and set its paws on my leg, probably to lick my face. At that moment, Tracy snapped a shot with the dog on my leg. Later, we agreed to pay him a certain amount to work on the sculptures of the band members. We were back in California when the statues arrived. They were magnificent. They were proportionate and relative to scale. When mine arrived it had the little dog with its paws on my leg.”
Maranatha! Music was giving us the green light to work on our debut album. It was the seventh album Maranatha! Gary Arthur had taken all of our custom sculptured statues into a professional photography studio, along with some wood he had stained as a background. When we saw the final album cover with the statues on the front we were very pleased
With the release of ‘The Way’ everything moved up a gear for the band. Wrote Dana Angle, “Shortly after our album was released in mid 1973, we were being booked to do concert tours all over the country including Hawaii. We found ourselves playing in increasingly larger venues. What used to be little churches were now becoming auditoriums and music festivals. Our album moved into the top 10 of the Christian music selling market and all of a sudden we were away as much as we were home. We toured in a van that we bought from friends that we had met in Houston. It was a big Chevy van with no seats and a lot of windows.
[The Way: California’s fondly remembered Jesus music band. Tony Cummings sets out the history of the pioneering ’70s band The Way, Cross Rhythms, April 2012]
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