Now I’m a Jesus Freak!

Description

Now I’m a Jesus Freak! is a double disc CD compilation album by the American rock band Wilson McKinley, released on Tanignak Productions in 2009. The compilation collects 45 remastered tracks including album tracks from Spirit Of Elijah, Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast, Country In The Sky, and Yesterday/Forever along with previously unreleased, rare, live, and solo tracks.

This is a motherlode of Pacific Northwest psych, country rock, and early Contemporary Christian tracks, with songs recorded from 1970 to 1976. Featured on this collection is the complete Spirit of Elijah album, newly remixed from the original master tapes (pitch-corrected, balanced, and edited much closer to the band’s original intent). This is the only legitimate issue of this material, available here for the first time. The complete Heaven’s Gonna Be a Blast album, carefully restored from the original master tapes, making its first CD appearance in its entirety; includes four other tracks representing every other original 1970s Wilson McKinley album, all making their digital debut. Disc 2 offers seventeen previously unreleased live, studio, and practice tracks, including some of their best songwriting and musicianship. Each track has been meticulously restored from the original tapes. Five solo tracks provided by original band members Randy Wilcox and Mike Messer appear here, issued for the first time. Artwork assistance on the CD’s from Michael Sheets, the engineer behind many of the live tracks, and brother of the engineer of Spirit of Elijah. As well the booklet includes rare band photos and memorabilia.

It’s funny to think that notoriously atheistic Frank Zappa had some philosophical commonality with Pacific Northwest Christian hippie band Wilson McKinley. In a similar way to Zappa packaging some of his most bootlegged concert recordings into a bot set he released on his own label, the group seemingly named for a couple of U.S. presidents has reissued their first two studio albums – and a generous selection of other material – on Now I’m a Jesus Freak!

The first of those repackaged longplayers, 1971’s Spirit of Elijah, has sold for hundreds of dollars in its original LP form and – here’s where the Zappa parallel enters – has been pirated by at least one psychedelic rock reissue label (not as uncommon a practice among quality Christian hippie rock as one might think). The album’s mix of nascent country rock, garagey production and vocal harmonies that might have passed for Three Dog Night’s understudies makes it tough to fault those who would deprive the band its rightful royalty money if it would make their music more easily available.

The band, believers for about a year at the time of recording, brims with the sunny energy commonly associated with holy hippies of the time, but minor key explorations such as the apocalyptic titular track and a fierce run through «We Are One in the Spirit», have probably upped demand among psychedelia collectors.

And perhaps unsurprisingly, WMcK mined lyrical themes their hirsute musical kin in Christ were tackling further down the West Coast; «Come On Home» reflects the Lord’s original intention to have communion with Him just as on «Welcome Back» by contemporaneous Southern Californians in Love Song. And remaking «His Eye Is On The Sparrow» must have given some comfort to listeners not yet convinced of the idea of shaggy young saints adapting their generation’s vernacular music to godly use.

The next year’s WMcK release, Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast!, is notable not only for matching its predecessor in quality. The album’s Roy Lichtenstein-alike pop-art/comic book cover would be a hoot to see in its intended 12″x12″ dimension and I continue to believe it was an inspiration for the first cover for Bob Dylan’s Shot of Love.

Musically, the catchiest of the set’s nine tunes may be its briefest and lengthiest. «I Wish I Had The Words To Tell You» bubbles with the way salvation can leave one inarticulate as to the wonder of the Savior. The album’s namesake song has another monster hook and the kind of percussion break down that late ’80s hip-hop DJs could have done bodily harm to obtain for the rappers they were backing.

The remainder of the first Freak! disc collects two cuts from the more acoustically country 1973’s Country in the Sky (more from which can be heard on Tagniak’s 2000 single-CD WMcK anthology, Message Brought To Us) and an instrumental of public domain hymn «Jesus, Jesus» from 1974’s vocal-less Yesterday/Forever that imagines what it might have sounded like had Doors organist Ray Manzarek teamed up with The Modern Jazz Quartet.

The second CD begins with one especially jovial cut from the foursome’s infamously botched (yet mega-collectible) 1970 live debut album On Stage, «I Know The Lord» (more from it can also be heard on Message). The next 15 numbers derive from 1971-1973 concerts and practices. They range from the really specific («Jesus Saved My Soul Last Week») to the fairly mysterious («The Misty Shroud») and back to ebullience («I Just Love My Jesus») and yearning («If You Never See Me Again»).

The remaining seven pieces come from solo and post WMcK band projects by various members from 1976-2000. Some are remakes of older tunes, others are originals, but it’s tough to maintain that innocent energetic aura three decades on from being part of a a spiritually revolutionary movement in what was already deemed to be a cultural turning of tides.

Historians, collectors and psych’ rock fiends incapable or unwilling to dish out the copious cash likely necessary to get the long out-of-print vinyl, which won’t nab you all the previously unreleased live and practice numbers, anyway, will want to get Jesus Freak!y with this. [Jamie Lee Rake, Phantom Tollbooth, 2010]

2CD tracklist:

Disc One – Two Classic LPs, Plus!

Spirit Of Elijah, 1971
01. He – 4:16
02. It’s Up To You – 3:39
03. Come On Home – 2:51
04. We Are One In The Spirit – 4:06
05. Tree Of Life – 3:57
06. His Eyes Is On The Sparrow – 3:10
07. All My Life – 3:41
08. Crown Of Glory – 1:33
09. I Need A Saviour – 3:30
10. Spirit Of Elijah – 6:15

Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast, 1972
11. Standin’ At The Crossroads – 4:05
12. I’m Only Smilin’ – 3:08
13. He Made Us Free – 3:09
14. Then I Fell In Love – 2:59
15. I Wish I Had The Words To Tell You – 2:49
16. Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast – 5:10
17. Never Cry No More – 3:01
18. A Warm Summer Day – 4:52
19. Almighty God – 3:18

Country In The Sky, 1973
20. Ship Adrift – 3:45
21. Angel’s Song – 2:26

Yesterday/Forever, 1974
22. Jesus Jesus (instrumental) – 2:13

Disc Two – Unreleased, Rare and Solo Tracks.

On Stage, 1970 (mono LP dub)
01. I Know The Lord – 3:27

Practice session, Summer 1970, (mono, previously unreleased)
02. It’s All Right – 2:19
03. I’m So Glad I’m Saved – 1:50
04. The Misty Shroud – 2:06
05. Tell Me What It’s All About – 1:43
06. I Just Love My Jesus – 2:43

Previously unreleased live performances, Gonzaga University, late fall 1970:
07. Coming To Take His Children – 3:01

“I Am” Coffeehouse, 1971-1972:
08. My Life’s Foundation – 2:37
09. Jesus Jesus – 5:04
10. Jesus Saved My Soul Last Week – 2:45
11. Even The Birds Up In The Sky – 4:02

Highbridge Park, Spokane, 1972:
12. Vote For Jesus – 3:32

Previously unreleased practice, 1973 (mono)
13. If You Never See Me Again – 3:31
14. Bright And Shining One – 5:21
15. There’ll Come A Time – 2:52
16. Deep In The Arms of My Lord – 2:54

Greg Beumer’s Project, 1976
17. You Don’t Knock – 4:24
18. Ain’t That Good News – 3:37

Solo Recordings (First Release), Randy Wilcox, 2000
19. The Love Of My Saviour – 3:04
20. Never Cry No More – 3:26

Mike Messer
21. It’s A Miracle (2000) – 5:35
22. We Got It Made (2008) – 4:12
23. He Made Us Free (2000) – 3:56

Note: This compilation does not contain the tracks from On Stage, Country In The Sky, and the bonus 1973 practice track that appeared as part of their 2000 issued anthology, Message Brought To Us.