Description
Spirit of Elijah is the sophomore album by the American rock band Wilson McKinley, independently released by the band on Voice of Elijah in the summer of 1971. The album was recorded by Terry Sheets during a single overnight session (sans editing or overdubs). The recording suggested secular antecedents like Moby Grape and the Moody Blues (whose “It’s Up to You” appears in modified form).
Spirit Of Elijah was another project with no producer and was done in a hurried fashion in an all night recording session…live in a small livingroom of a very small house we used for rehearsal called the “House Of David.” Carl Parks said we needed another album and it had to be done quickly so we asked an acquaintance of ours…Terry Sheets to bring his Teac 4 track recorder over and he set up some PA mikes and we just started playing…from about 8p.m. to 4a.m. We were singing way past the point of maintaining quality vocal performance. There were no overdubs or corrections of some pretty bad mistakes (from being so tired) and it was all left in there and sent to a company to press. (Rite records) They decided that one whole side needed reverb…so it got drenched in it and the other side was left “dry.” Once again we were appalled that this was going out to the public for sale. If you knew Randy and what a perfectionist he is…let’s just say to this day he wouldn’t admit to being a part of it if he didn’t have to. Lol!! And then after all these years hearing people say what a classic it is…go figure! So…no producer or record company involved. [Excerpt from an interview with Wilson McKinley member Mike Messer at psychedelicbaby.blogspot July 2011]
Spirit Of Elijah is generally heralded as Wilson McKinley’s masterpiece, and rightly so. The album definitely has that low-budget homemade garage/psych sound, but without the blatant production problems that mark On Stage and Heavens Gonna Be A Blast. As far as Christian bands going for that raw west-coast late-‘60s electric guitar sound, they don’t come any better than this. «One In The Spirit» (i.e., «They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love») boasts loud guitar riffs aplenty on top of its solid fast-paced groove, resulting in one of the best interpretations I’ve heard of this oft-covered song (the abrupt cut-off ending is an interesting touch). Same goes for the exuberant «Tree Of Life», which adds electric piano to the mix and doubles the tempo mid-way for some energized boogie jamming. A bit of rural rocking ala Grateful Dead turns up on «All My Life». And in the re-worded lyrics category this time are versions of Moby Grape’s «He» and The Moody Blues’ «It’s Up To You», both effectively converted into Jesus songs. The closing six-minute apocalyptic title track is a powerful climactic statement, a prime example of the era’s classic rock/psych style. «Come On Home», «His Eye Is On The Sparrow», «Crown Of Glory», «I Need A Savior» – every song on here is strong. Cover features psychy lettering overtop a red-filtered negative image photo of the band members playing their instruments. We’re talkin’ essential here. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/ca/album/60s-psychedelic-christian-rock/502746004)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “He”
A2. “It’s Up To You”
A3. “Come On Home”
A4. “One In The Spirit”
A5. “Tree Of Life”
Side Two
B1. “His Eye Is On The Sparrow”
B2. “All My Life”
B3. “Crown Of Glory”
B4. “I Need A Saviour”
B5. “Spirit Of Elijah”
Note: A double-CD compilation, entitled Now I’m A Jesus Freak!, was released by Tanignak Productions in 2009. The first disc contains the complete tracks of Spirit of Elijah and Heavens Gonna Be A Blast!, all sourced from the original mastertapes in a completely new digital remix (with “snafus” corrected), rounded out with three other album tracks making their CD debut. The second disc features unreleased material that contains some of the bands best writing and ranges from straight-ahead rock to country-rock to harmony-rich ballads, recorded between 1970 to 1976, including several live tracks where the vocals had to be remixed to be audible. In addition, founding members Randy Wilcox and Mike Messer provided several unreleased tracks each for the second disc. Booklet includes recording credits and unreleased band photos from the era.
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