ég er john seven

I can’t find out any information on this album, not even the year it was released - though I’m guessing late ’60s or early ’70s - but this is a fine, fun, cool country gospel number recording in Hampton, VA. The Swordsmen’s phone number, on the back of the album, is 804-723-5231. Wonder if it’s still in service 40 years later … 

That’s right, there’s more to life than enjoying it. For instance, there’s working hard to “firm up weak diaphrams,” as it says on the back cover. I think they mean “diaphragm,” but who needs proper spelling when you have a global mission from God? This album is from 1967, but these clean-living world travelers spreading the word of God are still around, apparently, having moved 65,000 groovy Christian young people through their ranks.

A bouncy little number from 1966 about leprosy, performed by many happy nuns and penned by Sister Miriam Therese, who came up with the songs sitting alone in foreign fields with nothing more than her guitar and her desire to sing. 

A jaunty number sung by children reminding you of all the sorts of people in all the sorts of situations that require Jesus to get by. 

From the look of it, Doug Oldham has more to be excited about than merely Jesus - a head full of hair, a belly full of dinner, and some very fancy duds, not to mention a full orchestra backing him up. Oh, sure, and Jesus. 1972 was a very good year for him. The liner notes on the back talk about a trip to England with his wife, Laura. They were enthralled by all the castles and palaces, but also reminded of the one, true king and how fleeting all these sights were in comparison. So, essentially, Jesus ruined their vacation. Thanks, Jesus.

Back in the day - 1967, by this record’s date - Reverend Ian Mitchell was probably one of those “cool” ministers that the young people could “relate to” while they “rapped” about God and stuff. I don’t know if that kind of minister still exists because I’m unsure that they are necessary - it seems that the Reverend Mitchells of the world pretty much won. It’s not hard to get young people all Christianed up anymore. Back in 1967, it apparently took folk music singalongs to keep them interested. That’s the Reverend Mrs. singing along - if you scour the liner notes enough, you will eventually discern her name is Caroline. Don’t want to overshadow her husband’s gigantic mission and ego by, you know, offering her first name up front anywhere. This is apparently the “Roman Catholic Version.” I have no idea what differentiates it from Reverend Mitchell’s other songs. Mitchell, by the way, is an Anglican priest, for those keeping score, and YES, he did appear in nightclubs.

This church choir from Sackville, Nova Scotia, celebrates it 25th anniversary by proving that they’re not just some stodgy old church singers, but capable of churning out an infectious modern melody as they reach for the top of the charts. This stand out track from 1984 was not only sung by choir tenor Doug Grace, but written by him as well. It’s the only one on the album he penned and, as you can imagine, the rest of the album just doesn’t have the same pep. Plagiarizing a telephone ad jingle has its perks, but I guess they didn’t use the often repeated refrain “reach out and touch someone” to avoid undo attention on that aspect of the song.

This lovely track is off the original cast recording to the 1981 production of this religious stage musical performed at the Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY. It is written by the pastor there, with songs by a professor from the Eastman School of Music, and it is an updated version of the story of Zacchaeus in the Bible. In this version, he works for the IRS, but still has a run-in with Jesus that makes him all holy. It was performed by “the young people” of the church, and includes an original program inside and plenty of performance photos on the back cover. Certainly, this one deserves more attention from my turntable efforts, and further tracks might appear …

I’ve own this sealed record for 20 years and just now decided to unwrap it and see what it had to offer. The answer is a pretty good rambling, guitar-driven gospel number. You can check out Smitty’s Facebook page - he was apparently in the Oak Ridge Boys in the 1960s, back when they were an actual gospel band and not a curiosity. This record is 1977, but I don’t know if that’s when the recordings were made.

Considering this chorale group is singing this song in praise of the supreme existence that brings order to the universe, you would think they’d want to reflect a little of that order within their music, or at the very least, synchronize their vocals with the band. Not these Christian sonic anarchists. I’ve presented the music of Vermont’s New Life Ministries before with this rapture lament from the New Life Trio. This album is definitely from the early 1970s.