| Jesus music | |
| Stylistic origins | |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins | |
| Typical instruments |
acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar, electric bass guitar, various percussion instruments (including full drum sets)
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| Other topics | |
| Christian music | |
Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music which originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement. It outlasted the movement that spawned it and the Christian music industry began to eclipse it and absorb its musicians around 1975.[1]
History
Jesus music primarily began in southern California when large numbers of hippies and street musicians began converting to born-again Christianity. A number of the conversions of these hippies and musicians was due largely to the outreach of Lonnie Frisbee[2] and Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. In the aftermath of such conversions, these musicians continued playing the same styles of music that they had been playing prior to their conversion, though they now infused their lyrics with a Christian message. Of the many bands and artists that came out of this time-period, some became leaders within the Jesus movement. Most notably among them Barry McGuire, Love Song, Second Chapter of Acts, Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Randy Matthews, and during the mid-1970's, Keith Green.
Much of the music[3] was a blend of folk music and folk rock (Children of the Day, Paul Clark, John Fischer, Nancy Honeytree, Mark Heard), soft rock (Phil Keaggy, Pat Terry, Chuck Girard, Tom Howard, Salvation Air Force, Mustard Seed Faith, R&B (Andraé Crouch (and the Disciples)), Soul music/Jazz fusion (Sweet Comfort Band), country rock (The Way, Daniel Amos, The Talbot Brothers - John Michael and Terry Talbot, Bethlehem, Gentle Faith, Jubal's Last Band), and hard rock (Resurrection Band, Agape, Servant, Petra, The All Saved Freak Band).
Amongst pastors, theologians, traditional church musicians and church-goers alike, Jesus music was considered to be lyrically and theologically simple and even Biblically unsound. This view was no doubt fueled by the unwillingness of most churches to allow what was seen as "the Devil's music" into their assemblies. Initially, what was viewed as Jesus music's association with secular music caused many American churches in the beginning to largely reject the movement as well as the artists.[4] [5] This suited many Jesus music artists as they wanted to bring the message of their music to non-Christians and not just to church youth. Jesus music pioneer Larry Norman addressed this culture clash in his 1972 song, "Why Should The Devil Have All the Good Music?"[2].
On the West Coast of the United States, Jesus music festivals began to emerge in the summer months of the early 1970s, featuring many of the artists listed above. While the music was often loud and the venue similar to the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, the atmosphere was decidedly different and attracted large crowds of camping families as well as teenagers and young adults.
By 1973, Jesus music was receiving enough attention inside the mainstream media that an industry began to emerge. By the mid 1970s, the phrase "contemporary Christian music" had been coined and the first edition of CCM Magazine was published in July, 1977. CCM now was a combination of traditional gospel music, Southern Gospel Music, Jesus music artists, and in some cases a style of big-band music with Christian lyrics[6]. By 1976, it was apparent that a new generation of performers who had grown up in the church wanted to play non-secular pop and rock music for other Christians. As the movement was replaced by the industry, the term "Jesus music" fell out of use by the end of the 1970s.
Outside of California
Contemporaneous with the Jesus movement, from 1967 to 1970, on the East Coast of the United States, the first documented Christian Rock band, Mind Garage, was taking rock music with Christian lyrics into church, although their music was not widely known to those following Jesus music. In the UK, Malcolm and Alwyn were the most notable agents of the gospel beat.
Jesus People USA is an intentional community and ministry, currently located on the North Side of Chicago. Two of the first influences of JPUSA were Cornerstone magazine and Resurrection Band.[7] Jim Palosaari was one of Britain's influential Jesus people and one of the founders of the group that became JPUSA, Servant's Highway Ministries, and Greenbelt festival in England, the largest Christian rock festival in the world. [8] [9]
References
- ^ Di Sabatino, David (1999). The Jesus People Movement: an annotated bibliography and general resource. Lake Forest, CA: Jester Media. pp. 137.
- ^ David di Sabatino.. Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher. [Documentary movie]. United States: David Di Sabatino. http://www.lonniefrisbee.com.
- ^ Di Sabatino, David (1999). The Jesus People Movement: an annotated bibliography and general resource. Lake Forest, CA: Jester Media. pp. 136-137.
- ^ Powell, Mark Allan (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Paebody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN 1-56563-679-1.
- ^ Di Sabatino, David (1999). The Jesus People Movement: an annotated bibliography and general resource. Lake Forest, CA: Jester Media. pp. 136-137.
- ^ See Dave Boyer at[1]
- ^ Liner notes to Music to Raise the Dead: 1972-1998 by Resurrection Band.
- ^ Powell, Mark Allan (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Paebody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. pp. 808-809. ISBN 1-56563-679-1.
- ^ Liner notes to Music to Raise the Dead: 1972-1998 by Resurrection Band.
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