Feed Your Ears

[Luigi]

"Beatitudes" by Sweet Honey in the Rock. They sing a cappella only (occasional drums are permitted). I've heard the Beatitudes read in church any number of times, but I actually learned them from Sweet Honey in the Rock's sung version. 

 

[Luigi]

In 1969, "O Happy Day" by the Edwin Hawkins Singers was a hit on the pop charts. It's hard to imagine something similar happening these days. 

 

[Luigi]

Jennifer sings Leonard Cohen's "Bernadette." Warnes explored a vocation to religious life in her youth but decided to pursue a professional singing career. I'm not sure I approve of Cohen appropriating a lot of Catholic terminology, imagery, and symbolism for his love songs, but this one isn't too bad. I mentioned previously that a good love song can be interpreted in terms of one's relationship with God; this is the obverse of that - a religious story applied to a love relationship. For what it's worth. 

 

[Luigi]

Willie Mae Ford Smith was never as famous as Mahalia Jackson, but she sang very much in the same style and time period. Here she sings "I'm Glad Salvation Is Free." It starts slowly, with a strangely dissonant piano accompaniment, but then the chords become more standard, she picks up the pace, and she builds the volume until right at the end. 

 

[Luigi]

Here's Van Morrison's 1991 rendition of "Be Thou My Vision" on his album Hymns to the Silence. The original lyrics are a very old Irish-language prayer - maybe 4th century, maybe 7th or 8th century, maybe 10th or 11th century. The lyrics were translated from Old Irish to English in 1905 by Mary Elizabeth Byrne (this was the height of Irish nationalism, including the reclaiming of all things ancient Irish, as a form of resistance to English political domination). Then a second woman, Eleanor Hull versified Byrne's English words in 1912. And it's been popular ever since. 

The lyrics were set to Slane, a traditional Irish folk tune, in 1919. A number of other composers have set completely different lyrics to the same tune. 

Morrison sings in a gutsy style rather than a churchy style, with standard rock instruments plus traditional Irish instruments. He's one of the few pop musicians who is unabashedly Christian and records religious songs on pop albums. 

 

[Luigi]

"Sit Down, Servant" is completely new to me. I found it only yesterday or the day before. Clearly, it's a traditional spiritual with the line repeated three times followed by the punchline (Sit down and rest a little while). I found fuller, more professional versions on YouTube, but what strikes me about this particular video is that it's completely honest - apparently, the family matriarch has died, and the family at the graveside is singing her home. It's so simple and it's so beautiful. 

 

[Luigi]

The Soul Stirrers, pre-Sam Cooke (they sound almost like The Mills Brothers!), sing "Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb." This must have been recorded around 1950. "Sit Down, Servant" demonstrates that the old songs are kept alive in the Gospel tradition, and "Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb" demonstrates the opposite trend - Gospel music picks up on current events and uses them to tell the Christian message. But those kinds of songs do sound dated some years later. 

 

[Luigi]

Here's John Anderson's "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal." It's not a spiritual or hymn -it's a straight-up country pop song from 1981 (32 years ago!) but the singer is obviously a believer. He doesn't preach - the song is about improving himself rather than other people - but the includes unabashed and unashamed references to kneeling & praying & "Lord." You don't hear a lot of that in today's pop music. 

 

[Luigi]

Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers give us "Born Again" from 1983. This is a sort of an upbeat altar-call kind of song. It doesn't have a lot of new or unique lyrics, but it's got a dynamite beat and Little Cedric has a dynamite voice. 

 

[Luigi]

And now for something completely different. And completely irreverent. If you find the title offensive, I recommend you not listen to the song - it's not blasphemous or anything, but serious Catholics might find it... shall we say "inappropriate." In any case, Charlie Worsham can sure enuf pick and sing. 

 

[Luigi]

Miqedem is an Israeli group. Here they sing the 23rd psalm in Hebrew. The music is newly composed. The instruments include keyboard, bass, and drums - pretty standard - along with a couple of Middle Eastern instruments, the cura and the saz. Subtitles are in Hebrew and English. 

 

[dUSt]

The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Incorporating psychedelia and elements of embryonic electronic rock, the band's sound was marked by innovative recording techniques with fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. At the suggestion of manager Lenny Poncher and Hassinger, The Electric Prunes agreed to record a concept album that integrated Gregorian music into psychedelic pop, with the belief it would launch them into commercial success. Poncher recruited David Axelrod, a formally classically trained musician, to compose all of the material for the project. The result, Mass in F Minor, was a complex arrangement of religious-based rock, which was sung entirely in Greek and Latin. Although the band did record the songs "Kyrie Eleison", "Gloria", and "Credo", the intricate orchestration proved to be too difficult and time-consuming for the group. As a consequence, Hassinger enlisted the Canadian group The Collectors, among other session musicians, in completing the album, although Lowe, Tulin, and Weakley did contribute to every track. Mass in F Minor was released in January 1968 and reached number 135 on the Billboard 200. An eerie version of the opening track, "Kyrie Eleison", became somewhat of an underground favorite when it appeared in the soundtrack for the counterculture film, Easy Rider.

[dUSt]

 

Release of an Oath is the fourth studio album credited to The Electric Prunes, released in 1968. It was composed and arranged by David Axelrod, and band members played little part in its recording. The work follows the musical pattern of their Mass in F Minor, also composed by Axelrod. Despite the subtitle and popular name, the remaining tracks of the album are based on a mix of Christian and Jewish liturgies. Although credited to the Electric Prunes, the album is largely the work of composer and producer David Axelrod and a group of session musicians. The rights to the name "The Electric Prunes" were owned by producer David Hassinger, who was encouraged by the success of the previous album, Mass in F Minor, also written and arranged by Axelrod but issued as by the Electric Prunes, to assemble a new line-up of the band. He found an existing Colorado group, Climax, who formed the basis of the "new" Electric Prunes.

[Luigi]

8 hours ago, dUSt said:

 

This is really good, and really interesting. I've heard of the Electric Prunes, but I didn't know anything about them or their music... I might have heard "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" before, but that's about it. IT's interesting that "O Happy Day" and "Spirit in the Sky" went up the pop charts in the same era (1967 and 1969 respectively. 

[Luigi]

Judy Collins recorded a folk-y version of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" (as opposed to a a Country & Western version or a Hollywood version). The song itself was written in 1941. It's a cowboy's vision of hell, with a message from one of the damned warning him to change his ways. It's somewhat on the corny side, but it has a great sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-lungs chorus. 

 

 

[Luigi]

"Yes, Jesus Loves Me" is so well-known that it's trite. But Aaron Neville breathes new life into it (with help from his brothers, of course). I particularly like the intro - I'm not sure what instrument is being played, but it gives the impression of a music box. In my town, we've seen a number of children murdered over the last three or four years; I think this should be played at the funeral of every child that dies by violence. 

 

[Luigi]

"Non Nobis Domine" from Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's Henry V. The lyrics are a very old prayer (Not to us, Lord, but to Your name be glory given), but the music is not from Shakespeare's time or Henry V's time - it was composed for the movie. It starts with a single voice and builds throughout, becoming a military anthem, and then an all-stops-out symphonic chorus. This clip includes the whole scene from the movie, which gives it good context; if you want just the music, start at 3:30. The final chorus comes after the instrumental interlude. 

 

[Luigi]

Sister Rosetta Tharpe is considered The Godmother of Rock & Roll. She was raised singing in the church (Church of God in Christ), and she was among the very first electric guitar players. A lot of her repertoire was church songs, even when she was singing to secular audiences. This is her rendition of "Wait Until My Change Comes," based on the Book of Job. In this video, she's performing in France; her vocals and guitar work are pretty much straight up rock & roll, but the backing musicians go much more ragtime-y for their solos. 

 

[Luigi]

I'm sure we all remember Joan Osborne's "One of Us." It's still worth listening to. It was written by Eric Bazilian of The Hooters. He never has revealed his position on faith, religion, or the rest of it. Still, he raised the question of God's existence, on pop radio. And I remember thinking - the first time I heard it - well, Yeah, Yeah, God is one of us!

 

[Luigi]

This is The Animals from 1965 singing "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." It's not a religious song as such; it's really the singer talking to his girlfriend about himself. But there are religious references sprinkled throughout - angel, soul, sinful, O Lord - indicating that Christian assumptions were just part of the national (American and British - The Animals were a British group) culture in 1965.