Ralph Carmichael - "The Cross And The Switchblade (Original Sound Track Music)" (Light Records ‎– LS-5550-LP) 1971

This is one rockin' mo-fo of a judeo-christian funk soundtrack, with the inevitable biblical message for the target audience. If you wanted to find some breaks to sample for your drum'n'bass project,you could do a lot worse than delving into this daft movie designed to appeal to the American christian demographic, also know as the moral majority.The ones who weren't allowed to watch 'Dirty Harry',which had an equally groovy soundtrack. Naturally they couldn't get Clint Eastwood to sign up for this one, so they had to make do with god fearin' housewives favourite, Mr Pat Boone.Let's just say, he didn't win the oscar that year.
Its a kind of 'Angels With Dirty Faces'remake,via 'West Side Story', with a whitemans Blaxsploitation angle......I guess,because I've never seen it,and don't particularly want to.It looks shit.
However, among the rehashed versions of Ralph Carmichael and the Young People numbers, there's some smokin' skin work by the session musicians. The naff criminal fringe beat talk as lyrics  in "Rumble" is worth the admission price all of itself.
I'm still waiting for that David Koresh musical,which could use adapted versions of some of these tunes? I can just visualize the Koresh character in ballet tights, doing some contemporary dance moves to "Rumble" brandishing an automatic weapon.
I think that could be popular. A new 'Springtime for Hitler'....anyone interested in providing finance? Just five grand for 200% of the profits.All donations accepted with the same terms.

Tracklist:

A1 You Gotta Try 2:03
A2 Switchblade Theme 1:15
A3 Where Is It? 3:21
A4 I Just Lost 2:20
A5 Bright New World 3:21
B1 I've Got Confidence 3:00
B2 The Addict's Psalm 1:12
B3 Rumble 3:55
B4 God Loves You 2:27
B5 Love 3:26

DOWNLOAD some moral majority judeo-christian funk HERE! 

Ralph Carmichael And The Young People ‎– "Our Front Porch" (Light Records ‎– LS-5560-LP) 1970

Hot outta Waco, two decades before David Koresh was literally on fire in the same hick town, we had 'The Young People',under the auspices and guidence of christ obsessed composer Ralph Carmichael.
He followed Gods callin' and got a groovy bunch of kids together to play some of that soul inflected Sunshine Pop that was so popular in the late sixties, with the added ingredient of some Bible thumpin' lyrics designed to save our souls.....or rather save arseholes.
Back in the eclectic days of the nineties,I couldn't get enough of anything on Light records,and this was a particular favourite of mine.Full of foot tappin' tunes, great breaks ,wah-wah guitar and uplifting vocal harmonies.This is Jesus gettin' funky,with a hefty dose of traditional Christian naffness. Aw bless 'em,they,Christians,were never the sharpest tools in the box in the first place,never mind being intellectually lazy enough to just accept the first,and easiest answer that came within earshot;then not bothering to actually check out other, more feasible,explanations for how,rather than why, we are here.You know, the ones with evidence and stuff!?
"Er...why are we here?......I know, God did it, now I don't have to hurt my brain understanding evolution."......Duh!
But, if there were no christians we wouldn't have these de-satanised versions of rock and pop music for us Kool kids to laugh at,but secretly like.

Tracklist:

A1 Our Front Porch 3:59
A2 Smiling At Rainstorms (Psalm 59) 2:57
A3 Bright New World 2:31
A4 Trust Me Now (Psalm 37) 4:39
A5 Reach Out To Jesus 3:08
B1 Dressing Up Jesus 4:01
B2 Memories 3:45
B3 We're Not Going To Make It Together 3:01
B4 The Flower Shoppe 3:55
B5 I've Got Confidence 3:00

DOWNLOAD to listen on your front porch HERE!

Our Generation ‎– "Dawning Of The Day" (Generation Records ‎– LPM/S 500) 1971

Please Jesus Save Our Children from your Followers!
This is Our Generation's debut album,and it's easily the equal of their follow up,"Praise and Prayer"
These kids must have been locked in a cupboard in 1966,and let out once they'd accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. The last music they heard was some trendy Fuzz laden Garage rock,and they had no idea that things had moved on by 1971.
Failing that, they were probably put together, boy band style, by some letchy preacher to penetrate the kids minds as well as other places on kids bodies that preachers like to penetrate.
Shameless propaganda this may be, but its rather listenable.I hardly ever listen to the lyrics anyhow,so as Acid Garage goes its not too bad. "Love" in particular is a Fuzz soaked classic, albeit one that plagarizes Ray Manzarek's keyboard part for 'Light My Fire'(Why anyone would want to do that I dunno!?).Most of the bible is plagarized from earlier sources anyway, so if its ok by God we can all do it.

nb: I'm sure they're Americans,but I did hear a clear Dutch accent for the intro of 'Can You Make It'.

Tracklist:

A1 11th Hour 4:45
A2 Near The End 4:45
A3 Beyond Yourself 3:30
A4 Love 3:25
A5 Jesus In Your Life 3:25
B1 Can You Make It 5:25
B2 Look-Out 5:10
B3 I Can See Forever 4:10
B4 Dawning Of The Day 5:20

DOWNLOAD the sunset of organised religion HERE!

Our Generation ‎– "Praise And Prayer" (Generation Records ‎– OG 1072) 1972

"How do we get their children?" Asked the half-witted Evangelist.
God said, "Set the words of the gospels to the modern sounds of pop music"
"What? Like Acid Rock, or Garage Fuzz Psych?, volunteered the Moron.
"NO!" barked God, "This is 1972, all that stuff was out in 1968, try Jazz Fusion, or Prog Rock,better still Glam Rock! Thats what the kids are listening to in 1972!!"
"Sorry, didn't hear that, you're breaking up! said the Moron, "We'll stick with the Fuzzy Psych then? Thanks God."
"Oh for fucks sake!" sayeth God,"...and I made these idiots in my image!? Jesus H. Christ!"
(Jesus)..."Yes father?"
"Forget that Prog Group you're forming son,its yet another waste of my eternal time!"

Indeed, the God Squad were always a few years too late to latch onto the possibilities spreading their simplistic explanation for existence with edgy music from the eternal 'Now'.
The first track however sounds like The Strawberry Alarm Clock with Wobble and Donut from PiL's first album. Its rather good.
The rest of the album is reasonably decent Acid Psych of the kind that existed between 1965 to '67, which all the hip kids of 1972, when this was released, had long forgotten about. Thats why Lenny Kaye made that Nuggets Collection, because everyone had forgot about those Garage Fuzz bands like The leaves ,Seeds etc.
If you were caught listening to The Seeds in 1972, instead of Emerson Lake and Palmer, you would have been a laughing stock.
So this album,doubles up on the naffness with the Christian message, atop of a musical style that was definitely 'Out'.
There is some beyond great Fuzz guitar on track 5, "Praise" by the way, the rest is filler.
Meanwhile church attendances are getting lower and lower, and the average age Older and Older. Shame.

Tracklist:

Hello Friends
Get Together
Only A Man
Jesus Paid It All
Praise
Sacrifice
Hymn
Have You Tried This One Called Jesus
In The Presence Of The Lord
A Prayer

DOWNLOAD their generation HERE!

The All Saved Freak Band ‎– "Brainwashed" (Rock The World Enterprises ‎– NR 5974) 1976

They say that the Devil has all the best tunes.....well.....here's evidence that he may well have.
As Christian Rock goes, this ain't half bad,but that ain't sayin' much.
As a kid at primary school,we had a god fearing headmaster, who tried to force christianity on us at all opportunities.So we had to walk into the daily assembly to the sound of Cat Stevens crooning 'Morning Has Broken', or 'KumBya' or the dreadful 'Lord Of The Dance'!? The Hippie teachers didn't need much excuse to whip out the acoustic guitar and inflict some modern hymns on us all. Even worse, Miss Pile had a warble like Joan Baez that hit our young ears like a pneumatic drill.(luckily the rest my education was purely secular)
No wonder we all became Atheists.......except Kerry Ground, who was exempt from this torture because,as it turned out, she was a Jew!!!! I didn't even know what a Jew was,nevermind that Kerry wasn't the 'same' as us.....now we knew who to single out as 'Different'.
Yes Christian pop/rock/metal is shite. Classical gets away with it because no-one listens to it.
The All Saved Freak Band were still playing that light weight Grateful dead Psych in 1980 (as were the Dead themselves!?),and this is the main problem with Christian attempts to be 'down with the kids',no matter how hard they try,they are always well behind the curve. Ever heard any Christian Rap? It's even shitter than actual Rap...if thats possible.Too shit for me to take the piss even!
At least this band had a small amount of humour and self-depreciation shown by the title of this album. Lead guitarist Glenn Schwarz had just been released from his Reprogramming therapy after being kidnapped by his birth family.....still spouting christian propaganda.So the ironically titled "Brainwashed", is a reference to the outsiders view that they were all brainwashed.Little did they ever consider that they obviously were.
Silly fuckers.

Tracklist:

A1 Peace, Love, And Rock And Roll 3:37
A2 Ode To Glenn Schwartz 4:04
A3 Seek Him 3:02
A4 Don't Look Back 7:05
A5 Lonely 2:50
B1 Frog Alley 4:55
B2 Messed Up 2:27
B3 See The Flesh Fly 3:34
B4 Smilin' Dog 3:27
B5 Our Answer 2:05

DOWNLOAD some reprogramming HERE!

The All Saved Freak Band ‎– "My Poor Generation" (Rock The World Enterprises 730605) 1973

Glenn Schwartz used to be in the incredibly shit James Gang,apparently(?), before he found Jesus,joined a cult and joined an even shitter band.
Based out of a Christian commune near Orwell, Ohio, The 'All Saved Freak Band',included about 12 members,like an Electric Light Orchestra from a christian purgatory,complete with Cello's, violins and woodwind to back up the tired message.Sadly there is no Jeff Lynne or brummy humour to save us from the wailing and a gnashing of rotten hippie teeth here!Yes, everyone in this band are safe from hell's torment,unlike you and me,and they wanna tell us about it....a lot!
In February 1975,Glenn Schwartz's family had him kidnapped for an intense, three-day "deprogramming" effort by a famed cult deprogrammer called Ted Patrick. The attempt was,predictably, unsuccessful. So we had to endure even more albums for brown-nosing the holy ghost to after this debut,self-released, disc.

The music is some hybrid of boroque hippie folk and standard late sixties acid rock......not my cuppa tea,but as i like 'Cults',there is some much needed mental illness involved,so it interests one somewhat.

Tracklist:
Elder White 3:38
Lonely Street 4:08
My Poor Generation 1:55
Tom Miller 2:54
Great Victory 4:08
Ancient Of Days 5:22
The Lord Is My Shepherd 3:09
Daughter Of Zion 5:34
Christmas Song 1:50
There Is Still Hope In Jesus 6:27
Flowers Of Time 3:45

DOWNLOAD from hell and be saved HERE!