Religious music for less than devout


We have a thread " Jazz for someone who doesn’t like jazz. " In a similar vein perhaps "Religious music for the less than devout".

"people get ready" - Rod Stewart
"Amazing Grace" - Jessye Norman
2009 "Duets" - Five Blind Boys of Alabama, The - entire CD
1988 "Sweet Fellowship" - Acappella, the entire CD

In 1989 I was working in NJ, I may have been the only guy on the job who did not know he was working for the Irish Mafia. I would lend people the CD "Sweet Fellowship" and they were willing to pay for it but never return it:

"Here is $20 kid, go buy yourself another cuz youz can’t have mine back. Now don’t ever ask me again."


timothywright
^^^Van Morrison went through a Christian phase for a while. He has quite a few popular religious songs. These are the Days is another one. Some folks hear some Christian themes in Astral Weeks, but I think you can hear anything you want to in that album.

All Bach.


U2's albums are suffused with Christian themes. Bono says he is a devout Christian.

For some spectacular R&B/Gospel check out Leon Bridges album Coming Home. It is not a religious or gospel album per se but there are three of four excellent songs with Christian themes. On some of them you have to listen carefully to hear them. The songs are fantastic as is the whole album. The theology is deep and solid without being cheesy or in-your-face. This one, River, is probably the best and deepest:

https://youtu.be/0Hegd4xNfRo

I am a devout Christian but other than classical, traditional hymns and a few I've mentioned here, I do not particularly like religious music. Especially religious pop music. Several of you have mentioned above that it has gotten better, and that is good. Because not long ago I would have said it was the worst music of all. It wasn't good pop. It wasn't good gospel. No catchy tunes. Overly emotional and sentimental. Shallow and vapid. And that always makes me a little sad, as a Christian. As millercarbon mentioned, western religious music was, at one time, the highest level or artistic expression in music. And it might still be.


@ millercarbon

 

There was a time forty years ago I when I lived in Gallup NM, a small town in the middle of nowhere with only 4 radio stations. One station was all in Navajo, one was rock/pop, one was Country and the last was Gospel format. Yes the quality of the Gospel genre was not what one might hope and I listened to very little of it then. It was explained to me that since most listeners listen in their vehicle and only for a few minutes it was perfectly acceptable to play the song “9 to 5” twice and hour all day long.

I have a recollection of driving across all of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on a Sunday in August steering a badly over loaded 24’ Ryder truck towing my pickup behind me.   Maximum speed may have been 50 mph, no AC and only an AM radio. Under those conditions the only acoustic selections were not so much religious as what I would call “red neck toothless gospel”. My yellow Lab named Bismark was riding shotgun, so we turned up the “Old time Gospel” and Bismark and I had our personal revival the width of all of 3 states combined.

I agree with your general point, that the quality and variety of religious music is vastly improved.

Twila Paris, Phil Driscol, David Meece, John Fahey are examples of those who write and perform as well as anyone. Many C&W acts have worthwhile religious content in their repertoire.


RE Fairfield Four

Their version of “John the Revelator”, while not a cappella, is a show stopper. The version from their 2000 “Live from Mountain Stage” CD is a favorite speaker demo selection of mine. If you don’t think you like the Fairfield Four, try that cut before you rule them out.

On the Ry Cooder soundtrack CD from 1986 “Crossroads” is a blues (once gospel) funeral dirge “Somebody’s Callin’ My Name” sometimes titled “Hush hush…” Jessey Norman also performs this song on one of her CDs. When I die that song is what I want played at my funeral entrance.

On the soundtrack from “The Color Purple” is a song worth your time titled “Maybe God Is Tryin’ to Tell You Somethin’”.

If secular music demonstrates the diversity of the human race so does religious music even more so. On 1992 “Blues Masters, Vol. 04; Harmonica Classics” is Charlie Musselswhite’s hymn “Christo Redemptor”. By any measure it is excellent recording of amazing music.


@uberwaltz

I started listening to Christian rock in the mid 80's. It took a while to find anything good in 1983-84 because they store employees didn't understand what Christian rock was and I din't know it was "contemporary" Oh well, I finally discovered  Petra, Stryper, DeGarmo & Key, The Allies, White Cross, Larry Howard, Mylon Lefevre, Bryan Duncan and many others. Some quite obscure ones were good  too. And they are actually recorded pretty good. I quit listening to new stuff in the '90'ss whern alternative took over and music seemed to be hopeless. And I don't know the bands today. Festivals like Cornerstone, C too.reation and now defunct Fishnet were great venues

@n80Like you I don't care for the music on Christian radio. never really have but maybe even less today. In the 70's & 80's it was different.Today its big business. many artists like Don Francisco and Sterve Camp, et al got out of it because of that very thing. kerry Livgren said he couldn't see any difference between recording his Kansas and Christian albums. But pushed for product. Oh well,

not long ago I would have said it was the worst music of all. It wasn't good pop. It wasn't good gospel. No catchy tunes. Overly emotional and sentimental. Shallow and vapid. And that always makes me a little sad, as a Christian
Good description and I agree. I too am sad for it