The latest part of the ongoing series chronicling, in no particular order, the greatest 1001 recordings made by Christian artists

The Orioles

778. THE ORIOLES - CRYING IN THE CHAPEL, 1953. From the album 'Still Crying In The Chapel 1948-1962', Jasmine.
Originally written by US songsmith Artie Glenn for his teenage son Darrell to sing and record, this gentle and considered song advocating the benefits of a relationship with God was most famously recorded by Elvis Presley in 1960. However, an earlier cover by one of the pioneers of doowop (a secularised version of the old jubilee gospel harmony sound) the Orioles most certainly provided the starting point for Presley's recording and is as near the definitive version as it gets. With a beautifully tender lead vocal from Sonny Til, backed by minimalist instrumentation and some sumptuous harmonies from the other Orioles, this simple song tells of a soul finally falling to his knees in prayer and surrendering to God having searched elsewhere without finding peace of mind - an act, we're told, that moves the singer to tears of joy. Before the genre was even invented, this is an undoubtedly a song of worship and one that genuinely and emotionally states that joy, freedom and contentment can only be found in the Lord. Given this unapologetic approach and its purely spiritual focus, it's perhaps surprising that this humble yet powerful song became such a massive mainstream success - thanks in no small way to Glenn's writing skills and the Orioles' pitch perfect handling of the composition in question.
Lins Honeyman

779. NEEDTOBREATHE - OOHS AND AHHS, 2011. From the album 'The Reckoning', Atlantic.
Around the time of the release of NeedtoBreathe's 'The Reckoning' album in September 2011 the band's lead singer Bear Rinehart told Billboard, "We want to be an important band. We want to be a band that people believe in and that people are impacted by." The South Carolina-based rockers achieved their desire, 'The Reckoning' reached number six in Billboard's 200 album chart and the opener "Oohs And Ahhs" shows just why they've reached the major league. A wily mix of explosive guitar riffs, drum attack and a gritty vocal complete with falsetto swoops from Bear, it's a minor key song on which you wouldn't expect to hear punchy brass riffs. But it's not just the clever blend of Southern rock sass and stadium rock bombast which make "Oohs And Ahhs" so memorable. Its enigmatic lyric is steeped in regret. "We were fresh coming off the vine/Thrown into a barrel of the cheapest wine/Bottled in a store with a neon sign/And we're all the ones to blame."
Tony Cummings

780. DANIEL BASHTA - HEAVEN, 2011. From the album 'The Sounds Of Daniel Bashta', Integrity.
It was David Crowder Band's rendition of "Like A Lion" which alerted the worshipping Church to the sheer power and authority of Atlanta-based prophetic worship man Daniel Bashta. The offspring of missionary parents, Daniel is a passionate and frequently inspired communicator. "Heaven" is an expanded version of a song originally released on Bashta's 2009 independent mini-album 'My Worship In Motion'. It's sparse lyrics, effectively a call for Heaven to fall down on those who sing it, are sung over a stretched-out accompaniment which ebbs and flows. Daniel's earthy tones bring out the brilliance of simplicity. "I finally found a life worth living for/It's not my life. . . it's yours." Like Jesus Culture, Bashta is part of a movement who've glimpsed more, much more, than what passes for worship in most churches. We need to heed these singing prophets.
Tony Cummings

781. GARY CHAPMAN - SWEET JESUS, 1991. From the album 'The Light Inside', Reunion.
In an interview in 1994, shortly after the release of 'The Light Inside' album, Gary gave an account of how this achingly poignant song came into being. He said, "I came as close to a vision experience as I've ever personally had. Saw the entire song like a movie. Top to bottom. I wrote the whole thing in five minutes. And even to say that I wrote it, that's stretching it some." This stunning narrative song, produced simply with Michael Omartian's elegant piano, skilfully tells its tale - an old, rundown bridge that the townspeople should have repaired years ago; a mother and baby on the bridge the day it collapses; an old man fishing under the bridge sees the mother and child fall into the water and dives in; the exhausted old man finds them but realises he can't save them both; the mother passes the child to the man and he swims to shore where he dies from exhaustion. There's the most haunting of choruses: "Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us/Sweet Jesus, please won't you hear us, crying." The song reaches its epic climax in the third verse as the rescued child, now a man, sings, "I miss my mother and the brave old man/Though I never knew them/They are the soul inside the man I am/I bear their dreams/And I am walking in their footsteps/And I am talking to their God and my cry is/Sweet Jesus, please won't you catch us, save us." Gary has written many hits for everyone from Amy Grant to Kenny Rogers. He has never written a better one than this cinematic gem.
Tony Cummings

782. L.A. SYMPHONY - ANYTHING, 2001. From the album 'Call It What You Want', Unreleased.
At the start of the millennium, the American hip-hop collective L.A. Symphony were signed to Steve Taylor's inventive label Squint Entertainment who were pushing back the frontiers of what a Christian label might achieve. They'd already had success with Sixpence None The Richer's global hit "Kiss Me" and it looked likely that their next signing would break out with a massive hip-hop hit album. Instead, as the label collapsed with debts and was bought out by Word Records, L.A. Symphony's breathtaking 'Call It What You Want' album was shelved. Had it been released, I am confident that this album would have been considered the greatest Christian hip-hop album ever, and probably a game changing mainstream hit as well. Such were the talents of the group that more than a decade later, the whole project still sounds powerfully fresh. This acoustic and atmospheric groove and criss cross blend of vocals and catchy hook features some dazzling raps from the Symphony and contributions from Will.I.Am and Black Eyed Peas three years before anyone outside the West Coast had really heard of them.
Mike Rimmer

The Emotions

783. THE EMOTIONS - BEST OF MY LOVE, 1977. From the single, Columbia.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of soul singers made their first attempts at music making within the African American church, it often remains problematic to affix the name "Christian music" to them. Church-going can be just a cultural rather than a spiritual activity and soul music history is littered with artists, once they left church-going/gospel singing behind them, whose mainstream showbiz careers showed no trace of Christian discipleship. Happily, such a sad history doesn't apply to the Hutchinson sisters, who demonstrated a strong Christian faith throughout their years in the spotlight. Having started singing gospel in church in Chicago and then switching to R&B with a tiny label (Twin Stacks), then a major one (Stax/Volt), the Emotions finally had their biggest hits when Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White produced them for Columbia/Epic Records. Just about anyone who has jigged around a disco floor will know this million selling classic and the track still pops up in movies and TV commercials today. Its joyful groove has seldom been bettered, its lead vocal by Pamela Hutchinson is uplifting and its lyric, with a slight adjustment, can be made to apply to God as more than one act has discovered. The Emotions occasionally got to record gospel songs but it's this entrance into Boogie Wonderland which shows the sisters at their best.
Tony Cummings

784. JOSH GARRELS - FARTHER ALONG, 2011. From the album 'Love & War & The Sea In Between', Independent.
Oregon's songsmith Garrels amazingly can produce fine hip-hop tracks and also sing and perform some of the most impassioned compositions of recent years. His singing is sublime with its little swoops into falsetto adding to the feeling of intensity. His lyrics are some of the best in Christendom. This song will touch the heart of anyone who has pondered the mysteries of life. First the haunting chorus: "Farther along, we'll know all about it/Farther along, we'll understand why/So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine/We'll understand this, all by and by" followed by a series of searing verses including "Tempted and tried, I wondered why/The good man dies, the bad man thrives/And Jesus cries 'cause he loves 'em both/We're all castaways in need of rope/Hangin' on by the last threads of our hope/In a house of mirrors full of smoke/Confusing illusions I've seen." Poetic imagery, sung with more passion and soul than most singers can muster over a finely judged electro-folk accompaniment.
Tony Cummings

785. BACKROOM CONGREGATION - SUNDAY MORNING, 1988. From the single, Thickk.
I don't know if any of the dance music production team - Derek A Jenkins, "Disco" Dave Daniels, Dwayne "Spen" Richardson, Shaheer Williams and Stephen B Wilson - were believers but they sure knew how to put together a classic of gospel house. The remix sporting a UK garage two-step influence is the best version and though the words "Sunday Morning" is repeated ad nauseam, its relentless groove will keep you riveted to the dance floor.
Tony Cummings

786. THE LOUVIN BROTHERS - SATAN IS REAL, 1959. From the album 'Satan Is Real', King.
The title track from a 1959 release by legendary country siblings Charlie and Ira Louvin is often overshadowed by its parent album's front cover - undeniably one of the most awful sleeve designs of all time - but it is this song that sums up the Louvin Brothers' extraordinary boldness when it comes to spiritual matters as well as the effortlessly expert delivery of their material. Ultimately a song about being spiritually aware of the enemy and a reminder that the prince of this world still roams the earth, the dark nature of the song's subject matter is cunningly disguised as a pretty country song that gives no hint musically that it would pertain to anything other than the genre's default subject matter of love and loss. What makes this piece all the more remarkable is the disruption of the main song by a lengthy middle section which finds Ira preaching against a backdrop of a solitary church organ. Spoken with sincerity and drawing obvious parallels to his own personal life which was by then subject to violent outbursts and a crippling dependence on alcohol, Ira recalls an old man interrupting a sermon to declare that Satan is a force to be reckoned with having previously fallen from grace as a family man and a leader in his community. Few Christian artists have had the courage to be this blunt and - let's face it - commercially self-sacrificing by singing about the reality of the devil's presence and none have carried it off with the sheer genius and skill of the Louvin Brothers.
Lins Honeyman

787. THE MAGNETICS - JUST PASSIN' THRU, 1981. From the various artists album 'Shots In The Dark', Ghettout.
1981 saw the release in Britain of a compilation album which, as the name of the tiny indie label which released it implied, aimed to propel some of the best undiscovered Christian bands out of the "Christian ghetto" and into the mainstream music scene. In that noble aim 'Shots In The Dark' failed though ironically the album was the launch pad for one band, The Predators, to give years of sterling service to the UK's Christian ministry scene. 'Shots. . .' featured six bands each performing two tracks in styles very much from the charts of the day. The Magnetics were from the south coast and this track showed off their collision of mod, soul and ska. "Just Passin' Thru" is 145 seconds of tight, sharp, groovy music largely showing off Rick Quinton's magnificent sax playing and an economic guitar solo from Mark Lamb. Lyrically it's a Pete Stoodley's stock-in-trade "we're only visiting this planet" type vocal delivered in a quirky, nasally style which feels totally in keeping with the whole track. A track which though very much of its time is perfectly judged and finely executed.
Mike Rimmer

Rev Cleavant Derricks

788. REVEREND CLEAVANT DERRICKS & FRIENDS - JUST A LITTLE TALK WITH JESUS, 1976. From the album 'Just A Little Talk With Jesus', Canaan.
"Just A Little Talk With Jesus" has been recorded by a vast number of country recording stars including George Jones, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jimmy Dean, Loretta Lynn and the Statler Brothers while in 1956 Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a version together for Sun Records. But it's this rendition by the song's composer which has a downhome charm which touches the listener with its simple declaration of the power of prayer. Cleavant was one of the few African American composers to write for traditional seven-shape note convention songbooks which were the foundation stone of Southern gospel music. His songs were regularly published by the renowned Stamps-Baxter publishing company. A prolific songwriter and occasional recording artist, Derricks gradually slipped from view until the '70s when he rather casually dropped in at the offices of Word/Canaan Records in Nashville and inquired about making an album. When he told the sceptical manager he was the author of "Just A Little Talk With Jesus", he was laughed at and dismissed. Later he returned with proof, and the amazed company quickly signed him to an LP contract. Two albums resulted: 'Just A Little Talk With Jesus' and "Satisfaction Guaranteed.' They were to be Derricks's last testimony as a singer. He died in 1977.
Tony Cummings

789. KIRK FRANKLIN - I SMILE, 2011. From the album 'Hello Fear', Fo Yo Soul.
American gospel's biggest postwar star, Kirk Franklin really has a knack of writing songs that connect with people in the midst of their struggles. This song of encouragement acknowledges that in the midst of downturn, depression and recession, it is possible to stir your own heart towards God. The message encourages the listener to choose to smile no matter what they're going through and is a song to encourage yourself while you're waiting for God to answer your prayers and move you forwards. We smile because we know that God is working even though our circumstances haven't changed! Somehow God pours out his Spirit on us even when things are difficult so the song easily transcends the Pharrell Williams-like brand of happiness. It's about the possibilities of joy. I love the line "So hard to look up when you look down" and so the song, like all great gospel songs, simply points the hearer to God. As usual with Kirk's best work, there is a fantastic vocal ensemble delivering the song with Kirk adding his signature interjections.
Mike Rimmer

790. T-BONE - MADD SKILLZ, 1995. From the album 'Tha Life Of A Hoodlum', Metro One.
It's a sad fact that quite a lot of mainstream hip-hop is a no-go area for believers thanks to this most exciting of music forms frequently resorting to flows which expound violence and misogyny. Even another of hip-hop's frequent lyrical obsessions - emcees boasting of their prowess in sex or rapping skills - is a tiresome listen for Christians. But Rene Sotomayor took the whole genre of boasting raps and turned it on its head with this track. With its surreal humour and its stunning demonstration that this particular emcee is indeed one of the fastest rappers in the world, it's a heap of fun. Also the shouted hook by a crowd of friends, "Who's the man with the Madd Skills/T-Bone, he's got the Madd Skills," has ensured that this 1995 old school gem is still a favourite oldie on Cross Rhythms radio.
Tony Cummings

791. FOR KING & COUNTRY - LOVE'S TO BLAME, 2011. From the album 'Crave', Fervent.
Rebecca St James' brothers Joel and Luke broke through onto the CCM scene with a dazzling album which took in various influences, '80s Euro pop, Kings Of Leon, The Killers, yet also delivered soaring melodies and lyrics which mixed songs about their love of God with relational love songs. This haunting gem is its piece de resistance. Radio-friendly pop has seldom sounded better.
Tony Cummings