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

As published on 5th August 2010
241. STARFLYER 59 - I LIKE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS, 2001. From the album 'Leave Here A Stranger', Tooth & Nail.
I'm not one of those critics who consider Jason Martin, singer and composer with Starflyer 59's loose aggregation of musicians an unheralded genius. (When talking about the 'Leave Here A Stranger' album recently the highly respected Dr Tony Stone wrote "this record is a shining star in a discography of artistic brilliance.") But I will admit that the decision to put Jason together with producer Terry Scott Taylor ensured a very fine album with this eerily brooding track the pinnacle of the set. Taylor wraps Jason's dry, laconic vocal in a swirling, dreamy soundscape which wouldn't sound out of place on 'Pet Sounds' while Jason's lyrics, which in the past has struck me as immature exercises in miserablism or obscure fragments of his inner world here work beautifully even if you're left wondering about "the old swing and trumpets that fly through my country." The mood of poignancy is entrancing.
Tony Cummings

242. STARS OF HARMONY - ROUGH AND ROCKY ROAD, 1948. From the various artists album 'Good News: 100 Gospel Greats', Proper.
The Stars Of Harmony had a tangled, if fascinating, history. Founded in the mid '30s as the Heavenly Gospel Singers they were soon to find there was another group of that name. So they became the Stars Of Harmony while on the West Coast, the Sons Of Liberty in Pennsylvania and the WSM Varieteers when singing on Nashville's WSM radio station. And just to cap it all their lead singer Leo Z Manley eventually became a member of the Kuff-Lynx who had an R&B hit in the '50s. When the Stars Of Harmony were at their height they cut this gem for Supreme Records of Los Angeles. It starts off like a typical piece of jubilee harmony with each verse listing the harsh realities before eternal reward ("You have to cry sometime, before you get to Heaven" then "You have to moan sometime" etc, etc). But then handclapping and a gurgling lead improvising over the top of the chanting takes it into "hard quartet" territory while the increasing rhythmic swing capped by what sounds like a girl squealing encouragement. It's a shame it's so short as it's a little masterpiece.
Tony Cummings

Keoni

243. KEONI - JOY, 1994. From the album 'Keoni', WAL.
Keoni was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Colorado. Rather mysteriously, Keoni isn't singing lead on this track. Rather, it's a soulful sister who takes most of the lead over a synth funk groove that, if there'd been any justice, would have found its way to dancefloor popularity. As it is, it demonstrates that Keoni really knew how to get a Prince-style vibe while the mass shouted refrain "Shout for joy!" is a telling hook. The production from Caesar shows that he could handle pop funk just as well as the metal field in which he normally worked. Keoni may have quickly disappeared off the scene but he left behind this vibrantly catchy track. Joyful indeed.
Tony Cummings

244. MORNINGSTAR - MIGHTY GOD, 1996. From the album 'Worship', Eaglestar Productions.
The MorningStar team, based in Rick Joyner's South Carolina church, is increasingly known (thanks to God TV) as being at the very forefront of experimental worship music, as they continually endeavour to push back accepted boundaries of styles and sounds. During one of their most musically prolific periods came the live 'Heart Of David' series, a four-volume set of intense, exciting and extravagant vocal and instrumental worship sounds. Perhaps the most accessible of all tracks is "Mighty God", a hauntingly beautiful seven-minute slice of unhurried adoration composed by Leonard Jones, which emphasizes the majesty and reign of Almighty Jehovah. Arguably the most beautiful worship track to emanate from the dynamic MorningStar team.
Tom Lennie

245. CANDI STATON - HIS HANDS, 2006. From the album 'His Hands', Honest Jons.
I don't know whose idea it was to get the legendary R&B and gospel diva to apply her delicious vocal talents to Will Oldham's "His Hands" but it was a decision made in Heaven. Will's dark narratives of brokenness and hurt probably aren't for mass tastes but here his classic song - recounting first the pleasure then the pain caused by the hands of an abusive lover and then, in the song's unforgettable climax, the consolation and healing wrought by the hands of the Lord himself - make it one of the most creatively daring songs penned for many a long year. The arrangement is perfect too - old school Southern soul recreated effortlessly by a bunch of hand picked Muscle Shoals session musicians with Barry Beckett's B3 giving just the kind of sonorous underpinning to bring out all the world-weary pathos of Candi's vocal.
Tony Cummings

246. LEELAND - TEARS OF THE SAINTS, 2006. From the album 'Sound Of Melodies', Essential.
Teenage prodigy Leeland Mooring had a busy year in 2006 with the release of his band's 'Sound Of Melodies' debut album and co-writing half of Michael W Smith's 'Stand' album. "Tears Of The Saints" is a stunning, stirring song that captures a heart to reach out beyond the walls of the church and see a generation come to Christ. Whether it's prodigals returning to their first love or others discovering Christ for the first time, this is a moving prayer for God to move, the church to wake up and things to change. The swirling strings, the passionate vocals and the build up from where he sings "sinner reach out your hands. . ." after about four minutes, sends shivers down my spine every time!
Mike Rimmer

247. MOLLY JENSON - DO YOU ONLY LOVE THE ONES WHO LOOK LIKE YOU, 2009. From the album 'Maybe Tomorrow', Bully! Pulpit.
The San Diego singer released the 'Maybe Tomorrow' album and this duet with Switchfoot's Jon Foreman was its killer highlight. The question itself is an important one that deserves our attention and the song is beautifully constructed as Molly makes us think about those around us and whether we invest enough time looking after them. A simple production which simply lets the song itself breathe freely and the interplay between the two singers makes this a truly poignant song. I played this for weeks on Rimmerama and was so moved by it that I ended up preaching on the subject. So, if ever there was a song that caused a direct response in the listener, here it is!
Mike Rimmer

248. DREAM OF EDEN - SAVE ME, 1995. From the album 'Into The Here And Now', Essential.
Dream Of Eden were husband and wife team Bret and Diana Pemelton and on this cut, tucked away at track eight on the second of their two albums, they cut a near perfect pop record. Bret takes the lead on the lilting mid tempo song driven by acoustic and electric guitars while the arrangement, by David Lyndon Huff, is nigh on perfect with a so simple chorus you'll be singing for days.
Tony Cummings

C A Tindley Bible Class Gospel Singers

249. C A TINDLEY BIBLE CLASS GOSPEL SINGERS - YES HE DID, 1926. From the various artists album 'Black Vocal Groups: Complete Recorded Works & Supplements Vol 3', Document.
Charles Albert Tindley was of course one of the early giants of the gospel hymn. His compositions such as "What Are They Doing In Heaven", "Some Day (Beams Of Heaven)", "Let Jesus Fix It For You" and "Stand By Me" (the latter modified by Leiber & Stoller to produce a hit for Ben E King) are classics which were a big influence on modern gospel's Thomas A Dorsey. It's not known whether Tindley was directly involved with the Bible Class Gospel Singers who utilised his name but this octet, schooled in conventional harmonies and with a non-emotional performance style, recorded six sides. The best is this track recorded in Chicago for Paramount Records in 1926. The jaunty song has a joyful swing and there's a falsetto voice in the harmonies which greatly lifts the sound. Unfortunately the 78 from which "Yes He Did" was taken for the CD airing was a seriously beat up copy. But if you can listen through the hisses and crackles you'll hear something truly charming.
Tony Cummings

250. VICTIZZLE - I PRAY, 2008. From the single, Independent.
The debut single "Jam Yourself" certainly drew attention to Victizzle who quickly established himself as THE producer and artist in London's gospel grime and hip-hop underground. This, his second single, saw him collaborating with Tunday and Simply Andy (both makers of excellent CDs in their own right) and demonstrated what makes Victizzle such a talent. It's as much the memorable hook and the way that he constructs such great grooves as it is the message of the song but when you combine the two together, it's gold! It's scandalous that the UK's Christian record companies have ignored such a major talent.
Mike Rimmer

As published on 20th August 2010:
251. BOB CARLISLE - WE FALL DOWN, 1999. From the album 'Stories From The Heart', DMG.
It's ironic that by far the best known rendition of Kyle Matthews' song "We Fall Down" is the version by Donnie McClurkin (from his 2000 smash live album 'Live In London And More') and THAT version omitted the fine verses which put that memorable, repetitive chorus "We fall down, we get up" in context. As it turns out Bob is just as soulful a song interpreter as McClurkin and here we have Matthews' complete composition in all its stark power as the verses recount a believer borne down by the heavy load of life passing a "monastery's high cathedral walls". Wondering how it would be to live in such a place, warm and at peace having shut the world away, he espies a priest and asks him what his life is like inside the monastery's walls. The priest replies with that unforgettable chorus, "We fall down, we get up/We fall down, we get up."
Tony Cummings

252. LIGHTEN UP - HELILUIA SADA GAENGE, 2008. From the album 'He Reigns', Independent.
I was always disappointed that the all Asian group Mowglee produced such generic Western pop rock but on the 'He Reigns' worship album, released by the lead singer/composer with Mowglee, Marcus Masih under the moniker Lighten Up, are two bhangra-style songs. This is the pick of the two, a careering, pulsating piece of bhangra praise where the tablas and gourds crackle with all the energy of a Hindi praise party. You may not be able to speak the tongue but you can certainly catch the vibe.
Tony Cummings

Jars Of Clay

253. JARS OF CLAY - FLOOD, 1995. From the album 'Jars Of Clay', Essential.
In 1996 this track created a crisis for the gatekeepers of American college radio. They had been enthusiastically playing the single of this haunting slice of "alterna-folk" before learning the appalling news that this band from Greenville College in Illinois were Christians! Some stations with their unofficial policy of not playing Christian music immediately pulled the track off their playlists and in one major city the station, which was the sponsor for the group's first national tour, did not even send personnel to the show! But such displays of prejudice were too late to stop the song's upward momentum. "Flood" became a major pop hit Stateside, climbing to number 37 in the mainstream singles chart. Critics tied themselves in pigeon-holing knots trying to identify Dan Haseltine and co's sound suggesting as well as the unwieldy "alterna-folk" such phrases as "Americanised Beatles", "electro-tinged retro folksters" and even "the Bee Gees doing R.E.M. songs". All fail to catch the essence of the band's fusion of poetic lyrics ("But if I can't swim after 40 days/And my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves/Lift me up so high so I can't fall/Lift me up") and a production from Adrian Below which is light years from the prog pomp of King Crimson but instead deftly integrates Matt Odmark's thrashing acoustic guitar, Haseltine's plaintive vocal and the sudden, shouted counterpoint chorus. A true classic.
Tony Cummings

254. NOEL ROBINSON & NU IMAGE - YOU ARE MY HEALER, 2006. From the album 'Garment Of Praise', One Voice.
Sometimes when you're sick, it's easy to focus on the sickness but here's a worship song that focuses the worshiper on God, The Healer. A pretty melody, a fabulous arrangement and superb interplay between Robinson and the tight small group vocals of Nu Image only add to the impact of the song. Just as it builds up and hits home, the song then breaks down into a testimony time and wow! Preach it brother! The combination of scriptural truth, testifying and memorable melody is soul stirring. And then the song vamps all the way home!
Mike Rimmer