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

624. MARION WILLIAMS - PRECIOUS LORD, TAKE MY HAND, 1968. From the album 'My Soul Looks Back', Shanachie.
In 1968, shortly before he was assassinated, Dr Martin Luther King requested the classic "Precious Lord", penned by the Father of Gospel Music, Thomas A Dorsey. A few days after Dr King's tragic slaying Marion played a concert at the Emmanuel Church in Boston, Massachusetts where with pianist Marion Franklin her sole accompanist the veteran singer made this live recording of the timeless gospel hymn. Down the decades countless hundreds of recording artists have offered their versions of "Precious Lord" but absolutely no one has brought out the power and the pathos of Dorsey's gospel blues like the Miami-born, Philadelphia-raised singer. Renowned critic and music historian Dave Magee wrote in the Rolling Stone Album Guide, "One will come away from her recordings believing that she was nothing less than the greatest singer ever." Marion's ability to incorporate gospel's full armoury of whoops, growls, octave leaps and extraordinary improvisational technique lay the groundwork for a thousand subsequent divas of gospel and soul. Gospel authority Anthony Heilbut wrote about Marion's spine-tingling version of "Precious Lord", "Marion sang the song in his [Dr King's] memory. Alluding to King's last words, she gives the line, "At the river, Lord, I'll stand," a definitive reading. It is one of the most intense - and harrowing - moments in American song." Thankfully, the track was subsequently compiled by Heilbut for the Shanachie CD 'My Soul Looks Back: The Genius Of Marion Williams 1962-1992'.
Tony Cummings

625. THEBANDWITHNONAME - THE4POINTS, 2010. From the album 'The4Points: The Best Of thebantwithnoname', Elevation.
Based on the four points of evangelism - God loves you; you have sinned; Jesus died for you; you need to decide to live for Christ - so skilfully turned into the cleverest of raps by Sammy G. The clever production from Zarc Porter takes in everything from the powerhouse rhythms of rock and grime, a bit of Edwin Hawkins' "Oh Happy Day" sung by a full-on gospel choir, some choice interjections from LZ7, to Chip Kendall and co stirring the pot to boiling point to make this a brilliant farewell shot from the Manchester musicianaries.
Tony Cummings

626. GENTLE FAITH - JERUSALEM, 1976. From the album 'Gentle Faith' Maranatha! Music.
One fan declared on the worldwide web a while back that this track is "one of the best Jesus music songs of all time" and I tend to agree. An early version of Gentle Faith recorded a track for the seminal 'The Everlasting Living Jesus Music' various artists album of 1971 but it was four years later before the Californian converts were given a chance to make a full album. By that time the group had in their midst Darrell Mansfield who was to later find Christian music renown as a gospel bluesman. But back then it was folk pop and Eagles-tinged country rock which was the order of the day and Darrell fits in beautifully with the group's other singer, Henry Gitrona. Starting as a slow acoustic rocker "Jerusalem" builds with some delicious guitar work from Steve Gara while the lyrics call on Israel to repent and embrace their long awaited Messiah. The production values and sound quality are miles ahead of most tiny budget Jesus music albums, thanks to engineer/producer Jonathan David Brown managing to hustle some time at a state-of-the-art studio where Art Garfunkel had recorded his first solo album. Through such an unlikely occurrence a Jesus music classic got recorded.
Tony Cummings

627. DOROTHY NORWOOD - THERE'S GOT TO BE RAIN IN YOUR LIFE (TO APPRECIATE THE SUNSHINE), 1974. From the single, Malaco.
In 1974 this scorching little single made 21 in Billboard's R&B chart, just one more achievement for the powerhouse diva who was once a member of those legendary providers of exceptional singers, the Caravans. Where gospel meets Southern soul, "There's Got To Rain. . ." featured a cooking little band able to sit on a bluesy riff, a song that was as much sermonette as a fully developed song, and a homespun message that we'll never get to appreciate the positives of life until we experience some of the negatives. Deliciously simple.
Tony Cummings

Mindy Smith

628. MINDY SMITH - COME TO JESUS, 2004. From the album 'One Moment More', Vanguard.
The daughter of a pastor, Mindy Smith had found her way to Nashville where she sang at clubs and writers' nights. At the South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas she was seen by Lee Ann Womack who then invited Smith to perform her song "Come To Jesus". A buzz started and Mindy was signed to Vanguard Records who recorded the album 'One Moment More' and then, against all the received wisdom that the mass audience wouldn't go for such a Christ-centred song as "Come To Jesus", released Mindy's breaktaking version as a single. Mindy said at the time, "The song basically comes from struggle and being angry with that, having frustration, being tired of being poor, being tired of not winning every battle. It started out more of a challenge and became a very positive lyric." A positive lyric indeed. Beautiful verses "Oh, my baby, when you're older/Maybe then you'll understand/You have angels to dance around your shoulders/'Cause at times in life you need a helping hand" and "Oh, my baby, when you're prayin'/Leave your burden at my door/You have Jesus standing at your bedside/To keep you calm, keep you safe, away from harm" followed by an achingly tender chorus, "Worry not my daughters/Worry not my sons/Child, when life don't seem worth livin'/Come to Jesus and let him hold you in his arms." Astonishingly Mindy's single charted in the US and few who've heard it will ever forget its haunting impact. Critics have tried hard to codify Mindy's spine-tingling vocal style. Alan Light of the New York Times wrote about her voice, "crystal-clear without a wasted note or gesture, rooted in the experience of country singing but not limited with a single style" while Kelefa Sanneli enthused "her supernaturally pretty voice ached, but it didn't twang."
Tony Cummings

629. TERRY SCOTT TAYLOR - LIGHT PRINCESS, 1986. From the album 'Knowledge And Innocence', Shadow.
Terry Taylor is one of the towering talents of Christian music though his work as a producer for dozens of acts and a key member of Daniel Amos and Lost Dogs have tended to overshadow his occasional solo albums. 'Knowledge And Innocence' was Terry's solo debut and was a hugely ambitious production influenced by 'Rubber Soul' and 'Pet Songs' and literary illusions in the lyrics which referenced William Blake, Flannery O'Connor and C S Lewis. It is a deeply introspective work brought on by the death of Taylor's much loved grandfather. But it's another death, that of an infant, which inspired "Light Princess" and is an unforgettable song of tender poignancy. Beginning with the sound of a baby's heartbeat recorded within the womb Terry then presents the words of the father as he offers his miscarried child back to God. A truly beautiful track from an underrated studio genius.
Tony Cummings

630. HEATHER CLARK - HOW GREAT THOU ART, 2012. From the album 'Overcome', Jesus Culture.
The fact that a much experienced prophetic worship lady with at least nine albums released in the last decade could record a hymn which has been recorded, by my estimate, a thousand times since its emergence in 1949 and make, to my ears, the definitive version is in itself astonishing. When British missionary Stuart Hine translated the Russian version of the words which had been put to a Swedish folk melody to create the version of "How Great Thou Art" sung today he couldn't have imagined the immense popularity this epic hymn would achieve over the following 60 odd years amongst all kinds of churchgoers. But though I love to sing this lovely reflection of God's grandeur the reviewer in me has long since tired of choral, country, gospel and MOR renditions of the over-recorded anthem. So it was with minimal enthusiasm that I approached Heather's recording on her latest 'Overcome' album even though I knew it featured an accompaniment from some of the renowned Jesus Culture musicians. But one listen to Heather established that this rendition was much, much more than singer and band giving a hymn a rock music makeover. Taking the song daringly slow with initially little more than a piano accompaniment, Heather draws all the pathos and passion out of the lyric while when the band break in with wall-of-sound guitars the effect is breathtakingly powerful.
Tony Cummings

631. LOST DOGS - SCENIC ROUTES, 1992. From the album 'Scenic Routes', Brainstorm.
As any Christian music anorak will tell you, the Lost Dogs consisted of Terry Taylor (Daniel Amos, Swirling Eddies), Mike Rowe (The 77s), Derri Daugherty (The Choir) and the late Adam Eugene (Adam Again). Supergroups don't always produce super music but the Lost Dogs' delicious blend of Americana, blues and acoustic folk rock was deftly executed and exuded a warmth and gutsy passion that always connects with the listener. This Taylor and Daugherty penned track, with Derri singing lead, has one of the Daniel Amos man's best ever lyrics. "Paint the common things with mystery and re-invent our history/When we take the scenic routes, the cloud enfolded Trinity/Unpacks the ancient tapestry when we take the scenic routes."
Tony Cummings

632. GOLDEN GATE QUARTET - WHAT DID JESUS SAY, 1949. From the album 'Golden Years 1949-1952', FD Music.
By 1949 the Golden Gate Quartet had journeyed to showbiz heights unimagined by the humble jubilee harmonizers who'd first emerged in Norfolk, Virginia in 1934. They'd appeared in Hollywood movies, graced the same stage as the biggest swing bands and pop crooners of the era and were bringing in secular songs to mix with their finger-snapping tales of old time religion. The Gates were firm favourites on the radio and in 1949 went into a studio to record a batch of radio transcriptions (recordings made for radio broadcast). It wasn't until 1995 that French jazz and blues label FD Music rescued these recordings from the archives for release on the 'Golden Years 1949-1952' album. "What Did Jesus Say" was a gem of acappella gospel, Henry Owens' melancholy tenor bringing out the bluesy pathos as his cohorts chanted the question "what did Jesus say?" and he responded with answers like "I am the way" and "I am the tree of life." Gospel authority Anthony Heilbut wrote about Owens, "He slurred and moaned with an understated tact that still moves a listener." He certainly did. A great track from a great vocal group.
Tony Cummings

Golden Gate Quartet

633. GOLDEN GATE QUARTET - STALIN WASN'T STALLIN', 1943. From the album 'Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order Vol 4 1939-1943', Document.
It wasn't just the old spirituals that the Golden Gate quartet recorded so prolifically in the '30s and '40s. On 5th March 1943 Willie Johnson, Henry Owens, Clyde Reddick, Arlandus Wilson and a guitarist went into a New York recording studio and there recorded a patriotic song written by Willie Johnson. Their irresistible syncopation propelled the witty lyric "Stalin wasn't stallin' when he told the Beast of Berlin/That he'd never rest contented 'til he'd driven him from the land." With the privilege of hindsight we can wince at a song praising the tyrant Stalin and indeed in 1980 Robert Wyatt covered the song to remind people of the selective memory they had during the Cold War which saw them conveniently forget the crucial alliance with Russia in winning the Second World War. Leaving the politics aside, "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'" was one of the Gate's finest tracks demonstrating all their wit and finger-snapping pizzazz.
Tony Cummings

634. JESUS CULTURE WITH MARTIN SMITH - SHOW ME YOUR GLORY/MAJESTY, 2012. From the album 'Live From New York', Jesus Culture.
It begins with a simple phrase, a prayer plucked from a worshipping heart and given resonance as it's sung first by the one time Delirious? frontman then, as the synth wash builds in confidence by Jesus Culture's Kim Walker-Smith. "Show me your glory. . . show me your glory. . . show me your glory." Mysteriously, with each repetition the effect builds not diminishes. The, finally the band break into the song, penned by Stu Garrard and Martin Smith in 2003 which the worldwide Church has now come to revere. "Here I am humbled by your majesty/Covered by your grace so free/Here I am knowing I'm a sinful man/Covered by the blood of the lamb." As it reaches its anthemic crescendo it's clear, even to those worshippers who weren't present at New York's Nassau Veterans Coliseum, that the risen Christ who takes away the sin of the world, is indeed showing his glory. The band finish playing and stand enjoying the sense of God's presence, but the thousands in the Coliseum continue to sing "Majesty, majesty/Your grace has found me just as I am/Empty-handed but alive in your hands/Majesty, majesty." Occasionally, down the years, a live worship recording blurs the distinction between deft musical expertise and audience participation atmosphere, between Holy Spirit-blown improvisation and thoughtful theological songwriting, between popular art and timeless anointing. This is one of those occasions.
Tony Cummings

635. OWL CITY - FIREFLIES, 2009. From the album 'Ocean Eyes' Universal Republic.
The fact that a multi-million selling hit emanated from a recluse's Minnesota basement has now gone into pop music history. On the single release of "Fireflies" one reviewer wrote, "It's difficult to listen to 'Fireflies' without a smile creeping across your face." And certainly for me Adam Young's lilting tale of 10 million fireflies over that delicate synth pop groove did just that though as Adam and that reviewer were to subsequently learn, "Fireflies" was a "Marmite" record - a love it or hate it item meaning the introvert songsmith had to withstand withering attacks from the "cool" section of the music press. No doubt the triple-Platinum sales were some consolation.
Tony Cummings

636. PATTY GRIFFIN - HOUSE OF GOLD, 2000. From the album 'Downtown Church', Credential.
In 2000 the Grammy-winning folk rock and Americana singer Patty Griffin went into the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville and with producer Buddy Miller and some superlative musicians began work on what is her finest album. It was Patty's spine-tingling rendition of an old Hank Williams song which was one of several gems. Considering Hank's disparate lifestyle and tragic death his plaintive, beautiful song of faith has long had a particular pathos. "Jesus said, come to me/I'll break sin's chains and set you free/I'll carry you to a home on high/Where you'll never die." In the hands of the singing star it takes on a transcendent quality where Patty's reedy but soulful voice makes the truth of the lyrics stand out like a beacon in the darkness.
Tony Cummings

637. THE FRONT - IT'S HARD TO TAKE, 1984. From the album 'The Front', Refuge.
Session singer Tommy Funderburk had a magnificent voice, a raspy, powerhouse roar which gained him plenty of work providing bvs for everyone from REO Speedwagon to Melissa Manchester and was once heard adding electrifying blue-eyed soul with Amy Grant on "Wise Up". In 1984 Tommy fronted an aggregation which in terms of musicianship was one of the best ever. Drummer Bob Wilson and keyboards man Larry Williams were members of the superlative jazz fusion team Seawind while Dann Huff was one of Christendom's great guitarists who went on to play with White Heart and Giant. The Front played some fests around California and made a blistering self-titled album which was part R&B and part Foreigner-style stadium rock. The Front's one and only album pulled no punches lyrically with a sleeve that proclaimed "This album is dedicated to the 4,000 children aborted in the United States every day" while the album also espoused powerful creedal anthems. It was this song, a powerful plea for the Church to vigorously engage in evangelism, which opened the album. "Some will put him down/Some just don't understand/And we the keepers of truth/Just where do we stand?" goes the first verse before leading to a surging chorus, "It's hard to take/It's the end of time/It's hard to take, it's hard to think/That some will lose their lives." The Front re-merged in 1987 to make a mainstream album for RCA under the name What If. But this is their unforgettable gem.
Tony Cummings