John L Bell - Come All You People: Shorter Songs For Worship

Tuesday 1st August 1995
John L Bell - Come All You People: Shorter Songs For Worship

STYLE:
RATING 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 17376-
LABEL: Wild Goose
FORMAT: Book Songbook (words only)

Reviewed by John Irvine

John Bell should be familiar to Cross Rhythms readers as the leader of the Wild Goose Worship Group (which is part of the work of the lona Community) as the writer of modern hymns and songs for worship, as the writer of liturgies in use up and down the country, as an occasional preacher, and generally as the hairy guy with no dress sense who waves his arms about a lot while teaching songs. Of such stuff are legends made! 'Come All You People' is the book that John has been promising to bring out for years - simple, short songs, in parts, to be sung unaccompanied. Some will be familiar to Greebelters from the early morning and late night worship services, as well as the 'Big Sings' and seminars held regularly. Some will be familiar to Spring Harvesters from last year's songbook. To most, however, the contents of this book are unchartered waters. Time to dispense with a few misconceptions, then. Although the Wild Goose Group are often branded 'folky', such a label is in fact inappropriate. These are songs that anyone could sing and perhaps songs that everyone should sing. These are songs requiring neither a degree in theology nor a diploma in music, which have been tried and tested amongst ordinary church goers and at youth rallies, prisons and cathedrals. All it takes to sing these songs is the desire to have a go and sing something new. Here in this book we have simple, catchy melodies enabling us not only to sing together, but actually to sing in as many as four parts. Ambitious? It's second nature to our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world, especially in Africa. The key word here is RELEASE: these are songs to be sung without the need for books, that can be sung entering or leaving church, sung whilst moving in a procession or performing some other action as part of the worship service. These are songs which could be used as part of prayer as a communal response. To glimpse the possibilities inherent in this type of music, I'd suggest buying the tape as well (reviewd in CR26), but the book stands on its own. John Bell's introductions are clear and concise as well as being informative and (where appropriate) amusing. The music is very well set out and easy to read. The book itself is almost pocket sized and hence portable. A long-awaited and very welcome addition to not only the worship resources available from the lona Community, but also to the resources available to the whole Church.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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