STYLE: MOR / Soft Pop RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 15886-16537 LABEL: Word WST8536LP FORMAT: 12 inch vinyl Album RRP: £4.99
Reviewed by Mike Rimmer
Pat Boone was one of the original white rock'n'rollers who recorded sanitised versions of black R&B tunes and turned them into the palatable end of rock'n'roll. He sold records by the bucketloads and by the time in the early '70s he recorded this album with the rest of his family, he was more like a family entertainer and a supporter of early Jesus music artists. In the early days of Jesus rock when hippies were beginning to explore harder forms of musical expression, Pat represented the old guard and this easy listening pop album allowed his daughters to step into recording and later they would release albums under the name The Boones. This is very much an easy listening gospel album with the spotlight falling on Pat for half of the 10 songs. The Boone girls get to show off their harmonies on a couple of tracks and of course, the whole family get to sing together. Listening to this you can just picture the toothy smiles! The liveliest this gets is where they sing a version of Andrae Crouch's "I've Got Confidence" and the girls sing "It's A New World" which sounds like it came from an age of Aquarius style stage production. Let's be honest, this hasn't travelled well but Boone's place in Christian music history from his '50s gospel records through to establishing his own Lamb & Lion label supporting CCM mustn't be underestimated.
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