Reviewed by Tony Cummings

I can't do better than quote a slice of the sleevenote from Mojo magazine's Will Hodgkinson, "I've always maintained that the finest psychedelia is created by people who have only imagined what drugs are like rather than experience them first hand, so who better to make groovy acid rock than Christians? From the shockingly out of tune garage punk of All Things New's "Jesus Is Coming Again", to John Yivisaker's Dylanesque slice of sardonic Lutheran whimsy "A Gay Cliché", here you will find the hipsters, the beatniks, the swingers and the Bible-heads who lived from church congregation to sermon-reading group." Now the thought of a secular deejay (Martin Green, who'd previously made a killing compiling albums of obscure easy listening tracks for a hip post modern audience) turning his attention to late '60s/early '70s Jesus music obscurities will fill some believers with unease. Aren't these new secular listeners simply laughing at the guache naivity of many of the performances and, more worryingly, laughing at the Gospel of Jesus Christ? But if you can make the quantam leap in perceptions to appreciate the weird jazz narrative of Pete Levin and Bill Comeau's "The Nativity (Birth Narrative)" or the naïve lilt of Judy Mackenzie or the gauche rockers the Torchbearers you'll find music that despite all the odds, like zilch budget and mainstream church disapproval, has it's own appeal. My favourites are the two tracks by Ted Taylor (not the American soul singer but the '50s Brit who hit with "I Am A Mole" and was a mainstay of British telly's first pop show 6:5 Special) who does astonishing things with two hymns aided by jazzman Tubby Hayes. If you're an avowed anorak the sheer obscurity of the tracks unearthed from their scratchy vinyl hidyhole will delight. If you're a Christian with an irony-transplant (and there're plenty of those) you probably just won't get 'Resurrection'. But for some this compilation, available in Our Price and HMV now, will be a revelation.

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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