No one knew what to make of the Jesus People. A loosely aligned youth movement growing out of California in the late ‘60s, it found waves of hippies, burnouts, stoners, and weirdos turning to Jesus Christ. But that didn’t mean they were going to tidy up. Jesus People wore their hair long and kept their slang wiggy, extolling the highs of “the Jesus trip” and asking, “You’ve tried everything else—why not try Jesus?” Everywhere they went, from mainstream churches on the West Coast to rural communities where back to the land-types founded communes, the Jesus People inspired confusion.
The second installment of the ongoing series from Org Music and Aquarium Drunkard, Jesus People Music, Volume 2: The Reckoning, is a document of these strange times. Featuring eight tracks from eight different artists, this is a collection a spacey psych-folk and psychedelic-blues barn burners.
The compilation is out May 26 on transparent, apocalyptic red vinyl and includes a fold-out insert featuring liner notes from Aquarium Drunkard scribe and successful indie musician Jason P. Woodbury.
As a special treat, click on the audio link below to hear “All Across The Nation” by All Saved Freak Band. Here’s what the liner notes have to say about that band and that song:
“All Saved Freak Band, “All Across The Nation” – Few bands illustrate the feral nature of early Christian rock quite like All Saved Freak Band. While much of the Jesus People ethos and aesthetic was soon absorbed into the more genteel presenting Contemporary Christian Music industry, ASFB could hardly be confused as polite or mannered. A rock & roll outfit spun out of radio broadcaster and freak Christian Larry Hill’s commune near Orwell, Ohio, ASFB’s saga sets the tone alongside the work of Larry Normal for the birth of the Christian rock genre itself. The group issued a number of records, incorporating metaphysical folk inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and apocalyptic psychedelic rock, like our selection here. It’s drawn from the band’s final album, 1980’s Sower, assembled by Hill after most of the band quit, including scene stealing on Glenn Schwartz, formerly of The James Gang and Pacific Gas and Electric, whose experience with Hill including a “kidnapping” and cult deprogramming regiment orchestrated by his concerned parents. Following a mass exodus from his ultra-strict compound, Hill sounds unhinged, raving about the End of Days over Schwartz’s intense riffs.”
And, if you’re curious about what Volume 1 sounded like, it was fantastic:
