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Welcome to another Classic Replay of Flashback Friday. Today's Post, which originally posted on April 20, 2012 can be found buy clicking on the link. Since there may be some broken link issues after two years, I am re-posting it below. Enjoy.
Here are some statistics for you. A career now in its sixth decade, over forty studio albums, seven live releases, and other music credits two numerous to mention in this blog post. And let's not forget the Seven Dove Awards between 1987 and 2002 (all for Instrumental Album of The Year). Is it any wonder why I called my award for the best guitarist in CCM the Keaggy Award.
Philip Tyler Keaggy (b. March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, OH), one of ten siblings. Though losing one of his fingers in a childhood accident, he took to the guitar. He started his musical career with the Squires in the 1960's, but he really came into his own as a member of Glass Harp. Here is a video of them from the 70's. Phil is the one with short hair and beard.
Glass Harp put out three albums: Glass Harp (1970), Synergy (1971) and It Makes Me Glad (1972). Keaggy left after the third album and the group never entered the studio without him. Since he accepted Christ at about the same time as he joined the band, the music of Glass Harp has been long accepted as a Christian Band of sorts, though it is officially a mainstream group.
What a Day (1973) was Phil's debut. The song is about the joy we will have in Heaven, and it is always masterful on acoustic guitar. This video is an extended acoustic version of around six minutes in length. Listen and watch in awe.
Three years elapsed in between Phil Keaggy's debut and his sophomore release. During that time Keith Green and Randy Stonehill wrote Your Love Broke Through, and legend has it that Green personally chose Keaggy to be the first to record the song. If that is true then he was a tremendous judge of the impact that this budding guitarist would have on the CCM community. Not surprisingly, Love Broke Thru (1976) was a breakout album. Here is Your Love Broke Through as performed by Phil. During his forty plus album career Phil has blessed us with several instrumental masterpieces. To me, one of the most memorable of these was The Wind and The Wheat (1987). I was in college at the time and when it was time to do my senior project, I used this album as my slide presentation soundtrack. I took the easy route. I just hit record and let it play. It was a whole lot easier than trying to find the right piece. When you hear his music, can you pick a wrong piece. This is a short one from the album.
As Steve Jobs would say "One More Thing". How about a live guitar solo.
While doing research for this post I discovered an album recorded by Keaggy that will be a shoe-in for the Platinum Vinyl Awards this year. Live From Kegworth Studio. It will definitely win the Keaggy award.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Everyone acknowledges that Phil Keaggy is one of the top 10 guitarists in the world. I wonder who #2 to #10 are? As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
We are returning to some sort of normalcy here at Night Beat HQ. With the Video and Song Awards announced on social media, and only wrap posts to do here on the blog, I thought it time to return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday, where we bring the modern music enthusiast up to speed on some of their history. After all, if you don't know where you've come from, how can you know where you're going.
Round Two of Flashback Friday centers around the Classic Christian Song Love Broke Through. There were four people involved in the song, but we are concentrating only on three of them. Two were involved in the writing, Keith Green and Randy Stonehill. One made the song famous in the singing and performance, Phil Keaggy. Last week we covered Keith Green. This week it's Uncle Randy time.
Sometimes, in the straight laced world of Christian Music, and artist emerges which most people may think is (slightly?) deranged. Of course such non-conventional behavior just assure that the kids will love him. Such is Randy Stonehill, or as he is affectionately known, Uncle Randy. Musically he is stylistically linked to James Tayor, though his fans love him because he acts like Robin Williams. Of course, while he may have a crazy manic persona, he is still relatively down to earth. I mean, to my knowledge, Uncle Randy has never donned a dress and heels for a music video or in concert (Steve Taylor, Lifeboat. But that's another post altogether.
We will begin our musical tour with a live video of Randy performing Your Love Broke Through.
This is a great video if your purpose is showing off Randy's Acoustic Guitar talent, which is beyond question. It does little to show the twisted sense of humor that he has. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, we will go to one of the DJ favorites during my college days (and the bane of the administration. He belches in the song) American Fast Food which was on Equator (1982)
A straight up Christian Song, but the Concept Video shows his sense of humor nicely. This is gods of men from Love Beyond Reason. (the video isn't great, but the song is)
One more humorous video. This is the title cut off Love Beyond Reason. I'm only disappointed that the beginning was edited. It had Randy asking to drive the tour bus ("How Hard Could It Be") and the long and winding road they took until it said, "from our Lost Somewhere in Central America Tour".
Randy Stonehill has quite a body of work. The link is just to mp3 albums alone. Discovered by the great Larry Norman, he released his debut album (and it was an album at the time), Born Twice, way back in 1971, and he is still recording. His latest is Spirit Walk, which was released last September. He's still got it. FYI, this is his 24th Studio Album. Rock On Uncle Randy.
It is probably appropriate to have a post on one of the more unbalanced fathers of Christian Rock be somewhat unbalanced itself, but I still apologize. Next weeks Flashback Friday should be a bit more even as we move on to Phil Keaggy. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
We've moved past the Jungle Music Skit here at The Night Beat as we work on Classic Replays of Flashback Friday. We are still in the 70's, which is a treasure trove of Classic Music. It was the Jesus Music era, after all.
We're still stuck in the Seventies here at The Night Beat, though we have finished with the Jungle Music skit. The Eighties may have been CCM's Golden Age, but it's birth came in the Seventies, give or take a few years.
Part of the fun of the early CCM era came because a few of the top acts were somewhat certifiable, or at least came with a very twisted sense of humor. Now in the eighties Steve Taylor pretty much ran away with the title of Clown Prince (or is it Clone Prince), but at the start there were two, and as good fortune would have it they are united in a group of three which we will discuss in our next series of Flashback Friday posts.
Our trio happens to be CCM Legends Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy. They all came together through one song, Love Broke Through. The song was written by Stonehill and Green, along with another person, Todd Fishkind, and was famously recorded by Keaggy. Just to make things certain, Stonehill and Green were the demented ones, and that made them all the more loved.
We are going to start with Keith Green, if only because he is the only one of the three which is no longer with us.
Keith Green (October 21, 1953 - July 28, 1982) was a musical prodigy. According to his bio on Wikipedia he had learned the Ukulele by age 3, the guitar by 5 and the piano by 7. Don't get depressed. By the age of 11 he had already written 40 Songs and was on the verge of being signed by DECCA as a teen idol. Of Jewish Heritage and raised in a Christian Science background, Green became a Christian in 1972 and he and his wife Melody soon started a music ministry soon afterward.
I am going to give you three video treats to introduce you to this great musician, who was taken from us tragically way before his time, in a plane crash in 1982, at the tender age of 29. It's hard to believe he would only be 61 this fall. I will start with the song that united Keaggy, Stonehill and Green, Love Broke Through.
We will go next to He'll Take Care of the Rest, which shows why Keith was often compared to Elton John in style.
And finally, to confirm what I said about slightly certifiable, this is So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.
That concludes this edition of Flashback Friday. We will return next Friday with the second artist of the triad, Randy Stonehill. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Oh, by the way. To answer the question posed in the title. For forty years the answer would have been "what else is there? It would have been the manna burger with manna fries and a manna shake. Possibly out of the great mercy of God, nobody was allowed to super-size.
Here are some statistics for you. A career now in its sixth decade, over forty studio albums, seven live releases, and other music credits two numerous to mention in this blog post. And let's not forget the Seven Dove Awards between 1987 and 2002 (all for Instrumental Album of The Year). Is it any wonder why I called my award for the best guitarist in CCM the Keaggy Award.
Philip Tyler Keaggy (b. March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, OH), one of ten siblings. Though losing one of his fingers in a childhood accident, he took to the guitar. He started his musical career with the Squires in the 1960's, but he really came into his own as a member of Glass Harp. Here is a video of them from the 70's. Phil is the one with short hair and beard.
Glass Harp put out three albums: Glass Harp (1970), Synergy (1971) and It Makes Me Glad (1972). Keaggy left after the third album and the group never entered the studio without him. Since he accepted Christ at about the same time as he joined the band, the music of Glass Harp has been long accepted as a Christian Band of sorts, though it is officially a mainstream group.
What a Day (1973) was Phil's debut. The song is about the joy we will have in Heaven, and it is always masterful on acoustic guitar. This video is an extended acoustic version of almost eight minutes in length. Listen and watch in awe.
Three years elapsed in between Phil Keaggy's debut and his sophomore release. During that time Keith Green and Randy Stonehill wrote Your Love Broke Through, and legend has it that Green personally chose Keaggy to be the first to record the song. If that is true then he was a tremendous judge of the impact that this budding guitarist would have on the CCM community. Not surprisingly, Love Broke Thru (1976) was a breakout album. Here is Your Love Broke Through as performed by Phil. During his forty plus album career Phil has blessed us with several instrumental masterpieces. To me, one of the most memorable of these was The Wind and The Wheat (1987). I was in college at the time and when it was time to do my senior project, I used this album as my slide presentation soundtrack. I took the easy route. I just hit record and let it play. It was a whole lot easier than trying to find the right piece. When you hear his music, can you pick a wrong piece. This is a short one from the album.
As Steve Jobs would say "One More Thing". How about a live guitar solo.
While doing research for this post I discovered an album recorded by Keaggy that will be a shoe-in for the Platinum Vinyl Awards this year. Live From Kegworth Studio. It will definitely win the Keaggy award.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Everyone acknowledges that Phil Keaggy is one of the top 10 guitarists in the world. I wonder who #2 to #10 are? As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday, where we bring the modern music enthusiast up to speed on some of their history. After all, if you don't know where you've come from, how can you know where you're going.
Round Two of Flashback Friday centers around the Classic Christian Song Love Broke Through. There were four people involved in the song, but we are concentrating only on three of them. Two were involved in the writing, Keith Green and Randy Stonehill. One made the song famous in the singing and performance, Phil Keaggy. Last week we covered Keith Green. This week it's Uncle Randy time.
Sometimes, in the straight laced world of Christian Music, and artist emerges which most people may think is (slightly?) deranged. Of course such non-conventional behavior just assure that the kids will love him. Such is Randy Stonehill, or as he is affectionately known, Uncle Randy. Musically he is stylistically linked to James Tayor, though his fans love him because he acts like Robin Williams. Of course, while he may have a crazy manic persona, he is still relatively down to earth. I mean, to my knowledge, Uncle Randy has never donned a dress and heels for a music video or in concert (Steve Taylor, Lifeboat. But that's another post altogether.
We will begin our musical tour with a live video of Randy performing Your Love Broke Through.
This is a great video if your purpose of showing off Randy's Acoustic Guitar talent, which is beyond question. It does little to show the twisted sense of humor that he has. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, we will go to one of the DJ favorites during my college days (and the bane of the administration. He belches in the song) American Fast Food which was on Equator (1982)
A straight up Christian Song, but the Concept Video shows his sense of humor nicely. This is gods of men from Love Beyond Reason. (the video isn't great, but the song is)
One more humorous video. This is the title cut off Love Beyond Reason. I'm only disappointed that the beginning was edited. It had Randy asking to drive the tour bus ("How Hard Could It Be") and the long and winding road they took until it said, "from our Lost Somewhere in Central America Tour".
Randy Stonehill has quite a body of work. The link is just to mp3 albums alone. Discovered by the great Larry Norman, he released his debut album (and it was an album at the time), Born Twice, way back in 1971, and he is still recording. His latest is Spirit Walk, which was released last September. He's still got it. FYI, this is his 24th Studio Album. Rock On Uncle Randy.
It is probably appropriate to have a post on one of the more unbalanced fathers of Christian Rock be somewhat unbalanced itself, but I still apologize. Next weeks Flashback Friday should be a bit more even as we move on to Phil Keaggy. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
We're still stuck in the Seventies here at The Night Beat, though we have finished with the Jungle Music skit. The Eighties may have been CCM's Golden Age, but it's birth came in the Seventies, give or take a few years.
Part of the fun of the early CCM era came because a few of the top acts were somewhat certifiable, or at least came with a very twisted sense of humor. Now in the eighties Steve Taylor pretty much ran away with the title of Clown Prince (or is it Clone Prince), but at the start there were two, and as good fortune would have it they are united in a group of three which we will discuss in our next series of Flashback Friday posts.
Our trio happens to be CCM Legends Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy. They all came together through one song, Love Broke Through. The song was written by Stonehill and Green, along with another person, Todd Fishkind, and was famously recorded by Keaggy. Just to make things certain, Stonehill and Green were the demented ones, and that made them all the more loved.
We are going to start with Keith Green, if only because he is the only one of the three which is no longer with us.
Keith Green (October 21, 1953 - July 28, 1982) was a musical prodigy. According to his bio on Wikipedia he had learned the Ukulele by age 3, the guitar by 5 and the piano by 7. Don't get depressed. By the age of 11 he had already written 40 Songs and was on the verge of being signed by DECCA as a teen idol. Of Jewish Heritage and raised in a Christian Science background, Green became a Christian in 1972 and he and his wife Melody soon started a music ministry soon afterward.
I am going to give you three video treats to introduce you to this great musician, who was taken from us tragically way before his time, in a plane crash in 1982, at the tender age of 29. It's hard to believe he would only be 59 this fall. I will start with the song that united Keaggy, Stonehill and Green, Love Broke Through.
We will go next to He'll Take Care of the Rest, which shows why Keith was often compared to Elton John in style.
And finally, to confirm what I said about slightly certifiable, this is So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.
That concludes this edition of Flashback Friday. We will return next Friday with the second artist of the triad, Randy Stonehill. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Oh, by the way. To answer the question posed in the title. For forty years the answer would have been "what else is there? It would have been the manna burger with manna fries and a manna shake. Possibly out of the great mercy of God, nobody was allowed to super-size.
There are some truisms in the Music world. There are Record Companies that seem to have the Midas Touch (Tooth and Nail, for ex), and there are also Producers. I am glad to see some people recognized for all of their talents, both in front of and behind the microphone.
Case in point Charlie Peacock. Both Immigrant's Daughter and Out of the Grey are Peacock produced, as well as some more recent faves of the Night Beat Does Barton Hollow by the Civil Wars ring a bell? or how about Contact, by The Benjamin Gate, or Fireflies and Songs by Sara Groves. I think you get my point. The man is a genius.
As to the two Peacock produced albums on this list, let's just say that as to Becker, I was more a fan of her music, when she had, according to CCM Magazine, "her stint in the late-'80's as a pioneering rock chick", then I was of her "multifaceted pop reincarnations in the '90's". Hey, I'm a rocker. I have gotten into the harder stuff as I have aged. I am all in favor of FFR, which is the more politically correct term these days. Servant, Fireflight, Iona, Sixpence NTR, Evolett, Evanescescence. You get the drift.
As to the second album, I didn't pick up Out Of The Grey at the Start. I picked up a cassette of Diamond Days back in the day at a local Christian Bookstore. It was a heavenly pop album, especially with Christine Dente's vocals. And you gotta love that cover. While this was a short lived band, the light burned bright and fast. Any of OOG's releases are worth your effort.
As to the rest of the list. Keith Green was a CCM Pioneer who had a sharp wit as well as great musical skills. So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt was on heavy rotation back at WENC. ("Eating Leeks and Garlic by the Nile, Ooh the Breath but Dining out in style"). I am sure that CCM's Clown Prince Steve Taylor grew up on Keith Green's Music. U2 Was the Crossover Band of the 80's. I had a friend by the name of Lenny Rideout who brought in a bunch of the bands music into the station. It was great spiritual music and sparked a debate as to what was "Christian" enough for Christian Music. Brings to mind some recent debates as to Creed, Evanescence, or The Civil Wars.
This brings up my final point, Bruce Cockburn (pronounced Co-Burn). He has two albums on the list even though as they say "Stark imagery, profanity, leftist political values and a more obscure expression of faith would challenge Christian fans". As they say, "When you open a door, don't complain if I decide to dive a Semi straight through it." For more than that, you'll have to stay tuned when I put out my own list, which will include some releases after 2001. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
put out three albums: Glass Harp (1970), Synergy (1971) and It Makes Me Glad (1972). Keaggy left after the third album and the group never entered the studio without him. Since he accepted Christ at about the same time as he joined the band, the music of Glass Harp has been long accepted as a Christian Band of sorts, though it is officially a mainstream group.
. It will definitely win the Keaggy award.
, The Choir, Myrrh, 1988
, Keith Green, Pretty Good Records, 1980
Case in point Charlie Peacock. Both Immigrant's Daughter and Out of the Grey are Peacock produced, as well as some more recent faves of the Night Beat Does 
As to the two Peacock produced albums on this list, let's just say that as to Becker, I was more a fan of her music, when she had, according to CCM Magazine, "her stint in the late-'80's as a pioneering rock chick", then I was of her "multifaceted pop reincarnations in the '90's". Hey, I'm a rocker. I have gotten into the harder stuff as I have aged. I am all in favor of FFR, which is the more politically correct term these days. Servant, Fireflight, Iona, Sixpence NTR, Evolett, Evanescescence. You get the drift.
As to the second album, I didn't pick up Out Of The Grey at the Start. I picked up a cassette of Diamond Days back in the day at a local Christian Bookstore. It was a heavenly pop album, especially with Christine Dente's vocals. And you gotta love that cover. While this was a short lived band, the light burned bright and fast. Any of OOG's releases are worth your effort.
This brings up my final point, Bruce Cockburn (pronounced Co-Burn). He has two albums on the list even though as they say "Stark imagery, profanity, leftist political values and a more obscure expression of faith would challenge Christian fans". As they say, "When you open a door, don't complain if I decide to dive a Semi straight through it." For more than that, you'll have to stay tuned when I put out my own list, which will include some releases after 2001. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.