I’m not gonna say this is the first Christian rock album because I keep finding one older every time I say that. That said this is definitely one of the first ones. The Crusaders were a 60’s garage rock band from LA. They emerged out of the surfing scene and actually had several different names over the years. The band signed with Tower records and used the name The Crusaders for this album. The record company said “five sincere young men … who have chosen the Big Beat as the means of expressing the religious faith”. Two of the members were Catholic and two were Jewish and we have no idea what the 5th member was. I think we can deduct from this that this album was a record company idea. The band did go on to record another album but it was secular and they used a different name. We generally don’t ever count on anyone’s “level” of Christianity but I think it’s safe to assume this was a record company idea not a expression of religious faith. Anyway all that aside this is a fun album. I generally love the sounds of the 50’s and 60’s so it’s a natural for me to like this one. The album features 5 traditional and 5 original tracks and is truly a Rock & Roll album. This albums holds an important part of Christian rock history so be sure to give it a listen.
Tracklist
1 – Little Drummer Boy – 2:42
2 – Battle Hymn Of The Republic – 2:10
3 – God Lives – 2:07
4 – You’ll Never Walk Alone – 1:56
5 – With The Lord On Our Side – 2:38
6 – Praise We The Lord – 2:54
7 – What Is Man – 2:00
8 – He’s Got The Whole World In His Hand – 2:25
9 – Onward Christian Soldiers – 1:44
10 – Make A Joyful Noise – 2:13
Credits
Danny Altcholer – Guitar
Walt Flannery – Organ
Mike Joyce – Bass
Jeff Barnett – Drums
Fred Barnett – Guitar
Mark Taylor – Engineer
Hank Levine – Producer
Larry Goldberg – Producer
Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Big L Music
Produced For – #1 Prod.
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Scranton
