Those who know me well know that my father passed away a few years ago. Those of you who know me *really* well know that my pop was — in addition to being the man with the best phone manners on the planet — a genuine musical talent, able to pick up just about any good musical thang being laid down, and proficient on many instruments. A man of Tom Dowd-ian spirit *and* talent, and a man to whom I have always been proud to claim kinship.
Anyhow, when sweet, talented Conrad drifted off this mortal coil three years ago, he left me a wonderful instrument: his 1959 Gibson Southern Jumbo acoustic guitar, purchased while he was in the Air Force and under the sway of righteous folkies like Pete Seeger.
The Gibson “SJ” is a peculiar animal: round-shouldered, but not one of those fey little 3/4-sized acoustics you see today’s folkies delicately plucking away on. It’s a full-sized instrument, meant to be strummed, HARD — but it’s not engineered to provide big, booming bass and twinkle-twinkle high-end like the acoustics in favor these days. No, it’s a throw-back to an era when there was a market for high-quality *folk* instruments; ones that could be heard banging away on the opposite end of the fire house or the church hall an’ meetin’ room. All mid-range and bang-whang-a-lang — that’s the Gibson Southern Jumbo.
(Actually, if you want to hear a 1950s Gibson Southern Jumbo in action, listen to the early Everly Brothers hits. Before they could afford the big, Everly-namesake Gibson rock star acoustics with the fancy inlays — like you see on their publicity stills from the day — they played the Appalachian yeoman’s guitar, the Southern Jumbo… and *that’s* what you hear on most of their hit records.)
Anyhow: I sat down this evening with Papa’s old guitar, just bashin’ away, and I noticed that there were certain chord voicings that just sounded *amazing* on the old Jumbo. In particular, a good, old-fashioned E major raises the hair on the back of my neck. A7 sounds pretty good, too. In any case, as I went through all my “cowboy chords,” I found myself playing a song that not only sounded great on Papa’s old Southern Jumbo, but that was a big favorite of his, too: “My Sweet Lord,” by you-know-who. (Extra nerd demerits for reminding me and everybody else who supposedly *really* wrote that number. Who fucking cares?!)
This got me thinking: man, how many “rock spirituals” are there? And how many of them are actually *good*? I know we often correct each other ’round here, insisting that we remember all the proud, prodigiously talented and deeply influential African-American artists that laid the groundwork for all the pimply-faced white kids whose music we seem to disproportionately prefer — but I suppose I’m actually playing a bit of a “race card” in asking this question. I’m looking for “spiritual” songs that you might have heard on FM rock radio back in the day — or just songs of a deeply spiritual bent that don’t share that sunday-go-to-church-meetin’-and-git-sanctified vibe that we all love, but that most of our fave White bands actually suck at.
Is there one that tops “My Sweet Lord”? I’m just askin’.
I look forward to your responses… and I know Papa’s curious, too. Actually, I’m betting he knows the answer to this one already, where he’s at these days.
HVB
Brian Wilson manages to tap into some sort of “spirit” for me. Many of his songs stir something deep. I guess “God Only Knows” is a decent (and well-known) example.
Another one who seems to convey alot of God into his tunes is Pete Townshend. “Let My Love Open The Door” is one of the best Gospel/pop tunes ever for me.
TB
Since high school, I’ve been saying that I’d like Presence of the Lord by Blind Faith and Jesus by the Velvet Underground played at my funeral. When the time comes, I can count on one of you guys to step up to make sure that it happens, right?
“The Sea Refuses No River” is one of my “funeral songs.” Those are good examples, cdm!
TB
Also, Many Rivers To Cross by Jimmy Cliff
Macca’s “Let It Be”….
Take Me To The River by the Talking Heads
and In My Time Of Dying by Led Zep.
I know these were both “stolen” from blacker sources, but i think they still count. They are performed with feeling and honesty as far as I can tell, and in both cases, the appropriating artist brought something very new to the table.
Also, most of the career of Spacemen 3/Spiritualized has been devoted to the modern day spiritual.
The Beach Boys’ “Til I Die” is the first song I can think of that might fit this criteria.
Anything sung by Pops Staples.
My Sweet Lord is a great song, but not even my fave song on ATMP.
I think Awaiting On You All is a far better song..
Spiritual.. perhaps…
he does mention that the Lord is Awaiting on You All to do something or something….
Does “Big Sky” count?
Pops Staples is great, but he ain’t no rocker!
“My Sweet Lord” isn’t my fave on ATMP, either. But it is the most overtly “spiritual” of the bunch. It devolves into a freakin’ worship chant, for crying out loud!
Also: can we please avoid songs and artists that are reputed to *be* “spiritual” or to have been going through a spiritual crisis or whatever? “God Only Knows” is a beautiful song, and it has the word “God” in it… but it ain’t no song of praise! I want songs about, for, and directed to, GOD.
Thanks.
Oats is closest so far with “Big Sky,” but even that is a kind of third-person account of other people’s worshipfulness. Close, but not quite.
Hank Williams, “I Saw the Light”
Norman Greenbaum “Spirit in the Sky” (“Doctor and the Medics” for you 80’s types)
The Hank Williams song is great, and thematically on target, but it ain’t no rocker.
Hmm… I’m not quite sure I’m getting it but how about Come on Up To The House by Tom Waits?
I got it!
Jesus Is Just Alright With Me by the Doobie Brothers or the Byrds.
cdm is on target — those are the sorts of songs I’m after. Shame that one is so lousy!
Oh, songs of praise, not spirit. I got it! “School Day” by The Mighty Chuck proclaims the famous line, “Hail Hail Rock n Roll…” That’s pretty praiseworthy there.
Seriously, though, I always thought that the piano/guitar solos at the end of “Layla” were inspired by some sort of divine spirit. It’s gorgeous.
TB
How about Nick Cave’s “Get Ready for Love”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lq5YOz0dLA
Pete Townshend’s first solo album Who Came First contains a few spirituals that might meet this definition, but certainly the finale, Pavardigar, his setting of Baba’s Universal Prayer, is a good example.
There are lots of spirituals from Dylan’s Christian period obviously. Every Grain of Sand is a pretty one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrRJV5vFXDI
But my favorite is this rocker from Saved:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv9BHY6ybT4
I’d never seen this live version. God, he had a great band during that era — Jim Keltner, Tim Drummond, Fred Tackett, Spooner Oldham, and a full chorus.
Stand By Me is a great song that can be sung as a romantic song or as a spiritual one.
“About, for, and directed toward God”. Give me Dear God by XTC. If we’re talking lyrics, you can always get me with a clearly directed finger given toward god.
Of course it was never played on the radio “back in the day” and it’s not a spiritual by any stretch of the definition, but the song that came into my head was “I Am the Cosmos” by Chris Bell.
Pete himself has always said that “Let My Love Open The Door” was supposed to be written from the viewpoint of God talking to His children. He also said that his mistake was using the royal “we” in the lyrics, which made the song about going on a date and hooking up. Of course, Pete says alot of things.
Your mention of “Stand By Me” opens the door (ha!) to songs that be either: spiritual or simple love songs. I think there’s a brilliance to this tyoe of writing and it makes the song accessible to anybody. If God ain’t your thing, then here’s a good little love song you can play for your partner.
Some friends of mine and myself devised a plan to form a Christian boy band called Wink and a Prayer. EVERY song could have been directed at either God or a girl. The name of the first album? Missionary Position. A sexy Christian boy band record. I think Prince already does that, without the boy band part…
TB
Chris Bell does have several songs, though, that are pretty God-direct.
PS–Anybody else heard the magic that is the Big Star box set? With all this Beatle Talk, it got overlooked. That thing has some stuff on it…And it’s all pretty special.
TB
“Let’s Go Crazy” is the greatest rock spiritual. It starts out as a fake sermon, ends with “He’s coming…he’s coming…TAKE ME AWAY!” and everything in the middle is about, in its own roundabout way, rejecting the devil.
I really like, title aside, Stevie Wonder’s “Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away”, which functions as a more straight ahead gospel/spiritual-styled number.
How about “Tender” by Blur? It’s intentionally set up to be in the spiritual mold as far as the music and choir goes, and Albarn drops a “Lord” in there, but it’s in the lyrical style of Harrison’s “Long, Long, Long” genre of songs, where you can read it as being to a person or to a higher power and it resolves either way, depending on what you want to think “that feeling” he’s waiting to come is.
Speaking of Prince, The Cross.
“Long Long Long” is always my favorite spiritual by George
Prince is all gospel.
“I Would Die 4 U”
TB
knockin’ on heaven’s door?
What’s the last song on one of those Sandinista album sides, “The Sound of Sinners” or something like that? cdm’s band does a cool cover of it. I love the line in the chorus, “After all those drugs I thought I was Him.”
Sam Phillips, the woman musician, has her share of songs of praise. Not being one in tune with the gospels, I’m not sure I can point to the best one off the top of my head, but I do know that there’s a lot of cool, spiritual rock ‘n roll on Martinis and Bikinis.
Here’s a song of praise that, for me, tops George’s “My Sweet Lord”: Roy Wood’s “Song of Praise”! Another one that’s much better, to me, is “Across the Universe.” That’s about a higher plane, in some way, right?
Big Steve beat me to Every Grain of Sand. I’ll throw in Pressing On from Saved as well. But my real pick is Aretha’s version of Bridge Over Troubled Water. And another one: Gram Parsons’ In My Hour of Darkness.
I’m with you HVB. I don’t think any of these beat My Sweet Lord as a rocking spiritual.
To be contrary, I will throw in The Vaselines anti-spiritual altered version of the children’s hymn “I’ll Be A Sunbeam”, “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam”. Love that.
Must have been nice to be an artist with an artist dad. I assume. I project. Love my dad to pieces but as an MIT grad there were frequent canyons to bridge.
“After all those drugs I thought I was Him.”
Great line.
Also, “The message on the tablets was Valium.”
“I don’t think any of these beat My Sweet Lord as a rocking spiritual.”
I still thin Presence of the Lord by Blind Faith gives it a run for the money, what with its non-plagiarized music and all.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been a big fan of “My Sweet Lord” for years. I simply got sick of it, but this post coupled with hearing it in a restaurant while dining with clients tonight helped restore some of the song’s original luster.
As always, the more I hear about Hrrundi’s dad the cooler he sounds.
The Who’s Faith In Something Bigger and Big Star’s Try Again are pretty good, but I’d still take the She’s So Fine re-write.
I still think Conrad coined the best term for what we play as “angry bubblegum”.