Bizarre Records

Ken Gaub
“A Different Kind Of Comedy:  I Wonder?”
Horizon Records

Could you please remove your thumb from my hash browns, thx.

Bob Harrington’s ‘Chaplain Of Bourbon Street’
“Ten Reasons Why Madalyn Murray O’Hair Must Be Stopped… ..and Ten Ways to Stop Her”
Chaplain Records #33

“May I share with you the experience that gave me the strength to take on this ‘demon directed damsel’.  I was in my study on Bourbon Street, meditating, studying, and praying one afternoon about this situation.  I had just gotten back from ten days of preaching across the country.  For a moment, I reclined my chair and dozed for what seemed like a long while.  (Let me quickly say I am not one who dreams in my sleep.)  During this time, I vividly saw the little boy, David, pick up that little bag of stones and head out to destroy the giant that was destroying his land and his people.  With that little stone and God guiding the flight of that stone, a nation and a people with victory once again became the nation and the people that God had intended.  Upon waking, I heard these strong-positive words, “Bob, you are my David in this day.  Your bag of stones, Bob is my word and your love for your God and your love for your country and it’s people.  My spirit will protect you–just as I protected David, and I will guide you and your people to victory.  It was there, at what was one of the closest moments to spend with the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that I said, ‘Lord, yes, I’ll be your David.’”

Evangelist Mickey Bonner
“What’s Wrong With America”
no label

Evangelist Mickey Bonner dies while preaching

A. A. Allen
“The Blood Has Never Lost Its Power”
Miracle Revival Recordings #167

“EVANGELIST A. A. ALLEN heard daily under the AQUA AND WHITE BIG TOP tent, the largest gospel tent in the world, is known to multitudes as ‘GOD’S MAN OF FAITH AND POWER.’

A network of powerful radio and TV stations carry a daily broadcast of gospel programs and a Sunday telecast to this entire continent and many parts of the world. These programs are televised and recorded while actually in progress under the AQUA AND WHITE GOSPEL BIG TOP TENT.

Likewise the long play albums are more than canned music and singing.  They are actually Holy Ghost services as they transpired under the tent.  The Spirit of the Living God can be felt in your own home as these services come to bless you on record.”

Jack Burbridge
“From Crime to Christ”
1972, Imperial #720210

burbridgeCrime

Jack has a “prison & motorcycle ministry” and hawks cheap Jesus trinkets

John Gimenez
“Pick Up On This, Kid”
Word # 3456

gimenezPickup

From the liner notes:

“I was a stinkin’, filthy, no-good junkie, twisted out of my mind.  Up tight.  Bound by dope.  A chronic addict.  A chronic criminal.  A chronic liar.  There was no way out.  The doctors said it.  The narcos said it.  My family said it. 
It was my sister’s boyfriend who gave me my first taste of marijuana.  I was not quite ten at the time…  I was out of my mind!  I never forgot the beating I got when my father found out.  Man!  I was sick!… Kept throwing up, falling down, getting up…  laughing all the time my father was hitting me.”

John was a member of the Addicts.

T. L. Osborn
“The Demon Possessed Boy”
Osborn Foundation #R33-HT

The Demon Possessed Boy (edit/excerpt)

Died in February.

Pastor John Rydgren
“Silhouette Segments”
1968, The American Lutheran Church #8531

So it’s not a Christian musical, but it is possibly the greatest psychedelic beat-hippy jesus-freak records ever recorded.  The tracks are bits taken from the radio show of pastor John Rydgren, whose narrates and acts out strange skits in a Joe Frank meets Ken Nordine voice, often over a mashup of popular song clips and found sounds.  Amazing stuff.

WFMU fills in some info about Rydgren here.

John Rydgren & Peter Tork (The Monkees)

 Search It Out

“This Silhouette montage of music, voice, and sounds was actually inspired by the thousands of teens who have talked to John or written to him expressing their search for a personal, everyday “experiencing” of Christ.  The production dramatizes where they are, where they search… cars, a Monkee concert, the surf, problems… represented by the train, elephants (ala Bill Cosby’s “Little Old Man”) a trip, and in the middle of all this… the answers they have found.”

Music to Watch Girls By

“A natural phenomenon… watching girls.  A special attention… girls… designed for man by God.  The beautiful girls today, the colorful music provided by the Bob Crewe Generation, along with the fact that God did design a most special creature to keep man company… provided the inspiration for the Silhouette production, “Music to Watch Girls By”

Personality Doll of the Week

“A Creation by John dramatizing with humor the near tragedy, or at least unfortunate, condition of shallow opinions.  The Silhouette production portrays the almost mechanical responses given by many people regarding what they believe about God, social concerns, or what they expect from life.”

Hippie Version of the 23rd Psalm

“At John’s request, kind of a hippie D.J. wrote his version of the 23rd psalm.  The purpose of the Silhouette production was to help prove that something as ancient as a psalm from the Old Testament could fit right in the middle of today.”

Ronald K. Wells
“I Wonder”
1969, Crescendo Music

Ah, the Christian musical… a reaction to the “new thinking” of the 1960′s and revisionist hippie musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar.  This one has some pretty great narration along with the tunes.  I think I’m going to raid the “Christan hippies” section of my record library to find a few more of these!

God Is Dead

Bob Larson
“Speaks Out!”
Cornerstone #CRS-4014

Bob Larson speaks out:

Books by Bob:

“Hippies – Hindus and Rock & Roll”
“Rock & Roll – The Devil’s Diversion”

Take the DEMON TEST!!!