Religious music for less than devout

RE Fairfield Four

Their version of “John the Revelator”, while not a cappella, is a show stopper. The version from their 2000 “Live from Mountain Stage” CD is a favorite speaker demo selection of mine. If you don’t think you like the Fairfield Four, try that cut before you rule them out.

On the Ry Cooder soundtrack CD from 1986 “Crossroads” is a blues (once gospel) funeral dirge “Somebody’s Callin’ My Name” sometimes titled “Hush hush…” Jessey Norman also performs this song on one of her CDs. When I die that song is what I want played at my funeral entrance.

On the soundtrack from “The Color Purple” is a song worth your time titled “Maybe God Is Tryin’ to Tell You Somethin’”.

If secular music demonstrates the diversity of the human race so does religious music even more so. On 1992 “Blues Masters, Vol. 04; Harmonica Classics” is Charlie Musselswhite’s hymn “Christo Redemptor”. By any measure it is excellent recording of amazing music.

@uberwaltz

I started listening to Christian rock in the mid 80's. It took a while to find anything good in 1983-84 because they store employees didn't understand what Christian rock was and I din't know it was "contemporary" Oh well, I finally discovered  Petra, Stryper, DeGarmo & Key, The Allies, White Cross, Larry Howard, Mylon Lefevre, Bryan Duncan and many others. Some quite obscure ones were good  too. And they are actually recorded pretty good. I quit listening to new stuff in the '90'ss whern alternative took over and music seemed to be hopeless. And I don't know the bands today. Festivals like Cornerstone, C too.reation and now defunct Fishnet were great venues

@n80Like you I don't care for the music on Christian radio. never really have but maybe even less today. In the 70's & 80's it was different.Today its big business. many artists like Don Francisco and Sterve Camp, et al got out of it because of that very thing. kerry Livgren said he couldn't see any difference between recording his Kansas and Christian albums. But pushed for product. Oh well,

not long ago I would have said it was the worst music of all. It wasn't good pop. It wasn't good gospel. No catchy tunes. Overly emotional and sentimental. Shallow and vapid. And that always makes me a little sad, as a Christian

Good description and I agree. I too am sad for it

On the gospel front, can't go wrong with Johnny Cash or Mahalia Jackson.

"Show Me How to Live"  Audioslave

Consider choral music from great Elizabethans:
Thomas Tallis: especially the 40 part harmony - sounds like science fiction, even today - imagine what it must have been like for the Elizabethans
William Byrd: Masses for 3,4 and 5 voices

Monteverdi was not bad either.