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From Jesus Freaks to Cream
Posted in: Christianity,General,Rock and Theology Project by Tom Beaudoin on January 15, 2013
Here is an interesting article by religion scholar Erik Davis about “Jesus Freaks” and their experimental rock and roll. Davis provides a helpful tour of that scene, and hearing some of the tunes is helpful. It seems to have been a movement that both does and doesn’t fit the “Christian rock” stereotypes: while there seems to be a lot of the predictable sing-about-Christian-things-to-established-rock-sounds format that later plagued Christian rock and the larger Contemporary Christian Music genre, Mr. Davis showed me that the “Jesus Freaks” era of the 1960s-70s was more experimental. It reminds me of the spirit going on in Fr. Pat Berkery’s music of the time, discussed by Michael Iafrate here at R&T.
I have a soft spot for some of this music, although I was too young to appreciate the Jesus Freaks era. My Christian rock tastes were shaped by Stryper. I played in a Christian rock band in high school. That ice began to break when the drummer and I jammed a few measures of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” and a member of the church band (at a Pentecostal church where we rehearsed) heard it and expressed his disapproval. Before too long, I had traded Christian rock for garage and bar bands, and was playing in a college band and covering “Sunshine” guilt-free. At the time I was torn between Stryper and Cream, between Jesus and…
… Jesus!
Maybe, for me, that’s where the Rock and Theology project was born, back in the late 1980s. I suppose I’m still asking whether Cream belongs in church. Or in which church Cream belongs. Or what it takes to belong to Cream’s church.
Tommy Beaudoin, New York City
2 Comments »
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Thanks for the link. This looks great. I actually found out about Berkery from a blog devoted to the Jesus Freak movement!
Comment by Michael Iafrate — January 15, 2013 @ 8:09 pm
This is great. Loved this post and especially the links. Always love Erik Davis’ stuff.
Comment by Ian Fowles — January 20, 2013 @ 6:34 pm