The latest part of the ongoing series chronicling, in no particular order, the greatest 1001 recordings made by Christian artists

227. MAVIS STAPLES - DOWN IN MISSISSIPPI, 2007. From the album 'We'll Never Turn Back', Anti.
The swampy production on the song from Ry Cooder sums up the mood perfectly as Mavis takes the listener on a road trip through time back to her childhood when as a young black girl she discovered for herself the injustices of racial intolerance in the Southern States. There's so much heat coming from the track in the form of Cooder's guitar that if you close your eyes, you feel like you could be on a Tupelo back road. Staples' voice, with its guttural growls and head-to-the-sky swoops, has never sounded finer recalling her halcyon days with the Staple Singers. She effortlessly conveys the righteous passion of the civil rights movement.
Mike Rimmer

228. BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE - THE EPIGONE, 2006. From the album 'Terminate Damnation', Solid State.
Don't let the keyboard chords on the intro fool you. Once the first scream kicks in and the juddering guitars begin a helter skelter passage with enough tempo changes to recall the golden age of thrash it's clear this is music for the hardest tastes. Suddenly, the song stops dead in its tracks and the guttural rasp of frontman Jason Wisdom roars out "there is no opposition!" to which his leather-lunged colleagues clearly concur in a demented answering chorus. It spirals to a head-jarring climax and one is left breathless by the sheer intensity of a hard music classic. Music as brutal as this seldom makes the airwaves (except on programmes as moshpit-friendly as Cross Rhythms' Rock And Hard Place) but it's clear why this band from Atlanta, Georgia are making waves in the darker environs of clubland.
Tony Cummings

The Charioteers

229. THE CHARIOTEERS - OOH LOOK A THERE AIN'T SHE PRETTY, 1947. From the album 'Ooh Look A There Ain't She Pretty', Acrobat.
Music promotion by TV commercials is one of the strange cultural quirks of today's modern world. Such is the power of the goggle box that any number of long forgotten tracks have been brought to the mass audience's attention through TV commercials. And so in 2007 some clever TV producer looking for the perfect music to go with Twiggy and a bunch of other models cavorting in the Marks & Spencer's fashion range plucked this hit from 1947 out of the archive. It's a gem. Originally recorded by crooner buddy Greco, this zippy finger snapper is the embodiment of zoot-suited scat-singing cool. The Charioteers began their long career singing acapella spirituals but by the time they recorded this they were in the showbiz big time singing backups on Bing Crosby's radio shows and performing all manner of Tin Pan Alley ditties. What this oldie shows is that lead singer Billy Williams was a great lead singer and his fellow group members could do the jazzy thing every bit as well as the Mills Brothers.
Tony Cummings

230. SUE RINALDI - SO FREELY, 2000. From the various artists album 'Let There Be Love: Songs Of Dave Bilbrough', Kingsway.
Sometimes tribute albums, rather than being boring repetitions of a veteran musician's best-loved songs, consist of creative rearrangements, carefully selected and performed in varied styles by a diverse class of musical colleagues/admirers. Such is the case with the Bilbrough tribute disc, where, notably, Sue Rinaldi (aided by Phil Keaggy's bvs), transforms "So Freely" from a simple but cheerful hand-waving chorus into an attention-grabbing, gliding, jive-type rhythm. Such style fits the song perfectly, as it lets vent to a feeling of joyful abandon that belongs to all those who believe in Christ Jesus.
Tom Lennie

As published on 23rd July 2010

Mal Pope

231. MAL POPE - YOU NEVER THREW A PARTY FOR ME, 2006. From the album 'You Never Threw A Party For Me', MPH.
Sometimes, when songs are very, very special, you can vividly remember the time and place when you first heard them. This is precisely the case with this dramatic ballad which I first encountered at the Theatre Clwyd in Mold where I'd gone to see a new musical, Amazing Grace, written by Welsh Christian music stalwart Mal Pope. Amazing Grace told the tale of the Welsh Revival instigated by the untutored miner Evan Roberts and very powerful it was too. But it was this song, sung with heartbreaking pathos by actor Peter Karrie, which was the absolute show stopper. Karrie played the part of the Rev Peter Price, the preacher who, when the Revival was at its height, opposed it with all the self righteous vigour of the theological zealot. Up to the time of seeing Amazing Grace I'd always viewed Rev Price as an embittered Pharisee. But through the skill of Karrie and Pope, another, more human, picture of the man emerged, a hurt and bemused believer who simply failed to grasp what God was doing around him. This intensely dramatic song uses the image of the faithful son who stayed working for his father while his wastrel brother went off and squandered his inheritance before returning as the Prodigal to make its powerful point. "You Never Threw A Party For Me", as featured on this album, is simply produced (piano, string synth, rhythm section) and soulfully sung by Mal in his best Elton John-like style demonstrating again he is one of the most underrated singers in Christendom. An unacknowledged classic.
Tony Cummings

232. JOHN MARK McMILLAN - HOW HE LOVES, 2005. From the album 'The Song Inside The Sound Of Breaking Down', Independent.
No one in Britain (and I suspect few in the US) had heard of John Mark McMillan when he sent us 'The Song Inside The Sounds Of Breaking Down' in 2005. The effect on Jonathan Bellamy (who selects the tracks for CR Radio) was dramatic. Jon insisted I drop what I was doing and come in to the next room and listen to the album's "Make Your Move", then the track "Closer" and then, the capper, the album's closer, "How He Loves". Here was worship sung and arranged with such raw, emotional passion that it took my breath away. John Mark's voice is cracked and, on this song, often sounds on the point of tears. Indeed on the closing part of the song he can't control it any longer and chokes on a line. The accompaniment, with some searing electric guitar from James Duke and punchy drumming from Alfred Sergel, is close to perfect. And the cyclic melody so simple, yet so deftly expressing the heart of the Godhead as "Yes he loves, oh how he loves, oh how he loves" floods out. We've had thousands of songs expressing our love for the Lord. Here at last was a song which expressed the Lord's tender hearted relentless love for us. Truly sublime.
Tony Cummings

233. JESUS CULTURE - HOW HE LOVES, 2005. From the album 'We Cry Out', Elevation.
The Cross Rhythms team first fell in love with this song when we heard it on the independent album by its composer John Mark McMillan. But this live version featuring the mesmerizing voice of Kim Walker is just as impactful with the sheer, surging passion of abandoned worship caught powerfully in a celebration at the famed Bethel Church in Redding, California.
Tony Cummings

234. SKILLET - MONSTER, 2009. From the album 'Awake', INO.
What's not to like about Skillet? The Christian rock veterans are one of the few bands of their generation to persevere and continue to make music today. With their releases increasingly aimed at the mainstream, the band continue to create songs that are still anthemic and ear catching and on the 'Awake' album, "Monster" is the best example of that. Band leader John Cooper can never escape the spiritual concerns at the heart of the band so no matter how much he fashions lyrics for the mainstream market, the message is still there. The truth of the human condition is highlighted to a fabulously catchy rock groove, powerful vocal and unforgettable chorus. Perfect rock!
Mike Rimmer

235. LARRY NORMAN - THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL, 1972. From the album 'Only Visiting This Planet', MGM.
With unquestionably the finest two lines ever concluding a pop song ("You ask me for answers I only have one/A man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son") this remains right up there with the very finest work of the Jesus rock pioneer. I say "rock" but, of course, this isn't rock at all, it's an acoustic ballad firmly in post-Dylan neo-folk style. And breathtaking it still remains. In the American socio-political climate of the early '70s, with the Supreme Court blocking children from praying in school and the US Church beset with racism and obsessed with materialism, here was a musical prophet offering a forecast of where these disastrous distortions would lead us. When one looks around at the American Church scene today, one wishes that more believers had taken heed of the warnings contained in this timeless song.
Tony Cummings

236. CAPSTONE - CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART, 2001. From the album 'Undone', Independent.
It would be difficult to come up with a better version of any of Keith Green's self-composed songs than the late great's own recordings. A contender in this regard though might be this fine, unplugged rendition by the little known Canadian group Capstone, whose lead singer Joel Auge was to go on to find success as a worship leader/songwriter. This recording was created in a small fireside room in an Anglican church in Ontario with 30 close friends. The unpolished, stripped down, rootsy sound (piano, vocals, guitar and hand drum) directed to this song and the sense of passionate adoration is wonderfully effective and captures a moment you wish would continue indefinitely.
Tom Lennie

Nicole C Mullen

237. NICOLE C MULLEN - REDEEMER, 2000. From the album 'Nicole C Mullen', Word.
Along with CeCe Winans, Nicole is, of course, one of the few African American artists given airspace on American Christian radio and this gem remains her most popular song. It starts gently and without pretension, but the appealing melody, sensitive vocals, poetic lyrics and fine orchestral arrangements all quickly have the listener in a state of high alert, and it's virtually impossible not to remain gripped for the remainder of the song. Mullen's voice is soft yet strong, and her vocal versatility allows her to soar on spiritual heights as the tune ascends in intensity. The oft-aired video production of this song (the anthemic chorus of which - "I Know My Redeemer Lives" - is taken directly from Job 19:25) has heightened its appeal. The song won Nicole Dove Awards for both Song Of The Year and Songwriter Of The Year in 2001, and unlike some of the songs that land Dove Awards this particular number deserved the accolades.
Tom Lennie

238. DC TALK - JESUS FREAK, 1995. From the album 'Jesus Freak', Forefront.
In 1995 Christian music took a monumental leap into the future. Yes, we'd had the gospel and country roots. We'd had California's Jesus music. We'd had the shiny pop of Amy and co. We'd even had white boys doing rap (dc Talk) who after two pretty lame albums demonstrated in 1992 they were 'Free At Last'. But nothing had prepared us for the single of dc Talk's "Jesus Freak". It stunned us. Those searing guitars. The speed-rapped verses. The confrontational lyrics. As Mark Allan Powell wrote later, "It wasn't that Christian music fans hadn't heard metal or grunge or rap or hooks before - they just hadn't heard them all in ONE song." Those savage guitars were the perfect forte to the lyric which seemed to breathe life and courage into every Christian wimp wilting under the daily onslaught of their cool, unsaved classmates. Here was a rallying call for every Christian to be defiantly proud of the name of Jesus while the sheer excellence of the song - by far the best rock song of the year, Christian or non-Christian - was a defiant riposte to the non-believer's sneering dismissal of CCM.
Tony Cummings

239. KIERRA 'KIKI' SHEARD - YOU DON'T KNOW, 2004. From the album 'I Owe You', EMI.
Ironically, considering Cross Rhythms' name, I've never been clever enough to understand the technicalities of cross rhythms. But what I do know is when, on the intro of this gem, the kick drum and keyboards play a walking bass figure which suddenly is knocked askew by handclaps and righteous sistahs cooing uh-uh-uhwuhs the result is stunning. By the time the teenage daughter of Karen Clark starts her sassy, deliciously confident vocal you know you're listening to something special. Producers Rodney Jerkins and Jazz Nixon have never produced a better cut and, despite making more excellent albums, Kierra has still to record a better track than this. It's a true urban gospel classic.
Tony Cummings

240. STONEHILL - THAT'S WHY WE DON'T LOVE GOD, 1994. From the album 'Lazarus Heart', Street Level.
Ask any long-time Christian music fan to name classic Larry Norman songs and several will quickly come to mind. But with Larry's long-time musical associate, Randy Stonehill, a list of classics will come less easily. Furthermore, if Stonehill devotees do suggest songs they're likely to be from 1976's 'Welcome To Paradise' and few indeed would recall the fine album 'Lazarus Heart', produced by bass maestro Jimmie Lee Sloas in 1994. And fewer still would name this wistfully beautiful and painfully sad composition as a classic. But I believe it is one. The chorus is surely the finest ever penned by the San Jose-born songsmith. "That's why, that's why we don't love God/Oh yes our lips feign praise/But our hearts are far away/That's why, that's why we don't love God/I don't want my prayers to be/Some meaningless litany." The verses too are both insightful and poetic. "Why are we so afraid, guarded and counterfeit/Is it because we know all the shadows we conceal/And we are so alone." Songwriting of the highest quality sung with gentle sadness by a singer/songwriter at the top of his game.
Tony Cummings