Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

There is a myth that contemporary Christian music was invented on the west coast of the USA and was born out of the Jesus Movement. But the act of taking spiritual themes and putting them to the sounds of the charts was something that had been happening at the grass roots of the British church scene after the advent of Beatlemania and one of the bands that were doing it were the Crossbeats. This CD includes their early singles from 1965 "If Only" and "I Know" which both sound like the emerging British beat boom. It was in 1967 that the band recorded a full album and their sound improved as they invested in a better studio. 'Crazy Mixed Up Generation' may sound slightly twee to our modern ears but at the time, this was cutting edge Christian music holding its own against the sounds of the time. These were the days when Christian bands actually sang very directly about Jesus! It's quite refreshing actually! If you like the sounds of the '60s you'll love songs like "Do Not Disturb", the jaunty "Back Where You Belong" and the rocking "Change". As the band were in the studio in April 1967, the whole musical landscape was about to change with the Summer Of Love and the Psychedelic sounds about to emerge that would immediately make this music sound dated and once or twice a guitar is badly out of tune. But listening 40 years later, the Crossbeats occupy an important pioneering place in the history of Christian music.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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