Jesus People Music Vol. 1: The End is at Hand / Various (Wine Colored Vinyl) [LP]

Jesus. People. Music.That was the sequence of things. First the faith, experiencing a revival in the Summer of Love. Then, people gathered in song, raising their voices over the rock & roll sounds that came naturally to them. All along the West Coast, then throughout the country, tiny fires of the Holy Spirit began catching among longhaired youths. Their fellow hippies labeled these countercultural Christians "Jesus Freaks," but before long, Jesus People were self-identifying using the term.'The End Is At Hand' is the first volume in a series of compilations that exemplify the sound of the Jesus People movement of the 1960's and 70's in America. From Spokane, Washington to northern New Jersey, devoted musical groups were ebracing the psychedelic overtones of the bohemian lifestyle, and intertwining their faith with the spirit of the times. The need to proclaim the End of Days produced some of the most fiery music of the genre-fuzzy hymns backed by cosmic choirs and heavy psych populated with frightening scenes from the Book of Revelation-but the songbook and it's lyrical focus was varied, populated with lo-fi loner folk, simmering with yearning hope, and tripped out countrified songs about eternal devotion as well.