Well, at least they didn’t hate the film as much as they thought they would. In this follow-up episode to their discussion on praise and worship music, Tim and Ray review the latest documentary on contemporary Christian music, The Jesus Music. In between giving their thoughts on what they (mostly dis)liked about the film, the hosts do their best to supplement the narrative with all of the Jesus movement and CCM history left out of the movie—from the dozens of essential Christian artists that went completely unmentioned (How do you tell this story without Randy Stonehill?) to the avoided industry and religious politics that defined the trajectory of the music over its 50+ year history. (Side note: Why were so many music acts shown as being interviewed for the film if nothing they actually said was going to make the final cut?) Opening banter includes part one of a two-part, long-overdue rant about our societal and governmental failures regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for the second half of this conversation which will dig deeper into the life and career of gospel and CCM legend Andraé Crouch!

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Resources/References:

The Jesus Music (2021) dir. Andrew and Jon Erwin

Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher (2005) dir. David Di Sabatino

Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman (2009) dir. David Di Sabatino

Jesus People (1972) dir. David Adams

Not By Might Nor By Power: The Jesus Revolution by Lonnie Frisbee with Roger Sachs

Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? Larry Norman and the Perils of Christian Rock by Gregory Alan Thornbury

God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America by Larry Eskridge

“Jesus, drugs and rock ’n’ roll: How an O.C. hippie church birthed Contemporary Christian music” by Randall Roberts

“Who killed the contemporary Christian music industry” by The Week

“CCM industry stays silent on LGBTQ inclusion as queer artists carve inroads” by Kathryn Post