Vocal Bands
These cuts are vocal group/band recordings accomplished by multiple overdubs. MR and his wife, Jan have overdubbed the entirety of each of these examples, with Jan being responsible for Hammond B2 organ, trumpet in the brass sections, and background vocals. MR provides the lead vocals, sings with Jan in the background, and plays guitar, elec. bass, a variety of woodwinds, and trombone in the brass licks. All of the following songs (exc. "Goodbye, World,.. " "The King is Coming," "Save the Country," "Lord of the Dance," "Jesus Paid it All," and "Baker Street") were composed by MR.
You Better Not Go: The genre is "gospel rock," which is just a good excuse for normally choir-bound, church-based musicians to rock out a little. In these "patter song" lyrics, the narrator, a Christian, is sardonically warning the non-Christian to prudently hang back from
any excursion out to do battle with the Evil One. It is both a tongue-in-cheek warning and a witness to that one ill-prepared to confront the Enemy. The music fun is in the vast overdubs: guitars, elec. bass, Hammond B-2, vocals.
He's the Rock: This has the intricate background vocals, and also adds brass, and flute/bass flute counter melodies. Jan supplies organ, vocals, and trumpet. MR plays trombone, flutes, guitar, and elec. bass.
He's the Rock: This is the same song as above, but set in a different arrangement. The background vocals are more complex; the guitars are clearer and in stereo; the brass has been replaced by flute and bass flute, and MR's lead vocal is a different performance. It is all Michael and Jan overdubbing to the hilt. MR plays flutes, guitars, and elec bass; Jan plays the Hammond B-2 organ.
Walkin' On Down the' Road: Jan employs the classic rock sound of the Hammond B2, while MR does a lot of guitar work in this tune. The sound of the 12-string guitar was added to his Martin D-35.
One of These Days: This is MR playing 6 and 12-string guitar, elec. bass, soprano and bari-sax, and flute and bass flute. It looks forward to the End of Days.
Heaven Train: Somewhere there's a law that says every arranger-composer who also plays acoustic folk guitar has to write a song about a train during his life. Here it is. There's plenty of folkstyle picking guitar in this one. Jan adds the Hammond B-2 to the mix. MR on guitars
and elec. bass. Singing the upper vocal part is our great and late friend, Wendy Spaten, who was with us in many choir ministries. She has taken the Heaven Train on before us, and ere a moment of earthly time, we will join her in the heavenlies.
Three Men: This is not your basic verse-chorus song form, but more of a three part tonal commentary about three men who come before God's throne of judgment: an academe, a clergyman, and Everyman. They each have their story, and each hears the pronouncement
from God concerning their eternal destiny. MR sang the vocals and played guitar, elec. bass and flutes. Jan played the Hammond B-2 and trumpets. This is one of the strangest compositions of that era.
I Can Say Amen: Here is the gospel of grace, with an emphasis on assurance and security
of salvation. MR has put this together with overdubs: vocals, guitar, flutes, elec. bass and electronic drums. He used to sing this one often at church concerts to good response.
Goodbye, World, Goodbye (Mosie Lister, 1949): The acoustic guitar gives this Southern Gospel gem a folk flavor, but the integrity of the idiom is unvarnished. In fact, the Blackwood Bros. are generally conceded to be the first professional quartet to form in the idiom back in
the late '30's, and their initial accompanying instrument was not piano, but guitar. The piano is the accompaniment most seen these days, and occasionally, guitar and drums may be added. In live concert, we sing this with all those instruments. Done here by overdubs by MR (guitars, elec. bass) and Jan (vocals) in their studio. To see the story of Southern Gospel, and hear a live in-concert performance of "Goodbye, World.." by the Immanuel Singers (Country/Bluegrass, 2004), go here:
In the Middle of the Night: A Christmas song by MR, written back in the 70's. This version was overdubbed by Michael and Jan, and is a solo with background vocals. On the recording: guitars, elec. bass, flute and bass flute, and digital drums.
I Have Met a Man: This song, written and arr. by MR in the '70's, is in the dramatic gospel solo genre, and was the kind of thing used when he was on tour with the Spurrlows back in the 60's. Here it is sumptuously accompanied by full background vocals, added by MR and
Jan, plus guitars, bass, organ, flute, bass flute and elec. percussion. Though the idiom may be a somewhat vintage, it is still an excellent example of a period gospel style, and the overdubbing is interesting. Bass-baritone MR sings the solo.
The King Is Coming - Written by the Gaithers, MR arranged this song in the '70s and performed it in the duo concerts he and Jan gave all around So. Florida. They overdubbed the accompaniment in their studio with background vocals, guitars, organ, elec. bass, and flutes.
Visions (It has Occurred to Me) - Written and arr. by MR, this would be in the gospel rock genre except that the gospel is not articulated in the lyrics ("Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day, and was seen.."). The narrator of this song has had "three
visions," which are named: "Love," "Man," and "Me." Basically, it could have been written by a 70's flower child, except it's a fake in that regard. Musically, it's a vast overdub of vocals, live (not electronic) drums, and with Bruce Oelker at the Hammond B-2, playing in classic 70's rock style, reminiscent of the rock organ sounds of The Doors.
Visions (It has Occurred to Me) - Written and arr. by MR: This recording has a stereo spectrum much better than the above, which is almost monophonic; it however, has a few glitches in the first ten seconds. Nevertheless, the sound is more pleasing.
Names of Jesus - Written by MR back in the '70s, this unusual song has in its lyrics many of the great biblical titles for Jesus: a total of 38 in all. Jan and Michael overdubbed this demo recording in their home studio.
Nebuchadnezzar - Another original composition recorded in MR's studio in the early days, with Jan and MR doing all of the instruments and vocals. This lighthearted song tells the story of the sixth c. B.C. Babylonian king and his fiery furnace. Jan is singing background vocals and
playing organ. You can hear a single trumpet blat from her at the appropriate spot. MR is singing the lead, playing guitar, elec. bass, and flute, and helping Jan out with the vocals. Why this song needed to be written is not an inappropriate question, but it was used occasionally in their duo church concerts to good effect.
Save the Country - Written by Laura Nyro (1969). The Michael Roy Singers sang MR's
arrangement of this folk rock song in their "Great Easter Concerts" during the 70's at First United Meth. of South Miami, near the U 0f M campus. Here, MR sings the solo in an altered arrangement overdubbed in the studio.
Lord of the Dance - This song, based on the Early American Shaker tune, "Simple Gifts," was written in 1962 by Sydny B. Carter, and Englishman who served as an ambulance driver in a Quaker unit during WWII. Here, it is sung by Michael Roy and Jan, with MR on
guitar and Diane Maltby on piano/organ. MR also plays the soprano recorder in the instrumental interlude. This was not in-concert, but recorded in remote studio conditions at Redlands Community Church in the '90's. It was used in the duet concerts by Michael and Jan and always well-received by audiences. Michael displays the complex folk-style guitar finger picking based on the "Travis pick."
Behold, He Cometh - MR's composition from the '70's is identified both by style: the dramatic gospel solo, and the theology: dispensational to the core. Eschatology is a sticky wicket for many Christians and even theologians, and some even believe that it will be revealed to us in
the Kingdom that there was never a viable theological discipline to pursue in the study of the end times. It is nonetheless, a tour de force of overdubbing by Michael and Jan, with guitar, organ, sumptuous background voices, and dramatic solo.
Baker Street (Gerry Raferty - 1978): MR was always a church musician during his career, directing choirs, music programs, and producing church-related concerts. He also was a itinerant musician for hire, and had a Yellow Page ad. His usual gigs were weddings,
receptions, memorials, private parties, and events for various organizations. One of his acts was the one-man band, in which he sang, played guitar, and mixed in electronic percussion. He covered pop and folk songs of the days, sometimes making, is his home studio, a "pre-re," a pre-recorded stereo cassette track to perform along with. This is one of those covers, in which MR plays the instruments and sings the lead. In the pre-re version, the lead vocals and main guitar part would be edited out and subsequently performed live to the rest of the track. The iconic sax solos are played on the flute, which MR also did live (flute was easier to carry along on the gig and pick up and play with speed). These pre-res enhanced the effect of the "one-man band."
These songs are a tribute to a masterful small vocal group who actually put choral-like songs on the radio and the pop charts back in the '70's. Free Design was a family group that included sisters and cousins. Notably the men are tenors and so are the women.
Friendly Man - Free Design - 1970 - a temporary audio file. This is a vocal group that was influencial to MR during his graduate career in theory/comp. and his formative days as an arranger/orchestrator, especially in vocal group and small chorale arranging.
You Could Be Born Again - Free Design - This isn't the Jesus-to-Nicodemus idea of "you must be born again, not of the flesh, but of the spirit." This is a new agey rebirth more of pantheism and pyramids. But the song is still musically excellent.
These Proceedeth - Hear an excellent song displaying huge overdubs of vocals to create background vocals behind Jan's and Michael's duet lead. It is complexedly canonic to boot. The instruments are Michael's guitar tracks in stereo, elec. bass, and multiple flute and bass
flute interludes and assorted licks. The lyrics are quite simple: Love and joy and peace and hope proceedeth from the Lord. MR wrote this song back in the '70's, which is when it was recorded in his home-based studio. MR and Jan used this in their duet concerts as an audience participation song. The guitar part is so much fun it hurts to play it.
Jesus Paid It All - MR: This recording has an unusual path: it started as a live in-concert cut, and was eventually remastered and enlarged in our studio. It is an in-concert duet by Jan and myself, and later, with guitar, flute, and background men's quartet added. Arr. MR.
Unbeliever - MR: This gospel rock song was written and recorded back in the '70's when I was rather more eschatologically dispensational, hence, the references to the "rapture." Nowadays, I am somewhere between reformed and a-eschatology, that is, there may not be such a theological discipline. Nevertheless, the music is mildly diverting, and the lyrics are a hoot.
In the Fullness of Time - Another gospel rock '90's song. This one has a lot of guitar work in the folk finger-picking style. The lyrics have the narrator asking for "one more year,..one more week,..one more day...and one more hour before the end of the age brings a close to the telling of the gospel: such a prayer may well be untenable, given the sovereignty of God, who ordains all things in time and space. But it may be poetic license for a song of this type.
Know Ye - Written by MR back in the '70's, this gospel rock song is heavily overdubbed with excellent background vocals by Jan and Michael. The percussion is culled from an old Hammond AutoVari; mixed in are guitar, elec, bass, and flute. The song, though somewhat dated in style, is nevertheless, set to good lyrics, and is indicative of the recording techniques MR and Jan used back in the old days: all done pre-digital on tape recorders.