*Northern California Jesus Movement * | North Coast Journal

Northern California Jesus Movement

Various Artists. Radiance Music Restoration Project.

(July 16, 2009) The pop music machine thrives on timeliness, which is a shame. With the glut of new records that comes out every week, by the time the wheat has been separated from the chaff it’s far too late in blog-years to start a conversation. Still, some older albums demand ink, and the series of albums released by Paul Johnson’s Radiance Music Restoration Project serves to restore an important local musical legacy that has been, effectively, lost for decades.

Johnson spent a significant period involved in the Gospel Outreach movement, which longtime Humboldt residents will remember as a Jesus Freak commune that included Lighthouse Ranch at Table Bluff and Deliverance Temple in Eureka. Many members of the flock were musicians, and they produced hours of homemade recordings that had never seen wider release until Johnson stepped up several years ago.

GALLERY >

Northern California Jesus Movement draws on music from 11 full-length CDs Johnson has lovingly remastered from the original analog. This two-discset collects songs by more than a dozen different artists, but the common threads are unpretentious, old-timey gospel, acoustic twangs and heartfelt harmonies. This music represents the genesis of what eventually became Christian rock; these artists are in a sense the forebearers of, say, Switchfoot, or perhaps more genre-appropriately, indie-folkies like Derek Webb. (In fact, even the musical genealogy of Humboldt’s own Huckleberry Flint probably has a dollop of the Gospel Outreach ethos in it.)

The difference between today’s Christian pop and this music, however, is that the Radiance recordings were not made within the purview of a “music industry” — they’re off the grid, pop-culturally. There’s no trace of marketing, no writing coded lyrics for “seekers,” not even reformist criticisms of the Christian establishment — just tunes about God, mostly retooled gospel hymns or original songs inspired by the Bible. Some are clear-eyed and simple, like Simmon’s “Jesus Rose Up from the Dead,” a straight-ahead folk tune about “exactly what the Bible said,” and some, like Karl Richey’s “The Stone Which the Builders Refused” are Dylanesque streams of Bible-study consciousness. These are songs about Jesus for a group of people who loved Him, and music, and each other. Little else seems to matter.

Unfortunately, some of the songs are presented in abridged medleys; Johnson writes in his wonderfully detailed liner notes that this is in order to “maximize content,” but it makes portions of the compilation sound like advertisements, selling the songs short. Still, from the glimpses we get here, it’s clear that the full-length Radiance records by the wild-eyed Simmon, So Glad to Be Back Home, and the psychedelic/angelic Layne Fish, Lullaybe, would be rewarding listens. Johnson is to be commended for preserving a significant piece of the musical and spiritual history of Northern California.

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EIGHT Comments

Comment / By janet landers / Dec. 27, 2009, 8:38 p.m.

i was at the ranch in the early 70’s and would like if u know how i could get ahold of some of the people from that time i know alot of people that u sang there during that time

Comment / By Michael A. Shoemaker / Jan. 27, 2010, 5:17 a.m.

Hi, Janet. Your name’s not familiar, but then, I was at the Lord’s Land in ‘73-74 and not Lighthouse Ranch. My website’s at http://www.pcez.com/~bigshoe/. I haven’t darkened a church door with my shadow for years now, but in the mid-80s I was Managing Editor at Radiance. David Leon, Tom Kennedy and others you probably know, were close personal friends of mine. Fred (aka Tim) Simmen went to be with the Lord, taking my place on a tree-planting crew. I had volunteered for it, after two months of gruelling work on other crews, but felt sick and opted out. I wasn’t a musician — just someone who went to work every day and helped keep people fed. My wife and I have been married 35 years now, and we have two children — one here in Eugene, and another living in China. God bless and keep you and yours. Keep the fire burning inside. Your brother, Michael :-)

Comment / By Eric Mueller / Aug. 11, 2010, 5:32 p.m.

It’s great to hear that a lot of the music material has been preserved - thank you Paul! I recall attending a Festival of the Son between around ‘75-‘77 at which Radiance recorded the music performances. Can’t remember where it was, but we camped out. I had the great joy of playing there in a band from Santa Rosa called Rock Salt. We were all still learning back then that acoustic guitars weren’t intrinsically holy and electric guitars weren’t evil. We were semi-electric. I remember meeting Jim Durkin when he came to preach at our church in Santa Rosa (His Name Ministries) and brought some singers. I recognize a couple of the tunes in the article above. Paul, if you release the Festival Material I’ll buy it. Thanks again for preserving this relatively unknown, but VERY influential stream of music. It would make a great documentary. Probably tons of photos floating around…

Alright all youse Jesus Freaks, I am outa here. Keep the faith, Eric

Comment / By stojan ninkovic / Oct. 5, 2010, 8:40 p.m.

It was by Providence alone (the puritans translated providence as ‘the hand of God in the glove of circumstance’) that I met people from Sonoma Mtn Lighthouse and eventually His Name Ministries. I consider the 3 years I spent in Santa Rosa with these saints as the most influential years of my life that laid a strong foundation upon which I still stand. I married one of those sisters Terry Ginger) and 32 years later we look back on those days and those people with fondness. I try to travel to Santa Rosa every year to meet some of you. We live in British Columbia. Steve Hargrove visited us not long ago and I still have the cassettes from Radiance and Rock Salt. I would absolutely buy your CD when it gets produced. If anyone has photos of the early Festival of the Son near redwood city, a copy of that early slide show The Purpose and the Vision that Francis Anfuso produced and photos of His Namer’s please forward them to me. Stojan Ninkovic –- ninklink@telus.net

Comment / By Richard Ford / March 16, 11:21 a.m.

Dylan could never write anything near to “The Stone That The Builders Refused!” Won’t even go in the other deficient details here — what Paul has done [with what Radiance did] needs promotion, but accuracy above all! I was there, at the time, so I know….

Comment / By richard ford / June 14, 3:54 p.m.

I was at Living Waters and the Lighthouse Ranch in the early 70’s. My email is: richardford999@yahoo.com. Send me a line, any time! Radiance Music still, uh, “rocks” or whatever….

Comment / By Allen / June 27, 12:38 p.m.

So few comments! The influence of so many born again artists who reflected a deep love and fellowship with God is still with me. Most of the songs were simple love songs to God, the brethren, and to lost souls being reminded of God’s love. I was at His Name Ministries in Santa Rosa from August 1974 to sometime in 1976. Jesus used His Name to form the solid scriptural bedrock in my life - a babe in Christ. I remember the worship being Spirit led and directed with Rock Salt (Steven Hardgrove, Jon Ilig, and Ben Crusoe) being often used to bless the saints! Glorious days sitting on the floor near the stage of the auditorium and being enraptured by the Lord! :) Yet shall we again be gathered to be before Jesus to ever love and praise him who has only given us a small taste of what will be when he brings us all home!

Comment / By Allen / June 27, 12:40 p.m.

BTW: If any of you former His Name Ministries Jesus freaks care to write :)

Allen Langley - allang77@usa.com

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