“The ocean sounds like a garage band coming at me like a drunk man”. Have you heard that lyric from Switchfoot’s song “Vice Verses”. What is a garage band? You would naturally think of it as an amateur band practicing in a garage with a loud, raw kind of rocking sound. In the 1960’s garage bands actually were considered a separate music genre. It was sort of an early form of punk rock. The Crusaders were a Christian garage band originally called Freddy and the Fanatics. The band changed their name to The Crusaders and signed with Tower Records in 1966. The band’s debut single was called “The Little Drummer Boy” backed with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. Their debut album was called “Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitar”. The song “Praise Ye The Lord” had one of the heaviest garage sounds for its time. Learn more about The Crusaders.
There were all kinds of garage bands out there. This video captures the drums captioning the names of many of the bands and the sound that they carried.
Expression of the bands’ views, beliefs and emotion finds its way into the music naturally. In every era, these expressions encompass the wide array of lifestyles, opinions, and views of the musicians. Music is a sign of the times covering all that an era represents. The Grasshoppers’ song “The Very Last Day” talks about Judgement Day. The lyrics go “ everybody’s gonna pray on the very last day when they hear that bell ring the world away”.
Dancing to the sound of the garage bands provided another outlet for fun and expression as you can see in this video of 60’s Garage, Surf, Freakbeat and Psychedelic Music. It was an exciting time of new music that was a springboard into the wide array of rock we enjoy today.
We have a rich Christian music history with so many stories behind it. God is representing himself through musical ambassadors. I strongly believe that he uses music to carry his message to a world that so desperately needs him.
