I’m not sure why or how I got into songs about Jesus; why I started making mixes for my friends called “Jesus Tapes” or scouring countless record stores, thrift stores, garage sales and Ebay for old gospel records. I’ve never gone looking for Jesus and I don’t think he’s going to come looking for me anytime soon. But oh how I love the way he makes people sing! With that in mind, I give you a very short list of my favorite songs about Jesus.
1. What’s better than a Jewish guy singing a song about the “Spirit in the Sky”? How about a bunch of campy goth rockers covering that song? That’s what you get with Dr. and the Medics cover of Norman Greenbaum’s 1969 classic.
2. I’m pretty sure when Spacemen 3 wrote “Walking With Jesus”, they weren’t talking about Jesus the Christian messiah, they were talking about drugs.
3. I think you need to go to church to be in the band Rev. Gary Davis is talking about.
4. Beck covering Skip James’ “He’s a Mighty Good Leader” might be one of my favorite things done by the worlds coolest Scientologist.
5. The lead singer of The Crumb Brothers was TEN YEARS OLD, but he belted this one out in a way that would have made James Brown jealous.
6. Off the must own 3 cd compilation, “Fire in My Bones“, Rev. Stewart and his family do it up.
7. Any song by The Byrds is a religious experience. This one more than others.
8. Give a listen to this interview Terry Gross does with gospel historian Robert Darden. About 8 minutes in he plays a rare gospel cut by Little Richard that might be one of the craziest things you’ll ever hear.
9. Considering Mahalia Jackson was the “worlds greatest gospel singer”, I can put any of her songs on this list.
10. I’m throwing this in for good measure.
You seem to be very professional in the way you write.;.;’: