A Man Dies (1964)

The first Christian rock album? Mmmmmmmmm could be! That 1964 date on this baby shaves a good two years off of shortly-to-follow entries from The Concords, The Crusaders and Joy Strings. A Man Dies was written by Ewan Hopper and Ernest Marvin for the teenagers of St. James’ Presbyterian Church at Lockleaze, Bristol. “It is an attempt to present the Bible story in the modern idiom – in the music and dancing which teenagers love so much and can do so well”. This is definitely an electric album and it’s got the early UK ‘60s written all over it. The main performers are identified as Valerie Mountain, Ricky Forde and a group called The Strangers. Swinging pop, jangly beat, slow blues rock, Hard Days Night-era Beatles, talk-singing over a beat – it’s all here spanning twenty-six tunes that feature titles like ‘How Long, Lordie?’, ‘Do Us A Favour’, ‘What’s The Use?’, ‘Look In The Paper’, ‘Ding Dong’, ‘Riding On A Donkey’, ‘Who Is My Neighbour?’, ‘Gentle Christ’, etc. Even a couple surfy twangin’ instrumentals in classic Ventures/Shadows tradition (‘Dominator’ and ‘Jack Knife’). No keyboards from what I can tell – just revved-up drums, bass and raw electric guitars. Cover says it was first performed in 1960. I’m surprised this isn’t more widely known, especially given that it’s on a major label. Seldom has early Jesus music sounded so alive and bursting with energy as it does on A Man Dies. (Ken Scott - Archivist)

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