Christian Faith Recordings was an American record label based in California that specialized in mainstream Christian music in the 1950s and 1960s. It was one of the most significant producers of Christian music in the United States during that time.
Christian Faith Recordings was an American record label based in California that specialized in mainstream Christian music in the 1950s and 1960s. It was one of the most significant producers of Christian music in the United States during that time.
The Christian Faith label was produced by Alma Records, Inc., founded and owned by Hugh Edwards and his wife beginning approximately in 1953 with a Los Angeles address. [1] [2] [3] [4] The company had begun marketing releases by February 1954. [5] Christian Faith changed their address to Reseda in 1957. [4] Sometime later they relocated to the Northridge neighborhood, but continued to use old label stock indicating the previous address. [4] Christian Faith used a convoluted system for the album catalog numbers, intended to give the impression that their output was significantly greater than fact, to the confusion of discographers. [4] However, by 1961 there were more than 100 albums in the label's then-current offerings. [6] Christian Faith developed a marketing plan in which records were sent to dealers at less than the regular wholesale price if the dealer accepted automatic shipments of new releases, with the dealer retaining the right to send back unsold records for full refund. [1] The label was distributed internationally by Pathway Press. [2] The label was sold to Sing Recording Company in 1967. [4]
Christian Faith specialized in "sacred" music, both instrumental and vocal, as well as Country and Western, gospel, children's and Christmas music. [1] [2] Dramatic readings were also released. [2] The label also marketed a line of Spanish and Swedish language albums. [1] [2] Christian Faith's top-selling artist was Rudy Atwood, who represented the label at trade shows. [1] Another prolific artist at Christian Faith was theatre organist Paul Carson, whose releases often had a custom label. [4] [7]
Prominent Christian artists who recorded for Christian Faith include:
Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and stylistically rooted in Christian music. It was formed by those affected by the 1960s Jesus movement revival who began to express themselves in other styles of popular music, beyond the church music of hymns, gospel and Southern gospel music that was prevalent in the church at the time. Initially referred to as Jesus music, today, the term is typically used to refer to pop, but also includes rock, alternative rock, hip hop, metal, contemporary worship, punk, hardcore punk, Latin, electronic dance music, R&B-influenced gospel, and country styles.
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Mylon Rae LeFevre was an American Christian rock singer known for his work with his band Mylon and Broken Heart. He is a Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee, who traveled around the United States, ministering, teaching, and singing. He sometimes could be seen on television networks, such as TBN, Daystar and Victory Channel.
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Lorin J. Whitney was an American organist and recording artist who played on Christian radio programs such as the Haven of Rest in the 1930s–1950s. His organ music programs were heard on the CBS Radio and NBC Blue Networks in the 1930s. He founded the Whitney Recording Studio in Glendale, California, in 1957, where he had a pipe organ installed. His studio organ was used for recordings by Whitney and other organists, along with furnishing accompaniment for singers. The studio accommodated large orchestras and was widely used by various entertainers to record secular music albums in the 1960s–1990s. After the studio was acquired by MCA in 1978, the MCA Whitney studio was used largely for popular music recordings.