"Jesus Is Just Alright" | |
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Song by The Art Reynolds Singers | |
from the album Tellin' It Like It Is | |
Released | 1966 |
Recorded | 1965 |
Genre | Gospel |
Length | 1:55 |
Label | Capitol |
Songwriter(s) | Art Reynolds |
Producer(s) | Gary Paxton |
"Jesus Is Just Alright" is a gospel song written by American singer Art Reynolds and first recorded by Reynolds' group, The Art Reynolds Singers, for their 1966 album, Tellin' It Like It Is. [1] [2]
The song's title makes use of the American slang term "just alright", which during the 1960s was used to describe something that was considered cool or hip. [3] The song has been covered by various bands and artists over the years, including the Byrds, Underground Sunshine, the Doobie Brothers, Alexis Korner, the Ventures, DC Talk, Stryper, Shelagh McDonald, and Robert Randolph (featuring Eric Clapton). [4]
The first cover version of the song was recorded by the Los Angeles band the Byrds on their 1969 album, Ballad of Easy Rider . [5] The song was later recorded by The Doobie Brothers, who included it on their 1972 album, Toulouse Street . [6] The Doobie Brothers' version of the song was released as a single in November 1972 and it became a hit in the United States, peaking at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. [7] In 1973, American rock band Exile released their self titled debut album which included a cover. [8] In 1992, the Christian rock and hip hop group DC Talk released a version of "Jesus Is Just Alright" on their Free at Last album. [9] The song has also been covered by Robert Randolph on his Colorblind album, with guest artist Eric Clapton [10] and Stryper's 2013 release, No More Hell to Pay . [11]
"Jesus Is Just Alright" | ||||
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Single by The Byrds | ||||
from the album Ballad of Easy Rider | ||||
B-side | "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" | |||
Released | December 15, 1969 | |||
Recorded | June 17, 1969 | |||
Studio | Columbia Studios, Hollywood, CA | |||
Genre | Rock, gospel | |||
Length | 2:10 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Arthur Reid Reynolds | |||
Producer(s) | Terry Melcher | |||
The Byrds singles chronology | ||||
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The Byrds' version of "Jesus Is Just Alright" was recorded on June 17, 1969, during the sessions for the band's eighth studio album, Ballad of Easy Rider. [12] It was first released as part of that album but was subsequently issued as a single on December 15, 1969. [13] The single stalled at No. 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and failed to chart in the United Kingdom. [14] [15] Despite this lack of commercial success, the Doobie Brothers' later hit version of the song featured an arrangement that was heavily influenced by the Byrds' recording. [5]
The song was introduced to the Byrds by the band's drummer, Gene Parsons, who had been present in the studio when the Art Reynolds Singers had recorded it. [5] The Byrds had added the song to their live concert repertoire some months before the start of the Ballad of Easy Rider recording sessions, and it had quickly become an audience favorite. [16] In concert, the Byrds rendition of "Jesus Is Just Alright" began with a wordless vocal introduction that built up and led into the first iteration of the song's chorus. [5] This distinctive vocal arrangement had been devised by Parsons. Still, once the band was in the studio, record producer Terry Melcher dispensed with the extended intro, giving the song a more pop-oriented arrangement. [5]
Cash Box said, "dropping a good deal of their country trappings and accenting some blazing instrumental arrangements, the Byrds take flight with a marvel in the material department." [17] Record World called it an "out-of-sight driving rocker." [18] Billboard said that "the Terry Melcher production work is first rate." [19]
"Jesus Is Just Alright" became a staple of the Byrds' concert repertoire between 1969 and 1971, but appears to have been performed only rarely after that. [20] Additionally, the band performed the song on the U.S. television programs Memphis Talent Party and The Midnight Special in 1970 and 1972 respectively. [21]
Besides its appearance on the Ballad of Easy Rider album, "Jesus Is Just Alright" can also be found on several Byrds compilations, including The Best of The Byrds: Greatest Hits, Volume II , History of The Byrds , The Byrds , The Essential Byrds , and There Is a Season . [22] Live recordings of the song are included on the expanded edition of The Byrds' (Untitled) album as well as on Live at Royal Albert Hall 1971 . [22]
"Jesus Is Just Alright" | ||||
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Single by The Doobie Brothers | ||||
from the album Toulouse Street | ||||
B-side | "Rockin' Down the Highway" | |||
Released | November 15, 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1972, Warner Bros. Studios, Hollywood, CA | |||
Genre | Pop, rock, funk | |||
Length | 4:36 (Album version) 3:50 (Single edit) | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Arthur Reid Reynolds | |||
Producer(s) | Ted Templeman | |||
The Doobie Brothers singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
Jesus Is Just Alright with Me (2007 Remaster) on YouTube |
The Doobie Brothers' version of "Jesus Is Just Alright" was first released on their second album, Toulouse Street , in 1972. [6] It was subsequently released in November 1972 as the second single from the album (b/w "Rockin' Down the Highway") and went on to become a U.S. hit, peaking at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1973. [7] [23] The single featured a shorter, edited version of the song compared to the one included on the album. [6] The Doobie Brothers' version of "Jesus Is Just Alright" was one of several religiously themed songs to reach the U.S. charts between 1969 and 1973. [lower-alpha 1] The song, along with its B-side, continues to be a staple of playlists on classic rock radio stations.[ citation needed ]
The band first became aware of "Jesus Is Just Alright" after hearing the Byrds' version. Before long, the song had been added to the Doobie Brothers' live repertoire. As a result, the Doobies' musical arrangement is very similar to the one used by the Byrds. However, the Doobie Brothers' rendition includes an extra bridge that the band added themselves. [28] In 2007, bassist Tiran Porter claimed that the idea of adding a slow bridge was his, including the lyrics "Jesus is my friend", but due to the high vocal range demanded, guitarist Patrick Simmons sang lead instead of him. [29] Although none of the individual band members were religiously inclined, the song went on to become very popular among Christians during the early 1970s, particularly those within the hippie counterculture that were involved with the Jesus movement. [30]
Record World said, "Vocally and musically, this is a strong record." [31]
In addition to its appearance on Toulouse Street, the song can also be found on several Doobie Brothers compilations, including Best of The Doobies , Listen to the Music: The Very Best of The Doobie Brothers, Long Train Runnin': 1970–2000, Greatest Hits , and The Very Best of The Doobie Brothers . [28] Live recordings of the song appear on the Farewell Tour , Rockin' down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert , and Live at Wolf Trap albums. [28]
"Jesus Is Just Alright" | ||||
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Single by DC Talk | ||||
from the album Free at Last | ||||
Released | 1992 | |||
Recorded | 1992 | |||
Genre | Hip hop, Christian rock | |||
Length | 4:41 (album version) | |||
Label | ForeFront | |||
Songwriter(s) | Arthur Reid Reynolds | |||
Producer(s) | Toby McKeehan, Mark Heimermann | |||
DC Talk singles chronology | ||||
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"Jesus Is Just Alright" is a Dove Award-winning single by Christian rock and hip hop band, DC Talk. It was the lead single for their 1992 platinum-selling and Grammy Award-winning album, Free at Last . [9] The band's primary songwriter, TobyMac (Toby McKeehan), retained the song's chorus but added several new verses consisting of his lyrics. These lyrics were rapped, as was usual with DC Talk's songs of the period, with the lead vocal alternating between McKeehan's rapped verses and the sung chorus provided by Kevin Max (then known as Kevin Smith) and Michael Tait.
DC Talk's version also includes subtle lyric alterations by McKeehan, with the line "Jesus is just alright" being intermittently changed to "Jesus is still alright", which reflected the songwriter's feeling that Jesus was still alright with him, even if others did not share his beliefs. Thus, DC Talk's recording is an update on the previous version. The lyrics comment on the lack of acceptance and recognition faith-based music often receives from mainstream radio. In addition to being musically based upon the earlier Byrds and Doobie Brothers' recordings, DC Talk's version of the song also features samples of Madonna's hit single "Vogue" and the Snap! song "The Power".
In the audio commentary of the Free at Last – The Movie bonus DVD, Tait identified "Jesus Is Just Alright" as the song that DC Talk has performed most in their live shows. [32] It has been played at every concert since 1992 and is the only song to be played on each of their four major headlining tours: Free At Last (1994), Jesus Freak – The Tour (Spring 1996), The Supernatural Experience (Spring 1999), and An Evening with DC Talk (Spring 2001).
The song's music video was shot entirely in muted sepia-tone and featured DC Talk singing around three crosses in a desert, surrounded by musicians and dancers. It concludes with the band walking off into the desert sunset.
At the 24th GMA Dove Awards in 1994, "Jesus Is Just Alright" was awarded the Dove Award for Best Rock Recorded Song. [33] DC Talk also became one of the first contemporary Christian acts to perform on late-night television when, on November 12, 1993, the band performed "Jesus Is Just Alright" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno .
US radio promo
Japanese radio promo
The Byrds were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member. Although their time as one of the most popular groups in the world only lasted for a short period in the mid-1960s, the Byrds are today considered by critics to be among the most influential rock acts of their era. Their signature blend of clear harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly 12-string Rickenbacker guitar was "absorbed into the vocabulary of rock" and has continued to be influential.
Younger Than Yesterday is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released on February 6, 1967, on Columbia Records. It saw the band continuing to integrate elements of psychedelia and jazz into their music, a process they had begun on their previous album, Fifth Dimension. In addition, the album captured the band and record producer Gary Usher experimenting with new musical textures, including brass instruments, reverse tape effects and an electronic oscillator.
Ballad of Easy Rider is the eighth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in November 1969 on Columbia Records. The album was named after the song "Ballad of Easy Rider", which had been written by the Byrds' guitarist and singer, Roger McGuinn, as the theme song for the 1969 film, Easy Rider. The title was also chosen in an attempt to capitalize on the commercial success of the film, although the majority of the music on the album had no connection with it. Nonetheless, the association with Easy Rider heightened the Byrds' public profile and resulted in Ballad of Easy Rider becoming the band's highest charting album for two years in the U.S.
The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth album by the American rock band the Byrds, and was released in January 1968, on Columbia Records. The album represents the pinnacle of the Byrds' late-‘60s musical experimentation, with the band blending together elements of psychedelia, folk rock, country, electronic music, baroque pop, and jazz. With producer Gary Usher, they made extensive use of a number of studio effects and production techniques, including phasing, flanging, and spatial panning. The Byrds also introduced the sound of the pedal steel guitar and the Moog modular synthesizer into their music, making it one of the first LP releases on which the Moog appears.
"Chestnut Mare" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by Roger McGuinn and Jacques Levy during 1969 for a planned country rock musical named Gene Tryp. The musical was never staged and the song was instead released in September 1970 as part of the Byrds' (Untitled) album. It was later issued as a single, peaking at number 121 on the Billboard singles chart and number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.
Turn! Turn! Turn! is the second studio album by American rock band the Byrds, released on December 6, 1965, by Columbia Records. Like its predecessor, Mr. Tambourine Man, the album epitomized the folk rock genre and continued the band's successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar. The album's lead single and title track, "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which was adapted by Pete Seeger from text in the Book of Ecclesiastes, had previously been arranged in a chamber-folk style by the Byrd's lead guitarist Jim McGuinn for folk singer Judy Collins' third album, but the arrangement he used for the Byrds' recording of the song utilizes the same folk-rock style as the band's previous hit singles.
Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records. Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark. In an attempt to compensate for Clark's absence, guitarists Jim McGuinn and David Crosby increased their songwriting output. In spite of this, the loss of Clark resulted in an album with four cover versions and an instrumental, which critics have described as "wildly uneven" and "awkward and scattered". However, it was the first Byrds album not to include any songs written by Bob Dylan, whose material had previously been a mainstay of the band's repertoire.
The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records. It is the top-selling album in the Byrds' catalogue and reached number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but failed to chart in the UK.
Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in March 1969 on Columbia Records. The album was produced by Bob Johnston and saw the band juxtaposing country rock material with psychedelic rock, giving the album a stylistic split-personality that was alluded to in its title. It was the first album to feature the new band line-up of Clarence White (guitar), Gene Parsons (drums), John York (bass), and founding member Roger McGuinn (guitar). Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde is unique within the band's discography for being the only album on which McGuinn sings the lead vocal on every track.
(Untitled) is the ninth album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in September 1970 on Columbia Records. It is a double album, with the first LP featuring live concert recordings from early 1970, and a second disc consisting of new studio recordings. The album represented the first official release of any live recordings by the band, as well as the first appearance on a Byrds' record of new recruit Skip Battin, who had replaced the band's previous bass player, John York, in late 1969.
Byrdmaniax is the tenth album by the American rock band the Byrds. It was released in June 1971 on Columbia Records at a time of renewed commercial and critical success for the band, due to the positive reception that their two previous albums, Ballad of Easy Rider and (Untitled), had received. The album was the second by the Byrds to feature the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons, and Skip Battin line-up of the band and was mostly recorded in early 1971, while the band were in the midst of an exhausting tour schedule. As a result, the band had little time to hone their new songs before recording commenced and thus, much of the material on the album is underdeveloped. Byrdmaniax was poorly received upon release, particularly in the United States, and did much to undermine the Byrds' new-found popularity.
Farther Along is the eleventh album by the American rock band the Byrds and was released in November 1971 on Columbia Records. For the most part, the album was recorded and produced by the Byrds themselves in London, England, over the course of five work-intensive days in July 1971. It was quickly released as a reaction to the commercial failure of the Byrds' previous album, Byrdmaniax, and as an attempt to stem the criticism that album was receiving in the music press.
"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a song by the Los Angeles folk rock band the Byrds, first released in June 1965 on the B-side of the band's second single, "All I Really Want to Do". Despite initially being released as a B-side, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., just outside the Billboard Hot 100. It was also included on the Byrds' debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.
"Ballad of Easy Rider" is a song written by Roger McGuinn, with input from Bob Dylan, for the 1969 film, Easy Rider. The song was initially released in August 1969 on the Easy Rider soundtrack album as a Roger McGuinn solo performance. It was later issued in an alternate version as a single by McGuinn's band the Byrds on October 1, 1969. Senior editor for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke, has described the song as perfectly capturing the social mood of late 1969 and highlighting "the weary blues and dashed expectations of a decade's worth of social insurrection".
"It Won't Be Wrong" is a song by the American folk rock band the Byrds, which appeared as the second track on their 1965 album, Turn! Turn! Turn! It was also coupled with the song "Set You Free This Time" for a single release in 1966, resulting in "It Won't Be Wrong" charting at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Byrds band member Jim McGuinn and his friend Harvey Gerst in 1964.
"Mr. Spaceman" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds and was the third track on their 1966 album, Fifth Dimension. It was released as the third single from the album in September 1966, reaching number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, but failing to chart in the United Kingdom. Upon its release as a single, the music press coined the term "space-rock" to describe it, although since then, this term has come to refer to a genre of rock music originating from 1970s progressive and psychedelic music.
"Have You Seen Her Face" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by the group's bass player Chris Hillman and included on their 1967 album Younger Than Yesterday.
"Lady Friend" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by band member David Crosby and released as a single on July 13, 1967. The single was commercially unsuccessful, only charting at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 and failing to chart in the United Kingdom at all.
The Byrds' Greatest Hits Volume II is the second greatest hits album by the American rock band the Byrds. It was released in the United Kingdom and Europe on October 29, 1971, by CBS Records as a follow-up to the band's first compilation album, The Byrds' Greatest Hits. The album appeared following the band's successful appearance at the Lincoln Folk Festival in England on July 24, 1971, and according to band biographer Johnny Rogan may have been issued by CBS as a reaction to the band's previous studio album, Byrdmaniax, having failed to chart in the UK.
"Why" is a song by the American rock band the Byrds, written by David Crosby and Jim McGuinn and first released as the B-side of the band's "Eight Miles High" single in March 1966. The song was re-recorded in December 1966 and released for a second time as part of the band's Younger Than Yesterday album.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Bass Player Magazine; accessed December 31, 2015.