Contemporary Christian Music: Where It Came From, What It Is, and Where It's Going

by Paul Baker

Baker, Paul

279 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite music style is Contemporary Christian Music (classical close second), so this title describing the history of the genre attracted me and proved very interesting. It was written in 1985 and suffered in some ways from the problems many modern histories of still evolving movements do. The history sections, describing events in the 60s and 70s, were very interesting and insightful even today, but the events described closer to the writing of the book seem dated in their analysis. There are also occasions where the book, in an attempt to include as many of the players in the genre as possible, devolves into lists of names and accomplishments without much analysis. But where there is analysis and more in-depth story-telling, the book is excellent. Of particular interest was Baker's recounting of the Jesus People revival and the music that came out of it during the late 60s and early 70s. His telling of it didn't simply cover the music but talked about how the music fit into the big picture of the spiritual revival that was happening America's young people at the time. I found it inspiring and challenging in a way I wasn't expecting. Baker is also careful to give credit to those who may have never received big label record contracts but who still traveled the country performing concerts, doing ministry and sharing the Gospel in a musical language their generation could understand. I don't know if Baker has written a follow up to this 1985 edition (which was a follow up to a 1979 edition) but it would be interesting to see how he would analyse the "where it's going" portion in the years since 1985 in the light of the passion and revival of the early years. Oh, one interesting thing I did learn ... Christian musicians and radio stations experimented with satellite radio as far back as 1977, decades before it really became a thing.