Galilee Gospel

In the atmosphere of the 1970s Jesus Revolution and its aftermath, came a lot of Gospel music mostly performed in Christian coffee shops and in church halls. I contributed to this in a small way during the 1970s, and Robert Wolfgramm did so more significantly.

Most of my material was performed on the stage and/or as words to songs. However at this time Robert, and a group of speakers and musicians who were known as the Streetpreachers, performed every Sunday night from the back of a truck, in Collins Street Melbourne. While I was singing in the safety of a coffee shop they were competing with the Hara Krishnas and – thanks to Chopper Reid - fighting off the Neo-Nazis.

This, coupled with blatant hostility about how the Seventh-day Adventist bureaucracy was mis-handling the Ford-Brinsmead issue – sackings, etc - might explain the backdrop against which Galilee made its recordings.

Robert has written a paper on this period within his church, reasoning that the key elements in the separation of this group from their mother church had more to do with generational issues rather than theological issues – as mostly thought. Contact Robert Wolfgramm: robert.wolfgramm@gmail.com

It was a time when playing drums in churches was seen as radical, when many church-sponsored venues saw pastors pull the plug on electric guitars and when the congregation was told that blues progressions were erotic.

The solution was simple: with few exceptions, all the best Gospel musicians seldom performed at church sponsored gatherings. This eventually led to separate ‘youth’ churches. And they are very groovy, I’m sure.

Whatever it is they’ve got, they ain’t got the blues: the ache.

Threedom	Martin Luther	Jonah	All My Friends Are Sinners
Galilee Concert	Bob	Persecution Games	Apocalypse Rider