Reading / Listening / Watching – March 2008

It has been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd do an update of what I've been up to.

Reading

I'm a little past halfway through the brilliant new Beatles book Can't Buy Me Love by Jonathan Gould. I wrote about it before I started reading it and it is every bit as good as many of the reviews say it is. It does a great job of not only talking about the lives of the Beatles but it also puts that and their music in the context of the times and the political social and artistic changes that were happening in the world. On top of that there is a song by song discussion of each of their recordings. It really is special and, while it is a bit too in-depth to be anyone's first book about the Beatles, for someone like me who has read lots of books on the Beatles, I'm enjoying it immensely.

I have, for the past couple of years, participated in the Calvin Theological Seminary book of the quarter reading group and this quarter we're reading Elizabeth Strout's Abide With Me, a fascinating look at the life of a small town preacher who's wife's death has brought him, his young daughter and their community personal turmoil. It is only through allowing his church to see him broken and in need of help that he can once again effectively lead them. We'll get together three times to discuss the book, once with the author who is visiting Calvin for the Festival of Faith and Writing! It's a good book and I enjoyed it a lot.

Listening

Because I have tickets to the Switchfoot and the Police/Elvis Costello concerts coming up soon I've gotten back into their music lately and, while I've already expressed my love for Jon Foreman's EPs I have mostly lately listened to a lot of Elvis Costello and, I must say, that his gift for melody and for inventive song and chordal structure is really extraordinary. I have long thought "Couldn't Call it Unexpected" from Mighty Like a Rose was a prime example of this but I just lately came to love the album All This Useless Beauty. It is just packed with beautiful songs. And if you haven't heard For the Stars, his duet album with opera singer Anne-Sophie Von Otter, you're missing something truly special.

I have also enjoyed Bethany Dillon and Matt Hammitt's worship album In Christ Alone. Meant to be more a modern hymns album than a praise and worship album it takes a number of songs by Keith Getty and others and puts them in a more modern setting and does a credible job with them. Some of the tracks come across as sub-standard versions of very popular songs (the title cut, or "How Deep the Father's Love" for example) but others, most notably Getty's "Jesus is Lord" which is transformed to a hip, new uptempo version, work really well and gives me a new appreciation for the song.

Finally, in the flurry of new and old music that I've been enjoying, I'm ashamed to say that it took me a couple of years to finally pick up the amazing Before the Daylight's Shot by Ashley Cleveland. I should have known better since her previous album, the live You Are There, is one of my all-time favorites. It's just that she doesn't release albums' very often and so I forget just how good she (and her guitarist/husband Kenny Greenberg) is. Amazing stuff. Meant to be played loud.

Watching

I continue to work through DVDs and I'm getting near the end of both Season 6 of 24 (which is much better than I was lead to believe based on the "24 is losing it" buzz that I heard last season) and Season One of Veronica Mars which also I'm enjoying quite a bit. I must also admit to watching American Idol and I have to say that, while David Archuletta got off to a strong start, David Cook is really bringing it lately … dawg.

I also watched the film Enchanted last weekend and it was wonderful. It dragged only the slightest bit near the end but, as a send up of Disney animated classics it is really great. The songs are catchy and the effects are quite impressive. And Amy Adams is just too likeable as the soon-to-be princess. Even if there are no kids in your house, this one is too much fun to miss.

Together We Worship - again

A few days ago I wrote about The curriculum about worship that Laura and I wrote and recently published. Today it got mentioned in Dan Beerens' Nurturing Faith blog.

Thanks for writing about it, Dan!

Jon Foreman – Fall and Winter

Switchfoot has been an interesting band to follow over the years. They got their start in San Diego and were signed by Charlie Peacock to his fledgling Re:think label around ten years ago. Charlie told me over dinner one night (yeah, I had to work that in) that he didn't produce their album because he didn't want to screw it up. He thought they were pretty cool and I did too. Then they hit the big time by placing songs from their album in at least one high profile movie and they've expanded their band from three to five full time members. They've solidified their sound and they've recently left their label to go indie. I wrote nice things about their latest album, Oh Gravity, in this blog before.

I've been impressed with the way Jon Foreman, lead singer and principal song writer, doesn't go for any obvious CCM-type images even though that would have been a safe way to go early on. Their music is fun, challenging and interesting. I was excited to see that they're coming to Calvin College for a concert next month. I've already got my ticket.

What I found most interesting lately, though, is that Foreman has begun releasing the first two of four EPs named after the seasons. Initially released as online downloads, the first two were gathered together in a 2-CD set and released to stores a little while ago. I got the Fall and Winter set last week and I'm quite impressed. These are songs that clearly wouln't work well in a full band setting. Most of these songs are Foreman's acoustic guitar, his voice, and limited other instruments like a cello, a small brass group or a bass clarinet, of all things. The focus in front and center on the vocals and the songs and they're really fine. Foreman's voice isn't the kind of voice that gets me excited – he hits all the notes but there is an untrained quality to it that, while it oozes authenticity, isn't all that great when stripped of the trappings of the band. But in this case it works and it works well. A hat tip to Foreman and executive producer and guest keyboard player Charlie Peacock – he said yes this time – for giving us an album that sounds both well produced and yet makes us feel like we're eavesdropping on the way Foreman sounds when he's alone in his home.

With an album like this the sound of it could easily run together and sound the same after a while but I listened to both of these in succession this morning with my ipod and I found that the arrangements are different enough (and the albums are short enough) that I didn't have a problem with that at all. I found myself enthralled by these EPs and I can't wait for Spring to show up.

There is a Light that Shines in Darkness

Over the last few years I have often found myself awake at night (or at least very early in the morning) and I am thankful for my ipod. I pop in my earbuds and listen to music for a while. Sometimes I fall back asleep but other times, like this morning, I just lie there and listen for a while. I put the ipod on shuffle and enjoy the random set of music, all of which I like.

This morning one of the songs that popped up was Phil Keaggy's "All There is to Know" from his album Crimson and Blue. The emotional and lyrical centerpoint of that song for me is the line "There is a light that shines in darkness." Reflecting on that line this morning made me think about the book of Judges and how that book shows how the people of Israel drifted away from God. In that book we have a series of events all of which start with Israel forgetting about God and ending with a deliverer, a "judge," rescuing them from their bondage only to find themselves drifting away again. And things get worse and worse – by the end of the book we have two stories that show that even the Levites, the priestly tribe, had forgotten the way that God wanted them to live.

As that book ends things are in pretty bad shape. But then we read the little book called Ruth, a book in which we see that there is a light that shines in darkness and that light shines from Bethlehem. There is still at least one person, Boaz, who is honorable and who will redeem Ruth, not because of anything that she has done, but because of who she is. I like that book. I like thinking about what it might have been like between Ruth and Boaz. I find myself wondering what there was about Ruth that made Boaz notice her. I find myself wondering why God chose to bring in an outsider, Ruth from Moab, to continue the line of Judah which would become the line of Christ. The book of Ruth reminds me that even if things look grim God will not forsake us – not because of what we have done but because we are His people. These are the thoughts I had because I used my iPod this morning.

A Worship Curriculum for 4th – 6th Grade

About three years ago the director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship suggested that Laura and I might consider writing a curriculum that Christian elementary schools could use to teach worship. We took up that challenge and, over the course of that summer and the following school year, created the curriculum, Together We Worship. This week, we got our copies of the final product, now published by Christian Schools International.

I have fond memories of writing this curriculum. That summer Laura and I discovered the joys of walking out to the pier on the south side of the Holland channel, near the lighthouse. It was on those walks that we hammered out the ideas behind this curriculum. One of the great challenges was that we could assume very little with respect to what the children had experienced about worship. Worship services around North America can be quite different and we didn't know if these children were in churches that practiced a very traditional type of worship, a very contemporary form of worship or something in between. In addition, we didn't know what kind of training the teachers would have in thinking about worship so our notes had to be fairly extensive on the content of the lesson. On the other hand, because this was to be used by professional educators we could assume more teaching skills than we can when we write for Sunday School teachers. Another complication is that for other curricula we had written we had been given a format to follow – we had no such format for this unit because it would be a stand-alone curriculum and we really were starting with a blank slate. Those discussions happened often along the Holland channel and on the shores of Lake Michigan. We could jump in the car and get there in about 7 minutes from our house and that was a great opportunity to explore a part of Holland that we really hadn't explored before.

After our initial work was done the Institute invited 15 Christian schools from around North America to participate in a day-long workshop around our work. That consultation day happened almost exactly two years ago. Here is what I wrote at the time. We asked each school to send two teachers (often one classroom teacher and a music teacher) to spend the day with us and then to use the curriculum in their school and to send us feedback on what worked and what didn't. That day was great. Many of the teachers sent us good feedback and we revised the curriculum and then waited to see if we could get it published. Thanks to the work of a number of people the curriculum is now available in print and on CD. Special thanks to John Witvliet, the staff at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the teachers who helped us revise this work. It is great to finally see it in print!

Watching and Listening winter update

Between commutes that, because of the weather, are often twice as long as they typically are (which means that most days I've been on the road for at least two hours) and some sort of cold/flu/virus that I'm fighting I've been listening to a lot of new music lately. I've also caught up on some DVD watching since Christmas. I tend to have a couple of series going at the same time. I almost never watch more than one episode of a show in one sitting so it takes me months to get through a series and usually days to get through a film. While that can blunt the impact of the film I typically don't have a couple of hours to give to one film at a time so I do what I can. I'm still in the process of getting to know most of these albums on this list so I haven't formed final opinions on but I'm working on it.

Indelible Grace V: Wake Thy Slumbering Children (CD) – Kevin Twit has once again assembled a wonderful batch of artists (like Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Jeremy Casella, Andrew Osenga and others) who have rewritten old hymns to give us the fifth in his Indelible Grace series. This set is perhaps a little less up-tempo than previous editions but on my second listening I realized how many beautiful melodies there are on this album and it has grown on me ever since.

Joni Mitchell: Shine (CD) – I'm still trying to figure this album out. Mitchell makes an, at times too strident, album about the environment which has only a little lyrical subtlety but her jazz/folk sensibilities and her amazing voice still come through. It is the opening instrumental, "One Week Last Sumer" though that really grabbed my attention.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova: The Swell Season (CD) – I have heard from more than a few people that I need to see the film Once. The song "Falling Slowly" won an academy award for best song and Bethany got me to listen to the song and the album. This album has really caught my attention. It is full of emotion and careful, delicate instrumentation which set off the sometimes fragile voices in a way that really heightens the drama of these songs. I have played it multiple times a day for the past week and I just can't get enough if it.

Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken: Ampersand (CD) – They've appeared on each other's albums for years but this is the first time husband and wife Derek and Sandra have actually made an album (or in this case and EP) together. Technically it isn't released for two months but with a pre-order you get an immediate download and it has been a lot of fun to listen to. My immediate favorite track was a cover of Dylan's "If Not For You" with more than a little George Harrison influence.

Tift Merritt: Another Country (CD) – I had never heard of Merritt until her song "Broken" showed up on a Paste Sampler. I was so impressed that on the day the album was released I downloaded it from iTunes. While "Broken" still remains a favorite I am impressed with the rest of the album as well and I'm looking forward to hearing it more so that I get to know the other songs too.

Heroes: Season One (DVD) – I finished the first season of Heroes and enjoyed it more as the season came to a close. This is a smart, quirky show. I understand that the strike-shortened second season didn't quite deliver like the first one did but I'm willing to hang in there with them for a while because I really enjoyed the first season.

Firefly: The Compete Series (DVD) – I had not heard of Firefly until my daughters gave the DVD to me for Christmas. This series only lasted for a short season (11 eposodes plus three that never aired) but, just as it was being canceled it really got going well and the last three unaired episodes are among my favorite. The plot was continued in the feature film Serenity which I now have to see.

Across the Universe (DVD) – This Julie Taymor directed film based on the Beatles song catalog was an ambitious idea – how do you make a coherent plot out of a series of songs that were composed without any such plot in mind? The result is mixed. There are times in the film that work really well, like the prom dancing to "Hold Me Tight" or Uncle Sam pointing and saying "I Want You." There are also many things that seem to be there simply because there was a song that might work. After watching it and all the DVD extras I'm about ready to watch it again. My son tells me that he thinks it gets better on repeated viewings. I think that the plot will become clearer and I'll probably catch a lot more so I'm looking forward to seeing it again. The soundtrack, which I've had for a while, makes a lot more sense in the context of the film. They did a nice job of reimagining the music in the context of the film.

Bones: Season One (DVD) – It has taken Laura and me over two months but we're nearly done with the first season of the detective series Bones and we're really enjoying it. The characters are becoming more developed and the cases are varied enough to keep it interesting. I'm occasionally annoyed that Temperance Brennen, the lead character, can tell amazing amounts of things about someone from simply looking at a bone fragment but I guess if I'm willing to let characters fly around in a spaceship in Firefly I can live with a little suspension of disbelief in Bones. I like the interplay between the characters and mystery aspect of the show keeps me guessing.

Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport – Richard Mouw

A week and a half ago I was about to take a trip to San Diego for a conference and knew I was going to carry my computer in it's backpack on the plane. I very much wanted to begin reading Can't Buy Me Love, the new book about the Beatles, which had arrived a few weeks ago but which I have not been able to start. That book, however, is rather thick and, as my computer is quite heavy already, I didn't relish carrying that book on my back through airports. I put that one in my suitcase (which I checked) and I looked for something thinner to take along on the plane with me. I went to the (rather large) pile of books that Laura and I have yet to read and selected Richard Mouw's Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport because it was quite thin and it had the word "airport" in the title so that seemed like an obvious choice. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed it so much that I never took my Beatles book out of my suitcase.

Mouw's title refers to a scene in the Paul Schrader movie Hardcore in which a Dutch-American Reformed man from Grand Rapids is asked by a young woman what he believes. His response is that he believes in "tulips," referring to the acronym that has helped many of us remember and organize some of the doctrines that define Calvinist thought. Even though the movie character might have his theological head on straight he doesn't do a very good job of presenting his faith to this young woman. Mouw, however, does a splendid job of presenting the TULIP doctrine and of laying out the five points in a way that helped me think of them anew. While I have known this stuff for a long time Mouw's description is fresh and he brings great insights into how this doctrine fits into today's world.

Where Mouw really shines, though, is in the way he presents Calvinist beliefs as not a closed theology, designed to keep people out but rather as a particular view of scripture which, in his case, has been adjusted and affected by his experiences and by the writings of others. As I got to the end of the book I was reminded of Brian McLaren's Generous Orthodoxy. What I liked most about McLarens's book is that he seemed open to learning things about his faith from others – both Christian and non-Christian. Some probably think he goes a little too far in being open to other beliefs. While there were indeed parts of his book that caused me some consternation, I appreciated the spirit in which he wrote, a view that says that he has his beliefs but that he is willing to listen and learn. I believe that what Mouw lays out in his book is a "Generous Calvinism." Mouw isn't ready to compromise his beliefs but he is happy to listen and learn from others. He talks about his "hunches" and what things make him uneasy but does so with a clear love for the Canons of Dordt (a very old document laying out some of the basic tenets of Christian belief from a Calvinist perspective) but also a clear love for his brothers and sisters who don't share his theological perspective. It is this delightful tone which Mouw sets in this book that makes it so enjoyable and helpful. I highly recommend Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport both for Reformed folks who could use a refresher course but also for people who just don't get what Calvinists are really about or who think of Calvinism as a dreadful set of doctrines. Mouw's book is a great place to start a dialogue.

A Hard Winter?

Think we're having a tough winter in West Michigan? Here is some data from Weather Underground

Statement as of 6:56 PM EST on February 19, 2008

... Record winter time snowfall set at Grand Rapids...

A record winter (dec through feb) snowfall of 87.6 inches has been
set at Grand Rapids as of 7 PM this evening. The previous record was
85.1 inches set during the winter of 1951-1952.

The record snowfall for February is 35.5 inches set in 1900.
Currently the total snowfall for February in Grand Rapids through 7
PM this evening is 34.3 inches. That puts February 2008 in second
place for the snowiest February on record. Since it is still snowing
at Grand Rapids it is more than possible that by midnight Grand
Rapids will also set the all time record for snowiest February on
record. February 2007 is now in third place with 33.6 inches of
snow.

This means that we've had the two worst Februarys in the last 100 years this year and last year. And note that this is only February 19 - we still have a long ways to go before winter is done. Maybe living in Holland and driving to Grand Rapids isn't such a great idea...

[EDIT] As of 7 AM on Feb 20 we broke the record:

... Record February snowfall set at Grand Rapids...

The record snowfall as of yesterday for the month of February is
35.5 inches which was set in 1900. The total snowfall for today is
0.3 inches since midnight.

Grand Rapids has now set the all time record for snowiest February
with 35.6 inches as of 7 am today.

Phil Keaggy – the Master and the Musician Tour at Calvin College – Feb 9, 2008

I'm stuck in the airport in Denver on my way home from the APCE (Association of Presbyterian Church Educators) conference in San Diego so, as long as I'm here for a while (like six hours) I thought I'd write a bit about last weekend – the Phil Keaggy Master and Musician Tour that I attended at Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan – where I'm trying to get back to before the day is over.

It was the second night of the tour and it is a remarkable show. Thirty years ago Phil released his landmark instrumental album The Master and the Musician, an album that has been a favorite of mine since I bought it back in the 70's. To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary he assembled a wonderful set of musicians to recreate the entire album on stage. Ric Hordinski was brought in to play guitar and lead the band, Tom Shiness played guitar and other things, John Sferra was on drums and there was also a flautist, keyboard player and a bass player.

The concert opened with Phil introducing the show by saying that the flute and keyboard player, a married couple, would open with an instrumental piece – an airy moody non-melodic piece to set the tone. Next Tom Shinness played a piece on his harp guitar and then the band came out and began the album. The album is about 50-some minutes long but playing it on stage took longer because there is some chatting between the pieces and some, like "The Agora," "Follow Me Up," and "Mouthpiece" were extended. Almost all the songs were done note-perfect which, frankly, was a little strange. I'm not used to rock musicians trying so hard to perfectly match what is on the recording and it felt a little restricted. That, however, does not mean that I didn't love it. I've been a fan of Phil's for years and his playing was, of course, mind-boggling. The whole band did a great job but I was once again impressed with Ric Hordinski's playing – he drew the short straw on recreating some of the more difficult passages from the album and he did them really well. It was really cool to hear the whole album done this way. Ric said that he cut his teeth on this album as a young player so it was a special treat to have a hand in doing it on stage with Phil. You could tell that the music was challenging but that the band had a great time pulling it off. I got the impression that it went better in Grand Rapids than it did the night before in Cincinnati.

The second set, though, was at least as good and I loved it even more. Phil played some of his classic songs from the 30-year ago era, songs that those of us who have been his fans for decades have loved but haven't heard him play with a band in a VERY long time. He played "Love Broke Thru," "Let Everything Else Go," and "Noah's Song" as well as a couple of more recent songs. He came back for an encore with "Time" and "What A Day." These are the songs that I learned to play on guitar many years ago and still play and sing quite often. I attended the show with my three youngest children, who are 21 and 16 years old, and Meredith, the twenty one year old said "this was like the soundtrack to my childhood." The set was short but it was truly wonderful and that set is among my all time favorite Phil Keaggy experiences. I've heard Phil in concert a lot over the years – something like 20 times – but I've never heard his band sound as good on these songs. Back in the old days when he did these he didn't have a band that nuanced the music like this one did. It really was spectacular.

I had a chance to hear some of the soundcheck and to connect with Phil and Ric a bit and that was a real treat. I've met Ric a couple of times before and it was really great to touch base with him. I've heard him in concert by himself twice now (or maybe three times) and he's worth hearing if you get the chance. Check out his latest recording, The Silence of Everything Yearned For. Wonderful stuff.

So, if the M&M tour is coming to your town make a point of hearing it – it was a great evening.

Another Beatles book?

Another Beatles book? Yes, maybe the best ever. | csmonitor.com

This is the second review that I read that said Can't Buy Me Love by Jonathan Gould is perhaps the best Beatles book out there. I recently got it and I'll be reading it soon. It will have to be very very good to beat Bob Spitz' biography of the Beatles (which I write about here among other places.) But, let's face it - the world is big enough for more than one great book about the Beatles so it doesn't have to be a contest. I'm looking forward to reading it.

EDIT: Ron asked for a link to the Amazon site for the book - here it is.

Catching up

I have been doing a lot of listening to music and watching DVDs lately and I haven't commented here about many of them so here is a quick summary of what's been going on.

Beatles – I'm near the end of the standard part of one of my trip-through-the-albums-in-order journeys. I just heard Abbey Road and Let It Be for the second time in my car which means that I will next turn to the two Past Masters CDs and then on to all the special ones like the Yellow Submarine Songtrack, Live at the BBC, the Anthologies, etc. so I still have a lot of listening to do. This trip has reminded me of how much I enjoy this music and of how much I'm ready for remasters – could they be announced today at the superbowl???

The Reminder by Feist – This CD appeared on many end of year best-of lists so I took a chance and ordered it and I'm really enjoying it. The combination of authentic, roots sounding songs and instrumentation with sometimes highly polished production gives the album a vibe that is different from what I'm used to. The best comparison I can make is Norah Jones' second album but that's not really fair to either of them. Leslie Feist's songwriting is unique and her vocals and very nice. Mostly though this is an album that feels authentic in a way that I really like.

A Place to Land by Little Big Town – I'm just getting into this CD but it is high on my playlist right now. Imagine the Eagles of their first four albums with a slightly more 21^st century vibe and you get the sound of this band comprised of two men and two women all of whom sing. Sample the album opener "Fine Line" to see what I mean.

Classic Artists: Yes – This three hour documentary (four by the time you're done with the additional interview footage) on DVD is great for fans of the 70's supergroup that keeps coming back for the faithful to see again every once in a while. It follows the twists and turns of the personnel changes with interviews from the vast majority of key players while keeping it lively and interesting. Not much performance footage but I have concerts on DVD of theirs so I really wanted the overview and interviews. It's a fine addition to any Yes fan's collection.

Lost – I watched the season 3 DVD to get myself geared up for season four and it's great, of course. This is one of my all-time favorite shows. I hope the writers strike doesn't screw it up too badly. The first episode of the new season rocked.

Heroes – I'm still watching the first season on DVD. I like it a lot so far.

Upcoming Phil Keaggy concert – Phil's Master and Musician tour is coming to Calvin College next weekend. A friend from PA was trying to fly out to see it but he was unable to make it so I'll go with my kids. I'm pretty pumped about this concert, perhaps the first time Phil has toured with a band other than Glass Harp in over 15 years.

I've also been reading, mostly professional stuff, but I am partway into the Golden Compass and just can't get into it. Maybe I'll give it another shot before I give up completely.

Symposium thoughts

After three long days of Worship Symposium I'm back home and ready to dive into the new semester. But first things first – for the next month you can hear Debbie Chavez interview me on KMGI radio from Bellingham, Washington. If you go here and scroll down to January 23 you can hear me in segments 2-5.

That was Wednesday night, the night before Symposium, so it was great for me to be able to do that (it was actually still afternoon on the west coast) and then move on to thinking more about symposium. I presented my session twice to a nice sized group (about 150-170 total over the two days I think) and also go to play bass with the Alternative Worship group as they lead a group in worship on Friday evening. It was a good experience for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that my daughter Bethany and my good friend Ron were both leaders for this service and so I got to see a bit more of the behind the scenes stuff that went on. I also got to know Doug Gay, from Scotland, a bit and hung out with Luke Hyder from Milwaukee and local musician/friend Greg Scheer . We lead with three of Doug's songs written specifically for this occasion. It was cool.

The worship services were stellar, as usual, with the service lead by Calvin's LoFT team perhaps being my favorite. Trig Johnson preached and did a wonderful job and my daughter Meredith played viola along with the team (which she does often) but also got to accompany Michael Card. She got to know Card and Calvin Seerveld a bit by assisting them in their workshop on lament. It was really good.

I also got to hear Scott Hozee, Jane Vann, Dallas Willard and Richard Ostling (who was interviewed very nicely by my friend Nathan Bierma.) Where else can one have breakfast with Calvin Seerveld, lunch with hymn writers Rae Whitney and Ed Doemland, and share a walk with Lester Ruth? Or run into Jorge Lockward and Jimmie Abbington and have a brief chat on your way to get coffee.

They also handed out my new books (see them here and here) to the people who came. You can see the picture of the books all stacked up and ready to be handed out. One exciting moment came as Laura and I sat down to lunch with three delightful people who we had not met before. I looked over to see a woman sitting alone at a table reading my book. Pretty cool.

I'm already excited about next year.

Getting Ready for Worship Symposium 2008

This week is the 2008 Calvin Symposium on Worship. I've attended a number of these symposia, something like 10 of them, and I look forward to it every year. Some of the most well respected people in the field of worship leadership from a broad range of denominations and from around the world will be at Calvin College this weekend.

I'll be presenting twice about "Creating a Child Friendly Culture in your Church" and my daughter Bethany will also be presenting about emergent worship or something like that. It will be good to see her again - she's flying in from Georgia to speak. Laura and my daughter Meredith will also be there - Meredith will be playing in the worship band twice and helping Calvin Seerveld and Michael Card out by singing in their session. So it looks like my family will be well represented there as will two new books with my stuff in it: my new book, Helping Our Children Grow in Faith as well as Howard VanderWell's The Church of All Ages, in which I have a chapter on "Intergenerational Faith Development" and Laura and I have an additional chapter on "Intergenerational Connectors in Worship." Bethany has a short piece in it too!

Since Laura and I have attended so many of these we will see people we know and get a chance to visit with old friends. We're really looking forward to it. Then, almost immediately after that, the new semester starts! The night before symposium begins (Jan 23) I'll be interviewed on KGMI radio in Bellingham, Washington at 3:15 PST. Those of you in the pacific northwest (like Kent!) might want to listen in. it will be my first radio interview about my book but probably not the last, I'm already trying to find a date that works with a station in Philadelphia.

Amazing! Calvin prof Gary Schmidt wins 2nd Newbery Honor

Winning the Newbery Award is an amazing honor for anyone - my colleague Gary Schmidt has now doen it TWICE!

Calvin author wins 2nd Newbery Honor - Michigan News, Updates, Photos & Video | Detroit, Lansing - MLive.com

Radiohead: In Rainbows

I've gotten a bunch of new music over Christmas break - most of it from groups I had not heard much of before like The Spoons, Feist, Sara Bareilles, The National and Radiohead. I had not spent much time with Radiohead although I had listened to OK Computer a few times and enjoyed it when I was in the right mood. Their new album, In Rainbows, jumped to have a firm place in both my car and my iPod. I was thinking about what I liked about it and found this review, Radiohead: In Rainbows - PopMatters Music Review, that did a great job of summarizing much of what I like about the album so, instead of me writing this one, daunting since I'm not a huge Radiohead fan and many are calling this one of the top albums of the year, I'd just send you over to the review. I would especially like to point out this paragraph that nicely sums up what first grabbed me about the album:

Radiohead themselves seem to be ready to move on during opener “15 Step”. The song starts in well-traveled Radiohead territory—a heavy drum loop bumps and chugs along while Yorke’s trademark whine waxes paranoid, singing “First you reel me out and then you cut the string”. Jonny Greenwood layers some surges of static over all of that and the formula is set. That is, until a surprisingly docile, sliding guitar riff comes in, setting a contrast that carries through the entire album, where everything calm turns out to be decidedly not, and everything anarchic is more childlike and giddy than sinister. As the song pushes on, a battle arises as drummer Phil Selway takes on the drum loops, playing fast and precise as ever, and eventually he wins out. He finishes the song, and the rest of the record rests on his sturdy shoulders.

Ronnie by Ron Wood

I just finished reading Ronnie by Ron Wood, guitarist for the Rolling Stones and I enjoyed the book quite a bit. The book can be a little frustrating in times because at first Wood doesn't deal with things in a strictly chronological way which can be a bit confusing. And his discussion of his time in the Faces is pretty brief and mostly about destroying hotels. I would love to have heard a bit about the Rod Stewart solo album thing that Wood was involved in. Wood's book also seems to be mostly a series of anecdotes rather than a more organized look at his life, understandable since he spent most of it drunk or stoned. It appears that Wood is sober now although he still seems to have a rather casual attitude about drugs and booze. This is in sharp contrast to Clapton's autobiography which is really the story of his recovery. Wood's is a trip through his life of debauchery and, while he expresses regret at a few of the things that he did that were not very smart, most of the time he just laughs his way through them.

But, those issues aside, this is an engaging book and the writing is easy-going and fun. Wood's personality really comes through. It was my intention, since I'm not much of a Rolling Stones fan, to just dip into the book here and there. But the first chapter grabbed me so quickly that I soon found myself reading it all. Many of the characters in this book show up in the recent books by Eric Clapton and Patti Boyd (see my reviews here and here) so it is interesting to see yet another perspective on this. Ronnie is hardly the definitive biography of Ron Wood – it's not nearly comprehensive enough for that and there are too many anecdotes and not a complete look at his life. But it is an engaging look at someone who has lived the rock and roll lifestyle to the hilt and has lived to tell about it.

Apple Stores

Grand Rapids has an Apple Store and my son, an Apple fan, often gets me to go in there with him. It's not a hardship for me because the store is a great place and they have cool stuff. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks that way. Here is a New York Times article that says the same thing.

My book arrives!

My book arrived! You can get your own copy here.

Phil Keaggy – The Master and Musician 30th Anniversary Edition

A little over thirty years ago, when I was a student at Calvin College, a band of Christian musicians came to campus to give a concert. The band was called Wing and a Prayer and it was many of the players from the influential band Love Song, which had recently disbanded. I got to hang out with them for the day as they set up and prepared to give the concert and their bass player Jay Truax asked me if I had ever heard of Phil Keaggy. I had not. He told me that I absolutely had to get a hold of his album, Love Broke Thru. I did and that was how I started listening to Keaggy's music. I have been doing it pretty consistently ever since. One of the first albums of Phil's that I bought as soon as It came out was The Master and the Musician, an instrumental album that was a real eye opener. Keaggy combined influences from rock, folk and jazz along with delicate arrangements to make a wonderful album that still remains one of his finest.

In celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Master and Musician, Keaggy has released a new edition, remastered and sounding wonderful, along with a bonus CD of out-takes, interviews and commentary. The sound on the remastered M&M is simply wonderful. The guitar sounds are clear and distinct and I am hearing things that I have never heard before. This has made a great album even better. The bonus CD is interesting but I don't think it is going to get lots and lots of play – it's the sort of thing you listen to while you're studying the album but not just for casual listening. The commentaries, interviews and alternate partial mixes are fascinating, though and will help me understand the album better as I listen to it anew.

This is a wonderful reissue of a landmark album. You can pick it up from Phil's website. (As you can see, I got a signed copy.)

The internet allows us to see the ghosts of Christmas Past

This is, apparently, from the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. This scene marks the "Life Day Ceremony." Any additional comment would be superfluous.

My Musical Year - 2007

Throughout the year I have written about a number of the CDs that I spent time listening to. I was glancing at a couple of online top-ten lists and realized that I have listened to very few of the albums in these lists. This may be a factor of my advanced age but I really do try to stay up on things. I bought, for example, new albums by Rilo Kiley, A Fine Frenzy, Mae, Norah Jones, and Arcade Fire but I still feel like I've been out of touch with cutting edge music. I try to stay caught up by downloading the songs of the week from iTunes and by reading Paste magazine and listening to the sampler CD but, frankly, I end up deleting most of the stuff I get because I'm not wild about it. And even though I listen to songs by Brenda Carlisle and Amy Winehouse I just don't like it well enough to want to listen to a while lot more. I guess I'm just old.

So, with that disclaimer, here is my list of albums that really grabbed me this year. As in years past, this is not the best of the year, per se, it's the stuff that I spent the most time actually listening to. So this is the stuff that I clearly liked the most.

• Memory Almost Full – Paul McCartney
  The single most listened to album of the year for me, hands down, is Paul McCartney's latest. It seems almost cliché that I would pick a Beatles album but, the fact is, I listened to this album a LOT this year. I just really liked it. See my review here.
  
• The Circling Hour – Iona
  I spent a lot of time listening to Iona this year and The Circling Hour just might be one of their best ever albums. Outstanding music with great lyrics. My review is here.
  
• Instant Karma – various artists
  The John Lennon songbook as interpreted by artists as diverse as U2, Green Day and REM. This one spent a lot of time on my iPod and also in my car. Great songs. My review is here.
  
• The Song Within – Phil Keaggy
  I have loved Phil's playing for years and it is a real treat to have him hit one out of the park this year. This instrumental album is one of my all time favorite Keaggy albums. My review is here.
  
• Neon Bible – Arcade Fire
  Bethany recently wrote about this on her blog and I waited for a long time to write about it because I felt like I didn't understand it very well. Musically it is quite dense and lyrically it confuses me but I really do like it – I'm just not sure why. Here is what Bethany had to say about it, though.
  

There were, of course, other albums that I enjoyed: Tell Me What You Know by Sara Groves, The Silence of Everything Yearned For by Ric Hordinski, both The Trumpet Child and Live from Nowhere, Vol 2 by Over the Rhine, Singularity by Mae, Overdressed by Caedmon's Call (my review is here) and Letters to the Editor, Vol 1 by Andrew Osenga (download it for FREE here) are all honorable mention albums but they just didn't have the staying power in my iPod and player that these other albums did.

So there is my list. I also rediscovered a lot of of music this year like the Andrew Osenga catalog and Iona's music and that was a lot of fun.

Paul McCartney - The McCartney Years - Another Review

Here is a review of The McCartney Years written by someone who was predisposed to dislike it. I found his take interesting.

In case you missed it, here is my review.

Pattie Boyd – Perhaps Not So Wonderful

As a fan of both the Beatles and of Eric Clapton, I found the idea of an auto- biography of Pattie Boyd, the woman who had married both Eric and George Harrison, to be one that I couldn't miss. She had a front row seat to the all of the post Hard Day's Night Beatles and to Clapton's years with Derek and the Dominoes and his early solo Career. Boyd is Layla! So I was anxious to read Pattie's story called Wonderful Tonight. I thought this would be interesting not only as a person who has read a lot of Beatles books but I had recently read Clapton's autobiography. The difference between them is striking. I thought that Eric's book is, curiously, the better written of the two. I say that this is curious because Boyd's is basically written by her collaborator, Penny Junor, while Clapton rewrote his ghost-written book himself. More striking, though, is that Eric rewrote his book because he said it was too easy to blame other people in the ghost-written version. Blaming themselves is something that recovering addicts seem to do well. They know that the things that they do when they're drunk are not someone else's fault. In contrast, Boyd is eager to lay her problems at the feet of lots of other people; her parents, Harrison, Clapton, etc. I'm sure that living with these people was no picnic but Boyd seems to take little responsibility for her seemingly constant drinking. (She was bad enough that Clapton wrote the song "Shape You're In" about and to her.) Near the end of the book she simultaneously writes about being short on money but yet traveling to exotic places, something those of us who are not high rollers have a hard time understanding.

To make matters worse there are a couple of errors that, while they're not a big deal, are irritating. Boyd talks about the wonderful Harrison song, "Something," that he wrote for her. Unfortunately, she says that it's on the White Album instead of on Abbey Road, where it really is. Then, near the end of the book she said that she had to sell a rare guitar because she needed the money – she sold a "1960 Les Paul Stratocaster." As any guitar player knows there are Gibson Les Pauls and there are Fender Stratocasters. What she wrote is the equivalent of saying that she has a Cadillac Mustang. She clearly doesn't really know what we had.

But quibbles aside Wonderful Tonight is just not a great book. Her story, especially as it gets near the end, just isn't interesting enough, which seems hard to believe. Beatles fans who have read other books about them will learn nothing new here. Clapton fans might find this new perspective interesting but, frankly, she doesn't add much to that story either. So, if you want to read it, do what I did – check it out of the library. I'm unlikely to ever want to refer back to it.

Lennon, 27 years later

On this 27^th anniversary of John Lennon's death it's hard to believe that I continue to discover new things in his music but 2007 was a year of rediscovery for me with respect to Lennon's solo music. This was due mostly to the Instant Karma collection which helped me to realize that the songs themselves, not just the performances, were powerful. After hearing those I went back and listened to many of his original recordings to find that, even after all these years, they still sound great. I've written before about Lennon and his influence on my music. As a member of the Beatles he was a driving force behind their work and his writing and singing in that band set the standard for pop music for the next four decades. It certainly would have been interesting to see what would have happened had be not been killed so early – would he, like Paul, have continued to make music consistently throughout his life, expanding into classical music perhaps? I think that's unlikely. I think it is more likely that he would have, like George, led a mostly private life emerging occasionally with new music when it suited him and I think that, while that music would have continued to show remarkable growth, that he would continue being primarily influenced by the most basic of rock influences. John was a rocker and, when push came to shove, old rock and roll was not just one of his primary influences (as it was with Paul,) it was THE influence. I don't think he would have strayed far from that.

Revolver – the best Beatles album?

I am once again going through all the Beatles albums in order on my commute. As I have mentioned before, I have a six-CD changer in my car and two of those slots have Beatles in them. I've allowed each Beatles album to stay in the rotation for two plays and then I switch it out for the next one. Today I heard what I have long considered the best Beatles album, Revolver, and I was reminded why I like it so much. It's almost all there – all the things that are great about the Beatles are present on Revolver. George Harrison has a rocker ("Taxman,") a song with Indian influence ("Love You To,") and a mid tempo song ("I Want to Tell You,") all of which are among his best Beatles era compositions. John Lennon is cryptic ("She Said She Said,") experimental ("Tomorrow Never Knows,") and produces a couple of great standard mid-era Beatles songs ("Doctor Robert," "And Your Bird Can Sing.") Paul McCartney is clearly starting to work outside the bounds of two-guitars-bass-drums with some of his songs adding strings ("Eleanor Rigby,") brass ("Got to Get You Into My Life,") and French Horn ("For No One,") while writing some of the most memorable melodies of his career ("Here, There and Everywhere.") Even Ringo's throwaway novelty tune is the iconic "Yellow Submarine." The performances are top-notch and we see that the band is starting to develop distinct individual personalities while still operating as a unit.

Revolver is sometimes overshadowed by it's successor, Sgt Pepper because it had such a huge influence on the culture when it was released. And, frankly, at the time, Revolver was "just another Beatles album." George has even said that he sees Revolver and Rubber Soul as basically parts one and two of the same album but I think he undersells this album. This is ironic, really, because this album has more of his compositions than any album before and it shows him stepping up as a composer. It also shows some of John and Paul's strongest work. This isn't to say that the albums made before and after this one were weak. It's hard to think of Rubber Soul and Sgt Pepper as anything other than unqualified successes. But time has shown that Revolver found the Beatles at the top of their game.

Rediscovering Iona’s Back Catalog – The Book of Kells

I've written recently about the latest album by Iona and how much I have been enjoying it. In addition to still listening to The Circling Hour, I have been also working my way, slowly, backward in their catalog and enjoying their older albums. I must say, this is a wealth of excellent music. I have worked my way back to their second album, Book of Kells from 1992, which I remember reading a long time ago was considered the best of their first four albums. I've had it for a very long time and I remember it being a sometimes tough album to "get." Reading reviews on Amazon and on iTunes, some of the people there clearly didn't think it was their best, in fact, the reviews were often lukewarm. This puzzled me so when it came time to start listening to Book of Kells I was anxious to hear it with new ears. Having listened to it a number of times over the past week or so I am more convinced than ever that this album is a highlight of their early years.

The Book of Kells is an illuminated copy of the gospels which was made in about 800 AD and is now housed at Trinity College in Dublin. On my trip to Ireland three years ago I actually stopped at Trinity College and was in the same building as this book. I nearly stopped in to see it but time was short. The Book of Kells is the inspiration for this album which is a reflection on the gospels as well as on this particular artisitic rendition of the gospels. The lyrics reflect the ancient character of the book itself and displays a reverence for God's word and for the saints who went before us. The music is ethereal and powerful. The band plays with both force and finesse. Joanne Hogg's voice is spectacular, of course. This album has some compelling melodies although a lot of the music is evocative more than it is melodic so a cursory trip though this album will not reveals all it's treasures. My suspicion is that the people who gave it a lukewarm review did not give it sufficient time to sink in. I think it is a wonderful artistic statement and a great album.

George Harrison - six years ago

A year ago, on the fifth anniversary of his death, I wrote this about George Harrison. I still mean it.

I have continued to listen to George's music over the past year, including and especially his work with the Traveling Wilburys (who's album re-release I reviewed here.) I have been working my way through the Beatles releases (in order, of course) in my car and I'm up to Help! and Rubber Soul. I have had these albums for over 40 years and they still sound great to me. Remarkable.

The Song Within – Phil Keaggy

I got a copy of The Song Within that doesn't skip now and I have been able to hear the whole thing a number of times and it is simply the best Phil Keaggy album in years. Phil's albums are all over the map stylistically. One never knows what you're going to get when you hear that Phil has a new album coming out. Just recently he has released an album of electric jams (Jammed!), acoustic improvs based on loops (Roundabout) a vocal album of original songs (Dream Again) and an album of cover songs with guest vocalists (Acoustic Café.) And all of this is just 2006 and 2007!

So now we get The Song Within which I almost didn't order because I heard that it was made specifically for McPherson Guitars. Now, don't misunderstand my hesitation – I have nothing against McPherson Guitars. I've never played one but I understand that they're great. I just figured that this would be an album in which Phil sits down and just plays whatever comes to him which is great in concert and in small doses on recordings but having just bought two of those in a row (Jammed and Roundabout) I wasn't ready for another one. But I read a good review of this album and decided to give it a go – and, truth be told, I haven't failed to buy a Keaggy album yet so the question wasn't if I would buy it as much as when I would.

Much to my surprise, this is the most composed Keaggy instrumental album in quite some time. My all-time favorite instrumental albums of his are the ones that are most composed and arranged, The Master and the Musician (which has a 2-CD 30^th anniversary edition just available!) and Beyond Nature. The Song Within has some echoes of those two albums along with a nice warm sound of it's own. The concept of this album is that Phil has rethought some of his own past music and has used these familiar chord progressions and riffs to make completely new instrumental versions. For example, from his very first album, the chord progression for "What A Day" becomes the progression for a new song, "Water Day." On first listen I didn't catch the similarity (nor the punny title) but, after hearing something sort of familiar, I realized what it was. Similarly, Phil quotes himself in song after song, and part of the fun is finding the song hidden within the new song. (Get it? The song within!)

But that's only part of it. Phil plays beautifully and his arrangements are always tasteful and at times breathtaking. He is augmented by a percussionist and keyboard player and that's where I hear echoes of Beyond Nature, one of Phil's career highlights. Because I listen to so much music I rarely play new albums over and over and over – this is one that I have done that with. It's that good. Well done, Phil!

The McCartney Years DVD set

After having it for two weeks I finally managed to see all of the three DVD set, The McCartney Years and, I must say, I truly enjoyed it. In fact, I'm almost ready to go at it all over again. This set covers McCartney's music videos starting with "Maybe I'm Amazed" (from the 1970 album McCartney) all the way to "Fine Line" from the 2005 release, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Now I often have a short attention span for music videos but, as I discovered with the U2 video sets, given the right circumstances I find them quite enjoyable. These must be the right circumstances. These videos, spread out over the two DVDs, have been cleaned up and presented in as good a quality as we could expect for some of them (although the early Wings videos are a bit grainy and homespun.) On the other hand, the more recent ones are in great shape. The first disc covers from the first video to the videos from Tug of War (1980.) Most of these feature Paul's band Wings and, while they are a lot of fun, sometimes they scream "seventies." On the other hand, the second disc, featuring the years from 1980 to the present, feature Paul as a solo artist and with his 1990-era backing band – the one that he made Flowers in the Dirt and Off the Ground with as well as two world tours. These videos are, of course, of varying quality but I really enjoyed watching them, especially disc two.

In addition to these videos there are extras like Paul on a British talk show and the "Mull of Kintyre" alternate video as well as the documentary Creating Chaos at Abbey Road. These are nice additions to the set and make it feel much more complete. There are also audio commentaries on about half of the videos and you can play them in chronological order or in Paul's playlist order.

Things change a bit for disc three as we turn to excerpts from three live shows, the Wings classic film, Rockshow from the mid 70's, the Unplugged set from around 1990 and the more recent Glastonbury concert with Paul's current band line-up. The extras from this disc include Paul's Live-Aid performance (with commentary) and his Super Bowl Halftime Show. Each of the menu screens also includes rare pieces of film that are a nice bonus. I found these concert extras to be really fun and, while many fans are complaining that we should really get the whole of Rockshow and of Unplugged, I just enjoyed what we had and didn't worry too much about what we didn't. This set really is jam packed with stuff and it's remarkably interesting. There was never any question that I would have to get this set - I'm clearly a McCartney fan. But I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I have. This is very well done and it will be a real treat for Beatles fans.

Skipping Keaggy

I was excited yesterday to pick up U2's Joshua Tree remaster yesterday at Best Buy on the way home from work but it was especially cool to find my order from Amazon waiting for me at home because it had the new Phil Keaggy album, The Song Within inside. I did not get a chance to listen to either last night (still working on the Christmas play) but on the way in this morning I excitedly put Keaggy in the car CD player and enjoyed the first track immensely. The second track was so good that I thought "this might be the best Phil Keaggy album in years!" Then I got to the third track and it started skipping in my player!

After a little coaxing I gave up, ejected the album and (since I didn't bring U2 in the car with me) started playing the latest Michael W Smith Christmas album which, I must say, continues to grow on me.

So a review of the Keaggy album won't happen for a while but I'm more excited about it than I was before. I've already contacted Amazon.

Christmas Music

Laura and I have written a lot of Christmas plays. In fact, we're working on one right now. That means we also listen to a lot of Christmas music. We have a LOT of Christmas CDs in our collection and when the season rolls around again I like to get them out and get myself in a Christmassy mood. I started a bit early this year because I'm trying to find the muse for our latest Christmas play but also because I don't want to just hear each album once – I want to relish the good ones. Which ones are the good ones? I'm glad you asked. Here are my favorites.

• Gloria – various artists (produced by Charlie Peacock and Scott Dente)
• Amy Grant - Home for Christmas
  
• City on a Hill – It's Christmastime – various artists (produced by Denny Daugherty and Steve Hindalong)
  
• O Come Let Us Adore Him – various artists (produced by Steve Hindalong and Marc Byrd)
  
• Celtic Woman – A Christmas Celebration
• Over the Rhine – Snow Angels
  
• 
  
• Phil Keaggy – Majesty and Wonder
  
• One Silent Night – various artists (produced by Monroe Jones)
• Your King Has Come – various artists (exec producer, Matthew Smith)
  
• Sarah McLaughlin – Wintersong
  
• Sherri Youngward – The Sky Can Still Remember
  

Sherri Youngward is a new artist for me and I just got this album so I'm not sure it's going to stay in my favorites but it stands a pretty good chance. The new Michael W Smith Christmas album is growing on me and it might end up on this list too. It's been in my car for more than a week now and I'm discovering more that I like each time I play it. An early infatuation with the new Jars of Clay Christmas CD is fading pretty quickly. My love for the Sufjan Stevens Christmas Songs set also isn't what it once was.

I find myself astonished that CCM artists who almost always have a high Jesus content in all their music (like Point of Grace or Kathy Troccoli or Avalon to name just a few) will include seasonal songs (rather than songs about Christ's birth) on their albums. Why do the rules change at Christmas? Don't misunderstand me - I'm not saying that these people should only ever sing songs with lots of JPMs (Jesus per minute) in them - it's just that why is Christmas the only time that they appear to break this rule?

Greatest Hits: If I could only take three CDs along with me they would probably be

• One Silent Night,
• Gloria
• It's Christmastime.
  

All three of them feature wonderful new songs (along with a few traditional carols) performed and arranged beautifully.

Best. Socks. Ever.

This is a public service announcement.

About a year and a half ago I got some new socks. And they were great. Really great. I've worn socks for a long time but these socks were like the best socks I've ever worn. I'm not really a sock kind of guy but these are different. They're great socks. Dockers Essential Rib.

And tonight we got more of them. I won't get them until Christmas but I'm already stoked.

Really.

Iona – The Circling Hour

I've been doing a lot of listening lately and I haven't written about much of the new music I've been listening to. When I get new music I put it in my car and on my computer and iPod. I listen to a random mix of music on my computer – a semi-complicated system that involves several playlists to make sure that new music gets mixed in at a higher rate than older stuff and I hit everything on my computer (all 20 GB) every 90 days or so. So in many ways the real test of how a new album is sticking with me is how long it lives in my car. I have a 45 minute commute every morning and afternoon and these days it's NPR in the morning and CDs in the afternoon. I usually keep things pretty fluid in my 6-CD changer in the Honda but one CD has stayed in the player since I first got it earlier this fall, The Circling Hour by Iona.

Iona, named after the Island of Iona, one of the "thin places," places where the distance between this world and the next are said to be particularly thin. Iona, an Irish group, often takes their lyrical inspiration from ancient texts, the words of saints who have written about their experiences with God and His world. Through using these old texts, the band has formed a bridge between those of us who are followers of Christ today and those brothers and sisters who have gone before. Many of their albums (The Circling Hour is their sixth studio album) are built around a theme. For example, Journey Into the Morn, their fourth album takes its inspiration from the hymn "Be Thou My Vision." The Circling Hour focuses on the beauty of creation.

The style of the music of Iona is progressive rock with heavy doses of traditional Irish music (sometimes using Irish instruments) topped off with the ethereal vocals of Joanne Hogg. Instrumentally, the band is top-notch. Guitarist and band leader David Bainbridge plays jaw-droppingly good solos frequently but one never gets the impression that he's just out to impress the listener. A somewhat recent addition to the band's sound is the violin (played by drummer Frank Van Essen) which soars above the band's sound. The whole album is wonderful, bringing the wash of sound that often characterizes much of Iona's music with tuneful melodies and thoughtful lyrics. To my ears, the last two Iona albums (this one and Open Sky) have been their best. Definitely worth checking out.

McCartney Years DVD trailer

Nov 13 - I'm planning on getting it!

My visit to New Mexico

This weekend I visited Rehoboth, New Mexico and the program for Education Students that Calvin has there. I had a wonderful time. The program is great and the students who go there get the experience of working in an environment that is quite different from Western Michigan in both the natural surroundings but also in culture.

I visited with the students and with Ron and Judy Sjoerdsma who are running the program this semester. I got to see my students involved at Rehoboth Christian School and also at two local public schools. I even got to go to TWO fall festivals – the one at Indian Hills School where our students were helping out was called a "spooktacular!"

Finally, on Saturday I got to visit the Acoma Pueblo. It was spectacular, as you can see from this picture. But I'm home safe and sound and excited about what our students get to experience on their New Mexico semester!

Clapton – The Autobiography

I just finished reading Eric Clapton's autobiography and found it to be a fascinating and powerful story. I recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed his music over the years and in reading it you really get a sense of Clapton's voice. This feels almost more like he is sitting in the room telling his story – the writing is very conversational and clear.

Generally, I felt that it was too short. Cream, for example, gets one chapter and there is so much more to say about those days that I'd like to hear some of the other stories. But in fairness, this book is really in many ways the story of Clapton's slide into drug addiction and alcoholism and his recovery. That is clearly the story he wants to tell because he considers that primary. His secondary story, it seems, is that he now, after 20 years of sobriety, has sorted out the mess he made of his life and has a young wife and a family who he dearly loves. In fact, the last part of the book may actually be a little long as he celebrates how ordinary his life has become. It's hard to begrudge him spending those pages on his happy days, especially after being so candid about his failings early on in the book.

I wish there had been a bit more about the making of the music but then again I almost always say that about first person accounts by musicians. The making of music is hard to talk about and who played what and why is incredibly boring for all but a few of us music nerds so I can see that those things are toned down in books like this. And, frankly, his life was about a lot more than recording albums, even though that is the only part I got to see before this.

It is interesting to me, not having known the story of his addiction and alcoholism well before this, that the point at which he got sober matches well with the point at which I think his playing improved. I consider Journeyman to be a turning point album for him (and I did at the time too) and it turns out that this is soon after he stopped drinking. In fact, his recorded output has been quite strong from that point on. Not surprising.

So overall, this is a fine book, one that I'm sure I'll enjoy picking up again and reading certain passages from, especially when I'm listening to his music for a certain era.

Reformed Worship | Faking It

Here is an excellent article that my daughter Bethany wrote and published in Reformed Worship. It was actually published a little while ago but just now got online.

Laura and I have a series of articles on Faith Formation in Worship that began in issue #85 (the issue after the one with Bethany's article) and will run for four issues. We just turned in the third article.

Speaking of Bethany, her "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks continues to gain popularity and is more frequently getting mentioned in both the internet and mainstream press. If you haven't been there yet you should go visit.

Producer David Kahn talks about memory Almost Full

Here is a wonderful interview with Paul McCartney's producer David Kahn about the making of Memory Almost Full. I've written before about how much I like this album and it's fun to get a little more inside info.

24 Season One – not so sure about Nina

Warning: in case you haven't watched Season One of 24 yet, there are spoilers in this review.

I'm watching the first season of 24 again. It's been a little over a year since I got the DVDs for the first season and I'm really enjoying watching them again. One of the things that is fun, of course, is knowing what's going to happen and then seeing if there are any hints along the way that, had I been smart enough the first time through, could have lead me to guess what might happen. The big surprise at the end of season one is that Nina, who is seen as Jack's primary confidant, turns out to be a traitor. So, I thought to myself, were there hints of this earlier in the season?

I come to the conclusion that there are absolutely no hints about this until possibly the end of episode 21 – and even then it is just maybe a look in her eye. This is the point at which I think we have the very first bad thing that goes on where Nina might be complicit – how else would the bad guys know that Kim is on her way back to CTU in the police car unless someone in CIT told them?

Earlier there had been the hit on the safe house in something like episode 15 which may or may not have been set up by Nina. I don't think it was - at least I don't think the writers knew it at the time becasue she was there helping Teri and Kim. She left the house because Teri got weird about Nina's relationship with Jack, not because she knew a hit was coming. It could be argued that she used Teri's weirdness as a convenient excuse to get out of there but I really think the writers just wanted her out of there to keep her safe and put Teri and Kim in danger. I don't think they decided that Nina was a traitor until near the end of the season.

OK, 24 watchers – what do you think? What did I miss?

A Beatles Bike Ride

Today I took a bike ride around Holland and realized that it was the perfect ride for Beatles fans. I nearly rode on Harrison St, then I actually did ride on Blue Jay (although there was no fog.) But things really became very Beatle-y for me when I passed Pony Lane (which was in both my ears and my eyes.) As I was passing Pony Lane, my iPod (which was set on shuffle) started playing "We Can Work it Out." It was almost perfect.

The story of the US versions of Beatles albums – part two

(read this first)

In 1966, after the Beatles played their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco they took a little time off and then dove back into the studio to work on their next album, what was meant to be an album of reflections on their childhood. They took a long time to record this album – not by modern standards but by their previous standards. They had churned out two albums and four singles a year for a while and now, spending this much time on one album made their fans, the press and others wonder if they had "lost it." In fact, it took so long that when Christmas came around with no new Beatles album to sell, Parlophone put out a collection of the songs that had been on singles but not on albums. That collection was called A Collection of Beatles Oldies (but Goldies). There is no comparable US album because these songs had all appeared on the various US albums already.

But the world wanted new Beatles music too so their manager persuaded them to take two of the songs from their forthcoming album and release them as a single – one by Lennon ("Strawberry Fields Forever") and one by McCartney ("Penny Lane") – in both the UK and the US. This single accomplished two things. It showed they still "had it" and it effectively took the heart out of their forthcoming album of songs about their childhood. So they refocused their energy, used a wacky idea of McCartney's of pretending to be another band and finally finished the new album - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was obvious, even to the business folk at US Capitol Records, that they couldn't carve up this album, subtract songs or mess with it in any way so the US and UK versions of this album are practically identical. (I've never seen this in print anywhere but I'm not convinced that the US version had the run-out groove that we now hear at the end of the CD version of this album. I'd love to hear from someone who bought it in the US and had it on theirs – I'm pretty sure mine didn't.)

The Beatles actually didn't record another album next. They did a few singles ("Hello Goodbye," and "All You Need is Love") and made a film, Magical Mystery Tour, and recorded songs for that film. Those songs, the soundtrack to the album, were released in the UK as a double EP – two 7" singles packaged together with three songs on each disc. The US company knew that the American buyers didn't know much about EPs – they had never really taken off here in the US – and took those six MMT songs, combined them with the recent singles and made an album which they also called Magical Mystery Tour. This is the one case where this idea made so much sense (both musically and economically) that the UK eventually followed suit and released it in this form too – that's why you can get a CD like that.

The Beatles continued to release both albums and singles in the UK and the US but by this time the pattern was well established and they were the same on both sides of the Atalantic – with one exception. In 1969, between the release of Abbey Road and Let it Be, the US got antsy for more new stuff to sell and gathered the singles that had not been released up to that point including "Hey Jude," "Revolution," "The Ballad of John and Yoko," and even "I Should Have Known Better" from 1964 which hadn't been on a US album yet, and put out another album with no title on the cover. The first edition (which I still have) had the name Hey Jude on the spine of the record sleeve but it had The Beatles Again printed on the album itself. Later pressings were just called Hey Jude.

After Let It Be, the Beatles final album, was released in the US and UK, Parlophone released an album called Rarities, which collected b-sides, songs that had only been on EPs in the UK (like "Matchbox") and things like "Bad Boy" which had been recorded specifically with a US audience in mind and released on Beatles '65 but never released in the UK. Since the US had already released all these things on the albums there was no comparable US release – except they, too, made an album of Rarities which had a few alternate takes, mono mixes, one or two songs that actually didn't get on US albums (like "Misery.") It, as well as a 1977 release of The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl, has never been released on CD.

So, there it is. If you buy the CDs you'll find the UK albums as well as two collections called Past Masters Vols 1 and 2 which contain all the tracks that aren't on the UK albums – things like the singles, b-sides, EPs and other things. Other collections (Like 1 and Love) have been identical around the world. So, Kathy, does that answer your question? :)

The story of the U.S. versions of the Beatles albums

I got an email from my friend Kathy this week that said this:

"The Tunas played 'I'll Be Back' the other night, and I had a hankering to listen to it. I went through our Beatles (British) CD's and couldn't find it. It's possible I missed it, and it's definite that I grew up on the American albums and cannot identify which British album it's from. (Beatles VI?)

Pete and I were discussing this over dinner, and he said - Why don't you call Bob; he'll have the answer, he'll enjoy giving it, and you'll enjoy hearing it.

All true, except that I didn't call you.

Now we're wondering if perhaps you'd like to blog about the concept of American vs. British sequencing."

Everything Pete said was true – this is just the kind of trivial knowledge I love to share. So I figured I could either share it with my family and watch them roll their eyes or invent meetings that they suddenly remembered or I can write about this. So, here I am. This confusion never existed back in the days of vinyl records because all we had were the U.S. albums. Things became more complicated for us in the States when the CDs came out, wisely issued in their original UK configurations, the way the Beatles intended them. But for those of you who, like me, bought albums that weren't available on CD (until the fairly recent Capitol Albums collections) back in the 60's, here is a primer.

Back in the early days of the Beatles, they recorded their albums and singles on the Parlophone label, a division of EMI. Notice that I said albums and singles. Back then the singles were separate from the albums so if you just bought the albums you missed the big hits. The idea was that British teens wouldn't spend their money on albums if they already had all the best songs on singles. This was back in the days of rock and roll when singles were king and artists would quickly knock out enough songs to fill out an album. The Beatles didn't do that. Their albums are legendary and they didn't include their amazing singles. Songs that were just on singles in the UK are many of the ones you know and love; "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Feel Fine" and even later ones like "Hey Jude" and "Penny Lane."

So the Beatles recorded their first three singles on Parlophone and pretty quickly had hits in England helped, in part, by the fact that their manager, Brian Epstein, owned a record store in Liverpool. There is talk that he bought enough copies of "Love Me Do," their first single, to at least get it on the charts. Whether that really happened or not isn't clear. What is clear, though, is that Capitol Records in the U.S. wasn't interested in releasing the Beatles records, even though they were also owned by EMI. They had first refusal and, when they did, the records were shopped around to small independent labels like VJ and Swan. (This is a picture of the Swan version of the "She Loves You" single.)

When the Beatles made their first album, Please Please Me (a rare case in which the smash single was included on the album) Capitol refused that as well so an album with many of those songs was released on VJ Records in the U.S. making almost no splash over on this side of the Atlantic. I say "many of the songs" because the U.S. was accustomed to shorter albums with only 12 songs and the British albums had 14 songs. So the Beatles continued to release singles and put out a couple of huge hits in England, "She Loves You," which, unbelievably, the U.S. Capitol still refused to put out, and "I Want To Hold Your Hand," which was such a hit in the UK that Capitol finally gave in an released it. The American response to that song was overwhelming.

Once the American flood gates opened the rush of Beatles material in the U.S was amazing because by the time they came to the U.S. they had released their second UK album – another 14 songs worth. So when Capitol released the "first" Beatles album in the U.S. (Meet the Beatles) they used mostly songs (and the cover photo) from the Beatles second UK album. They used a few songs from their first album (like "I Saw Her Standing There") plus the hit U.S. single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and made an album out of it. So there were well over 30 Beatles songs to choose from and Capitol selected 12 to put on their first album. This meant that their was plenty of "new" material for their second U.S. album called The Beatles' Second Album, to be released almost immediately. It sold on the strength of their second big U.S. single, "She Loves You," which was actually recorded and released before "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in England.

So by this time the connection between US and UK albums was mostly gone. And the Beatles were churning stuff out at such a prodigious rate that Capitol had a hard time finding a way to include the stuff from their first album on subsequent releases. Finally they released an album called The Early Beatles which took care of most (but not all) of the first UK album stuff that they had missed. To complicate things the songs in the movie A Hard Day's Night were licensed to United Artists so there was a soundtrack album for the movie from one US company, and a new album called Something New From the Beatles from another company (Capitol) neither of which matched the UK album A Hard Days' Night but which had some of the same songs. By the way, this is the album that includes the song "I'll be Back" which Kathy asked about in her letter.

So Capitol was playing mix and match with Beatles songs and albums and, along the way, even missing a few songs completely. "I Should Have Known Better," a song from 1964's A Hard Day's Night, never got on a U.S. Beatles album until 1970! This mash-up of album tracks and singles kept up with a few US albums having no clear UK counterpart. This gives us albums like Beatles '65 and Beatles VI which kind of straddle the UK albums Beatles for Sale and Help. (although, just to confuse things, there was a US version of Help with only the songs from the movie plus orchestrated soundtrack stuff while the UK version of Help had additional songs.)

Then Capitol at least started making albums that were similar – the US and UK versions of Rubber Soul and Revolver are close to being the same but are not identical with songs from the UK Help on the US Rubber Soul, songs missing on the US versions of both. There were almost enough songs left over that a whole new US album called Yesterday and Today was released which picked up the tracks that hadn't been used elsewhere. In an amazing move the U.S. actually grabbed a couple of tracks from the UK version of Revolver that hadn't been released yet to include on Yesterday and Today.

So, by the end of 1966, when the Beatles took a break from touring and cloistered themselves in the studio to make Sgt Pepper all of their US and UK albums had only a passing similarity. Of course, those of us who were teens in the US had no idea that any of this was going on. We just happily shelled out our money and wore the grooves down on our records.

This is enough for now. I'll finish the story in another post. EDIT: The story is continued here.