[via Waxy] WFMU’s Beware of the Blog has an interesting set of MP3s showing what was probably the only Psychedelic Christian radio show, created and hosted by one Pastor John Rydgren in 1967. Here’s their description:
Radio and Film Department of the American Lutheran Church. Years
before the words “Jesus” and “Freak” became joined at the rib, the
straight-looking Rydgren created a daily radio show called Silhouette in which he became the reassuring, resonant-voiced Hippy for God. Rydgren wrote, announced and programmed Silhouette, taking his musical and cultural cues from The Electric Prunes, Herb Alpert and the cover of Time (Is God Dead?), with a vocal delivery that was straight out of the Tom Donahue / Scott Muni / Ken Nordine
school of breathy baritone radio seduction. Silhouette
dropped
all the counter-cultural codewords of the day into a heady mix of
Peace, Love, Sex, Drugs and Jesus. Not to mention Fuzzy Guitars.
The blog entry has 19 MP3s of segments of the show and has some comic panels illustrating Rydgren’s hippie reinterpretation of Psalm 23.
And yeah, he really does have a Ken Nordine-like delivery!
By the way, for those of you not familiar with the 23rd Psalm, it’s the
one that begins with “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” and
also has the classic bit, “Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me.”
(See, Mom? I was paying attention in Sunday school!)
The King James Bible version:
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’ sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
3 replies on “When Jesus Got Groovy”
Like, oh wow, man! I can use some of this as sermon material for Sunday. . . or for Joey and Wendy’s wedding!
But ow, my eyes hurt now!
Wendy’s mother is not grooving on AKMA latest notion for homily material. Just so that you’ll know.