Now I'm a Jesus Freak! 
Artist: Wilson McKinley 
Label: Tagniak Productions
 
It's funny to think that notoriously atheistic Frank Zappa had some philosophical commonality with Pacific Northwest Christian hippie band Wilson McKinley. In a similar way to Zappa packaging some of his most bootlegged concert recordings into a bot set he released on his own label, the group seemingly named for a couple of U.S. presidents has reissued their first two studio albums--and a generous selection of other material--on Now I'm a Jesus Freak!

The first of those repackaged longplayers, 1971's Spirit of Elijah, has sold for hundreds of dollars in its original LP form and--here's where the Zappa parallel enters--has been pirated by at least one psychedelic rock reissue label (not as uncommon a practice among quality Christian hippie rock as one might think). The album's mix of nascent country rock, garagey production and vocal harmonies that might have passed for Three Dog Night's understudies makes it tough to fault those who would deprive the band its rightful royalty money if it would make their music more easily available.

The band, believers for about a year at the time of recording, brims with the sunny energy commonly associated with holy hippies of the time, but minor key explorations such as the apocalyptic titular track and a fierce run through "We Are One in the Spirit," have probably upped demand among psychedelia collectors. 

And perhaps unsurprisingly, WMcK mined lyrical themes their hirsute musical kin in Christ were tackling further down the West Coast;"Come On Home" reflects the Lord's original intention to have communion with Him just as on "Welcome Back" by contemporaneous Southern Californians in Love Song. And remaking "His Eye Is On The Sparrow' must have given some comfort to listeners not yet convinced of the idea of shaggy young saints adapting their generation's vernacular music to godly use.

The next year's WMcK release, Heaven's Gonna Be A Blast!, is notable not only for matching its predecessor in quality. The album's Roy Lichtenstein-alike pop-art/comic book cover would be a hoot to see in its intended 12"x12" dimension and I continue to believe it was an inspiration for the first cover for Bob Dylan's Shot of Love. 

Musically, the catchiest of the set's nine tunes may be its briefest and lengthiest. "I Wish I Had The Words To Tell You" bubbles with the way salvation can leave one inarticulate as to the wonder of the Savior. The album's namesake song has another monster hook and the kind of percussion break down that late '80s hip-hop DJs could have done bodily harm to obtain for the rappers they were backing. 

The remainder of the first Freak! disc collects two cuts from the more acoustically country 1973's Country in the Sky (more from which can be heard on Tagniak's 2000 single-CD WMcK anthology, Message Brought To Us) and an instrumental of public domain hymn "Jesus, Jesus" from 1974's vocal-less Yesterday/Forever that imagines what it might have sounded like had Doors organist Ray Manzarek teamed up with The Modern Jazz Quartet. 

The second CD begins with one especially jovial cut from the foursome's infamously botched (yet mega-collectible) 1970 live debut album On Stage, "I Know The Lord" (more from it can also be heard on Message). The next 15 numbers derive from 1971-1973 concerts and practices. They range from the really specific ("Jesus Saved My Soul Last Week") to the fairly mysterious ("The Misty Shroud") and back to ebullience ("I Just Love My Jesus") and yearning ("If You Never See Me Again"). 

The remaining seven pieces come from solo and post WMcK band projects by various members from 1976-2000. Some are remakes of older tunes, others are originals, but it's tough to maintain that innocent energetic aura three decades on from being part of a a spiritually revolutionary movement in what was already deemed to be a cultural turning of tides. 

Historians, collectors and psych' rock fiends incapable or unwilling to dish out the copious cash likely necessary to get the long out-of-print vinyl, which won't nab you all the previously unreleased live and practice numbers, anyway, will want to get Jesus Freak!y with this. 

Jamie Lee Rake