The Crusaders was an American garage rock band, whose 1966 album Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitars is considered one of the first gospel rock releases,David Di Sabatino, in Mark Allan Powell, Encyclopedia of Christian Music (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002):217. or even "the first record of Christian rock".John J. Thompson, Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll (ECW Press, 2000):43. See also "The Birth of Jesus Music", one-way.org
Band members Foundation members Daniel Leonard Altchuler (born 21 September 1946)Source Citation: Birthdate: 21 Sep 1946; Birth County: Los Angeles. Source Information: Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905-1995—rhythm guitar (1966–1969) Fred Jay Barnett (18 March 1950 – 26 July 2024)—lead guitar (1966–1969)Barnett was born Fred J. Deutsch. See Ancestry.com. California Marriage Index, 1960-1985 Jeffrey Arlen Barnett (29 December 1949 – 13 May 1989 in Corvallis, Oregon)Jeff Barnett was the adopted brother of Fred Barnett. Source: Fred J. Barnett (24 June 2010); Ancestry.com. Oregon Death Index, 1903-98.—drums, percussion (1966–1969) Walter M. Flannery (born 16 December 1947);Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1—keyboards (1966–1969) Michael Craig Joyce (27 July 1948 – 14 February 2008)—bass (1966–1969)
Additions Lana Victoria Hale (born 5 October 1952)Born as Lana V. Hale MacKahan. See Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2.—vocals (1967) Bonnie Ruth Blunt (born 10 June 1951 in Los Angeles)Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Source Citation: Birthdate: 10 Jun 1951; Birth County: Los Angeles.—vocals (1967–1969) replaced Hale
History The Crusaders was a five-member band that evolved out of surf bands Scope Unlimited and The Sidewinders who got together while attending Westchester High School, Los Angeles. Scope Unlimited, which included Fred Barnett, his brother Jeff Barnett, Dan Altchuler and Walt Flannery, played mostly at recreational centers in Westchester and school dances."THE LOVE EXCHANGE - Swallow The Sun", (24 September 2009), expo67-cavestones.blogspot.com According to lead guitarist Fred Barnett, he was taught how to play surf style lead guitar by Tom Stanton, the original guitarist of The Crossfires from the Planet Mars,"History of The Turtles", another Westchester surf band, who became The Turtles in 1965.Fred Barnett (24 June 2010). Scope Unlimited rehearsed for eight years in Barnett's parents' garage, played songs by Duane Eddy, Dick Dale, the Surfaris, and the Pyramids, and recorded a surf music "Square Dance" and a surf instrumental written by Fred Barnett.Fred Barnett, in "THE LOVE EXCHANGE - Swallow The Sun", (24 September 2009), expo67-cavestones.blogspot.com
Freddy and the Fanatics While still students at Westchester High School, Altchuler and Flannery created a new band named Freddy and The Fanatics, incorporating the Barnett brothers and Mike Joyce. According to Fred Barnett, "one of Walt Flannery's trademarks as our lead singer was to wear either a biker jacket or a monk's robe with chains on stage. Then when he would start to sing, usually a Rolling Stones song, he'd bite down on packets of ketchup so it would look as though he was spitting up huge amounts of blood".
The Crusaders (1966–67) By 1966 the band was signed by Tower Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records."The Crusaders", badcatrecords.com and their name was changed to The Crusaders."The Love Exchange", sundazed.com While the band was described as: "five sincere young men ... who have chosen the Big Beat as the means of expressing the religious faith",Liner notes, The Crusaders Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitar (1966). Flannery and Joyce were both raised as Roman Catholics, while Altchuler and the Barnett brothers were raised in liberal Jewish families.Source: Fred Barnett (25 June 2010). The Crusaders were "one of the first on the scene with a “contemporary musical expression: The Beat”".Ken Scott, "The Crusaders" (28 October 2007), theancientstar-song.blogspot.com
"Little Drummer Boy"/ "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1966) The Crusaders' debut release was a single produced by the newly created No.1 Productions of veteran arranger-conductor Hank Levine,"Dolton Will Build the Levine Image", Billboard (10 March 1962):33. who was previously the A&R director for Colpix Records,"Colpix Trims Artist Roster in Move Aimed at Singles Mart", Billboard (May 1, 1965 ):8. who had produced songs for The Monkees' Davy Jones,"Colpix Presents David Jones", Billboard (17 July 1965):27. and psychedelic hard rock band The Other Half,"Acta on Calif. Talent Search", Billboard (25 March 1967):4. and record producer Larry Goldberg,"UNI Off to Early Start As Master Wheels Spin", Billboard (4 February 1967):6. who had previously been Western sales manager at Hanna-Barbera Records,"Hanna-Barbera Hires Goldberg", Billboard (13 March 1965):11; "Executive Timetable", Billboard (2 July 1966):4; "Studios Amplify Original Ideas", Billboard (6 May 1967):SF-22. featuring "The Little Drummer Boy" backed with "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Tower 286), that was released in early November 1966."Top 60", Billboard (12 November 1966):18. A reviewer for Billboard magazine described the single as: "A new concept of the holiday material features a solid rock dance beat with a straight well done vocal. A controversial conversation piece that should prove a sales giant".
The Crusaders Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitar (1966) Their debut album The Crusaders Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitar, which was also recorded in 1966, and produced by Levine and Goldberg, was released by the middle of November 1966."These Hot Albums", Billboard (19 November 1966):43; "New Album Releases", Billboard (26 November 1966):74; "Album Reviews", Billboard (3 December 1966):43. The album's liner notes claim: "For the first time, God is praised in song through the most contemporary musical expression: The Beat!". Jesus music historian David Di Sabatino indicates that "this album is important in establishing that there were a handful of artists performing 'gospel rock' music well before Larry Norman or any other of the Jesus music artists emerged in the early 1970s".David Di Sabatino, cited in Mark Allan Powell, The Encyclopedia of Christian Music (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002):217. Kelly Lawler argues that "One of the very first releases that could clearly be considered a Christian Rock release, the Crusaders' Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitars, stands as a landmark LP".Kelly Lawler, "Crusaders Blazed the Way for Christian Rock", (11 August 2000), psacard.com
Lawler describes the album: "By today's standards, the band really sounds quite subdued. Heavy emphasis on group harmony, and a reliance on Christian standards ... keep the LP from being heralded as an all-out Garage assault. However, they do whip up a snazzy rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" - no kidding. The rest of the material was apparently penned by the band with the exception of the Rodgers-Hammerstein composition, "You'll Never Walk Alone." With the just the right amount of fuzz-tinged guitar and bass, coupled with enticing organ, the band's Garage roots remain firmly planted, yet not quite the "rocking, muscular, explosive, sound-power" lauded in the LP's liner notes. ... One could certainly make a strong argument for the Crusaders blazing the trail. After all, who predates this LP as far as a straight rock band singing clearly religious music? Yes, Elvis Presley and Jack Scott both released Gospel LPs, but neither could be confused with a rock album. This and the overall quality of the music have contributed to the album's increased notoriety among collectors. Surprisingly the Crusaders had the backing of a label, Tower, with fairly broad distribution".
Kenn Scott described the album as: "This one’s got the heaviest garage sound for the era, ‘Praise We The Lord’ probably being the closest Christian music ever got to the raw punk energy of early Who (it’s actually a rip-off of The Yardbird’s tune ‘You’re A Better Man Than I’). The irresistibly catchy twangy pop of ‘With The Lord At Our Side’ coupled with the Association-like title cut prove the band’s own compositions to be the best. Solidly electric sound throughout, plenty of riffs, solid drumming, some Duane Eddy-derived leads on beat interpretations of ‘Battle Hymn’ and ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ that probably caused a few stirs among the ecclesia. For beat sounds this side of the Big Pond, this one’s the top banana. Both stereo and mono versions exist with subtle differences (note the two entirely different guitar solos on ‘With The Lord At Our Side’)". Another reviewer described this album: "While this was clearly a secular album (as far as I’m aware one of the first major label releases clearly intended to tap the youth market), the mixture of traditional hymns and handful of originals were cloaked in an extremely mid-1960s pop and garage vibe. While the band didn’t seem to have a true lead singer (most of the songs have ‘group’ vocals), they boasted an accomplished lead guitarist in Altchular (‘Praise We the Lord’ served as a nice showcase for his chops), with the rest of the band also quite good. It sounds kind of strange, but given the band’s earnestness and talent, if you could overlook the occasionally cringe-inducing lyrics (check out ‘What Is Man’), tracks like ‘Little Drummer Boy‘, ’God Lives’ and ‘Praise We the Lord’ could easily have been confused for something by their better known non-secular competitors (think Tower label mates The Standells). Elsewhere harmony-rich pop tracks like ‘You'll Never Walk Alone’,Producer Hank Levine arranged this same song in 1965 for The Lettermen. See "Album Reviews", Billboard (16 October 1965); discogs.com ‘With the Lord On Your Side’ and ‘ Make a Joyful Noise’ bore more than a passing resemblance to The Association, while their covers of ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ offered up a nice introduction to Duane Eddy-styled rock".
"Make a Joyful Noise" / "Praise We the Lord" (1967) In July 1967 Capitol Records released a single "Make a Joyful Noise", backed with "Praise We the Lord" (Capitol 72481), with both songs previously appearing on The Crusaders Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitar."45 Discography for Capitol Records - Canada - 72000 series", globaldogproductions.info
The Love Exchange (1967–68)
By 1967 their manager Barry Kaye, who was "a real Hollywood creep ... [who] took every penny we made off of some real big gigs", persuaded The Crusaders to change their name to The Love Exchange,"THE LOVE EXCHANGE - Swallow The Sun", (24 September 2009), expo67-cavestones.blogspot.com; "The Crusaders", badcatrecords.com and moved to San Francisco, California.Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide, "Love Exchange: Biography", music.msn.com According to Richie Unterberger: "The Love Exchange were a typical support-level Los Angeles band of the psychedelic era, right down to their name. After experimenting briefly with 14-year-old Lana V. Hale, the only daughter of actor Alan Hale Jr.,"Alan Hale, Jr. Biography (1918-1990)", filmreference.com famous as the skipper on Gilligan's Island, as their female lead singer, they replaced Hale with 16-year-old lead singer Bonnie Blunt, described as "the group's strongest asset, giving them the competent vocals in the soaring, folky Mamas & the Papas/early Jefferson Airplane style", and whose voice was described as "a heavenly hybrid of Grace Slick and Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane [that] burns bright as the sun". Their sound was described as "the perfect soundtrack for a Griffith Park Love-In". By 1967 they were signed by Uptown Records, a subsidiary of MCA Records."Uptown Records", rateyourmusic.com
"Swallow the Sun" (1967)