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From Spokane,
Washington, the
first Christian rock
band to be known
throughout the
Pacific Northwest.
The Wilson McKinley
Band is the first
known band to come
out of a secular
rock and roll
background and into
the Kingdom of
Heaven, name and
all, bringing their
instruments and
rocking style with
them.
In early June of
1970, a local
minister with a
heart for street
ministry, Carl
Parks, participated
in a series of
street meetings that
caught the attention
of band members.
Several of them went
to the park and over
the course of a
couple of visits,
ended up getting
saved. What’s more,
they stashed their
instruments and
joined with Carl
Parks in the street
ministry in Spokane.
The Wilson McKinley
essentially
dissolved at this
point, one member
leaving the group
outright or the
others leaving to
join the believers.
The new believers
felt strongly that
the club scene and
the rock culture was
incompatible with
their newfound
faith. They left
everything to follow
Jesus. The
individual members
took up their duties
in the street
ministry led by
Parks and lived
communally with the
other Christians in
the Voice of Elijah
Ministries. Although
they all
participated
informally in the
music, none expected
to ever be on stage
as a rock band
again. The rest of
the story began one
day when Parks asked
the guys to put
together some music
for a street meeting
he was planning.
With their simple
acceptance and faith
that their
commitment to Christ
would come through
in the music, the
Wilson McKinley's
role as pioneers in
a new genre began.
At first, the songs
they came up with
were rock
arrangements of folk
spirituals and
rewriting of popular
rock numbers with
Christian lyrics but
it wasn’t long
before original
Christian rock
compositions joined
their repertoire.
Mike Messer and
Randy Wilcox of the
original band were
both talented
songwriters as was
new member Jimmy
Bartlett. When the
band members
realized they needed
to form a group
again they
immediately thought
of Jimmy, whom they
had met in Idaho. He
gladly joined the
band as both a
bassist and one of
the lead vocalists
and soon became a
major songwriter as
well.
The band was
essentially a
drawing card for the
rest of the ministry
team. Their music
was loud and
attention-grabbing
and their message
was very clear
thanks to
increasingly
competent
songwriting. But to
the band members the
real ministry was in
the one to one
witnessing and
counseling being
done by the others
in the crowds as
they sang. This
attitude may explain
why no album has
artist credits or
personalized
recording
information and why,
at about this time,
they turned down an
opportunity to
audition for (and
undoubtedly sign)
with a large secular
record label. The
label signaled that
they wanted the band
to tone down the
Jesus stuff, and
that just wasn’t
what they were
about.
In the summer of
1971, the band
released its second
LP, the critically
acclaimed "Spirit of
Elijah." Once again,
self-production was
the rule of the day
but this time the
album made a stab at
studio production
values and featured
a nice stereo mix.
The band had almost
no budget for
recording but had
been practicing
daily at the House
of David where the
single guys in the
community were
staying.
Barely six months
later, in February
1972, the Wilson
McKinley released
their third and
final Jesus Rock LP,
a soaring
achievement called
"Heaven’s Gonna Be a
Blast." The fact
that a studio was
used and that Sound
Recordings, Inc.
helped in the
production didn’t
actually keep the LP
mix from major
flaws: huge dropouts
in the keyboard
tracks, a bass track
that overpowers the
other instruments
and weird EQ on the
(sometimes
distracting) vocal
overdubs. There is a
reason for this: the
producer at Sound
Recordings had never
done a rock session
before and had no
idea how to equalize
an aggressive
electric bass or to
mix tracks for the
best blend. When the
time came to do the
mixdown, the boys
realized that none
of them had editing
experience. They
also could not undo
what the engineer
had done to the
equalization. The
band members felt
that the production
snafus were partly a
result of their
attempts at learning
on the fly.
Nevertheless, as
songwriting, this is
their most
consistently
satisfying LP,
showcasing some
mature lyrics and
passionate
performances.
Even that isn't
really the end, for
there was at least
one live concert,
recorded just before
the band's break-up
in 1979 with Barney
Dasovich on drums,
that needs to be
heard, if only for
the nine previously
unheard Wilson
McKinley songs in
the set. They went
out blazing, with
absolutely
wonderful, vital
songs. The band
sounds a little more
like a late-70s
group, with elements
reminiscent of
Orleans, Boston,
Kansas and others
all uniquely blended
into that famous
Wilson McKinley
style.
The story of the
Wilson McKinley is
the story of some
remarkable brethren
who were willing to
be used and who
bloomed where they
were planted. And
because they were
instrumental in
bringing new
believers into the
Kingdom their legacy
will never fade away
because it's of
eternal consequence. -posted at
Tanignak Productions]
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