CHUCK GIRARD- Singer, Songwriter, Recording Artist, and Worship Leader
A Pioneer of Contemporary Christian Music, Member and Co-Founder of the CCM group 'LOVE SONG.'
A Pioneer of Contemporary Christian Music, Member and Co-Founder of the CCM group 'LOVE SONG.'
Somethin' Supernatural
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This is the only blues based song in all my albums.
As a teenager I enjoyed the music of Jimmy Reed, where every song had a variation of the same rhythm guitar idea, where Jimmy sang these great bluesy lyrics about the trials of life. One day I was fooling around on the guitar with a Jimmy Reed-like chord and rhythm pattern, and I thought about what I could appropriately communicate in this musical format. I thought that the perfect union of words and music would be to have this song also come from the perspective of a non-Christian, as I had done in "I Remember." I thought about how strange it is for a friend of a convert to cope with the changes that so suddenly occur in the life of an old friend who becomes a Christian. |
Turnabout is often 180 degrees, and I wanted to project the wonder that must occur on the part of that friend who knows that his old friend is really not capable of such a profound change in their behavior, at least in the natural. The change is often dramatic, and must be disconcerting to the friend who has watched his buddy indulge in all the vices the world has to offer, and then all of a sudden in a matter of an instant, want nothing to do with these same weaknesses.
This lyric is certainly one the first "R" rated Christian lyrics, containing references to Playboy Magazine, alcohol, and other vices, as well as the line "Try to get it on," a reference to sexual involvement. Interestingly, I never personally received one negative comment in regard to this song. To give credit where it is due, the late Larry Norman probably had the first "R" rated lyric. No one had ever heard references to gonorrhea or whiskey or "the perfect lay" in a Christian song before Larry's edgy and amazing lyrics.
Production note: Musically this track was straight-ahead blues. I wanted to find a really great blues harmonica player for this song, and really didn't know of anyone. My engineer, Tom Trefethen, knew a guy named Cliff Wooley who played great blues harp, but had NEVER recorded. I took a chance, and this guy walks in with a little Fender amp and an old microphone that he used in live performances. The technical instinct is to mic him with a professional mic straight into the board, but I knew this guy had a sound, and so I let him set up his way. We recorded him directly out of his little amp and let him use his own cheapo microphone. The sound was great, and he blew most other harmonica players out of the water. I had never heard of him before, and don't know if he ever did anything else after this session, but he did a great job.
Chuck
This lyric is certainly one the first "R" rated Christian lyrics, containing references to Playboy Magazine, alcohol, and other vices, as well as the line "Try to get it on," a reference to sexual involvement. Interestingly, I never personally received one negative comment in regard to this song. To give credit where it is due, the late Larry Norman probably had the first "R" rated lyric. No one had ever heard references to gonorrhea or whiskey or "the perfect lay" in a Christian song before Larry's edgy and amazing lyrics.
Production note: Musically this track was straight-ahead blues. I wanted to find a really great blues harmonica player for this song, and really didn't know of anyone. My engineer, Tom Trefethen, knew a guy named Cliff Wooley who played great blues harp, but had NEVER recorded. I took a chance, and this guy walks in with a little Fender amp and an old microphone that he used in live performances. The technical instinct is to mic him with a professional mic straight into the board, but I knew this guy had a sound, and so I let him set up his way. We recorded him directly out of his little amp and let him use his own cheapo microphone. The sound was great, and he blew most other harmonica players out of the water. I had never heard of him before, and don't know if he ever did anything else after this session, but he did a great job.
Chuck
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Chuck Girard's Music
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