August 26, 2025 • 18 mins
Ron Stande - A Band Called Lovesong
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, I am the product of the Jesus movement, and
the beginning of the Jesus movement comes from the hippie movement.
And we always talk about everything bad comes from California. Well,
this cultural awakening came from California and it's spread throughout
the country. Ron Strand is joining us. He's out with
a new documentary a band called Love Song. It'll be
coming out next month on Amazon Prime. And this is
(00:22):
not just a music revolution, though it is, and we're
going to cover that. This was the beginning of a
cultural awakening, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, it really was, Michael. You know, it started in
the late sixties, and from my perspective, I was in
Orange County, which was the basis of this particular documentary
with Love Song, where they came out of Calvary Chapel
and Chuck Smith. But the spirit of God was moving
throughout the country young hippies, as you said, we're coming
(00:50):
to christ and droves and this band was born out
of that time. And it's quite a story that's told
in the documentary how they all came from a drug
culture and seeking you know, Eastern mysticism and all kinds
of different through health foods and different things all the
(01:10):
way to finding this little Country Church, if you will,
which which is one of their songs called Little Country
Church pastored by Chuck Smith. And these hippies came to
find Christ through that, through that movement, and we can
get into that a little bit, but that's where that's
(01:30):
where the genesis is of that the movement. So in
the basic basis of this documentary.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
In the late sixties, it was check out. I mean,
imagine somebody trying to find a recipe for revival and
cultural awakening through checking out. Everything. Reminds me of Paul
in Greece and he just said, well, let's talk about
the statue over here to the unknown God. You wouldn't
expect it to come from drugs and hippies. And yet
(01:59):
here we our history as a way of repeating itself,
where moral relativism has run its course, all the searching
has run its course, all the lies, and this notion
there is no right and wrong, there is no absolute truth,
is kind of leading everybody back. That's what I think
makes this documentary so significant. We're living in an hour
that seems like an awakening again, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
It seems like it.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It looks different than it did then, but it seems
like something's happening. And I think one of the things
that is evident, and particularly one of the one of
the guys, Tommy Cumbs, is in the in one of
the pieces of one of the episodes, is that you know,
we searched here, we searched there, we look for this,
we look for that, and it was just coming up empty.
(02:42):
There was nothing there. And so here's this, here's the
gospel presented to them basically, and and something solid that
they could sink their teeth into.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And I don't think you know, I think the movie
Jesus Revolution, everybody got a look at Love Song themselves.
They appear first in the living room of Chuck Smith,
then they start singing at the church. What can't be
appreciated today is how folky rock or instruments themselves and
then new verses that aren't hymns being sung was so revolutionary.
(03:18):
One of the things that you touch on that I
think is significant ron is the endorsement of Billy Graham
having them at expos seventy two. That was the stamp
of the approval. And then we should talk a little
bit about how funny, how God used music to really
bring it to life and spread it.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Well, that is for certain.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
You mentioned Explo seventy two, and we've got a piece
in there by Governor now Ambassador Mike Huckabee who was
at Explo seventy two in Dallas and talks about what
it meant to him and the music, as you mentioned, Michael,
the music which is what related to the young hippies
(03:58):
at the time, and not only just hippies, kids across
the spectrum. You know, I wasn't a hippie. I mean,
I was just a kid partying, but I wasn't a hippie.
But the music drew me in and that's what you know.
It was something that was outside the walls of the
you know church quote unquote church, that was outside the
hymnals and there was now, all of a sudden, there's
(04:20):
this music I can relate to. There's drums, there's guitar,
there's lyrics in these songs that are that are not
slamming you across the face with the gospel, but they're
they're bringing it in in a way that is that
just kind of transpires the you know, the heart, and
that's what spoke to me and Love Song in particular,
(04:43):
for me, was a band that really captured Now. I
came along a little bit later. I got saved in
nineteen seventy six, and Love Song actually had already disbanded,
I think in seventy three, but their music was still
there and vital. And so the music of Love Song
and uh, particularly Chuck Gerard who recently passed away, and
(05:05):
uh boy, you know, uh, I don't want to get
off on a tangent at this point, but uh, we're
we're really grateful that Chuck because he's been an integral
part of this sole project, yeah, up until even a
week before he passed, And so it's we're we're disheartened
that he won't be here to celebrate the release.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
But I was I was going to ask you on
a side note how much he had seen of the cuts.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
And he's seen he has seen everything good. He's been
intimately all the guys in the band, well, particularly Tommy Cooms, Uh,
Jay Trax and Chuck Gerard. One one has since deceased
and the other, the drummer, John Mayler, has lived in
Sweden for years and he really was not a part
of it in terms of he's featured in the dock.
(05:53):
But uh, he wasn't part of the making of the film.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
But you don't have Amy Grant, you don't have Michael W. Smith,
you don't have Deiando Mucci, you don't have White Heart,
you don't have any of these without these people. So
we all know the British invasion was the Beatles, but
we don't know the origins of contemporary Christian music. And
it came right in the heart of a cultural awakening
in a Jesus movement. And Ron Strand is joining us
the documentary of the band that doesn't get noticed enough,
(06:18):
a band called Love Song Let's talk about because I
remember I ended up being the late end product Pray
s got. I think I'm a little younger than you,
but I was the late product of the Jesus Movement.
I'm Jesus movement in nineteen seventy nine, reaching me through
people that were reached by it in college, roughly your age.
And when I came to the table, you know, all
(06:39):
there was, and I'm not exaggerating, Anita Bryant, BJ Thomas
and the old Love Songs, even though they had disbanded
the Love Song Songs, and that was it. And then
the explosion happened in a discipleship of an entire generation,
the music of Amy Grant, Dion Demucci. These people that
(06:59):
I told talk about, I mean, they were literally great songs,
to the point where I didn't miss anything in the
secular world. Nobody told me I couldn't listen to secular music.
What we had was better and it was discipling, and
you don't have them without first love song was Love's song,
aware of its creative musical origin and impact.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't think so. I mean, I think what I'm
hearing you ask is were they aware of the impact
they had? Yeah, you're meeting.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah that I mean, do they realize that there is
no contemporary Christian music which is now turned into worship music,
which isn't nearly as impactful as the original wave of CCM.
But it doesn't happen without them. They are aware of that, right.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
They are aware now. But at the time, all they
were doing is answering the phone saying hey, you know,
we'd like you to come and play, and they would
go and play. They wouldn't charge, you know, if there
was an offering taken, they would they'd take it. They
had no clue. I mean, because this was so groundbreaking,
and I don't mean to say that they were the
only ones. You know, you had Larry Norman, You had
a lot of bands that were kind of coming out
(08:05):
of that time.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I think Larry Norman was post love song though, wasn't he?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
No, he was actually right.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He was a contemporary of their was okay time, Yeah,
but he kind of came out of I think a
little more than Northern California where love Song came out
of Southern California, but all at the same time and
their contemporaries, Larry had a whole different you know, he
was a solo artist where his love song was a
band and you know the beginnings of particularly take Chuck
(08:34):
Gerard for example, he came from a studio. Well, he
was in a group called the Castels, the Hondell's. You
remember the song little Honda First Gear. Yeah, all right,
that was him singing. That was Brian Wilson's song. But
the Hondells had that hit, and so Chuck was a
contemporary of Brian Wilson. He was very inspired by Brian
(08:56):
Wilson and the Beach Boys, and so he came out
of a professional music background. The other guys were all
great musicians and they came together. And it's told in
the story about how they all came together, and it's
quite a fascinating, a fascinating story, how they how they formed,
(09:20):
how God used them and how.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
And there's a really great piece in the dock.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And I don't know if you saw it from the
clips I sent you, but where they go to meet
Chuck Smith, pastor Chuck Smith who founded Calvary Chapel, and
indulge me if I tell the story a little bit.
But he said they went in one day and they thought,
you know, we've got a few songs under our belts.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
They're just recently saved. We've got a few.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Songs out of jail for someone.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
One of them just got out of it.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right, we can find we can't play till Thursday. He's
out on parole.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Well, and in the Jesus Revolution, it was a drummer.
But actually it was fell by the name of Fred Field,
who was one of the one of the members who
who was in jail for a drugs and they had
all been busted for drugs, you know they were, But
they went in. They said, we went in, we we
can maybe get a meeting with this pastor Chuck and
(10:12):
tell them about our music.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
So Chuck tells the story. He says, these hippies.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Come in and they're all, you know, grungy looking, and
they come in in their in their van and so forth.
They sit down with me, recently been saved, and they said, hey,
you know, Pastor, we've got a few songs we'd like
to share. And he says, well, you know, I was
kind of taken aback by it, but I thought, well,
let's see do you have something you could share with me.
So they went into the van, they got their instruments,
(10:37):
and they came and they started playing the song Welcome Back.
And I've never seen Chuck Smith cry, you know, get
clemped as they say, but he choked up and he said, man,
the spirit of God just touched me. And he said,
can you guys play this evening at the evening service?
They said, well, I think so. One of our guys
(10:58):
is in jail, but he's they let him out in
an evening because he's got to work, so I think
we could pull it off.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Ron Strand is joining us. The documentary is called A
Band called Love Song and be out on Amazon, Amazon
Prime next month. My kid's response to the Irwin Brothers
Jesus Revolution was profound. They loved I can only imagine
as well, and they might even tell you they liked
(11:25):
it the most. But two great movies. But the impact
of Jesus Revolution was my kids want me to baptize
him in that cove in California. And I think of
the full circleness of that. Things seem so divided, so divided,
and on loving and confused and so on, just as
(11:51):
it was then, and you sense that there's something of
the past getting ready to happen. And I think what
you've done with this documentary, with the Irwin brother did
with Jesus Revolution are kind of one plus one equals.
And what I hope it equals for the older people
listening is the joy of your salvation. My friend and
I we used to put on some of these old
songs later in life when we were in our twenties,
(12:13):
and we go, oh, man, that phil Kegy. That brings
back the joy of my salvation. I really think this
documentary is going to have that effect on them. You'll
revisit these artists, you'll revisit these songs, and you will
revisit the same Holy Spirit that hasn't left your side
since that may seem far away, and you'll experience the
joy of your salvation. And I'm excited how you tell
(12:34):
this story through today's legendary contemporary Christian artists. I mean
that was probably what the most difficult part. Who do
I have that was influenced by this band? And I
know Michael W. Smith is in it, My dear friend
Michelle Polara is in it. You have several people in this,
but that's very key to the story because this led
not just a cultural revolution but a music revolution.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Indeed, and you talk about Irwin Brothers and Jesus, this
revolution and a word about that, which is it was
an absolutely great film and it the impact it had,
as you said, even on your son, it's been wonderful.
We actually started this thing probably before they started theirs.
We're not We're not.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
The week golf together. You've been working on this?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
How long?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
This is eight years? Eight started years. We've started in
July twenty seventeen. If my math is right, it's eight years.
We just hit eight years. And because it's been self funding,
we've you know, we've just raised funds on our own
and we've had some some people come along.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
And help us significantly.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
But this film is actually the backstory of Jesus Revolution,
really is, because it's it's the same story you know
that was featuring Greg Laurie and particularly Lonnie Frisbee, who
was a big fan of Love Song who went around Lonnie.
They would they tell stories about how Lonnie they would be.
They would be driving along on Posilico Hiway in southern California.
(14:02):
Lonnie would say, stop, stop, We're going to go into
that apartment right there, and Lonnie would just go open
an apartment door. He would knock on the door and
some hippie you know, pot would be coming out of
the the you know, the door from from them, smoking
in there, and he said he just shared Christ with
them and these kids would get saved. It was an
incredible time. Now, Lonnie Lannie, Lonnie can be a controversial figure,
(14:24):
but there's no doubt that he had a significant impact
on on that movement. You know, Chuck Smith embraced him
and brought him in and he was the one that
related to these to these young hippies at the time.
And uh so, our story really is the backstory, and
it's it's it's about the band love song, but really
(14:46):
it's about the era called through their Eyes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I'm so glad you said that, because I was watching
a Muhammad Ali documentary and and Mohamed Ali's a fascinating
story in and of himself, and and all the controversies
that went along with it, and really kind of not
so off camera was he was caught in the middle
of a tug of war between Islam and Christianity. I mean,
Martin Luther King Jr. Was trying to get Muhammad Ali's
(15:11):
soul saved, and meanwhile, you know, the Brotherhood of Muslims.
They won. But what was fascinating to me was, all right,
so here's the documentary on Muhammad Ali. What I'm watching
really is America in the background, and I think that's
what this documentary does. So somebody's listening right now, you're going,
I really don't know Jesus, I really don't care about
the Jesus movement, or I don't know Christian music. You'll
(15:31):
like the view of America because the divided America then
is the same as the divided America today. And the
uniqueness of using hippies and drugs and questions and searching
everything but God that leads them to God and spreads
across across the country, and it has influenced generations to come.
It all starts, ironically at the epicenter, and of all places, California,
(15:57):
and of all people hippies, and of all hippies that
were recently out of jail or not in a band
called love Song. It really it does. It is a
story that needs to be told to everyone. And you
tell it finally, eight years in the making, and I'll
tell you what, you made good use of your time,
because that looks amazing.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
There's been a lot of hours spent, you know, talking
about people that maybe weren't part of that era. Your
friend of mine who you and I golf with in
different Comedian Jeff Allen, Yeah, he did a little piece
for us as a promo for this, but he tells
the story. He says, you know, I was just building
my testimony then. I wasn't a Christian. I knew nothing
(16:34):
about this. And when he watched the film, he said,
this is absolutely amazing. I had no idea this stuff
was going on at that time. I was out, you know,
I was you know, God, as he calls it, building
my testin.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
It got to River Ridge, Louisiana in nineteen seventy eight.
I was just trying to get out of the cold.
My friend was just trying to get near Patty Burcada
at they did Bible study. So a product of the
Jesus Movement and the Jesus Revolution was our coach and
a teacher and he's doing Bible study at lunch, which
I think would be a lawsuit today. And that's how
(17:08):
the Jesus Movement reached me. And that's all the way
in Louisiana. And as you know, it reached my grandmother
through the Charismatic Church and Father Bertolucci. So it all happened.
It all started here, and everybody, especially those who have
hope of it happening again, you'll want to watch Ron
Strand's Eight Years in the Making documentary. A band called
(17:28):
Love Song and not only led to changing America, it
created the very contemporary Christian music that I know a
lot of you have loved for years and years, and
it is kind of the backstory to the Jesus Revolution.
So if you love that movie, but even if you
love America and just want to see history as it's
repeating itself. I highly recommend it be out on Amazon
Prime when about mid September.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
September nineteenth, it'll be available on Amazon Prime and Salem Now,
so it'll be on both platforms. We have non exclusive
with Amazon and so we're able to put it wherever
we want, and so we're trying to make it as
available as we can. We're also going to do some DVDs,
believe it or not, which a lot of people still use,
which was surprising to me. But everybody we've talked you
(18:11):
said you got to do some DVDs because some people
still like them.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I'll be watching it on Prime. Hey, listen, it may
seem like it's been a long struggle of eight years,
and it may seem less fulfilling that Chuck is gone,
But you know what you need to know this. We
serve a god of yesterday, today, and forever. He goes before,
with and after. This must have been the perfect time,
and as I look at the trailers, it was time
(18:35):
well spent. God bless you. I hope this reaches a
lot of people.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thanks Michael, Can I just give the website for folks
that want to know more.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Sure, it's.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
A band called Lovesong dot com, a band calledlovesong dot com.
They can find more about it there
Well, I am the product of the Jesus movement, and
the beginning of the Jesus movement comes from the hippie movement.
And we always talk about everything bad comes from California. Well,
this cultural awakening came from California and it's spread throughout
the country. Ron Strand is joining us. He's out with
a new documentary a band called Love Song. It'll be
coming out next month on Amazon Prime. And this is
(00:22):
not just a music revolution, though it is, and we're
going to cover that. This was the beginning of a
cultural awakening, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Well, it really was, Michael. You know, it started in
the late sixties, and from my perspective, I was in
Orange County, which was the basis of this particular documentary
with Love Song, where they came out of Calvary Chapel
and Chuck Smith. But the spirit of God was moving
throughout the country young hippies, as you said, we're coming
(00:50):
to christ and droves and this band was born out
of that time. And it's quite a story that's told
in the documentary how they all came from a drug
culture and seeking you know, Eastern mysticism and all kinds
of different through health foods and different things all the
(01:10):
way to finding this little Country Church, if you will,
which which is one of their songs called Little Country
Church pastored by Chuck Smith. And these hippies came to
find Christ through that, through that movement, and we can
get into that a little bit, but that's where that's
(01:30):
where the genesis is of that the movement. So in
the basic basis of this documentary.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
In the late sixties, it was check out. I mean,
imagine somebody trying to find a recipe for revival and
cultural awakening through checking out. Everything. Reminds me of Paul
in Greece and he just said, well, let's talk about
the statue over here to the unknown God. You wouldn't
expect it to come from drugs and hippies. And yet
(01:59):
here we our history as a way of repeating itself,
where moral relativism has run its course, all the searching
has run its course, all the lies, and this notion
there is no right and wrong, there is no absolute truth,
is kind of leading everybody back. That's what I think
makes this documentary so significant. We're living in an hour
that seems like an awakening again, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
It seems like it.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It looks different than it did then, but it seems
like something's happening. And I think one of the things
that is evident, and particularly one of the one of
the guys, Tommy Cumbs, is in the in one of
the pieces of one of the episodes, is that you know,
we searched here, we searched there, we look for this,
we look for that, and it was just coming up empty.
(02:42):
There was nothing there. And so here's this, here's the
gospel presented to them basically, and and something solid that
they could sink their teeth into.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
And I don't think you know, I think the movie
Jesus Revolution, everybody got a look at Love Song themselves.
They appear first in the living room of Chuck Smith,
then they start singing at the church. What can't be
appreciated today is how folky rock or instruments themselves and
then new verses that aren't hymns being sung was so revolutionary.
(03:18):
One of the things that you touch on that I
think is significant ron is the endorsement of Billy Graham
having them at expos seventy two. That was the stamp
of the approval. And then we should talk a little
bit about how funny, how God used music to really
bring it to life and spread it.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Well, that is for certain.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
You mentioned Explo seventy two, and we've got a piece
in there by Governor now Ambassador Mike Huckabee who was
at Explo seventy two in Dallas and talks about what
it meant to him and the music, as you mentioned, Michael,
the music which is what related to the young hippies
(03:58):
at the time, and not only just hippies, kids across
the spectrum. You know, I wasn't a hippie. I mean,
I was just a kid partying, but I wasn't a hippie.
But the music drew me in and that's what you know.
It was something that was outside the walls of the
you know church quote unquote church, that was outside the
hymnals and there was now, all of a sudden, there's
(04:20):
this music I can relate to. There's drums, there's guitar,
there's lyrics in these songs that are that are not
slamming you across the face with the gospel, but they're
they're bringing it in in a way that is that
just kind of transpires the you know, the heart, and
that's what spoke to me and Love Song in particular,
(04:43):
for me, was a band that really captured Now. I
came along a little bit later. I got saved in
nineteen seventy six, and Love Song actually had already disbanded,
I think in seventy three, but their music was still
there and vital. And so the music of Love Song
and uh, particularly Chuck Gerard who recently passed away, and
(05:05):
uh boy, you know, uh, I don't want to get
off on a tangent at this point, but uh, we're
we're really grateful that Chuck because he's been an integral
part of this sole project, yeah, up until even a
week before he passed, And so it's we're we're disheartened
that he won't be here to celebrate the release.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
But I was I was going to ask you on
a side note how much he had seen of the cuts.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
And he's seen he has seen everything good. He's been
intimately all the guys in the band, well, particularly Tommy Cooms, Uh,
Jay Trax and Chuck Gerard. One one has since deceased
and the other, the drummer, John Mayler, has lived in
Sweden for years and he really was not a part
of it in terms of he's featured in the dock.
(05:53):
But uh, he wasn't part of the making of the film.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
But you don't have Amy Grant, you don't have Michael W. Smith,
you don't have Deiando Mucci, you don't have White Heart,
you don't have any of these without these people. So
we all know the British invasion was the Beatles, but
we don't know the origins of contemporary Christian music. And
it came right in the heart of a cultural awakening
in a Jesus movement. And Ron Strand is joining us
the documentary of the band that doesn't get noticed enough,
(06:18):
a band called Love Song Let's talk about because I
remember I ended up being the late end product Pray
s got. I think I'm a little younger than you,
but I was the late product of the Jesus Movement.
I'm Jesus movement in nineteen seventy nine, reaching me through
people that were reached by it in college, roughly your age.
And when I came to the table, you know, all
(06:39):
there was, and I'm not exaggerating, Anita Bryant, BJ Thomas
and the old Love Songs, even though they had disbanded
the Love Song Songs, and that was it. And then
the explosion happened in a discipleship of an entire generation,
the music of Amy Grant, Dion Demucci. These people that
(06:59):
I told talk about, I mean, they were literally great songs,
to the point where I didn't miss anything in the
secular world. Nobody told me I couldn't listen to secular music.
What we had was better and it was discipling, and
you don't have them without first love song was Love's song,
aware of its creative musical origin and impact.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't think so. I mean, I think what I'm
hearing you ask is were they aware of the impact
they had? Yeah, you're meeting.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah that I mean, do they realize that there is
no contemporary Christian music which is now turned into worship music,
which isn't nearly as impactful as the original wave of CCM.
But it doesn't happen without them. They are aware of that, right.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
They are aware now. But at the time, all they
were doing is answering the phone saying hey, you know,
we'd like you to come and play, and they would
go and play. They wouldn't charge, you know, if there
was an offering taken, they would they'd take it. They
had no clue. I mean, because this was so groundbreaking,
and I don't mean to say that they were the
only ones. You know, you had Larry Norman, You had
a lot of bands that were kind of coming out
(08:05):
of that time.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I think Larry Norman was post love song though, wasn't he?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
No, he was actually right.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
He was a contemporary of their was okay time, Yeah,
but he kind of came out of I think a
little more than Northern California where love Song came out
of Southern California, but all at the same time and
their contemporaries, Larry had a whole different you know, he
was a solo artist where his love song was a
band and you know the beginnings of particularly take Chuck
(08:34):
Gerard for example, he came from a studio. Well, he
was in a group called the Castels, the Hondell's. You
remember the song little Honda First Gear. Yeah, all right,
that was him singing. That was Brian Wilson's song. But
the Hondells had that hit, and so Chuck was a
contemporary of Brian Wilson. He was very inspired by Brian
(08:56):
Wilson and the Beach Boys, and so he came out
of a professional music background. The other guys were all
great musicians and they came together. And it's told in
the story about how they all came together, and it's
quite a fascinating, a fascinating story, how they how they formed,
(09:20):
how God used them and how.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
And there's a really great piece in the dock.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
And I don't know if you saw it from the
clips I sent you, but where they go to meet
Chuck Smith, pastor Chuck Smith who founded Calvary Chapel, and
indulge me if I tell the story a little bit.
But he said they went in one day and they thought,
you know, we've got a few songs under our belts.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
They're just recently saved. We've got a few.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Songs out of jail for someone.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
One of them just got out of it.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right, we can find we can't play till Thursday. He's
out on parole.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Well, and in the Jesus Revolution, it was a drummer.
But actually it was fell by the name of Fred Field,
who was one of the one of the members who
who was in jail for a drugs and they had
all been busted for drugs, you know they were, But
they went in. They said, we went in, we we
can maybe get a meeting with this pastor Chuck and
(10:12):
tell them about our music.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
So Chuck tells the story. He says, these hippies.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Come in and they're all, you know, grungy looking, and
they come in in their in their van and so forth.
They sit down with me, recently been saved, and they said, hey,
you know, Pastor, we've got a few songs we'd like
to share. And he says, well, you know, I was
kind of taken aback by it, but I thought, well,
let's see do you have something you could share with me.
So they went into the van, they got their instruments,
(10:37):
and they came and they started playing the song Welcome Back.
And I've never seen Chuck Smith cry, you know, get
clemped as they say, but he choked up and he said, man,
the spirit of God just touched me. And he said,
can you guys play this evening at the evening service?
They said, well, I think so. One of our guys
(10:58):
is in jail, but he's they let him out in
an evening because he's got to work, so I think
we could pull it off.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Ron Strand is joining us. The documentary is called A
Band called Love Song and be out on Amazon, Amazon
Prime next month. My kid's response to the Irwin Brothers
Jesus Revolution was profound. They loved I can only imagine
as well, and they might even tell you they liked
(11:25):
it the most. But two great movies. But the impact
of Jesus Revolution was my kids want me to baptize
him in that cove in California. And I think of
the full circleness of that. Things seem so divided, so divided,
and on loving and confused and so on, just as
(11:51):
it was then, and you sense that there's something of
the past getting ready to happen. And I think what
you've done with this documentary, with the Irwin brother did
with Jesus Revolution are kind of one plus one equals.
And what I hope it equals for the older people
listening is the joy of your salvation. My friend and
I we used to put on some of these old
songs later in life when we were in our twenties,
(12:13):
and we go, oh, man, that phil Kegy. That brings
back the joy of my salvation. I really think this
documentary is going to have that effect on them. You'll
revisit these artists, you'll revisit these songs, and you will
revisit the same Holy Spirit that hasn't left your side
since that may seem far away, and you'll experience the
joy of your salvation. And I'm excited how you tell
(12:34):
this story through today's legendary contemporary Christian artists. I mean
that was probably what the most difficult part. Who do
I have that was influenced by this band? And I
know Michael W. Smith is in it, My dear friend
Michelle Polara is in it. You have several people in this,
but that's very key to the story because this led
not just a cultural revolution but a music revolution.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Indeed, and you talk about Irwin Brothers and Jesus, this
revolution and a word about that, which is it was
an absolutely great film and it the impact it had,
as you said, even on your son, it's been wonderful.
We actually started this thing probably before they started theirs.
We're not We're not.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
The week golf together. You've been working on this?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
How long?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
This is eight years? Eight started years. We've started in
July twenty seventeen. If my math is right, it's eight years.
We just hit eight years. And because it's been self funding,
we've you know, we've just raised funds on our own
and we've had some some people come along.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
And help us significantly.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
But this film is actually the backstory of Jesus Revolution,
really is, because it's it's the same story you know
that was featuring Greg Laurie and particularly Lonnie Frisbee, who
was a big fan of Love Song who went around Lonnie.
They would they tell stories about how Lonnie they would be.
They would be driving along on Posilico Hiway in southern California.
(14:02):
Lonnie would say, stop, stop, We're going to go into
that apartment right there, and Lonnie would just go open
an apartment door. He would knock on the door and
some hippie you know, pot would be coming out of
the the you know, the door from from them, smoking
in there, and he said he just shared Christ with
them and these kids would get saved. It was an
incredible time. Now, Lonnie Lannie, Lonnie can be a controversial figure,
(14:24):
but there's no doubt that he had a significant impact
on on that movement. You know, Chuck Smith embraced him
and brought him in and he was the one that
related to these to these young hippies at the time.
And uh so, our story really is the backstory, and
it's it's it's about the band love song, but really
(14:46):
it's about the era called through their Eyes.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I'm so glad you said that, because I was watching
a Muhammad Ali documentary and and Mohamed Ali's a fascinating
story in and of himself, and and all the controversies
that went along with it, and really kind of not
so off camera was he was caught in the middle
of a tug of war between Islam and Christianity. I mean,
Martin Luther King Jr. Was trying to get Muhammad Ali's
(15:11):
soul saved, and meanwhile, you know, the Brotherhood of Muslims.
They won. But what was fascinating to me was, all right,
so here's the documentary on Muhammad Ali. What I'm watching
really is America in the background, and I think that's
what this documentary does. So somebody's listening right now, you're going,
I really don't know Jesus, I really don't care about
the Jesus movement, or I don't know Christian music. You'll
(15:31):
like the view of America because the divided America then
is the same as the divided America today. And the
uniqueness of using hippies and drugs and questions and searching
everything but God that leads them to God and spreads
across across the country, and it has influenced generations to come.
It all starts, ironically at the epicenter, and of all places, California,
(15:57):
and of all people hippies, and of all hippies that
were recently out of jail or not in a band
called love Song. It really it does. It is a
story that needs to be told to everyone. And you
tell it finally, eight years in the making, and I'll
tell you what, you made good use of your time,
because that looks amazing.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
There's been a lot of hours spent, you know, talking
about people that maybe weren't part of that era. Your
friend of mine who you and I golf with in
different Comedian Jeff Allen, Yeah, he did a little piece
for us as a promo for this, but he tells
the story. He says, you know, I was just building
my testimony then. I wasn't a Christian. I knew nothing
(16:34):
about this. And when he watched the film, he said,
this is absolutely amazing. I had no idea this stuff
was going on at that time. I was out, you know,
I was you know, God, as he calls it, building
my testin.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
It got to River Ridge, Louisiana in nineteen seventy eight.
I was just trying to get out of the cold.
My friend was just trying to get near Patty Burcada
at they did Bible study. So a product of the
Jesus Movement and the Jesus Revolution was our coach and
a teacher and he's doing Bible study at lunch, which
I think would be a lawsuit today. And that's how
(17:08):
the Jesus Movement reached me. And that's all the way
in Louisiana. And as you know, it reached my grandmother
through the Charismatic Church and Father Bertolucci. So it all happened.
It all started here, and everybody, especially those who have
hope of it happening again, you'll want to watch Ron
Strand's Eight Years in the Making documentary. A band called
(17:28):
Love Song and not only led to changing America, it
created the very contemporary Christian music that I know a
lot of you have loved for years and years, and
it is kind of the backstory to the Jesus Revolution.
So if you love that movie, but even if you
love America and just want to see history as it's
repeating itself. I highly recommend it be out on Amazon
Prime when about mid September.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
September nineteenth, it'll be available on Amazon Prime and Salem Now,
so it'll be on both platforms. We have non exclusive
with Amazon and so we're able to put it wherever
we want, and so we're trying to make it as
available as we can. We're also going to do some DVDs,
believe it or not, which a lot of people still use,
which was surprising to me. But everybody we've talked you
(18:11):
said you got to do some DVDs because some people
still like them.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I'll be watching it on Prime. Hey, listen, it may
seem like it's been a long struggle of eight years,
and it may seem less fulfilling that Chuck is gone,
But you know what you need to know this. We
serve a god of yesterday, today, and forever. He goes before,
with and after. This must have been the perfect time,
and as I look at the trailers, it was time
(18:35):
well spent. God bless you. I hope this reaches a
lot of people.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Thanks Michael, Can I just give the website for folks
that want to know more.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Sure, it's.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
A band called Lovesong dot com, a band calledlovesong dot com.
They can find more about it there
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