#284 REVIVAL IN THE LAND by Carman (1989)

REVIVAL IN THE LAND by Carman (1989)
Benson Records - RO2588

Producers:

Keith Thomas, Phil Naish, Brian Tankersley


File Under: CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

A Witch's Invitation

By 1989, every new Carman album was like an over-the-top, one-man variety show. And a sizable slice of Christian music consumers absolutely loved them. Couldn't get enough. They bought the albums and played them at home and in the car; they heard the songs all over Christian radio, and they saw them interpreted live at church -- since every Carman record had two or three songs that were tailor-made for presentations in church services by drama groups, dance teams and mime troupes. 

Carman Licciardello had a versatile singing voice and movie star good looks, and he could energize a Christian concert audience like few before or since. [For details on his early life and how he became a Christian artist, click here.] He made quality music, but one got the sense that it was never really about the music. The message was paramount; the music was just an entertaining vehicle to help carry the message along. He was musically schizophrenic. For example, one description of Revival in the Land files the album under Jazz, Funk, Soul, Pop, Folk, World Music and Country...proving that Carman could take pretty much any musical genre and use it effectively to preach, praise and testify. 

One reviewer noted that Carman's religious fervor was in no way diminished on Revival in the Land. "On the contrary," wrote Evan Cater at allmusic.com, "this is one of his most passionate and deeply felt albums, a fiery Pentecostal plea for widespread renewal of conviction throughout the Christian world." Cater praised the album's "remarkably cohesive blend of R&B, pop, hip-hop, praise music, and black gospel to express the charismatic energy of [Carman's] message."

Carman always seemed comfortable with militaristic imagery. The album's first track, God's Got An Army, certainly fit that mold. 

Pearson

I Got the Joy immediately followed. It was a nod to Black Gospel. Heck, more than a nod...it WAS Black Gospel...complete with a video set in a Black church. The song and the video both featured Carlton Pearson, Carman's pastor at the time. Pearson has since gone off the theological deep end. A fourth-generation Pentecostal preacher who came up under Oral Roberts, Pearson has shifted to something he calls “Expanded Consciousness” and calls himself a Sacred Activist and Spiritual Progressive who defends homosexuality, promotes "Self Actualization,” and teaches that all humans go to Heaven. As a result, he was labeled a heretic by his former denomination in 2004. It is unknown (to me) whether Carman maintains a close relationship with Pearson. Pearson teaches others "the development of the personal Self and Soul." Meanwhile, he and his wife divorced in 2015. 

Carman and Carlton Pearson are joined on I Got the Joy by The Higher Dimensions Sanctuary Choir. 

Perhaps the album's most memorable song is up next. 

A scene from the 'Witch's Invitation' video

A Witch's Invitation was a novelty track. It was a story song, a genre Carman had basically perfected by now. Well, let me rephrase that...it was a story spoken over a music bed. There was no song to it, really. "Not quite a spoken word jam, but not quite a song," wrote blogger Tyler Huckabee, "it falls into some genre of music that belongs to Carman alone." 

It did not hold up well to repeated listening, but the video was wildly entertaining and featured production values that were quite high for 1989. Carman's actually a good actor, and the camera likes him...a lot. Had he not been saddled with this calling from God to evangelize the world thru music (sarcasm intended), he might've had a quite successful career as an actor, either on the small screen or in feature films. At the very least, he could make a substantial side income as a voice actor. 

A Witch's Invitation is said to be taken from the real-life testimony of Mario Murillo. This song was played at every church youth group "Halloween alternative" event for years and years; New Age religions, Zen Buddhism, and Dungeons and Dragons all took a turn in Carman's cross-hairs before this one was done. 

The aforementioned blogger Tyler Huckabee had a very entertaining take on the video treatment to A Witch's Invitation: "In this story, we find Carman (our hero, always) being invited to a house that looks like Walgreens’ holiday aisle the day after Halloween, featuring a Ouija Board, a Dungeons and Dragons player’s guide and, most chillingly, herbal tea. This house is owned by the titular 'witch,' who has everything except for red horns and a pointy tail. These are Carman’s younger days so we can excuse the fact that there is no bloodshed or violence—just a claymation demon dragging an old man to hell." 

The music for A Witch's Invitation was composed by Keith Thomas.

Get Your Business Straight With God was either a call to holiness or a song that was preoccupied with sin (depending on your point of view). Personally, I think Morgan Cryar's A Few of My Old Friends, Steve Camp's Squeeze and Steve Taylor's Sin for a Season were much more effective. Interestingly, Ashley Cleveland sang background vocals on this one. 

This Blood closed Side One of Revival in the Land. It was a hugely popular inspirational song that reminded us of what Jesus suffered in order to purchase our salvation. Carman employed the spoken-word technique even on this ballad. Some objected to the title, assuming that it was a take-off on the Budweiser advertising slogan and was, therefore, unseemly. Others weren't bothered by that at all. Using a time-honored formula, the song navigates several key changes and builds in intensity throughout. The Christ Church Choir featuring Guy Penrod (among others) supplied backing vocals on this song. 

Revival in the Land employed an impressive list of musicians, including guitarists Jerry McPherson and Tom Hemby; keyboardists Keith Thomas, Phil Naish and Carl Gorodetzky; bassists James Michael and Jimmie Lee Sloas; drummers Mark Hammond and Paul Leim; percussionists Eric Darken and Farrell Morris; and a horn section comprised of Mark Douthit, Chris McDonald, George Tidwell, and Mike Haynes. 

Kicking off Side Two was Saved, Delivered And Healed, a mashup of 80s pop and Southern Gospel. Chris Harris, Mark Heimermann, and Susan Ashton sang background vocals. 

On Jesus Is The Light, Carman finally took the spoken word technique a little too far, talking over his own singing, which was just confusing. With a chorus that sounds like a sing-along from children's church, this one would've been better left on the cutting room floor (so to speak).

And then came The Resurrection Rap. 

Oh, dear. 

This is only marginally more authentic than Terry Taylor's RapSures albums. In fairness, it's hard to look back at 1980s rap through eyes and ears that have (unfortunately) seen and heard hip-hop of the 2000s and beyond. So it is what it is. But that video...it's a veritable all-you-can-eat buffet of stereotypes. File this one alongside Bryan Duncan's Don't You Wanna Rap. 

With lyrics like these, Resurrection Rap isn't in danger of landing on any list of the greatest CCM Easter songs of all time:

Yo listen up, this is Captin C

I got the deffest, freshest tale to tell

The disciples just stood there shruggin' 
An' thought, "Our Home Boy must be buggin'."

But when Christ talks you best be chill,
He made the wind and the waves stand still.
'Cause the Son of God don't pop no jive.

He slams religion, He just won't chill,
He's wipin' away the grin on my grill.

He felt so crush, he busted a pose.
"I'm goin' back to My crib, this case is closed."

Yeah. I'm pretty sure that when Jesus rose from the dead He said, "I'm goin' back to My crib."

One reviewer called The Resurrection Rap "ill-advised and laughable." I tend to agree. Maybe we should blame it at least partially on Brian Tankersley. He produced, recorded, mixed, and programmed the track. He also played all the instruments.

Musically, Shine Through Me was a song made for a Vegas lounge crooner. And Carman had been just that in a former life. 

The album wrapped with the title track, one of Carman's most epic good vs. evil story songs of all time. It's basically Carman’s impersonation of a conversation between Satan and a demon minion. In the video, it's played out by two actors in impressive, movie-worthy makeup, with lots of special effects. By the end of the video, Hell seems to fall apart, Satan and the minion are sent running, and the Devil's throne explodes. "It is ludicrous and it is awesome," writes blogger Tyler Huckabee. "More music videos should end with Satan’s exploding chair."

On a serious front, the song does include an accurate and devastating description of abortion here in America:

Satan: Is there something wrong with my abortion clinics?

Demon: No, sir, that's all fine. We kill 4,000 unborn a day through, shall we say, surgical removal. It's selective breeding. We eliminate human life in the name of convenience like the Nazis and the Jews and with the government's approval.

Some people have wondered about Carman's supposed preoccupation with the devil. Looking back, Satan, demons and evil were central figures in a lot of songs and videos. Either he knew what motivated people and what would sell...or he was the most determined devil-chasing opponent of evil the music industry has ever seen! Then again, Satan, demons and evil are also, sadly, central figures in a lot of people's daily lives. Maybe Carman was onto something.

By the way, Carman has also been a favorite with Black audiences over the years. He appeared on The Bobby Jones Gospel Hour one time and broke the record for the highest rated Gospel TV show on the BET network TV in 20 years. For whatever reason, he seems to connect in a way that many white artists do not. And this song concludes with another nod to the sort of worship that's heard and experienced in Black churches across the USA every Sunday morning before building to a dramatic crescendo...

Lift your hands in victory, this is our finest hour!
For this sleeping giant called the church is rising up in power!
Cry loud, spare not, this lion's got a roar!
We may have lost some battles, but we will win this war!

We've made it through the fire and our faith in God is strong!
We're a revelation generation with fire in our bones!
We're filled up with the Holy Ghost, trusting in the Bible!
Fasten your seatbelts, saints of God, the world is breaking forth in a Revival!

Revival is coming to our land
The Holy Ghost is moving just like a hurricane
Revival is coming to our shore
Get ready for the moving of the Spirit of the Lord

It's what we've been waiting for
It's what we've been praying for
From America to England
From Africa to Spain
From Mexico to China
The Spirit of God is being poured out
On all flesh and there is
Revival in the land! 

Now, there have been outbreaks of what some have called "revival" in specific locations and for relatively short periods of time since 1989. But we're still waiting for what was described in this song. I'll be the first to say I hope it happens. 

Not a lot is known (for sure) about Carman's personal life. He's been linked romantically with everyone from Kim Boyce to Cindy Morgan to Kathy Trocolli. There have been whispers as to why he's not married, internet rumors of affairs, and even rumors of a short-lived marriage and possible annulment - nothing substantiated, just innuendo and conjecture. What we do know is that he appears to be winning a serious battle with cancer, thankfully, and he continues to record and minister. 

For all of the snarky comments he's endured and for all of the bad reviews he's received, he can just sit back, smile and point to a list of successes like no one else in the history of contemporary Christian music:

He was the first Christian artist to receive a coveted spot in the "Parade of Champions" at the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.

In 2004, Carman was presented the prestigious Humanitarian Award, from the House of Hope - an award usually reserved for the likes of Billy Graham and Ronald Reagan.

His Heart of a Champion Tour was broadcast on the Armed Services Network to 800,000 of our fighting soldiers in 157 countries one Easter.

He headlined the first Christian Night at the RiverBend Festival in Chattanooga Tennessee, setting a record for the largest solo outdoor Christian concert - 80,000 plus in attendance, with more than 20,000 people giving their lives to Christ.

Carman aired, on national television, his Halloween 3:16 special, with over 70,000 first time decisions for Christ recorded before the phone lines jammed up. 

He also started 15 R.I.O.T Centers (churches specifically designed to meet the needs of the inner city). 

He collected one million names for a "constitutional amendment favoring prayer in public schools" - said to be the most names collected by any one person on any issue in U.S. history.

And he holds the record for the largest solo CCM concert in history, at Texas Stadium, with over 72,000 people in attendance.

He must've been doing something right.

Oh -- and Revival in the Land ended up being a heavily decorated album. The Revival in the Land video ended up RIAA Certified Platinum and won an Ampex Golden Reel Award, and the album spent 33 weeks at #1 according to Billboard Magazine. The Revival in the Land album has been RIAA certified Gold, while winning Dove Awards for both Long Form and Short Form Video of the Year. Revival in the Land was named Contemporary Christian Album of the Year by both Billboard Magazine and The CCM Update; it was the #1 album for Bookstore Journal and Christian Retailing as well, and Revival in the Land and A Witch's Invitation were both named #1 Video Singles by The CCM Update.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Let's end this with more words from blogger Tyler Huckabee. I don't know that I agree with him completely, but it's definitely an interesting take:

"Christian music is notoriously, suffocatingly self-serious, forever burdening itself with saving the world with one hand while reminding yourself of what a bad person you are with the other.

Carman wasn’t immune to that, but it was definitely an afterthought. He saw it all, first and foremost, as something exciting; a call to be Clint Eastwood, James Bond and William Wallace all rolled into one. If that’s a little bit egocentric, it’s also pretty fun. For an 11-year-old Christian boy living in the middle of nowhere Nebraska, let me tell you, it lent something to the whole concept of Christianity nothing else did: It made it cool. 

Carman has recently survived what was evidently a serious cancer scare, I hope he’s around to give us another music video or two. The forces of hell remain forever in need of an ass-kicking, and who among us does it better than Carman?"