Never before Heard Songs Recorded by Keith Green to be Released
The bigger-than-life Christian artist "groused about being celebrated for his music, considering himself simply an instrument of God. Giving him credit, Green said, was like praising a pencil for producing a poem."
(Garden Valley, Texas)—Christian evangelist and singer-songwriter Keith Green was bigger than life. Ask anyone from the 60's Jesus Movement. July 28 will mark the 25th anniversary of his death, when he and eleven others perished in an airplane that crashed just after take-off, due to the fact that the craft was overloaded. Along with the 28 year old Green and his two young children were missionaries John and DeDe Smalley and their six children. (Photo: AP)
Now, Green's prolific and ahead-of-his-time work is about to be rediscovered. According to an AP report, EMI/Sparrow Records is painstakingly going through recordings—never heard before—saved by Keith's wife, Melody.
Said Melody, "I have kept every little thing that Keith's done."
Noting that Green was a true "original," songwriter Randy Stonehill said: "He was intense about everything—everything from his music to his spiritual journey, to where you could get the best cheeseburger with grilled onions and a chocolate malt."
Those who knew Green say he "groused about being celebrated for his music, considering himself simply an instrument of God. Giving him credit, Green said, was like praising a pencil for producing a poem."
"I think he was one of the best songwriters of the modern era of Christian music," said John Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association in Nashville, Tenn. "It was vulnerable and transparent and absolutely not contrived."
