John Daniels was among the pioneers of Christian music in the 1970s when it was called Jesus Music, Christian Folk, or Jesus Rock. Then, it served a number of purposes. Christian music with a contemporary sound not only provided music for worship, but also for spiritual growth for believers (a musical sermon, if you like), and as a witnessing tool.
As a witnessing tool, the music was like a two-edged sword. One edge was for pointing out the emptiness of a life without Jesus. This was done through social comment songs and songs that allowed the listener to identify with the lost character in a song. The other edge provided a way for people to come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Click to go directly to
John's Main Page, with the recordings and sheet music.
All of John’s regular albums follow a similar pattern; they start with one sword’s edge that provides social comment and identification with a lost soul, then proceed with introducing the listener to Jesus. If you were to choose one of his songs at random, you might find one that sounds very non-Christian, even perhaps anti-Christian. These would include tunes like
Maybe It’s Jesus from the album
Missing Part, or
Are We Having Fun Yet? from the
Hold Onto Life album, or
Tick Tock Man or
Big God from the album
The Story.
Among the rest of the tunes are songs that are prayers for various people, such as
David,
Class Reunion,
Hold Onto Life, and
Mary, Mary. There are also a number of “Sermons in a Song” that sometimes come down hard on the hypocrisy that some so-called Christians demonstrate; songs such as
Who Loves You?, I Am a Locomotive, and
Alexander. Others deal with things like racism in the song
Samaritan, abortion in
Most Dangerous Place, and standing strong in a public school, in the song
Are You Courageous?.During his time touring and singing, John played in Christian and secular coffeehouses and other venues along the east coast of the US and appeared on a number of TV shows as well as having his music played on various radio stations.
The style is enigmatic and eclectic. That means that no one has been able to nail it down. A common conversation between John and patrons at a coffeehouse or youth concert involved someone asking him, “What kind of music do you play?” To which he would often answer, “I’ll tell you what, when I’m done, you let me know.” After the concert, the person or persons with the question would come back to tell John, “I don’t know what kind it was. It sounded a little like this person or that. But, whatever it is, I like it.”
Click to see
More Pics of John