We'll Fly You to the Promised Land by Les Humphries Singers (1971)
The Les Humphries Singers were sort of your standard Jesus Music group of the early 70's - every song sounded like "Age of Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In)" with a gospel twist. The album contains your predictable mix of (1) hippie Christian tunes like "Jesus Cried on the Day He Died", (2) hippie social message songs like "Melting Pot", and (3) hippie rock covers like "Hey Joe".
The group consisted of diverse ethnic origins and nationalities. Their biggest hit came a German cover version of The Bellamy Brothers' hit "Let Your Love Flow", translated to "Ein Bett im Kornfeld". Here's one song off the We'll Fly You to the Promised Land album titled "Bucket of Sweat".
By the mid-1970's, Les Humphries Singers had all but abandoned any Christian pretense. They released rock, jazz and even disco albums.
What I find particularly interesting about this group is their main vocalist, John Lawton. His funky mug is front and center on the front and/or back of every record.
What blows my mind is how Mr. Lawton could be in a family-friendly Jesus freak musician and then a band called... (drum roll, please) Lucifer's Friend!
Here's a song from the Good Time Warrior album above called "Old Man Roller". I apologize up front for the awfulness... this stuff is bad - real bad.
As the name implies, Lucifer's Friend had a lot more in common with Black Sabbath than The Fifth Dimension or Up with People. However, I should mention that Lawton actually was in both groups simultaneously. It would have made for a more interesting post had he quit Les Humphries Singers, renounced Jesus, and pledged his soul to Satan. Alas, this was not the case.
In another interesting turn, Lawton became the frontman for the well known prog rock group, Uriah Heep in 1976.To view a few more album covers by The Les Humphries Singers, click the "read more" option below...
images from the Les Humphries Discography site; click images to embiggen
