Little Honda Lead Singer's "Rock & Roll Preacher" Story

ASSIST News Service PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA www.assistnews.net • assistnews@aol.com A Love Song to Jesus By Dan Wooding - MISSION VIEJO, CA (ANS) -- Contemporary Christian Music legend Chuck Girard, along with longtime friend and music collaborator Fred Field, will be appearing on March 29, 2014, at The Upper Room Christian Coffee House, Mission Viejo, CA. Never mind he had top twenty hits back in the 60's with The Castells and The Hondells. Today, Chuck Girard is best known as a legend of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). In the early 1970's Girard along friends, Tommy Coomes, Jay Truax and John Mehler, Bob Wall and Fred Field, formed the group Love Song. That group revolutionized Christian music and gave birth to a whole new music form in the church that is still going strong today. READ: Rock & Roll Preacher by Chuck Girard Girard first found notoriety in the 60's secular rock music scene with hits such as "So This is Love" with The Castells.  He gained even bigger notoriety he landed a number 1 hit with the iconic song called "Little Honda", which was written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson and performed by The Hondells with Girard on lead vocals.  "It was an interesting turn of events" said Girard. "Our version of Little Honda actually was a bigger hit than the Beach Boys version of that song. "It is the only time in Beach Boy history that another group charted higher than the Beach Boys on a song written by Brian Wilson" said Girard. As the heady days of the 60's continued and the "free-love" generation came of age, Girard began to realize his need for God and began a five year search for spiritual reality through psychedelic drugs and eastern religions. His search ended when he came to a faith in Christ in a then small church in Costa Mesa called Calvary Chapel. It was then that Girard along with his friends formed Love Song. They became the first group to play rock oriented 'Christian music' and went on to set unmatched precedents in that pave the way for such CCM notables as Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, Casting Crowns and countless others.   Love Song gained international popularity and were instrumental in the 1970's revival known as The Jesus Movement. During his time in Love Song, Girard wrote many of the anthems of that era with songs such as "Welcome Back", "Front Seat, Back Seat," "Feel the Love" and many others. When Love Song disbanded in 1974, Girard continued to minister as a solo artist and that same year released his first album simply titled "Chuck Girard." This album included his most renowned song, the timeless classic "Sometimes Alleluia" and "Rock & Roll Preacher". He has since released many solo albums and has toured the world sharing his music and teaching on the subject of worship. Pastor Jack Hayford said of Chuck's album Written on the Wind, "I have never encountered a more sensitive invitation to or dynamic entrance into an intimate experience in worshipping God than via Chuck Girard's Voice of the Wind". In 2011, at the urging of the late Pastor Chuck Smith, Love Song reunited and toured the country along with Smith. After each Love Song concert, Smith would deliver the Gospel message where many came forward to receive Christ as Savior. In 2012, Love Song was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame In 2010, Girard wrote and recorded a song called "The Heart of America" and filmed an accompanying video. The song is a call to prayer for our country based on the scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." Joining Girard as the opening artist at the Upper Room will be Fred Field. Along with Girard, Field was one of the original members LOVE SONG. It was actually Field who wrote the song "Little Country Church," which went on to become one of Love Song's biggest hits and wa s an anthem for that time. In the late sixties, Field joined a rock 'n roll band and began recording his own original material and making regular appearances on television. In those early years, he appeared in clubs from Las Vegas to the legendary Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Since then, Field has played in groups that have opened in concert for The Byrds, The Turtles, The Temptations, Three Dog Night, Alice Cooper, Seals & Croft, The Grateful Dead, and The Staple Singers. On guitar, mandolin, and/or electric violin, he has worked with Darlene Love and Grammy Award winner Andraé Crouch. His versatility extends to country music, as well, where he has shared the stage with such luminaries as Doug Kershaw ("Louisiana Man"), Jerry Lee Lewis ("Great Balls of Fire"), the legendary Tex Williams ("Smoke, smoke [that cigarette]"), and the Osmond Brothers. Other recording projects include a solo LP for Maranatha! Music, Fred Field & Friends; a musical Through These Eyes, the Gospel According to Luke and its sequel, Acts; a live, double LP, The Mehler-Field Band Live, recorded in Germany, and a studio album, Life Support, also released in Germany. A long-time member of The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), his tunes have been played on television and radio in Europe, the Middle East, the U.S., Australia, Japan, etc. He has performed his music on five continents. This will be Girard's fifth appearance at The Upper Room. He has appeared twice as a solo artist and twice with Love Song. "The collective work of both Girard, Field andLove Song not only defined a soundtrack for such a vital time in Church history called The Jesus MovementJesus Movement; but their music was also instrumental in my own Christian journey after I became a Christian in the seventies." Fred and Chuck are both dear friends and we are excited about their upcoming appearance at the Upper Room," said Ron Strand, a Christian businessman and the founder of The Upper Room, a Christian Coffeehouse outreach which meets regularly in Mission Viejo, California. The name comes from a biblical reference found in the book of Acts, where the disciples had gathered after Jesus resurrection.instrumental in my own Christian journey after I became a Christian in the seventies." Fred andChuck are both dear friends and we are excited about their upcoming appearance at the UpperRoom," said Ron Strand, a Christian businessman and the founder of The Upper Room, a ChristianCoffeehouse outreach which meets regularly inMission Viejo, California. The name comes from a biblical reference found in the book of Acts, where the disciples had gathered after Jesus resurrection. Seats for this event may be obtained by visiting the Upper Room's website at www.TheUpperRoomPresents.com Note: Ron Strand can be contacted by e-mail at info@theupperroompresents.com      See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net Dan Wooding, 73, is an award-winning journalist who who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 50 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is a novel about the life of Jesus through the eyes of his mother called "Mary: My Story from Bethlehem to Calvary". (Click to order) ** You may republish this story with proper attribution.  Send this story to a friend.

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