I look at Bob Larson, and I feel like he’s just one of those guys you want to get to know. He released this album on Supreme Productions, inc., now my copy is a bit of a mess, because the record I’ve got is the 1966 CornerStone Records release (CR 3000/CRS 4000), but the sleeve I got is for the 1967 reissue on Supreme Productions, Inc. (S-231), not sure if it was a mistake or just the previous owner had two variations and somewhere in the last 50+ years swapped sleeves before getting to me, I should say 40 or so years, I’ve had this for over a decade now. Peep that Value Village sticker totally ruining the back cover. (:
The album opens with “I’ve got the Lord” and it’s a nice song, happy and upbeat. Much to my surprise, Bob doesn’t sound like how I thought he would, I’m not sure how exactly to describe it, but it’s very nice. Next up, “It’s Not the Same Place” and once more, I do like Bob’s vocals and that guitar playing on this album. He’s talented in more ways than one. He follows up with “Sittin’ In the Pew” and it’s a bit of a campy, cheesy sing-song type of tune, it’s a fun song though. One of those that reminds me of Church camp. We continue on with “Why He Should Care” and it’s a slower track with some nice backing vocals. The refrain with the organ and the backing vocals is absolutely fantastic, and the little organ solo at the end which is accompanied by that guitar outro, fantastic. “Matchless Beauty” comes next, and I feel it’s kind of got this western-y sound accompanied by that church organ sound with Bob’s vocals. You know, I’m digging this. “I Know a Power” comes next, and it’s kind of like one of those darkly worded Gospel songs that is just surprisingly upbeat. Love it.
So, the B-Side is apparently all instrumentals, so let’s do it. “Now I Belong to Jesus” comes next. It’s slow guitar playing. You know, looking into Bob Larson, he seems to have had an eventful career and life. He seems to have been against rock music for most of his career, but he for someone who disapproves of rock music sure can play some mean guitar. We go on with “Count Your Blessings” and it’s quick, happy and not a bad listen, there is some organ too going on. So, back to Bob, he actually has interviewed some Satanists, and Nazi Satanist (what is that even?) James Mason, by the way, that organ solo in there, great. Next we go on to the song “The Healer” and not liking that distorted guitar sound, or maybe it’s just the record because it’s super old. Bob later, in 1982, hosted one of those call-in shows for teenagers called “Talk Back” and he also came to embrace music a bit more, he even performed exorcisms over the phone. Wild. He was paid by the son of Penthouse founder, Bob Guccione, to go on tour with Slayer and to write about that. “The Lord of Glory” comes next, and it’s more up beat than the last, nice organ playing again. I love the organ. “For All My Sin” comes next, and it’s slow, not too interesting – yet? Most recently, in 2013, he was performing exorcisms in the Ukraine with his daughter and two of her friends, known as the ‘The Teenage Exorcists‘ – insane. The album closes with an instrumental version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and you know, I’m glad that it’s an organ instrumental version and not a vocal, but the guitar playing and organ is very reminiscent of Richard Miller, I’d have loved for him to do this one. All in all, not a bad album, very good instrumentalization.
Catalog Number:
CRS-4000
S-231
