Artist:Don Francisco
Song:Adam, Where Are You?
Album:Early Works
Singer songwriter Don Francisco is a pioneer of what is now called Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). When Francisco started out in the 70s, it was called Jesus Music. The name didn't change to CCM until the 80s. That's when Francisco had his greatest success. He was born Feb. 28, 1946 in Louisville, KY. His father was Christian seminary professor Clyde T. Francisco. Francisco started performing Jesus Music in 1974 and he signed with Benson Records' NewPax label. At the time, Benson was the number two Christian music label behind Word. Francisco spent his entire career with Benson until the company was sold in the mid 90s. Adam, Where Are You? is from the 1977 album Forgiven. This was his second album for NewPax. Francisco wrote all the songs. Adam, Where Are You? seems to be about a loss of faith. The album was recorded in Nashville and produced by veteran CCM producer John W. Thompson and Shane Keister. He played keyboards on the album and is usually a session musician. Other musicians are Buddy Emmons on steel guitar, Buddy Spicher on fiddle, Steve Gibson on guitar, Joe Osborn on bass and Larry London on drums. Francisco won Dove awards in 1980 for songwriter of the year and song of the year for He's Alive. This comp covers Francisco's early NewPax recordings. In recent years, Francisco has recorded for his own label. His Benson recordings are now owned by Sony. He has re-recorded most of his early songs. The comp I recommend has original recordings. I'm not sure if Francisco is still active. His most recent album was a 2017 live album. He isn't touring and he doesn't have a space on his website for tour dates. So he may be retired. But there is no question that Don Francisco was an important figure in the development of CCM. Here's Don Francisco performing Adam, Where Are You? in Northampton, England 1989.
No comments:
Post a Comment