"Few things frightened conservative white Protestant parents of the 1950s and the 1960s more than thought of their children falling prey to the "menace to Christendom" known as rock and roll. The raucous sounds seemed tailor-made to destroy the faith of their young and, in the process, undermine the moral foundations of the United States. Parents and pastors launched a crusade against rock music, but they were fighting an uphill battle. Salvation...

Rich Mullins rose to fame and fortune in the music industry and then gave it all away to live in obscurity among Native Americans on a reservation in New Mexico, teaching children the joy of music and the hope of the gospel. Then his life, so full of promise, came to a tragic end in an auto accident.

In this cultural history of evangelical Christianity and popular music, David Stowe demonstrates how mainstream rock of the 1960s and 1970s has influenced conservative evangelical Christianity through the development of Christian pop music. For an earlier generation, the idea of combining conservative Christianity with rock--and its connotations of nonreligious, if not antireligious, attitudes--may have seemed impossible. Today, however, Christian...

"Explore the history, evolution, and redemptive thread of Contemporary Christian music over the last fifty years as it spans the convergence of rock and roll, country, and gospel music. Tracking alongside the CCM movement, readers will find California artists who were as much a part of hippie culture as Christian culture, religious-centered bands denounced by some church leaders of the day, and best-selling artists who rose to, and sometimes fell...

"How do you go from Abilene, to Nashville, to Beverly Hills, to the rest of the world? How does the musical influence of a country kid from West Texas expand globally? Chris Christian's story begins in Abilene with a Grandmother's prayer. Her prayer was that Chris would reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mayme Christian Smith instilled in her grandson that he could become anything he wanted to become. Chris has done just that. A Grandmother's...