The Petra Zone

A couple questions maybe someone here could answer or point to sources that provide the answer:

* Why did John Slick leave the band?

* There are references around the Net about Petra being nominated for a Grammy and two Dove Awards in the mid 1980s. I can't find any evidence of any of this. Can anyone provide any clarity?

I've gotten basically through the Volz years, though I'm always going back and updating earlier sections with additional info or clarifying wording, etc.

I've never read anything about the reasons Slick had for leaving the band. I always assumed it had to do with wanting to spend more time with his family. The 10 Year Anniversary songbook states that Slick got married in late 1982. Looking at the thank you's of NOTW where the band wishes John and Judy all the best, it wasn't a sudden decision.

As exe mentioned recently, Slick played on the first leg of the NOTW tour. Rob Watson filled in a few dates, until John Lawry was available, who wanted to honour and fulfill his commitment to Joe English (see the interview w/ Lawry on the Farewell DVD). So contrary to what you wrote on wikipedia, Lawry was always supposed to be the band's keyboardist from the first moment he joined. He never just filled in.

On my site are some Grammy nominations. I took these from grammy.com, but I don't recall where exactly on the site I found them. I've been looking for Dove Award nominations on-line but I've never been able to find anything about that. Maybe somewhere on the GMA site there's some more info nowadays, but I'm not sure.

Sorry to bring this old thread up again, but I just wanted to commend the great work that has gone into improving the quality of Petra-band Wikipedia site by Paul (CatNamedManny). The page is now quite orderly, the content has been greatly increased plus newer features added. Congrats and thanks a lot Paul. In addition, many other pages for other bigger bands don't match the quality that Petra's page has been infused with.

A multi-themed site is what Petra needs for now. If petheads put their heads together, they can put up a big site that has themes from all era's of Petra's existence. This can become a media headliner if well publicised and generate interest for Petra. My dream for such a site is where visitors to the site can choose the theme they desire and cookies used to load their selected theme. The themes have to be related to the respective contents.

Dream on.

CatNamedManny wrote:A couple questions maybe someone here could answer or point to sources that provide the answer:

* Why did John Slick leave the band?

...

The "A Guide To Petra" website (which appears to have been abandoned and no longer functions properly) had an interview with John Slick - I forget that actual time frame but it couldn't have been too long after he left the band. When asked about his reasons for leaving, most of them centered around career development - he saw his time with Petra (and the music industry in general) as wasted years that could have been put towards preparing for his chosen vocation (in IT). The interview was a little awkward, IIRC.

I still find it a little strange that someone who wrote songs like "Not By Sight" and "Occupy" could look back and regret it. But otherwise, I see his point. In CCM especially, once your band fades from the popular memory, there's not exactly great retirement benefits or anything. Slick must have decided that it was "immature" for him to pursue a career in music, and he left.

Well, it took a while, but the Petra Wikipedia page has been completely rewritten, from Bob meeting John DeGroff and founding the band Dove in the early 1970s to the upcoming release of Back to the Rock in 2010 (we hope).

Now it's up to you to go through it and see if there's anything inaccurate, misspelled, mispunctuated or ungrammatical that I missed. Thanks a whole bunch to Pieter and Sue. Pretty much anything from a CCM came from one of the two of them (because the CCM website is close to worthless, though it did turn up a couple old articles and reviews).

Also, I'd like to put up some new and/or different song samples up there, especially a rocker or two, to give a better idea of what Petra sounds like. Maybe "Mine Field," my personal favorite, and one other. Anyone feel very strongly for a particular song?

I don't know if it will ever be completely done (hopefully not, as that will mean we're still finding lost treasures or the band is still putting out new material), but it's about as close as it's going to get, I think!

CatNamedManny wrote:<snip>
Also, I'd like to put up some new and/or different song samples up there, especially a rocker or two, to give a better idea of what Petra sounds like. Maybe "Mine Field," my personal favorite, and one other. Anyone feel very strongly for a particular song?
!

Put up the original "God Gave Rock & Roll To You" from "Come and Join Us" that they recorded. The band took a lot of heat from the church/radio for that song and it was one they fought to get out there. Or, better yet, ask Bob, using the email from houseofbob.com, what he thinks should be up there! But if I had a vote, that would be it.

I would suggest "Creed". Petra was at the peak of their popularity at that point. I think it's the best song from Beyond Belief.

Cat, I appreciate the work you are putting in to Petra's wiki.

Thanks, Jonathan. I had a lot of fun doing it -- and learned a whole lot in the process. Hopefully, this is a way for the band to get the due it deserves...

Maybe, if I can figure out how, I'll do "God Gave Rock and Roll to You," "Mine Field" and "Creed," remove "Backslidin' Blues" and replace "More Power to Ya" with "The Coloring Song." But first I'll have to see if I can learn how to do that...

Why not a relatively newer song, like "All about who you know" from J &H, or "Till everything I do". Old songs have a way of proving that the band belonged to the past, Heh! Heh! Especially when you want the page to tempt someone to buy their albums.

Agree - best not to go with such old songs, even though some of them are quite good. They are just not up to the quality standards of the newer music and do not accurately represent Petra's style during their popularity peak period.

I disagree with including the original "God Gave Rock...". Even though I understand the significance of this song at the time, it's just far too old-school and is certainly NOT from Petra's heyday.

Something newer (i.e., 1990 or later) makes a lot more sense to me, personally. Here are some possibilities:

Creed would not be a bad choice.
Sacred Trust
The Coloring Song (if you want something from the Voltz era)
Beyond Belief
Destiny or Dance
Enter In

Of course, if you ask 10 long-time fans, you're going to get 8 different "favorites" lists. You've done a super job with the wiki site, Man - you deserve to make this pick yourself in the end. I am floored by all the work you've put in. Kudos! Thanks for even asking us what we think!

Andy from Indiana

I have to reiterate the appreciation that others have expressed in the effort given for this updated wiki page for Petra. To get an idea of how impressive this page is, check out the Newsboys wiki page. Obviously, the Newsboys aren't Petra, but they have had a pretty big footprint in the industry.
Kudos on a job well done!

Thanks, all, for the kind words. Here are the tracks currently on the page:

"God Gave Rock and Roll to You"
"The Coloring Song"
"Mine Field"
"King of Kings"

I think I'll replace "King of Kings" with something newer.

It's worth remembering that the old songs are historically important, and the Wikipedia entry is, in large part, an historical document. "God Gave Rock and Roll to You" was an incredibly controversial statement at a crucial juncture for Christian rock as a genre. "The Coloring Song" is probably the most significant song in Petra's history; they aren't representative of how Petra sounded at its peak, but there would be no peak without those two songs.

That said, I think "Mine Field" and one other rocker from the 1988-93 years would suffice to be a representative sample of the band at its peak. "Creed" may be a good one, except you're limited to 30-second clips, and that song is uniquely difficult to get an accurate impression of in just 30 seconds (first half gives you a totally different impression than the last half). Maybe "Beyond Belief" would be best. It's probably the most popular rocker from the album other than "Creed" (though I personally am not nearly as big a fan as many others).

I believe the band distances themselves from this song.. it was on the other hand a hit for Argent then later KISS.

Greg wont sing the song, nor will John. I have heard it has played by Petra since 1985, but I have never heard a recording from a live performance.

This Means War, More power to ya, Beyond Belief should be clips on there, even Underneath the Blood.

Daniel wrote:I believe the band distances themselves from this song.. it was on the other hand a hit for Argent then later KISS.

Greg wont sing the song, nor will John. I have heard it has played by Petra since 1985, but I have never heard a recording from a live performance.

This Means War, More power to ya, Beyond Belief should be clips on there, even Underneath the Blood.

It's on Captured in Time and Space.