The Petra Zone

You all may have heard this story before, but in case you didn't -- it's now on Beliefnet.com:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundch ... sic-d.html

I would love to interview her and get her history being married to John and Petra. It would be interesting to hear her perspective on CCM, ministry, and the effects on the home.

I remember reading the story a number of years ago when the guys were over at John and Dorla's and ate all the roast. Recipes are fun.

It takes a special lady to deal with hubby being involved in the music biz and being on the road a lot. Not everyone could handle that sort of thing. I'm sure she would have a lot of good advice to give. The fact they've been married 30+ years does say a lot.

I wondered if they put the same effort in for Ronny and even Jonnie before he came on in 1984.

I don't remember reading anything about whether they had dinner at Ronny's or John L's, but they did spend a lot of time praying that the members of Petra would be appointed by God, and if they weren't it became clear. They were going through a big transition when John became Petra's lead singer, it makes sense that they would do that. There are probably plenty of stories that never made it to print. Whatever the case, it was a long time ago.

I wouldn't be surprised at all that more investigation and prayer went in to John Schlitt than any other member to ever join the band. Why? Because of his background. His wild lifestyle and drug habits were well known within music circles. Can you imagine the mess Petra would have had on their hands if they didn't take a hard look at John and he ended up being a closet druggie and not really a Christian?

That does make sense, and so long as John wasn't still in that lifestyle, that shouldn't have been a problem. However, it's quite possible for a artist without a significant background in the secular biz to have plenty of closet stuff. Being a "Christian" artist doesn't make people immune to what can go on out there.

Brent,

Here's the original interview that I did with Dorla back in 2001:

http://johnwschlitt.com/fans/interviewsdorla.htm

or as audio:

http://www.johnwschlitt.com/soundclips/ ... /Dorla.zip

Shell wrote:I don't remember reading anything about whether they had dinner at Ronny's or John L's, but they did spend a lot of time praying that the members of Petra would be appointed by God, and if they weren't it became clear. They were going through a big transition when John became Petra's lead singer, it makes sense that they would do that. There are probably plenty of stories that never made it to print. Whatever the case, it was a long time ago.

It's late and I can't recall all of the specifics but, I think it was John L that told me he and Bob actually played together at some point before Petra in another ministry's band. Then they had the concert dates with Joe English to cross paths.

Ronny was a try out thing in Nashville IIRC, but I seem to remember that he was grilled too.

separateunion wrote:I wouldn't be surprised at all that more investigation and prayer went in to John Schlitt than any other member to ever join the band. Why? Because of his background. His wild lifestyle and drug habits were well known within music circles. Can you imagine the mess Petra would have had on their hands if they didn't take a hard look at John and he ended up being a closet druggie and not really a Christian?

Yeah. Heaven forbid that he live the life that some of the other CCM artists, producers, engineers and record company staff were living.

I think it's more the fact that a LEAD SINGER is a very high-profile position compared to other band positions.

The singer is the one who quite often speaks for the band on stage, does most of the interviews, and is more outspoken simply because of his position as FRONT man. You have to be certain this is the right man for the job, because he is representing YOU as the band.

SU, do you really think the folks in ccm really knew about Head East and John - when he hadn't been in the band OR the public eye for five years? I kinda doubt it.

brent wrote:

separateunion wrote:I wouldn't be surprised at all that more investigation and prayer went in to John Schlitt than any other member to ever join the band. Why? Because of his background. His wild lifestyle and drug habits were well known within music circles. Can you imagine the mess Petra would have had on their hands if they didn't take a hard look at John and he ended up being a closet druggie and not really a Christian?

Yeah. Heaven forbid that he live the life that some of the other CCM artists, producers, engineers and record company staff were living.

Agree.

I would guess that Lichens had training to beat the Petra interview.

Louie didn't go to John's house for the interview, did Louie ever get over Greg X. leaving Petra? on the 2001 revival dvd he is nearly in tears talking about when Greg left. Also from interviews I have never heard Louie make a positive comment about John S, not one..makes me think that Louie should have went with Greg when he went solo.

There may be exceptions, and it may be understating things a bit...But I think much of what goes on with bands can be chalked up to personality conflicts. Sometimes it is simply better for some people not to work together. More often than not it can boil down to who is being the bigger idiot in a given situation.

Louie didn't go to John's house for the interview

Louie did not have financial ownership in the band; the other ones did. So I'm assuming that's why.

More often than not it can boil down to who is being the bigger idiot in a given situation.

Hehehe... you're too funny, Shell!

Hey, that's a very deep and profound statement. And really true in many cases.