Original Petra lineup

[Dan]

Say what you will about Bob, but if it wasn't for him, we'd all be listening to Bill Gaither.

No way. Bob did not invent Christian rock. Elvis was rocking the Christian tunes long before Petra. He exposed the world to Christian groups and featured them as preshow events. Then we have all of the Jesus music rockers out there. There were secular artists who were Christians putting out music as well.

Did I miss something that I said? I don't recall saying that Bob invented christian rock music, I know that there were many bands before Petra, but how many bands stayed with it for as long as Petra did, not too many as far as I know. Yes some people are still around today as single acts but no band lasted as long as Petra.

Look at all the bands that rose up in the eighties and fized out just as fast.

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

No you said Bob invented rock, kidding

[shawnpfan01]

I did say that didn't I.

[Preacherman777]

I've noticed that Edward has a tendency to assume things that haven't been said so he can tell people how wrong they are. Perhaps an effort to show us that he knows more than anyone else does. I don't know. Perhaps he's compensating for some personal insecurities.

[shawnpfan01]

He does seem a little bitter.

[executioner]

Say what you will about Bob, but if it wasn't for him, we'd all be listening to Bill Gaither.

No way. Bob did not invent Christian rock. Elvis was rocking the Christian tunes long before Petra. He exposed the world to Christian groups and featured them as preshow events. Then we have all of the Jesus music rockers out there. There were secular artists who were Christians putting out music as well.

Did I miss something that I said? I don't recall saying that Bob invented christian rock music, I know that there were many bands before Petra, but how many bands stayed with it for as long as Petra did, not too many as far as I know. Yes some people are still around today as single acts but no band lasted as long as Petra.

Look at all the bands that rose up in the eighties and fized out just as fast.

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

One group that might be compared to Petra is Rez. Their early stuff is really hard but also very raw. Rez started the same year(1972) as Petra and their stuff in the 70's and early 80's is not only higher quality production wise, but higher quality overall.

[sue d.]

Bob invented the internet too!

...... oh wait.... that was Al Gore. Sorry, Al.

[Edward]

I've noticed that Edward has a tendency to assume things that haven't been said so he can tell people how wrong they are. Perhaps an effort to show us that he knows more than anyone else does. I don't know. Perhaps he's compensating for some personal insecurities.

I replied to Shawnpfan who stated that if it were not for Bob we would all be listening to Gaither. I merely pointed out that there were others rocking before and at the same time of Bob. Jesus music was apart and different from Christian contemporary. Some people make the claim that Jesus music started Christian rock. It did not. CCM was around long before. That was my simple point.

Some people think that Petra started Christian rock, they did not. There are many people with no knowledge of Christian music or it's roots. There are many people I know who think Stryper, Petra and White Cross started Christian rock. You never know who is reading this thing.

Petra was one of the most vocal IMO about the persecution. Maybe more so than Bryan Duncan of Sweet Comfort Band. The persecution goes all the way back to the 40s. There were quartets like the Statesmen playing music a too boogified for the church. They included a trombone in a blues tune and were chased out of towns, boo'd, etc. The trombone was evil. They were doing their version of rock and roll back then.

I like a bunch of that old stuff, because it is edgier than some music today. People were not affraid to play the music that they liked. The music wasn't so formulated. I appreciate it's history.

Sorry if you got offended Shawn.

[separateunion]

I replied to Shawnpfan who stated that if it were not for Bob we would all be listening to Gaither.

By implying that he said that Bob invented Christian rock. Which shawn never said. It was easy enough for me, and probably everyone else here to understand that he was saying that Bob and Petra were instrumental in changing the music landscape in the church and making CCM a reality.

[separateunion]

Wikipedia does have it's uses, however, you have to be aware that it is a "living encyclopedia" in that anyone can edit or add to entries as they see fit. Now, there are rules and discussions to keep it from getting too out of hand, but wikipedia is not a good source when it comes to fact checking. If you were writing a paper for a high school or college class and cited wikipedia as a source, your paper would get thrown in the trash. Does this mean everything in wikipedia is false? No, but you can't trust everything that's in there either.

Does that mean you didn't know that wikipedia is readily editable by anyone with access to a computer or...

[shawnpfan01]

Who is Weley???

[shawnpfan01]

Ok, for starters, the band did not suck during that period. Some of us appreciate the music from that time very much. On top of that, those guys were still with the band when they made Come and Join Us in 1977 with Greg X Volz as a guest vocalist. I am not exactly sure why the guys didn't stay with the band, but from I've heard about those times, I suspect it probably had more to do with internal conflicts, than it did with the band not being viable, especially after 77. Even Rob Frazier has suggested that during his time with the band in 79, internal relationships were somewhat chaotic.

None of those albums before Never Say Die charted, had a single on radio, sold well. Come on. It's one thing for us to appreciate those first records. A n over the top fan would buy into everything a band has done. Some people are not into that old style of music. Fine. To them it sucks. Fine. Commercially, it was not viable. The church didn't buy it. Hardly anyone did.

There was chaos. Some of the members continued to fight demons of their past. Some created some themselves. It was Bob that drove the bus. It was his band. He is the one constant. That speaks volumes on many levels.

You said that Petra had no radio hits prior to Never Say Die, but Why Should the Father Bother was their first radio hit, and it came out in 1979.

I learned that from a new friend I made on the zone.

[Dan]

Wikipedia does have it's uses, however, you have to be aware that it is a "living encyclopedia" in that anyone can edit or add to entries as they see fit. Now, there are rules and discussions to keep it from getting too out of hand, but wikipedia is not a good source when it comes to fact checking. If you were writing a paper for a high school or college class and cited wikipedia as a source, your paper would get thrown in the trash. Does this mean everything in wikipedia is false? No, but you can't trust everything that's in there either.

Does that mean you didn't know that wikipedia is readily editable by anyone with access to a computer or...

I'm new to the internet...

[shawnpfan01]

I've noticed that Edward has a tendency to assume things that haven't been said so he can tell people how wrong they are. Perhaps an effort to show us that he knows more than anyone else does. I don't know. Perhaps he's compensating for some personal insecurities.

I replied to Shawnpfan who stated that if it were not for Bob we would all be listening to Gaither. I merely pointed out that there were others rocking before and at the same time of Bob. Jesus music was apart and different from Christian contemporary. Some people make the claim that Jesus music started Christian rock. It did not. CCM was around long before. That was my simple point.

Some people think that Petra started Christian rock, they did not. There are many people with no knowledge of Christian music or it's roots. There are many people I know who think Stryper, Petra and White Cross started Christian rock. You never know who is reading this thing.

Petra was one of the most vocal IMO about the persecution. Maybe more so than Bryan Duncan of Sweet Comfort Band. The persecution goes all the way back to the 40s. There were quartets like the Statesmen playing music a too boogified for the church. They included a trombone in a blues tune and were chased out of towns, boo'd, etc. The trombone was evil. They were doing their version of rock and roll back then.

I like a bunch of that old stuff, because it is edgier than some music today. People were not affraid to play the music that they liked. The music wasn't so formulated. I appreciate it's history.

Sorry if you got offended Shawn.

It will take a lot more than that to offend me.

[Jonathan]

Basically the band sucked in that period 72 - 76

They did not "suck." They didn't sell enough records or play enough shows (apparently, I wasn't there, and I didn't check wikipedia) to be commercially viable. Big diff.

I'm no big city lawyer, but it seems to me that Petra and Come and Join Us were pretty good showcases for the musicianship of the individual members. [citation needed]

[Dan]

Basically the band sucked in that period 72 - 76

They did not "suck." They didn't sell enough records or play enough shows (apparently, I wasn't there, and I didn't check wikipedia) to be commercially viable. Big diff.

I'm no big city lawyer, but it seems to me that Petra and Come and Join Us were pretty good showcases for the musicianship of the individual members. [citation needed]

Your entitled to an opinion apparently