www.pilgrimsmusic.co.uk

THE PILGRIMS
"Telling Youth the Truth" ­ CD
I had heard about this band a long time ago, but was frankly a little surprised when this CD collection of their music showed up in my mailbox. Someone had played me a record by a Christian beat group called the Crossbeats, many years ago, and told me there was a whole bunch of other groups in England in the '60s that tried to influence their peers with good rocking and a strong religious message. This batch of righteous R&B kicks off with a song called "Hey You!" It has a wonderful hook and a fairly generic appeal to the listener to look beyond creature comforts for inspiration. The band is quite forceful on this and many other cuts. They bring to mind contemporaries like Them, the Animals and other blues based groups with an edge. On most of the songs, however, the lyrics are a bit too heavy on the half sung/half spoken pleas to bring Jesus into ones life to think of the vocals as just another instrument. The guitar sounds (lots of fuzz scattered throughout), pulsating harmonica work, solid rhythm section and songwriting are as good as on most other great lost '60s obscurities. There are a few tunes, "He Wants You" and "I Praise the Lord" that sound like they could almost have been produced by Joe Meek. There are some cheapo Beatlesque numbers too. The sound quality isn't always the best, but most of these songs are taken from very old sources.

Source - http://www.lancerecords.com/news2.htm#c

The Pilgrims "Telling Youth . . . The Truth" (LRL Records)

"How many combos can you think of in the early sixties that proudly proclaimed themselves to be a Christian band?"

The Pilgrims may have copped their sound from the beat bands of the day, but their motives sprang from an entirely different realm. While their peers championed sex and rebellion, these clean cut critters sang the praises of God. The Pilgrims brazenly preached the gospel, and that in itself makes them fascinating. How many combos can you think of in the early sixties that proudly proclaimed themselves to be a Christian band? None at all!

Therefore, there's little dispute The Pilgrims were the first of their stripe. Between the years 1964 and 1967, The Pilgrims recorded a gaggle of tracks, which are featured here on "Telling Youth . . . The Truth." Peddling tunes that snapped, crackled and popped with style and verve, the band clearly paid close attention to what acts like The Searchers and The Hollies were doing. Tangy melodies mated with sparkly guitar chords and fluid vocals ruled their material. On the other hand, The Pilgrims also had it in them to cry the blues as convincingly as The Rolling Stones.

And for some premium garage rock action, feast your ears upon "Hey You!" and "Thank You Lord," which are lit by pulsating rhythms and slashing breaks. Seasoned with swinging rockabilly touches and teardrop stained harmonies, "Telling Youth . . . The Truth" occasionally aims to stumble into Buddy Holly and The Crickets territory at times, which is for sure a good thing. Cheers to The Pilgrims for spreading faith, hope and love.

Source - http://www.mohairsweets.mb.ca/mohair_2/mohair_home_news.html

The Pilgrims: Telling Youth The Truth (LRL)
While it may be commonplace nowadays for the Christian message to be spread by hordes of hard rockin' metal types and grungy gurus it certainly wasn t that way back in Britain in the early 60s. More than likely it was wimpy folky types, all clean cut and fruity and anything remotely resembling a fuzzed-out beat group would be tarred with the same Satanic brush as those horrendous sinners the Pretty Things and Rolling Stones. Well that was pretty much the case with the Pilgrims. Not that they came very close to the debauched looked of the Stones or Pretties (more like the Manfreds or Zombies really) but their throbbing beat pulse wasn't exactly what many a local pastor apparently had in mind to lead the youth towards the path of righteousness and clean living. Just goes to show "what the hell is an old man doin' trying to tell the kids wot it's all about - the kids know best how to deliver the message to other kids". That is if it's something you really wanna consider in the first place. Ah, sorry got on a bit of a tangent there. The music? Wicked. Great beat pounders (recorded from 1962-1967) with plenty of fuzz and good tunes. The message? Well the kids did dig the Pilgrims by all accounts and whether or not they went down as one of the great Christian rock acts of all time they are certainly gonna be enjoyed by a great many rare Beat collector. Highly recommended! (21 tracks. 58:09 playing time.)

Source - GaragePunk.com Forums Forum Index -> Psychotic Reactions
Author nadorozny2001 Forum Groupie

Out now !
"The Pilgrims -Telling Youth The Truth" CD.
just for everybody's information The Pilgrims were a Christian beat /R&B group from London England 1963-67. they started out as your typical Cliff Richard & the Shadows group then turned into a R&B Yardbirds/Animals sounding group. Anyway songs like "Thank you Lord", "There's someone in your life" & "Don't you think its time?" are as good as any UK sounds at the time.

Source - http://www.garageandbeat.com/universe.html

The following CD release will be appreciated by fans of 60s rock or Jesus. Those who are into both will be doubly blessed if they add this one to their stash. Practically any genre in any modern era has had at least one band that used the popular musical medium to spread their faith to fellow music lovers. I remember being somewhat amused by Stryper trying to bring the gospel to heavy metal, which seems like a singular musical form dominated by worshipers of everything the Bible is against. I've even heard death metal music with lyrics that sing the praises of the Lord. When LRL records head honcho Ed Nadorozny sent me the Pilgrims "Telling Youth the Truth," he turned me on to my first example of '60s Jesus rock. The Pilgrims were from Britain and, according to the liner notes, were also the first band to play electric music that promoted Christianity. They were not the only ones who mixed beat music with faith. Some of the others include the Crossbeats, the Joystrings, the Cobblers, the Glorylanders and the Calvary Links. This CD is a compilation of tracks the Pilgrims recorded between 1962 and 1967 and showcases the talents of a variety of lineups. It opens with a track called "Hey You," a hard-edged Them inspired track that asks the listener to think about the road they are on and ponder the possibility of a better way. In my opinion, it is the best song on the CD. It is also the least preachy, but I believe that is more of a coincidence than anything else. The group's strengths are found in their guitar playing, drum pounding, harmonica blasting and adherence to chord structures popularized by the Animals, Zombies, Stones and other teen friendly acts that were all that and a bag of salty crisps while the Pilgrims were making the rounds of churches and Christian teen dances as well as all the usual religion optional pubs and halls. Their vocals were okay too, but sometimes prone to stiffness due to making sure the lyrics were always easy to understand. To my way of thinking, there is something peculiar about devoting each and every song in your repertoire to one theme. How many of us could stay infatuated with a group that devoted every tune to the joy paying taxes on time or cutting the crust off of the bread in their sandwiches? Even the Beach Boys eventually strayed off the surf message. I would imagine the Pilgrims' music was devoured by the devout and ignored by the rest of the teens who might have happened upon the group. More converts might have been made if the band sang of the glories of pointy shoes, pizza and pretty girls, and snuck their faith in as more of a bonus than the beginning, end and middle of existence, but maybe their strategy worked out for them just fine. Faith is more a matter of quality than quantity anyway, right? You're darn tootin'!! While they might not have attracted huge throngs of screaming kids to their shows, that was the fate of the vast majority of groups anyway. The fans that adored beat music with some teeth and a solid Christian message could groove behind songs like, "Do You Believe in God?" "Think of God's Love," "Heaven's the Place for Me," "Thank You Lord," "Who's Your Lord?" and a slew of other equally Jesus happy numbers. Thanks to cool folks who go to the trouble of unearthing lost gems and giving them a second life, you can join in on all the fun too. For a cool new label this is a pretty hot first release!