Introducing - Don Francisco!
Posted December 23, 2009
By baconcraig,
This week's album features one of CCM's classic pioneers. Whether backed by a full band or alone on the stage with only an acoustic guitar, this artist is the ultimate story teller. Like many of the early CCM pioneers, Don Francisco started out in the secular genre but, after a conversion experience, began writing from a Christian perspective. Don's music has a simple purity to it that is captivating. Like Kieth Green, many of his songs are either scripture or taken directly from scripture. Don has a unique ability to place himself into a Bible story and give the listener an insider's perspective on the events recorded.
One of my favorite artists, Don began releasing albums in 1976 with Brother of the Sun. This blog will review his 5th album, The Live Concert. Although I love ALL my Don Francisco albums, there is something special about listening to him live. The album kicks off with Since I Met Him, one of those storyteller songs that recounts the experience of the blind man healed by Jesus. The beauty of a live performance is how songs can be blended together, and as the song ends it flows into the chorus of Got To Tell Somebody. This song tells the story of the centurion who sought out Jesus to heal his daughter but, as Jesus was returning to his house, his servants approached with the news that his daughter had died. Jesus tells the man to believe, and brings his daughter back to life.
Praise the Lord! Hallelu! I don't care what the devil's gonna do - that is how the third track begins on Jesus Is Lord Of The Way I Feel. Next up is a song that has become one of Francisco's crowd pleasers, The Steeple Song. A fun, upbeat tune, this song tells it like it is:
I don't care how many buses you own or the size of your sanctuary. I don't care how steep your steeple is if it's sitting on a cemetary. I don't care if you pave your parking lots or put pads upon you pews, what good is a picture perfect stage if you're missing all the cues?
I'll Never Let Go Of Your Hand is a great ballad that assures us that God will never leave us nor forsake us.
Beginning Side 2 of the double album set is Adam, Where Are You, a song that reaches back to the Genesis account of the Garden of Eden and the first sin. Another of Francisco's greatest offerings is a song that expresses the depth of God's forgiveness - I Don't Care Where You've Been Sleeping.
I don't care where you've been sleeping, I don't care who's made your bed
I've already gave My life to set you free;
There's no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love,
And it's all yours if you'll come home again to Me.
Give Your Heart A Home is a song about how much it pains God to see us continually fail but also how He is there for us to leave our burdens with Him.
The last song on the first album is Too Small A Price/Joy. Francisco takes the role of the man selected to carry Jesus's cross to Golgotha and tells the story of Christ's crucifixion from a first hand perspective. This is by far my favorite song on the album and I still get a lump in my throat every time I hear it. This song alone is worth the price of the album.
The second album (Side 3) begins with The Christmas Song which recounts Christ coming to earth as a man. Come and Follow is next and gives an account for Christ's calling of the first disciples with Francisco assuming the role of Peter.
I Could Never Promise You has a special significance for me as I chose this song to be sung at our wedding along with Paul Stokey's The Wedding Song. It is a beautiful song that confirms our need for God to be in the center of our marriages.
And so I stand before you now for all to hear and see
I promise you in Jesus' name the love He's given me
And through the years on earth and as eternity goes by
The life and love He's given us are never going to die…
Side Three closes out with Love Is Not A Feeling, it's an act of your will. The song is an encouragement to perservere through tough marriage relationships. Feelings come and go, but love is an act of our will that can remain strong regardless of how we are feeling at a particular point in time.
Side Four opens with Beautiful To Me. Once again Francisco takes on the role of Peter and recounts the well-known story of the woman who washed Jesus' feet with oil and her hair while Jesus was having dinner with the Pharisee. Next up is The Package, a song that encourages us to withstand the wiles and temptations of the devil because God has better things in store for us. Jehoshaphat is a song about another Biblical character who went to battle by following God's' instruction and placing his singers on the front lines to sing praises to God. God gave Jehoshaphat the victory without the soldiers even having to fight.
Closer To Jesus exhorts us to get closer to Jesus by recounting some of those great Bible stories of others who got "closer to Jesus" such as the woman who touched the hem of his robe and was healed. The album closes out with what has become Francisco's trademark and a song that surely is one of Christian music's best of all time - He's Alive.
Unfortunately, Don Francisco is one artist that I've never had the opportunity to see in concert. But The Live Concert album is the next best thing. In fact, my oldest son found this album when he was 2ish and I was deployed with the Navy. When I returned, my double album was a single album with an empty sleeve. After many years of listening to my lamenting, my wife stumbled across Francisco's web site and purchased the album for me on CD. Just before blogging, I searched Amazon and found 2 albums for sale: 1 new and 1 used starting at $69.99! But I've got good news for you. You can experience Francisco's "out of print" music by purchasing it from his website at a mere $10 per CD. And he runs a special - you can purchase all 13 of his out of print albums on CD for $100 - that's like getting 3 free CDs!
Don and his wife, Wendy, still record today. His voice is unmistakeable and is every bit as strong as when it all began in 1976. His talent on an acoustic guitar is as good as anyone in the business. If you are a fan of 60's folk music, you will absolutely love Don Francisco. If you could only buy 1 album, I recommend The Live Concert - it is still my favorite after 25 years.
I won't list the discography here because the list is just too long - at least 29 albums that I'm aware of and there may be a few I'm missing. However, you can see them all by going to the following link:
http://www.rockymountainministries.org/musicstore.html
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