[back to the future] Azitis "The Prophet" & "Creation, Lord I Saw You Cry" (Help) 1970 ELCO Records

This may sound a bit odd, especially if you know me personally, but I've been on a big Jesus kick lately. To clarify, I've been listening to a lot of Christian psychedelic rock music from the 60s and 70s, particularly the excellently compiled homemade comp The End Is At Hand done up by Doug and Josh from Crescere. The comp opens with an amazing track titled "Creation, Lord I Saw You Cry" by the 1970 group Azitis (it also appears on the first pRIMORDIAL sOUNDS mixtape). I got my hands on the rest of Azitis' LP Help, and its been on heavy rotation these past couple days.

Azitis is classified as "The first Christian/Religious/Metaphysical Rock Band in America" (their own words). Help was essentially designed to be a rock opera, telling the story of Christian Mythology from Creation to Judgement. The group finished their record and had 1000 copies pressed, when suddenly, member Dennis Sullivan got freaked out by the success and left with out any reason or explanation. The record company tried its best to salvage the production but to no avail, which eventually contributed to their closure. Azitis recruited a new member, but it was too late to keep up the momentum.

I can totally understand how some folks might not enjoying listening to a record that is preaching to them for almost an hour, but that being said, I still think Azitis' Help is an incredible listen, and a great rock record. Copies of the LP have been sold on ebay for up to $1400, but luckily MP3s aren't too hard to find, and if you're interested, I can send you some. I highly recommend you check out the two tracks I've posted below, "The Prophet" and "Creation, Lord I Saw You Cry." And remember-you don't have to love Jesus to love Jesus rock!