OK... um, was Linford in the band Servant in the late 70s or early 80s?

IF SO...
In different social circles, you hear about such-and-such person in such-and-such band before this current band... well, two people people in my musical fan core were both in Servant... Doug Pinnick (of King's X) and Linford Detweiler. That's just weird that I never made the connection in my brain until now... both Doug and Linford are musicians that I love and talk about a lot, but I guess in different settings their Servant membership topic never crossed for me...



bewildered... Owen Brock may be the one degree of separation of King's X and Over the Rhine.

~fafs

You're right. Also, I think I remember hearing that they even toured Australia (?) and that Ric may have been involved as well...

Yep, I think that's right. All of it, with Ric too.

yes, both ric and brian also played in servant in the 80s.
(btw, otr's current home page is sandy and owen brock's daughter circa 92 or 93)
rawk on,
d.

Gilhamilton wrote this on the actwin list some years ago:

Perhaps I'm dealing with misinformation but I didn't think so. I've heard
there were two different bands by the same name a couple times and then there
was a pretty extensive mention of their origins in John Thompson's book
'Raised by Wolves'. There's definately some serious overlap but if he's on at
all there were originally two.

I'll just type out what he says to see if those more in the know can affirm
or weed out where his info is wrong: ( I have caught two or three places
where from what I know he wasn't fully on)

--------

Two bands called Servant emerged in the late 70's. Although they were
completely separate they did have something in common. The earlier one
formed in Joliet, Illinois in 1977. The lineup included Matt Spransy, who'd
been a member of Sheep, which had gone to England in 1971. He'd also been
involved in launching the Greenbelt Festival. Also in the Joliet version was
a bass player named Doug Pinnock, who'd later rise to national and
international fame as the front man for King's X. That Servant was a
progressive and aggressive rock band along the lines of ELP and Yes. They
developed a considerable following among musicians, both Christian and not,
and were widely thought of as the best Christian band of the day in terms of
musical skill. Unfortunately, the band never managed to take off, and after
three years they decided to call it quits.

It turned out that Owen and Sandy Brock, fellow members of the Lonesome
Stone troupe that went to Europe with Spransy, had started a rock band called
Servant based in Oregon. When they came through Chicago, Spransy went to se
them and noticed that they didn't have a keyboardist. He donated all the
gear that the Joliet Servant had accumulated, including their PA, a truck,
and keyboards. He was then asked to join the band.

If you went to see Degarmo and Key or Ressurection band in the late 70's,
you might have seen Servant with them. Servant sprang out of a communal
living situation that followed the end of the Lonesome Stone run. The
location and lineup changed, vut the core members Owen and Sandy Brock, Bruce
Wright, Matt Spransy, and Bob Hardy formed a band that pushed the envelope.
Sandy's powerful voice was reminiscent of Heart or Jefferson Airplane, and
the band toured constantly. Along the way, they released 3 excellent albums.

The bands debut, Shallow Water, was released on the Canadian Tunesmith
label. From the beginning, Servant made two things clear: their music was
pure ministry, and they were a rock band. There were a few mellow cuts, but
the band generally rocked. Their debut was followed by another Tunesmith
release called Rockin' Revival, which featured "I'm Gonna Live" a kitchy tune
co-written by Pinnock that became a favorite for years on the few Christian
rock stations that existed. In the 80's the band migrated to Rooftop records
(distributed by Benson, meaning that they were widely available for the first
time). World of Sand combined Servant's muscular rock with a serious
recording budget and major-league production. The Jesus rock, apologetic
"Jungle Music" appeared on that album, complete with references to mearly all
of the other Christian rock bands on the scene. The song poked fun at the
critique still being lobbed by antirock preachers. The chorus chanted,
"Jungle music, can God really use it?" Their answer was a resounding yes.

In the 80's, the band evolved into a synthesized pop band behind Spransy's
considerable talent and scored a major Christian radio hit with "we are the
light" from their Myrrh release Light Maneuvers. With the production by Bob
Rock (Motley Crue, Skid Row, Cher, Bon Jovi, Veruca Salt, Mettalica, The
Cult), the album was their best sounding and most accessible to date. After
one more album, Swimming in the Human Ocean, all the members of Servant
except the Brocks quit. They tried to keep the band going for a while by
enlisting three young men from their hometown. After a short time the band
dissolved, and the three young men, Linford Detweiler, Rich Hordinski, and
Brian Kelly, hooked up with a singer named Karin Bergquist and started a band
called Over the Rhine.

Oh my, I remember Servant rather well. Back in my early-80s CCM days I enjoyed them quite a bit. If I'm not mistaken, I had all their albums (either on vinyl, cassette, or both). I even saw them in concert once upon a time, but I'm pretty sure this was pre-Linford, Ric & Brian.

Bruce, that cut-and-paste confused me... there were two Servants, but Pinnick was involved with both of them (the "progressive and aggressive rock" one and "kitchy co-writing" for the other one)?? Or did I read that incorrectly?

~fafs

Wait, wait, as in the band Servant that did "Suburban Josephine"? Ohmygosh, OTR has linked itself to my childhood. My parents were Jesus people, so bands like Servant were on the family HiFi quite often!
Wow, I'm kind of peeing my pants in excitement.

My folks were into Servant as well. I always liked the image "Swimming in a human ocean." What a great line.

Old Servant is interesting to listen to because it's pure Jesus Movement, before evangelicalism co-opted it. The Jesus movement people were very Social Gospel-oriented and very concerned with the negative affects of modernism. There's several old Servant songs that emphasized the social and political radical-ness of Jesus' message in ways one doesn't normally find in CCM music.


Here's OTR's page about Owen Brock: http://www.overtherhine.com/people/contributors/owen.html

So, I wonder if they had stayed in Oregon, would that mean that perhaps OTR would have based themselves here as well? Nah, nevermind. Though I have often thought that OTR would fit right well into the current local music scene. I could just see them buying a Grey Ghost type house in NW Portland.

I have a Servant poster from 88-ish featuring the likes of Brian, Linford and Ric, along with Sandy and (the only one I actually knew in the band at the time) Randy Brown (I "played" bass - if you can call it that - in a Youth-For-Christ band -Sonlife- back in the mid-80's for about a year with Randy's wife Marley).

I keep meaning to bring that poster to an OtR show to see if Linford would sign it. I didn't realize the connection myself until a couple years ago, and had to take a double and triple take look at the poster to see if I was really seeing those faces. very 80's, very not-OtR!

re-axed...
Bruce, that cut-and-paste confused me... there were two Servants (?), but Pinnick was involved with both of them (the "progressive and aggressive rock" one and "kitchy co-writing" for the other one)?? Or did I read that incorrectly?

hey posty, i asked Doug's nephew if he knew the answer and he didnt so he was gonna ask Doug about it. if he finds out i'll let you know.

damn, I keep forgetting that someone on here works with one of Doug's relatives.

I ♥ Doug. He'd be my singer in my "dream band" anyday...

~fff

When I was researching this a few years ago. The only conclusion that I could come to was that Ric, Brian and Linford all played with Servant, and did a tour or two with them sometime in the late eighties, but never appeared on any official recordings with the band. So they were just hired guns so to speak.

I'm interested in the answer too, especially if it turns out to be different than this.

The only official CDs that I know Linford to be on are the OTR discs, his own, and World Theatre. Does anyone know of any more? I don't think he is on the Gianconia disc, credited or otherwise.

m

I saw Linford, Ric, and Brian with Servant in the 80's. They played a Malone College event at McKinley High School auditorium in Canton, Ohio. The opening act was a reunion of The Introduction (which also included Linford, Ric, and Brian). The three of them played for both bands that night.

They never recorded with Servant, but I remember talk of a new album coming out (it never did) and I remember hearing demos from that album on the local Christian radio station. So, in theory, recordings of members of Over The Rhine with Sevant do (or did) exist.

I should dig out some of my family's Servant on Vinyl, and bring it to a show. See if Linford will sign that, hehe.

Didn't K&L do some backing stuff with Cowboy Junkies on tour and on tape in the late 90s? The CJ fans should know....

Waltz Across America:
The band: Margo Timmins (vocals), Michael Timmins (electric guitar), Peter Timmins (drums), Alan Anton (bass), Jeff Bird (mandolin, electric mandolin, harmonica, 8 string bass, melodica, percussion), Linford Detweiler (piano, Hammond B3 organ), Karin Bergquist (back up vocals, acoustic guitar)

Open:
Cowboy Junkies are: Margo Timmins (vocals), Michael Timmins (guitar), Peter Timmins (drums), Alan Anton (bass)

Additional musicians: Jeff Bird (mandolin, electric mandolin, harmonica, 8 string bass, and percusion), Karin Bergquist (back up vocals), Linford Detweiler (organ, piano and wurlitzer)

One Soul Now:
Cowboy Junkies are: Margo Timmins, vocals
Michael Timmins, guitar
Peter Timmins, drums
Alan Anton, bass

Additional musicians:
Jeff Bird, percussion, melodica on Simon Keeper and electric mando on The Stars Of Our Stars
Richard Bell, organ and piano
Linford Detweiler, organ on Simon Keeper
Jaro Czerwinec, accordion on Simon Keeper

All songs written by Michael Timmins

yeah, I already did that a few months ago with a Servant poster I had that featured the likeness of early OtR members.
and yes, he did sign it. recognized what it was even before I unrolled it.

Now THERE'S a collector's item!

There were indeed two different Servants back in the late '70s. I have a 1978 demo tape on CDR of the one with Pinnick and Spransy and it was some very classic '70s rock ala Yes, Styx, Boston, etc. and very clear about the gospel message. Their version of "I'm Gonna Live" is musically close to the released version in 1981 on Rockin' Revival, but is lyrically a different approach. There's also a beautiful Matt Spransy piano/keyboard instrumental on that demo as well. The rest of the songs on the demo were never released nor connected with the Servant we all know.

Doug Pinnick had never played in the other Servant, but he did add one more writing credit besides "I'm Gonna Live" to their collection - he wrote some of the music on "Sudden Death" from the World of Sand album.

I could just see them buying a Grey Ghost type house in NW Portland.

I know this is probably not the place to post this but I will because you all seems to very up on OTR news. I post it here because of the mention of the Grey Ghost above. I ran across a blog the other night of a guy there in Cincy and come to find out he and his wife had bought the Grey Ghost from Linford and Karin. The disturbing news is that he just passed away this week. From what I have read he had started a ministry in the city there and was doing a great work. Do any of you know of this? Also, be praying for his family. It sounds like he and his wife have two young boys.

This from a past letter from Linford:

"Karin and I have sold our house to a young family and will be moving this Spring. Two young boys, Collin and Aidan, will explore this attic with its odd angles where I've tried to write. Chad, the father, will be poking around in the basement where we currently store all the oversized posters. Renee will be kneeling in the roses that Karin planted. Maybe they'll all sit like we used to under the grape vines. May they be blessed."

Sad story if indeed this is the same person/father/husband.

It is true. here is a link to a post on his blog. What a sad story.

http://chrismarshall.blogspot.com/2006_03_...202197118622092

kent

Ah Servant!

I got to see Servant play a few times with ric, brian, and Linford in the band. They were good shows if i do recall. I have that poster somewhere as well. Signed from then with all the band members.

We actually had them all over to my parents house for pre-show food before they played one of thier last shows, which oddly enough was in St Catherine's Ontario.

I mentioned it to Linford at a show back in 97-98 and he actually remembered all that.

I think that version of Servant played the very first "Kingdom Bound" festival up here in WNY. Steve Taylor and Rick Cua were other highlights of the fest =)

Fun memories. My sister and Brian were all cutesy for awhile too. Ha ha....

I googled "Servant" because I am trying to figure out which album has a particular track that I am looking for when I came across this discussion. If you guys are interested some of Servant's music is finally coming out on CD from the website below. Also, if any of you know which Servant album has a song called "It's harder to finish than it is to begin" or something similar please shoot me an email and let me know at u s c 9 5 (at) h o t m a i l . c o m I am dying to find that song. Thanks.



Servant - Shallow Water
----------------------------------------------------------
Finally, Servant's first 4 abums are being re-issued on CD.
Starting with "Shallow Water" and "Rockin' Revival", followed later this year by
"World of Sand" and "Caught in the Act of Loving Him". We have started taking
pre-orders for "Shallow Water" and "Rockin Revival", which will release mid-late
May. These are limited editions, and we have a feeling they won't last long.
Owen Brock (lead singer/songwriter) has written great liner notes to go along
with these, and since it's being released by our friends at Retroactive records,
we're sure it'll be a great all around package.

Shallow Water:
http://www.christiandiscs.com/album.php?cd=cd005952
Rockin' Revival:
http://www.christiandiscs.com/album.php?cd=cd005951

The song you seek is called "Harder To Finish" and it is from Servant's final album, 'Swimming In A Human Ocean' wich was released by Myrrh on vinyl and cassette in 1985. Great album by the way!

I have sent CDRs of the entire Servant catalog to Matt Hunt of retroactive Records when I found out that he is working on these reissues and was looking for clean digital copies to work from. Thankfully, Matt is in contact with Owen and Sandie Brock to get official blessings on this project. The only Servant album to have ever been officially released on CD was 'Light Maneuvers' on Myrrh (which I am fortunate to own a copy of).

I am also working on putting together a dedicated Servant fansite. I met the band back in 1984-85 and spent time with Bob Hardy. About 5 years ago, I was in email contact with the Brocks and Matt Spransy concerning how to reissue their catalog on CD. Great to see it finally happening, though it appears that only the first four (pre-Myrrh) can be reissued. The final two albums will probably have to be handled by Word because of publishing rights, which sadly means we may never see 'Swimming In A Human Ocean' get an official CD release...

MARK