Jonathan David Brown
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Jonathan David Brown (November 20, 1955 – September 27, 2016) was an American
record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and
audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...
known for his work on albums released in the
Contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christianity, Chri ...
industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...
. Brown served federal prison time as an
accessory after the fact An accessory is a person who assists, but does not actually participate, in the commission of a crime. The distinction between an accessory and a principal is a question of fact and degree: *The principal is the one whose acts or omissions, acc ...
for helping a member of the Tennessee
White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) organization primarily located in Mississippi and Louisiana and active in the United States. The organization is known for using violence against the activists in the civil rights mov ...
evade authorities. Brown's production work started with several
Maranatha! Music Maranatha! Music is a Christian music record label which was founded as a nonprofit ministry of Calvary Chapel in 1971. The label is distributed by Capitol Christian Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group, Universal Music. Background ...
artists in the 1970s and continued through the 1980s, working with such artists as
Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...
,
Twila Paris Twila Paris (born December 28, 1958) is a contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, author and pianist. Since 1980, Paris has released 22 albums, amassed 33 number one Christian Radio singles, and was named the Gospel Music Association Fem ...
,
Steve Taylor Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...
,
Daniel Amos Daniel Amos (aka D. A., Dä) is an American Christian rock band formed in 1974 by Terry Scott Taylor on guitars and vocals, Marty Dieckmeyer on bass guitar, Steve Baxter (musician), Steve Baxter on guitars and Jerry Chamberlain on lead guitars. ...
,
Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...
, Bob Bennett and
David Meece David Meece (born May 26, 1952) is an American contemporary Christian musician who enjoyed success in the mid-1980s and into the early 2010s, with more than thirty Top 10 hits, including several No. 1 songs. Education Meece grew up in Humble ...
. His work as a recording engineer includes albums for
Mark Heard John Mark Heard III (December 16, 1951 – August 16, 1992) was an American record producer, folk rock singer and songwriter from Macon, Georgia. Heard released sixteen albums, and produced or performed with many artists, including: Sam Phil ...
, Daniel Amos, Gentle Faith, and Tom Howard.


Recording career


Seth

Brown was a member of Seth, a
Jesus music Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music that originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement ...
group in the 1970s, playing keyboards and writing many of their songs. Other members included Kelly Willard, who went on to a solo career in worship music; Keith Edwards, who later was drummer with
Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...
and
Rich Mullins Richard Wayne Mullins (October 21, 1955 – September 19, 1997) was an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter best known for his contemporary worship music, worship songs "Awesome God" and "Sometimes by Step". Some of his ...
; and his sister Rhenda Edwards Tull, who later sang on
Parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...
's first album. The band released two albums, a self-titled debut in 1974 and ''Psalms'' in 1975. The 1980 collection, ''Keep the Fire Burning'', drew songs from both albums, adding a new title track.


Production

Brown engineered several albums for Maranantha! Music starting in 1975, including Daniel Amos' debut self-titled album from 1976. One of his first production credits was for their second album ''
Shotgun Angel ''Shotgun Angel'' is the second album by Christian rock band Daniel Amos, released in 1977. It was their final album for Maranatha! Music and their last album performed in their early country rock sound. Background The album is named after the ...
''. Other Maranantha! production projects from the late 1970s included Sweet Comfort Band's self-titled debut, '' First Things First'' by Bob Bennett, and ''Blame It On The One I Love!'' by his former Seth bandmate Kelly Willard. Brown's production work with Petra (five albums from 1981 to 1986) helped establish StarSong, a pioneering Christian rock label. When lead singer Greg X. Volz left the band, Brown produced several of his solo albums as well. Brown mentored the new band Farewell June and produced their debut album ''1939'', and the band was chosen as the opening act for Petra's farewell tour in 2005. Brown continued to work with Bob Bennett (five albums from 1979 to 1991), and also produced albums by Twila Paris and David Meece through the 1980s. He produced Glen Campbell's 1991 gospel album '' Show Me Your Way'', and Steve Taylor's debut EP and LP, '' I Want To Be A Clone'' and '' Meltdown''. In a 1994 interview, Taylor mentioned that Brown had sung backing vocals on the anti-racism song "We Don't Need No Colour Code." In reference to remastering songs produced by Brown for a box set, Taylor said "the stuff that Jonathan produced and engineered, sonically and everything like that, he was a genius. And you won't hear me use that very often, but he was really a genius. It's like, we put that stuff up, and we didn't have to EQ it because whether you like the sound of it or not, sonically, it was really brilliant." After returning to the Christian music industry in 2000, he recorded a CD with Karen Lafferty (songwriter of "Seek Ye First The Kingdom Of God") and mixed the album ''PAGA for Kelly Willard, released in 2007. Brown also produced and performed on recordings by a folk artist from Upstate New York, Lisa Dudley. He developed and produced August Rain, a band from Georgia which had some radio success with the song "Wonderful Savior."


Selected contributions

* ''Sail on Sailor'', Mustard Seed Faith, Maranatha! Music 1975, mixing * ''House-Between-Two-Rivers'', Becky Ugartechea, Maranatha! Music 1976, engineering, mixing * ''Free Indeed'', Janny Grein, Sparrow Records 1976, engineering * ''Daniel Amos'', Daniel Amos, Maranatha! Music 1976, engineering, mixing * ''Gentle Faith'', Gentle Faith, Maranatha! Music 1976, engineering, mixing * ''One Truth'', One Truth, Sonrise Mercantile Company 1976, engineering * ''Firewind (A Contemporary Dramatic Musical)'', various artists, Sparrow Records 1976, engineering * ''View from the Bridge'', Tom Howard, Solid Rock Records 1977, engineering, mixing * ''Shotgun Angel'', Daniel Amos, Maranatha! Music 1977, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Sweet Comfort'', Sweet Comfort Band, Maranatha! Music 1977, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Empty Handed'', John Pantry, Dove Records/Maranatha! Music 1978, mixing * ''Spirit of St. Lewis'', Lewis McVay, Maranatha! Music 1978, engineering * ''Blame It on the One I Love!'', Kelly Willard, Maranatha! Music 1978, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Bethlehem'', Bethlehem, Maranatha! Music 1978, engineering, mixing * ''The Misfit'', Erick Nelson and Michele Pillar, A&S/Maranatha! Music 1979, producer, engineering, mixing * ''First Things First'', Bob Bennett, Maranatha! Music 1979, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Come for the Children'', Oden Fong, Maranatha! Music 1979, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Tamarack'', Tamarack, Parbar/MRC 1981, producer * ''This Side of Heaven'', Beau MacDougall, Milk & Honey Records 1981, engineering, mixing * ''Never Say Die'', Petra, StarSong Records 1981, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Stop the Dominoes'', Mark Heard, Home Sweet Home Records 1981, engineering * ''More Power to Ya'', Petra, StarSong Records 1982, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Not the Same'', Roby Duke, MCA Songbird 1982, producer, engineering, mixing, arranging * ''Matters of the Heart'', Bob Bennett, CBS Priority Records 1982, producer, engineering, mixing * ''I Want to Be a Clone '', Steve Taylor, Sparrow Records 1983, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Not of this World'', Petra, StarSong Records 1983, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Coming Attraction'', Lewis McVay, Heartland Records 1984, engineering, mixing * ''Meltdown'', Steve Taylor, Sparrow Records 1984, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Keep No Secrets'', Morgan Cryar, StarSong Records 1984, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Beat the System'', Petra, StarSong Records 1985, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Non-Fiction'', Bob Bennett, StarSong Records 1985, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Captured In Time & Space'', Petra, StarSong Records 1986, producer, engineering, mixing * ''The River Is Rising'', Greg X. Volz, Myrrh Records 1986, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Same Girl'', Twila Paris, StarSong Records 1987, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Candle In The Rain'', David Meece, Myrrh Records 1987, producer * ''For Every Heart'', Twila Paris, StarSong Records 1988, producer, engineering, mixing * ''Michele Wagner'', Michele Wagner, Benson 1989, producer, engineering, mixing * ''No Room in the Middle'', Greg X. Volz, River Records 1989, producer, engineering, mixing


Solo album

Using the pseudonym The Nazarite, Brown released a solo album entitled ''Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'' in 1997. Brown explained why he used the pseudonym:
I made the vow of the Nazarite for strength, spiritual and physical, in about 1989 ge 34 The hair on my head is from then. When I went to prison, I understood why – I needed strength, lots of it. So I guess it's sort of like an enigma to some till they hear the explanation.
The album was named for the 1741
Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards may refer to: Musicians *Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, pseudonym of bandleader Paul Weston and his wife, singer Jo Stafford *Jonathan Edwards (musician) (born 1946), American musician **Jonathan Edwards (album), ''Jonathan Edward ...
sermon from the
Great Awakening The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th cent ...
. The lyrics of the songs and Brown's editorial notes reflect his affinity for One Law Theology. The album track, "O House of Israel" has been used prominently as the theme song for Eliyahu ben David's radio show, "On The Road to Tsiyon".


Federal prison

In 1992, Brown was sentenced to a 27-month
federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...
term and fined $10,000 for accessory after the fact to a conspiracy to violate civil rights under 18 U.S.C. 3 and 241 (two of the
hate crime laws in the United States Hate crime laws in the United States are state and federal laws which are intended to protect people from hate crimes (also known as bias crimes). While state laws vary, current statutes permit federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the ba ...
), and for
perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
under 18 U.S.C. 1623a.Justia.com. US Court of Appeals, Cases & Opinions
United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Jonathan David Brown, Defendant-appellant.
Retrieved December 19, 2009.
The court established that Brown helped Damien Patton, described by Nashville police as a juvenile "
skinhead A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...
", hide from authorities and disguise his car after Patton and Leonard William Armstrong, the Grand Dragon of the Tennessee
White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) organization primarily located in Mississippi and Louisiana and active in the United States. The organization is known for using violence against the activists in the civil rights mov ...
, carried out a pre-dawn
drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrators to quickly strike their targets and flee the scene before l ...
of a Jewish synagogue in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
on June 10, 1990. The court case revealed that in the evening of June 9, 1990, Brown attended a meeting of
white supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...
known for their hatred of Jewish people. Patton and Armstrong were there as well. At 1:00 a.m. on June 10, Patton drove past the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Armstrong fired several shots through its windows with a
TEC-9 The Intratec TEC-9, TEC-DC9, KG-99, and AB-10 are a line of blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols. They were developed by Intratec, an American subsidiary of the Swedish firearms manufacturer Interdynamic AB. Introduced in 1984, the TEC-9 is ...
assault weapon, injuring none as the building was unoccupied. On June 15, Brown's apartment was searched under warrant, with police looking for Patton. There, they seized articles belonging to Brown which, according to the court record, "indicat dmembership in the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups." In the days following the shooting incident, Brown helped Patton evade authorities by lying to police regarding Patton's whereabouts, by hiding him at his farm in Pleasantville, and by helping Patton change the color of his car from white to black with spray paint. Brown gave Patton a license plate from one of his trucks and supplied Patton with enough money to drive to
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and stay there. Some five months later, Brown allowed Patton to live again on his farm for a month. In September 1991, the FBI arrested Patton who plead guilty to his part in the synagogue shooting. In front of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...
in 1994, Brown sought to overturn his convictions based on his contention that the synagogue was owned by a corporation and not by citizens, and thus could not be covered by 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1982 (1988) which he argued applied solely to the property rights of citizens. Brown challenged as unwarranted the seizure of his personal property. The three-judge court upheld the convictions on March 21, 1995, with Circuit Judge
Alice M. Batchelder Alice M. Moore Batchelder (born August 15, 1944) is an American attorney and jurist. She is currently a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She ...
dissenting from the main opinion of Boyce F. Martin, Jr. and Richard Alan Enslen. Batchelder held that the search warrants against Brown were invalid, and that, though the action of shooting at a synagogue should have been criminalized by 18 U.S.C. Sec. 247, the wording of that law was insufficient to give protection to people who utilize property such as a synagogue but who do not own a share of it. Batchelder wrote that
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
should amend the law to widen its coverage. Batchelder agreed with the court opinion that Brown's conviction of perjury should stand. Brown refers to his incarceration as his "Federal Sabbatical".


Lunar sabbath

Brown published the book ''Keeping Yahweh's Appointments'' in 1998, which explained the practice of counting the Sabbath from the New Moon day rather than using the modern seven-day week. The Lunar Sabbath movement has grown among the Armstrong/
Worldwide Church of God Worldwide may refer to: * Pertaining to the entire world * Worldwide (rapper) (born 1986), American rapper * Pitbull (rapper) (born 1981), also known as Mr. Worldwide, American rapper * ''Worldwide'' (Audio Adrenaline album), 2003 * ''Worldwide ...
,
Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabba ...
and
Christian Identity Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or the Aryan race and kindred peoples, are ...
movements.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jonathan David 1955 births 2016 deaths American audio engineers American Ku Klux Klan members convicted of crimes American people convicted of perjury American people convicted of making false statements American prisoners and detainees Record producers from Oklahoma Businesspeople from Oklahoma City People from Ozark, Missouri 20th-century American businesspeople People convicted of depriving others of their civil rights Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government