Paul Clark is a musician who was involved in the

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 ...

movement and early

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. He was born in Kansas City and recorded his first album in 1971, ''Songs from the Saviour Vol 1''.Christianmusic.org
Its songs became one of the first signs of the growing "

Jesus movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

" of the early 70s. He went on to record further albums including ''Songs from the Savior - Volume Two'', ''Come Into His Presence'' and ''Good To Be Home'' with Paul Clark and Friends (including

Phil Keaggy Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...

, Jay Truax, John Mehler, Bill Speer, Mike Burhart, and others) then launched the award-winning 1977 album ''Hand to the Plow'' which was well received. In 1978 he released ''Change in the Wind'' and in 1980 with ''Aim for the Heart''. The three albums had some jazz influences and were well-produced in the context of other

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

of the time. ''Aim for the Heart'' featured

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

on bass along with Harlan Rogers, Hadley Hockensmith and Bill Maxwell and was jazz influenced. The four became members of

Koinonia (), communion, or fellowship in Christianity is the bond uniting Christians as individuals and groups with each other and with Jesus Christ. It refers to group cohesiveness among Christians. Pre-Christian antecedents is a transliterated form ...

jazz band from 1982 until about 1990. Clark is recognized as being one of the founding fathers of the Jesus Movement and the contemporary Christian music industry. During his 13-year association with

Word Records Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, Clark's songwriting, record producing and performances placed him in the forefront along with artists like

, 2nd Chapter of Acts,

Love Song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

Larry Norman Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...

Andraé Crouch Andraé Edward Crouch (July 1, 1942 – January 8, 2015) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer and pastor. Referred to as "the father of modern gospel music" by contemporary Christian and gospel music profess ...

, Honeytree,

Keith Green Keith Gordon Green (October 21, 1953 – July 28, 1982) was an American pianist, singer, songwriter, and musician. Originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, Green is known as a pioneer in the Christian contemporary genre. His most ...

, Randy Stonehill,

Barry McGuire Barry McGuire (born October 15, 1935) is an American singer-songwriter primarily known for his 1965 hit " Eve of Destruction". He was later a singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music. Early life McGuire was born in Oklahoma City; ...

, and many notable others.

Discography

* ''Songs from the Savior, Vol. 1'' 1972 * ''Songs from the Savior, Vol. 2'' 1972 * ''Come Into His Presence'' (Paul Clark and Friends) 1974 * ''Good To Be Home'' (Paul Clark and Friends) 1975 * ''Hand to the Plow'' 1976 * ''Change in the Wind'' 1978 * ''Aim for the Heart'' 1980 * ''New Horizon'' 1981 * ''Drawn to the Light'' 1982 * ''Out of the Shadow'' 1983 * ''Awakening from the Western Dream'' 1988 * ''When the Moon is Behind the Clouds'' 1992 * ''Private World'' 1995 * ''Resonate'' 1996 * ''Christmas'' 1998 * ''Call of the Canyon'' 2001 * ''Approaching Jerusalem'' 2009 * ''Down at the Whistle Stop'' 2014 * ''Branching Roots'' 2016

References

External links

* * Partial list of Clark's musical works {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Paul American performers of Christian music American male singers Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri Living people Singers from Missouri Year of birth missing (living people)