| Maranatha! Music | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1971 |
| Founder | Chuck Smith |
| Genre | Jesus Music / CCM |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Official Website | http://www.maranathamusic.com |
Maranatha! Music began as a non-profit outreach of Calvary Chapel in 1971. The Jesus People of the late 1960s and early 1970s began to write new hymns and worship songs with a folk-rock style. Maranatha! Music was founded at this time in order to publish and promote this new type of Christian music. Founder Chuck Smith sold the label to his nephew Chuck Fromm. The label is currently distributed by Warner Music Entertainment's Word Music.
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In the early 1970s Calvary Chapel was home to more than 15 musical groups[1] [2] that were representative of the Jesus people movement. Some of the early Maranatha! recording groups were Sweet Comfort Band, Love Song, Chuck Girard, Children of the Day, The Way, Debby Kerner, and Daniel Amos. The label's first release was a various artists compilation entitled The Everlastin' Living Jesus Music Concert, in 1971.[1]
The label is currently distributed by Warner Music Entertainment's Word Music.
Maranatha! also branched into the children's market segment. Premier products included Psalty the singing songbook and the Kid's Praise Kids. In the early 1990s this segment represented about 40% of company revenues.[1]
In the 1980s, Maranatha! launched Broken Records, a label focusing on modern rock, punk and alternative music. Also of note is their "Colours Collection", a series of albums containing instrumental renditions of many of the songs found on their other albums.
In 1990, Maranatha! was awarded the National Religious Broadcasters' President's Award. In 1991, the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Gospel Music Association.[3]
The Maranatha! Singers is a long running Christian musical group that has released numerous albums for the Maranatha! Music label. It is best to view the Maranatha! Singers as a brand name for the Maranatha! Music label as various vocalists, musicians and instrumentalists that have performed under that name as a group for the Maranatha! Music label, under the direction of either hired or staff producers & arrangers chosen for each individual recording project.
However it should be noted that several artists have been a mainstay as regular performers or writers for the group, some examples include Bill Batstone, Kelly Willard, Jamie-Owens Collins, John Barbour, Tom Coomes, Dan Collins, Rita Baloche, Anne Barbour, Teri Desario, Lenny LeBlanc, Tom Howard, John Andrew Schreiner, Rick Founds, Cathy Spurr and Dave Spurr.
There is a popular, but inaccurate biography for the Maranatha! singers attributed to Greg Prato which states that the "Maranatha! Singers is a 50-person strong voice choir composed mostly of University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College students. Originally founded in 1970, the group is part of the University Methodist Church and Student Center (U.U.M.C.), Gainesville, FL."
However there is no evidence to back this claim up as no release from the Maranatha! Singers has contained this piece of information. Nevertheless the Calvary Chapel Community Choir has performed under the label of The Maranatha! Singers, this is verifiable as the Maranatha! Music label was born from the Calvary Chapel organization. In addition both the label and Calvary Chapel are based in California unlike University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College which are both based in Florida.
Note: Reissues had some song titles renamed on each recording to reach different markets but the music remains the same.