Jimmy Swaggart

December 1971

After I gave up Rock and Roll music there was a big void in my life. I needed music, but had nowhere to go, until Brian asked me and some of the other guys if we wanted to go to a concert in town. We went to hear Jimmy Swaggart and I was downright bored at the concert. I thought he sang like a dog in heat - so slow and so sappy.

Jimmy as some of you know is the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis who is a legend in early Rock and Roll. Jerry Lee and Jimmy Swaggart hung out together growing up and both learned the piano. But Jerry Lee played the devil's music until England discovered he married his 13 year old cousin - his career came to an abrupt end. On the other hand cousin Jimmy Swaggart played the Lord's music, hymns and spiritual songs. Both played with a heavy left hand. Both played a mean piano.

Jimmy built a church and eventually became the most popular t.v. preacher in the world until in 1985 the world would discover that Jimmy Swaggart was visiting prostitutes in his spare time. But in 1971 that wasn't known.

Jimmy played all kinds of songs that bored me until he played one very lively one called "When We All Get to Heaven." I loved it and bought a tape on the way out of the concert.

When I got back to the ship I discovered that my favorite song wasn't on the tape, nevertheless, I listened to it over and over until I began to like it. In fact, I began to like it a lot, so I bought more and more Jimmy Swaggart tapes.

It took me about a few years to outgrow that phase of my life.