After a newfound relationship with Jesus Christ in the summer of 1977, David and the Giants sought to change the very foundation of the group from the secular rock scene to a different style of Christian music. Through 1997 the original band and other musicians produced 17 inspiring contemporary Christian Rock albums.
David & The Giants was formed in 1964 when David Huff dropped out of Jones Junior College to follow his dream. Around 1965 David’s brothers Rayborn and Clayborn joined the group. Larry Papania and Bill Barnette were the first 2 drummers for D & G. Jerry Parker was the drummer from 1966 until he was replaced by Keith Thibodeaux in 1969. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s, David & The Giants [featuring Keith Thibodeaux and David’s brothers Clayborn and Rayborn] toured heavily as a secular Rock ‘n’ Roll band, sharing the stage and in the studio with such formidable acts such as: Styx, Chuck Berry, Cheech and Chong, Black Oak Arkansas ,Rod Stewart ,The Rolling Stones, and Stevie Wonder. Playing secular music at colleges, high schools and clubs was the way of life for D&G. They were signed with Capitol Records, MGM Records, United Artist Records and CBS Records.
The first three Christian albums had more ballads and a pop-rock sound and included “Glory Hallelujah” and “Roll On”, later covered by Wayne Watson. The original version of “Noah”, now a classic song and fan favorite recorded in 1978. Gerald Hagan played piano during these early years, leaving the band in 1980. Owen Hale played drums on the first three D&G recordings until Keith Thibodeaux rejoined the group in 1979. Heaven or Hell (1981) would continue their more rock roots sound making David & The Giants truly pioneers in the early days of Contemporary Christian music. In 1982 after signing with the Columbia Records’ Christian label – Priority Records the first release, entitled simply David & The Giants was widely distributed. The next album, Riders In The Sky (1983) produced staples like:Step by Step,King of the Jews, Look at the People.Then three more albums; Inhabitants of the Rock (1984), Under Control (1985) and Magnificat (1987) released on the Myrrh Label produced several radio hits like: I Am Persuaded,His Love Lifted Me Up.Why.I Can Depend On You. Giant Records, a self- label of David’s was created in 1988 with Strangers To The Night the first release. The 1980’s was finished out with R-U Gonna Stand Up (1989) which produced the still popular radio hit “Here’s My Heart”. Thanks to a mislabeled CD that was supposed to be from Soul II Soul, WNCI Program Director Dave Robbins from Columbus Ohio liked the song enough to put it on the air. WNCI received such positive response that it was added into regular rotation.
Keith Thibodeaux left the band after the recording of R-U Gonna Stand Up in the summer of 1989. 1990 issued in a new decade along with Distant Journey with Lance Huff, David’s son, on the drums to replace Keith. In 1991 Distant Journey was nominated for a Dove Award for “Rock Album of the Year“. Other releases, Long Time Coming (1992) and Giant Hits (1993) in the early 1990’s had three hits:Stumbling Block to a Stepping Stone,I’m Still Rocking,Always on My Mind. Since 2007, the David & The Giants original band members have been getting back together frequently for reunion concerts and produced the live album Still Rockin’ in 2014.
DAVID AND THE GIANTS 40TH ANNIVERSARY THE BEST IS YET TO COME AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM
Greg Volz showed great skills in singing from a very early age. Being a self-taught musician, when he was 13 years old, he started his own band called The Wombats. As he grew up, he went on to share the stage with the likes of Janis Joplin, Chicago and others. In 1970 he became a born-again Christian and started performing with several Christian bands. He formed a band called Gideon's Bible, and later toured with a group known simply as e Band, which was a part of the Jesus Movement. E's only studio recordings can be found on the rock musical 2LP-album Because I Am released in 1973. After e broke up in 1975 Volz moved to Springfield, Missouri, where he worked with legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy. He also performed the lead role in a rock stage musical called Ezekiel.
In 1976, Volz received two of the most important calls of his life. First, he was offered the lead singer position of REO Speedwagon. Volz, being a recently converted Christian, declined. Six weeks later, he got the call to participate in Petra's second album, Come and Join Us. Although at that time he participated as a guest singer in just three songs, founder/guitarist Bob Hartman (who, at that time, was sharing the lead-singing duties with co-founder/guitarist Greg Hough) Huff offered Volz the full-time position.
His first full-time album with the band, Washes Whiter Than, came in 1979 and therein came one of the most prolific periods of the legendary band. Volz remained the lead singer until 1985 when he left to pursue a solo career. Volz released his first solo effort, titled The River is Rising in 1986 under Myrrh Records. He followed it with three other moderately successful albums. During this time, he also toured with Joe English in a band called Pieces of Eight. Volz' tours drew in the 1,000 to 1,500 range during this time - a very respectable number for a Contemporary Christian artist, but nowhere near the level he experienced at the end of his tenure with Petra.
In October 4, 2005 he re-joined Petra for the live recording of their last DVD, Petra Farewell. He joined the stage with current singer John Schlitt for a medley of ballads, and he followed it with a solo rendition of "Grave Robber", which was one of his hits with the band.
In 2010 he spear-headed the renewal of the classic members of Petra from the early 80's. Classic Petra was born. Greg X. Volz, John Lowry, Louie Weaver, Mark Kelly and Bob Hartman took the band on a 2year world tour with new recordings of the classic songs. In 2016 Greg, Louie and John agreed to record another album of classic Petra songs and recruit the talent of former Petra member, Ronny Cates, and former Pieces of Eight Member, Kirk Henderson. Greg Bailey, another former Petra member, was asked to play bass on the 2018-19 tour. This new project is called CPR.
Be sure to catch Classic Petra w/ David & The Giants -Fri SEPT 21ST7:00 PM EDT · at Victory Church in Lakeland Florida
Lou Gramm will forever be recognized as the golden voice of Foreigner. Not for the current imitation band led by its only original member Mick Jones, but recognized for fronting Foreigner, one of the most popular and successful rock ‘n’ roll bands in history.
Unfortunately, the music industry decided long ago that it was
acceptable to market an existing trademark without its key players
involved as long as someone in the band controlled the rights to the
name. Believe it or not people still show up to watch a mock group
playing all the bands greatest hits, and it’s really no different than
watching a bar band playing a bunch of cover tunes. Co-founder and
guitarist Mick Jones fell ill in 2011 missing several
gigs while on tour. Jones assigned a replacement guitarist while he
recuperated leaving the touring band without a single original member.
The band of musicians calling themselves Foreigner
is actually making more money per concert than the real band. If the
key players are no longer in the band … change the name, then the rest
of us won’t feel like we are being musically violated.
A perfect example of a band “doing the right thing” is Jefferson Starship.
With that said, Foreigner the band’s debut album in 1977 sold more than four million copies, and since its inception the group remains a mainstay on classic rock radio stations around the world. The album spawned the Top 20 hits “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice,” and “Long, Long Way From Home.” Foreigner’s second album Double Vision surpassed their debut album by selling over five million copies and generated the hits “Hot Blooded,” “Double Vision,” and “Blue Morning, Blue Day.” Head Games Foreigner’s third release in 1979 produced the hits “Dirty White Boy” and the title track, “Head Games.” The bands next album Foreigner 4 released in 1981, continued to churn out the hits with “Urgent,” “Juke Box Hero,” “Break It Up,” and one of Gramm’s most beautiful and heartfelt sung tunes, “Waiting For A Girl Like You.”Foreigner 4 was a #1 selling album. Agent Provocateur released in 1984 spawned the hits, “That Was Yesterday” and their biggest contribution to date, “I Want to Know What Love Is” another Mick Jones composition impeccably sung by Lou Gramm. In ‘87 Foreigner released Inside Information adding several more hits to their repertoire, “Say You Will” and “I Don’t Want to Live Without You.” Foreigner has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
Rochester native Lou Gramm released his first solo effort, Ready or Not in 1987. The critically-acclaimed album produced the hit, “Midnight Blue” (Peaked at #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100) his highest charting solo hit.
Displeased with the direction Jones was taking the band; Gramm left Foreigner to form Shadow King with an old bandmate, bassist Bruce Turgon
from Black Sheep. The band also featured guitarist Vivian Campbell (Def
Leopard) and drummer Kevin Valentine (Donnie Iris and the Cruisers,
Cinderella). The band released their only album Shadow King in 1991. Lou Gramm returned to Foreigner in 1992.
In 1997, Lou Gramm was diagnosed with a dangerous
brain tumor called craniopharyngioma. After seeing several specialists,
doctors told him that the tumor was inoperable. Miraculously, Gramm
witnessed a segment on the television show 20/20 that reported about a
doctor who performed a procedure on inoperable tumors using laser
surgery. Gramm flew to Boston that very same week and was operated on
immediately. The procedure lasted eighteen hours but saved the life of
the legendary rocker, although the recovery would be long and arduous.
After the surgery, Gramm was administered steroids resulting in
excessive weight gain, low stamina, and short and long term memory loss.
During his recuperation faze, Gramm was still under contract and
continued to work with Foreigner during a vigorous touring schedule
until 2002.
The partnership between Gramm and Jones became distraught and finally ended.
Meanwhile, Gramm worked vigilantly to reclaim his former self before the surgery. In 2009, his new band The Lou Gramm Band released their self-titled first album to rave reviews. The album is one of the best Christian rock albums ever; it’s the heyday of Foreigner with a metaphysical directive. The Lou Gramm Band features his brother Ben on drums, Don Mancuso on guitars, A.D.Zimmer on bass and Andy Knoll on keyboards. The band is currently on tour and arrives at The Youkey Theatre in Lakeland, Fl on November 17th. Lou Gramm will be performing his greatest hits from Foreigner. Tickets go on sale August 17th at 10a.m. Purchase tickets at www.thelakelandcenter.com
I caught up with Lou Gramm while preparing for various concert dates in Canada.
We talked about the incredible rock ‘n’ roll days of Foreigner(great
stories), transformation into Christianity, the surgery that saved his
life, the debacle of the music industry, what happens when rock stars
retire, and muscle cars.
Here’s my interview with singer, songwriter, musician, and legendary voice of Foreigner … LOU GRAMM. Ray Shasho: Lou, thank you for being on the call today. How’s the weather in Canada? Lou Gramm: “It’s beautiful like in the low 70s, low humidity and crystal clear skies.” Ray Shasho: You’ve been down around
the Tampa Bay area quite often over the years. You played The Club in
Treasure Island most recently, and in 2007 performed at Ribfest in St.
Pete with the Edgar Winter Band. Lou Gramm: “I have twelve year old twins. Every year … my wife and I and the twins vacation in Destin.” Ray Shasho: Do you take the twins on the road with you sometimes? Lou Gramm: “Yea, sometimes over
the summer or if they have a spring vacation or something like that
they’ll come out for one show. They’ll come up and sing on stage with me
too, they’ve sang, “Hot Blooded” and several other songs depending on
what the show is.” Ray Shasho: Lou, you look great and your voice sounds as good as ever. How are you taking care of yourself these days? Lou Gramm: “I feel terrific and a lot of
that weight from the steroids has come off now, so I feel a little
lighter on my feet. There’s no exercise or dieting that will do anything
to lose the weight you put on from steroids. I’ve been exercising for
about twenty five years, but after the operation for a couple of years,
they didn’t want me to do anything. Slowly, I started to get back into
my regiment and I’m exercising with a trainer now five days a week. I’m
on a pretty specific diet and just the good Lord. I was 145 pounds most
of my adult life, and then a year after my operation I gained 100
pounds. I was throwing out everything that I couldn’t wear anymore.” Ray Shasho: Did getting back on the road again after the surgery help with the rehabilitation process? Lou Gramm: “It did … but the
surgery was in March and in August I was in Japan. I don’t think that
helped. My doctor told me that he didn’t want me to do much of anything
for the first year. But Foreigner and the management had already booked
shows and dammit … we were going to play them. And I have no memory of
any of those things. When I came back, I had to write out just about all
the lyrics to every song with a black marker and tape it on the floor.
My long and short term memory was affected and simple versus that I’ve
sung for many years just wouldn’t come to me, I had to glance at my
notes.” Ray Shasho: Lou, did you get any symptoms before the illness? Lou Gramm: “I did but it wasn’t like months
before I could see it coming. I got short and long term memory lapses,
couldn’t remember my mom and dad’s telephone number that they’ve had for
23 years. I’d see people and know who they were but the name wouldn’t
come to me. I was getting killer headaches periodically; I’d been clean
and sober for almost five years when that happened so I knew it wasn’t
hangover stuff. Then I had an MRI and they found a tumor in the center
frontal lobe that was the size of a large egg and it had tentacles
wrapped around my optical nerve and my pituitary. I saw a specialist at
Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York and he sent me to a
brain tumor specialist in Manhattan that was supposed to be one of the
best in the country, and they both sent me home and told me that the
tumor was inoperable.”
“So I was pretty much starting to put my affairs in order. I just
happened to be watching TV and there was a segment on 20/20 about Dr.
Black at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who pioneered a new type
of laser surgery and operated on tumors that were deemed inoperable.
That was a Monday and at the end of the segment they gave his nurse
receptionist’s phone number for his office, Tuesday morning about 8:00 I
was on the phone, Wednesday I was flying to Boston, and Thursday at
5:30 in the morning I was on the operating table. They said if I waited
any longer there could be irreparable damage. When they were wheeling me
down to the operating room for my surgery, I was praying to God and I
said Lord let your will be done, if you mean to take me … I’m ready. I
was on the operating table for over eighteen hours. What they didn’t
tell me was that the recovery would be long and arduous. That was in
1997. I didn’t start feeling like myself until 2004.” Ray Shasho: Lou that’s an incredible story, there needs to be a book written about your experience. Lou Gramm: “I’m at the end of chapters in writing the book. I’m actually doing it with a co-author.” Ray Shasho: I heard an interview
that you did that said you may be winding down your career. Is that true
or are you thinking of jumpstarting it? Lou Gramm: “I’m touring
but only going out on weekends now. I don’t think that I’d want to do a
bus tour for ten or twelve months. I’m 62 years old. I don’t think that I
could do four or five shows a week and don’t think my voice has the
flexibility of a young man anymore. I could still hit the notes but not
every night …like when you do three or four in a row. I just want to
make sure that when I perform people hear me at my best.” Ray Shasho: I have a tough time
accepting this, and I’m probably in denial, but we’re all witnessing the
final years for all the great rock ‘n’ roll legends. In five years or
so, many of them will probably retire. What are your plans for
retirement? Lou Gramm: “I have a studio in my hometown
of Rochester, New York and I want to stay in the business, writing songs
for other artists and producing. I want to spend more time with my
family and really put more time into my hobby which is 60s and 70s
muscle cars.” Ray Shasho: Awesome hobby man, do you restore and collect them? Lou Gramm: “I try to find the ones that are
in real good shape, not do-over’s, I like to find them original and the
way they were, like somebody that took real good care of a car. And
that’s basically what all my cars are and I just fix the little things …
set them up with some rally wheels and big tires, and then drive over
to what we call cruise nights. That’s where at a certain restaurant or
whatever on a certain night, these guys with muscle cars and classic
cars meet, there could be a couple hundred of them, and they’re cooking
hots & hamburgers and just hanging out.”
“But I have a ’65 Olds 442 with 47,000 original miles on it, a ’68
Camaro 396/ 375 Super Sport black on black with 18,000 original miles on
it, I have a ’67 Chevelle 396/350 automatic with air and I bought that
one in Lakeland, Florida. I also have a 1987 Buick Turbo-T and I bought
that brand new. About three years ago I sold five cars, my collection
was much bigger but it was getting to be too much for me to keep them
all maintained. So I sold off the five and kept my favorites. I took the
money from the cars that I sold and put it in my kid’s college fund.” Ray Shasho: I could talk about muscle cars all day, but back to music. (Laughing)I
really enjoyed your latest release, The Lou Gramm Band –CD (Released
2009). I think it’s one of the best Christian rock albums that I’ve
ever heard. It’s the heyday of Foreigner with a metaphysical directive.
Are you planning on releasing another album? Lou Gramm: “I’m very proud of that album;
unfortunately we signed with an independent label and found out months
later that because the album wasn’t in the record stores and at radio
stations, that it was a one-man operation. But I would like to take my
time and put out one more album, maybe a nontraditional album. I’m just
now starting to work on songs.” Ray Shasho: I talked with a lot of
artists who still carry a grudge against record companies from back in
the 60s and 70s. They’d say things like they ripped us off or they were
tyrants etc. My feeling is maybe they did do some unscrupulous acts back
in the day, but they also promoted the hell of them and made them all
rock stars. There aren’t many people that will do that today; you’re
basically on your own. Lou Gramm: “There is nowhere to go with a
new album. You have these classic rock stations where you here Journey
and Foreigner, then the oldies stations where you’d here groups like
Dion & the Belmonts, and then you have rock radio where you hear
only the new bands. What I can’t figure out is at what point do they put
you into the classic rock category, because once you’re there, there’s
nowhere to go with your new album. Rock radio won’t play it and even
classic rock radio won’t play it because they’ll only play your old
hits. So you could have a great new album out but you’ve got nowhere to
go with it.” Ray Shasho: When Ronnie Montrose
was coming to town back in October, I had finished doing an interview
with him and his wife Leighsa asked me to recommend a good radio station
to set up an interview. I told her I would ask around for her. No one
around Tampa wanted to do it, so I contacted a classic rock station in
Fort Myers. They told me that they didn’t play Montrose music and turned
down the offer. Just about every classic rock station plays The Edgar
Winter Group (Ronnie was the original guitarist). Hmmm, I wonder if
they’re regretting that decision now. Lou Gramm: “Wow … that’s crazy. When we’d
do interviews on classic rock radio, we’ll go up there and they’ll play
some of the older big hits, and we’ll ask beforehand if they would play
one of our new songs. They’d say, “Sure no problem okay.” So we’d talk
for fifteen or twenty minutes about the good old days and the concert
that was coming up, then they’d play about 15 seconds of the new song
and quickly fade it out and say… “Well thanks for coming in today.”
They’d play like half of verse and fade it out … just horrible.” Ray Shasho: Lou when did you become a born again Christian? Lou Gramm: “Foreigner had reached a peak of
success and all the trappings of success were part of our lives …
including long tours, alcohol and drugs, all that stuff. One particular
day, I had a nightmarish night and just knew that I didn’t want that to
be part of my life anymore. I just fell on my knees and asked the Lord
to get me out of this Hell. So basically I gave my heart to the Lord and
called a good friend of mine who escorted me to Minneapolis and spent
thirty days at Hazelden. It’s a wonderful and spiritual place, a place
to get a real education about the beguiles of drug and alcohol
addiction, and I’ve got over twenty years of sobriety.” Ray Shasho: Lou, do you have a good road story from your Foreigner days? Lou Gramm: “We had just
played a show in West Virginia and the next show was in Michigan or
something like that. We had a long-long ride so right after the show we
got on our bus and we were driving all night. Somewhere around two or
three in the morning, we pulled off the highway into this gas station
that had a 7- Eleven attached to it. While the bus driver was filling up
the tank, most of us got off and went inside the 7-Eleven for some
snacks and refreshments. Mick was asleep in his bunk and he had a
curtain across his bunk. We all came back on the bus and the tour
manager Kevin, which was Mick’s younger brother, did a head count and
the curtain was still closed across Mick’s bunk, so he assumed he was in
there and then off we went.”
“We drove another four and half hours and were only about an hour and
a half from our destination when Kevin Jones the tour manager got a
call from his mother in England. It turned out, while we were walking
back to the bus, Mick had gone out of his bunk, pulled the curtain
across it, got out the door and walked behind the bus … we were walking
in front of the bus. So we had taken off and were already four and half
hours down the highway, Mick was still in the 7-Eleven with no money, no
cell phone, in sandals, sweatpants and a hoodie, and he ended up
calling his mother collect in England and told her what happened. Then
she called Kevin.”
“The guy that worked behind the 7-Eleven counter would tell everyone
that walked in, “Hey, do you know who this is …its Mick Jones from
Foreigner and his bandmates left him here without any money. Mick tried
to get the guy at 7-Eleven to give him some money to put in the pay
phone and promised when he came back he’d pay him back double, even give
him a hundred dollars but the guy didn’t believe him.”
“So, it was really an eight hour juncture that Mick was just hanging
around in a 7-Eleven with no money and doing nothing. When we finally
picked him up, he got on the bus and gave us all dirty looks, got back
into his bunk and drew the curtains. Then we turned around and didn’t
head for the hotel, we went straight to the gig and had about a half an
hour to get dressed and get on stage.” Ray Shasho: Do you still talk with Mick Jones at all? Lou Gramm: “No, we left on really bad terms.” Ray Shasho: I still have a hard
time understanding how a group can continue using the trademark when
there’s only one original member in the band. Lou Gramm: “He owns the
name. Last July they discovered that he had a tumor in his throat and
also discovered that he had a major artery blocked to his heart. So he
came off the road, they removed the tumor and did the bypass. Meanwhile
the band got a substitute guitar player, has kept on playing all the way
into December, and they’re playing again, they call themselves
Foreigner and he hasn’t been with them in a year. And they’re making
almost twice the money that we did per show.”
“A friend of mine went to see them in Las Vegas and they came on
stage and people were cheering. He did see a few people stand up, get
out of their seats, and leave because they knew it wasn’t Foreigner, but
the rest of the crowd had no idea or didn’t care.”
“I watched on one of the cable channels, the new Foreigner play a
couple songs and then they’d cut to an interview … and the new singer,
well guess he’s not new anymore, he’s been with them for ten years now,
is talking with the interviewer about his memories when they wrote,
“Juke Box Hero” together … can you believe that?” Ray Shasho: Hopefully people will
learn to do their homework when conducting an interview or purchasing
tickets to a concert these days. Lou thank you so much for being on the
call today but more importantly for all the incredible music that you’ve
given to us over the years. We’re all looking forward to your concert
at The Lakeland Center on November 17th. Lou Gramm: “Thanks Ray I enjoyed it, look forward to chatting with you again soon.” Lou Gramm, the original frontman for Foreigner performs on November 17th at the Youkey Theatre in Lakeland, Fl. Tickets go on sale August 17th at 10a.m. Purchase tickets at www.thelakelandcenter.com Lou Gramm official websitehttp://www.lou-gramm.com/ Order The Lou Gramm Band’s latest CD at amazon.com -I give it (5) stars!
I think it’s one of the best Christian rock albums that I’ve ever
heard. It’s the heyday of Foreigner with a metaphysical directive. Special thanks to Jerrod Wilkins of Gold Mountain Entertainment
Official website www.gmemusic.com Contact classic rock music reporter Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com Purchase Ray’s very special memoir called ‘Check the Gs’ -The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business … You’ll LIVE IT! Also available for download on NOOK or KINDLE edition for JUST .99 CENTS at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com -Support Ray so he can continue to bring you quality classic rock music reporting. ~~Pacific Book Review says Ray Shasho is a product
of the second half of the 20th century, made in the USA from parts
around the world, and within him is every trend in music, television,
politics and culture contributing to his philosophical and comically
analytical reflections collected in his fine book of memories. I found Check the Gs to
be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many
memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray. So to
all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book!
It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids,
if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure
out why we are the way we are.
