[ Bruce Adolph ] We are going to discuss today the milestone of your first Christian album What a Day hitting its 50 th anniversary . How did this first record in the Christian music arena come about for you ? Were you still in the band Glass Harp at the time ? And the Christian music industry itself was just being born then . Tell us all about it .
[ Phil Keaggy ] Well , going back a little further , I started Glass Harp in 1968 with my friend John Sferra . We had a talented bass player named Steve Markulin , and then a second bass player named John Carazino . And then he only stayed in the group for a short time . Then we got Daniel Pecchio , who has been the long remaining bass player and vocalist of Glass Harp . In February , 1970 I met the Lord , following my Mom ’ s tragic car accident . The Lord took her home to Heaven and my eldest sister , Mary Ellen , shared the gospel with me , invited me to church with her . It was there I gave my heart to Jesus . And that ’ s when things began to change for me as an artist .
Back in those days , there wasn ’ t such a thing as CCM ( Contemporary Christian Music ). On the West Coast emerged what was called Jesus Music , but that was happening all over the country , not just there . I was definitely listening to the new Jesus Music coming from California . It was very encouraging . I especially loved the group Love Song !
Back in Ohio , we , The Glass Harp , won a battle of the bands , and the prize was that we would get a record contract and a renowned producer . His name Louis Merenstein who produced Van Morrison ’ s Moon Dance album , which was ... a huge success . He was our producer for three studio albums and one live album at Carnegie Hall in 1971 . Our first album was recorded around September 1970 , and the first song on that album album was called “ Can You See Me ?”
In the studio , I changed the words from kind of a hopeful thing , “ Someone will find a peace we can share ” to singing about “ the Son died for
Glass Harp , 1970