Jesus rock pioneers the Wilson McKinley are a fascinating footnote in the annals of psychedelia -- minor legends in their native Pacific Northwest, they are generally considered the first secular band to forsake the ample pleasures of the flesh in favor of forging lives and music devoted to spreading the Christian gospel. The Wilson McKinley formed in Spokane, WA, in 1968, originally comprised of singer/guitarist Mike Messer, singer/bassist Don Larson, guitarist Randy Wilcox, and drummer Tom Slipp; at its inception the group played secular psychedelia very much in the spirit of its times, earning a regional following on the strength of its layered harmonies and folk-inspired arrangements. Through circumstances unknown, they earned the notice of record exec Al Sherman, whose Alshire label made its living via budget-priced copycat LPs of '60s pop hits, all recorded by prefab studio groups. Virtually all of the bands in question -- Fats & the Chessmen, Los Norte Americanos, and the Bakersfield Five among them -- were helmed by producer and songwriter Gary Paxton, best known for composing the novelty smash "The Monster Mash." At Sherman's request, Paxton put together a group dubbed the California Poppy Pickers to capitalize on the growing country-rock trend; there were four Poppy Pickers LPs in all, each made up of covers and thinly veiled rewrites, and for reasons unknown, the fourth and final album, Honky Tonk Women, was recorded without Paxton's involvement, with the studio musicians populating the previous three replaced by the members of the Wilson McKinley.
Although Honky Tonk Women generated minimal sales upon its 1969 release, the Wilson McKinley earned enough money for their efforts to self-release a three-song single featuring Messer's "Blues Go Home." They also worked on a rock opera, provisionally titled Bread and Butter, that never progressed beyond the rehearsal stage. In the summer of 1970 the members of the Wilson McKinley chanced upon a meeting of the Voice of Elijah Ministry's Jesus People sect -- Messer, Wilcox, and Slipp soon adopted the faith as their own, but when Larson refused to join them, the band dissolved. Soon after, the core trio began performing rock arrangements of traditional spirituals, and from there Messer and Wilcox began writing Christian-themed originals -- with the addition of singer/bassist Jimmy Bartlett, the Wilson McKinley aegis was revived, and the new lineup mounted a Canadian tour. A date at Vancouver's Pender Auditorium yielded their 1970 debut, On Stage (Jesus People's Army), a highly collectible live LP originally released in sleeves hand-stenciled by fellow Jesus People members -- though little known outside of the faith, the record was a landmark in the evolution of the nascent Christian rock genre. Although at least one major secular label expressed interest in signing the Wilson McKinley, they declined, preferring instead to simply perform live at Jesus People street meetings while other members of the church counseled and ministered. In addition, the Wilson McKinley often headlined a Voice of Elijah-owned Spokane coffeehouse called the I Am, testing out new material in front of their most fervent fans. They also played the occasional secular rock festival, albeit usually in the hopes of attracting new members to the flock.
