DAN WOODING, of Assist News Service, talks to Ken Tamplin about his mission to remake some of Christendom’s “classic hits”…
Three time Dove Award winning rock vocalist Ken Tamplin is looking to add a new (or should I say old) meaning to Rock Of Ages.
Tamplin’s latest project, Rock Of Ages – Beautiful Hymns, (and before you start yawning…it’s not only well done with world class players, but quite remarkable and not what you’d expect from this rocker) is truly that…beautiful. In addition, Tamplin wants to make it available as a free download.
“Take a lyric out of Come Thou Fount for example: ‘Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.’ What a consolation to know a great man of God that has gone before me not only shares the same sentiments, but has conquered his flesh and isn’t ashamed to tell about it.”
– Ken Tamplin
Asked about his reason for dusting off some of Christendom’s greatest treasures Tamplin explained, “I feel like there is so much music in today’s church culture that is geared mainly toward a high school – college demographic. I know it has its wonderful place, but a lot of modern worship doesn’t share the richness, gravity and depth these great hymns offer and, for me personally, leaves something to be desired.
“I am not one for living in the past, but I wanted to showcase these hymns in a more accessible way. I feel like they have been somewhat demoted to irrelevancy but I think their lyrics couldn’t be more relevant.
“Take a lyric out of Come Thou Fount for example: ‘Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.’ What a consolation to know a great man of God that has gone before me not only shares the same sentiments, but has conquered his flesh and isn’t ashamed to tell about it.
“So I have taken out all of the hard to follow time signatures, and have arranged them in a way so that they are easy to follow. I will also be including some of the incredible stories behind the penning of these amazing graces such as: ‘It Is Well.’
“This hymn was written after several traumatic events in the writer Horatio Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford’s daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, ‘Saved alone.’ Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.”
Tamplin said that the music, written by Philip Bliss, was named after the ship on which Spafford’s daughters died, Ville du Havre.
“The Spafford’s later had three more children, one of whom (a son) died in infancy,” he added. “In 1881 the Spafford’s, including baby Bertha and newborn Grace, set sail for Palestine. The Spafford’s moved to Jerusalem and helped found a group called the American Colony; its mission was to serve the poor. The colony later became the subject of the Nobel prize winning Jerusalem, by Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf.
“Maybe the greatest inspiration for me was that I had posted a couple of these live acoustic songs on YouTube and received an overwhelming response. Mostly from people who were playing them for loved ones in the hospital or those grieving from the loss of a loved one. Few things can speak to people like these hymns.”
Tamplin has always been referred to as a “singer’s singer” with vocal references to his cousin Sammy Hagar (vocalist for Van Halen), while guitarists have hailed his playing, songwriting and production in equality to some of the biggest names in the business.
His past successes, such as his highly acclaimed groups Shout and Magdallan, has continued to expanded horizons for Tamplin to be asked to sing for such groups as Foreigner, Motley Crue, INXS, Skunk Baxter, Jeff Lynn, Geazer Butler, Accept, and even Peter Frampton. It has also provided a platform for scoring and source music for such features as Inspector Gadget, Perfect Storm, The Punisher, The Waterboy, Charlie’s Angels, Mod Squad, Wild America, Major League III as well as a host of TV series’ such as Melrose Place, 90210, The X-Files, the theme for Ace Ventura (Nickelodeon), Spin City, On Disney Now!, and Entertainment Tonight participated in by Tamplin.
In addition, Tamplin has also found success in national television commercials for BMW, Mercedes, Nestlé, Hotwheels, Acura, Ford, and the list goes on…
In the past, Tamplin’s heavy involvement with his philanthropic CD Make Me Your Voice on SPRING HILL/EMI 2003 included Gospel legend Andrae Crouch and Charlie Peacock played a key role in the Presidential signing of the $US300 million Sudan Peace Act October 2003.
Tamplin says he has “a burning desire to inspire people toward God and help them become all they can be in Christ.”
This new CD is no exception. In addition to giving it away for free Tamplin told me, “God gave us these hymns as anchors of truth in troublesome times, so God forbid a gatekeeper would try to charge His people for it!”
With that said, Tamplin is also making all of these songs available with the performance tracks so folks can sing to them at their own churches.
If you would like a free download of the CD, please send your e-mail address to [email protected] and a link will be sent to you of the album, How Sweet The Sound.
