Paul Clark is a musician who specializes in Christian praise and worship oriented music. He was born in Kansas City and recorded his first album in 1971, Songs from the Saviour Vol 1. Its songs became one of the first signs of the growing "Jesus Movement

Jesus movement

The Jesus movement was a movement in Christianity beginning on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and spreading primarily through North America and Europe, before dying out by the early 1980s. It was the major Christian element within the hippie counterculture,...

" of the early 70's.

He went on to record a further 13-plus albums including the well received 1977 album Hand to the Plow. In 1978 he followed up with Change in the Wind and in 1980 with Aim for the Heart. These three albums had some jazz influences and were well-produced in the context of other Christian music of the time. Aim for the Heart featured Abraham Laboriel

Abraham Laboriel

Abraham Laboriel, Sr. is a Mexican bassist of Garifuna descent who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and...

 on bass along with Harlan Rogers, Hadley Hockensmith and Bill Maxwell and was certainly jazz influenced. Those four went on to become members of Koinonia

Koinonia (band)

In the 1970s and 80’s, a fusion in jazz music occurred giving birth to a new, more electrified and diverse genre called jazz-funk. Some notable pioneers in this genre were: The Crusaders, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Alphonse Mouzon, Chick Corea, Lee Ritenour, Azymuth, Eumir Deodato, Jeff...

 jazz band from 1982 till about 1990.

Clark is recognized as one of the founding fathers of the Jesus Movement and the contemporary Christian music industry

Christian music industry

The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on traditional Gospel music, Southern Gospel music, Contemporary Christian music, and alternative Christian music. It is sometimes called the gospel music industry, although this designation is not a limitation...

. During his 13 year association with Word Records in the 1970s and 1980s, Clark's songwriting, record producing and performances placed him in the forefront along with artists like Phil Keaggy

Phil Keaggy

Phil Keaggy is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets...

, 2nd Chapter of Acts

2nd Chapter of Acts

The 2nd Chapter of Acts was a Jesus Music and early Contemporary Christian Music group composed of sisters Annie Herring and Nelly Greisen and brother Matthew Ward. They began performing in 1973 and enjoyed their period of greatest success during the 1970s...

, Love Song

Love Song (band)

Love Song was one of the main Jesus music bands, one of the first Christian rock bands. It was founded in 1970 by Chuck Girard, Tommy Coomes, Jay Truax, and Fred Field. Additionally, the earliest members included David Ingram on keyboards, Ernie Earnshaw on drums and Jack Schaeffer on bass. It was...

, Larry Norman

Larry Norman

Larry David Norman was an American Christian musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer, who worked with Christian rock music...

, Andraé Crouch

Andrae Crouch

Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....

, Honeytree, Keith Green

Keith Green

Keith Gordon Green was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Beyond his music, Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and challenging others to the same...

, Randy Stonehill

Randy Stonehill

Randall Evan "Randy" Stonehill is an American singer-songwriter from Stockton, California, best known as one of the so-called "fathers of contemporary Christian music". His music is primarily folk rock in the style of James Taylor, but he has assayed other styles, with various albums focused on...

, Barry McGuire

Barry McGuire

Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian Music.-Early life:...

, and many notable others.

He is also interested in fine art photography and entering 2010 is currently working on two new CD projects and releasing two books.

Discography

• Songs from the Savior, Vol. 1
• Songs from the Savior, Vol. 2
• Come Into His Presence (Paul Clark and Friends)
• Good To Be Home (Paul Clark and Friends)
• Hand to the Plow
• Change in the Wind
• Aim for the Heart
• New Horizon
• Drawn to the Light
• Out of the Shadow
• Awakening from the Western Dream
• When the Moon is Behind the Clouds
• Private World
• Resonate
• Christmas
• Call of the Canyon
• Wish You Were Here
• Approaching Jerusalem

External links

• Official website
• [ Partial list of Clark's musical works]