The Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers, is a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Servant of God Isaac Thomas Hecker in collaboration with George Deshon, Augustine Hewit, and Francis A. Baker. Members of the society are Paulists, and identify themselves as such by the use of the initials C.S.P. after their names, for the Congregation of St. Paul. In 1866, under Hecker’s guidance, the Paulist Press was created, adding the written word to the Paulist mission. (More from Wikipedia)
The Holy Ghost Reception Committee #9 did so well that they were signed by the Paulist Press to produce an album in 1968. Paulist Press is primarily a publisher of religious books and was clueless as to what to do with this music; they gave the album a description rather than a name, Songs for Liturgical Worship. The album is primarily songs of praise, with some retelling Bible stories. The music though is straight psych.
The psychedelic cover that they chose for the album shows that someone was paying attention, however.
Two years later, a second, tougher album, The Torchbearers followed, still under the Paulist Press umbrella. Rich Esposito on guitar joins the line-up of the Holy Ghost Reception Committee #9 for this album; Norman Grossman provides “guest percussion” on both LP’s. The back cover features advertisements for Paulist publications, including a series directed at teenagers called Discovery. The album was later reissued in 1996 on Void Records.
(August 2014)
