Love Song-The History

Chuck Girard Little pilgrim, walking down the road of life
I know that deep down in your heart
that you are just like me
What you're seeking is a better way
And you're reaching out for temporary
resting places
And you're glad to find a little peace of mind
here and there
But it won't last, no, no, cause you'll hove
to move along someday
'Til you're resting in the arms of the only
one who can help you
'Til you give your heart and your soul
and your body
And your mind and your life to the Lord.

Such a philosophy of message and music was accepted without question as a part of the pattern of worship at Calvary Chapel. But when churches or conferences unfamiliar with Love Song's style and casual appearance invited them to play, prejudices sometimes got in the way. On more than one occasion, Love Song was called upon to break down barriers between the established church and those long-haired products of the Jesus Movement. Thankfully, love conquered tradition and stone faces were invariably transformed into expressions of love as Love Song spoke to the hearts of all who heard them. By now you may have come to the conclusion that the Lord had blessed these four babes in Christ with a remarkable ministry. Well, you'd be absolutely right, because Love Song was able to uniquely identify with so many people, people who had never considered Jesus as a viable alternative to the problems of the world. And Love Song's ministry was still in its infant stages. Through the next few years its scope and influence would widen beyond anyone's imagination.

Since their first meeting, shortly before the birth of Love Song, Chuck and Freddie Piro had maintained close contact. Chuck revived the idea about recording an album, and, much to his delight, Freddie was still interested. He invited the entire group to his office on the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood. "From the very first meeting we had with Freddie, it was obvious to all of us that he was going to be, in some way, part of the overall plan that the Lord had," Jay recalls. "Let's see, I remember we sang 'Welcome Back' and 'Two Hands' and some others for him. He got excited about the group and about our music, so we invited him to come down to Calvary Chapel to see us perform in person."
The guys, who had been sharing with Freddie all through their first meeting, knew that it was only a matter of time before he opened his heart to the Lord. In fact, it was during one of their subsequent meetings that Freddie accepted Jesus, right on the studio lot. Shortly thereafter, he left his job at National General and took up the idea of starting his own record label. Freddie's vision for the record company was in fact much the same as Love Song's - to present the gospel of Jesus Christ in its purest form, uncompromising in content and contemporary in style.

John Mehler

Meanwhile Love Song's touring schedule expanded to include a number of out-of-state concerts. They were all good and all of them were significant. But some, like the trip to the Midwest in the summer of 1970, turned out to be very special. As Tommy tells it, "It just so happens that on this particular tour we were to stop in Salt Lake City, Utah. We had decided on the way there to look up an old friend, John Mehler. John had been in and out of different groups with all of us at one time or another. We rapped with him about how the Lord had changed our lives and that we were now serving Him. As a result, John re-dedicated his life and his talent to Jesus. We asked him if he'd be interested in joining the group and in playing full-time for the Lord, to which he said yes. He quit the band he'd been playing with and several days later was on his way to Southern California.