That particular day, immediately following our concert, I was walking off the stage when a college-aged, clean-cut, handsome young man met me at the bottom of the stairs. I’m not sure how he got back there, because it was a secure area, but he was there all the same. He walked up to me, looked me straight in the eye, and very passionately asked, “Mr. DeGarmo, how does it feel to be conforming to the world?”
I stepped back a little and replied, “Just what do you mean?”
“Take a look at the way you are dressed,” he said. “Your long hair; your weird clothes; that’s what I mean. You are conforming to the world!”
“Will you take a little walk with me?” I asked. “I want to show you something.”
I escorted him back up the stairs to take a peek at the crowd from the stage. All you could see was an ocean of people stretching a thousand feet in every direction. I looked at the young man and said, “Take a look at all the people. Do more of them look like me, or do more of them look like you?”
He stammered a little. “Well, more of them look like me I guess.”
“Ok then,” I said, “According to your definition, you are the one conforming to the world.”
He just stared off into space and slowly walked away.
It’s easy for us to be critical of others who don’t exactly look like us or agree with us on everything. We have a tendency to focus on the differences, rather than look for things we have in common.
Back to Jimmy. As a conciliatory gesture toward Brother Swaggart, I dedicated “Brother against Brother” to him in the album credits. When our label saw the dedication in the album credits, they became completely unglued. The president of Benson called me personally and asked if they could remove the reference to Jimmy Swaggart. What I didn’t know was Benson also distributed Swaggart’s albums around the world and didn’t want to incite him unnecessarily.
I completely understood that perspective from a business angle. I told Benson it was okay with me for them to reprint the album insert liners. What I didn’t know was tens of thousands of them had already been printed and were sitting in the warehouse. To re-print would be very expensive and wasteful. Fortunately, however, they found a solution. The printer said they could run the inserts back through their huge offset printing machine to black out the dedication to Jimmy Swaggart. They would simply add a black line over his name, completely covering it up. The real problem came after they assembled the albums, shrink-wrapped, and shipped them to retail stores with the newly changed album inserts. When people bought the albums, took them home, and opened them, we discovered that in about half of the albums and cassettes, the printer’s blackout line actually underlined the dedication to Jimmy Swaggart instead of blocking it out. It drew all the more attention to it. Oh well. They tried.
We came to be known as “D&K” to our fans over the years. We decided to embrace that and name the album simply D&K. An artist designed a D&K logo that reminded us all of a Monopoly railroad logo. That logo became iconic to us for the rest of our career.
By far the very best thing that happened with the release of D&K was the “two for one” cassette giveaway. The concept was simple. If a person bought a cassette tape, they received a second tape of the entire album, contained in the same package, absolutely free. The additional copy was designed to be given away as an evangelistic gift to a non-Christian friend. It was a marvelous campaign. There were thousands and thousands of free cassettes given away by folks who bought the two for one package.
We received thousands of letters of testimonies from people coming to Christ as a result of that campaign. I still receive Facebook posts about the give-away program with that album and how much of an impact it had. I’m forever grateful to The Benson Company for helping us develop that effort, and to Dan Brock and our D&K publicist, Rob Michaels, for facilitating the program and seeing it to fruition. It took us all coming together to cover the costs involved. That effort was truly about building God’s Kingdom.
One night in upstate New York, at the end of the D&K Tour, while we were leading the audience in “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” I noticed a lady come to the front of the stage with five children in tow. As was our practice, I lead the folks who came forward to a counseling room backstage where I prayed the Sinner’s Prayer with them as a group. I then gave them some words of encouragement. Then counselors from the local area could speak one on one with those who wanted or needed a more private conversation. We used that format for years. At the end, we gave them each a copy of the Gospel of John and encouraged them to see the importance of finding a local church to attend.
At the very end of the counseling session that night a local fellow came to me with the lady and the five children. She introduced herself and each of her kids to me. All six of them made commitments to follow Jesus that evening. That was the culmination of the D&K period. That is what it was all about.
And with that, it was time to re-set once again. This time would be different, though. Dana and I had been making records together, pretty much every year, for over a decade. On one hand, a break would be nice. On the other, musicians make music. I’ve never been good at taking breaks. There was some trouble in the ranks, too. We had some stuff to figure out.
THIRTY-SIX
Feels Good to Be Forgiven
Once we got ownership of our masters and publishing back, we needed a company to manage them. Thus, in 1987, ForeFront Records was born. Ron Griffin, who worked with us as Benson’s music publishing guy and then as our vocal producer, had both business and creative experience and was a good fit for our team. Dan and Ron were college buddies. Ron became a close and trusted friend to us as well. So close, in fact, Dan, Dana, and I decided to bring him in to run our newly created label. He paid his way, though.
We sold him a 25 percent interest in the DeGarmo and Key catalog in exchange for running the label on a modest salary until the debt was paid off. It was kind of a sweat equity deal. Ron worked hard and he was a great addition. Also, he could have been easily mistaken by his looks for Eric Clapton during The Journeyman years. In fact, he was! He was a good fit for us on several levels.
The initial business of ForeFront was to make international distribution deals for the DeGarmo and Key recordings. Through those efforts we were able to begin to fund the company. ForeFront signed a couple of other solo artists early in 1989. Ron produced and recorded their records, and we were proud of them. Unfortunately, neither project sold as well as we hoped.
The first ForeFront releases to sell well, ironically, turned out to be—at least in part—the result of some major tension building between Dana and me. The trouble began with me wanting to sing lead vocals a little more often on our albums. On the early albums I sang a couple of songs here and there, and I just wanted to do that again. Dana became really territorial and extremely weird about it when I brought it up. It seemed he felt I was moving in on his turf. I couldn’t understand why he felt that way.
We were in bands together since we were kids, and I always sang lead a little. I already wrote a lot of the songs and managed much of our business. I couldn’t imagine how my singing might intimidate him. I guess he just didn’t like it. Dana was a better singer than me, but I think I can hold my own on a rock song or an impassioned vocal ballad.
I thought it would improve our live show to be able to play off each other more vocally. At the end of the day, though, Dana just didn’t like the idea of it. In concert, I was always the wild and crazy one and Dana played the straight man. He didn’t want to alter that mix.
Over the course of a few major fights, needless sleepless nights, and way too much drama, Dana, Dan, and I decided it was best if I recorded a solo album to keep the peace between us. In retrospect, I’m glad it worked out that way.
When I decided to record a solo album I wanted to do something really different from D&K. It was natural for me to reach back into the Memphis soul music that had formed me. I was excited to record a project that tipped my hat to
those legendary performers from Stax Records and Hi Records. That music also suited my vocal style perfectly.
I asked Ron to produce the album. Ron is a great song man, and I needed some real objectivity in that department. Dana and I grew up as each other’s professional critics, and I wasn’t going to have his input this time around. Ron was the perfect choice. He didn’t hold back either. I needed someone who cared enough to run me through the creative ringer.
I have to admit, when I started the Feels Good project I was pretty sensitive about my singing voice. Dana didn’t help me conquer that one too much, either. I produced great singers for years, I knew what great vocals sounded like, and wasn’t so sure I could pull it off for a full album. I didn’t have enough of the confidence one needs to be a lead singer. Griffin said something to me one day in the studio I will take to my grave as a divine truth.
“Eddie,” he said. “Do you know why Bob Dylan is such a great singer?”
I just looked at him and shook my head, “No.”
“It is because he obviously doesn’t give a f—-k what anyone thinks,” he said. “If he cared what they thought he would probably never sing again.”
I thought about that for a long while and came to the conclusion he was absolutely right. Half of the world thinks Bob Dylan sings well, while the other half wishes he wouldn’t try anymore. It is so subjective, isn’t it? It’s a matter of taste really. I personally love Dylan’s style and voice. He’s great.
That was the exact thing I needed to hear.
Shortly before I recorded “Feels Good to Be Forgiven,” my father died in an automobile accident. I was close to my dad and losing him impacted me in a big way. I wrote the song “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” as part of my healing process. In fact, many of the lyrics on the Feels Good album were about folks who needed God’s help to lift the burdens they were carrying around in this life. In retrospect, I think I wrote a lot of those songs to myself as I dealt with the loss of my father. I still miss him.
Doing my own album allowed me to release a lot of emotion. I was able to pour myself into the writing and recording of that album. Susan was so wonderfully supportive. I can remember playing her the initial tracks in the studio and us embracing each other and weeping. That was a special time in our marriage. I depended on her so much, and she was always there standing by my side, unwavering. It’s always been hard for me to show my feelings and emotions. Susan has helped me learn how to connect with that inner side. I truly don’t know what I would do without her.
My solo album was also a great way to support ForeFront. We released Feels Good to Be Forgiven in 1988. It sold pretty well for a “spin off” album. It was also nominated for a Grammy award, and I was nominated in the male vocalist of the year category for a Dove award. Some things are just too good to be true.
Dana went on to release his solo album a year later. It was called The Journey and it sold about the same, or maybe a trifle better, than mine. I think those efforts gave us the space we both desperately needed. We had been together since the first grade, my gosh! A little space was healthy.
As God usually does, he worked all those things for the good for both of us. The solo projects scratched a creative itch we had been feeling for a long while. They also helped our fledgling record label, and put us in the right frame of mind to record the next D&K album, which went on to become our biggest selling album ever.
THIRTY-SEVEN
The Pledge
By the time we were ready to record The Pledge we had come through some real changes.
After playing with us for a decade, Greg Morrow left our band for a full-time gig as Amy Grant’s drummer. I took it hard, but I understood his reasons. Dana took it really hard. Greg was the best drummer any band could ever hope for. On a musical level we knew it would be impossible to fill his shoes, but there was more to it than that. Greg had, more or less, grown up with us. It was like losing our little brother. That said, a gig with Amy was a step into a brighter future. I knew that to be true and was okay with his decision, but it hurt. It also meant we were suddenly in the market for a drummer.
I saw a local band called Junction play a few times around Memphis and was impressed. They had recently disbanded so I went on a search for their drummer. I found him through a friend named Jon Hornyak at Sounds Unreel Studio. His name was Chuck Reynolds, and he was good. Our timing was perfect. Chuck really desired a closer walk with God and was very interested in playing with us. We set up an audition, which he passed with flying colors, and we had our replacement for Greg Morrow.
We also decided Dana and I would back away from the production of the album for the first time. We entrusted those duties to Ron Griffin. He helped each of us with our solo records and worked with us on previous D&K projects so he knew what we were going for, what we were capable of, and how far he could push us. We liked his techniques and trusted his judgment. He knew how to deal with both of us pretty well.
We recorded the basic tracks for The Pledge at Ardent but did most of the overdubs at a couple of high-end studios in the Nashville area called The Castle and OmniSound Studios. Ron and his recording engineer, Billy Whittington, both lived in Nashville. It was easier for us to stop there before or after tour dates than for them to constantly keep coming out to Memphis, burning up I-40.
The recording process was different that time around. The full band was only together during the basic tracking process. I did all my keyboard overdubs without Dana being around and he sang his lead vocals and played guitar without me being present. It was the first time in years I didn’t produce him, and he didn’t produce me. As a result, the record came out sounding a little different.
I do believe The Pledge features some of the best songwriting of our career. Dana wrote “Boycott Hell,” “Aliens and Strangers,” “The Pledge,” and “Who Will.” I wrote, “I’m Accepted,” “Hand in Hand,” “Let’s Get Upset,” and “If God is For Us.” All those songs were received well by our fans and have stood the test of time.
“I’m Accepted” was a song that really surprised me. We received countless letters from people who were touched by that song and its message. I wrote it specifically for my daughters, who were in middle school at the time. I honestly didn’t expect the song to speak to folks across all ages the way it did. Interestingly, before we recorded it we worked it up as a high energy, up-tempo rock song. The music just didn’t fit the tenderness of the lyric, though, so we recorded it as a ballad, which is how I wrote it originally.
We were a bit surprised to receive some fairly harsh criticism for the song “Boycott Hell.” We were used to controversy about being too loud or too rock-n-roll, but this wasn’t that at all. Some people criticized the song for having “Bumper Sticker Theology.” I guess that has a kernel of truth in it. We always tried hard to come up with a title and a song that could end up being the theme to a “Summer Youth Camp” and plastered on t-shirts everywhere.
That was a badge of honor for us. It meant we were having a positive effect. The interesting point about that song is it was taken from a real live person and a true story. We had a friend who had the words “Boycott Hell—Accept Jesus” embroidered on the back of his jean jacket back during the Jesus Movement days. Two albums later I wrote a song called “God Good, Devil Bad,” and received the same kind of criticism. It was also a true story about a real person I met who had “God Good” tattooed on one arm and “Devil Bad” tattooed on the other arm. You can’t make this stuff up.
We knew The Pledge was special when we finished making it. We also knew the phrase “He Died For Me, I’ll Live for Him” would have a tremendous impact on people. The song “The Pledge” was not really a commercial moment on the album, but its theme and message were right on target. It was who we were and it was the message we wanted to convey as a band.
Biblical literacy had always been important to Dana and me. We felt young people seemed to know less and less of the Bible. We wanted to encourage them to know “why they
believed, what they believed.” Dan Brock and our publicist Rob Michaels came up with the slogan “Take the Pledge, Read the Word” and Dan was able to get a meeting with Zondervan, Benson’s parent company and the publisher of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, which was the bestselling Bible in the world at that point in time. After a series of meetings, the NIV Student Bible came on board as D&K’s official tour sponsor. We even had our semi painted with the NIV Student Bible logo and D&K’s logo down the entire length of the fifty-three foot trailer. The graphics reflected our desire to encourage young folks to read the Bible more. It also spoke boldly to the fact the most popular Bible in the world stood firmly behind a rock band. It was like a huge bumper sticker. Things were a changing!
For The Pledge Tour we brought a Christian comedian named Steve Geyer and a brand new band to open for us. We had just signed the band to our new label, and they needed some experience on the road. They were called dcTalk. Ron Griffin often mentioned he had been listening to rap music, probably mostly RUN DMC back then. He said he wanted to find a Christian rap act that could sing the choruses so youth groups could sing along. I have to give Ron the credit for having that vision. In dcTalk we found just that.
As an “added value” for the fans, I opened the second set with three songs from Feels Good to Be Forgiven. We added a saxophone/keyboard player for this spotlight and Michael Tait (from dcTalk,) our guitarist Steve Taylor, and Dana lined up Temptations-style beside me to sing back-up vocals. Roscoe Meek, our monitor engineer, stood in to play guitar. It was a smoking band, for sure, and was fun music to perform. The crowd seemed to dig it, and it definitely brought a different flavor to the night.
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