A Band Called LoveSong Now Streaming

Fans of the recent “Jesus Revolution” movie will want to see the documentary “A Band Called LoveSong” on Prime Video. The three-part series also will stream on SalemNOW and Real Life Network.

The documentary explores the spiritual awakening that followed Woodstock and swept across America in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Hippies, skeptics and disillusioned young people encountered Jesus, sparking a movement that reshaped faith, music and culture 50 years ago and how it can do so once again.

Scholars describe the Jesus Movement as one of the largest spiritual awakenings in American history. It gave rise to “Jesus Music,” which later evolved into the Contemporary Christian Music industry. Through archival footage, photographs, firsthand accounts and musical performances, the series shows how music helped fuel this movement.

At the center is LoveSong, a band formed in the late 1960s in the countercultural scene of Laguna Beach, Calif. Members Chuck Girard, Jay Truax, Tommy Coomes, John Mehler, Fred Field and Bob Wall brought established rock credentials, with several having opened for acts including Steppenwolf, Chicago, and the Grateful Dead.

Despite early success, the musicians became disillusioned with the era’s drug-infused spiritual searching. Their lives changed after encountering a small church community where hippies and traditional churchgoers worshiped together. That church was Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, led by Pastor Chuck Smith, widely known as the “Father of the Jesus Movement.” Calvary Chapel soon became a national flashpoint of the movement.

LoveSong emerged as one of the pioneering Christian rock bands, helping shape what “Time” magazine called the “Jesus Revolution” in 1971. Blending influences from the Beatles, Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, their music introduced faith-based lyrics to contemporary rock audiences, breaking cultural and generational barriers.

The series features rare and previously unseen archival footage, along with interviews and music from artists and leaders including Michael W. Smith, Jeremy Camp, Phil Keaggy, Pat Boone, Andrae Crouch and Keith Green. It also includes Chuck Smith, Billy Graham, ocean baptisms, large gatherings such as Explo’72 — often called the “Christian Woodstock”– and early LoveSong performances. Pastor and author Greg Laurie, whose memoir inspired the 2023 film “Jesus Revolution,” also appears.

–Alan Goforth