The Handless Organist (Truly a Miracle of God)

Rev. Alberta Baker

I originally started posting records like these on my site to try and illustrate the kind of oddities I was running into in thrift stores. Christian records had to be included because here in the U.S., you never spend a day thrifting without running into at least one curious example of them.

The do-it-yourself Christian record was a huge trend in the '60s and '70s and every small town artist with something to say got into the act. Most were pressed in limited quantities specifically for friends and family and many never got further than their own home town borders. The vast majority of these are traditional Gospel LPs and not of interest to me. Others displaying foreign-to-me cultural values, opinions and ideas tend to capture my attention. The album featured here by organist Alberta Baker is part of a larger trend of disabled artists producing music and releasing albums during this period. In general I'm posting these because they are an odd phenomenon and sub-sub-genre. A few of these are meaningful to me personally and others, like Merrill Womach (and his massive ego), are a turnoff.

Although I'm comfortable in my own home with these, I'm not so sure I should be posting them on my site. Guess I'll figure that out over time. For now, lets just marvel at this strange and inspiring example.