Whether you’re a boomer who heard it on the LP when it was released in 1976, or a Gen-Xer who heard it on your AM radio, or a zoomlennial like me who heard it as the intro music to Supernatural season finales, you know the iconic opening chorus of Carry On Wayward Son. But what do you know about the goofball who wrote it? Probably nothing, because Kerry Livgren’s name has been forgotten in the couch cushions of rock n’ roll history.
In 1972, the peak of the progressive rock age, a bunch of Kansas hicks showing up in New York to record ultra-complex music was sure to land a bunch of hits. Unfortunately for Don Kirshner’s wallet, Kansas was too ahead of their time. Their love for strange instruments, odd and alternating time signatures, polyrhythms, and 12-minute epics with insane drum solos (seriously, check out Incomudro) failed to resonate with the pop music audience. Carry On Wayward Son was recorded in an afternoon to fill space on their fourth album Leftoverture (1976) and delivered that much needed hit on the money. The contract deal was renewed and the band didn’t have to go back to fry cooking in Topeka.
Kerry was always a sort of a loner who didn’t connect well with other people, and themes of isolation and soul searching came up a lot in his music. Suddenly, he’s living in a bus and packing stadiums around the world, and that sense of spiritual listlessness compounded. He spent a lot of time studying different systems of belief, and by 1979 he had found the Urantia Book; a religious text allegedly written by angelic aliens. During the tour for their sixth album Monolith, Kerry got into some debates with the supporting band about God, Jesus, philosophy and other fun rock n’ roll subjects. After the tour, Kerry threw his Urantia Book in the trash and became a born-again Christian.
Monolith was a tremendous commercial failure. Couple that with Kerry’s (probably very annoying) Christian zeal, Kansas started to come apart. He left the band in 1980 to dive into the lucrative world of Christian rock. He used his fame and connections to put together a supergroup starring members of Jethro Tull, his old band Kansas, and even the legendary “satanist,” Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Despite this all-star lineup, Kerry’s first solo album Seeds of Change sucks ass. It’s about as edgy as a tennis ball and sounds like the soundtrack to a direct-to-video Blade Runner rip-off. Evangelicals didn’t like it either, thanks to Dio’s contribution; but I find it hilarious to hear the Black Sabbath frontman shrieking “Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!”
Don’t turn up your nose just yet, because Kerry got a whole new group of talented Christian musicians together and formed a band called AD. That’s really the focus of this article, because this band is actually a really cool find in the dusty record vault of 1980’s Christian rock.
AD’s 1984 debut Time Line breaks out of the hymnbook with shredding guitars and sizzling synthesizers- as long as you can snooze your way through the opening track. Every other song could have been sitting on record store shelves next to 90125 or Kilroy Was Here, yet the rock n’ roll world has such a hate-boner for Jesus that anything Biblical can go to Hell. Most of the lyrics aren’t worshiping our Lord and Saviour as explicitly as Seeds of Change, and could easily be interpreted as uplifting and inspiring in a more general sense. Still, Kirshner knew it wouldn’t sell and the record never got any promotion.
Time Line by AD //Kirshner //Spud’s Track Pick: Take Us To The Water
In 1985, Kerry ran into legal issues with his Kansas contract, as was forced to take AD out of the mainstream market. AD was signed to Sparrow, a Christian specific label, and released Art of the State that year. The album artwork is awesome, which only led me to disappointment. The production is really stale and sounds like some of the worst pop the 80’s ever shat out. Thankfully, I found some fan-remasters that fixed that problem. They really ramped up the hallelujahs! this time around and The Lord is extremely present in the lyrics from start to finish. It has its heavy moments, but for the most part this album is just too pop for me, considering what I know Kerry Livgren to be capable of.
Art of the State by AD // Sparrow Records // Spud’s Track Pick: The Fury
AD’s third album (second on Sparrow) should serve as a nice hard rock pick-me-up from the pop-heavy slog we just sat through. Reconstructions was, once again, recorded on a budget of tithing and unpaid taxes and sounds like Duran Duran trapped in a steel box. I recommend checking out the official 2006 remaster for this one. This album sounds more like it came from the man behind Kansas, with many tonal shifts and a proclivity for some bluesy bangers. It also boasts a much more fun jazzy sound with great rhythm and a very layered soundscape that any fan of 80’s music could love.
Reconstructions by AD // Sparrow Records // Spud’s Track Pick: Life of Crime
I’m not going to include Prime Mover. I’ve had my fill of God’s love this month, and I don’t think it counts as an AD album because Kerry did the whole thing himself. It was a breakout success for him after nearly a decade in the Christian rock underground, which detracts from my point:
The music business is a cruel, unforgiving, and unpredictable place. Kerry Livgren wrote Dust in the Wind (579 million Spotify plays). His music after that has to be found on Christian rock archives on YouTube, boasting about 700 hits per song . We’ve got DIY acts here in Boise with more traffic than that. His songwriting ability never changed, only the circumstances around the songs he was writing, so this work will never see any kind of popularity. Funny how that works.
Spud media 