Charlie Peacock

Charlie Peacock, an intelligent CCM songwriter, producer, and performer with a distinctive voice and an equal affinity for the finer points of mature songwriting (with little concession to obvious praise & worship themes), has produced Christian acts from Margaret Becker to the Choir and the 77's; has written several CCM hits, including Amy Grant's "Every Heartbeat"; and has also explored jazz and improvisational music with support from a number of well-known artists from the creative jazz world. His debut album, Lie Down in the Grass, appeared in 1984 on Sparrow, followed by a self-titled 1986 LP. Concurrent to his first two albums, Peacock recorded several albums' worth of loose demos, which Sparrow released as the three-volume West Coast Diaries during 1987-1988 (and later reissued as a box set). Mostly due to their inferior sound quality, Peacock was termed an "alternative" presence in the CCM community, and though his respect for classic American soul came through loud and clear on 1990's The Secret of Time and the following year's Love Life, themes of sexual love explored waters uncharted for most Christian contemporary artists.

Any outsider potential Peacock may have possessed exploded in 1991, when Amy Grant recorded his co-written "Every Heartbeat" and ended up at number two on the pop charts with the single. Peacock obviously had no thoughts of more chart success; his next album, Coram Deo: In the Presence of God, was a praise & worship project recorded with help from Michael Card and Michael English. Much of the cause for a return to traditional forms can be attributed to both the death of his father and, at the end of 1993, the suicide of former Peacock bandmember Vince Ebo (as well, Peacock had played on Ebo's first solo album the previous year). After taking an extended hiatus to focus on his personal life, Peacock excavated his feelings on 1995's Everything That's on My Mind, the title -- plus his recent past -- providing a good pointer to its contents. His seventh proper album, Strangelanguage, wrapped around his inquisition into different musical styles, from dance to jazz to alternative rock.

In 1999 Peacock's own Re:Think imprint released Kingdom Come, an album whose personnel included Béla Fleck on banjo; Fleck and other previous Peacock collaborators were featured on the 2004 Sparrow release Full Circle, a set presenting re-recordings of previous material in celebration of Peacock's 20 years as a solo artist. In 2005 Peacock returned with a bona fide jazz album, Love Press Ex-Curio, featuring the leader on piano, Rhodes, and programming along with such jazz luminaries as saxophonists Ravi Coltrane, Kirk Whalum, and Jeff Coffin; guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel; trumpeter Ralph Alessi; bassists Victor Wooten and James Genus; and drummer Joey Baron. Peacock and Coffin also collaborated on the improvisational duet recording Arc of the Circle, released in 2008 -- the album also featured guest appearances by various notables from the creative jazz world, including guitarist Marc Ribot. ~ John Bush, Rovi