Harvest is the name of the Christian band formed by Jerry Williams in 1977 and disbanded in 1995. The original three members of the band were Williams, Ed Kerr (pronounced "Carr"), and Paul Wilbur. Wilbur was with the band through 1981, around which time it was reformed as a duo of Williams and Kerr. This was the case until 1990, when Kerr left the group. Williams then released three more albums under the band name, "Jerry Williams and Harvest."
Harvest
LP: Morning Sun
Label: Milk & Honey
Released: 1981
Genre: Non-Music, Pop, Folk, World, & Country
Style: Acoustic, Vocal, Religious
Bass Guitar: Steve Scheaffer
Drums: Clay Caire
Drums: Kenneth Malone
Drums: Mark Hammond
Guitar, Vocals: Jerry Williams
Guitar, 12-String Guitar, Mandolin: John Darnall
Fender Rhodes Keyboards, Prophet Synthesizer: Alan Steinberger
Piano: Alan Steinberger
Piano: Ron Oates
Percussion: Farrell Morris
Vocals: Ed Kerr
Vocals: Paul Wilbur
Strings: Beth Sievers, Dean Franke, Debbie Moree, Eric Pritchard, Frank Seligman, Fred Lifsitz, Gregory Clinton, James Fudge, Jim Collorafi, Juliana Morison, Ken Brauninger, Lucie Robert, Paul Huppert, Tom Watkins
Written by Jerry Williams: A1, A3-A5, B1-B3, B5)
Written by Ed Kerr: A2
Written by Paul Wilbur: B4
Recorded At Audio Village, Gold Mine Studio, Lower Level Studio
Arranged By Jerry Williams & Rick Powell
Engineers: Dave Burks, Dave Cline, Jonathan Yeaworth
Producers: John Darnall, Rick Powell
Remix: Dave Cline
A1 The River Of The Kingdom
A2 The Day Is Growing Closer
A3 Dreams
A4 People Everywhere Are Gathering
A5 Morning Sun (Son Of Man)
B1 Constant Victory
B2 Heaven Song
B3 Calvary
B4 Sing Hallelujah (Psalm 95)
B5 The Judgement Day
Harvest was a Christian band founded in Bloomington, Indiana, by Jerry Williams in 1977. The vision of Harvest was to see 100 million people come to know Jesus Christ personally through the band's music ministry. Jerry Williams came from a nightclub entertainment background, and music had been a major part of his life. In an interview, Williams stated that "[he] realized there had to be more to life than sports cars and dating beauty queens . . . I became a Christian." Williams spent some time playing the guitar on Texas streets before becoming a pastor in Bloomington, Indiana. Along with Jerry Williams, the original members of Harvest were Ed Kerr and Paul Wilbur, both of whom were music students. Wilbur had met Williams at a church where Williams was the youth pastor, and Williams had been influential in Wilbur's decision to become a Christian. Ed Kerr, who graduated from Indiana University with an M.A. in piano performance, was a mutual friend of both Williams and Wilbur. Kerr met Williams at a rally at Indiana University in Bloomington and made a decision to become a Christian afterwards. The three men collaborated on the first two albums created by Harvest: Harvest and Morning Sun. Later in 1981, personal problems forced Williams to disband the original Harvest group, which at one time had numbered five. The group was reformed as a duo of Williams and Kerr. Williams and Kerr were together for the production of many records, including It's Alright Now, Send Us to the World, Voices, Only the Overcomers, Give Them Back, Holy Fire and Carry On. In 1982 the magazine CCM took notice of the duo in its article, "A Bountiful Harvest." The writer praised the group's vocal harmonies and was especially fond of the song "Because I Am" (found on the album It's Alright Now). In 1988, Discovery Broadcasting Network recorded a live video of Harvest in concert. On the cover of the video, the network stated that Harvest averages "over 100 concerts a year." By 1991, Ed Kerr left the group and Harvest became a five-player band led by Williams. With various members, Williams' band produced Let's Fight (For a Generation), Mighty River, and 41 Will Come. In 1992 the band went on an "Olympic and European Tour." They performed in Spain at the Barcelona Summer Olympics and at the Sevilla World Expo. Their tour also took them into Germany as part of Operation Mobilisation's "Love Europe" crusade. Harvest finished its tour with a performance in the Netherlands. According to Jerry Williams in 1988, Harvest's sound was "light middle-of-the-road to light contemporary rock." He described it as hard to classify because it was a real mixture of styles. The group sound incorporated a little bit of rock, some country, and really good harmonies. Williams likened the group's harmonization to the Gatlin Brothers, who he had grown up listening to. Williams also said that "Every time people have tried to figure out who we sound like, we sound like Harvest. There's really no one else who sounds like us." But, when pressed to liken the band's sound to another's style, Williams said it was similar to that of Christian performer Wayne Watson.
2:31
5:14
0:33
1:12