All the King’s Men are a folk-rock band who arrange and write songs which are now offered for use by God’s people everywhere. We worship the Lord, Jesus the Messiah, and our prayer is that, as His Character and Works are proclaimed in song, the Spirit of Faith would bring about increase in the obedience of faith. We hope that the great joy and thankfulness we have as a result of the work of the Lord Jesus in our hearts is evident in this music, and that our efforts here might be useful for the building of faith in willing hearts. All songs recorded, mixed and mastered by James Collins at Grizzly Studios, June - August 2015. Album artwork by Philippe Delalande at Summerchill. New Life © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: Charles Wesley (1740) Music: James Collins (2014) Band Callum Bint: electric guitars, gang vocals David Chidgzey: bass, gang vocals James Collins: acoustic guitars, resonator guitars, banjo, lead vocals Nikki Cunningham: lead vocals Caitlin du Toit: violin, gang vocals Mia Formentin: gang vocals Alanah Quartermaine: mandolin, gang vocals Caleb Quartermaine: drums & percussion Carolyn Thomas: gang vocals Joel Waddell: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, gang vocals Inspiration for the melody to this song came while I was watching Disney’s Brave with my two daughters, Emily and Rebecca. I very much enjoyed the film’s theme song, Julie Fowlis’s Touch the Sky, so as soon as I put the girls to bed, I went into our bedroom and wrote the melody you hear on New Life. I’d already found the text I wanted to use a few days earlier as I was reading through Hymns of Eternal Truth, so the process turned out to be very quick. The song is a wonderful prayer asking the Lord Jesus to impart His Holy Spirit, so that we can participate in His life and glorify Him. To God Be the Glory © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: Fanny J. Crosby (1872) Music: James Collins (2014) Band Callum Bint: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, gang vocals David Chidgzey: bass, gang vocals James Collins: resonator guitar, lead vocals Nikki Cunningham: lead vocals Caitlin du Toit: violin, gang vocals Mia Formentin: gang vocals Alanah Quartermaine: mandolin, gang vocals Caleb Quartermaine: drums & percussion Carolyn Thomas: gang vocals Joel Waddell: electric guitars, gang vocals This song makes a great ‘opener’ for a service - I can’t think of any other song that so simply and clearly calls to mind the work of our Creator God in human history, so moving us to worship. The tune by W.H. Doane that is normally used with these words sounds a little dated to young ears, so I’ve tried to come up with something different. To be honest, what I’ve come up with is a bit mad, and fails my ‘it’s got to be singable for the congregation’ rule, but I love the words, and my crazy little tune seems to be quite catchy, so I decided to include it anyway. I came up with the melody for the verses and the first half of the chorus after being inspired by the song Eat You Alive by The Oh Hellos. It took several months to finish off the chorus. The rhythmic ‘hook’ before and after each chorus reminds me of Psalm 150 - everything that has breath, just grab whatever you’ve got and bang it loudly in praise of the Lord! Probably an accurate description of our band… Nothing Less © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: James B.C. & James C. Collins (2014), H. Lemmel (1922) & W. Robinson Music: James Collins (2014) Band Callum Bint: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, gang vocals David Chidgzey: bass, synthesised organ, lead vocals James Collins: resonator guitar, banjo, acoustic guitars, spoons, gang vocals Nikki Cunningham: lead vocals Caitlin du Toit: violin, gang vocals Mia Formentin: gang vocals Alanah Quartermaine: mandolin, lead vocals Caleb Quartermaine: drums & percussion Carolyn Thomas: gang vocals Joel Waddell: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, gang vocals I really wanted to find a song that might give voice to the heart of a new believer, and found a poem by W. Robinson to use as a starting point. I changed Robinson’s work quite a lot, and then asked my dad what he thought. His response was classic - silence for a bit, then, “I think we can do better.” He very kindly agreed to rework it, producing what I think is quite a lovely, simple prayer. You will recognise the first 8 bars of the melody from the French Christmas Carol, Angels We Have Heard on High. My preference is to use tunes that people already know where possible, and I thought the simple, ‘humble’ nature of this melody would suit my purposes well. I felt the song needed some kind of response or exhortation at the end, and the words to H. Lemmel’s Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus seemed to be ideal. As his tune did not fit with the song, I came up with a new melody that I hope will serve as a memorable exhortation that may be called to mind as we go about our daily lives. Hope of the World © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: Charles Wesley (1739) Music: Scots folk melody, Roud # 6294 & The Moreen Band Callum Bint: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, gang vocals David Chidgzey: bass, synthesised organ, gang vocals James Collins: acoustic guitars, resonator guitars, banjo, gang vocals Nikki Cunningham: gang vocals Caitlin du Toit: violin, gang vocals Mia Formentin: gang vocals Alanah Quartermaine: mandolin, gang vocals Caleb Quartermaine: drums & percussion Carolyn Thomas: lead vocals Joel Waddell: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, gang vocals The lyrics to this song are a triumph of truth, light and poetry, and the combination of the strong, bold melody of the Scots folk tune, (normally sung to Auld Lang Syne) with the energetic, driving band arrangement, make this one of my favourite songs of all time. The lyrics are so stirring, I knew we needed something special as a climax. I believe we achieved this with the final section, the idea for which I got from Begin and Never Cease by The Oh Hellos. For the guitar solo after the tempo change, I used a Scottish fiddle tune called Cock o’ the North which I often enjoyed at ceilidhs during my time in the UK. After the build up, the band kicks into half time and we sing the final verse to the tune of The Moreen, an old Irish air that I heard as a boy watching Michael Cain and Sean Connery sing The Minstrel Boy in The Man Who Would Be King. It is such an incredibly strong, majestic and triumphant melody - the perfect way to deliver Wesley’s stirring prayer, “…assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honour of Your name!” Depth of Mercy © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: Charles Wesley (1740) & James Collins (2014) Music: James Collins (2014) Band Callum Bint: electric guitars, gang vocals David Chidgzey: bass, synthesised organ, gang vocals James Collins: resonator guitar, banjo, acoustic guitars, spoons, glockenspiel, lead vocals Nikki Cunningham: lead vocals Caitlin du Toit: violin, gang vocals Mia Formentin: gang vocals Alanah Quartermaine: mandolin, gang vocals Caleb Quartermaine: drums & percussion Carolyn Thomas: gang vocals Joel Waddell: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, gang vocals This is the song that birthed All the King’s Men. I stumbled across the words as I was flicking through the Redemption Hymnal one day, and wanted our church family to sing them, especially as they fitted so well with the passage for the sermon that week. I wasn’t particularly inspired by any of the existing tunes that went with it, so decided to have a go at one myself. I sat down with my guitar and came up with this melody - it made me laugh, as I hadn’t intended to create such a country/folk tune, but the more I played it, the more I wondered if its childish simplicity actually made it rather suited to the task. So I quickly produced a demo recording and emailed it to our music team to learn for Sunday. I remember feeling quite nervous and apologetic when the time came to rehearse this song, as I’d never asked our team to learn anything that I had written before. What if they all hated it and quit the team on the spot?! Our congregation seemed to love it, so I set myself the task of trying to find songs for the Church to sing that contain truth and light, and to present them in a way that our congregation can relate to. This is what All the King’s Men tries to do. When I introduced this song to our local church, all 6 verses used the same melody for ease and simplicity, and I added a short chorus. However, I felt the song needed to explode at some point, so when I first sat down with Nikki and Callum to try and convince them to help me on my quest, we started mucking around with it. As we played, more for a laugh than anything else, I changed tempo and started playing the intense galloping rhythm after verse 4 that you hear on the recording, then just kept going to see what would happen. It was a fun time, and the final tune to verses 5 & 6 is the one that was improvised during that session. The words are a very insightful reflection on the Lord’s compassion and mercy, and I’ve tried to have the melody reflect the child-like, contrite heart that He requires in us in response. I Will Walk With Him © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: Anna L. Waring (1850) Music: James Collins (2012) Band Callum Bint: electric guitar, tenor James Collins: acoustic guitar, lead vocal Nikki Cunningham: alto Caleb Quartermaine: percussion I remember reading the words to this song as a boy - one of my parent’s friends framed the words of it as a wedding present for them, and it has hung on the same wall in our family home ever since we moved to Australia in 1987. Just before I moved back to England to study in 2004, my mum gave me an address book containing all the contact details of our relatives across the country. I wrote the words of this song in the front of that book, in the hopes that, during the times of testing and proving that I suspected would come, they would encourage me to trust the Good Shepherd, come what may. What a glorious thing, when He leads a human heart to the place where we finally say, “By any road, at any cost, I must have You!” Kirsty and I sang this hymn at our wedding, although I wasn’t particularly impressed with any of the melodies available. I tried to write my own, but couldn’t come up with anything I was happy with in time for the wedding. I worked at it off and on over the next few years, determined to put these wonderful words to a tune that spoke to me, and finally finished it 3 years later in 2012. Life is very simple when these words become real for us, as Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Philippi, “I calculate everything as a loss, because knowing King Jesus as my Lord is worth far more than everything else put together!” Demands My All © 2015 All the King’s Men Lyrics: Isaac Watts (1707) & John Francis Wade Music: Lowell Mason (1824) & John Francis Wade Band Callum Bint: electric guitars, acoustic guitar, gang vocals David Chidgzey: bass, synthesised organ, gang vocals James Collins: acoustic guitars, banjo, gang vocals Nikki Cunningham: gang vocals Caitlin du Toit: violin, gang vocals Mia Formentin: gang vocals Alanah Quartermaine: mandolin, gang vocals Caleb Quartermaine: drums & percussion Carolyn Thomas: gang vocals Joel Waddell: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, gang vocals Isaac Watts nailed it with this poem! I especially enjoy the last line of verse 4, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all” which is why I used the latter part of that as an ostinato through the final section of the song. I decided to use Mason’s melody for the first part of the song, which is more popular in America than here (English and Australian churches usually prefer Miller’s tune for this song, which is beautiful) because it just seemed to be begging for some hard-strummed guitars and a big, dirty folk-rock beat! However, Mason’s melody is quite static, so I felt that it needed to explode at the end or have some sort of chorus to belt out. I’ve never enjoyed Tomlin’s efforts with That Wonderful Cross, so I tried tacking on part of Francis Wade’s O Come, Let Us Adore Him. I gave the idea a trial at one of our church services, and it seemed to be very effective so I worked at how I could incorporate it naturally into Demands My Soul for this project (actually, I get tempted to sing this at the end of nearly every song now! No matter what we’re singing about God, the appropriate response is almost always to cry, “come, let’s adore Him, for You alone are worthy, we give You all the glory!”). It was a challenge trying to make the key change from E to A seamless (along with a tempo change), but I had the idea to use an acoustic guitar line that echoed the melody of “demands, my soul, my life, my all” and use that as an ostinato through the entire section. The rest of the band then made it sound magical :-)