Last updated 04/27/2025
Of harmonicas and history: archive of the album "I Want to Walk the Path" - St. John the Baptist Catholic Choir (Edmond, OK)
Hello. Bit of an odd post here. But there's a parish I've been involved with in the past: St. John the Baptist in Edmond, OK. It's got a stupid amount of history, not just because I have some good memories there, but also because it's one of the first established parishes in Oklahoma, dedicated in 1889. Take that, Mormons! Or something like that.
A bit of their history used to be easily accessible online, namely an album entitled "I Want to Walk the Path." It's two discs of music performed by their choir, recorded sometime around 1995-1999 from what I can tell. It was proudly presented under their music section on their parish website until the website got totally redesigned. POOF. No more album.
Luckily, I have been in possession of a PHYSICAL COPY of this album. Yes, double disc jewel case dedicated to the sounds of their choir. (One day I might come across a scanner I can use to properly scan its graphical components, though not now sorry.)
Maybe its deletion from their website might indicate they want to leave traces of this kind of music in the past (and for some local history-telling: yes, the current pastor definitely wants this kind of music out of their masses lol), but I want to save it here because it represents a period in Catholic Church history that I find horribly fascinating.
Though the album was recorded in the last years of the 20th century, its artists definitely grew up in the atmosphere from a few decades prior - the 60s or 70s. Imagine with me: going back to the founding of the USA, the Catholic Church in America had long since been a bit of an outcast from the more popular circles of the Evangelicals and the Baptists (ESPECIALLY in Oklahoma). The 60s comes along and it feels like not only all of America is being swept away in the free-love-hippy-dippy-free-for-all trends, but the whole western world is. People felt this fad to different degrees in England, Italy, Germany, France, Poland... even places in the Middle East and Asia weren't safe.
Like many other points in history, the Catholic citizen was faced with a choice: conform with the zeitgeist or double down in prior Christian ways? Painting in broad strokes, it certainly feels like the Catholic Church leaned more into the "conforming" or "updating" option. Now in some ways, this was a good thing - lots of very un-Christian things finally went the way of the dinosaur around this time, but as for other losses, we still feel their absence today.
(To allow myself of one last vague poetic waxing of this specific moment in history, the American Catholic on one hand may have just returned from a zooted-out music festival while at the same time being told that artificial contraceptives are not to be used by the faithful. Catholics in America still reel over this tension today, if you poll a group of 100 random Catholics.)
As you might guess from the content I'm preserving here, one of those losses around the 60s was the musical heritage of the Church. Despite the Vatican saying many many many times through the 50s and even up until today that organs and chant should be commonplace in parishes across the USA, many pews are still populated by hymnals, and the faithful couldn't tell a square note from a square dance.
How I felt writing the square note/square dance comparison
So, what's all this got to do with this album? Well, in short, this album is a product of all the above circumstances - that of lots of Catholics being swept away by the feelgoodiness of the mid-20th century and how in some cases it has lasted until relatively recently. (Go into a number of parishes in the USA and you can still find music like the following today.) The fact that it's recorded is fantastic from a historical perspective, to have a concrete piece of this period demonstrating some Catholics' attitudes towards things in their day. (For any other Christians reading this wondering why this "rebellion" against the Church's recommended liturgical music style is such a big deal... it's a long story why I'm writing all this - in short, we have bishops for a reason; for a fuller explanation, let's talk over a drink sometime, or google something, idk.)
Let me also add here that I do not hate this music and I do not hate the people that brought into being. I do dislike the fact that those responsible for its use or performance ignored the wishes of the bishops for what music should primarily be used in mass (see the official Church documents ranging from the 1950s through the 2000s linked above for proof). Lest you think to give an excuse to such music groups in such parishes saying the following tracks were infrequently used or anything... no. You could hear these used multiple times a year in some cases and other hymns in this style through the rest of the year. And to confirm your bias-detector, yes, I can be an anal type of person when it comes to these things.
Without further ado, here is a download to all 30 tracks from this album. Some original tracks, some On Eagle's Wings tracks, some mass setting tracks. Below too are three significant tracks you can play right here that are very, very notable.
Download the full "I Want to Walk the Path" album in 32-bit Linear PCM WAV format here
Track: "I Want to Walk the Path"
The titular track, an original composition for the parish. If you listen to the song, you'll find that the path in question is the path of faithfulness and trust in God that St. John the Baptist walked throughout his life. If you get nothing else from this article, please just imagine this being played full blast in a Catholic mass, perhaps during the distribution of Holy Communion. To continue my jabs at the music, please also imagine the face of St. John the Baptist if he heard this being sung about him.
On a more serious critical note, it's just really interesting that this musical style is employed, given that this kind of faithfulness, in John's case, leads to getting your head sliced off. There's something to be said about being joyful on our way to heaven, no matter the trials we face, though, so... let me reiterate that I don't hate this music. :) I definitely have a soft spot for these tracks. Just not during mass.
Track: "Through an Oklahoma Cloud"
Another original composition, this time filled with hometown pride. Y'know, that's a damn rare thing these days.
Track: "He's Alive"
Aaaaand since we're still in the Easter season as of writing this, have a triumphant Easter tune in which to bask. This one's a slow burn, so make sure to listen all the way through. And again, just imagine this being played during mass.
Again, no ill will to the songs or the authors here. Though it's mostly from the fact that I have my own personal memories at this parish, I have to smile against some of my better judgment when hearing these. For one reason or another. Me and others familiar with these songs like to joke about their cheesiness or inappropriateness for mass, but these were written and performed by people who I think we can all assume wanted nothing but the best for their parish. It's a whole 'nother topic worth exploring, but I think there is something to be said about typical western Christianity being a bit uptight. In other words, you might could say my relationship status with this music is: "It's complicated."
I'm sure more imminently "human" (read as: less "stuffy" or less western-traditional) strands of Christianity have no hope of growing anytime soon, after all. Right?
How the author of "I Want to Walk the Path" felt writing that track's lyrics in tandem with its musical style
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