Rich Mullins
Richard Wayne Mullins (
October 21,
1955 –
September 19,
1997) was an
American singer/
songwriter born in
Richmond, Indiana. Starting in 1986, he was a well-known
Christian music artist until his untimely death in an automobile accident in 1997. He is best-known for his
praise choruses "
Awesome God" and "Step by Step", which have been embraced as modern classics by many
Christians. Three of his albums are considered among
Christian music's best:
Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth (1988),
The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume One (1991) and
A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band (1993). His songs have been covered by the likes of
John Tesh,
Michael W. Smith,
Amy Grant,
Third Day,
Caedmon's Call, and
Jars of Clay but his influence on his colleagues in the music business reaches further.
In addition to his music, Rich Mullins is also remembered for his sincere devotion to the
Christian faith. He often called St
Francis of Assisi (
1181-
1226) his hero, and modelled his life after him by having great compassion for the
poor and adhering to a
vow of poverty. In 1997, he composed a musical about the life of
St Francis (set in the
Old West) called
Canticle of the Plains.
Mullins was seen as an enigma to the
Christian music industry. Often barefoot, unshaven and badly in need of a haircut, he did not look like the average American gospel music writer. Although he achieved a good amount of success on
Christian radio, he never received a
GMA Music Award until after he died.
Unlike most artists in
Contemporary Christian music, Mullins did not consider his music as his primary ministry, but rather as a means to pay his bills. Instead, his ministry was the way he treated his neighbors, family and enemies. Taking a vow of poverty, he accepted a small church salary and spent the last years of his life on a
Navajo reservation teaching music to children.
Rich grew up attending Arba Friends Meeting, a
Quaker church in
Lynn, Indiana [
1]. The Quaker testimonies of
peace and
social justice inspired many of his lyrics.
Mullins began his musical career with Zion Ministries in the late
1970s, where he wrote music and performed with a band called Zion. Zion released one album in
1981 entitled
Behold the Man. While working for this ministry, Mullins penned a song called "Sing Your Praise To The Lord", which was recorded by singer
Amy Grant in 1982 and became an immediate hit on
Christian Radio.
In
1975, Mullins attended
Cincinnati Bible College, where he became close friends with Sam Howard, the son of minister Maurice Howard [
2].
In
1983,
Debby Boone recorded Mullins' "O Come All Ye Faithful" for her
Surrender album. In
1984, the song was also featured in a TV movie called
Sins of the Past.
Mullins became a songwriter in the
Contemporary Christian music industry by 1984, penning songs for
Pam Mark Hall, and a second song for
Amy Grant. Grant would go on to record yet another of Mullins' songs for her
1985 album,
Unguarded, entitled "Love Of Another Kind".
By 1986, Mullins recorded his first,
self-titled, solo project, and followed it with a second solo album in 1987 called
Pictures in the Sky. Neither album had sold very well and it looked as though
Pictures might be his last, until Mullins wrote a song called "
Awesome God". Mullins recorded that song and released it on his third album,
Winds of Heaven... Stuff of Earth and it quickly became a hit on
Christian radio and a modern-day praise chorus sung in churches around the world to this day.
The
Winds of Heaven... Stuff of Earth album also introduced fans to the
hammered dulcimer, an instrument that would become a Rich Mullins trademark; he also played the
Appalachian dulcimer (lap dulcimer).
In
1988, Mullins moved to
Wichita, Kansas to be part of Rev. Maurice Howard's congregation at
Central Christian Church.
In the early
1990s, Mullins released a pair of albums entitled
The World As Best As I Remember It, volumes One & Two. These albums featured more of a stripped-back, acoustic feel than his earlier work, with nods to
Irish music.
Sometimes By Step, a song written by good friend
Beaker and included on both volumes, became an instant hit on
Christian Radio, and, like "
Awesome God", with worship leaders.
In
1991, Mullins enrolled at
Friends University. He would later draw inspiration from a lecture at Friends by author
Brennan Manning. This is also where he met Jim Smith (his posthumous biographer), and
Mitch McVicker.
In
1993, Mullins assembled a group of
Nashville musicians (including
Jimmy Abegg, Beaker,
Phil Madeira,
Rick Elias,
Aaron Smith) to form
A Ragamuffin Band, which was named after
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. The band recorded
A Liturgy, A Legacy, & A Ragamuffin Band, which was later named the #3 Best Christian Album of All time by
CCM Magazine. The band got together again in 1995 to record
Brother's Keeper. Mullins graduated with a
B.A. in Music Education from
Friends University on
May 14,
1995 [
3]. After graduation, he and Mitch McVicker moved to a
reservation in
Tse Bonito, NM near the capitol of the
Navajo Nation in
Window Rock, Arizona to teach music to children. They lived in a
hogan at the reservation until his death.
In
1997, Mullins teamed up with Beaker and Mitch McVicker to write a musical based on the life of
St Francis of Assisi, entitled
The Canticle of the Plains. Mullins had great respect for St Francis, and even formed "
the Kid Brothers of St Frank" in the late
1980s with several friends, each taking a vow of poverty. Mullins was never really aware of how well his records sold, because the profits from his tours and the sale of each album went to his church, which divided it up, paid Mullins a small salary, and gave the rest to charity. Mullins was also a major supporter of
Compassion International and
Compassion USA.
Mullins was killed in a car accident on
September 19,
1997. He and his friend Mitch McVicker were travelling on
I-39 outside
Peoria, Illinois to a
benefit concert in
Wichita, Kansas when his
Jeep flipped over. Neither man wore a seat belt, and both were thrown from the vehicle. A passing
tractor-trailer swerving to avoid the Jeep killed Mullins. McVicker was badly injured, but survived.
Shortly before his death, Mullins had made a rough tape of songs for what would have been his next album on Myrrh Records; he was going to call the album "Ten Songs About Jesus." This rough
microcassette recording became the basis for
The Jesus Record, which A Ragamuffin Band recorded after Mullins' death. Mullins and McVicker had also recorded what would become Mitch's first true solo album (aside from lead vocals on four songs on the Canticle of the Plains album).
Furthermore, the family founded The Legacy Of A Kid Brother Of St. Frank to continue his mission to develop programmes of art, drama and music camps for Native American youth and provide a traveling music school serving remote areas of the reservations. Today it is administered by Alyssa Loukota and Tammy Pruitt.
"My Deliverer" was named "Song of the Year" at the 1999
GMA Music Awards. The presenters were GMAMA winner Kathy Troccoli, the first artist signed to Reunion Records in 1982 (Rich was on Reunion until 1996, then signed with Word's Myrrh Records in 1997), and three-time NASCAR
Nextel Cup Series champion
Darrell Waltrip.
GMA Music Awards (All were posthumously awarded)
*1998 - Artist of the Year
*1999 - Song of the Year, "My Deliverer" (with Mitch McVicker)
Both awards were accepted by Mullins' brother David. Mr. McVicker joined David Mullins for the Song of the Year presentation.*
Behold the Man – Zion (1981, Independent)
*
Rich Mullins – Rich Mullins (1986, Reunion)
*
Pictures in the Sky – Rich Mullins (1987, Reunion)
*
Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth – Rich Mullins (1988, Reunion)
*
Never Picture Perfect – Rich Mullins (1989, Reunion)
*
The World as Best as I Remember It, Volume One – Rich Mullins (
1991, Reunion)
*
The World as Best as I Remember It, Volume Two – Rich Mullins (
1992, Reunion)
*
A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band – Rich Mullins & A Ragamuffin Band (1993, Reunion)
*
Brother's Keeper – Rich Mullins & A Ragamuffin Band (
1995, Reunion)
*
The Jesus Record – Rich Mullins & A Ragamuffin Band (
1998, Myrrh)
*
Here In America – Rich Mullins (
2003, Reunion)
*
Canticle of the Plains – Kid Brothers of St Frank (1997, Ragamuffin)
Compilations
*
Songs – Rich Mullins (
1996, Reunion)
*
Songs 2 – Rich Mullins (
1999, Reunion)
*Elijah, 1986
*Verge Of A Miracle, 1987
*Screen Door, 1987
*Be With You, 1987
*Awesome God, 1988
*If I Stand, 1988
*Home, 1988
*Ready For The Storm, 1988
*My One Thing, 1989
*While The Nations Rage, 1989
*Alrightokuhuhamen, 1989
*Somewhere, 1989
*I Will Sing, 1989
*Hope To Carry On, 1989
*Bound To Come Some Trouble, 1989
*The Love Of God, 1989
*Boy Like Me, Man Like You, 1991
*Where You Are, 1991
*Step By Step, 1991
*Calling Out Your Name, 1991
*I See You, 1991
*Sometimes By Step, 1992
*The Just Shall Live, 1992
*Growing Young, 1992
*Creed, 1993
*Hold Me Jesus, 1993
*Peace, 1993
*Here In America, 1993
*Let Mercy Lead, 1995
*Brother's Keeper, 1995
*Sing Your Praise To The Lord, 1996
*We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are, 1996
*My Deliverer, 1997
*Nothing Is Beyond You, 1997
*Heaven In His Eyes, 1997
*That Where I Am, There You May Also Be, 1997
*Brennan Manning,
The Ragamuffin Gospel: Embracing the Unconditional Love of God (Multnomah, July, 1990)(ISBN 0880706317)
*James Bryan Smith,
Rich Mullins: His Life and Legacy: An Arrow Pointing To Heaven (Broadman and Holman, September, 2000) (ISBN 0805421351)
*Rich Mullins, Ben Pearson
The World As I Remember It: Through the Eyes of a Ragamuffin (Multnomah, March, 2004) (ISBN 1590523687)
*
Kid Brothers of St Frank, Co.*
The Legacy Ministry*
Calling Out Your Name: A Tribute to The Message and Music of Rich Mullins*
Never Picture Perfect (Timeline, Articles, Discography, Photo Gallery)*
"Here In America" 2003 Album Website
