Hvem skrev he was there all the time?
Gary S. Paxton
Efter sin omvendelse til kristendommen koncentrerede Paxton sig om gospelmusik. Han havde stadig et ben i den verdslige countryverden i begyndelsen af 1970'erne - han skrev og producerede "Woman (Sensuous Woman)" for Don Gibson (nomineret til en Grammy og solgt i over en million i tre forskellige versioner) sammen med to andre hits på countrykartoteket og skrev på et tidspunkt under på RCA Records som solo countrykunstner - men gospel var nu hans hovedprioritet. I 1973 skrev og producerede han "L-O-V-E" for The Blackwood Brothers, som vandt en Grammy for bedste gospeloptræden. I 1975 vandt Paxton en Grammy for bedste inspirerende sang for sit album The Astonishing, Outrageous, Amazing, Incredible, Unbelievable, Different World of Gary S. Paxton, som indeholdt hans ofte indspillede andagtsvise "He Was There All the Time". Paxton, der optræder på sine gospelpladeomslag med en glorie af ansigtshår og en høj cowboyhat, tilførte sit religiøse arbejde den samme excentricitet, individualitet og hippiehumor, som havde kendetegnet hans materiale fra 60'erne i Los Angeles: han spillede rollen som Jesus-freak, sammenlignede sig selv med "en armhule i Kristi legeme" og lavede sangtitler som "When the Meat Wagon Comes for You", "Will There Be Hippies in Heaven?", "I'm a Fool for Christ (Whose Fool Are You?)" og "Jesus Is My Lawyer in Heaven".
Gary S. Paxton
In the wake of his conversion to Christianity, Paxton focused his efforts on gospel music. He still kept one foot in the world of secular country during the early 1970s — writing and producing "Woman (Sensuous Woman)" for Don Gibson (a Grammy nominee and a million-plus seller in three different versions) along with two other country-chart hits, and at one point signing with RCA Records as a solo country artist — but gospel was now his chief priority. In 1973 he wrote and produced "L-O-V-E" for The Blackwood Brothers, who took home the Grammy for Best Gospel Performance. In 1975, Paxton won the Best Inspirational Grammy for his album The Astonishing, Outrageous, Amazing, Incredible, Unbelievable, Different World of Gary S. Paxton, which contained his oft-recorded devotional song "He Was There All the Time". Appearing on his gospel album covers in a halo of facial hair and a tall-top cowboy hat, Paxton infused his religious work with the same eccentricity, individuality, and hippie humor that had characterized his 60s material in Los Angeles: acting the role of the Jesus freak, likening himself to "an armpit in the body of Christ", and crafting song titles like "When the Meat Wagon Comes for You", "Will There Be Hippies in Heaven?", "I'm a Fool for Christ (Whose Fool Are You?)", and "Jesus Is My Lawyer in Heaven".
Gary S. Paxton