Vem skrev he was there all the time?
Gary S. Paxton
Efter sin omvändelse till kristendomen inriktade Paxton sig på gospelmusik. Han höll fortfarande en fot i den världsliga countryvärlden under det tidiga 1970-talet - han skrev och producerade "Woman (Sensuous Woman)" för Don Gibson (som nominerades till en Grammy och sålde över en miljon dollar i tre olika versioner) tillsammans med två andra hits på countrylistan, och vid ett tillfälle skrev han kontrakt med RCA Records som solo countryartist - men gospel var nu hans huvudprioritet. 1973 skrev och producerade han "L-O-V-E" för Blackwood Brothers, som fick en Grammy för bästa gospelframträdande. År 1975 vann Paxton en Grammy för bästa inspiration för sitt album The Astonishing, Outrageous, Amazing, Incredible, Unbelievable, Different World of Gary S. Paxton, som innehöll hans ofta inspelade andaktssång "He Was There All the Time". Paxton, som på sina gospelalbumomslag uppträder med en gloria av ansiktshår och en hög cowboyhatt, gav sitt religiösa arbete samma excentricitet, individualitet och hippiehumor som hade kännetecknat hans 60-talsmaterial i Los Angeles: han spelade rollen som Jesusfreak, liknade sig själv vid "en armhåla i Kristi kropp" och skapade låttitlar som "When the Meat Wagon Comes for You", "Will There Be Hippies in Heaven?", "I'm a Fool for Christ (Whose Fool Are You?)" och "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