Charlie Peacock

Charlie Peacock, an intelligent CCM songwriter, producer and performer with a distinctive voice and an equal affinity for the finer points of mature songwriting (with little concession to obvious praise & worship themes), has recorded for Sparrow for over a decade, produced Christian acts from Margaret Becker to the Choir and the 77's, and written several CCM hits, including Amy Grant's "Every Heartbeat." His debut album, Lie Down in the Grass, appeared in 1984 on Sparrow, followed by a self-titled 1986 LP. Concurrent to his first two albums, Peacock recorded several albums worth of loose demos, which Sparrow released as the three-volume West Coast Diaries during 1987-88 (and later reissued as a box set). Mostly due to their inferior sound quality, Peacock was termed an "alternative" presence in the CCM community, and though his respect for classic American soul came through loud and clear on 1990's The Secret of Time and the following year's Love Life, themes of sexual love explored waters uncharted for most Christian contemporary artists. Any outsider potential Peacock may have possessed exploded in 1991, when Amy Grant recorded his co-written "Every Heartbeat," and ended up at number two on the pop charts with the single. Peacock obviously had no thoughts of more chart success; his next album, Coram Deo: In the Presence of God, was a praise & worship project recorded with help from Michael Card and Michael English. Much of the cause for a return to traditional forms can be attributed to both the death of his father and, at the end of 1993, the suicide of former Peacock bandmember Vince Ebo (as well, Peacock had played on Ebo's first solo album the previous year). After taking an extended hiatus to focus on his personal life, Charlie Peacock excavated his feelings on...