He’s a drummer, perhaps not a position one would normally associate with songwriting and inspiration. After all, his part in the musical presentation of the message has always been what Bill Maxwell might readily say himself was a background part, not the lead voice firing up the audience. Nevertheless, Bill did not let that impede what he said in 1987 with the song “Light the Fire”. As a 38-year old transplanted Oklahoman, now living in Los Angeles, Bill had been through a lot in his life already, and was at a point where he knew God and His power to change lives was real. What had happened for himself and for other musicians close to him could be communicated to others who needed transformation, too.
Bill Maxwell had the music gene from an early age, but the Christian in him did not emerge until later after he’d hit a rough patch in the road. Perhaps that sequence of life events was a metaphor for what he would write in 1987 about a fire being lit. Bill indicates he’d grown up in Oklahoma with grandparents, and was making music as a drummer already when he graduated from high school in 1967. But, his life had some kinks, including lots of drug use and his wife’s illness and the breakup of a band while they lived in Nashville (in 1971), prompting Bill to return to Oklahoma briefly. It was at that time that Bill turned his life over to his Creator, as he sought peace and direction for his life. And, the same thing happened for the musician friends with whom he reacquainted himself. It was a time when the “Jesus Movement” was burning for people like Bill, and when he met Andrae Crouch, with whom he would make and produce music for many years. The Christian message and his life as a music producer among people like Crouch and many others flourished from that point on. Bill does not say exactly what prompted ‘Light the Fire’ as a 38-year-old, but his interviews include memories of how he got started and was turned around from a downward spiral. He’d been weak (v.1), and knew he needed the intervention of the Divine One during that time in 1971 in Nashville. He prayed for healing of his life, and admits that he was scared when he felt God’s response – perhaps like something ‘breath’(ing) in him like a ‘mighty rushing wind’ (v.2). When similar spectacular recoveries ensued for friends with whom he prayed, what else could Bill do except admit that a fire had been lit in his life? It was a chapter in his lifetime that he must have wanted to keep going. Was ‘Light the Fire’ Bill’s way of musically reminiscing, and of passing along the torch to others? Was it his way of sharing just a piece of his biography with those who would listen?
As a blogger, I’m really just engaging in some deduction regarding Bill Maxwell’s motivation for ‘Light the Fire’. And yet, Bill’s song words indicate he wanted a fire ‘again’ that, evidently, he had already experienced once before (see song’s refrain). Most people at the end of their rope no doubt remember in vivid detail when and how a turnaround begins, myself included. Prayer is a big part of it, with surrender (‘fall[ing] to my knees’, v.1) an essential emotional piece of a puzzle that once seemed so jumbled. If you know more details of Bill’s ‘Light the Fire’ story, I am eager to hear them, even if it means I have to edit this bit of speculation you’ve just read! Our stories are always evolving, and each of us may have new ways to examine how and why events have unfolded over time. He’s still working out my details, and yours too. He can use anything He needs to light a fire under me, or in me too. Just ask Bill Maxwell.
Read a short biography of the author here: http://www.okjazz.org/index.cfm?id=141
Hear an interview with the author here: https://www.insidemusicast.com/musicasts/2015/8/17/bill-maxwell.html
A shorter interview here: https://scottkfish.com/2019/03/02/bill-maxwell-on-becoming-a-grammy-winning-producer/
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