Jonathan David Brown

Jonathan David Brown (November 20, 1955 – September 27, 2016 ) was an American record producer and audio engineer known for his work on albums released in the Contemporary Christian music industry. Brown served federal prison time as an accessory after the fact for helping a member of the Tennessee White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan evade authorities.

Recording career

Seth Brown was a member of Seth, a Jesus music group in the 1970s, playing keyboards and writing many of their songs. Other members included Kelly Willard, who went on to a solo career in worship music; Keith Edwards, who later was drummer with Amy Grant and Rich Mullins; and his sister Rhenda Edwards Tull, who later sang on Parable's first album. The band released two albums, a self-titled debut in 1974 and Psalms in 1975. The 1980 collection, Keep the Fire Burning, drew songs from both albums, adding a new title track.

Production Brown engineered several albums for Maranantha! Music starting in 1975, including Daniel Amos' debut self-titled album from 1976. One of his first production credits was for their second album Shotgun Angel. Other Maranantha! production projects from the late 1970s included Sweet Comfort Band's self-titled debut, First Things First by Bob Bennett, and Blame It On The One I Love! by his former Seth bandmate Kelly Willard. Brown mentored the new band Farewell June and produced their debut album 1939, and the band was chosen as the opening act for Petra's farewell tour in 2005.

Brown continued to work with Bob Bennett (five albums from 1979 to 1991), and also produced albums by Twila Paris and David Meece through the 1980s. He produced Glen Campbell's 1991 gospel album Show Me Your Way, and Steve Taylor's debut EP and LP, I Want To Be A Clone and Meltdown.

After returning to the Christian music industry in 2000, he recorded a CD with Karen Lafferty (songwriter of "Seek Ye First The Kingdom Of God") and mixed the album PAGA for Kelly Willard, released in 2007. Brown also produced and performed on recordings by a folk artist from Upstate New York, Lisa Dudley. He developed and produced August Rain, a band from Georgia which had some radio success with the song "Wonderful Savior."

Selected contributions Sail on Sailor, Mustard Seed Faith, Maranatha! Music 1975, mixing House-Between-Two-Rivers, Becky Ugartechea, Maranatha! Music 1976, engineering, mixing Free Indeed, Janny Grein, Sparrow Records 1976, engineering Daniel Amos, Daniel Amos, Maranatha! Music 1976, engineering, mixing Gentle Faith, Gentle Faith, Maranatha! Music 1976, engineering, mixing One Truth, One Truth, Sonrise Mercantile Company 1976, engineering Firewind (A Contemporary Dramatic Musical), various artists, Sparrow Records 1976, engineering View from the Bridge, Tom Howard, Solid Rock Records 1977, engineering, mixing Shotgun Angel, Daniel Amos, Maranatha! Music 1977, producer, engineering, mixing Sweet Comfort, Sweet Comfort Band, Maranatha! Music 1977, producer, engineering, mixing Empty Handed, John Pantry, Dove Records/Maranatha! Music 1978, mixing Spirit of St. Lewis, Lewis McVay, Maranatha! Music 1978, engineering Blame It on the One I Love!, Kelly Willard, Maranatha! Music 1978, producer, engineering, mixing Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Maranatha! Music 1978, engineering, mixing The Misfit, Erick Nelson and Michele Pillar, A&S/Maranatha! Music 1979, producer, engineering, mixing First Things First, Bob Bennett, Maranatha! Music 1979, producer, engineering, mixing Come for the Children, Oden Fong, Maranatha! Music 1979, producer, engineering, mixing Tamarack, Tamarack, Parbar/MRC 1981, producer This Side of Heaven, Beau MacDougall, Milk & Honey Records 1981, engineering, mixing Never Say Die, Petra, StarSong Records 1981, producer, engineering, mixing Stop the Dominoes, Mark Heard, Home Sweet Home Records 1981, engineering More Power to Ya, Petra, StarSong Records 1982, producer, engineering, mixing Not the Same, Roby Duke, MCA Songbird 1982, producer, engineering, mixing, arranging Matters of the Heart, Bob Bennett, CBS Priority Records 1982, producer, engineering, mixing I Want to Be a Clone , Steve Taylor, Sparrow Records 1983, producer, engineering, mixing Not of this World, Petra, StarSong Records 1983, producer, engineering, mixing Coming Attraction, Lewis McVay, Heartland Records 1984, engineering, mixing Meltdown, Steve Taylor, Sparrow Records 1984, producer, engineering, mixing Keep No Secrets, Morgan Cryar, StarSong Records 1984, producer, engineering, mixing Beat the System, Petra, StarSong Records 1985, producer, engineering, mixing Non-Fiction, Bob Bennett, StarSong Records 1985, producer, engineering, mixing Captured In Time & Space, Petra, StarSong Records 1986, producer, engineering, mixing The River Is Rising, Greg X. Volz, Myrrh Records 1986, producer, engineering, mixing Same Girl, Twila Paris, StarSong Records 1987, producer, engineering, mixing Candle In The Rain, David Meece, Myrrh Records 1987, producer For Every Heart, Twila Paris, StarSong Records 1988, producer, engineering, mixing Michele Wagner, Michele Wagner, Benson 1989, producer, engineering, mixing No Room in the Middle, Greg X. Volz, River Records 1989, producer, engineering, mixing

Solo album Using the pseudonym The Nazarite''', Brown released a solo album entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in 1997. Brown explained why he used the pseudonym:

I made the vow of the Nazarite for strength, spiritual and physical, in about 1989 [age 34]. The hair on my head is from then. When I went to prison, I understood why – I needed strength, lots of it. So I guess it's sort of like an enigma to some till they hear the explanation.

The album was named for the 1741 Jonathan Edwards sermon from the Great Awakening. The lyrics of the songs and Brown's editorial notes reflect his affinity for One Law Theology. The album track, "O House of Israel" has been used prominently as the theme song for Eliyahu ben David's radio show, "On The Road to Tsiyon".

Federal prison In 1992, Brown was sentenced to a 27-month federal prison term and fined $10,000 for accessory after the fact to a conspiracy to violate civil rights under 18 U.S.C. 3 and 241 (two of the hate crime laws in the United States), and for perjury under 18 U.S.C. 1623a. The court established that Brown helped Damien Patton, described by Nashville police as a juvenile "skinhead",

The court case revealed that in the evening of June 9, 1990, Brown attended a meeting of white supremacists known for their hatred of Jewish people.

Lunar sabbath Brown published the book Keeping Yahweh's Appointments'' in 1998, which explained the practice of counting the Sabbath from the New Moon day rather than using the modern seven-day week. The Lunar Sabbath movement has grown among the Armstrong/Worldwide Church of God, Seventh-day Adventists and Christian Identity movements.