Santos' Testimonies / Story One:

“DEEP AND RICH” – A NEW CD FROM SANTOS AND…CHUCK SMITH

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

COSTA MESA, CA (ANS) -- As a super percussionist, Walter Santos toured nationally in the United States with a who's who of the music business, such as Weather Report and Fandango, sharing tour dates and stages with The Charlie Daniels Band, The Outlaws, Pure Prairie League, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Moby Grape, Judas Priest, and the Marshall Tucker Band. (Pictured: Santos today). But he had a terrible secret that was destroying his life -- he was addicted to drugs, a habit that nearly had him sentenced to life imprisonment. But then a miracle began to happen in his life when former teenage idol Dion, who had such hits as "Teenager in Love," "Runaround Sue" and

"The Wanderer," told him to totally give his life to Jesus Christ. He did and later was completely delivered from his habit at Calvary Ranch in San Diego, California.

Santos learned to play percussion on the streets, with groups on the "stoops," a NYC term for hanging out on the front porch of a house. "I hung out in these strong ethnic neighborhoods," he said. "They took me in as one of their own--I had a name like Santos, but I looked so German! After a while I was asked to play in clubs with a lot of R&B bands in the neighborhood. My first break came when I was asked to play percussion with Charles Earland on the same bill with The Jazz Crusaders at Carnegie Hall. (What a place to start a career!) After that, I became a member of the Charles Earland Sextet and we toured nationally with the likes of George Benson, Les McCann, Jimmy Smith, and Stanley Turrentine.

Now Santos has dedicated his life to Christian music and he has just completed a surprising new album called “Deep and Rich” which even features the singing of Pastor Chuck Smith, Father of the Jesus People Movement in Southern California and senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California. (Pictured: Deep and Rich CD cover). Santos says, “Listening to ‘Deep and Rich’ is like taking a spiritual bath in God’s awesome love.”

He then revealed how the album came about. “For the past several years, I have been asked to sing the powerful hymn ‘Where You There When they Crucified my Lord?’ at Calvary Costa Mesa’s Good Friday Service, held at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine, California. Pastor Chuck Smith, who started Calvary Chapel over thirty years ago, requested that I sing the song in a ‘deep and rich’ tone. I finally did sing the song for him.

“Meditating on Pastor Chuck’s words ‘deep and rich,’ then caused me to think about making a CD of timeless classic hymns and title the project ‘Deep and Rich’ based on Romans 11:33, which states, ‘Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!’ Pastor Chuck liked the idea and said, ‘Let’s do it!’”

Santos said that Holland Davis, director of Calvary Music, spearheaded the project. “It was his suggestion to use the Maranatha Music style from the early days of Calvary Chapel,” he stated. “Tom Keene was assigned the task of arranging and producing the album.”

He went on to say that the musicians, who played on “Deep and Rich,” “are some of the best studio players around: Tom Keene on keyboards, Bob Somma on guitars, Dave Coy on Bass; and Dave Spurr on drums. Strings, the French horn, and the oboe were added to give “Deep and Rich” that smooth, classic sound.”

The Tommy Coombs band singers, Marsha Skidmore, John Barbour, and Alfi Silas Durio were called in to sing background vocals. They have been singing at many of the Billy and Franklin Graham events.

Songs selected for the project include: How Great Thou Art, Blessed Assurance, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, It is Well with My Soul, I Surrender All, Sweet Hour of Prayer, “'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, My Jesus, I Love Thee, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Were You There? and Softly and Tenderly.

Pastor Chuck and Santos sing a duet on “How Great Thou Art” with Santos carrying the melody and Pastor Chuck hitting some sweet harmonies. Throughout the project, Pastor Chuck narrates and shares his heart.

“Deep and Rich” comes full circle with the background singers singing “Jesus Loves Me” in classic a ccapella style, showing us that we all need to have that childlike faith, knowing that Jesus loves us.

Pastor Chuck and the Costa Mesa congregation close “Deep and Rich” with their signature blessing from Numbers 6: 24-26. “The Lord bless thee and keep thee; The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, And be gracious unto thee; The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

“John Shaffer, the talented graphic artist for many Calvary Chapel ministries at Costa Mesa did a masterful job of expressing the ‘Deep and Rich’ theme,” said Santos. “He used a precious old hymnbook from the early 1900’s as part of the cover artwork.”

“Deep and Rich” is dedicated to Pastor L. E. Romaine, who was Pastor Chuck’s assistant for over twenty-five years. Pastor Romaine went home to be with the Lord . He wrote a book called "Second" An excellent resource for leaders and asst pastors. (Pictured: Pastor Romaine to whom the CD is dedicated). Deep and Rich was released on the Psalms Alive label of Calvary Chapel Music. contact Santos for purchase.

Santos can be reached at: mashrecovery@aol.com and www.santosministries.org

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Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times). Wooding is also a syndicated columnist, and was for ten years a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 41 books, one of which is "Blind Faith" which he co-authored with his 93-year-old mother Anne Wooding, who was a pioneer missionary to the blind of Nigeria in the 1930s. Copies of this book are available from the ASSIST USA office at PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126. His writings are on the ASSIST Website at: www.assistnews.net (Pictured: Chuck Smith (right) with talk show host and Dan Wooding at the Harvest Crusade and Anaheim).

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