Broken Faith - Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults - Mitch Weiss Page 0,14

world-class musician who had performed with rock royalty. English was a drummer and vocalist in Wings, a band founded by Paul McCartney in 1971, after the Beatles broke up.

A New York native, English played drums early on in a rock band called Jam Factory. The group signed with Epic records in 1969, recorded an album, and spent the next few years touring, opening for Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Grateful Dead.

English was also in demand as a studio musician. He played rock, blues, jazz, and fusion, and partied hard in his off-hours. He was staying at the Allman Brothers ranch in Macon, Georgia, in 1975 when he got a call from a friend working with McCartney on his new album.

Paul McCartney needed a drummer, the friend said—would English be interested? The following day English was in a New Orleans studio, recording what would become Wings’ hit album Venus and Mars.

English was the only American in Wings, but he fit in well with the rest of the group, which was just beginning its most commercially successful period. English played dozens of live gigs during the band’s Wings Over the World tour, which was filmed and turned into the 1980 feature film Rockshow.

English absorbed as much as he could from McCartney. He’d always been a freestyle drummer, but English learned to play “compact, tight little three-minute songs.” In the studio, English and his bandmates worked the mixing board with McCartney, throwing around ideas.

He got along well with McCartney. Maybe it was because English was laid-back, or perhaps because he was a left-handed drummer playing a right-handed drum set. McCartney had had pretty good success with another left-handed drummer who played a right-handed set: Ringo Starr.

An after-concert interviewer asked Joe English what it was like playing with Wings.

“I think this is the greatest thing that ever happened to me since my first communion,” he said. But on a personal level, Joe English was a mess. He was addicted to drugs, and his wife, Dayle, was pushing him to get clean or he’d soon be single again.

English knew he couldn’t afford to lose Dayle. She had her own ties to rock-and-blues stardom: she played keyboards in a traveling band, and her first husband was Dickie Betts, a guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band. Their marriage didn’t last, but Dayle continued working at the Allman Brothers farm in Georgia. That was where she met English, who had been hanging out, partying, and jamming with the band.

Rock and roll stars had easy access to drugs, but Joe’s addiction came on just as his wife dedicated her life to Jesus Christ. She urged him to ask Jesus for help in kicking his habit, but English was too busy. In early 1978, Wings had just started recording its new album London Town. In the middle of a session English got an urgent call: his wife was in a serious car accident. The doctors didn’t know if she’d live.

He flew back to the United States and stayed by his wife’s side until her condition stabilized. He then had to make a difficult choice: return to Wings and England, or help Dayle through a long rehabilitation. The couple prayed together, and English decided to stay. He turned his life over to God.

Dayle and English attended a Bible study group with Christian music producer and promoter Ray Nenow, who convinced English to switch to Christian music. The couple moved to Nashville, where English reinvented himself as a Christian rocker.

“I’m doing it all for the glory of God,” English told a Christian radio host during a 1981 interview. “I’ve had my glory. Being in the biggest band in the world with Paul didn’t do it. So I give all the glory to God.”

English put on a good front, but he was still using drugs. His wife wasn’t fooled. He’d sometimes disappear for days and come home strung out and exhausted.

Nenow stepped in. And this time, English made the spiritual commitment that enabled him to kick his drug habit permanently.

Then, in 1990, Nenow brought the couple to the Word of Faith Fellowship. By the time Evans arrived to investigate Word of Faith, English was a loyal member, a willing volunteer who did janitorial jobs in the sanctuary.

The man who had jammed with Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, and Jerry Garcia, who’d had all the cocaine, heroin, and women he could want, was now swabbing toilets in a church.

* * *

Within a month of arriving, Evans was being mentored by Sam Whaley and Douglas