Now it's the St. Louis Jesuits that are considered "oldies" music. I went to a reunion concert by the Jesuits in April, and really enjoyed it. I also heard Marty Haugen and David Haas at workshops that weekend. I have to say I like the Jesuits better than Haas/Haugen/Hurd (the Catholic Big three), but there are a number of Haas/Haugen/Hurd songs I like very much - they even use traditional melodies at times, and have resurrected some tunes from Southern Harmony. Both the "folk mass" musicians and Haas/Haugen/Hurd have a nasty tendency to use buzzwords and terms that are in temporary popularity. The Jesuits used mostly Scripture for their lyrics.

"They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love" is one of the few survivors of the "folk mass" period. As I said above, it's in the hymnals of OCP and GIA, the two big Catholic publishers in the U.S.; and it's also in the J.S. Paluch hymnals. There are some others that should have survived from that era, like the gospel-laced songs of Rev. Clarence Rivers ("God Is Love"), and the songs of Joe Wise.

These are all songs I've lived with all my life, and I know many of them by heart. I wish I could remember folk song lyrics so well. I won't sing St. Louis Jesuits songs at the Getaway or Camp Harmony.
-Joe-

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Click here for an article by Michael Joncas on Catholic liturgical music.
Click here for an article by Ken Canedo Rev. Clarence Rivers and his music.
Click here for a 2004 obituary for Fr. Rivers.