I am never sure whether people are going to like the 1992 movie Leap of Faith. The comedy-drama never seems sure what position it wants to take about faith and religion as it focuses on the cynical traveling preacher played by Steve Martin. And is it a drama or a comedy? There’s a seriousness to it, but not in the same way that Burt Lancaster captured with a stellar performance in a similar storyline in 1956’s The Rainmaker (a movie that inspired a 1975 Tanya Tucker song).
But a really good gospel song cannot hide its power, and during one scene in Leap of Faith with the song “A Change in My Life,” one can’t help finding some meaning in the film. Anyone who loved the song in the film, however, may have encountered confusion in trying to track down a recording.
Leap of Faith the Movie
The 1992 movie Leap of Faith came at an interesting time in Steve Martin’s career. He was taking a turn away from goofy characters like The Jerk (1979). Instead, he expanded into more serious roles starting to some extent with Roxanne in 1987. In the early 1990s, he starred in L.A. Story (1991), Father of the Bride (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), and Leap of Faith (1992).
One may see why he seemed perfect for Leap of Faith. He was able to embrace his serious side in the dramatic scenes while letting out a little of his wild-and-crazy-guy during his tent sermons. I find his performance mesmerizing at times.
You usually root for Martin’s characters. But here his character Jonas has a harder edge, a fake healer wrapped in cynicism. The movie also provided a strong female lead in Debra Winger that boosted everyone’s performance in a strong cast. The cast also includes Liam Neeson, Meat Loaf, Lolita Davidovich, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
“A Change in My Life” in the Film
The movie also has a pretty good soundtrack. But there is one song that stands out, “A Change in My Life.”
During the movie, the song plays against a backdrop of the traveling healing show. Amidst the scenes of workers promoting and setting up the tent show, the singers reveal a moment of beautiful sincerity in a movie that wavers in its faith at times.
Apparently, the song had the same effect on others that it had on me when I first heard it in the movie theater. It sent me to the record store to buy the soundtrack.
I bought the soundtrack on cassette tape and popped in my car stereo. But disappointment followed immediately. The version of “A Change in My Life” on the soundtrack was different than the version from the movie.
The Soundtrack Version
The soundtrack version was still very good. But it did not have the same power of the movie version.
The soundtrack notes revealed that the song was not an old timeless gospel song. It was written by Billy Straus, who arranged this soundtrack version with Sean Altman and has had a long career of writing music. On the soundtrack, “A Change in My Life” is listed as sung by John Pagano. IMDb, however, lists the artist as a group called The Angels of Mercy.
It seems, then, that John Pagano recorded the soundtrack version with The Angels of Mercy. The latter are actually the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir from Minneapolis, Minnesota. But even this soundtrack version is probably not the most popular recording of “A Change in My Life.”
Rockapella and Other Versions
Many years later after I no longer had a cassette player for the movie soundtrack, I went looking for a recording of “A Change in My Life” for my iPod. The only one I found at the time was by the New York a cappella group called Rockapella.
And it is their version that I still have on my phone today.
If you hear “A Change in My Life,” it will most likely be this version by Rockapella (who in 1999 sang background vocals on a version by Sam Harris). Rockapella’s version first appeared on their 1992 self-titled album. Rockappella recorded the song and released it the same year as Leap of Faith.
As noted in one of the comments below (thanks Daniel Clayton), one of the founders of Rockapella was Sean Altman (who had arranged the version for the soundtrack of Leap of Faith). So also considering the timing, it appears the song is an original Rockapella song.
Many years later Leap of Faith made the leap to Broadway as a musical. In 2012 the movie’s story made it to the New York stage after a limited run in Los Angeles in 2010. The musical, however, has its own original music and the soundtrack does not include “A Change in My Life.”
There are a handful of covers of “A Change in My Life,” and not surprisingly some college acapella groups, like Chapman University’s Men of Harmony, have made sweet music out of the song. But maybe the most famous group to sing “A Change in My Life” is Hanson.
Best known for their hit “Mmmbop,” the Hanson brothers are very talented and underrated as adults. They get less attention than they should as adults because people got sick of hearing the cute kids singing that earworm of a pop song.
Yet, this live cover of “A Change in My Life” from 2013 shows that sibling harmony is something special and that these brothers have great taste in music. The fact that they have performed the song a number of times through the years illustrates their own connection to the song.
Who Sang “A Change in My Life” in the Movie?
This history brings us back to the great mystery about the singers in the movie and the version that many people love even if they cannot find a recording of it. Like others, I still love the movie version more than the official recordings. So who sang it?
Well, through a comment on YouTube, we have the information. A commenter named Daniel Carlin explained that he produced the version that appears in the movie, and the song was recorded live by the film’s music engineer Joseph Magee. Carlin has a long career in music. He is currently a professor and vice dean at the USC Thornton School of Music.
He reports, “We actually recorded it where you see the singers standing, then took away the overhead microphone stands and shot to a playback of the recording (run by the onset ProTools operator, engineer Fred Vogler).” But who are the singers?
Carlin reveals who did the singing in the movie: “The chorus is comprised of 6 members of the Edwin Hawkins Singers (who we flew in from Oakland), along with gospel singer [Shun] Pace-Rhodes (the . . . female gospel singer at the top of the screen), and additional local talent that we found in Texas, including the silver-toothed male soloist.” Today, the singer Shun Pace-Rhodes is better known as Tarrian LaShun Pace.
Finally, Carlin adds about the location of the scene. He reports it was in “Groom, Texas, where some rich local guy subsequently had a 19-story cross erected to commemorate the filming of the movie there. Show biz lives. “
How might you know the Edwin Hawkins Singers? Well, they took another song that was an 18th Century Hymn and turned it into a hit song. In 1968, they released “Oh Happy Day” which became the first gospel song that appeared on pop charts.
Several people responded to the comment, asking Carlin if a complete recording featuring the six Edwin Hawkins Singers and Tarrian LaShun Pace exists anywhere. But there has been no response, leaving us to believe that we will never get that version.
And it remains a mystery why the movie’s version did not appear on the soundtrack. Most likely, the soundtrack was made separately from the filming of the movie, and director Richard Pearce along with Carlin and others put together the scene in the movie with singers they chose.
At least we have the stunning moment that for a few minutes takes a Steve Martin film to another heavenly level.
And that is the Story Behind the Song.
What is your favorite version of “Change in My Life”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
