Good News
Yvonne Lewis * Erick Nelson * Bill Batstone * David Diggs


Good News Maranatha! 1975
Good News
Tear Down The Walls
Picking Up The Pieces
Good News started as primarily a piano player and backup band. David Diggs played drums, Bill Batstone played bass, and Erick Nelson did vocals and piano. The name of the group came, at least in part, from a song by Beau MacDougall. They added Bob Carlisle (then 16 years old) on guitar and Yvonne Lewis on vocals. They recorded a privately-funded album called Good News, which Maranatha purchased and released. Carlisle quit the group to join Psalm 150 during the recording of the album, and Good News used various configurations: sometimes Diggs played drums and sometimes guitar.


left to right--Bob Carlisle, Erick Nelson, Yvonne Lewis, Dave Diggs, Bill Batstone;
scanned from Knott's flyer, circa 1974

Good News II
Bob Carlisle * Keith Green * Bill Batstone * David Diggs * Yvonne Lewis


Good News II Sonrise Mercantile 1977
Run To The End Of The Highway
Wait For The Day
In 1976, after Good News had been disbanded for a year, several of the members decided to do a follow-up album, even though there were no plans to perform concerts. They got Keith Green to do piano and vocals.

David Diggs went on the play and do arrangements for Richie Furay and Debbie Boone, among many others. He did work with Quincy Jones, and had his own jazz CDs. Bill played with Richie, has his own solo career, and wrote many of the most well-known contemporary worship songs. John Hernandez went on the play with Oingo Boingo. Erick continued a solo career and then teamed with Michele Pillar. Bob Carlisle has established himself as a leading CCM artist and recently had a huge cross-over hit with "Butterfly Kisses."

Thanks to Erick Nelson for this info.

Also see:
Erick Nelson
Keith Green