January 2020 – Page 2

Various – Country Praise (God Loves Country Music No.2) – 1982

This is kind of an odd sampler. It was actually recorded with a studio band and then the artists just doing the vocals. Mind you most of these artists were relatively unknown at the time and now for that matter. Several of them never even had a album. I am guessing the point of the sampler was to offer a Country album as that market was undeserved in the 80’s. The one treat on the album was the Bonnie Bramlett track. She was usually connected to the rock scene but she does a great country medley here.

Tracklist
1 – Maria Muldaur – Thank God – 3:45
2 – George Highfill – Make Me A Friend – 4:28
3 – Bruce Herring – What A Friend – 2:02
4 – Cindy Baxter & Dan McCorison – Clear My Mind – 2:48
5 – Von Rogers – Jesus What A Wonder You Are (Jesus How Lovely You Are) – 3:35
6 – Cindy Baxter – Seek Ye First – 2:48
7 – George Highfill – Cause Me To Come – 4:09
8 – Patty Schauer – I Thank You Jesus – 2:26
9 – Bruce Herring – I Will Serve You (Thee)2:03
10 – Bonnie Bramlett – I Keep Falling In Love With Him / His Name Is Jesus – 5:05

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Don Gerber
Backing Vocals – Becky Burns, Marty Goetz, Patty Schauer, Ricky Skaggs, Ron Tutt
Bass – Jerry Scheff
Drums – Ron Tutt
Engineer – Joe Bellamy
Executive Producer – Dave Swaney
Guitar – Randy Mitchell
Guitar, Banjo – Bernie Leadon
Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle – David Mansfield
Harmonica – George Highfill
Keyboards – Danny Timms
Mandolin – Evan Anderson
Producer – Al Perkins
Steel Guitar, Guitar [Dobro] – Al Perkins
Vocals – Bonnie Bramlett, Bruce Herring, Cindy Baxter, Dan McCorison, George Highfill, Maria Muldaur, Patty Schauer, Ricky Skaggs, Tommy Funderburk, Von Rogers

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Maranatha! Music
Copyright (c) – Maranatha! Music
Published By – Dawntreader Music
Published By – Dimension MusicPublished By – Doulos Publishing
Published By – Maranatha Music (2)
Published By – Milene Music
Published By – William J. Gaither

Watchmen – Generation – 1989

Sometimes it’s difficult to classify an album into any specific style of music. This is one of those bands. Watchmen only had this 1 studio album (they did also have a demo) which kind of surprises me as it is actually very good. There are example of Metal, Rock, and AOR on this album. All are well done and personally I think the vocals are fantastic. Vocalist Greg Sweet did reappear in 2004 in a couple bands but that was it. Anyway this album is very good and was a very pleasant surprise. The only person who I recognized on the album is Kevin Whisler who is also the drummer from Bloodgood. The stand out track for me is “Best Friend” which is an excellent tune with some excellent saxophone work and it has gone on my personal rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Turn – 3:42
2 – Stand Strong – 3:53
3 – Straight – 3:32
4 – Best Friend – 4:33
5 – Breakin’ The Chains – 3:19
6 – United – 3:47
7 – I Will Be There – 4:27
8 – Defenders – 3:51
9 – One Day – 4:07

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dave Van Liew, Doug Larson, Greg Sweet, Kevin Antholt
Backing Vocals [Additional Bck Vocals] – Grant Scott, Joyce Carlsen, Kelee Gates, Les Carlsen, Mark Thornberg, Rene Wood
Bass – Doug Larson
Drums, Percussion – Kevin Whisler
Guitar – Dave Van Liew
Guitar [Additional Guitar] – Ross Nyberg (tracks: 4)
Keyboards – Kevin Antholt
Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – Brook Lizotte
Lead Vocals – Greg Sweet
Producer – Terry B. Shelton
Programmed By [Computer Programming], Sampler [Sampling] – Kevin Antholt

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Regency Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Regency Records
Copyright (c) – Regency Records
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Manufactured By – Music Manufacturers

The Reapers – Star Of The Morning – 1982

When I receive albums for upload I normally don’t look at the album cover right away. When this album appeared on my desktop I figured here’s a metal band I’ve never heard of. With a name like “The Reapers” you really can’t blame me. It took exactly one second for me to realize this is not a metal band, in fact quite the opposite. What we have here is a group out of “The Ministry of Good News Crusade” in the UK. This album is a bunch of covers of more popular CCM songs. I can only imagine this album was a licensing nightmare but I suspect that licensing might have been an afterthought because I personally don’t believe you could have gotten the legal permission to cover all these songs. Anyway lets put that aside and talk about the album. The songs are actually well done and well worth listening to. The stand out track to me is Amy Grant’s “Too Late” which I think is a better version. The guitar work is excellent. It’s too bad I can’t find anything else Derek Bond has done as I suspect he is an excellent guitarist. The only artist of any familiarity is Kerry Minnear of the 70’s band “Gentle Giant”.

Tracklist
1 – We Are Persuaded
2 – Do Your Heart A Favour
3 – Too Late
4 – I Am
5 – Star Of The Morning
6 – Praise The Lord
7 – Just Want To Know
8 – I’m Yours
9 – Better Than I Know Myself
10 – Give Me The Love

Credits
Robert Newey – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Derek Bond – Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitar
Jeannie Lowe – Vocals
Tony Mettrick – Keyboards
Kerry Minnear – Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Bass
Kerry Minnear – Procucer
Rob Andrews – Engineer
Mark Williamson – Engineer
Phil Thomson – Sleeve Design
Bryan – Dahlberg – Photography

Benny Hester – Be A Receiver – 1982

This is a re-release of Benny’s self titled album from 1978. OK so this is the first, second, third, and fourth album Benny put out. How is that possible you ask? Well there was a first album “Benny…” but almost no copies of it reached the public before being destroyed in a fire so the original version of this album was really the first album people could get of his but technically is his second album. Then he released “Nobody Knows Me Like You” in 1981 and then this album was released with a new name “A Receiver” as his third or fourth album . Anyway all that aside lets talk about this album. This album actually pushed the limits of Christian music at the time with some heavy guitar work which while becoming more common at the time was still being cautiously received. I like this album because it doesn’t sound like a leftover 70’s sound instead it has a fresh fun rock sound. It fit well into this 1832 period due to even has a bit of a pop feeling. All in all a great album.

Tracklist
1 – Be A Receiver – 3:18
2 – Squeeze You – 3:51
3 – Sure Of Your Call – 3:20
4 – Jesus Came Into My Life – 3:05
5 – The Door – 4:06
6 – Gonna Happen Here – 3:14
7 – Only You – 3:40
8 – Such A Relief – 3:20
9 – All You Can Do – 2:12
10 – We All Know He’s Comin’ – 3:03

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals – Benny Hester
Arranged By [Strings] – Greg Nelson
Bass – Ed Arnold
Composed By – Benny Hester
Design – Stan Evenson
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – John Parenti
Electric Guitar – Dan Flannery
Engineer – Brent Maher
Engineer [Assistant] – Rich Schirmer
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Jeff Lams
Photography By – Gary Heery
Producer – Brent Maher
Strings – Shelly Kurland Strings

Benny Hester – Benny Hester – 1978

This is Benny’s self titled release from 1978 on Spirit Records. It was re-released in 1982 by Myrrh Records but was renamed “Be A Receiver”. OK so this is the first, second, third, and fourth album he put out. How is that possible you ask? Well there was a first album “Benny…” but almost no copies of it reached the public before being destroyed in a fire so this is really the first album people could get of his but technically is his second album. Then he released “Nobody Knows Me Like You” in 1981 and then this album was re-released with a new name “A Receiver” as his third or fourth album . Anyway all that aside lets talk about this album. This album actually pushed the limits of Christian music at the time with some heavy guitar work which while becoming more common at the time was still being cautiously received. I like this album because it doesn’t sound like a leftover 70’s sound instead it has a fresh fun rock sound. It even has a bit of a pop feeling which was ahead of its time. All in all a great album.

Peter Beveridge – Grinding Wheel – 1983

This is the re-release of the 1982 “Static on the Frequency” album from Peter Beverage. As far as I can tell the Album was originally released in Australia as “Static On The Frequency ” and then re-released worldwide as “Grinding Wheel”. I don’t have a lot of information on Peter other than this was his second album and his last solo effort. In 1990 he released an album with Darlene Zschech using the band name of “Present History”. This is a pretty good pop album and must have been quite popular in Australia to warrant a worldwide release shortly after. Interesting point of trivia on the album is that Eminem sampled the track “Static on the Frequency” on his song “Detroit vs. Everybody”. Don’t really know who approved it but really they shouldn’t have as the Eminem song is garbage. I would not suggest you seek it out and listen to it.

Tracklist
1 – Static On The Frequency – 5:26
2 – Mr. Media – 2:58
3 – Add Up The Wonders – 4:49
4 – Another Marriage On The Rocks – 3:46
5 – Make Up Your Mind – 4:11
6 – Tonight’s Your Night – 2:45
7 – Grinding Wheel – 3:21
8 – Teflon Salvation – 3:27
9 – Winter Nights – 3:47
10 – Shine Your Light – 3:43

Credits
Backing Vocals – Marty McCall, Tyana Parr
Bass Guitar – David Miner
Drums – David Kemper
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jerry McPherson
Grand Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboards [Fender Rhodes & Yamaha CS80] – Peter Beveridge
Percussion – Pat Bautz
Producer – Fletch Wiley
Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Bill Tillman

Peter Beveridge – Static On The Frequency – 1982

This is the original release of the 1983 “Grinding Wheel” album from Peter Beverage. As far as I can tell the Album was originally released in Australia as “Static On The Frequency ” and then re-released worldwide as “Grinding Wheel”. I don’t have a lot of information on Peter other than this was his second album and his last solo effort. In 1990 he released an album with Darlene Zschech using the band name of “Present History”. This is a pretty good pop album and must have been quite popular in Australia to warrant a worldwide release shortly after. Interesting point of trivia on the album is that Eminem sampled the track “Static on the Frequency” on his song “Detroit vs. Everybody”. Don’t really know who approved it but really they shouldn’t have as the Eminem song is garbage. I would not suggest you seek it out and listen to it.

Ed Raetzloff – It Took A Long Time To Get To You – 1980

Before coming to CCM music Ed recorded 2 albums with a band called Blue Jug. They were very successful and toured with most the big names in Southern Rock at the time including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, and Charlie Daniels Band. In 1980 out of nowhere came this solo Christian album that sounded like nothing else out there. This Southern Rock sound struck me at just the right moment in my life and I have many fond memories of cruising up and down the main street of the town I grew up in listening to this album. I could go on and on about how much I love this album but I’ll spare you my longwinded stories. Suffice to say this album is in my top 10 all time personal favourites. Now someone asked me what the connection between Ed and Molly Hatchet is. Now the connection is slim but follow along. While in Blue Jug, Ed wrote a song called “No Room On The Crew”. Blue Jug never recorded the song but somehow in 1989 Molly Hatchet recorded it and the writing credits went to Ed. If you ever listen to it it you can hear Ed’s influence very clearly. Now I know there is more to this story but chances are we will never know the connection of how the song ended up in Molly Hatchet’s hands.

Tracklist
1 – Found Someone To Love Me – 2:19
2 – Every Man – 4:31
3 – I Know The King – 2:15
4 – I Want You To Meet A Friend – 1:58
5 – It Took A Long Time To Get To You – 4:04
6 – Praise Him – 3:57
7 – Where He Goes – 3:08
8 – I’ve Been Down That Road, Too – 2:45
9 – It’s So Easy To Be Free – 2:45
10 – Jesus Loves You – 2:22

Credits
Bass – Bill Hoak, Dave Gardner
Design – Bill Brunt
Drums – Fred Satterfield, Larry DeMerritt, Taylor Rhodes
Engineer – Brent King, Mike Psanos, Warren Peterson
Engineer [Remix] – Joe Wilson
Guitar – Dave Perkins, Mark Riley
Keyboards – Atikus Finch, Mitch Humphreys
Producer – Steve Aune
Producer [Assistant], Guitar – Joe Wilson
Songwriter, Lead Vocals [Uncredited] – Ed Raetzloff
Vocals – Delores Deal, Diane Leroy, Gary Pigg, Joy Gardner, Judy Carudi, Steve Morrow

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Sound Stage Studios
Remixed At – Glaser Sound Studios, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee

Ron Collins – Simple Man – 1992

In the mid eighties there was a CCM band called Twenty Twenty. They had 2 albums and though not the biggest name in CCM music they were very good and had a pretty good following. I’d say almost a cult following but I hate using the word cult in connection with Christian music. The lead singer of that band was Ron Collins and in 1992 he reappeared with this album. Ron was joined by what was essentially David and the Giants and the album was released on their label, Giant Record. It is a very good album with a very strong 80’s pop sound but I think the sound might have been a little late for 1992 but what do I know. It’s 2020 as I write this and I love it.

Tracklist
1 – Run The Race – 4:41
2 – All I Know – 4:01
3 – Beautiful Day – 3:43
4 – There Is A Place – 4:07
5 – I’ll Never Stop – 4:03
6 – Sing For Freedom – 4:51
7 – Nothing But The Best – 4:22
8 – Where Do We Go From Here – 3:55
9 – Into Your Will – 4:07
10 – I Don’t Want To See You Fall Away – 4:11

Credits
Lead Vocals – Ron Collins
Keyboards, Harmonica – Rayborn Huff
Percussion, Drums – Lance Huff
Bass – Clayborn Huff
Guitars – David Huff
Keyboards – Nate Sabin
Producer – David Huff

Divine Right – Tongues Of Fire – 1987

This is one of 3 demos from Divine Right who was really just Kevin Brandow playing all of the instruments. I couldn’t find out much about Kevin other than he joined Petra for their 1998 album, God Fixation. He is obviously a very talented musician as evidenced by him playing all the instruments on this demo which is no easy feat. The album has a Hard Rock/Metal feel and the songs themselves are first rate but the quality of the recordings is a bit questionable. This may or may not be a result of production but more likely it’s that the source copy was a cassette. Anyway head bangers give this one a listen, I bet you’ll like it.

Tracklist
1 – Tongues Of Fire
2 – On Guard
3 – Far Far Away
4 – One Way
5 – Mystery Uncovered
6 – Silent Victory
7 – Lightning

Credits
Cover Art – Julie Alvaro
Instruments and Vocals – Kevin Brandow
Mixed By – Mark Goyette
Produced By – Traci Leigh
Rhythm Guitar – Bob Alvaro