Month: May 2020

Soldier – Louder Than Hell – 1987

Soldier formed in 1986 in the Bay area of California. They very quickly went into the studio and recorded this 3 track demo. For good measure they tossed 4 live tracks on to the demo too. Soldier was very well received in the California CCM Metal scene. They had a cult following that stuck with them for years though the band broke up in 1988. Copies of their demo’s were next to impossible to find but Millenium Eight Records stepped up in 2002 and released both demo’s together on one CD (These tracks are from this CD). The CD must have sold well as Roxx Records released an anthology from Soldier in 2018. It includes almost everything, if not everything the band ever recorded.

Tracklist
1 – Heart of Stone – 3:03
2 – Somebody New – 3:45
3 – Angel – 4:08
4 – King of the City (live) – 3:13
5 – Glory & Honor (live) – 3:01
6 – Priceless Heart (live) – 5:23
7 – Heart of Stone (live) – 4:03

Credits
Rick Hunter Martinez – Guitars
Jimmy Arceneaux – Vocals
Marc Allen – Bass
Jason Souza – Drums

Candy Hemphill – Arms Of Love – 1986

This was the third and final solo album from Candy and in my opinion her best. I simply don’t understand how Candy didn’t have more success. Maybe it was a lack of promotion by her label or maybe some internal politics were in play. This album did have a charting single however, “Let Lightning Strike made it to #30. Candy went on to tour, sing, and record with the Gaither concert series. She also put out a few singles under her now married name Candy Christmas. Candy’s greatest success came in the early 2000’s when she founded The Bridge Ministry, a Christian organization founded to serve the homeless of Nashville, TN. Candy also founded the Food For Kids program helping underprivileged children. Many performers take some role in helping the needy but Candy put herself out there and gets the job done.

Tracklist
1 – Opening / Let Lightning Strike – 5:23
2 – Nothing Wrong With Being Right – 3:11
3 – You’ve Got To Trust Somebody – 4:12
4 – That’s Something Else – 3:23
5 – Jehovah Ropheka – 4:23
6 – All Creation Dances – 3:29
7 – Oh, It Is Jesus – 4:14
8 – Walkin’ In the Way Of Love – 3:24
9 – Empty Arms – 4:13
10 – Arms Of Love / Closing – 5:47

Credits
Candy Hemphill – Songwriter, Vocals
David Baroni – Songwriter
David Binion – Songwriter
Bobby Jones Singers – Background Vocals
Niles Borop – Songwriter
Bob Clark – Engineer
Andrae Crouch – Songwriter
Jackie Cusic – Background Vocals
Gary Driskell – Songwriter
Bob Farrell – Songwriter
Mark Gersmehl – Songwriter
Jon Goin – Guitar
Lari Goss – Producer, Keyboards
Mark Hammond – Drums
Joel Hemphill – Songwriter
Mike Hudson – Songwriter
Bonnie Keen – Background Vocals
Marty McCall – Background Vocals
Dave Murphy – Second Engineer
Craig Nelson – Bass
Wendy Odenbuagh – Executive Producer
Cheryl Rogers – Keyboards
Billy Smiley – Songwriter
Leann Steinhauer – Background Vocals

Salmond & Mulder – Special Limited Edition – 1978

This was the first album from Canadian duo Salmond & Mulder. It is a rather typical 70’s Jesus music album where you will hear Simon and Garfunkel like duets, a country song, a Rock song and a Reggae cut. Many albums in this period had styles that were all over the map and this one followed that trend. I don’t offer this as a criticism but just a description of the eras thinking. The rock tune on this album is actually quite good and at the time would have made it’s way into my regular rotation. While they were mainly known in Canada this album was released in the United States but I believe it was a very short run. Strangely the last track “Stumbling Heavenward” would also make it onto their next album as the title track. I found that rather odd. The album cover was a bit of genius too. It consisted of a blank entirely white Jacket with a sicker applied that simply said “Salmond & Mulder Special Limited Edition”. A novel idea that made the album stand out but must have also kept the costs way down.

Tracklist
1 – Hearthungers – 3:54
2 – Silent Lady – 3:13
3 – Tumbleweed – 3:51
4 – Here I Am – 4:15
5 – You In My Heart – 2:42
6 – Like A River – 4:33
7 – Greatest Lover – 2:49
8 – Bear The Burdon – 2:10
9 – Sunshine In The Rain – 4:16
10 – Most Of All – 2:33
11 – Stumbling Heavenward – 0:31

Kansas – Drastic Measures – 1983

When it became public that Kerry Livgren of Kansas had been “born again” nobody knew what was next for the iconic 70s band. Drastic Measures is their first recording after that and it is a stellar album by any measure. The sound on Drastic Measures is harder than the sound that Kansas was known for due to songs like Dust in the Wind. The 80s demanded a little more modern and hard rock sound, and they delivered, but not without bringing in the softer sounds needed to bring the lyrics home, or the mood of a song like “Andi.” The opening track “Fire With Fire” lets you know they mean business right away. Even though it’s at a slower pace, “Going Through The Motions” still carries a strong rock vibe with a strong rhythm in it. After this album, Kerry put his efforts into his new band “AD” which was mostly new members, other than Dave Hope.

Tracklist
1 – Fight Fire With Fire – 3:40
2 – Everybody’s My Friend – 4:09
3 – Mainstream – 6:36
4 – Andi – 4:15
5 – Going Through The Motions – 5:43
6 – Get Rich – 3:43
7 – Don’t Take Your Love Away – 3:44
8 – End Of The Age – 4:33
9 – Incident On A Bridge – 5:37

Credits
Art Direction – Drennon Studio
Backing Vocals – David Pack, Kyle Henderson, Terry Brock
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Boxcar PeeWee And The Megapeople (tracks: A3), The Gang Of Men (tracks: B1, B2), Women At Work (tracks: B1)
Bass – Dave Hope
Crew [Kansas Crew] – Buren Fowler, Clay Schell, Davy Moire*, Jerry Gilleland, John Thompson (15), Merle McLain
Drums – Phil Ehart
Engineer [Recording Engineer Assistance – Bullet Recording] – Danny Mundhenk
Engineer [Recording Engineer Assistance – Le Mobile] – Cliff Bonnell, Guy Charbonneau
Guitar – Rich Williams
Keyboards [Additional] – Neil Kernon (tracks: A2)
Keyboards, Guitar – Kerry Livgren
Keyboards, Vocals – John Elefante
Lacquer Cut By – HW*
Management – Budd Carr, The Carr Company
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Photography By – Glen Wexler
Producer – Kansas (2), Neil Kernon
Recorded By, Mixed By – Neil Kernon
Steel Guitar – Jim Vest (tracks: A4, B3)
Words By, Music By – Dino Elefante (tracks: A1, A2, B1 to B3), John Elefante (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B3), Kerry Livgren (tracks: A3, B4, B5)

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Corn & Blood, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – CBS Inc.
Manufactured By – CBS Records
Distributed By – CBS Records
Recorded At – Lakewood Fairgrounds
Recorded By – Le Mobile
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Mixed At – Bullet Recording
Recorded At – Son Of Other Room
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Carrollton, GA
Published By – Full Grown Man Music
Published By – Mastodon Music
Published By – Don Kirshner Music
Published By – Blackwood Music Publishing

The Lifters – The Lifters – 1983

This EP came out in 1983 from another great group of guys from the MRC group over at the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. Their Rockabilly style was like nothing else in CCM at the time. In an era where the Stray Cats were popular this album filled a gap in Christian music. These 6 short fun tracks will leave you tapping your foot and even singing along. I have a love of the rockabilly style so I have to admit I was pretty excited when I saw this album. I knew from the cover it was something I was gonna like. The EP must have been popular as the Band came out with a full album (also great) in 1985. Point of trivia is that Darrell Mansfield supplied the harmonica track for “Bucket of Blues”. Also trivia worthy is Ojo Taylor also played some piano and assisted with song writing.

Tracklist
1 – Living Water – 1:51
2 – Baby Left Me – 2:20
3 – Bucket of Blues – 3:10
4 – Eternity Bop – 1:41
5 – I’m Yours – 2:52
6 – He’s My Lord – 2:07

Credits
Antwan Adams – Horns
Chris Brigandi – Songwriter, Guitars, Lead Vocals
Eddie Espinosa – Songwriter, Guitars
Dave Hackbarth – Horns
Kass – Bass Fiddle, Electric Bass, Background Vocals
Mark Kirschak – Songwriter
Michael Knott – Songwriter
Darrell Mansfield – Harmonica
Brian Ray – Songwriter, Drums, Percussion, Background Vocals
Ojo Taylor – Songwriter, Piano
Bill Walden – Horns
Dan Willard – Producer

REZ – Innocent Blood – 1989

REZ band finished off the 80’s with this excellent album. The album showed the blues side that Glenn would head down for future recordings. The album also contains some of their heaviest material in quiet awhile. Wendy’s vocals are strong as usual and I would personally say that this album may be her best vocal performance. The album is very well produced but that’s what we had come to expect from Rez. If you like the 48 second track “Rooster Crow” be sure to pick up Glenn’s 2001 album, Carolina Moon where there’s a full length version of the song. Strangely “Bargain” is actually a cover of a “The Who” tune from 1971. Bit of trivia and I quote Wikipedia here “Innocent Blood’s cover photograph is of an eight-year-old girl named Tricia who lived close to the Jesus People USA community in urban Chicago. She was tragically abducted by an unknown person(s) around the Chase Park area. Most disturbingly, Tricia was never seen again. In her memory, the band addressed this subject on the album as well.”

Tracklist
1 – Rooster Crow – 0:48
2 – Altar Of Pain – 3:15
3 – The House Is On Fire – 3:25
4 – 80,000 Underground – 3:14
5 – Fiend Or Foul – 4:41
6 – Where Roses Grow – 7:20
7 – Right On Time – 5:46
8 – Child Of The Blues – 3:40
9 – Laughing Man – 3:31
10 – Bargain – 5:31
11 – Great God In Heaven – 2:56

Credits
Band [REZ Is], Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy
Band [REZ Is], Drums – John Herrin
Band [REZ Is], Guitar, Vocals – Glenn Kaiser
Band [REZ Is], Lead Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Band [REZ Is], Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Design [Cover Design], Photography By – Cornerstone Graphics, Janet Cameron
Engineer [Engineered By] – Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss, Roy Montroy
Producer [Produced By] – Rez*, Tom Cameron

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records
Copyright (c) – Grrr Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Engineered At – Tone Zone Recording
Published By – Rez Band Music
Published By – Suolubaf Music
Published By – ABKCO Music
Published By – Towser Tunes, Inc.
Made By – JVC

Mike Warnke – Jester In The King’s Court – 1977

Mike Warnke is a great preacher and a funny guy. This is his early stuff, from 1977, before his wife Rose joined him in the performance. He had a serious knack for using funny messages to make strong spiritual truths. Speaking of truth, it is well known that Mike recanted much of his testimony about witchcraft. Despite that, these records are packed with truths. Communicating truth is the main point of fiction, after all. One thing that is noteworthy listening to his body of work is that even when he comes up to the edge of socially acceptable comedy, he knew how to stay within boundaries. Just like George Carlin and others of his era, Mike could tell jokes that made fun of situations without making fun of people. In doing so, the message is never lost.

It should be noted that Warnke was revealed as a liar and fraudster in 1991 by Cornerstone magazine. This recording is offered as a historic record of what was being listened to in the Christian community in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Credits
Design [Cover] – Charles Wallis Inc., Roger Sanders
Narrator – Mike Warnke
Other [Make-up] – Joyce Ward
Photography By – John Guider Studios
Producer – Mike Blanton*, Wes Yoder

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warbird Publishing Company
Copyright (c) – Warbird Publishing Company
Mixed At – Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios, Inc.
Remixed At – Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios, Inc.

Jerusalem – Dancing on the Head of the Serpent – 1987

This was the 5th studio album from Jerusalem and was the first studio album they put out into only English. From mid 85 until this album Jerusalem had taken a break as it is reported they were pretty well exhausted form touring. This album had a change in lineup as Reidar Paulsen stepped in on keyboards to replace Dan Tibell. Dan did return in the 90’s. This album was somewhat controversial or at least the cover was. The image of someone stomping the head of a demonic image was apparently shunned by many music stores who either hid it under the counter or refused to carry it entirely. How did we ever survive these things. Thanks goodness they were there to look out for us. Yes that was said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. The US version of the album was a remix from the Swedish version but essentially you’re here for hard rock with some keyboards and Jerusalem serves it up excellently as usual.

Tracklist
1 – Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent – 4:07
2 – Plunder Hell And Populate Heaven – 4:07
3 – Rebels Of Jesus Christ – 3:18
4 – Listen To Me – 4:30
5 – Woe, Woe…The Great Fall – 3:25
6 – We’re Gonna Take Europe – 3:39
7 – Come Higher – 3:59
8 – Catch The Devil, Catch The Thief – 4:40
9 – The Night When Revelation Came Into My Life – 4:46
10 – Still – 4:05

Credits
Arranged By – Jerusalem
Band [Jerusalem Is], Bass, Backing Vocals – Peter Carlsohn
Band [Jerusalem Is], Drums, Backing Vocals – Michael Ulvsgärd
Band [Jerusalem Is], Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Reidar I Paulsen
Band [Jerusalem Is], Vocals, Guitar – Ulf Christiansson
Cover – Rolf Jansson
Engineer [Engineered By] – Göran Buller
Photography By – Ulf Nilsson
Producer [Produced By] – Ulf Christiansson
Written-By [All Songs By] – Ulf Christiansson

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Refuge Records
Copyright (c) – Refuge Records
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution
Recorded At – Jerusalem Studio
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Published By – Ulf Christiansson
Published By – Place Of Refuge

2nd Chapter Of Acts – Mansion Builder – 1978

This was the 3rd studio album from 2nd Chapter of Acts and it is generally regarded as the album that really broke the band onto the CCM scene. This was also their first album with Sparrow and I will say that I think the success of the album was partly due to that. At the time I believe Sparrow was much better at promoting albums than Myrrh. By this time the band had perfected their easy listening sound so he album is very well done. The title track made it to #2 on the CCM charts and “Rod And Staff” made it to #19. The musicians on this album are basically “A Band Called David” who were some of the best of this genre.

Tracklist
1 – Rod And Staff – 2:55
2 – Mansion Builder – 3:02
3 – Ps. 93 – 2:32
4 – Gold In The Clouds – 2:18
5 – I’ll Give My Life Away – 2:20
6 – Rainbow – 2:34
7 – Well, Haven’t You Heard – 3:50
8 – Lightning Flash – 2:45
9 – Starlight, Starbright – 2:00
10 – Make My Life A Prayer To You – 3:02
11 – Daydreamer – 3:26

Credits
Arranged By [String, Horn] – Michael Omartian
Bass – Abraham Laboriel (tracks: A4, A6, B1, B3), Herb Melton (tracks: A1 to A3, A5, B2, B4, B5)
Clavinet, Organ, Synthesizer [Mini-moog] – Richard Souther
Drums – Bill Maxwell (tracks: A4, A6, B1, B3), Gene Gunnels (tracks: A1 to A3, A5, B2, B4, B5)
Engineer – Buck Herring
Guitar – Jay Graydon (tracks: A4, A6, B1, B3), Peter York (tracks: A4, A6, B1, B3)
Percussion – Michael Omartian
Performer – “The Band Called David” (tracks: A1 to A3, A5, B2, B4, B5)
Photography – Johanna Van Zant Wyk
Piano – Anne Herring (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B2, B5), Michael Omartian (tracks: A4, A6, B1, B3), Richard Souther (tracks: A3, B4)
Producer – Buck Herring
Synthesizer [Aarpvart] – Michael Omartian
Written-By – Anne Herring (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B3, B5)

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Buckskin Studio
Mixed At – Buckskin Studio

David Meece – David – 1976

David Meece was a child prodigy piano player. He started touring at the age of 10 and at 14 he played with the Houston Chamber Orchestra. At sixteen he was a soloist with the Houston Symphony and was touring the world and received a full scholarship for the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD. Word records discovered David in 1976 and released this his first album. They may have discovered him but I don’t think they really understood what they had found. They gave David a group of no name studio musicians and a first time producer. Lucky for them the support band was excellent and David’s piano was unstoppable. Word got lucky on this one and has a storied relationship with David who without a doubt is one of the biggest CCM artists of all time.

Tracklist
1 – I’ll Sing This Song For You – 3:38
2 – Come Home America – 2:46
3 – Jesus – 3:16
4 – I Love The Way He Smiles At Me – 4:11
5 – I Love You, Lord – 3:26
6 – Touch My Hand – 3:30
7 – Take Me Together – 4:53
8 – Got To Know You’re There (Dave’s Prayer) – 3:41
9 – Imagine What It’d Be Like – 3:28
10 – I’ll Sing This Song For You (Reprise) (Instrumental) – 2:36

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Bob Thomas, Mack Dougherty
Arranged By – Bob Piper
Bass – Lou Fischer
Conductor – Bob Piper
Drums – Paul Leim
Engineer – Dan Peterson
Guitar – Mack Dougherty
Photography – George J. Sevra Jr
Piano – David Meece
Producer – Paul Baker
Vocals – David Meece
Written-By – David Meece

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word Music, Inc.