Month: July 2025

Lynn Haney – Rebirth – 1972

My discovery of Lynn Haney is a result of another of my clicking on Discog links. Glenn Schwartz and the All Saved Freak Band join Lynn on the track “Building The Earth” and I found her from them. Lynn was not a member or involved with the All Saved Freak Band in any way that I can find but her sound is much like them. I hesitate to call this a Jesus Music album because it’s much more than that. There is some fantastic blues on this album and that just wasn’t heard in the Jesus Music genre yet. The album is on Tribute Records who had nothing else that sounded like this on their label. In fact while they were a Christian label most of their stuff was geared at the Catholic market so I have no idea how they got involved in this project. Anyway this is almost completely unknown Jesus Music era album that was great and deserved to be better known.

Tracklist
1 – If We Could Share – 3:02
2 – Believe It’s Time – 2:09
3 – Reality – 2:37
4 – Raise Your Voice – 3:04
5 – Hobab – 1:14
6 – Just My Life – 4:16
7 – Building The Earth – 3:03
8 – Makaha – 3:33
9 – You Can’t Run Away – 3:00
10 – Man Of Love – 2:34
11 – Go In Peace – 2:58

Credits
Artwork – Lynne Dudnik
Backing Vocals – Linda Sterrett
Bass – Bob Surga, James Nice
Drums – Jerry Coleman
Engineer – Ken Hammond, Marty Feldman
Guitar – Glenn Schwartz
Guitar, Producer – Ray Tate
Lead Vocals – Lynn Haney
Photography – Billy Bass
Piano, Harpsichord, Flute – Al Porth

Whitecross – In The Kingdom – 1991

This is the 4th studio album from Whitecross. To say it was successful would be an understatement. The album reached #12 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart and won a Dove award for Hard Music Album of the Year. The revolving door of members continued on this album with Butch Dillon on bass and Mike Feighan on drums for this album. I think it’s fair to say that at this point Whitecross was Scott Wenzel and Rex Carroll. Interestingly the track “Holy War” featured hip hop artist Alton Hood of Disciples of Christ. I’ve listened to this track a couple times now and one time I think it’s an excellent track and the next time I think it’s disjointed and doesn’t work. I don’t know if they were trying to reproduce the success of Aerosmith/Run-DMC but it’s certainly not of that level. One last point of trivia was that the music video for “No Second Chances” was the band’s first video ever seen on MTV’s Headbangers Ball.

Tracklist
1 – No Second Chances – 4:45
2 – We Know What’s Right – 6:06
3 – In The Kingdom – 5:20
4 – In His Hands – 3:37
5 – Good Enough – 3:58
6 – Love Is Our Weapon – 4:41
7 – The Eternal Fire (Guitar Solo) – 2:00
8 – You Will Find It There – 6:00
9 – If He Goes Before Me – 4:13
10 – Tell Me The Time – 4:29
11 – Holy War – 5:55

Credits
Backing Vocals – Butch Dillon, Dez Dickerson, Glenn Kaiser, Linda Clifford, Mike Feighan, Rex Carroll, Rey Parra, Scott Wenzel, Steve Watkins, Vicky Hubly
Bass [Musical Support] – Rick Cua
Bass, Vocals – Butch Dillon
Booking, Management – Gavin Markel, PGM Management
Creative Director – Toni Thigpen
Design, Layout – Jeff Spencer
Director Of Photography – Toni Thigpen
Drums [Musical Support] – Mike Mead
Drums, Vocals – Mike Feighan
Engineer [2nd engineer, mixing @ 16th Avenue Sound] – Graham Lewis
Engineer [2nd engineer, recording @ Jor-Dan Studio] – Glenn West
Engineer [editing @ Georgetown Masters] – Carlos Grier
Engineer [mastering @ Georgetown Masters] – Denny Purcell
Executive Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar, Vocals – Rex Carroll
Keyboards [Musical Support] – Chris Cameron
Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel
Other [Make-up] – Michael Tyler
Percussion [Musical Support] – Richard Trelease
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Simon Hanhart
Rap – Alton Hood

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Star Song Communications
Distributed By – Word Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song Records
Copyright © – Star Song Records
Recorded At – Jor-Dan Studios
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
Edited At – Georgetown Masters
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus

The Alpha Band – The Alpha Band – 1976

The Alpha Band rose out of the ashes of the backup band from Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976. T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles, and David Mansfield had worked so well together on the tour they decided they should head top the studio and this album is the result. The album has a strong T-Bone fell but that’s going to happen as his vocals are so distinct. But musically this is definitely a T-Bone album and is much more in the style of T-Bone than Soles or Mansfield. The album features T-Bone’s signature songwriting but Soles was also heavily involved in songwriting. If you’ve listened to a T-Bone album then you will know what to expect from this album. If the first track doesn’t work for you keep listening as it gets much better. I’m not disrespecting “Interviews” but I just don’t think it was a good choice for the lead track. Track 2 “Cheap Perfume” is much better and set’s the album on a good path.

Tracklist
1 – Interviews – 3:52
2 – Cheap Perfume – 2:49
3 – Keep It In The Family – 4:34
4 – Ten Figures – 4:09
5 – Wouldn’t You Know – 3:51
6 – Madman – 4:23
7 – The Dogs – 4:20
8 – Arizona Telegram – 4:25
9 – Dark Eyes – 3:34
10 – Last Chance To Dance – 3:18

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Nancy Greenberg
Bass – David Jackson (4)
Drums – Matt Betton
Lacquer Cut By [JG etched in runouts] – John Golden
Management [Personal Representation] – Jonathan Taplin
Photography By [Cover] – Deborah Turbeville
Photography By [Sleeve] – Camera 5, Ken Regan
Piano – K. O. Thomas* (tracks: A3)
Recorded By – Larry Hirsch
Violin, Mandolin, Guitar – David Mansfield
Vocals – Rosanna Taplin (tracks: B2), Roscoe West (tracks: A1)
Vocals, Guitar – Steven Soles
Vocals, Guitar, Piano – T-Bone Burnett

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Arista Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Arista Records, Inc.
Recorded At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mastered At – Kendun Recorders
Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN

Lanny Cordola – Of Riffs And Symphonies – 1992

Lanny was best known as a member of Giuffria, House of Lords and Magdallan/Magdalen but he actually was in many bands. He grew up in L.A. and joined the music scene as a young man and worked as a Guitar tech for a few bands. His recording career started with Giuffria. Anyway to make long story short he eventually started the band Magdallan for which he is probably best known amongst our readers. While still in Magdallan he released this solo album. While this album is mostly instrumental tracks there are a few tracks with guest vocalists that included Jon Gibson. I’ll be honest I wasn’t expecting a lot from this album but I was horribly wrong. This is a fantastic album that deserved much more recognition than it got. The album really centers around Larry’s fantastic guitar work but the whole band is spot on. The band included brother Matt and Gregg Bissonette who are some of the best in thew business. We also have a guest appearance from Darrell Mansfield. So if you missed this one in 1992 be sure to give it a listen now. Full disclosure I played producer by merging a few tracks that were separated but were probably meant to be merged. This is another album that should have been listened to on vinyl and not on CD.

Tracklist
1 – Kaleidescope – 0:49
2 – Armashreddin’ – 5:39
3 – Play It Again Shem (That Funky Music) – 4:12
4 – Interlude – 0:18
5 – The Real Thing – 3:19
6 – YV – 4:58
7 – Gettysburg – 3:58
8 – Won’t Be Long Till Paradise – 4:32
9 – The Obstinate Toy Soldiers – 5:14
10 – Nan – 5:00
11 – The Revelation – 4:50
12 – For The Brothers – 5:30
13 – Donna Lee – 4:19
14 – Lo I Be With You Always – 4:02

Credits
Art Direction – Robert Beeson
Co-producer, Engineer – Charlie Watts
Design [Production] – Michael Seeley, SP&D
Mixed By – Paul Freeman
Musician, Backing Vocals – Allegra Parks, Sandra Stevens
Musician, Bass – Matt Bissonette, Mike Norton
Musician, Drums – Greg Bissonette*
Musician, Guitar – Lanny Cordola
Musician, Harp – Darrell Mansfield
Musician, Horns – the Martin Bros.
Musician, Keyboards – Tim Heintz
Musician, Percussion – Scott Breadman
Musician, Vocals – Bret Taylor, James Christian, Jon Gibson, Phil Bardowell
Producer, Arranged By – Lanny Cordola

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Front Page Studios
Mixed At – Front Page Studios
Distributed By – Brentwood Music, Inc.
Glass Mastered At – U.S. Optical Disc, Inc.

Force 3 – Opposing Forces – 1987

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Force 3 only had one album but they did have this demo. There is a lot of debate on when this demo was released but given all my reading I have settled with 1987.I could be entirely wrong however that’s pretty rare. As for the album it has 2 tracks that aren’t on their album and was released on a double sided cassette. There is not credits or year out there so I can’t tell you much more than that. If you’re a fan of Charlie Wilson here’s a couple bonus tracks for you.

Tracklist
1 – Opposing Forces – 6:32
2 – Devil In Disguise – 5:57

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The All Saved Freak Band – For Christians, Elves, And Lovers – 1976

The story of the All Saved Freak Band is a fascinating one and I would urge you to read up about them and everything that stood in their way of getting their music out to the populace. But here we will concentrate on their second album. At some point the band discovered that J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian. He was actually the Catholic brand of religion but a pretty devout one apparently. Anyway the band was a fan and they brought together the fantasy world of The Lord Of The Rings with Evangelism and this album was the result. This album helped the band branch out to a whole new audience and was a big hit due to this invented theme. A copy of this album has actually been added to the Tolkien Collection at Marquette University. This album is best listened to it in it’s entirety and in the original order as the album definitely has a conceptual feel and flow.

Tracklist
1 – Stephen – 2:37
2 – Our Feast Of Love (A Merry Go Round) – 3:25
3 – By The Fire – 3:03
4 – The 100th Psalm – 5:21
5 – You Haunt My Mind – 3:38
6 – Water Street – 3:03
7 – Theme Of Fellowship Of The Ring – 3:59
8 – Elfin Chimes – 2:02
9 – Big Race – 3:23
10 – Great Victory – 3:30
11 – The Lord Is My Shepherd – 2:30
12 – Old Man Daniel – 3:07
13 – Valley Of Decision – 2:02
14 – Larry’s Song – 1:25

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Mike Berkey
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Bells, Producer, Arranged By – Rob Galbraith
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Violin, Cello – Kim Massmann
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Violin, Cello, Arranged By [Special String] – Pam Massmann
Artwork, Photography By – Gary Allen, Joe Markko, John Davies, Mike Bishop
Artwork, Photography By, Engineer – Ken Hamman
Bass – Morgan King
Drums, Percussion – Tim Hill, Tom Eritano
Harp – Cindy Ratzloff
Keyboards – Carole King
Keyboards, Producer, Arranged By, Artwork, Photography By – Larry Hill
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Glenn Schwartz
Rhythm Guitar – Ed Durkos
Violin, Viola – Jane Massmann, Richard Massmann

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Windy Distributor Company
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Rock The World Enterprises
Copyright © – Rock The World Enterprises
Recorded At – Cleveland Recording Company
Lacquer Cut At – Cleveland Recording Company
Mastered At – Nashville Record Productions

Maria Muldaur – Gospel Nights – 1980

This is one of those albums that I wonder how it came about. Here’s the story as it is told today. Muldaur was invited to play a small concert at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in in Santa Monica, CA. She invited The Chambers Bros. to perform with her. For a band she told her friend T Bone Burnett to put something together so T Bone invited his fellow Alpha Band members Steven Soles and David Mansfield along with his friend Stephen Bruton. So now we have all the actors in place let’s move onto the album. I’ll be honest that I wasn’t expecting much from this album as I’m not the biggest Maria Muldaur fan. Boy was I wrong. This is a fantastic album. This is not some hippy dippy affair, this is an in your face soul, blues, rock, bluegrass album. Not all at the same time but they are all there. I guess I should have expected that with such a great line up of artists. I don’t have a top 500 albums list like David Lowman but this would be on mine and I’m surprised it missed David’s list. Anyway, if you missed this one back in the day please do yourself a favour and give it a listen today.

Tracklist
1 – Brothers And Sisters – 6:46
2 – My Jesus Is All – 3:44
3 – Trials, Troubles, Tribulations – 4:22
4 – Bright Morning Star – 3:24
5 – Daniel Prayed – 3:26
6 – Nobody’s Fault But Mine – 1:38
7 – Just Like An Eagle – 4:43
8 – Did You Remember – 3:17
9 – Traveling Shoes – 4:14
10 – People Get Ready – 4:01
11 – Said I Wasn’t Going To Tell No One – 5:55
12 – Guide Me, O Great Jehovah – 1:53

Credits
Art Direction – John Van Hamersveld
Bass – Leon Gaer
Drums – Ron Tutt
Electric Guitar – Stephen Bruton
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Steven Soles
Electric Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin – David Mansfield
Liner Notes – T Bone Burnett
Photography By [Back] – Matt Kramer
Photography By [Cover] – Sally Shoaf
Piano – Danny Timms
Producer – Jon Monday, Maria Muldaur
Recorded By, Mixed By – Ron Marks
Vocals – Maria Muldaur, The Burns Sisters, The Chambers Brothers

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – McCabe’s Guitar Shop
Recorded At – Gingerbread Studios

Lou Hayles – Don’t Hide Away – 1977

Lou Hayles was a member of U.K. band Meet Jesus Music which is how I discovered her. I’ve found so many great albums by clicking on random names on Discogs. Anyway I can’t find any information on Hayles other than she was a member of Meet Jesus Music. As for the album it follows along with her previous bands work but maybe turned down a notch. I can’t really pick a favourite track because well this album just isn’t my style. There is nothing wrong with the album in fact for this style it really a good album so as I usually say, if Jesus Music is your thing this one might be one for you.

Tracklist
1 – Don’t Let Them Fool You – 4:12
2 – Father of the Fatherless – 3:10
3 – Sweet Lamb – 4:10
4 – Tapestry – 3:15
5 – Wedding Song – 1:55
6 – Come to Me – 3:45
7 – The Kingdom Song – 2:27
8 – Traveling Along – 3:15
9 – High Priest – 2:51
10 – Don’t Hide Away – 3:00

Credits
Lou Hayles – Vocals, Keyboard
Barry Morgan – Drums
Dave Markee – Bass
Kevin Peek – Guitar
Lizzie Mills – Oboe
Jon Miller – Producer
Rod Edwards – Producer
Roger Hand – Producer
Lennart Sjöholm – String arrangements
Dave Harris – Engineer

Joseph Lamm – Watching The Coming Storm – 1984

You may remember that I just very recently discovered Joseph Lamm. He was suggested to me in our Facebook group and I subsequently got my hands on his second album which I absolutely loved. This is his first album and again I am impressed. This album, as was his second album, is a self release but don’t think of self release as a bad thing. I’ll be honest many self funded albums leave me wanting for production quality but not here. This album was actually produced by Steve Millikan, who also played keyboards. Steve was a pretty accomplished producer and he did another great job on this album. The album s rock oriented and I think the vocals are the real standout as Lamm is a great vocalist. I really wish I had found this artist in the 80’s but a U.S. self release was never gonna find it’s way to rural Canada where I lived. Joseph continues to make great music today and you can catch up with him on his webpage

https://josephlamm.com

Tracklist
1 – Remembrance – 5:24
2 – Call His Name – 2:13
3 – High Plains Drifter – 5:15
4 – In Winter – 6:18
5 – Still Waiting – 3:53
6 – Same Old Cliché – 4:12
7 – Safe Lodging – 2:09
8 – I’m Not Alone – 3:24
9 – The Great I Am – 8:48

Credits
Arranged By – Lamm, Millikan
Artwork By [Sleeve Painting] – Robert Blass
Backing Vocals – Rod Robison
Backing Vocals, Keyboards – Steve Keller
Bass, Double Bass – Steve Dokken
Cello – Marjorie Hanna, Nancy Smith, Polina Umansky
Drums – Dane Clark
Engineer – Darrell Powell
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – James Green
Engineer [Additional Engineering], Mixed By – John Bolt
Flute, Saxophone – James Farrelly
Guitar – Geoffrey Walker (2), Rex Thomas, Sandy Williams
Painting [Courtesy Of] – Cleveland Museum of Art
Photography By, Executive-Producer – Janet Lamm
Producer, Backing Band, Keyboards, Percussion – Steve Millikan
Viola – Donna Clark
Violin – Corrine Imboden, David Collins, Dick Dennis, Jennifer Peck, Sherban Lupu
Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion – Joseph Lamm

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Dancing Angel’s Music
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Dancing Angel’s Music
Recorded At – The Barn
Recorded At – Pinebrook Recording Studio
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Mixed At – Pinebrook Recording Studio
Mixed At – The Barn

Rhythm & News – Dream Love + Pray – 1994

This is the 3rd and final album from Canadian band Rhythm & News. They actually temporarily moved to Detroit so they could work with legendary Gospel producer Fred Hammond for this album. I am a huge fan of their first 2 albums but that all ends here. This album was on Word records in some odd convoluted licensing agreement that I don’t understand. Their first 2 albums were on Canadian label Image VII and distributed by Word but this one had a different licensing structure. I am guessing this is where this album went wrong. The talent is still there as these guys can sing but the songwriting is not as good as their previous work and the production is, well it’s different. I don’t want to bash Fred Hammond as the man is a legend but I don’t think he was a good mix for this band. Anyway the album isn’t horrible it’s just not great. This also ended the band as after the album original members Doug and Kevin left the group. They were replaced by Todd Wickens and Spencer Welch who transitioned the band into a instrument oriented band. Personally when half the members of the band are replaced and the sound is changed is it even the same band? They continued touring into 1998 but that was the end of it for them and they quietly faded away. My voyage of listening to Rhythm & News fell in line with the release order of their albums and I could hear the highs and lows in those albums. In a way I didn’t need to read a history of the band, I could hear it.

Tracklist
1 – I Promise You – 4:03
2 – They Will Know – 4:38
3 – Give You All – 5:10
4 – Honeymoon Hunny – 4:16
5 – Dream – 5:22
6 – Ain’t Gonna Play – 4:04
7 – Tell Me Why – 4:46
8 – To The Rhythm – 4:38
9 – He Is – 3:50
10 – Give You All (Remix) – 5:13

Credits
Design [Sleeve Design], Art Direction – Nancy Yeasting
Engineer [Assistant Mix Engineer] – Todd Fairall
Engineer [Assistant Recording Engineer] – Kevin Wilson
Engineer [Mix Engineer] – Randy Poole
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mastered By [Mastering Notes] – Dave Slagter
Photography By – Jane Weitzel
Producer, Arranged By – Fred Hammond
Production Manager [Production Administration] – Monica Coates
Recorded By – Raymond Hammond*
Stylist [Grooming] – Pippa (6)
Stylist [Styling] – Catherine Dunwoody

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – RAN Productions
Manufactured By – Nelson Word Canada
Distributed By – Nelson Word Canada
Pressed By – Disque Americ
Produced For – Face To Face Productions
Recorded At – Face To Face Studios
Mixed At – Studio A, Dearborn Heights, MI
Mastered At – Future Disc
Published By – R&N Boyz Publications