“The Turning” is a fitting title for this album for several reasons. This 1987 release was Leslie Phillips’ last CCM recording. After this she signed with Virgin Records and released a few albums with then husband T Bone Burnett, whom she married after recording this album with him as producer. The Turning was the only one of her four CCM releases produced by T Bone and it has a very distinctively different sound. The acoustic sound familiar to T Bone’s work replaces all the the 80s glitz that Leslie had been doing an excellent job of until now. Leslie’s deep songwriting continued under the folk influence of the music on The Turning. However, she managed to squeeze out some pop sounding folk on a few songs, particularly “Libera Me”. In “Down”, Leslie addresses some of her “Turning” directly: “Shattered convictions I thought were offending you” suggests she has experienced a shift in her relationship with God, in a way that probably gives her more room as an individual. Bookended with two cheerfully haunting sounds at the lead track “River of Love” and the closer “God Is Watching You” this album brings a deep echoing sound that matches Her lyrics perfectly. It was an unexpected turn from the upstart who was hailed a few albums ago as the CCM version of Cyndi Lauper, but under T Bone’s influence, any artist seems to turn ahead of the curve.
Tracklist
1 – River Of Love – 2:43
2 – Love Is Not Lost – 3:57
3 – The Turning – 3:36
4 – Libera Me – 3:09
5 – Carry You – 4:18
6 – Beating Heart – 2:56
7 – Expectations – 3:15
8 – Down – 3:25
9 – Answers Don’t Come Easy – 4:10
10 – God Is Watching You – 3:50
Credits
Bass – Jerry Scheff
Drum Programming – Ralph Forbes, Ralph Forbes, Leslie Phillips, T-Bone Burnett
Drums – Mickey Curry
Executive-Producer – Tom Willett
Guitar, Producer – T-Bone Burnett
Harmony Vocals – Dawn O’Hanlon, Peter Case, Leslie Phillips, T-Bone Burnett, Tonio K.
Mixed By – Tchad Blake
Percussion – Alex Acuña
Recorded By – Bill Jackson, Bobby Hickey, Judy Klapp, Larry Hirsch, Stephen Shelton, Steve Ford, Tchad Blake
Recorded By [Assisted By] – David Knight, Mike Kloster
Remastered By – Steve Hoffman
Synthesizer – John Schreiner, Leslie Phillips
Written-By – Leslie Phillips, T-Bone Burnett
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Myrrh Records
Copyright © – Myrrh Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word Music
Copyright © – Word Music
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Black Tent Music
Copyright © – Black Tent Music
Manufactured By – DCC Compact Classics Inc.
Marketed By – DCC Compact Classics Inc.
Recorded At – The Sound Factory
Recorded At – Sunset Sound
Recorded At – Mad Hatter Studios
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Recorded At – Eagle Audio Recording
Recorded At – Capitol Studios
Easily a top 25 of all-time greatest CCM albums.
Never saw Leslie as a Cyndi Lauper clone. To me she was always her own self. So loved her during this period. Admit that “The Turning” was not as favored by me as her previous 2 releases. However, her next disc, “Indescribable Wow,” I still listen to this day. That is an amazing album.