Author: Ray Mansfield

One of the founding cowboys of Real 80s CCM. Been listening to this stuff since 1978.

Farrell And Farrell – Make Me Ready – 1981

The third album from Farrell & Farrell picks up nicely from where their second album left off. It has a slightly more pop sound but for the main part is very similar. Strangely all of their albums up to this point featured a cover photo of the two of them. I always found this odd. It is common for a first or second album to have a cover featuring the artist as the thinking goes you want the listener to identify the music with the artist themselves. But for your first 3 albums it’s a little strange. Also strangely this album didn’t have a CCM charting single which I find odd because it is definitely the same quality as their highly successful 2nd album. In 1991 this album and their second album were rereleased on CD. The CD had “He That Overcomes” left off entirely and even more strange was that “Only Love” was shortened and sped up. I can only guess this was a space issue so they could get both albums on one CD but still odd. Anyway pretty good album here and a nice blast form the past.

Tracklist
1 – Make Me Ready – 4:02
2 – Still Here – 3:27
3 – You’re The Heart Of Me – 4:11
4 – You Keep Me Holdin’ On – 3:35
5 – Old Friends – 4:05
6 – Sonata – 2:53
7 – Just In Time – 2:45
8 – To Know That I’m Loved By You – 3:07
9 – Lead Me On – 3:24
10 – Only Love – 4:24
11 – All That You’ve Done For Me – 3:29
12 – He That Overcomes – 3:01

Credits
Arranged By [Strings] – Alan Moore
Art Direction, Design – Bob McConnell, Michael Harris
Bass – Leon Gaer, Mike Brignordello
Drums – Lynn Williams (2), Paul Leim
Engineer [Rhythm Tracks] – Ron Capone
Flute, Saxophone – Dennis Sollee
Guitar – Billy Walker*, Jon Goin
Guitar, Synthesizer, Keyboards – Mike Demus
Overdubbed By, Remix – Brown Bannister
Percussion – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Mike Borum
Piano – Larry Muhoberac
Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboards – Shane Keister
Producer – Brown Bannister
Recorded By [Strings] – Mike Psanos
Strings – The Shelly Kurland Strings
Synthesizer, Keyboards – Eddie DeGarmo, Michael Smith

Companies, etc.
Published By – Paragon Music Corp., StraightWay Music, Five Flat Music, Brown Bannister, Addi Music, Lexicon Music
Recorded At – Westwind Studio, Ardent Recordings, Sound Stage Studios, Gold Mine Studio, The Bennett House

Earth, Wind & Fire – Touch The World – 1987

Kind of an interesting back story to this album. Philip Bailey started his solo career when Earth, Wind & Fire suddenly took a break in 1984. Some of Earth, Wind & Fire’s previous albums had lyrics that definitely did not jive with him being a Christian artist. This was of course because Maurice White (Lead band member) was not a Christian and had some questionable beliefs. Suddenly the band wants to make a return in 1987 but Philip was a full Christian artist at this point so how do they make a comeback? Voila a Christian album from Earth, Wind & Fire, problem solved. Personally I don’t care but it’s all very humorous. Anyway lets get into the most over produced album in the history of music. This album had 6 producers and 12 engineers. I discovered this as I listened to the album and became alarmed at the production so I checked the credits. Suddenly it all made sense. Now I just want to say that my favorite track on the album, “Money Tight”, is because of this overproduction. It has some great sampling and production which proves that overproduction is not always a bad thing. Most people and reviewers actually appeared to enjoy the production and I’m probably in the minority on this one. I’ve been a bit hard on the album but I actually quite liked it. The talent is there and the song writing is fantastic. But I think it would have been even better if it was a little more raw.

Tracklist
1 – System Of Survival – 4:59
2 – Evil Roy – 4:51
3 – Thinking Of You – 4:41
4 – You And I – 4:03
5 – New Horizons (Interlude) – 2:01
6 – Money Tight – 4:36
7 – Every Now And Then – 4:21
8 – Touch The World – 5:15
9 – Here Today And Gone Tomorrow – 3:59
10 – Victim Of The Modern Heart – 3:48

Credits

Band
Philip Bailey – lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer arrangements
Maurice White – lead vocals, backing vocals, vocoder, arrangements
Sheldon Reynolds – guitars, lead guitar
Andrew Woolfolk – saxophone solo

Additional musicians
Skylark – synthesizers, drum programming, backing vocals
Preston Glass – synthesizers, electric guitars, additional drum programming
Rhett Lawrence – Fairlight programming, drum programming, sequencing, Fairlight synthesizer, synthesizer programming, Moog bass, additional drums
Wayne Vaughn – sequencing
Bill Meyers – acoustic piano, arrangements, keyboards, synthesizer programming, drums
Larry Williams – additional keyboard programming, additional programming
Dan De Souza – keyboards, synthesizer programming, drums
Steve Lindsey – keyboards
Danny Sembello – synthesizer programming, drum programming
George Duke – acoustic piano, rhythm arrangements
Ian Prince – synthesizer programming, drums, arrangements
Attala Zane Giles – additional guitars, synth bass, percussion programming, additional backing vocals, arrangements
Ray Fuller – guitars
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
Nathan East – bass
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Ricky Lawson – drum overdubs, drums
Marc Russo – horns
Wayne Wallace – horns
Gary Grant – horns
Jerry Hey – horns, horn arrangements
Dan Higgins – horns
Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns
Rev. Oliver Wells – arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
Wanda Vaughn – backing vocals
Jeanette Williams – backing vocals
The Hawkins Family – backing vocals
Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins Stephens – additional lead vocals

Production
Maurice White – producer
Preston Glass – producer
Philip Bailey – co-producer
Attala Zane Giles – additional production
Wayne Vaughn – co-producer
Bill Meyers – producer
Acar Key – engineer
Tom Lord-Alge – engineer, mixing
Dave Rideau – engineer, mixing
Paul Brown – engineer
Red Davidson – additional assistant engineer
Jeff Lorenzen – assistant engineer
Jim “Watts” Vereecke – assistant engineer
Les Cooper – assistant engineer
Mitch Zelezny – assistant engineer
Liz Cluse – assistant engineer
Jeff Woodruff – assistant engineer
Mark Slagle – assistant engineer
Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
Tony Lane – art direction
Nancy Donald – art direction
Max Aguilera Hellweg – photography

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
Copyright © – CBS Inc.
Made By – DADC Austria
Distributed By – CBS Records
Distributed By – CBS Disques S.A.
Recorded At – Studio Ultimo
Recorded At – Studio D, Sausalito, CA
Recorded At – Different Fur Studios
Mixed At – Larrabee Sound Studios
Mixed At – Lighthouse Studios
Produced For – Kalimba Productions

DC Talk – Freak Show Bonus Disc – 1997

This is the CD that came free with the “Welcome To The Freak Show” VHS. It features 4 tracks from the 1995 Jesus Freak album. 2 of them are live, 1 is a remix, and 1 is the album version. Not much to say here other than this was a great bonus to get with a VHS. I do have one thing to say however. Personally the production on the 2 live tracks make it sound like they are “liveified” version of studio cuts. Probably just some questionable production quality but they just don’t have an actual live feel. Anyway this one is from 1997 which is a little later than we usually go but it’s only 4 tracks so what the heck.

Tracklist
1 – In The Light (Live Version) – 5:15
2 – Day By Day (Live Version) – 4:42
3 – Colored People (Organic Mix) – 3:48
4 – What Have We Become (Album Version) – 5:36

Credits
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Kevin Max, Michael Tait, Toby McKeehan
Lyrics By [Additional] – Kevin Smith, Toby McKeehan
Producer – Mark Heimermann, Toby McKeehan
Remix – John Hampton, Toby McKeehan
Written-By – Charlie Peacock, George Cocchini, Kevin Smith, Mark Heimermann, Stephen Schwartz, Toby McKeehan

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Copyright © – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Distributed By – Chordant Distribution Group, CMC Distribution
Published By – Sparrow Song, Andi Beat Goes On Music, Range Road Music, Inc., Quartet Music Inc., New Cadenza Music Corp., Up In The Mix Music, Achtober Songs, Tigerback Music, Fun Attic Music, Blind Thief Publishing,
Glass Mastered At – EMI MFG.

Sammy Hall – If Nobody Loves You …Create The Demand – 1974

Sammy actually grew up in the church often accompanying his dad’s guitar with vocals on hymns. Unfortunately he slipped from the church and started what he called an alcohol addiction at 13 years old. At 17 years old his best friend died of alcohol poisoning at a party he and Sammy were drinking at. Sammy continued his music career and was in 60’s rock groups The Mor-loks and The Birdwatchers the latter group appeared in the 1967 youth exploitation film Wild Rebels. Those years were full of drug and alcohol addiction which led to 2 self deletion attempts. After his second attempt he came back to Christ and the Sammy Hall we know was born. He started a group called the Sammy Hall Singers and self released 10 albums with them. They sold these albums as they toured churches throughout the U.S. and Canada. In 1974 he started releasing albums as a solo act but he continued to tour churches playing and ministering. I believe this was his first album on a label though I’m not positive of this as the history of The Sammy Hall Singers is a little shaky. This album was released in the U.S. and Canada on Impact records and in the U.K. on Pilgrim records. I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about Sammy before starting this project but I have taken a real interest in his music. This is rather strange because he definitely doesn’t perform my style of music but I’m really drawn to his work for some reason. As for this album it’s relatively easy listening but the real highlight is his cover of “Cat’s In The Cradle” which is a fantastic version and I actually prefer it to the original. Anyway Sammy’s work is an overlooked part of CCM history and should be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – If Nobody Loves You Create The Demand – 2:14
2 – Guess Who Moved – 2:10
3 – If You’re Happy Notify Your Face – 2:14
4 – We’re Not Gettin’ Older (Just Closer To Home) – 3:30
5 – Jesus Is My Soul Supporter – 1:59
6 – No Shortage (On God’s Love) – 2:46
7 – The Days We Let Slip By – 2:49
8 – Cat’s In The Cradle – 3:38
9 – My Dependable Friend – 3:58
10 – We Have Become The People Our Parents Warned Us About – 3:30

Credits
Lead Vocals – Sammy Hall
Producer, Arranged By, Written-By – Gary S. Paxton

Joseph Lamm – Standing in the Tower – 1988

This is one of the rare examples of someone suggesting an album that I had no idea existed and it climbs into my top 100 albums of the 80’s. I have never heard of Joseph until his name came up in an “unknown artists” thread on our Facebook page. As I always do I give the poster the courtesy of listening to the album but this time I listened to the whole album several times. I really can’t find out much about Joseph Lamm but this is actually his second album. Both were self released and had limited distribution. He rereleased this album in 2018 with a bonus track which we have included. Joseph continues to make music and you can visit his webpage (linked below) to hear more. The album has an strong 80’s alternative feel in places and straight up Rock & Roll in others. Yes there are a few different styles but Joseph pulls them all together with his strong vocals. I’m hearing stuff here that would have done well in the secular market never mind the Christian market and “See No Evil” is definitely going into my regular rotation. In fact dare I say that as it stands this may be my favourite independent release of the 80’s and I’m pretty excited to hear his first album soon.

https://josephlamm.com/home

Tracklist
1 – The Preacher – 3:36
2 – Stepping Into Paradise – 3:58
3 – Yes I Will – 3:37
4 – In A Watered Garden – 2:18
5 – Standing In The Tower – 6:12
6 – Three Kings – 3:15
7 – Self Portraits – 5:22
8 – Awaken In My Heart – 3:21
9 – Essence – 4:54
10 – See No Evil – 4:43
2018 Bonus Track
11 – Approaching The Next Plane – 2:14

Credits
Bass, Guitar – Randy Melson
Drums – Dane Clark, Jeff Hiatt
Guitar – Rex Thomas, Sandy Williams
Keyboards, Vocals – Steve Millikan
Percussion – John Bolt
Producer – Steve Millikan
Vocals, Percussion, Keyboards – Joseph Lamm

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – HMS Recordings, Inc.
Copyright © – HMS Recordings, Inc.
Copyright © – HMS Publishers

Maria Muldaur – There Is A Love – 1982

This is one of only two Maria Muldaur gospel albums and the only one on a Christian label. Maria’s foray into Christian music was brief and rather unprofitable which I’m sure accelerated her return to the secular market and labels. That is not to say the album isn’t good because it’s fantastic but it just couldn’t realize the sales her secular market albums could. I will say that Myrrh threw everything but the kitchen sink at this album with too many CCM stars to list here appearing. They also got T-Bone to produce the album but really all the album needed was Maria. Her talent would have carried the album just fine. Her signature vocals and a nice R&B feel made this a go to album for many CCM fans of the period. The album has aged well and I enjoyed listening to it again.

Tracklist
1 – Keep My Eyes On You – 4:01
2 – I Was Made To Love You – 3:41
3 – There Is A Love – 4:10
4 – Sondown – 5:30
5 – I Do – 4:06
6 – Infinite Mercy – 4:47
7 – In The Holy Name Of Jesus – 3:12
8 – Is My Living In Vain – 5:01

Credits
Arranged By – Darrell Leonard
Art Direction – Dennis Hill
Backing Vocals – Charity McCrary, Dani McCormick, Howard McCrary, Kristle Murden, Linda McCrary, Marvin Winans, Sam McCrary, Vicki Winans
Bass – Abraham Laboriel
Booking [Agency Representation] – Regency Artists, Ltd.
Drums – Bill Maxwell
Engineer [Assistant] – Alan Vachon, Dean Alling
Flute, Soloist – John Phillips
Graphics – Charlie Wallis, Inc, Patrick Pollei
Guitar – Hadley Hockensmith
Harmonica, Soloist – Delbert McClinton
Keyboards – Harlan Rogers, Michael Omartian
Liner Notes – Maria Muldaur
Management [Artist Assistant] – Mary Alice Artes, Vicki Aman
Management [Direction] – Bruce Kramer, K-II Management, Inc., Ron Kramer
Mixed By – Stuart Taylor
Percussion – Alex Neciosup-Acuña, Larry Hirsh
Photography By – Keith Williamson
Producer – T-Bone Burnett
Producer [Associate] – Nancy Clarke
Recorded By – Donivan Cowart
Recorded By, Mixed By – Larry Hirsh
Synthesizer – Rick Kelly
Trombone – Jim Price
Trumpet – Darrell Leonard, Lee Thornburg
Woodwind – Greg Smith, Lon Price

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Magnolia Sound Studios
Mastered At – L.A. Mastering
Lacquer Cut At – L.A. Mastering
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.
Designed At – Charles Wallace Inc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Published By – Arthur Buster Stahr Music, BUG Music Group, Jobete Music Co., Inc., Hekima Music, Word Music, Dayspring Music, GTS Music, Inc., Key Of The Moment Music, Purdie Publishing, Inc., Radash Music

Rhythm House – Rhythm House – 1991

Well here’s a one off album from a group of relatively unknown group of artists. It was produced by Tommy Sims (Whiteheart) and financed by Tom Willett. The members had a few other projects but for the main part this was their biggest and or first project. There is very little info out there on this “group” so I really can’t ell you too much. I suspect that this was a group of studio musicians thrown together for a project by the executive producer but I could be worng because they don’t appear to have done that musch studio work. So let’s talk about the album instead. It has a cool Pop sound with a top 40 goal. The mix is a little heavy on the drums in my opinion but it works okay and the album is definitely fun. I have no idea whether the album was successful or not but give it a listen and you tell me.

Tracklist
1 – I Believe – 4:08
2 – One By One – 4:12
3 – The Promise – 4:32
4 – Make It Right – 4:40
5 – Time – 4:40
6 – The Other Side – 4:00
7 – Keep On Runnin’ – 3:28
8 – I Choose The Man You Are – 3:56
9 – Hold Me – 4:49
10 – Big Book – 4:49
11 – That’s The Day – 4:35

Credits
Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle, Jimmy Marks, Mark Pogue
Bass, Backing Vocals – Keith Emerson
Drums, Backing Vocals – Marvin Sims
Engineer – Bill Gable
Engineer – Dan Garcia
Executive-Producer – Tom Willett
Executive-Producer Assistant – Holly Benyousky, Mike Scanland
Guitar – Kevin Sowers
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Jeff Pummill
Management, Booking – Street Level Artists Agency
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Mixed By – Csaba Petocz
Musician – Tommy Sims
Organ [B-3], Keyboards, Vocals – Charlie Hueni
Organ [T-3 Organ] – Charlie Hueni
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Piano, Keyboards – Dave Innes
Producer – Dan Posthuma, Tommy Sims
Recorded By – Steve Bishir
Recorded By [Assistant] – Jeffrey Mingle

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – DADC – DIDX 011751
Produced For – RBI Productions
Designed At – Stan Evenson Design, Inc.
Recorded At – Groove Masters
Recorded At – Roman Foods Studio
Recorded At – The Dugout
Recorded At – Kaleidoscope Sound
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Mixed At – Sound Chambers, North Hollywood
Mastered At – Masterdisk

Billy And Sarah Gaines – Billy & Sarah Gaines – 1986

Billy and Sarah Gaines met and began singing together in 1974. They married in 1977 and played churches and coffeehouses across Virginia. From 1977 to 1980 they also sang in a group called Living Sacrifice and got an appearance on The 700 Club in 1978. In 1985 they moved to Nashville where Billy took a job as a Security Job until he got a contract for his songwriting. Shortly after Benson records offered them a recording contract and this album was recorded and released. Though they were better known for the R&B style Benson decided they were better suited for a more easy listening sound that would sell more broadly. Luckily they would return to that R&B sound in a couple albums but Benson was right about this sound at this point as the album was hugely successful. It had 4 CCM charting singles with one of them making in into the top 10. As for the album it is a little too easy listening for me but I know quality when I hear it and this is some quality music.

Tracklist
1 – He’s Risen In Me – 3:23
2 – You Are Faithful – 3:50
3 – I Am Convinced – 2:45
4 – The Part That No One Sees – 4:29
5 – In His Eyes – 3:40
6 – Turned My Mourning Into Dancing – 2:30
7 – No Greater Love – 3:34
8 – Glory To God In The Highest – 3:09
9 – Come Drink At My Table – 4:39
10 – Then The World Will Know – 3:55

Credits
Billy Gaines – Vocals
Sarah Gaines – Vocals
Jon Goin – Guitars
Mark Hammond – Drums
Marty McCall – Background Vocals
Greg Nelson – Producer

Al Denson – Al Denson – 1989

This is Al’s third or fourth album. The history is a little unclear as his previous albums were all self released so there aren’t well known. This album however is what most people think of as his first album as it was the first one on a label and with proper distribution. Al was one of those people that played music his whole life wit his first public performance at age 5 where he played “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on piano. At age of 18 Al played piano for Bob Hope’s USO tour as well as Kenny Rogers. That’s some pretty good history right there. In 1981 he released a 7″ single with 2 tracks that I am completely unable to find but it appeared to be secular judging from the song titles. He provided music at Southern Baptist Youth Conventions conferences and obviously became a hit with the youth movement and in this time as I said he release 2 or 3 albums. He then signed with Benson records which brings us to this album. I would say it’s a softrock album but there’s a couple tracks that pop his sound pretty good. The album had 3 CCM charting singles with “Peace Be Still” doing the best at #12 but it was his next album that really took off. I’m looking forward to hearing that one next.

Tracklist
1 – Reckless Heart – 3:15
2 – Love Is Taking Hold – 4:57
3 – Heaven Knows My Name – 3:34
4 – Right Where You Are – 5:08
5 – On The Upbeat – 3:45
6 – Strong Love – 3:29
7 – It Takes The Strong To Surrender – 4:08
8 – Warm Place In A Cold World – 4:29
9 – Faces And Names – 3:56
10 – Peace Be Still – 4:03

Credits
Backing Vocals – Chris Harris, Don Nalle, Ed Nalle, Gary Janney, Guy Penrod, Mark Heimermann, Mike Eldred, Michele Wagner, Rob Neal
Bass – Jackie Street, Lee Jones
Design – Joel Anderson
Drums, Percussion – Mark Hammond
Engineer – David Murphy, John Yandell, Keith Compton, Ronnie Brookshire
Guitar – Mark Baldwin, Tim Norris
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Producer, Executive-Producer – Dan Cleary
Trumpet, Soloist – George Tidwell

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright © – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – Mitchell Family Books, Inc.
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Recorded At – The Doghouse
Recorded At – Omni B
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – 21st Street Recording
Mixed At – Johnny dB’s Basement
Mastered At – Mastermix

Darrell Mansfield Band – The Vision – 1983

This was Darrell’s 5th album (his first was with Gentle Faith). Most people believe “Revelation” was his breakthrough album but I would argue this one is. This one established his blues rock sound that many people we’re hungering for in the mid 80’s. The album also contains a new version of his Gentle Faith song “Jerusalem”. This is a song that Darrell is very proud of and has reworked several times over the years and there’s even a music video for it out there. I guess the big hit of the album would have been “Radio” which Darrell played religiously at his live shows through the 80’s and 90’s. Personally I am not the biggest fan of the production of this album and I’ve changed it up slightly to a bit of a fuller sound. This is one album that we spent hours listening to back in 1983 and it’s one we love to this day.

Tracklist
1 – Lay Down This World – 1:07
2 – No More Blues – 3:40
3 – Hard Times – 3:26
4 – The Vision – 5:05
5 – Radio – 3:52
6 – Walk Across Heaven – 4:14
7 – Empty Hearts – 4:05
8 – Can’t Do Nothin’ Without Jesus Love – 3:55
9 – Jerusalem – 3:42
10 – Have You Been Listenin’ – 1:25

Credits
Art Direction – Alex MacDougall
Backing Vocals – Anthony Dean, Jeff Nicholson, Rosemary Butler, Tom Howard, Virgil Beckham
Bass – Abraham Laboriel, Charlie Souza, Jeff Nicholson, John Patitucci
Design [Album Design] – Gary DeLacy, Rick Griffin
Drums – Bill Lordan, Billy Maxwell, Paul Angers
Engineer – Brook Johnson, Chris Taylor, Linda Schaffer, Willie Harlan
Guitar – Anthony Dean, Dennis Carothers, Don Gerber, Eric Turner, Hadley Hockensmith, Jerry Swallow, Steve Kara, Virgil Beckham
Keyboards – Dave Garland, Harlan Rogers, Tom Howard
Lead Vocals, Harmonica [Harp] – Darrell Mansfield
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Percussion – Alex Acu a
Photography By – Linda Baily, Scott Lockwood, Valerie Sutter
Producer – Darrell Mansfield, Tommy Coomes, Virgil Beckham

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&S Records
Copyright (c) – A&S Records
Recorded At – Rocshire Studios,I.A.M. Studios, Irvine, Whitefield Studios
Mixed At – Rocshire Studios,I.A.M. Studios, Irvine
Mastered At – A&M Studios