Ray Mansfield – Page 130

Mark Heard – Appalachian Melody – 1979

This was Mark’s second album and his first on Solid Rock Records.

As is typical on Solid Rock albums the whole gang is on the album. I’ve always wondered why Larry felt the need to sing backup on every album (ok almost all) he produced, but I digress.

The album is a fairly light rock affair but Mark does get closer to the Rock and Roll rank on a few tunes. This is an album that will likely grow on you if a first listening doesn’t really capture you.

Track Listing:
1 – On The Radio – 3:38
2 – Castaway – 3:26
3 – Bless My Soul – 4:04
4 – Here I Am (Once Again) – 3:54
5 – With The Setting Sun – 1:42
6 – Appalachian Melody – 4:17
7 – Happy Cornbread Aniversary – 1:48
8 – Two Trusting Jesus – 4:13
9 – Jonah’s Song – 5:26
10 – Sidewalk Soliloquy – 3:18
11 – The Last Time – 3:16
12 – The Saints – 0:22

And here are the bonus tracks from the 2009 CD release:

Credits:
Mark Heard – acoustic and electric guitars, piano, mandolin, hambone, vocals, harmonies, arranging, co-producer, mixing, photography, album artwork
Larry Norman – background vocals, producer, arranger, photography, album artwork
Randy Stonehill – background vocals
Tom Howard – Fender Rhodes, orchestration
Jon Linn – lead guitar
Flim Johnson – bass guitar
Peter Johnson – drums
Al Perkins – pedal steel guitar, dobro
Chuck Long – electric and acoustic guitars, additional photography
Alex MacDougall – percussion and congas
Janet Sue Heard – harmony, additional photography
Tom Howard String Ensemble conducted by Tom Howard

Ed Raetzloff – Drivin’ Wheels – 1981

This was the second of two albums from Ed Raetzloff. It was less rockin then his first offering but continued that Bob Seger late 70’s sound that was his trademark.

This album includes an excellent version of People Get Ready. Although more mellow there are still a few rockin tracks on this album.

Track Listing:
1 – Going Home – Written By – Turley Richards – 3:25
2 – People Get Ready – Written By – Curtis Mayfield – 3:57
3 – Keep The Big Wheels Turning – Written By – Dave Perkins – 3:26
4 – For You – Written By – Ed Raetzloff – 3:31
5 – Holy, Holy – Written By – Turley Richards – 3:34
6 – Hey There Stranger – Written By – Tim Sheppard – 3:45
7 – This New Love – Written By – Will McFarlane – 3:43
8 – What You Want For Me – Written By – Ed Raetzloff – 3:54
9 – You’ll Have It All – Written By – Will McFarlane – 3:25
10 – Drivin’Wheels – Written By – Ed Raetzloff – 3:40

Credits:
Arranged By – Turley Richards
Backing Vocals – Barry Dunaway, Ben Rappa, Bonnie Galley, Doug Bare, Freddie Weller, Sharon Scott, ‘Sharone’, Stan Henley, Steve Hardwick, Turley Richards
Bass – Barry Dunaway
Design – Bill Barnes
Design Concept – Bill Barnes
Drums – Ben Rappa
Engineer – Gene Eichelberger
Engineer [Assistant, Recording] – Bill Quinn
Engineer [Assistant, Remix] – Bob Clark
Guitar – Steve Hardwick
Harmony Vocals – Turley Richards
Illustration – Randy Martin
Keyboards – Doug Bare
Lead Guitar – John (Git) Goin, Randy Scruggs, Steve Hardwick
Lead Vocals – Ed Raetzloff
Photography By – Bill Barnes, Matt Barnes
Producer – Turley Richards
Typography [Lettering] – Deb Mahalanobis

DeGarmo & Key – Communication – 1984

This 1984 release from DeGarmo & Key featured more of what we expected from them.

Strong guitar tracks with keyboard support are the sound they followed. This album, while good, did not particularly stand out from the others and is considered a “fill in” album by some.

Personally I think it was a good stand alone album. Strangely the album offered a cover of Are You Ready by Pacific Gas & Electric which actually works pretty good.

Point of trivia is that the album cover changed slightly between first and subsequent pressings with the lettering of the band name switching from white to black.

Track Listing:
1 – Are You Ready – 3:17
2 – Rejoice – 3:31
3 – It’s A Shame – 3:24
4 – Alleluia, Christ Is Coming – 2:43
5 – Everyday’s A Celebration – 2:42
6 – Blessed Messiah – 3:46
7 – Perfect Reflection – 3:45
8 – He Has Risen – 2:48
9 – Six, Six, Six – 3:49
10 – Man Of His Word – 3:46
11 – Dear Friend – 1:40

Credits:
Bass, Vocals – Tommy Cathey
Drums, Vocals – Greg Morrow
Producer, Guitar, Lead Vocals – Dana Key
Producer, Keyboards, Vocals – Eddie DeGarmo
Vocals [Kid] – Breckon DeGarmo, Brian Tarrell, Shannon DeGarmo
Written-By – E. Allen* (tracks: 1), D. Key* (tracks: 2 to 11), D. Robbins* (tracks: 8), E. DeGarmo* (tracks: 2 to 11), M. Hill* (tracks: 1)

Prodigal – (self titled) – 1982

Prodigal are a band out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The vocals were shared by three members which was rather odd. Unfortunately vocalist and keyboard player Loyd Boldman has since passed away. The drummer Dave Workman was also a member of the early 80’s band Northbound.

This album is a notch up from easy listening with fairly strong guitar riffs on several tracks. This album was also re-released on CD in 2014 by the band who have somehow obtained the copyright to their own music. This is a pretty rare achievement in the music industry.

Track Listing:
1 – Invisible Man – 4:10
2 – Easy Street – 4:08
3 – Fire With Fire – 4:15
4 – Sleepwalker – 2:53
5 – Want You Back Again – 3:50
6 – Prodigal – 1:10
7 – I Don’t Know Who You Are – 2:35
8 – Need Somebody To Love – 4:02
9 – Busy Man – 3:40
10 – Hard Bargain – 4:00
11 – Prodigal (Part Two) – 0:46
12 – Sidewinder – 6:34

Credits:
Keys and Vocals – Loyd Boldman
Guitars and Vocals – Rick Fields
Bass – Mike Wilson
Drums and Vocals – Dave Workman
Artwork – Loyd Boldman
Engineer – Dana Cornock, Paul Thompson
Engineer [Assistant] – Steve Moller
Executive Producer – Matthew Hunt
Layout, Design – Scott Waters
Mastered By – Ron Lewter
Mixed By – Gary Platt
Mixed By, Engineer – Andy Deganahl
Producer – Jon Phelps
Remastered By – Rob Colwell

Urgent – No Secrets – 1984

This appears to be the only thing ever released from Urgent. It has a normal mid 80’s Rock/Pop sound with vocal flavours of Scandal.

While only 5 tracks long the album/ep has a nice feel and structure to it. I’m actually kind of surprised that a record label didn’t pick them up and do a full album. I know what was out at the time and this definitely ranked above some of the stuff I heard.

Track Listing:
1 – Not Ashamed Of Love
2 – No Secrets
3 – Hands From Heaven
4 – Don’t Run
5 – Counting The Days

Credits:
Producer – Russ Kirkland
David C. Brown – Drums
Kerwin Hickey – Guitar
Kristy Hickley – Vocals
Dennis Roberts – Bass
Glenn Winslow – Keys

Various – The Axemen – 1988

This is a 1988 sampler from Pure Metal Records (a division of Refuge Music Group). It features some of the best heavy metal bands of the late 80’s.

Track Listing:
1 – Whitecross – Shakedown – 4:13
2 – Bride – Hell No – 3:50
3 – Saint – Returning – 4:45
4 – Force 3 – Warrior Of Light – 5:32
5 – Lightforce – Babylon – 6:54
6 – Jerusalem – Covered By Blood – 3:34
7 – The Daniel Band – Party In Heaven – 2:57
8 – Rosanna’s Raiders – Serve Someone – 4:04
9 – Novella – Running Home – 4:49
10 – Scarlet Red – You Live Fast – 4:46
11 – Bjorn Stigsson – Come Together – 2:59

Petra – (self titled) – 1974

This is the first album from Petra. It was released in 1974 and has a sound typical of the time.

It’s a mix of Jesus music, Rock & Roll, and the common one bluegrass tune and one blues tune. This was very common on albums from this period as bands tried to transition from Jesus music to Rock & Roll.

The production is very poor, but in defense Of the band it was recorded and mixed on a $1000 budget.

Track Listing:
1 – Walkin’ In The Light – 3:16
2 – Mountains And Valleys – 2:48
3 – Lucas McGraw – 2:57
4 – Wake Up – 3:38
5 – Back Sliding Blues – 4:31
6 – Get Back To The Bible – 2:17
7 – Gonna’ Fly Away – 4:57
8 – I’m Not Ashamed – 3:00
9 – Storm Comin’ – 4:25
10 – Parting Thought – 1:30

Credits:
Bass – John DeGroff
Drums, Percussion – Bill Glover
Engineer – Terry Jamison, Thom Byler*
Producer – Billy Ray Hearn
Vocals, Banjo, Guitar – Bob Hartman
Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin – Greg Hough
Written-By – Hartman* (tracks: A1 to A3, A5 to B5), Hough* (tracks: A4, B3)

Petra – More Power To Ya – 1982

This album was the fifth offering from Petra.

It was one of the heaviest rock albums of the time, Ressurection band still held that title at the time.

Judas kiss features some supposed backmasking but in reality it was just a backwards sound track that said “What are you lookin’ for the devil for when you oughta be lookin’ for the Lord?”. It was a cute gimmick, but didn’t suit the song or make any sense attached to it. All in all a darn good Rock and Roll album that was very edgy for the time.

Track Listing:
1 – Stand Up – 3:33
2 – Second Wind – 4:32
3 – More Power To Ya – 3:37
4 – Judas Kiss – 4:43
5 – Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows – 4:16
6 – Run For The Prize – 4:31
7 – All Over Me – 5:51
8 – Let Everything That Hath Breath – 4:21
9 – Road To Zion – 3:58
10 – Disciple – 3:29

Credits:
Arranged By – Jonathan, Petra (9)
Bass, Vocals – Mark Kelly (8)
Drums – Louie Weaver
Guitar – Bob Hartman
Keyboards, Vocals, Synthesizer [Programs & Arrangements] – John Slick
Lead Vocals – Greg X. Volz
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Jonathan David Brown
Technician [Technical Assistance] – Brian Tankersley
Written-By – Bob Hartman (tracks: A1 – B2, B5), Greg X. Volz (tracks: B3), Mike Hudson (2) (tracks: B4)

2nd Chapter of Acts

This album from 2nd Chapter Of Acts is actually a compilation of songs from their albums In The Volume Of The Book, and With Footnotes.

These two albums were released in 1974 and 1975 respectively. I really have no idea why this album was released instead of re-releasing the original 2 albums. But then again record company decisions have always baffled me.

2nd Chapters of Acts were/are the quintessential Jesus Music band. The inclusion of Phil Keaggy and Michael Omartian makes this a superior album in the Jesus Music genre.

Track Listing:
1 – Which Way The Wind Blows – 4:58
2 – Easter Song – 2:20
3 – Last Day Of My Life – 3:08
4 – Psalm 63 – 1:51
5 – Prince Song – 3:27
6 – Hey Whatcha’ Say – 3:20
7 – Yaweh – 3:07
8 – Morning Comes When You Call – 3:10
9 – Love Peace Joy – 2:38
10 – He Loves Me – 5:07
11 – The Son Comes Over The Hill – 3:23

Credits:
Arranged By – Michael Omartian
Bass – David Hungate, Emery Gordy, Michael Been. Joe Osborn
Drums – David Kemper, Jim Gordon, John Guerin, Michael Omartian
Engineer – Buck Herring
Guitar – Jay Graydon, Larry Rolando, Phil Keaggy, Al McKay, Art Munson, Mike Deasy
Guitar, Soloist – Phil Keaggy
Organ – Danny Timms, Michael Omartian
Percussion – Anne Herring*, Michael Omartian
Photography – Joel Strasser
Piano – Anne Herring*, Michael Omartian, Danny Timms, Tom Keene
Producer – Buck Herring
Strings, Arranged By – Michael Omartian
Synthesizer [Aarpvark] – Michael Omartian
Written-By – Anne Herring, Buck Herring, Matthew Ward, Richard Souther, Jesse Cosio, Nelly Ward, Ed Overstreet

The Cynics – Beat The Cynics – 1980

The Cynics were a band out of Fairbanks Alaska who recorded, mixed, produced, and distributed their own EP.

It’s your standard early 80’s Rock and Roll sound that with better production would have been successful in my opinion.

However professional production does not come cheap and is all but impossible to get on a self funded album. Other than that I know nothing about this band.

Track Listing:
1 – Gas Riot
2 – American Economics
3 – Rock Apocalypse
4 – Fools In Hell

Credits:
Producer – The Cynics
Written-By – Pasillas, States