Ray Mansfield – Page 15

Kerry Livgren – One Of Several Possible Musiks – 1989

In 1989 Kerry took a break from AD and did this solo album and when I say solo I mean solo. He played each and every instrument on this instrumental album. It has a fairly progressive rock sound and really shows some of Kerry’s best guitar work. Personally nothing on the album jumps out at me but I am not a fan of instrumental songs. That said I am not disrespecting the album, it’s just not my genre but it is a great album. Track 10, “Tenth of Nisan”, has a footnote reading: “(The obvious debt to M.R. is acknowledged.)”. M.R. is Maurice Ravel a classical composer of the early 20th century. Kerry re-released this album in 1996 on his Numavox label and included a bonus track which we have included.

Tracklist
1 – Ancient Wing – 4:28
2 – And I Saw, As It Were… Konelrad – 4:57
3 – Colonnade Gardens – 4:10
4 – In The Sides Of The North – 4:26
5 – Alenna In The Sun – 4:23
6 – Tannin Dance – 3:37
7 – The Far Country – 3:46
8 – Diaspora – 3:36
9 – A Fistful Of Drachma – 4:11
10 – Tenth Of Nisan – 4:46
11 – Eerie Cove – 4:04

Credits
Instruments (All), Recorded By, Mixed By, Producer – Kerry Livgren
Mastered By – Glen Meadows

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Recorded At – The Peach, Covington, GA
Mixed At – The Peach, Covington, GA
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Kerry Livgren Productions,Inc.
Copyright © – Kerry Livgren Productions,Inc.
Produced For – GrandyZine Productions Inc.
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Michael Gleason – Children Of Choices – 1990

This is Michael’s second album and at this point Michael appears to have finished working with Kerry Livgren. Though he may be best remembered as a member of AD this solo album form him deserves to be remembered also. Unlike his work with AD this album has a late 80’s pop sound but occasionally you can here some influence from his years with Kansas/AD. If you have listened to his first solo album this one is nothing like it. Nothing at all. Interestingly at this time Michael was doing studio work with Steven Curtis Chapman, Wes King, Newsboys, Michael Card, Steve Green, Geoff Moore & The Distance, and many others. I don’t know if that influenced his pop sound on this album but I feel he may have really honed this sound while working with these bands. This is an album that is often overlooked but shouldn’t be because it’s a great album.

Tracklist
1 – Children Of Choices – 4:11
2 – Western World – 4:46
3 – Feeding The Fire – 4:29
4 – One Breath Away – 5:00
5 – Don’t Give In To The Night – 4:16
6 – True To Myself – 4:30
7 – Life On The Line – 4:29
8 – Nature Of The Beast – 4:24
9 – Front Page News – 3:44
10 – Heart Of Stone – 5:07

Credits
Art Direction, Design Concept, Design, Layout – Terry DeGraff
Backing Vocals – Terry Brock
Drums – Scott Meeder
Engineer – Jeff Simmons, Mike Mierau
Guitar, Mixed By, Engineer – Sonny Lallerstedt
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Producer – Dino Elefante
Producer, Backing Vocals, Engineer – John Elefante
Producer, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Mixed By, Engineer – Michael Gleason

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pakaderm Records Inc
Copyright © – Pakaderm Records Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Twelve Oaks Studio
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Twelve Oaks Studio
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab

Abraham & The Watchmen Band – Anti-Sin – 1985

This band were better known as Just the Watchmen in the 70’s and early 80’s. They had several albums though they all appear to have been self released. We have one that we’ll be uploading soon and it’s great. That said were talking about their 85 EP which is only 4 tracks but is great. Their previous work had a strong 70’s sound but this EP has a solid 80’s sound. These guys had at least 8 self released albums and you have to respect the effort. I really don’t know why they didn’t have an album deal but a part of me suspects that they chose the self released route intentionally. Anyway as I said this is a great little 80’s EP and the title track is fantastic. It was released on cassette with all 4 tracks on both sides.

Tracklist
1 – Seek His Kingdom – 3:36
2 – Anti-Sin – 4:31
3 – Midnight Dreams – 4:03
4 – Caught In The Undertow – 3:21

Credits
Booking – John H. Abraham
Producer, Composed By – Gary Sanford Paxton*
Written-By – Gary Sanford Paxton, Ken Abraham, Tink Abraham

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – M.U.D.A.S.A. International Evangelistic Association Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – M.U.D.A.S.A. International Evangelistic Association Inc.
Published By – Aimed At The Lost Music

Fireworks – Live Fireworks – 1980

Awhile ago I reviewed a Fireworks album and I was whining how easy listening it was. Someone challenged me to listen to this album if I wanted some Rock & Roll. So here it is and yes there is definitely some great Rock & Roll here. Marty was sure on his game this day. Recorded live at the Lord’s Chapel-Nashville in Tennessee this one took me totally by surprise. I must admit I have a whole new opinion of Fireworks now and I will definitely be enjoying this album in the future.

Tracklist
1 – Rescued – 3:25
2 – Listen – 4:30
3 – Target Practice – 2:48
4 – Someone’s Got A Hold On Me – 3:30
5 – Toll Free – 3:25
6 – Good Thing – 3:09
7 – Rusty Burdens – 3:31
8 – It All Comes Down To You – 3:37
9 – Ready For The Best Of You – 3:46

Credits
Bass – Bob Sinkovic
Coordinator – Vickie McCall
Drums, Percussion, Engineer – Lanny Avery
Engineer – Bill Deaton, Jimmy Burch, Joe Wilson
Executive Producer – Chris Christian
Guitar, Harmony Vocals – Jerry Gaston
Harmony Vocals – Mary Avery
Lead Vocals, Piano, Percussion – Marty McCall
Mastered By – Jim Loyd
Producer – Fireworks

Companies, etc.
Pressed By – MCA Pressing Plant, Pinckneyville
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Recorded At – The Lord’s Chapel
Recorded By – Fanta Professional Services
Marketed By – Sparrow Records

Ishmael And Andy – Ready Salted – 1973

As near as I can tell this is the first album from both Rev. Ian Smale (Ishmael) and Andy Piercy. As such this is an important album in my After The Fire tentacles project. I read that Andy and Ishmael were very good friends and they did more projects like this at the time. They actually had self released a 45 the year before this album but strangely neither of those tracks made it to this album. This was one of the first releases on Myrrh which was called Myrrh Gold at the time. Side 2 of the album might have been recorded live or perhaps just had applause mixed in I’m not sure. Anyway the album mainly consists of them each on an acoustic guitar. As for style it leans more toward Ishmael’s style with a heavier folk influence. The intro track is also probably the best track on the album. Anyway so here’s where two of my favourite artists started out. Also note that Ishmael re released the album on CD at some point and added a 12th track which we have included.

Tracklist
1 – Salt & Light Company – 3:35
2 – Psalm 139 Vs 6-12 – 4:35
3 – Paddy – 5:00
4 – Son Of God – 2:58
5 – Who Is He? – 4:35
6 – Hallelujah Chorus – 3:07
7 – We Got Jesus,We got Joy – 2:36
8 – Schitzo – 2:57
9 – Charisma – 2:50
10 – All Gods Children – 2:16
11 – I’m So Happy – 4:07
12 – The Lords Army – 1:34

Credits
Design, Photography – Bernard A Cope
Engineer – Lea Nicholson, Nic Kinsey
Engineer [Cutting] – John Wadley
Performer – Andy Piercy, Ishmael, Littlehampton Youth For Christ
Producer – Bobbie Graham

After Eleven – It’s About Time – 1989

Here’s another one of those mystery 80’s cassettes. This one has a great late 80’s alternative feel and sound and is well produced and engineered. This is all we got from them and it doesn’t look like any of the members went on to do any other published projects. So this is one we have to enjoy as a standalone and wonder why we never got more.

Tracklist
1 – You Don’t Know Me – 4:25
2 – Lightning – 3:50
3 – Nothin’ To You – 3:06
4 – Private 1 – 4:02
5 – Overflow – 4:16
6 – Running Out – 3:36
7 – Black And White – 4:05
8 – Nova Huta – 4:39
9 – St. Peter’s Village – 3:34
10 – Beach Tags – 4:48

Credits
Bass, Vocals – T. William Gallagher
Drums, Percussion – Mike Ling
Guitar, Vocals – Doug Davidson

Peter York – Close To The Bone – 1983

Peter had performed as a studio musician in the 70’s and 80’s and in his whole career he appears on over 100 albums. Strangely though this is his only personal album. You may know Peter better as the CEO of Sparrow Records and Capitol Christian Music Group. He was involved with Sparrow records in some form for 37 years and just retired in 2020. Anyway back to the album. It was only released in Australia and only on cassette so I am guessing most people have never heard it. It was recorded in 1983 after Peter was able to find a benefactor to pay for the studio time. Peter put together a pretty good team of relatively unknown studio musicians and the album turned out great. I’m actually quite confused that this album didn’t get picked up as it is really good and as Peter was connected in the industry. Oh well thankfully the album is on the internet for us to enjoy today.

Tracklist
1 – Key To My Heart
2 – I’m Alone
3 – Lovely Smile
4 – It’s All Right
5 – On This Day
6 – Noonkanbah
7 – Close To The Bone
8 – Blow Your House Away
9 – Willie’s Blues
10 – So Good To Be Alive

Credits
Martin Zammit – drums
Duane Mitchell – bass.
Graham McCoy – guitar
Jordie Young – flute, vocals
Les Price – keyboards
Rowan Shinkfield – bass on “Willie’s Blues”
Peter Fiddler – guitar on “Blow Your House Away”

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Just Life
Copyright © – Hedgehog Music
Distributed By – Just Life (Australia)
Recorded At – David Briggs Productions

Jeff Scheetz – Warp Speed – 1988

The story goes that Jeff cut this album/demo in 3 days to demo his guitar work. The story is that it was picked up by a Mexican label and then he got a record deal with Pure Metal records but in reality the timeline doesn’t work so I have no idea how that all worked. I do know that in 2005 this album along with his second album “Woodpecker Stomp” were released as a single CD. As for what we have here is some excellent heavy guitar work. The album is an instrumental which is a little disappointing because there’s some great tracks here but it was recorded as a demo so I understand why. Many people consider Jeff one of the best guitarists in the genre and I have to admit listening to this album will probably support that view.

Tracklist
1 – St. Valentine – 3:46
2 – Warp Speed – 3:44
3 – The Black Cat – 0:42
4 – Tornado Alley – 4:04
5 – Shark Attack – 3:32
6 – Lone Wolf – 5:46
7 – Amazing Grace – 3:38

Credits
Bass – Eddie Pruitt
Drums – Gabriel Anthony
Engineer – Alan Pangelinan
Guitar, Producer – Jeff Scheetz
Keyboards – Eric Greif
Producer – Eric Greif

Zipcodes – Sold Sight Unseen – 1988

While Andy Piercy was off recording his new album Peter Banks and Pete King went into the studio to record this rather excellent album. Even though it was recorded and mixed in Peter’s home studio it sounds radio ready to me. I am assuming they shopped the album around but like all things After The Fire the record labels didn’t want it. I will try to not go off on a tangent again about how After The Fire and subsequent member recordings were treated but I just simply can’t understand how this didn’t get picked up. Anyway it lived on a shelf until Pete King’s death in 1987 when Peter took it back out to try to get it released in memory of Pete. Lucky for us Christian label Plankton Records picked up the ball and released the album. Unfortunately it looks like it was only released on cassette and of course it had a tiny distribution so most of us never heard it but here it is. This is yet another excellent 80’s sounding album that we should have been able to hear at the time.

Tracklist
1 – Got My Reasons – 3:46
2 – Making It Tougher – 2:58
3 – I Won’t Go Home – 2:34
4 – Hold Me Tight – 3:38
5 – Where Are You Now – 3:36
6 – Let It Go – 3:38
7 – Hold On – 2:53
8 – Never Let It Be Said – 3:37
9 – Nothing You Can Say – 3:22
10 – Found You Out – 3:04
11 – Call Me Up – 4:22
12 – Something special – 3:28

Credits
Peter Banks
Peter King
Stewart Van Blandameyer
Elana Harris
Mark Pearson
Colin Pye
Keith Smith
Dave West
Simon Wilkinson

Andy Piercy & David Clifton – Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow – 1993

In 1993 Andy got together with David Clifton and recorded a “worship album” and it is without a doubt my favourite worship album of all time. Now you may be wondering who David Clifton is as did I but I can bet you’ve probably heard him. He is a prolific studio guitarist who has appeared on a ton of album and done a ton of tours. He actually started out his recording career in a band called Sensible Jerseys who had a couple of really good singles you’ve probably never heard but you should. As for this album the songs are all very worship oriented BUT the arrangements are not. The arrangements are very contemporary and it really works. Now you know I love Andy’s music and this album may have my favourite track by him. “Precious In Your Eyes” has a fantastic sound and I can sense a touch of Elvis Costello but let’s give Andy and David all the credit. It is a fantastic track. This album was first released on Cassette in 1993 with a CD release in 1994. It has been re-released a few times since with a few tracks added here and there but this is the original.

Tracklist
1 – Praise God – 4:09
2 – God Is Our Refuge – 3:58
3 – Oh How I Love Your Law – 3:58
4 – Come Let Us Sing – 3:01
5 – I Need A New Heart – 2:04
6 – Thank You – 2:25
7 – Father In Heaven – 3:25
8 – Holy Holy – 4:34
9 – Precious In Your Eyes – 5:01
10 – Name High Over All – 3:00

Credits
Andy Piercy: vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
David Clifton: vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and mandola
Dudley Phillips: bass guitar
Terl Bryant: drums and percussion
Martin Neal: drums and percussion
Steve Creese: drums
Pete Sainsbury: keyboards
Holly Coward, Jess Rudolf, Ellen Holly & Laura Piercy, Benj, Barny, Kirsty & Josh Lee: backing vocals
Produced by Andy Piercy & David Clifton