Ray Mansfield – Page 2

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

4HIM – Face The Nation – 1991

4HIM followed up on their wildly successful first album with this wildly successful second album. It pretty well follows the same recipe as their first album but with a little more sizzle. The album had 4 CCM charting singles with 3 of the 4 making it into the top 10. “A Man You Would Write About” mad it up to #2 and was followed by “Over The Horizon” which only made it to #12. The next two singles “Why?” and “He Never Changes” made it to #1 and $4. 4HIM was probably Benson’s biggest selling artist and they did a great job of promoting them. So if you liked their first album your likely going to love this one too.

Tracklist
1 – He Never Changes – 4:28
2 – Puzzles – 4:40
3 – Why? – 4:54
4 – When The Walls Come Down – 4:20
5 – Chisel Meets The Stone – 4:49
6 – Face The Nation – 4:35
7 – Over The Horizon – 4:01
8 – A Man You Would Write About – 4:53
9 – When I Get Home – 3:56
10 – Every Reason To Believe – 3:35
11 – Take Me To The Place – 4:41
12 – When I Get Home (Reprise) – 2:29

Credits
Art Direction – Connie Harrington
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Billy Simon
Bass [Upright] – Craig Nelson
Contractor – Kristin Wilkinson
Design – Red’s Catfish
Drum Programming, Programmed By [Bass] – Gary Lunn
Drums – Kenny Malone, Mark Hammond, Gary Lunn
Edited By – Bret Teegarden
Engineer – Bret Teegarden, Rick Will, Ronnie Brookshire, Steve Pinkston,
Executive-Producer – Andy Ivey
Guitar – Dennis Dearing, Jerry McPherson, Tom Hemby
Keyboards – Don Koch, Mark Heimermann
Mandolin – Tom Hemby
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By – Andy Ivey, Bret Teegarden
Orchestra – Bob Mason, Carl Gorodetzky, Craig Nelson, David Angell, David Davidson, Dennis Molchan, Jim Grosjean, John Catchings, Kristin Wilkinson, Laura Molyneaux, Lee Larrison, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Pamela Sixfin, Ted Madsen
Orchestrated By – Russell Mauldin
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Piano – Reed Arvin
Producer – Chris Harris, Don Koch, Reed Arvin
Programmed By [Synclavier] – Reed Arvin
Recorded By – Lynn Fuston
Vocals [Additional] – Chris Harris, Mark Heimermann

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Copyright © – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Distributed By – Benson Music Group
Pressed By – DADC – DIDX-009882
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – Casa De Pepe Music
Mixed At – Duckworth Studio
Edited At – Duckworth Studio
Mastered At – Mastermix

Manna – Manna – 1972

So if you think Denny Correll was, well, a little boring here is the proof he could actually rock. Denny was still doing some secular work after he joined Love Song and this is one of them and while this is not an overtly CCM album there is a common Christian theme throughout the album. The band also included guitarist Anthony Dean who worked with Darrell Mansfield for years. This is a great 70’s style Rock & Roll album that had a worldwide release and I’m a little surprised it’s not better known. The single of course was “Good Old Rock And Roll” which was picked entirely based on it’s name because it’s probably the weakest track on the album. There are many better tracks that could have been chosen and then perhaps we would have heard of this album. So here’s a little known piece of Denny Correll history that deserves to be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – Good Old Rock And Roll – 2:45
2 – Tell Me Why – 3:25
3 – Save The Country – 3:05
4 – What Ya Gonna Do? – 3:03
5 – We Can Make It – 3:08
6 – Red Man – 4:45
7 – Southern Bound – 2:39
8 – Clap Your Hands – 2:56
9 – Hold On – 2:47
10 – New Day’s Coming – 4:03
11 – Children Of The Mountain – 4:56

Credits
Drums – Bobby Guidotti
Guitar – Anthony Dean, James Daniel
Vocals – Denny Correll

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman

Paul Clark – A New Horizon – 1981

This is Paul’s 8th album but it had a first for him. The album had his first CCM charting single with “Tell Them All” making it to #18. Paul certainly had many great songs before this but finally CCM saw fit to put him on the charts. As usual however the charting single is not the best track on the album. That would be “Here To Stay” which is an excellent duet with Kelly Willard. It’s a much better track that should have singled. The album has a Soft Rock sound with a jazzy feel in places and is pretty good but a little repetitive in places. While a good album this is not his best work as his 70’s work was phenomenal but his 80’s work was more mainstream.

Tracklist
1 – Tell Them All – 3:12
2 – Breakaway – 4:54
3 – Broken Fool – 3:12
4 – One You Love – 3:45
5 – He’ll Use Me – 3:33
6 – Every Breath – 3:54
7 – Here To Stay – 3:48
8 – Hold On – 4:09
9 – Distant Shore – 3:17
10 – More Than Survivors – 5:06

Credits
A&R – Neal Joseph
Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Guitar – Curt Bartlett
Artwork, Design – Paul Gross
Bass [Fretted], Bass [Fretless] – Lee Jones
Design [Inner Sleeve] – Dennis Hill
Drums, Percussion – Jim Delong
Engineer – Bobby Cotton
Engineer [Additional] – Bill Maxwell, Chris Bauer, Peter Haden
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography By – Scott Hensel
Piano, Electric Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Written-By – Paul Clark
Saxophone, Flute, Synthesizer – Dan Mardock

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Sound Recorders, Omaha
Recorded At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mixed At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.

Fernando Ortega – In A Welcome Field – 1991

Fernando was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico but spent parts of his youth in Ecuador and Barbados as his father was employed by the United States Department of State. He attended University of New Mexico and received his bachelor’s degree in music education. Some of you are saying, hey this album came out in 2000. Actually this album was first released in 1991 on small Christian label Urgent. As his popularity grew the album was rereleased in 2000 on Discovery House Music. Though Fernando is an accomplished piano player the album does not concentrate on his piano playing and is instead a full instrument suite album. It leans to easy Listening but is enjoyable and musically sound. As for Fernando he would go on to record many more albums as well as serve as worship leader at Anglican and Evangelical Churches. He is active and touring today and you can find out where he’s playing next on his website.

Tracklist
1 – Through The Fire – 4:46
2 – Night Of Your Return – 4:41
3 – Walking On The Water – 4:40
4 – Father Of My Heart – 4:10
5 – A Son Of Your Love – 4:30
6 – Into The Morning – 4:43
7 – In A Welcome Field – 4:23
8 – Chimayo – 3:41
9 – ‘Til I Reach My Home – 4:52
10 – Lord, I Want To Be Like Jesus – 3:48

Credits
Ben Rodgers – Engineer, Mixing
Eddie Ashworth – Engineer
Fernando Ortega – Composer, Primary Artist
Gordon Garrison – Engineer
Herb Schucher – Drums
John Schreiner – Composer, Producer
Mike Reese – Mastering
Phillip Sandifer – Executive Producer

Farrell And Farrell – A Portrait Of Us All – 1979

This is the second album from Bob and Jayne and Word records (The distributor) promoted it like crazy. It included the enduring hit “Boundless Love” (originally written and released by Dennis Loewen) which made it to #13 on the CCM charts. The bigger hit on the album was actually “All You Need” which climbed to #3. This track featured Amy Grant on background vocals which must have had something to do with the albums producer Brown Bannister. Bob said in an interview that he sought out Bannister after hearing Amy’s first album. Brown listen to some of the Farrell’s first album and wanted to do this album. They headed into Gold Mine Studios in Nashville, which was owned by Chris Christian, and cut the album. Farrell & Farrell are not exactly my preferred genre but they always seemed to have the ability to get a few tracks on each album that I liked. Most of this album is soft rock but there’s a few tracks that keep me interested. This in one of the CCM era albums that everyone should listen to.

Tracklist
1 – I Couldn’t Live Without You – 3:44
2 – Fallen – 3:55
3 – Put More Love In Me – 3:23
4 – Can’t Ask Anything More – 2:27
5 – Boundless Love – 3:34
6 – No Need – 3:04
7 – Find It In The Word – 2:52
8 – Jailhouse Rock (Acts 16:16-34) – 1:50
9 – All You Need – 4:44
10 – Scars – 4:12
11 – A Place In His Heart For You – 3:03

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Jon Goin, Larry Byrom, Ron Elder
Backing Vocals – Amy Grant, Ava Gardner, Cindy Richardson, Marie Clark
Bass – Jack Williams, Jerry Bridges, Mike Leach
Congas, Bongos – Terry McMillan
Cymbal – Terry McMillan
Drums – Kenny Malone, Roger Clark
Electric Guitar – Jon Goin, Larry Byrom
Electric Piano – Randy Goodrum, Bobby Ogden, Shane Keister
Flugelhorn – Harrison Calloway, Jr.
Flute – Quittman Dennis
Horn – Charles Rose, Harrison Calloway, Jr., Harvey Thompson, Ron Eades
Lead Vocals – Bob Farrell, Jayne Farrell
Lyricon – Quittman Dennis
Organ – Shane Keister
Percussion – Roger Clark, Terry McMillan
Piano [Acoustic Piano] – Bobby Ogden, Randy Goodrum, Shane Keister
Strings – Shelly Kurland Strings
Synthesizer – Shane Keister
Saxophone, Lyricon – Quittman Dennis
Trombone – Charles Rose

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Newpax Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Newpax Records, Inc.
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.
Published By – Bug & Bear Music
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Produced For – Chris Christian Productions
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Recorded At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Stewart & Kyle – Isn’t It Strange – 1978

This is the second album of theirs that we’ve featured and I still can’t find out anything about them. This is their second albumand it appears to be U.K. only release except that it was re-released in Germany in 1993 on CD. I have discovered that Chris Kyle has continued his music career as a studio musician and actually appears on lots of projects and is still working currently. Alistair Stewart appears to have moved on from a recording career as there is no activity from him after 1992. This album is also firmly in the easy listening category with a couple upbeat tracks. Some real talent in these guys and I’m surprised this didn’t get an American release. Anyway enjoy the soothing sounds of Stewart & Kyle.

Tracklist
1 – Come Early – 3:49
2 – America – 4:17
3 – C’est La Vie – 3:23
4 – When Love Came Down – 2:52
5 – Open Boat – 4:45
6 – Do You Remember? – 3:57
7 – Don’t Hold Me Back – 4:42
8 – Many Times – 3:25
9 – Living In These Days – 4:57
10 – The Sad And Lonely – 4:14

Credits
Vocals, Guitar, Written-By – Chris Kyle
Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Written-By – Alistair Stewart

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pila Music
Copyright © – Grapevine

Sharalee – Finally Him, Finally Me – 1980

This is Sharalee’s (Sharalee Lucas Sherman) 5th album. She was completely unknown to me but this is another case of someone who’s genre wasn’t my choice. She actually appeared on a ton of albums in the 70’s including Walt Disney’s Voices of Liberty. She also hosted the 1978 Dove Awards with her husband of the time Jerry Lucas who was a NBA basketball star. As for the album well it’s rather strange. The music has a funk feel but her vocals are completely unsuited to this style. Also strangely there is one country track on the album but this track suits her vocals. The album was produced by John Thompson who was a great producer but I have no idea why he thought this album was good. Continuing the strange of this album, it was re-released a year later on Impact records. Impact did a different much better album cover but otherwise the album was identical. Anyway give it a listen and tell me what you think.

Tracklist
1 – Stand Up And Be Counted – 4:19
2 – Gettin’ Out – 3:12
3 – Welcome Love – 3:45
4 – Even As We Are One – 3:36
5 – Lead Me Home – 3:43
6 – Don’t Give In – 2:55
7 – Open Up My Eyes – 3:15
8 – Glory Forevermore – 4:41
9 – Don’t Look To Me – 2:46
10 – You Mean More To Me – 3:25
11 – Resurrection Power – 3:30

Meet Jesus Music – Gold – 1975

Meet Jesus Music were a U.K. Jesus music band out of the 70’s. I had never heard of them before so I started doing some research and discovered they were pretty popular in the U.K. at the time. The U.K. didn’t have as many Jesus music bands so these guys filled a gap in local music. This is their second and last album but many members of the band went on to have solo careers. The band is probably best known in the 80’s circles for their performance at Greenbelt in 1979. As for the album it is your rather typical Jesus music and nothing really stands out to me but that’s not to say it’s bad. To me a lot of music form this era sounds the same but I am not a connoisseur of this era and I don’t mean any disrespect to the music.

Tracklist
1 – Gold – 5:05
2 – Too Many Times – 4:05
3 – Just One Touch – 4:06
4 – High Time – 2:40
5 – Cannot Understand – 4:15
6 – Hey Mr. Sally Ann! – 3:22
7 – Jesus – 3:22
8 – Take Time – 4:51
9 – Don’t Let Them Fool You – 4:21
10 – Praise the Lord! – 3:20

Credits
Bass – Simon Dennis
Bass Trombone – Dave Scragg
Cello – Dave Thorn
Congas, Timbales – Julian Sullivan
Design – Gillard Bros. Graphics
Drums – Tony Taylor
Engineer [‘Live’ Sound Engineer] – Mike Waller
Engineer, Producer – John Pantry
Guitar – Dave Gillard
Harp – Muriel Liddle
Trombone – Dave Gladman, Keith Brown
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Ray Allen
Vibraphone, Flute, Arranged By [Brass Arrangement] – Peter Shade
Vocals – Angie Routledge
Vocals, Guitar, Trombone – Ken Smith
Vocals, Keyboards – Keith Routledge, Lou Hayles

Larry Carlton – Alone/But Never Alone – 1986

Larry Carlton’s “Christian” music career is actually very interesting. Larry started out in the 60’s with the band The (Jazz) Crusaders who had a big hit in 1979 with “Street Life”. Larry continued with them while both pursuing a solo career as well as doing a lot of session work. He certainly was one of the hardest working men in the business. The story of his coming to Christ is not your normal “a friend introduce me” story instead he describes it as follows. “…I started reading a lot of books on different religions. I remember there was one night in Philadelphia after a show. I had been reading these books and digesting and thinking about religion. I just remember coming to a conclusion one night after a gig. I was lying in bed and I just told the Lord, “I don’t know any more about you than I did 2 months ago, but I choose you.” That was the beginning of my relationship with the Holy Spirit.” Larry however never really considered moving to the Christina music industry and stayed in the secular market. This was his first release after his coming to Christ. There is actually more to Larry’s life story, lots more, but we will cover it chronologically as it relates to his album releases so stay tuned for more.

Tracklist
1 – Smiles And Smiles To Go – 5:44
2 – Perfect Peace – 4:25
3 – Carrying You – 3:58
4 – The Lord’s Prayer – 5:07
5 – High Steppin’ – 6:42
6 – Whatever Happens – 4:25
7 – Pure Delight – 5:31
8 – Alone/But Never Alone – 3:32

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Larry Carlton
Art Direction – Simon Levy
Bass – Abraham Laboriel, Larry Carlton
Design – Thomas Ryan Design
Drums – Rick Marotta
Electric Guitar – Larry Carlton
Engineer [Assistant] – Hal Sacks
Keyboards – Larry Carlton, Terry Trotter
Keyboards [Additional] – Larry Carlton
Management – Charlie Lico
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Percussion – Michael Fisher
Photography By – McGuire
Producer, Arranged By – Larry Carlton
Recorded By, Mixed By – Rik Pekkonen
Synthesizer [Dx7] – Terry Trotter
Written-By – Albert Malotte, Bill Withers, Larry Carlton

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Record Service GmbH
Produced For – Larry Carlton Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – MCA Records, Inc.
Copyright © – MCA Records, Inc.
Made By – WEA Musik GmbH
Recorded At – Room 335, Hollywood
Mixed At – Room 335, Hollywood
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Pressed By – Record Service Alsdorf