Ray Mansfield – Page 25

Chris Lizotte – Free – 1991

This is Chris’s first album. I believe his second album to be one of the best Christian albums of all time and is probably in my top 25. This album we can here Chris warming up for that album. This album has a variety of styles but his vocals are what sell this album for me. He simply is one of the best vocalists in the CCM genre. I was trying to pick a best track for you to listen to if you have limited time and wow was that a tough choice. Musically the best track is “Amy’s Song” but it’s an acoustic track and you need to hear Chris’s vocals so I settled on “Cuts Inside”. Hey who is Shawn Tubbs that plays guitar on this album? His work is fantastic and I see he had an album in 1998 so I’m off to find that one. Crystal Lewis appears on the track “I Pledge My All” and while it’s not my favourite track on the album it definitely deserves a listen as Crystal shines on it. As an aside the engineering and production of the album is fantastic and we have Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) to thank for that.

Tracklist
1 – All That I Need Is You – 3:58
2 – Cuts Inside – 4:07
3 – I Pledge My All – 4:32
4 – You Won’t Cry Anymore – 5:24
5 – Separation – 3:51
6 – Precious Lord – 4:47
7 – Thick And Thin – 3:50
8 – Someone To Believe In – 4:01
9 – In My Quiet Place – 3:14
10 – Amy’s Song – 3:20
11 – Till I’m Gone – 4:04
12 – The Lord’s Prayer – 4:32

Credits
Chris Lizotte – Songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
Maxi Anderson – Background Vocals
Stephen Anderson – Engineer, Lap Steel
Vicki Bacon Anglin – Background Vocals
Karise Buhler – Background Vocals
Jeff Dykehouse – Mixed
Brian Eichler – Drums
Jamie Eichler – Background Vocals
Audra Freselli – Background Vocals
Bernie Grundman – Mastered
Jeff Harvey – Songwriter, Mandolin, Fiddle
Maria Irey – Background Vocals
Crystal Lewis – Vocals
Paul Martin – Bass
Debbie McClendon – Background Vocals
Linda McCrary – Background Vocals
Larry Meyers – Fiddle
Michael J. Pritzl – Background Vocals
Lonnie Tubbs – Drums, Percussion, Tambourine
Shawn Tubbs – Songwriter, Cello Arranger, Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Carla White – Cello Arranger, Background Vocals
Gary Williams – Background Vocals
Chris Wimber – Producer, Engineer
Randy Wright – B-3, Piano

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Vineyard Music Group
Copyright © – Vineyard Music Group
Distributed By – Frontline Distribution

Deliverance – Give It A Try – 1976

This is the second album from the German/Canadian version of Deliverance. While I am a huge fan of the 2 albums subsequent to this one I didn’t like this one as much as it is way too 70’s for me. I’m not saying it’s a bad album in fact I think it’s a great album but it just didn’t strike a chord with me. The back of the album cover features a testimonial by Joe Moscheo of The Imperials who holds the band in some very high esteem. If your a fan of the Jesus music movement then this is an album you must listen to and if you’re a fan of their later work I’d still suggest a listen but temper your expectations.

Tracklist
1 – Give It A Try – 5:37
2 – Why Cant They Realize? – 2:32
3 – Judgement – 3:18
4 – I Got You – 2:50
5 – How Can I Know? – 2:25
6 – Ive Often Wondered – 2:52
7 – Who Are You? – 4:56
8 – Im Going Away – 3:54
9 – Memories In F # Minor – 9:42

Credits
Paul Janz
Herb Rempel
Vern Giesbrecht
Paul Barnard
Ken Janz
Danny Janz

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word Records Limited

Ipso Facto – Ipso Facto – 1983

You are probably aware of the group One Truth but you may not be aware of them when they changed their name to Ipso Facto. I was kind of wondering why they would use a different name for this EP but I think it’s because they wanted to do an album with an 80’s Pop sound without having their previous sound hung around their necks. But I’m left bewildered at why they self produced and released this EP and couldn’t find a label to release it. These guys were established musicians in the industry and should have had no problem with finding someone to release this album. They were previously with Greentree Records and while this album wasn’t the style of album Greentree were releasing at that point in the 80’s but they were owned by Benson who had all sorts of labels that could have released this album. Oh well anyway you should give this EP a quick listen, it has a solid 80’s sound and the track “Michael” will be going into my regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Michael – 5:20
2 – Who Will You Blame – 4:50
3 – Heartmaker – 3:37
4 – Multiple Choice – 5:56

Credits
Bass – Glen Holmen
Bass, Vocals – Andrew Osbrink
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – William Dragoo
Guitar, Vocals – David John Etzen
Keyboards – Smitty Price
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Randall Butler
Piano, Vocals – Terry Butler

Guardian – Miracle Mile – 1993

This is Guardian’s 3rd studio album and apparently most of their fans think this is their best album. Personally I don’t listen to them enough to make that judgment but I can say that this is indeed a very good album. It has a 90 Rock sound that isn’t ugly grungy but instead a Rock sound that hearken
back to the 80’s but is solidly in the 90’s. The band had settled into the lineup they would best become known for and the guys had it all together for this trip to the Elefante studios in Los Alamitos California. The Elefante brothers also produced the album and it’s probably some of their best work. Interestingly Tom Howard came into the studio to arrange the strings and contributed some strings. Seems kind of strange to see Tom involved with an album like this but great musicians go wherever they are needed.

Tracklist
1 – Dr. Jones & The Kings Of Rhythm – 5:13
2 – Shoeshine Johnny – 4:16
3 – Long Way Home – 4:31
4 – I Found Love – 5:24
5 – Sweet Mystery – 3:58
6 – Let It Roll – 4:11
7 – Mr. Do Wrong – 5:05
8 – Curiosity Killed The Cat – 4:28
9 – Sister Wisdom – 4:12
10 – The Captain – 4:19
11 – You & I – 4:06
12 – Do You Know What Love Is – 7:27
13 – Untitled – 2:07

Credits
Arranged By, Directed By [Strings] – Tom Howard
Art Direction, Design – David Bach
Artwork By [Art Production] – Joe Potter
Drums, Vocals – Karl Ney
Guitar, Vocals – Tony Palacios
Lead Vocals – Jamie Rowe
Bass, Vocals – David Bach
Engineer – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, J.R. McNeely, John Elefante
Management – The Whitmore Company
Mastered By – Chris Bellman
Mixed By – Dino Elefante
Mixed By [Assisted] – Doug Beiden
Mixed By [Extra Special Thanks To The Master Of Sonic Illusion…] – Gil Griffith
Accordion – Glen Hirami
Backing Vocals – Brandon Starr, Jameeca LaFleur, JoJo Beiden, Olivia McClurkin
Bass – J.R. McNeely
Drums – Jamie Wollam
Horns – The Fabulous Martin Brothers
Percussion – Ian Sabreti
Piano, Organ – John Elefante
Strings – The Orange County Wire Choir
Photography By – Neil Zlozower
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pakaderm Records
Copyright © – Pakaderm Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Communications Ltd.
Distributed By – Word (UK) Ltd.
Produced At – Pakaderm Studios
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Straggletoons Music

Bryan Duncan – Slow Revival – 1994

Slow Revival is the seventh album from Bryan Duncan. This one made it to #5 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Christian chart and had 3 #1 CCM chart hits. “Traces Of Heaven”, “Things Are Gonna Change”, and “United We Stand”. “Don’t Look Away” also made it to #3. 4 top 10 singles on one album is quite the achievement. It was also nominated in the Best Contemporary Album category at the 26th GMA Dove Awards but bizarrely lost out to Take 6. Having listened to both albums now I have no idea how the Dove’s came to that conclusion but whatever. Brian followed up the album with a tour and several people have written that this may have been his best tour.

Tracklist
1 – A Heavenly Light – 4:28
2 – United We Stand – 4:13
3 – Don’t Look Away – 4:32
4 – Your Love, My Saving Grace – 5:17
5 – Traces Of Heaven – 4:53
6 – My House – 4:17
7 – Lonely Tonight – 4:33
8 – Things Are Gonna Change – 5:43
9 – Wheels Of A Good Thing – 3:35
10 – Safe Harbor – 5:08

Credits
Arranged By – Michael Omartian, Peter Wolf, Robbie Buchanan
Arranged By [Strings] – John Darnall
Art Direction – Diana Barnes
Backing Vocals – Ann Bailey, Carol Perry, Dan Posthuma, Darrell Brown, David Pack, Lori Perry, Sharon Perry, Shawn Murphy, Tony Gillis
Bass – Cedric Lee, John Peano, Neil Stubenhaus
Co-producer – Michael Omartian
Design – Franke Design Company
Drums, Percussion – Carlos Vega, Curt Bisquera, Eric Darken, John Robinson, Steve Latanation
Engineer – Mike Mierau
Engineer [Additional] – Aaron Swihart, Anthony Thomas, Bert Stevens, Bryan Davis, Dan Garcia, Doug Bieden, Doug Sarrett, Paul Erickson, Ross Pallone, S. Husky Hoskulds, Terry Christian
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware
Guest, Vocals – Anointed
Guitar – Dann Huff, Gary Chapman
Keyboards [Additional] – Alan Pasqua, Randy Lee
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Bill Schnee
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Alan Pasqua
Photography By – F. Scott Schafer
Producer – Dan Posthuma
Saxophone – David Lhebo
Strings – The Nashville String Machine
Technician – Eric Slaughter
Trombone – Dennis Good

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Myrrh
Copyright © – Myrrh
Manufactured By – Word Records & Music
Distributed By – Word Records & Music
Manufactured By – Nelson Word
Distributed By – Nelson Word
Manufactured By – Nelson/Word, UK
Distributed By – Nelson/Word, UK
Manufactured By – JVC
Recorded At – Embassy Studios, Simi Valley, CA
Recorded At – Tejas Recorders
Recorded At – Bunny Hop Studios
Recorded At – The Shelter Studio
Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders
Recorded At – Studio 3319
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Recorded At – Pack’s Place
Mixed At – Bill Schnee Studios
Mastered At – Gateway Mastering
Glass Mastered At – JVC

Bruce Carroll – The Great Exchange – 1990

I have to say that this is a bit of a confusing album. It has some country tracks, a rock tracks and some AOR tracks. Now normally this would doom an album as changing styles on an album is not good for sales normally. But in this case it just works. This is a great album and I just loved it. Even with the differing styles they are so well done that I don’t care. The album is well produced and the order of the tracks makes the transition from style to style enjoyable. The album had 4 CCM top 10 singles which must make it one of the best CCM albums historically. “Who Will Be Jesus” made it to #1, “The Great Exchange” #2, “Living In The Pages” #5, and “Elm Street” made it to #9. “Average Joe”, my favourite track, also sneaked into the top 40 at #38. Also “Who Will Be Jesus” won The Dove award for “Inspirational recorded song of the year”. Now that’s a successful album.

Tracklist
1 – Living In The Pages – 4:34
2 – Lay It On Down – 2:47
3 – Elm Street – 4:08
4 – Who Will Be Jesus – 3:51
5 – Average Joe – 4:07
6 – The Great Exchange – 3:51
7 – Wake The Dead – 3:05
8 – I Can’t Love Without You – 2:55
9 – Moment Of Truth – 4:47
10 – You Never Know – 3:16

Credits
Bruce Carroll – Vocals
Eddie Bayers – Drums
Michael Black – Background Vocals
Sam Bush – Mandolin, Background Vocals
John Cowan – Bass, Background Vocals
Eric Darken – Percussion, Tambourine
Bela Fleck – Banjo
Pat Flynn – Acoustic Guitar
Kenny Greenberg – Guitars
Buddy Greene – Harmonica
Chris Harris – Background Vocals
David Hungate – Bass
Phil Keaggy – Electric Guitar Solo
Brent King – Mixed
Wayne Kirkpatrick – Background Vocals
Bruce Koblish – String Arranger
Paul Leim – Drums, Percussion
Dwight Liles – Songwriter
Phil Madeira – B-3 Organ
Kenny Malone – Drums
John Mays – Executive Producer
Jerry McPherson – Guitars
Duncan Mullins – Bass
Phil Naish – Keyboards
Nashville String Machine – Strings
Mark O’Connor – Fiddle
Don Potter – Guitars
Chris Rodriguez – Background Vocals
Brent Rowan – Guitars
Bubba Smith – Producer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Overdubbed At – Quad Studios
Overdubbed At – Nightingale Studio
Overdubbed At – Stargem Studios
Mixed At – Digital Recorders
Mastered At – Mastermix

Nicole – Don’t Let Me Go – 1991

There’s not much info on Nicole’s early life but this was her first album. While Nicole became very well known in and about 2000 she was little known at the time of her first album. The album has a great soul feel and while it leans easy listening it’s pretty darn good. I’ve been listening to a fair amount of Easy Listening albums lately and this one ranks pretty high among them. Cindy and Janie Cruse provided backing vocals on a couple tracks that Cindy actually wrote. Tim Miner assisted with engineering and production and I must say that the production of the album is excellent.

Tracklist
1 – On My Way Up – 4:32
2 – Mighty Groove – 3:45
3 – I Need To Know – 3:58
4 – I’ll Be Right There – 2:49
5 – My Everything – 4:11
6 – Don’t Let Me Go – 4:08
7 – Love Is Enough – 3:37
8 – All My Days – 4:31
9 – Oh Jesus Loves Me – 3:15
10 – Somewhere – 1:52

Credits
Angie Alan – Vocals (Background)
Margaret Bell – Vocals (Background)
Darren Bruce – Cymbals
Nicole Bruce – Vocals (Background)
Kim Bryant – Vocals (Background)
Paula Bryant – Vocals (Background)
Mark Cassimatis – Engineer
Cindy Cruse – Vocals (Background)
Janie Cruse – Vocals (Background)
Keith Davenport – Keyboards
David Ebensberger – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Michelle Ford – Vocals (Background)
Ron Jones – Saxophone
Knightlight Studios – Engineer, Producer
Win Kutz – Mixing
MC Ge Gee – Rap
Ed McTaggart – Art Direction
Craig Miles – Vocals (Background)
Tim Miner – Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Nicole C. Mullen – Vocals
Gregory O’Quin – Keyboards, Programming
Craig Penrod – Engineer
Karen Penrod – Vocals (Background)
Joe Potter – Layout Design
Kim Sipus – Vocals (Background)
Mark Stitts – Engineer, Vocals (Background)
Washington – Rap
Brenda Welcome – Vocals (Background)
Mike “Hitman” Wilson – Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
John Wirtz – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)

Terri Gibbs – Turnaround – 1987

You might know Terri Gibb better due to her top Pop hit “Somebody’s Knockin'”. She had a pretty good secular Pop/Country career but when it started to fail she decided to do Gospel music. I’m not saying anything negative but this is a trend we saw in the 80’s and admittedly it gave several artists a second run. She had a 3 album run in the Christian music industry and this is the first of those albums. Terri was a great artist so I was expecting a good album. I was not disappointed and while it is an Easy Listening album I quite liked it. I’ve been on a bit of a run lately with Easy Listening albums I quite like but I hope my taste in music isn’t changing because generally this isn’t my preferred genre.

Tracklist
1 – You Can Say It To Him – 3:32
2 – I Can See Heaven – 3:04
3 – Gettin’ Ready – 3:22
4 – Driving Nails – 3:44
5 – Turn Around – 4:22
6 – Run To You – 3:49
7 – What About Him – 4:22
8 – Have You Made Your Reservation – 4:18
9 – Already There – 3:16
10 – Merciful Lord – 3:25

Credits
Eddie Bayers – Drums
George Binkley III – Strings
Jonathan David Brown – Engineer
David Davidson – Strings
Connie Ellisor – Strings
Michael English – Background Vocals
Terri Gibbs – Vocals
Carl Gorodetzky – Strings
Richard Grosjean – Strings
Ron Hemby – Background Vocals
Jim Horn – Saxophone
Danny Johnston – Assistant Engineer
Ted Madsen – Strings
Carl Marsh – Fairlight
Bob Mason – Strings
Gary McSpadden – Producer
Laura Molyneaux – Strings
Farrell Morris – Percussion
Brent Rowan – Guitars
Gene Sisk – Keyboards
Elisabeth Small – Strings
Wendy Suits – Background Vocals
Dianne Tidwell – Background Vocals
Alan Umstead – Strings
D. Bergen White – Producer, Background Vocals
Bill Whittington – Assistant Engineer
Kristen Wilkinson – Strings
Hank Williams – Mastered
John C. Williams – Bass

Tony Elenburg – First Things First – 1986

Tony is better known to those in the industry as a songwriter. He wrote Steven Curtis Chapman’s hit single “Waiting For Lightning” as well as several more. As is normal at some point he decided to do an album of his own. He actually had 3 albums but this is the only one on a label. Greentree stepped up to release the album and given that it’s on Greentree Records I’m pretty sure you’ve already figured out that it’s an easy listening album. I must admit however that I have listened to this album a few times now and I really like it. That’s not something you usually hear from me as Easy Listening is not my preferred genre. Maybe I was just in the mood for something easy listening but this album definitely hit a good spot for me.

Tracklist
1 – Count It All Joy – 2:43
2 – All The Time – 3:08
3 – Wash Their Feet – 4:06
4 – Our God Reigns – 3:56
5 – We Are One – 3:18
6 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 3:37
7 – Believe – 4:05
8 – The Righteous Shall Endure – 3:21
9 – First Things First – 4:19
10 – It’s Just The First Farewell – 3:46

Credits
Bass – Mike “The Duke” Brignardello
Executive-Producer – Greg Nelson
Graphics – Barnes & Company
Guitar – Jon Goin
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Photography By – Matt Barnes
Producer – Phil Naish
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Strings – The Nashville String Machine

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Produced For – 19th Street Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – 19th Street Productions, Inc.
Copyright © – Greentree Records
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio East
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio East
Recorded At – Treasure Isle Recorders
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Published By – John T. Benson Pub. Co.

One Truth – Playing For Keeps – 1980

This is the 3rd and last album from One Truth. Well they did release a 4 track EP in 1983 using the band name Ipso Facto so we did get one more bit form them later. Oh and just a quick note the EP is fantastic. After that EP several members went on to release solo projects but most of them were more in the Worship genre. This album has a great seventoes fell and is probably one of the better 70’s style (not Jesus music) lbums I’ve heard. There’s even a couple of good 70’s rockers on the album. The album jacket had a baseball theme and the album has a track called “Seventh Inning Stretch” featuring an organ playing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”. A bit strange but something different qhich I appreciate.

Tracklist
1 – I’ll Have Enough – 4:01
2 – Rock Or Sand – 5:12
3 – I’ve Never Been There Before – 2:47
4 – Teach Us To Forgive – 6:25
5 – Don’t Be Deceived – 3:40
6 – Satisfied – 3:22
7 – Lord My Desire – 4:17
8 – Seventh Inning Stretch – 0:49
9 – Gonna Run – 3:43
10 – Jesus Wants To Know Each One – 3:15

Credits
Greg Butler – Background Vocals
Randall Butler – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
Terry Butler – Songwriter, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Bob Clark – Engineer
Bill Dragoo – Drums
Dave Emerson – Songwriter
Dave Etzen – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
Phil Johnson – Producer, Engineer, Background Vocals
Brent King – Engineer
Larrie Londin – Drums
Andy Osbrink – Bass, Background Vocals
Warren Peterson – Engineer
Smitty Price – Engineer, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Hank Williams – Mastered

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Sound House, North Hollywood, CA
Remixed At – Great Circle Sound
Mastered At – Masterfonics