Ray Mansfield – Page 26

4 Him – 4Him – 1990

in 1989 A rep from Benson Records attended several Truth concerts. He approached the 4 male members about a new 4 member vocal group/project. This album is the first of many albums from that group. To say it worked is an understatement as the first single, “Where There Is Faith”, went to #1 for eight weeks. The second single “He Will Be There For You” made it to #4, and the third single “Couldn’t We Stand” made it to #3. I think they could have put out more singles but they really rushed out a second album. This was the start of a very successful run of 11 albums for 4Him. As for the album it has an Imperials feel but maybe with a little better production quality. Has a nice AOR pop sound and feel.

Tracklist
1 – Couldn’t We Stand – 4:01
2 – Stay Forever – 4:06
3 – When I Need You Most – 3:56
4 – Do Right – 3:57
5 – He Will Be There For You – 4:38
6 – Where There Is Faith – 4:56
7 – Living Water, Bread Of Life – 3:54
8 – Life Goes On – 3:38
9 – When I Am Gone – 4:18

Credits
David Angell – Strings
Mark Baldwin – Rhythm Guitar
George Binkley III – Strings
Ronnie Brookshire – Engineer
Jonathan David Brown – Producer, Mixed
Paula Carpenter – Songwriter
Andy Chrisman – Vocals
Dave Clark – Songwriter
David Davidson – Strings
Paul Davis – Songwriter
Dennis Dearing – Guitar Solos
Donna Douglas – Songwriter
Connie Ellisor – Strings
Lynn Fuston – Engineer
Randy Garmon – Assistant Engineer
Jim Grosjean – Strings
Mark Hammond – Drums
Brian Hardin – Engineer
Chris Harris – Producer
Mark Harris – Songwriter, Vocals
Mark Heimermann – Producer, Keyboards, Bass
David Huntsinger – Keyboards
Andy Ivey – Executive Producer
Don Koch – Producer, Songwriter, Rhythm Arrangements, Keyboards
Anthony Lamarchina – Strings
Ken Love – Mastered
Gary Lunn – Bass, Drum Programming
Ted Madsen – Strings
Marty Magehee – Vocals
Carl Marsh – Arrangements, Keyboards
David Martin – Songwriter
Russell Mauldin – String Arrangements
Jerry McPherson – Guitars
Dennis Molchan – Strings
David Murphy – Engineer
Steve Pinkston – Engineer
Billy Simon – Songwriter
Pam Sixfin – Strings
Billy Smiley – Songwriter
Marvin Steinberg – Drums
Kirk Sullivan – Vocals
Mark Tanner – Strings
Chris Teal – Strings
Kristen Wilkinson – Strings

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright © – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – R.G. Mitchell Family Books
Made By – Digital Audio Disc Corp. – DIDX 007013
Glass Mastered At – DADC – DIDX-007013
Produced For – Fun Attic Productions
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Johnny dB’s Basement
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Mixed At – Johnny dB’s Basement
Mastered At – Mastermix

Randy Stonehill – Until We Have Wings – 1990

Well we have kind of an interesting album from Randy here. The first 7 tracks are all original new tracks and the second 7 are live acoustic cuts from Randy’s concerts. The intro track “Didn’t It Rain” sounds like Randy’s interpretation of the famous song of the same name by Sister Rosetta Tharpe to me. The track “Old Clothes” was co-written by David Edwards and you can definitely hear the David influence. Oddly “Giovanni Audiori” is given co-writing credits on “Faithful”. This is a pseudonym for Mark Heard who is also credited on the rest of the album using his real name. To round out the Solid Rock people Tom Howard also helped out on the album. The live tracks are acoustic tracks that Randy of course kills it on. His sense of humour really is second to none in the industry. I never got a chance to see Randy in concert and that’s something I strongly regret. The whole album is worth owning just to hear the 11 plus minute live version of “Shut De Do” which is an example of Randy’s comedic brilliance.

Tracklist
1 – Faithful – 3:24
2 – Didn’t It Rain – 6:11
3 – Born To Love – 4:27
4 – Breath Of God – 2:59
5 – The History In Your Eyes – 4:31
6 – Can Hell Burn Hot Enough 4:07
7 – Old Clothes – 4:03
8 – Keep Me Runnin’ – 5:49
9 – Turning Thirty – 4:39
10 – Ramada Inn – 4:00
11 – Shut De Do – 11:35
12 – Hymn – 4:33
13 – Good News – 8:00
14 – I’ll Remember You – 3:43

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill
Art Direction – Hipke, Inc.
Art Direction [Associate Art Director] – Roz Roos
Backing Vocals – Jerry Chamberlain, Pam Dwinell, Randy Stonehill, Sharon McCall
Bass – Bill Batstone, Mark Heard
Bass [Acoustic] – David Miner
Bass [Fretless] – Bill Batstone
Drums – David Raven
Electric Guitar – Mark Heard
Engineer [Second Engineer] – Brian Soucy
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware, Tom Willett
Keyboards – Mark Heard
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mixed By – Mark Heard
Percussion – Brad Dutz
Photography – David Roth
Piano – Ken Medema (tracks: 7)
Producer – Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill
Recorded By – Mark Heard
Strings, Arranged By – Tom Howard (tracks: 7)
Synthesizer – Tom Howard (tracks: 1,4)
Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Written-By – Randy Stonehill (tracks: except 1, 7)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Fingerprint Recorders
Recorded At – The Sound Factory
Recorded At – Martinsound
Mixed At – Fingerprint Recorders
Mastered At – Future Disc
Manufactured By – Epic
Distributed By – Epic

Mylon LeFevre & Friends – Faith, Hope & Love – 1992

I figured I would introduce this album by quoting Mylons statement about the album. “FROM 1980 TO 1990 “BROKEN HEART” AND I RELEASED 10 ALBUMS, SOLD A MILLION RECORDS, AND TRAVELLED A MILLION MILES WORLDWIDE LEADING OVER 180.000 IN DECISIONS FOR CHRIST. BUT IN 1991. THE ORIGINAL MINISTRY VISION THAT GOD GAVE US HAD BEEN COMPLETED. AT THAT POINT OUR LIVES HAD BECOME OUT OF BALANCE BECAUSE WE WERE SPENDING MORE TIME MAKING HIM KNOWN THAN KNOWING HIM. SO WE TOOK A YEAR TO SEEK GOD AND COMMIT TO KNOWING HIM ABOVE ALL ELSE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. I NEEDED TO HEAR HIS VOICE CLEARLY AND NEEDED TO RECEIVE MY INSTRUCTIONS. I NEEDED A FRESH VISION AND DIRECTION FROM THE LORD, AND AS I GOT QUIET, GOD MET WITH ME IN AN INCREDIBLE NEW WAY. THE RESULTS OF THAT SABBATICAL ARE THESE 11 SONGS WE CALL FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE. THIS ALBUM IS THE REFLECTION OF THE CHANGES GOD MADE IN ME, MY FAMILY, AND MY BAND BY THE PROMISES AND PROVISIONS IN HIS WORD. THESE SONGS SIMPLY TESTIFY TO GOD’S POWER, LOVE, AND FAITHFULNESS TO US. PRAISE GOD FOR THE VICTORY WE HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS. HE IS LORD! I FEEL LIKE A NEW MAN AND I THANK GOD FOR THIS NEW DIRECTION, NEW FRIENDS. NEW MUSIC, AND HIS FRESH NEW ANOINTING. IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR. LOVE, MYLON”

Well there it is, now we know why this album exists. First lets talk about the positives of this album. It had 4 singles on the CCM charts, “Invincible Love” went to #1, “Closer Than A Friend” also made it to #1, “Give Thanks” made it to #6, and “Faithful” made it to #29. That’s actually pretty good. Any album with 2 #1 singles is a huge success. Now the downside. If you look at the album cover that indicates where were headed with this album. It is certainly not the Mylon that we were more accustomed to but instead a pretty AOR oriented album. Strangely it was also the end of his albums until 2003. Mylon however stayed very active. To quote Wikipedia “LeFevre increasingly turned to preaching and teaching as his vocation. He and his wife Christi minister in about 75 churches a year. He has also spoken at motorcycle rallies, NASCAR owner/driver chapel services, NFL and NBA chapel services, and in Russia, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, the Cayman Islands, and Mexico.” Bottom line this is a pretty mellow album for Mylon but if you want to hear a little of the Mylon we all loved check out “Callin’ Down Fire” which is easily the best track on the album.

Tracklist
1 – Invincible Love – 5:05
2 – The Name Of The Lord – 4:12
3 – Holy Is The Lord – 3:37
4 – The Power Of Love – 3:40
5 – Don’t Say It’s Over – 4:10
6 – Give Thanks – 3:58
7 – Closer Than A Friend – 4:59
8 – Humble Yourself – 3:55
9 – Masterpeace – 4:47
10 – Callin’ Down Fire – 4:08
11 – Faithful – 4:59

Credits
Bass – Anthony Sallee, Joe Hardy
Bass, Vocals – Paul Chapman
Creative Director – Toni Thigpen
Design, Layout – Jackson Design
Drums – Ben Hewitt, Liberty DeVitto
Drums, Vocals – Tony Miller
Edited By [Digital], Mixed By [Mixing Coordination] – Leland Bennett
Engineer – Dave Wagner, Scott Allen
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Sal Oliveri, Skip Benicky
Executive-Producer – Jeff Moseley, Stan Moser
Guitar – Joe Hardy, Steven Curtis Chapman
Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle – Ricky Skaggs
Guitar, Vocals – Scott Allen, Skip Benicky
Keyboards, Vocals – Sal Oliveri
Liner Notes – Mylon LeFevre
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Mixed By – Win Kutz
Percussion – Carlos Jorge
Photography By [Photo Of Mylon LeFevre] – Russ Harrington
Producer – Mylon LeFevre, Scott Allen
Programmed By [Additional Programming] – Ben Hewitt, Cheryl Rogers, Joe Hardy, Joey Holder, Larry Rust, Rick Crow, Sal Oliveri, Scott Allen
Saxophone – Todd Nystrom
Vocals – 4Him, Carman, Dez Dickerson, Kenneth Bentley, Larry Rust, Michael English, Michael Gleason, Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song
Copyright © – Star Song
Recorded At – Angel Band Studios
Mixed At – Eagle Mountain Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Good News – Good News II – 1977

This is the second album from Good News. Their first album was ranked # 364 on David Lowman’s CCM’s 500 Best Albums Of All Time but this album seems to have sort of been forgotten about. This in part is because it simply isn’t as good as their first album. That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just not as good. Sometimes an album just meshes and that would describe their first album. The band essentially stayed the same except for Erick Nelson who was doing a solo project at the time. The album basically picks up where the last one left off but is just missing a little something. It was re-released in 2011 on CD but strangely it was not remastered instead it was just a copy of the album put on the CD, crackles, pops and all.

Tracklist
1 – Wait For The Day – 3:06
2 – Run To The End Of The Highway – 2:48
3 – Lord, We Feel Your Presence – 2:07
4 – Ride Along Rider – 3:00
5 – Everybody’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Love – 2:50
6 – Singing Our Song – 2:48
7 – The Catch – 4:38
8 – You Sure Have Been Good To Me – 3:37
9 – Beside You – 2:57

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Bob Carlisle, David Diggs
Bass – Bill Batstone, Dave Coy
Drums – Art Rodriguez, David Diggs
Electric Guitar, Arranged By, Orchestrated By, Engineer – David Diggs
Engineer – Billy Taylor, Jim Neil
Keyboards – Dave Siebels, Dave Wallace, David Diggs, Keith Green
Percussion – Alex MacDougall
Producer – David Diggs
Saxophone – David Luell, Tom Saviano
Strings – Glenn Grab Section
Synthesizer – Dave Siebels, Dave White
Trumpet – Ron King
Vocals – Bill Batstone, Bob Carlisle, David Diggs, Diane Diggs, Kathy Segal, Yvonne Lewis
Woodwind – Al Peña, Leo W. Potts

Companies, etc.
Produced For – Instant Joy Productions
Published By – Sonrise Mercantile Company
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Recorded At – Instant Joy Productions

Imperials – Let The Wind Blow – 1985

The previous Imperials album to this one, “Side By Side”, was one of the Imperials least popular albums as it was just a little too Worship oriented. The Imperials returned with this album of far more pop oriented songs. Obviously they were going after a more youthful audience. The album succeeds relatively well in that regard with a few songs I would almost classify as pop, especially the first three tracks. After that the album dissolves into a normal Imperials album. Two of those first three tracks actually singled. “Let The Wind Blow” made it to #1 and “In The Promised Land” peaked at #3 on the charts. Also charting were “Jericho” at #12 and “Taking the Time” at #27. The people in charge should have noticed the success of this pop sound but alas on most albums we were only treated to one of two songs that had that sound. My final thoughts on this release is that it is probably one of their best albums from a youthful perspective. That said it never made it’s way into our collections at the time so maybe I’m completely wrong.

Tracklist
1 – In The Promised Land – 4:18
2 – Bread Of Life – 3:53
3 – Let The Wind Blow – 5:03
4 – Jericho – 4:54
5 – The Deeper Meaning – 4:08
6 – Sing For Joy – 3:31
7 – Today – 3:43
8 – Taking The Time – 3:56
9 – Miracles – 4:17
10 – Not To Us, O Lord – 4:18

Credits
Arranged By – Brown Bannister, Imperials
Arranged By [Horns] – Jerry Hey
Art Direction – Kent Hunter, Thomas Ryan Design
Bass – Mike Brignardello, Nathan East
CGI Artist – Daniel Buehler
Design – Kent Hunter, Thomas Ryan Design
Drums – Paul Leim
Electric Piano, Synthesizer – John Schriner, Michael W. Smith, Robbie Buchanan, Shane Keister Engineer, Mixed By – Jack Joseph Puig Executive-Producer – Dan Harrel, Michael Blanton
Guitar – Dann Huff
Horns – Berwyn Linton, William F. Reichenbach, Charles B. Findley, Doug Dana, Gary E. Grant, Jerry Hey, Lawrence L. Williams
Keyboards, Piano – Bill Purse, Keith Thomas, Michael W. Smith
Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa
Photography By – Mark Tucker (7)
Producer – Brown Bannister
Programmed By [Fairlight] – Rhett Lawrence

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Santa Barbara Sound Design
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Recorded At – The Bennett House
Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.

Malcolm & Alwyn – Fool’s Wisdom – 1973

This is the first album from Malcolm & Alwyn but they were actually in a band called The Zodiacs before their conversion to Christianity. This album actually had some of the top session musicians of the time. John Wetton of King Crimson on bass, Rod Edwards and Roger Hand of Edwards Hand on keyboards and percussion, veteran drummer Clem Cattini, and guitarist Mickey Keen of Hudson Ford. Pretty good for a Jesus album from 2 guys that hadn’t even been recorded before. The album is excellent if listened to from an early 70’s ear. For that genre and time period this is probably one of the best Jesus music albums of the period.

Tracklist
1 – Say It Like It Is – 3:30
2 – Fool’s Wisdom – 3:04
3 – Tomorrow’s News – 3:30
4 – Growing Old – 3:53
5 – Things Are Getting Better – 3:24
6 – Heaven Or Hell – 3:46
7 – Seed Of Corn – 2:57
8 – The World Needs Jesus – 3:38
9 – Always On My Mind – 2:05
10 – It’s Here The Answer Lies – 4:46

Credits
Arranged By [String And Woodwind Arrangements] – Chris Gunning
Autoharp, Lead Vocals – Malcolm Wild
Bass – John Wetton
Drums – Clem Cattini
Electric Guitar – Mickey Keen
Engineer – Denny Bridges, Jack Clegg
Guitar, Lead Vocals – Alwyn Wall
Keyboards, Percussion – Rod Edwards, Roger Hand
Producer – John Miller*, Rod Edwards, Roger Hand
Written-By, Liner Notes – Alwyn Wall, Malcolm Wild

Companies, etc.
Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd.
Produced For – Key Records

David Zaffiro – Surrender Absolute – 1992

This is David’s third solo album and he is still mellowing out at this point but not in a bad way. Yes I generally lean towards liking harder Rock album but this is a great album. It’s a solid Pop album that some say is AOR but it leans Pop for me. The album has 3 acoustic tracks which I think are really well done. While they aren’t really my style they are very well done and we can really appreciate David’s vocals on these tracks. Interestingly Aussie Randall Waller stepped in and assisted David with the production on the album.

Tracklist
1 – Find My Way – 4:03
2 – To The Heavens – 4:15
3 – Carousel – 4:14
4 – Silas And Serai – 5:15
5 – In A Box – 4:05
6 – Attitude – 3:56
7 – Calling Out To Me – 4:47
8 – Surrender Absolute – 3:56
9 – Every Little Thing – 4:17
10 – No Long Goodbyes – 4:58

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Brian Godawa
Co-producer [Production Assistance], Engineer [Assistant] – Randall Waller
Engineer – David Zaffiro
Executive-Producer, A&R – Matthew Duffy
Mastered By – Ron McMaster
Photography By – Joe Potter, Mark Wilkins, Susan Waller
Producer – David Zaffiro

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Glasshouse
Mixed At – Glasshouse
Mastered At – Tower Mastering
Mastered At – Capitol Studios
Produced For – Zaffiro Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Frontline Records
Copyright © – Frontline Records
Distributed By – FMG Distribution
Copyright © – Broken Songs
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Pieces – Face 2 Face – 1985

So a friend of ours stumbled on the fact that a Danger Zone track on their 1985 album is actually a cover from this band. Let’s be clear that neither band is very well known but both should have been better known. This is a German band and as near as I can tell this album was only released in Germany and was their only album. It’s on Pila Music which is/was a German CCM label that was fairly well known in the European market. Strangely it’s a live album and I can only think that the band was pretty well known as the audience is well aware of the tracks. I saw in a conversation about them that they did open for Larry Norman on one of his European tours. For that reason alone we should have heard of this band. Anyway, it’s a great pop album and I really wish I had heard of it back in the 80’s as I certainly would have pushed it in the Canadian market.

Tracklist
1 – Winners – 3:52
2 – Spiritual Masquerade – 3:49
3 – Dancing In The Summer Rain – 3:25
4 – Fantasize – 4:07
5 – For You – 4:38
6 – Robot System – 4:18
7 – Keep On Rocking – 4:17
8 – Fighting – 2:34
9 – Thanx For Friends – 3:50
10 – Roter Mond – 4:16

Credits
Arranged By, Producer – Pieces
Bass, Vocals – Gerhard Barth
Crew [Roadcrew], Engineer [Sound] – Thorsten Herdejost
Crew [Roadcrew], Lighting [Lights] – Christoph Hahnl
Design – Zquare
Drums – Matt Staiger
Guitar – Tommy Schmieder
Keyboards, Vocals – Andy Staiger
Lead Vocals – Heike Barth
Management – Mike Raven
Mixed By – Gerhard Barth, Helmut Ruloffs
Other [Clothing] – Pash
Photography By – Fritz Schöttner

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pieces
Copyright © – Pieces
Distributed By – Pila Music
Published By – Manuskript

Mustard Seed Faith – Limited Edition – 1980

I am going to be perfectly honest here and tell you I have never listened to a Mustard Seed Faith album before today. Quite frankly due to their appearances on various Maranatha albums quite frankly I didn’t want to. This is a little odd as I loved Oden Fong’s work after the band. Boy was I surprised when I listened to this album. It is really really good. It has a solid 70’s sound and while it’s no Rez band album there stuff here close to Rock & Roll. This is a solid seventies album and it’s a pity I never listened to it before. This is actually a reunion album of sorts as the band had split but came back together to release this album and I am very glad they did. Doing research I discovered that these guys never had a CCM charting single. How Bizarre.

Tracklist
1 – Might Come Tonite – 2:27
2 – Miracle – 4:06
3 – Sidney The Pirate – 5:03
4 – All I Know – 3:20
5 – Whatever Happened? – 4:12
6 – Lost Inside Your Love – 3:23
7 – He’s Always There – 3:48
8 – Fault Line – 2:59
9 – Dual Pathways – 3:19

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Don Gerber
Acoustic Guitar, Producer – Oden Fong
Artwork [Logo] – Neal Buchanan
Backing Vocals – MSF
Bass – Darrel Cook
Design – Gary DeLacy
Drums – John Mehler, Keith Edwards
Engineer, Mixed By – Dan Willard
Flute – Pedro Buford
Harmonium – Jonathan Brown
Keyboards – Harlan Rogers, Phil Kristianson
Lacquer Cut By [SH in runouts] – Steve Hall
Lead Guitar – Hadley Hockensmith, Oden
Producer – Harlan Rogers, Jonathan Brown, Tom Stipe
Rhythm Guitar – Lewis McVay, Oden Fong
Saxophone – Brandon Rey Fields

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Mustard Seed Faith
Copyright © – Mustard Seed Faith
Published By – McVay Publishing
Published By – Maranatha Music
Published By – MSF Publishing
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Mastered At – MCA Whitney Recording Studios

Fierce Heart – Fierce Heart – 1985

Fierce Heart was Rex Carroll’s first published band. Rex was already 24 years old by the time this album came out and while he says he was a late bloomer I think that extra time until being recorded allowed his guitar playing to bloom. The whole idea of Fierce Heart was courtesy of Atlantic records though Rex did have a strong hand in picking the band. Jim Delehant & Chris Lord-Alge produced the album and they knew what they were doing which makes this a very well produced album. The album didn’t really catch which I find surprising considering how good it is but I suspect that there were probably rumours of Rex’s faith and we all know that in main stream music that is the kiss of death. Personally I think “Never Gonna Make Me Cry” is as good as anything else in this genre for the era and it should have singled on secular radio but I suspect it was never sent to the radio stations for consideration. Rex actually said both the band and the record company they knew the album cover was garbage but in typical music industry ways of the day it never got changed and it really is horrible. Rex authorized a re-release of the album and this jumped the band back into existence and Rex cut a new album using the band name, though with all new members, in 2020.

Tracklist
1 – Echoes – 1:34
2 – Fierce Heart – 3:45
3 – Out For Blood – 4:04
4 – Lion’s Share – 3:30
5 – Search And Destroy – 4:30
6 – Heroes – 3:55
7 – Never Gonna Make Me Cry – 4:05
8 – Bad Maureen – 4:15
9 – Loose Lips – 4:15

Credits
Choir, Engineer [Production Assistant] – Tom Lord-Alge
Cover – Marshall Arisman
Drums, Programmed By [Fairlight Programming], Producer, Engineer, Choir – Chris Lord-Alge
Engineer [Assistant] – Cathy Gazzo
Guitar, Choir – Rex Carroll
Management – John Doumanian
Mastered By – Dennis King
Producer, Choir – Jim Delehant
Vocals, Bass, Choir – Larry Elkins

Companies, etc.
Published By – Fierce Heart Music
Published By – Girder Music
Published By – Robbin Rae Music
Published By – Green Mirage Music
Distributed By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Pressed By – Allied Record Company