This is Vicki’s second album though her first one isn’t well known as it was self released. This album was the first of a 3 album deal she had with Giant Records, a label created by David and the Giants. The album is a relatively easy listening project which really focusses on her vocal skills. I understand the album didn’t sell all that well which as me a little confused because this is a very well done album. The production is crisp and on point, her vocals are excellent, and the quality overall is quite high. That said some albums do well and some don’t, often it has nothing to do with quality. Anyway if you’re a fan of easy listening genre of CCM this is a must listen.
Tracklist 1 – You Can’t Stop The Morning 2 – Everlasting Love 3 – Comforter 4 – Whosoever Will 5 – The Mercy Seat 6 – When I’m With You 7 – Always 8 – Prisoner 9 – I’d Trade A Lifetime 10 – All Through The Night
This is Wayne’s third album and was really the one that gave us a glimpse of what was to come for him. While he had a CCM charting single on his previous album this album is where he really broke out with 3 CCM charting singles. “New Lives For Old” made it to #5, “The Sacrifice” to #6, and “People Of God made it to #21. This would be the album that put Wayne on the path to superstardom in the CCM genre. Oh and did I mention he was still producing all The Harvest albums at this point. Pretty good to be producing another bands successful albums while putting out your own and touring. At this point Wayne was certainly one of the hardest working members of the industry. The album continues his easy listening style but that genre of CCM was where most the money was so I don’t blame him.
Tracklist 1 – All The King’s Men – 4:02 2 – The Sacrifice – 4:48 3 – Roll On – 3:09 4 – People Of God – 3:03 5 – Take All Of Me – 3:54 6 – New Lives For Old – 5:19 7 – Never Give Up – 4:05 8 – In Those Eyes – 4:37 9 – The Greatest Is Love – 4:13 10 – Light Of The World – 3:01
Credits Accordion – Jim Alderman Arranged By [Strings], Conductor – Don Wyrtzen Art Direction – Bob McConnell Bass Guitar – Darrell Cook Classical Guitar – Rex Thomas Drums – Keith Edwards, Terry Westbrook Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jerry McPhereson Engineer [Strings] – Bob Whyley Executive-Producer – Phil Brower Mastered By – JL Percussion – Russell Dunlap Photography By – Ken Kim Piano [Acoustic], Electric Piano – Allen Mesko Producer, Arranged By, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Wayne Watson Producer, Arranged By, Engineer, Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Brian Tankersley Recorder – Fletch Wiley Synthesizer [Yamaha CS-80] – Paul Mills
Well it’s time for some Jazz infused seventies soul again. I’m still unable to find any background on the band but this album included member Rick Riso who is relatively well known as far as CCM goes. So we will have to stick to talking abut the album. I actually prefer this one to their second album as it seems a little mo0re raw which makes this style sound a little more interesting. If you like your CCM a little funky and pretty soulful this is the one for you.
Tracklist 1 – The New Has Come – 4:01 2 – I Feel Secure – 4:05 3 – Jesus Died For Me – 3:49 4 – I Love My Jesus – 3:39 5 – My Savior’s Love – 4:20 6 – Set Your Mind – 4:03 7 – Take My Yoke Upon You – 3:24 8 – Fill Me With Your Spirit – 3:53 9 – Wings Of Salvation – 3:54 10 – Live In Jesus’ Light – 4:03
Credits Rick Riso – Vocals & Guitars Si Simonson – Keyboards Jim DeLong – Drums & Percussion
Companies, etc. Record Company – Light Records Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Lexicon Music, Inc. Published By – Lexicon Music, Inc. Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Santa Maria Mastered At – Capitol Mastering
This is a great early 70’s recording of a group of Siblings from Canada and if you are a fan of this era of CCM you will recognize the two brothers, Donnie and Michael, as the main members of legendary Canadian band Salvation Air Force. They are joined on this album by their sisters Jeanne and Judy and their father Rev. Don E. Gossett produced the album rounding out the family affair. At this time of this recording the siblings were performing across western Canada and being welcomed into several churches and while I grew up in western Canada unfortunately they never visited my church. This album is pretty easy listening but does have a very good cover of Oh Happy Day made famous by the Edwin Hawkins Singers. Donnie and Michael would go on to have a more Rock & Roll oriented career in the industry but unfortunately Michael passed away in 2019. Donnie continues to make and perform music to this day and has a pretty popular YouTube channel. If you like your 70’s CCM on the easy listening side this is one you need to listen to.
Tracklist 1 – The Man – 5:02 2 – My God Can Do Anything – 2:05 3 – Prepare My Heart – 2:21 4 – Had It Not Been – 2:23 5 – Oh Happy Day – 5:34 6 – I’ve Got Confidence – 3:45 7 – My Jesus Is All – 2:40 8 – Sheltered In The Arms Of God – 2:36 9 – Introduction To A Friend – 1:21 10 – Pass Me Not – 4:17 11 – Give Me Jesus – 1:46
Credits Backing Vocals – Jeanne Gossett Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals – Michael Gossett Drums – Chuck Kenyon Engineer – Mike Flicker, Si Garber, Terry Gottlieb Executive Producer – Rev. Don E. Gossett Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals – Donnie Gossett Lead Vocals – Judy Gossett Photography – Dick Reynolds Piano – Cheryl Holmes Rhythm Guitar – Leon Rogers
This is the second album from Scott. His first album was self released but this one was a one album deal with Gary Paxton’s Newpax records which led to a more lucrative deal with Sparrow records for his next album. While Scott was very successful on the CCM charts this album didn’t have any charting singles. This has more to do with it being on Newpax records than the quality of the record. Had this been released on Sparrow “I Am A Christian” would have easily been a top 10 single. This song is actually still a favourite of his fans all these years later. The album as you can imagine has an easy listening sound which is Scott’s style. The album also has seventies feels on several tracks and for the time and genre was a great album.
Tracklist 1 – Rejoice – 3:53 2 – Excuses – 3:39 3 – The Lone Ranger – 3:20 4 – He Has Returned – 3:22 5 – Super Star – 4:53 6 – I Am A Christian – 3:53 7 – Walk Your Talk – 3:08 8 – I Love You – 2:58 9 – Ride The Wild Horses – 3:14 10 – Love One Another – 6:29
Credits Art Direction, Design – Michael Harris Bass – Jack Williams, Steve Schaffer Drums – Jerry Carrigan Guitar – Dale Sellers, Reggie Young, Steve Gibson Keyboards – Buddy Skipper, Ron Oates, Shane Keister Photography By – Craig Sterling Photography By [Back Cover] – Michael G. Borum Producer – Bob MacKenzie, Gary S. Paxton Producer [Assistant], Liner Notes – Randy Matthews
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Sound Stage Studios Recorded At – Pinebrook Recording Studio Mastered At – Masterfonics Pressed By – GRT Record Pressing
Here’s the 6th album from Geoff Moore and The Distance and it’s another home run. The guys definitely had their sound perfected at this point and knew exactly what their fans wanted. There were a few baseball themed albums in the 80’s and it’s nice to see that these guys continued that theme into the 90’s. The album was pretty successful on the CCM charts with the title track making it to #24 which is pretty surprising because it’s a pretty upbeat song for those charts. “Tell Me Again” and “The Vow” also charted at #6 and #24 respectively. They also produced a music video for the title track which is fun to watch. Another great album from one of my favourite groups.
Tracklist 1 – Home Run – 4:10 2 – New Americans – 5:11 3 – Evidence Of God – 5:42 4 – Best Days – 4:30 5 – The Vow – 4:08 6 – Love Will Save The Day – 3:50 7 – Born To Be – 4:03 8 – Come Near To Me – 5:08 9 – Tell Me Again – 4:36 10 – Nothing To Hide – 4:54 11 – We Are Waiting – 4:38
Credits Geof Barkley – Songwriter, Keyboards, Choir Vocals Richie Biggs – Engineer Dan Brock – Executive Producer Ronnie Brookshire – Engineer, Mixed Steven Curtis Chapman – Songwriter Chuck Conner – Drums, Choir Vocals Eric Darken – Percussion Eddie DeGarmo – Executive Producer Dave Dillbeck – Engineer Michael Gleason – Keyboards John Hampton – Engineer Chris Harris – Bass, Announcer Dann Huff – Guitar Gordon Kennedy – Guitar Ken Love – Mastered Phil Madeira – Songwriter Blair Masters – Keyboards Shawn McLean – Second Engineer Roscoe Meek – Songwriter, Acoustic and Electric Guitars Michael Mellett – Background Vocals Geoff Moore – Songwriter, Vocals Gary Mullet – Bass Phil Naish – Producer, Keyboards, Umpire Jimmie Lee Sloas – Producer, Songwriter, Bass Bart Stevens – Second Engineer Randy Thomas – Guitar Rick Will – Mixed
This is a very simple 2 side 2 track cassette that was sold by DC Talk before Kevin Max even joined the group. It is purported to have sold 3000 copies when Toby and Michael performed the song Heavenbound for their fellow students at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987. It was copied countless times and spread through the CCM industry and the band shortly after prepared a proper 10 track demo.
This album has a but of a strange history. It was recorded at Greenbelt obviously but Larry Norman released it in 2005 on his label. I don’t think Larry actually had the rights to this recording. Yes it was recorded back when Larry and Randy were getting along but in 2005 they were not doing business together. I have no idea how Larry decided he had the rights to this album but who knows what was said back in 1979. That said after Larry passed suddenly Randy owned the rights and released it himself in 2021. Anyway the version you will listen to here is a hybrid I worked over offering the best versions in my opinion. !979 was a great year in CCM music and this album displays that.
Tracklist 1 – Intro-One True Love – 4:41 2 – Keep Me Running – 5:43 3 – Teen King -4:09 4 – Lung Cancer – 4:26 5 – Venezuela – 3:10 6 – Through The Glass Darkly – 5:53 7 – The Great American Cure – 4:26 8 – You Really Got Me – 3:06 9 – Trouble Coming – 4:44 10 – Good News – 4:47 11 – Let That Tape Keep Rolling – 6:09
This is the first album from Gary. He had already written the hit song for Amy Grant “Fathers Eye’s” so it was natural for him to get an album deal to try to recreate that success. But first lets talk a minute about Gary’s back story. Born in Waurika, Oklahoma he actually grew up in De Leon, Texas. His Father was a pastor at an Assemblies Of God church. After high school he attended Southwestern Bible College and after graduation he moved straight to Nashville. He was almost immediately hired as a guitarist for famed 60’s and 70’s CCM band The Rambos. Gary’s music writing received some attention and his first success was his song Father’s Eyes which Amy Grant performed on her 1979 album “My Father’s Eyes”. Somewhere about the time of this album he started dating Amy also and they would get married the following year. Amy actually appears on this album on the track “Anywhere” which is a duet between them. Also of interest on the album are Degarmo & Key who as well as producing the album played instruments and sang backing vocals. This album had one top 10 single with “Sincerely Yours” peaking at #4. 1981 was a good year for Gary as he also won the dove award for songwriter. Anyway as far as the album is concerned it is an easy listening effort that while not my style is definitely a great album.
Tracklist 1 – No Time At All – 4:18 2 – I Wanna Be Loved By You – 3:40 3 – Love Is A Name – 3:46 4 – Open Up My Eyes – 3:50 5 – Sincerely Yours – 3:07 6 – The Secret Of Love – 4:05 7 – Anywhere – 3:37 8 – I’d Really Like To Tell You – 3:45 9 – Feelin’ Right – 3:11 10 – One Hope – 3:54
Credits Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Andrew Love Arranged By [Strings], Arranged By [Horns] – Carl Marsh Backing Vocals – Gary Pigg, Jack Holder, Jimi Jamison Baritone Saxophone – Gary Topper Design [Album Design] – Bill Brunt Drums – Chad Cromwell, John Hampton Guitar [Solo] – Jack Holder Lacquer Cut By [L.Nix in runouts], Mastered By – Larry Nix Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Gary Chapman Photography By [Album] – Mike Borum Piano, Electric Piano – Keith Thomas Producer [Executive Producer] – Dan Harrell, Dan Raines, Mike Blanton Producer, Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Dana Key Producer, Organ, Synthesizer – Ed DeGarmo Producer, Twelve-String Guitar, Bass – Joe Hardy Strings – The Claude O’Donnell Strings Vocals – Amy Grant
This has to be one of the most mysterious albums I have come across and it is without a doubt the strangest album from Randy. It is his one and only album with Refuge Records. Randy put this album out in 1987 but his previous album was in 1981 on Spirit Records. A 6 year gap in albums when you are at your height is bizarre enough but then this album got completely ignored by the entire industry. I know it didn’t sell well as it took us a long time to find a copy so maybe Refuge just didn’t distribute it very well but that is strange too as Randy was a very highly respected artist. There is also radio silence on this album with no one talking about it. The internet’s a big place but this album takes an incredibly small space on it. In fact there’s very little info on what Randy was doing at this point in his career. The album itself is actually very very good and is probably now my favourite album from him. I would say the single is “The Day Death Died” which is a great rock & roll track. Probably his hardest track ever. The other highlight of the album is probably the only CCM track about Santa Claus but be warned it is a very sad song actually about abortion. That said it is a stunningly good track.
Tracklist 1 – Amazing Grace – 1:15 2 – Hearts On Ice – 3:22 3 – Grumble Alley – 3:30 4 – Ti Chapé-Kum Ba Ya – 4:33 5 – Eyes Of The Heart – 3:34 6 – Streets Of Mercy – 2:57 7 – I Wish It Were Only Make Believe – 3:55 8 – No Cross, No Crown – 3:04 9 – The Day Death Died – 3:52 10 – Nuclear Hymn – 3:27
Credits Acoustic Guitar, Cover [Concept] – Randy Matthews Art Direction, Design – Jeff Spencer Backing Vocals – Anthony Nelson, Demetrius Alexander, Duane Hamilton, Eddie Williams, Grace Rosenburger, Greg Tornquist, Kim Hill, Monty Matthews, Robbie Anderson, Roger M. Major Booking – Barbara Matthews Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Greg Tornquist Engineer – Gary Wysocki Engineer, Remix – John W. Thompson Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar – John W. Thompson Management – Dave Peters II, Image Communications International Photography – Peter Nash Producer – John Thompson
