Ray Mansfield – Page 4

Jim Thomson II + Preflyte – Message at 33⅓ – 1979

Jim Thomson is one of the most prolific artists you never heard of. He claims to have over “100 releases and production or writing credits for about 30 other artists”. I don’t know if he means 100 songs or albums but he has way over 100 songs so he must mean albums. Anyway this is where it started for him and what a start it was. It was a self released effort released in his own country of Canada but he had a great group of studio musicians to augment his own band. The album was produced and engineered by Ron Moore and the production has more of an early 70’s sound than 79. Ron heavily split up the instruments heavily to left or right sides of the stereo track. This kind of production was more common during the origins of stereo but by 1979 was more rare. Anyway it works really well and really accentuates the seventies sound of the album. Point of trivia is that this is one of the earliest albums featuring John Lawry (Petra). This is a great 70’s album with very limited distribution so if you like 70’s style music this one is for you. If you only have time for one track head down to track 9 “Oh Lord” which is my choice for best track.

Tracklist
1 – Be My Song – 0:42
2 – I’ve Got Jesus – 3:09
3 – Lonely One – 2:58
4 – New Song – 1:56
5 – Blend – 4:19
6 – Train For Thought – 2:54
7 – Eternal Light Brigade – 5:12
8 – Come Follow – 3:34
9 – Oh Lord – 2:55
10 – Showdown – 2:18
11 – You Are The Song – 2:21
12 – Be My Song (Reprise) – 1:15

Credits
Bass – Stephen Romanow
Cello, Mandolin – Dorothy Nielsen
Drums – Barry Salmon
Electric Guitar [Rhythm] – Kevin Rogers
Keyboards, Strings – John Lawry
Producer [Assistant], Engineer – Ron Moore
Trumpet, Percussion – Danny Srnec
Vocals – Joe Paquette
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Jim Thomson II
Vocals, Percussion – Danny Thomson

Little Anthony – Daylight – 1980

This is Little Anthony from Little Anthony & The Imperials who were huge in the 60’s. As we’ve seen frequently once the record deals dried up Little Anthony turned to a gospel label. I’m not criticizing him as it he deserves a new record deal as this guy can sing. This is the first of two gospel albums Anthony would do but the next one wouldn’t be for another 15 years. As I’ve said many times this just isn’t my style of music but I always appreciate the quality vocals albums like this have. Anthony was a fantastic singer but not a songwriter so this album is entirely written by others. Interestingly he does a cover of Per-Erik Hallin’s Gospel Train which I guess is pretty good versio0n but I really prefer the original. Brown Bannister produced the album and B.J. Thomas listed as an Executive-Producer. All in all a pretty good soul album and if you like that style this is a must listen.

Tracklist
1 – Love’s The Only Way To Survive – 2:30
2 – Your Love – 2:58
3 – You Only Get Out Of Life What You Put In – 3:25
4 – Walk On Water – 3:40
5 – Reach Up – 3:46
6 – Love Was Born For Me – 2:48
7 – I’ll Be Thinking Of You – 3:36
8 – My Best Friend – 2:57
9 – You Came Just In Time To Love Me – 3:45
10 – Gospel Train – 3:09

Credits
Engineer – Bob Cotton
Engineer, Mixed By – Jimmy Burch
Executive-Producer – B. J. Thomas
Producer – Brown Bannister, Milton Blackford

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – MCA Records, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Songbird Records
Copyright © – Songbird Records
Pressed By – MCA Pressing Plant, Pinckneyville
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Triumph – Cry Freedom – 1989

This is the second album from U.K. band Triumph. There is not much info out there on these guys or perhaps their is but due to their choice of names it’s impossible to find. The album was produced by Norman Barratt and because of this I couldn’t wait to listen to it. This is an excellent album. It leans new wave with hints of progressive rock think The Cult light perhaps. The unfortunate part of this 80’s CCM project is that I have to listen to many many albums that just aren’t my style or preferred genre so I get pretty excited when I find a new to me album that I like. This is one of those albums. I’m a little unclear if this album was released in North America but I don’t think it was. Feel free to correct me though.

Tracklist
1 – Run With The Wind – 3:51
2 – Son Of Man – 3:50
3 – I Am Waiting – 4:17
4 – It Is Finished – 5:09
5 – Paid On The Nail – 5:36
6 – Cry Freedom – 4:36
7 – Never Trust A Stranger – 3:21
8 – Take My Life – 4:52
9 – Liberty – 4:00
10 – I Will Rise – 5:25

Credits
Jim Ritchie – Lead vocals, bass, percussion
Gordon Cowan – Keyboards, backing vocals
George McConnachie – Drums, percussion
Murray McEwen – Guitars
Andi Tooth – Drums, percussion
Norman Barratt – Producer
Ted Blakeway – Producer

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Gerth Medien GmbH
Distributed By – Grandslam Europe
Licensed From – Pulse Records

Pat Terry – Pat Terry – 1974

Pat Terry entered the music game early in life. He started a band at age 12 that they say stayed together until he finished high school. But after high school it was time to play the game a little more seriously. This is probably the Pat Terry album you’ve never heard. Before the success of The Pat Terry Group Pat actually self released this solo album to very little fanfare. I would assume however that this album led to his deal with Myrrh records the next year. The album has a pretty typical seventies sound though it leans a little more rock than common Jesus music of the era. I say leans towards Rock, not Rock & Roll as this is mainly a pretty soft rock album. I really can’t find much info on this album so I can’t tell you much more. Anyway you probably missed this on so give it a listen and you can hear the origins of The Pat Terry Group.

Tracklist
1 – If You Listen/Power/Introduction – 3:59
2 – Same Sweet Song – 3:54
3 – Iris – 3:36
4 – Seen It Now – 3:34
5 – That’s The Way – 3:24
6 – I Can’t Wait – 3:22
7 – I’ve Been Waiting To Tell You – 2:59
8 – Jesus – 2:44
9 – I Did It – 2:34
10 – Just For You – 2:33
11 – Never Pay The Price – 2:28

Credits
Backing Vocals – Sonny Lallerstedt, Stan Ruffin
Bass – Randy Bugg
Design [Logo] – Joe Estes
Engineer – Stan Dacus
Guitar – Pat Terry
Lead Guitar – Sonny Lallerstedt
Mellotron – Tony Shannon
Percussion – Stan Ruffin
Photography By – Tim Terry
Piano – Pat Terry
Synthesizer – Pat Terry
Vocals – Pat Terry
Written-By – Pat Terry

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Pat Terry
Recorded At – LeFevre Sound Studios
Mixed At – LeFevre Sound Studios

Horizon – Futuristic Triangle – 1993

This is the first album from Sammy Hall and his 2 sons using the band name Horizon. I don’t know who played what instrument as Sammy didn’t document it on the album information. This album is made up of secular cover tracks with the exception of Amazing Grace. We have here the following covers;

Hold On Tight to Your Dream originally by ELO
In My Life originally by The Beatles
Back to Paradise originally by 38 Special
Some Gave All originally by Billy Ray Cyrus
To Love Somebody originally by Bee Gees
Against the Grain originally by Garth Brooks
Homeward Bound originally by Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge Over Troubled Water originally by Simon & Garfunkel

I’m guessing this was just a fun project for Sammy and his sons as they just self released it and if they took it too serious it would have been licensing nightmare. But remember this was 1993 and the record companies hadn’t lost their minds over licensing yet. Horizon would go on to record several more self released albums similar to this one.

Tracklist
1 – Hold On Tight to Your Dream – 3:04
2 – In My Life – 2:25
3 – Back to Paradise – 3:46
4 – Some Gave All – 4:08
5 – To Love Somebody – 3:41
6 – Against the Grain – 2:21
7 – Homeward Bound – 3:17
8 – Bridge Over Troubled Water – 4:46
9 – Amazing Grace – 1:03

Credits
Sammy Hall
Monte Hall
Brannon Hall

Reneé Garcia – Living In The Vertical – 1987

This is the first of 2 solo albums from Reneé. I first saw this album posted in our Facebook group and found it in the stack so gave it a listen. It was described in that post as the “CCM Madonna”. While I generally don’t agree when people compare artists on this one I feel the poster was correct. This album has a definite Madonna pop dance style sound but quite frankly Reneé’s vocals are better. Honestly though I was never a fan of Madonna’s vocals. Anyway a little back ground on Reneé is that she was born in Indiana and moved to Nashville in her mid 20’s. She actually sang backup on several Amy Grant tours before this album so she had some good exposure in the industry. Chris Eaton produced the album and he is well known for “finding” a lot of his projects but I don’t know if this project was his idea or the record companies. Anyway this is a great album and really should have been much better known but perhaps it was just a little late in 1987 for this sound.

Tracklist
1 – More Than Fascination – 4:30
2 – Running From A Legacy – 4:15
3 – I See Love – 5:30
4 – Deepest Love – 6:23
5 – Living In The Vertical – 4:10
6 – I’ve Got My Eye On You – 4:20
7 – The Bounce – 3:57
8 – Imagination – 4:35
9 – I Want To Be Used For You – 4:27

Credits
Administrator [Covert Operations] – Terry Hemmings
Art Direction – Bill Brunt Designs
Backing Vocals – Chris Eaton, Mark Williamson, Reneé Garcia
Bass [Fretless] – Steve Greetham
Cymbal [Additional] – Lang Bliss
Drums, Bass, Programmed By [Percussion], Keyboards – Chris Eaton
Engineer – Laurence Burrage, Steve Boyce-Buckley
Engineer [Additional] – David Holmes, John Revenhall, Jon Sweet
Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Jeff Moseley, Michael Blanton
Guitar – Neil Costello
Lead Guitar – Peter Brooks
Mastered By – Glenn Meadows
Mixed By – Glenn Tommey, Raine Shine
Photography By – Peter Nash
Producer – Chris Eaton
Programmed By [Additional Keyboards] – Richard Osborne
Rhythm Guitar [Additional] – Richard Osborne
Saxophone – Martin Green

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Reunion Records
Copyright © – Reunion Records
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Made By – Discovery Systems – 18A0100B
Recorded At – The Justice Room
Recorded At – Square One Studios
Recorded At – Swot Productions
Mixed At – Crescent Studios
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Philadelphia – Search And Destroy – 1985/2000

Philadelphia were one of the early Christian metal acts starting out in 1982 though they had been together previously as a secular band called Survivor. This is their second album and was about as poorly as their first which wasn’t good. That reception was not due to the quality of the music, it was due to the early fear of heavy metal music in the Christian genre. Personally I think the album was perfect for the era and I’m surprised it wasn’t better accepted. The original vinyl and cassette are very rare but no numbers were published. Lucky for Philadelphia fans the album was re-released for the first time in 2000 by Millenium Eight Records. This release was limited to only 1500 copies and included 5 new tracks. “Please My Love” and “Kids in America” were recorded during a reunion in 1999, while the 3 live songs, “Warlord”, “Razor’s Edge”, and “One Way Out” were recorded at the Cornerstone Christian music festival in 1986. This playlist includes those tracks. The album was again re-released in 2019 on Roxx Records. This release had reworked album art which is a huge improvement over the original poor art.

Tracklist
1 – Search And Destroy – 6:02
2 – Bobby’s Song – 3:51
3 – Oh My Boy – 5:10
4 – Judgement Day – 3:51
5 – Mirror Man – 3:08
6 – Fastrack – 4:32
7 – Showdown – 4:27
8 – Decision Time – 5:56

2000 CD Release Bonus Tracks
9 – Please My Love – 5:22
10 – Kids In America – 3:55
11 – Warlord – 7:26
12 – Razor’s Edge – 5:57
13 – One Way Out – 5:06

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Brian Clark
Drums – Brian Martini
Executive Producer – Bill Bafford
Guitar – Paul Scholling, Ronn Flowers
Layout, Design – Scott Waters
Mastered By – Rob Colwell

Love Chapter Band – City Of Refuge – 1980

Since we uploaded the last album from this band I have learned a little bit about them but still not very much. As I understand it the band was lead by Bard and Doug Buss. They were BC (Canada) Christ’s Ambassadors and part of the Ambassadors in Mission (AIM) program of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. This was their second album on a Praise Records label with this one Being on Tunesmith. But again there I am out of information. I know they did tour across Canada appearing at several PAOC churches but they never made their way to our little town. As for the album it’s another 70’s style album and as usual from them it’s excellent.

Tracklist
1 – It’s Your Friends – 5:23
2 – Don’t Get Caught – 3:32
3 – What Does It Take – 3:12
4 – Don’t Pull That Trigger – 5:00
5 – Just When – 2:49
6 – Stepping Stones – 3:23
7 – Give It Up – 3:36
8 – Learn To Lean – 3:17
9 – City Of Refuge – 7:03

Credits
Lead Vocals – Bard Buss, Doug Buss, Ken Torrance, Dave Russell
Background Vocals – Tracy St. Laurent, Donna Mae Henkel, Barb Buss, Doug Buss, Ken Torrance, Dave Russell, Trev Lindberg
Guitars – Ken Torrance
Bass – Doug Buss
Piano, Synthesizer – Barb Buss, Bob Buckley
Drums – Ed Liu
Percussion – Ed Liu, Tom Wilkstrom, Ken Torrance
Sound Man – Tom Wilkstrom
Master – Bernie Grundman

Companies, etc.
Recorded, Mixed – Little Mountain Sound Co.

Jeff Fenholt – Jesus – 50’s – 1992

A fun 50’s themed project here from Jeff. Like most of his work this was self released and really there’s no way a record label would have touched this album anyway as many of the tracks sound very very familiar musically. That said I love all things 50’s so I love this album. It’s not Lifters level good but it is good nonetheless. I notice that the drummer is Jeff Olson. I don’t now if this is the same Jeff Olson from Trouble but if it is this is quite the style change for him. Rex Delong is on piano. He was in a great 60’s group called The Rumblers so he brings some authenticity to the project. Anyway as I said this is just a fun album that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is real easy to listen to.

Tracklist
1 – Jesus (Rocked My Soul) – 1:58
2 – Praise The Lord Tonite – 2:48
3 – Jesus The Lord – 4:16
4 – Everybody – 1:50
5 – Jesus, My Savior, My Lord – 3:37
6 – Jesus Is The Rock – 2:55
7 – I Got Saved – 2:11
8 – Jesus, You’re So Wonderful – 3:43
9 – I’m In Love – 2:16
10 – Jesus Loves Me – 1:12

Credits
Jeff Fenholt – Vocals, Producer, Arrangement
Larry Hernandez – Guitar
Rex Delong – Piano
Robert Nance – Upright Bass
Jeff Olson – Drums
Rick Balentine – Synthesizer, Producer, Arrangement
Glen Meyercough – Sax

Companies, etc.
Published By – Messiah Music
Published By – Heartwarming Music
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Recorded at – Asaph Recording Studio

Debbie McClendon – I Can Hardly Wait – 1985

Considering how relatively famous this lady is I can’t find anything about how ro where she got into music. Unfortunately it seems like every bio on her starts out when she met and subsequently married writer producer Scott V. Smith. Many of her bio’s don’t even mention this 1985 album. As this isn’t my genre of choice maybe this album was unknown and I just don’t know about it. That said I have listened to this album and it is fantastic for this style of soul. Strangely I keep hearing her style referred to as urban contemporary gospel. I’m not too sure what that is but I guess this is an example of it. To me it’s just a great soul R&B album. Like I say most people don’t even mention this album so maybe you haven’t heard it so here it is. If this is your genre, this is your kind of album. I guarantee it.

Tracklist
1 – Keeper Of My Heart – 4:18
2 – I Can Hardly Wait – 3:04
3 – When I Get In His Presence – 5:44
4 – Hiding In His Love – 4:09
5 – Worship The King – 4:02
6 – No No Doubts – 3:18
7 – I’m Free – 5:07
8 – I’d Rather Be Walking With You – 5:18
9 – When You’ve Got Nothing Left But Love – 6:08

Credits
Arrangments – Harvey Lyon, Scott V. Smith, Howard McCrary
Backing Vocals – Debbie McClendon, Howard Smith, Marietta Waters, Edythe Lyon, Gene Miller, Harvey Lyon
Bass – Leon Gaer
Choir – Bart Smith, Debbie McClendon, Edythe Lyon, Gene Miller, Harvey Lyon, Howard Smith, Julie DeSilva, Marietta Waters, Myrna Rochelle, Rene McClendon, Rod McNeil, Wilma Gibbs
Drums – Bill Maxwell
Drum Programming – Scott V. Smith
Engineer – Chris Desmond, Christomer Banninger, Todd Van Etten, Win Kutz
Executive-Producer – Mike Murdock
Flugelhorn – Charles Davis, Larry Hall
Graphic Design – Rhonda Jesson
Guest Vocals – Howard Smith
Guitar – Dean Parks, James Harrah, Jonathan DuBose
Keyboards – Harlan Rogers
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Christopher Banninger
Percussion – Willie Ornelas, Bill Maxwell
Photography By – Harry Langdon
Producer – Scott V. Smith
Synthesizer – Michael Ruff, Scott V. Smith
Synthesizer Programming – Bill Pearson, Scott V. Smith, Rhett Lawrence, Harvey Lyon
Technician – Mike Wanbsgans
Trombone – Andy Martin
Trumpet – Charles Davis, Larry Hall
Woodwind – Kim Hutchcroft
Written-By – Debbie McClendon, Harvey Lyon, Scott V. Smith, Howard McCrary, Mike Murdock

Companies, etc.
Produced For – Win-Way Productions, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Win-Way Productions, Inc.
Copyright © – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s