Ray Mansfield – Page 44

Randy Stonehill – Judgment Day At The Speede Mart – 1991

This is a rather odd release. Unfortunately that’s a pretty common phrase when working with Larry Norman releases. In 1991 Larry re-released Randy’s Born Twice album from 1971. As a bonus of sorts he included an album of very early Randy live cuts. Now the odd part, the new album got released as a b side on both vinyl cuts of the album meaning, The black vinyl has side one of “Judgment Day At The Speede Mart” and side two of “Born Twice”, the blue vinyl has side one of “Born Twice” and side two of “Judgment Day At The Speede Mart”. Also there was nothing printed on the labels of either album. Pretty rare error except when it came to stuff from Larry. Anyway we’ve gathered it here into one album. As I said this is a collection of early live Randy cuts and you can tell it’s early as at times the audience doesn’t kind of get Randy’s humour. Also Randy is not as confident with his humour. The album has a few Larry tracks which is kind of fun to listen to. This is a must have if you’re a fan of Randy’s and if you’re a fan of Larry’s I’d consider it a should have.

Tracklist
1 – Forget Your Hexagram – 2:53
2 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus? – 2:32
3 – Lonely By Myself – 3:49
4 – God’s Not Dead – 2:46
5 – I’m a Servant – 3:13
6 – Norman’s Kitchen – 6:26
7 – Pardon Me – 3:46
8 – Sunset Road to Nowhere – 4:04
9 – Hasty Heart – 3:47
10 – He’s A Friend Of Mine – 4:06

Scepter – Scepter – 1982

Scepter is/was Craig Smith, Rick Crawford, Si Simonson, and Warren Baker and while you may not be aware of Scepter you may know these artists as all of them except Baker had solo careers. I have no idea how or why this album came about and I’m a little unsure why it wasn’t a little more known especially considering it was produce by Wayne Watson. Usually projects from Wayne got a lot more attention than this album did. It starts out as a worship oriented album but gets more upbeat as you listen to it. I think I can hear some early Petra influence. Don’t confuse these guys with the Scepter out of Canada. That version of Scepter actually changed their name to The Keep to avoid confusion between the 2 bands.

1 – Changing Me – 3:40
2 – I Believe – 4:30
3 – All You Need is Jesus – 3:34
4 – Giving It Up – 2:17
5 – I Will Be There – 3:49
6 – One More Time – 3:37
7 – Without You – 3:36
8 – Sweet Harmony – 2:57
9 – I’m So Glad – 2:46
10 – Keep on Trustin’ – 4:08

Shack of Peasants – Gospel Blues Volume 2 – 1993

This is the follow up to Classic Blues Volume 1. Strangely it had a different name in that it was called “Gospel Blues Volume 2” vs “Classic Blues Volume 1”. I am guessing that these songs are more Gospel oriented. The album features the vocals of Crystal Lewis, Darrell Mansfield, Philip Bardowell, and Lanny Cordola. The highlight of the album is a version of “John The Revelator” by Crystal Lewis and Darrell Mansfield. This is a must listen if you are a blues fan and it may be one of the best CCM blues albums ever released.

Tracklist
1 – Don’t Wanna Go Down There – 2:17
2 – Samson and Delilah – 2:29
3 – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot / Swing Down, Chariot – 3:30
4 – Ring Them Bells – 3:11
5 – I’m Going To That City – 3:47
6 – A Shack In Negev – 2:14
7 – Hymns Of The Meek – 3:34
8 – John The Revelator – 2:29
9 – One More River To Cross – 2:30
10 – There’ll Be No Grumbler There – 2:12
11 – Won’t Be Long ‘Til Paradise – 4:14

Credits
Philip Bardowell – Vocals
Michael Sean Black – Executive Producer
Lanny Cordola – Producer, Arranger, Songwriter, Guitars, Bass, Dobro, Banjo, Mandolin, Jaw Harp, Vocals
Chris Farmer – Vocals
Gary Thomas Griffin – Producer, Engineer, Songwriter, Bass Harmonica, Melodica, Accordion, Hi Hat, Tambourine, Vocals
D.D. Howard – Vocals
Carol Huston – Vocals
Taso Kotsos – Tambourine, Snare Drum, Shakers
Crystal Lewis – Vocals
Chris Lizotte – Vocals
Darrell Mansfield – Harmonica, Vocals
Fletcher Quigley – Vocals
Brian Ray – Executive Producer

Albrecht, Roley & Moore – Gently Flowing Feeling – 1977

This is the first album from Albrecht, Roley And Moore. Mike Albrecht and Scott Roley formed the band in Georgia in the early 70’s and were joined by Alan Moore to form the trio in 1977. The album is a rather typical 70’s Jesus Music album with strong country vibes. The album was released on White Horse Records and was only one of two albums released by this label. That’s a pretty short lived label. As such the album had a pretty limited release and most people may not even know about it. Also strange is that the album was the only one ever recorded at Riverside Studios in Bismark North Dakota. I have no idea how these guys ended up in Bismark but I’ve been to Bismark and it really is a town in the middle of no where.

Tracklist
1 – Take Me To The Comfort – 2:16
2 – Engaged – 1:05
3 – Further Up & Further In – 3:33
4 – Over The Next Horizon – 3:27
5 – Constantly – 3:16
6 – Lead Me Through – 3:19
7 – Shotgun – 2:45
8 – Journey – 1:32
9 – White Seagull – 3:55
10 – Drink In The Soft Sound – 2:58
11 – To Keep Me Struggling On – 3:50
12 – Gently Flowing Feeling – 2:07

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Alan Moore, John Michael Talbot, Michael Albrecht, Scott Roley
Arranged By, Conductor – Greg Nelson
Banjo, Dobro – John Michael Talbot
Bass – Alan Moore, David Swenson, Greg Nelson, Russ Daughtry, Steven Alexandersen
Engineer – Bill Townsend
Engineer [Asisstant] – David Swenson
Executive-Producer – Ray Nenow
Fiddle – Tim Briggs
Illustration, Design – Chuck Strantz
Lead Guitar – Bob Hartman
Management, Booking – Ray Nenow
Mixed By [Final Mix Engineered By] – Travis Turk
Orchestra – Pinebook Players
Pedal Steel Guitar – Al Perkins
Percussion – Bob Gelotte, Steve Hanna
Photography – James Elliot
Piano, Electric Piano – Greg Nelson, Steven Alexandersen
Producer – Greg Nelson, The Col. And The Gang
Remix – Monty Matthews, Randy Matthews, Ray Nenow
Vibraphone – David Ringenbach
Vocals – Alan Moore, Michael Albrecht, Scott Roley

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – White Horse Records
Copyright © – Windy Music Company
Distributed By – Windy Distributor Company
Published By – Windy Music Company
Recorded At – Riverside Studios, Bismark, North Dakota
Mixed At – Ironside Recording Studio
Pressed By – Wakefield Manufacturing – 31797

Roby Duke – Come Let Us Reason – 1984

This is Roby’s second album and his first on Good News Records. While his first album was a budget affair this one had some money. The album is mainly an easy listening project with a couple of 80’s pop songs for the younger audience. The album had 2 CCM charting tracks, “Come Let Us Reason” made it to #11, and “Watching For You” made it to #35. Looking through the credits it was interesting to note that Dann Huff played some of the guitar tracks. I swear Dann was on almost every CCM album in this period. Also interestingly credited for background vocals was Mister Mister. I can hear their sound on several tracks but truthfully I have no idea what tracks they helped out on.

Tracklist
1 – Come Let Us Reason – 3:38
2 – All Lost – 3:31
3 – I’m Persuaded – 3:44
4 – Watching For You – 3:58
5 – Fight The Fight – 3:15
6 – Win Or Lose (Callin’) – 4:00
7 – Here I Am – 3:49
8 – Closer To You – 3:14
9 – Lay It Down – 3:39
10 – There Is Just One Way – 3:34

Credits
Arranged By – Harlan Rogers, John Schreiner, Roby Duke
Arranged By [String Arragements] – Harlan Rogers
Art Direction – Dan Lienart
Backing Vocals – Kelly Willard, Mister Mister, Richard Page, Roby Duke, Steve George
Bass – John Patitucci, Nathan East
Co-producer [Associate Producer] – Roby Duke
Concept By [Album Concept] – Roby Duke
Coordinator [Production] – Teri Piro
Drum Programming [TR 606 Roland] – Roby Duke
Drums – Bob Wilson
Engineer [Assistant] – Steven Ford, Todd Van Etten
Engineer [Technical] – Tom Ferguson
Executive-Producer – Freddie Piro
Guitar – Dann Huff, Wayne Brasel
Keyboards – Harlan Rogers, John Schreiner
Lighting – Dan Lienart, Teri Piro, Wendy Duke
Other [Chief Hoser] – Heeb Lee Otter
Other [Cover – Sax] – Harry “The Ferg” Browning alias Dewey Jack
Other [Location Provided By] – Bill Cole, Shirley Cole
Photography By – David Randle
Producer, Engineer – Win Kutz
Saxophone – Larry Williams
Synthesizer – Larry Williams, Roby Duke

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Good News Records
Copyright © – Good News Records
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – Δ26424
Lacquer Cut At – Sheffield Lab Matrix – Δ6422
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s

First Call – Somethin’ Takes Over – 1987

This is the third album from First Call. It features the same lineup as their previous two albums and the magic continued with this combo. The album had 4 top 10 CCM charting singles including “The Reason We Sing” which sat at #1 for 6 weeks. The other three top 10 singles were, O Sifuni Mungu at #9, Back To His Heart at #10, and Lord Of All also at #10. The band actually never thought they would be as popular as they were and in fact when they started they just wanted to put out a Christmas album while still working on their solo careers. This album is a more worship oriented album and while not my style there is no denying that its a great album.

Tracklist
1 – The Comin’ Of The Lord – 3:21
2 – Somethin’ Takes Over – 3:23
3 – The Reason We Sing – 3:33
4 – Billy On The Boulevard – 4:14
5 – Forever In His Care – 4:03
6 – O Sifuni Mungu (All Creatures Of Our God And King) – 5:41
7 – The Look – 4:46
8 – Back To His Heart – 3:05
9 – Double Talk – 4:17
10 – Lord Of All – 4:59

Credits
Wayne Berry – Songwriter
George Binkley III – Strings
Mike Brignardello – Bass
Jonathan David Brown – Engineer
Cole Burgess – Contractor, Alto Sax
Paul Butcher – Trumpet
Paul Butcher – Trumpet
J.T. Cantwell – Engineer
John Chisum – Songwriter
John Darnall – Acoustic Guitar
Randall Dennis – Songwriter
Mark Douthit – Soprano & Alto Sax
Connie Ellisor – Strings
First Call – Vocal Arrangements
Carl Gorodetzky – Strings
Barry Green – Trombone
Mark Hammond – Drums, Percussion
Mike Haynes – Trumpet
Tom Hemby – Guitar
Robert Heuer – Horn
JB Baird – Engineer, Mixed
Neal Joseph – Producer
Bonnie Keen – Vocals
Shane Keister – Songwriter
Lee Larrison – Strings
Les Mas – Vocal Percussion
Sam Levine – Alto Sax
David Maddux – Producer, Songwriter, Arrangements, Piano, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Vocals
Ted Madsen – Strings
Asukulu Yunu Makalay – Songwriter
Pam Mark Hall – Songwriter
Rich Mayes – Bass Trombone
Tom McAninch – Horn
Marty McCall – Songwriter, Vocals
Paul McCusker – Songwriter
Chris McDonald – Trombone
Phill McHugh – Songwriter
Jerry McPherson – Guitar
Doug Moffet – Tenor Sax
Dennis Molchan – Strings
Laura Molyneaux – Strings
Farrell Morris – Percussion
Mmunga Mwenebulongo Mulongoy – Songwriter
Nashville String Machine – Strings
Craig Nelson – Acoustic Bass
John David Parker – Mix Assistant
Bill Pearce – Trombone
Brett Perry – Assistant Engineer
Rick Ricker – Horn
John Rommel – Trumpet
Clarke Schleicher – Engineer
Pam Sixfin – Strings
Buddy Skipper – Tenor Sax
Chris Teal – Strings
Keith Thomas – Track Arrangements, Programming, Keyboards
Becky Thurman – Songwriter
Geoff Thurman – Songwriter
Dick Tunney – Songwriter
Melodie Tunney – Songwriter, Vocals
Hank Williams – Mastered

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – The Bennett House
Mixed At – 16th Avenue Sound
Recorded At – The Lawrence Welk “Champagne” Studio, Nashville, TN.
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Recorded At – Audio Media Recorders
Mastered At – Mastermix
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.

Xavier – Xavier – 1982

This is an interesting album historically speaking. In 1979 Petra recorded their Washes Whiter Than album at the Bee Jay Recording Studio. That studio is owned by Eric Schabacker. The story goes that Eric was impressed with Greg X. Volz’s vocals and subsequently wanted Greg to record an album of songs written by him. Apparently it took a few years for the idea to work itself out but here is Greg doing a selection of songs written by Eric Schabacker. The album even featured Chip Meyers and Joel Balin who worked on the Washes Whiter Than album. The album was released using Greg’s middle name as the title and artist name and only 1000 copies were printed making it very rare. Eric produced the project but for some reason used the name Jonathan Fitzwilliam. Putting aside all the strangeness of the album it’s a pretty straight forward secular pop album. It’s actually pretty good and I think it might have sold well as a proper release but given the legalities of record deals and contracts it probably could never be properly released.

Tracklist
1 – Outside Lookin’ In – 3:09
2 – Heart Songs – 4:23
3 – The Next Move Is Yours – 3:38
4 – If You Come To Me – 4:27
5 – Falling In Love With Me Again – 4:02
6 – Don’t Look Back – 3:25
7 – Someone Needing Someone – 3:09
8 – Last Song – 3:57
9 – Who Loves You – 3:18
10 – You Still Got The Time – 3:10
11 – Waiting For You – 3:31
12 – I Believe In You – 4:47

Credits
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Carol Becker Yarian, Teresa Atwell, Tracey Balin
Bass – Chip Meyers
Cover [Cover Art] – John Beardsley
Design Concept [Cover Concept] – Jonathan Fitzwilliam
Drums – Randy Nichols
Engineer – Andy deGanahl, Bill Vermillion, Dana Cornock
Engineer [Remix Engineer] – Bill Vermillion
Guitar [Guitars] – Joel Balin
Keyboards, Arranged By [String Arrangements] – George Atwell
Lead Guitar [2nd Lead Guitar] – Bruce Brookshire
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Xavier
Mastered By – Jack Hunt, Larry Boden
Producer – Jonathan Fitzwilliam
Producer [Produced By … With Special Assistance From] – George Atwell, Xavier
Written-By – Jacqueline St. Laurent (tracks: A1), Jonathan Fitzwilliam

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – BeeJay Recording
Recorded At – Bee Jay Recording Studio
Mastered At – JVC Cutting Center
Published By – Schabraf

Sonseed – First Fruit – 1981

This band/album are one of the strangest stories in Christian music. Sonseed were a Christian band formed in 1978 at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, New York. Yes this was a catholic band. They came together to play songs at the 75th anniversary of the church. Several members from that day continued on and in 1981 recorded and self released this album. Okay nothing strange there but in 2009 someone uploaded to YouTube an appearance the band had made on a local religious television show. The song they uploaded was “Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine” which is a real catchy ska track and the YouTube video took off with millions of views. The Arena Rock Recording Company soon put out an EP featuring 5 tracks from the album. They subsequently re-released the entire album in 2023. There was apparently some argument as to whether the album even existed in 2009 but indeed it did and here it is today. There are countless articles all over the internet about the band and if you’re interested it makes some great reading. As for the album it mainly has a great 70’s sound and I loved it instantly upon listening to it. It even has a really good cover of “Sail On” by the Imperials. I assume it never really got any attention in the industry as the band were catholic which is too bad, people would have loved it.

Tracklist
1 – Born Of The Flesh – 2:27
2 – Another Kind Of Love Song – 3:15
3 – Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine – 2:43
4 – The Gospel Ship – 3:01
5 – Sonseed – 2:52
6 – The Opened Door – 2:58
7 – Sail On – 2:12
8 – Oh Happy Day – 3:37
9 – Gettin’ Back – 2:36
10 – And The Father Will Dance – 2:48
11 – Say Yes – 2:21

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Frank Esposito
Backing Vocals – Anne Lessing, Jimmy Archer, Joe Ciccone, Melody M. Sorrentino
Design – Angela Marie Franco
Design [Logo] – Joe Ciccone
Drums – Nicky Sciarra
Engineer – Audie Lebensfeld, Joe Marciano
Lead Vocals – Steve Musso
Percussion – Tommy Zawacki
Producer – Patricia Costagliola
Twelve-String Guitar – Karen Archer

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Systems Two

Generation – Brutal Reality – 1993

This is another project from Caesar Kalinowski & Mark Robertson of The Stand. I really enjoyed The Stand albums but this one not so much. I guess this would be best described as industrial thrash. I do like the Indus trail sound but not the thrash element. That said this album was well received and well timed. Most music was going the way of grunge and most metal heads did not like that transition. So a thrash album in 1993 was well timed and a good business decision. I have read some other reviews of this album and most reviewers agree that it is an excellent album and they love the addition of the industrial sound into the thrash sound. Personally it’s not my cup of tea but I admit that it’s probably a pretty good album.

Tracklist
1 – Alive – 4:10
2 – Retro-Vision – 0:53
3 – Believe In Miracles – 3:38
4 – I Live In Flesh – 5:01
5 – Revolutionism – 3:34
6 – Nothing To Give – 4:06
7 – RM. 101 – 0:38
8 – Still You Died – 3:57
9 – Chemikill – 4:38
10 – Hunger – 4:52
11 – Psalm 69 – 4:23

Credits
Artwork, Design – Nucleus
Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Programmed By, Producer [Additional] – Mark Robertson
Edited By – Ian Eskelin
Engineer [2nd] – Max Hsu
Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, Peter Gavin Morkel
Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards, Programmed By, Producer, Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski
Lead Guitar – Bruce Franklin
Mastered By – Tom Baker
Vocals, Guitar – Randy Kerkman

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Future Disc
Recorded At – The Sonic Temple
Mixed At – The Sonic Temple

Barratt Band – Voice – 1983

This is the final album from the Barratt Band. The lineup changed slightly from their first album with Dave Engel replacing Russell Caldwell on drums. This album is fantastic as was their first one and it is the epitome of what my group of friends listened to in 1983. Of course we didn’t actually listen to this one because it as only released in the UK and NZ & Australia. Why their albums were not released in North America is completely beyond me. They both are excellent and I’m positive would have sold well. The sound is a Pop Rock sound and I guarantee you’ll enjoy this one.

Tracklist
1 – December – 6:13
2 – Stereo – 6:28
3 – Computer Failure – 2:52
4 – Loud Silence – 5:09
5 – Play My Guitar – 5:39
6 – Exit Through Exit – 3:07
7 – Being Alive – 3:17
8 – The Voice – 7:32

Credits
Bass – Dave Markee, Les Williams
Drums – Dave Engels
Engineer – Derek Murray
Guitar, Vocals – Norman Barratt
Keyboards – Dave Morris
Producer – Norman Barratt
Written-By – Dave Morris, Norman Barratt

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Chapel Lane Productions
Distributed By – Concorde Productions