Ray Mansfield – Page 5

Rhythm House – Rhythm House – 1991

Well here’s a one off album from a group of relatively unknown group of artists. It was produced by Tommy Sims (Whiteheart) and financed by Tom Willett. The members had a few other projects but for the main part this was their biggest and or first project. There is very little info out there on this “group” so I really can’t ell you too much. I suspect that this was a group of studio musicians thrown together for a project by the executive producer but I could be worng because they don’t appear to have done that musch studio work. So let’s talk about the album instead. It has a cool Pop sound with a top 40 goal. The mix is a little heavy on the drums in my opinion but it works okay and the album is definitely fun. I have no idea whether the album was successful or not but give it a listen and you tell me.

Tracklist
1 – I Believe – 4:08
2 – One By One – 4:12
3 – The Promise – 4:32
4 – Make It Right – 4:40
5 – Time – 4:40
6 – The Other Side – 4:00
7 – Keep On Runnin’ – 3:28
8 – I Choose The Man You Are – 3:56
9 – Hold Me – 4:49
10 – Big Book – 4:49
11 – That’s The Day – 4:35

Credits
Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle, Jimmy Marks, Mark Pogue
Bass, Backing Vocals – Keith Emerson
Drums, Backing Vocals – Marvin Sims
Engineer – Bill Gable
Engineer – Dan Garcia
Executive-Producer – Tom Willett
Executive-Producer Assistant – Holly Benyousky, Mike Scanland
Guitar – Kevin Sowers
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Jeff Pummill
Management, Booking – Street Level Artists Agency
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Mixed By – Csaba Petocz
Musician – Tommy Sims
Organ [B-3], Keyboards, Vocals – Charlie Hueni
Organ [T-3 Organ] – Charlie Hueni
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Piano, Keyboards – Dave Innes
Producer – Dan Posthuma, Tommy Sims
Recorded By – Steve Bishir
Recorded By [Assistant] – Jeffrey Mingle

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – DADC – DIDX 011751
Produced For – RBI Productions
Designed At – Stan Evenson Design, Inc.
Recorded At – Groove Masters
Recorded At – Roman Foods Studio
Recorded At – The Dugout
Recorded At – Kaleidoscope Sound
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Mixed At – Sound Chambers, North Hollywood
Mastered At – Masterdisk

Billy And Sarah Gaines – Billy & Sarah Gaines – 1986

Billy and Sarah Gaines met and began singing together in 1974. They married in 1977 and played churches and coffeehouses across Virginia. From 1977 to 1980 they also sang in a group called Living Sacrifice and got an appearance on The 700 Club in 1978. In 1985 they moved to Nashville where Billy took a job as a Security Job until he got a contract for his songwriting. Shortly after Benson records offered them a recording contract and this album was recorded and released. Though they were better known for the R&B style Benson decided they were better suited for a more easy listening sound that would sell more broadly. Luckily they would return to that R&B sound in a couple albums but Benson was right about this sound at this point as the album was hugely successful. It had 4 CCM charting singles with one of them making in into the top 10. As for the album it is a little too easy listening for me but I know quality when I hear it and this is some quality music.

Tracklist
1 – He’s Risen In Me – 3:23
2 – You Are Faithful – 3:50
3 – I Am Convinced – 2:45
4 – The Part That No One Sees – 4:29
5 – In His Eyes – 3:40
6 – Turned My Mourning Into Dancing – 2:30
7 – No Greater Love – 3:34
8 – Glory To God In The Highest – 3:09
9 – Come Drink At My Table – 4:39
10 – Then The World Will Know – 3:55

Credits
Billy Gaines – Vocals
Sarah Gaines – Vocals
Jon Goin – Guitars
Mark Hammond – Drums
Marty McCall – Background Vocals
Greg Nelson – Producer

Al Denson – Al Denson – 1989

This is Al’s third or fourth album. The history is a little unclear as his previous albums were all self released so there aren’t well known. This album however is what most people think of as his first album as it was the first one on a label and with proper distribution. Al was one of those people that played music his whole life wit his first public performance at age 5 where he played “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on piano. At age of 18 Al played piano for Bob Hope’s USO tour as well as Kenny Rogers. That’s some pretty good history right there. In 1981 he released a 7″ single with 2 tracks that I am completely unable to find but it appeared to be secular judging from the song titles. He provided music at Southern Baptist Youth Conventions conferences and obviously became a hit with the youth movement and in this time as I said he release 2 or 3 albums. He then signed with Benson records which brings us to this album. I would say it’s a softrock album but there’s a couple tracks that pop his sound pretty good. The album had 3 CCM charting singles with “Peace Be Still” doing the best at #12 but it was his next album that really took off. I’m looking forward to hearing that one next.

Tracklist
1 – Reckless Heart – 3:15
2 – Love Is Taking Hold – 4:57
3 – Heaven Knows My Name – 3:34
4 – Right Where You Are – 5:08
5 – On The Upbeat – 3:45
6 – Strong Love – 3:29
7 – It Takes The Strong To Surrender – 4:08
8 – Warm Place In A Cold World – 4:29
9 – Faces And Names – 3:56
10 – Peace Be Still – 4:03

Credits
Backing Vocals – Chris Harris, Don Nalle, Ed Nalle, Gary Janney, Guy Penrod, Mark Heimermann, Mike Eldred, Michele Wagner, Rob Neal
Bass – Jackie Street, Lee Jones
Design – Joel Anderson
Drums, Percussion – Mark Hammond
Engineer – David Murphy, John Yandell, Keith Compton, Ronnie Brookshire
Guitar – Mark Baldwin, Tim Norris
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Producer, Executive-Producer – Dan Cleary
Trumpet, Soloist – George Tidwell

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright © – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – Mitchell Family Books, Inc.
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Recorded At – The Doghouse
Recorded At – Omni B
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – 21st Street Recording
Mixed At – Johnny dB’s Basement
Mastered At – Mastermix

Darrell Mansfield Band – The Vision – 1983

This was Darrell’s 5th album (his first was with Gentle Faith). Most people believe “Revelation” was his breakthrough album but I would argue this one is. This one established his blues rock sound that many people we’re hungering for in the mid 80’s. The album also contains a new version of his Gentle Faith song “Jerusalem”. This is a song that Darrell is very proud of and has reworked several times over the years and there’s even a music video for it out there. I guess the big hit of the album would have been “Radio” which Darrell played religiously at his live shows through the 80’s and 90’s. Personally I am not the biggest fan of the production of this album and I’ve changed it up slightly to a bit of a fuller sound. This is one album that we spent hours listening to back in 1983 and it’s one we love to this day.

Tracklist
1 – Lay Down This World – 1:07
2 – No More Blues – 3:40
3 – Hard Times – 3:26
4 – The Vision – 5:05
5 – Radio – 3:52
6 – Walk Across Heaven – 4:14
7 – Empty Hearts – 4:05
8 – Can’t Do Nothin’ Without Jesus Love – 3:55
9 – Jerusalem – 3:42
10 – Have You Been Listenin’ – 1:25

Credits
Art Direction – Alex MacDougall
Backing Vocals – Anthony Dean, Jeff Nicholson, Rosemary Butler, Tom Howard, Virgil Beckham
Bass – Abraham Laboriel, Charlie Souza, Jeff Nicholson, John Patitucci
Design [Album Design] – Gary DeLacy, Rick Griffin
Drums – Bill Lordan, Billy Maxwell, Paul Angers
Engineer – Brook Johnson, Chris Taylor, Linda Schaffer, Willie Harlan
Guitar – Anthony Dean, Dennis Carothers, Don Gerber, Eric Turner, Hadley Hockensmith, Jerry Swallow, Steve Kara, Virgil Beckham
Keyboards – Dave Garland, Harlan Rogers, Tom Howard
Lead Vocals, Harmonica [Harp] – Darrell Mansfield
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Percussion – Alex Acu a
Photography By – Linda Baily, Scott Lockwood, Valerie Sutter
Producer – Darrell Mansfield, Tommy Coomes, Virgil Beckham

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&S Records
Copyright (c) – A&S Records
Recorded At – Rocshire Studios,I.A.M. Studios, Irvine, Whitefield Studios
Mixed At – Rocshire Studios,I.A.M. Studios, Irvine
Mastered At – A&M Studios

4HIM – Face The Nation – 1991

4HIM followed up on their wildly successful first album with this wildly successful second album. It pretty well follows the same recipe as their first album but with a little more sizzle. The album had 4 CCM charting singles with 3 of the 4 making it into the top 10. “A Man You Would Write About” mad it up to #2 and was followed by “Over The Horizon” which only made it to #12. The next two singles “Why?” and “He Never Changes” made it to #1 and $4. 4HIM was probably Benson’s biggest selling artist and they did a great job of promoting them. So if you liked their first album your likely going to love this one too.

Tracklist
1 – He Never Changes – 4:28
2 – Puzzles – 4:40
3 – Why? – 4:54
4 – When The Walls Come Down – 4:20
5 – Chisel Meets The Stone – 4:49
6 – Face The Nation – 4:35
7 – Over The Horizon – 4:01
8 – A Man You Would Write About – 4:53
9 – When I Get Home – 3:56
10 – Every Reason To Believe – 3:35
11 – Take Me To The Place – 4:41
12 – When I Get Home (Reprise) – 2:29

Credits
Art Direction – Connie Harrington
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Billy Simon
Bass [Upright] – Craig Nelson
Contractor – Kristin Wilkinson
Design – Red’s Catfish
Drum Programming, Programmed By [Bass] – Gary Lunn
Drums – Kenny Malone, Mark Hammond, Gary Lunn
Edited By – Bret Teegarden
Engineer – Bret Teegarden, Rick Will, Ronnie Brookshire, Steve Pinkston,
Executive-Producer – Andy Ivey
Guitar – Dennis Dearing, Jerry McPherson, Tom Hemby
Keyboards – Don Koch, Mark Heimermann
Mandolin – Tom Hemby
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By – Andy Ivey, Bret Teegarden
Orchestra – Bob Mason, Carl Gorodetzky, Craig Nelson, David Angell, David Davidson, Dennis Molchan, Jim Grosjean, John Catchings, Kristin Wilkinson, Laura Molyneaux, Lee Larrison, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Pamela Sixfin, Ted Madsen
Orchestrated By – Russell Mauldin
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Piano – Reed Arvin
Producer – Chris Harris, Don Koch, Reed Arvin
Programmed By [Synclavier] – Reed Arvin
Recorded By – Lynn Fuston
Vocals [Additional] – Chris Harris, Mark Heimermann

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Copyright © – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Distributed By – Benson Music Group
Pressed By – DADC – DIDX-009882
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – Casa De Pepe Music
Mixed At – Duckworth Studio
Edited At – Duckworth Studio
Mastered At – Mastermix

Manna – Manna – 1972

So if you think Denny Correll was, well, a little boring here is the proof he could actually rock. Denny was still doing some secular work after he joined Love Song and this is one of them and while this is not an overtly CCM album there is a common Christian theme throughout the album. The band also included guitarist Anthony Dean who worked with Darrell Mansfield for years. This is a great 70’s style Rock & Roll album that had a worldwide release and I’m a little surprised it’s not better known. The single of course was “Good Old Rock And Roll” which was picked entirely based on it’s name because it’s probably the weakest track on the album. There are many better tracks that could have been chosen and then perhaps we would have heard of this album. So here’s a little known piece of Denny Correll history that deserves to be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – Good Old Rock And Roll – 2:45
2 – Tell Me Why – 3:25
3 – Save The Country – 3:05
4 – What Ya Gonna Do? – 3:03
5 – We Can Make It – 3:08
6 – Red Man – 4:45
7 – Southern Bound – 2:39
8 – Clap Your Hands – 2:56
9 – Hold On – 2:47
10 – New Day’s Coming – 4:03
11 – Children Of The Mountain – 4:56

Credits
Drums – Bobby Guidotti
Guitar – Anthony Dean, James Daniel
Vocals – Denny Correll

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman

Paul Clark – A New Horizon – 1981

This is Paul’s 8th album but it had a first for him. The album had his first CCM charting single with “Tell Them All” making it to #18. Paul certainly had many great songs before this but finally CCM saw fit to put him on the charts. As usual however the charting single is not the best track on the album. That would be “Here To Stay” which is an excellent duet with Kelly Willard. It’s a much better track that should have singled. The album has a Soft Rock sound with a jazzy feel in places and is pretty good but a little repetitive in places. While a good album this is not his best work as his 70’s work was phenomenal but his 80’s work was more mainstream.

Tracklist
1 – Tell Them All – 3:12
2 – Breakaway – 4:54
3 – Broken Fool – 3:12
4 – One You Love – 3:45
5 – He’ll Use Me – 3:33
6 – Every Breath – 3:54
7 – Here To Stay – 3:48
8 – Hold On – 4:09
9 – Distant Shore – 3:17
10 – More Than Survivors – 5:06

Credits
A&R – Neal Joseph
Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Guitar – Curt Bartlett
Artwork, Design – Paul Gross
Bass [Fretted], Bass [Fretless] – Lee Jones
Design [Inner Sleeve] – Dennis Hill
Drums, Percussion – Jim Delong
Engineer – Bobby Cotton
Engineer [Additional] – Bill Maxwell, Chris Bauer, Peter Haden
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography By – Scott Hensel
Piano, Electric Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Written-By – Paul Clark
Saxophone, Flute, Synthesizer – Dan Mardock

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Sound Recorders, Omaha
Recorded At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mixed At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.

Fernando Ortega – In A Welcome Field – 1991

Fernando was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico but spent parts of his youth in Ecuador and Barbados as his father was employed by the United States Department of State. He attended University of New Mexico and received his bachelor’s degree in music education. Some of you are saying, hey this album came out in 2000. Actually this album was first released in 1991 on small Christian label Urgent. As his popularity grew the album was rereleased in 2000 on Discovery House Music. Though Fernando is an accomplished piano player the album does not concentrate on his piano playing and is instead a full instrument suite album. It leans to easy Listening but is enjoyable and musically sound. As for Fernando he would go on to record many more albums as well as serve as worship leader at Anglican and Evangelical Churches. He is active and touring today and you can find out where he’s playing next on his website.

Tracklist
1 – Through The Fire – 4:46
2 – Night Of Your Return – 4:41
3 – Walking On The Water – 4:40
4 – Father Of My Heart – 4:10
5 – A Son Of Your Love – 4:30
6 – Into The Morning – 4:43
7 – In A Welcome Field – 4:23
8 – Chimayo – 3:41
9 – ‘Til I Reach My Home – 4:52
10 – Lord, I Want To Be Like Jesus – 3:48

Credits
Ben Rodgers – Engineer, Mixing
Eddie Ashworth – Engineer
Fernando Ortega – Composer, Primary Artist
Gordon Garrison – Engineer
Herb Schucher – Drums
John Schreiner – Composer, Producer
Mike Reese – Mastering
Phillip Sandifer – Executive Producer

Farrell And Farrell – A Portrait Of Us All – 1979

This is the second album from Bob and Jayne and Word records (The distributor) promoted it like crazy. It included the enduring hit “Boundless Love” (originally written and released by Dennis Loewen) which made it to #13 on the CCM charts. The bigger hit on the album was actually “All You Need” which climbed to #3. This track featured Amy Grant on background vocals which must have had something to do with the albums producer Brown Bannister. Bob said in an interview that he sought out Bannister after hearing Amy’s first album. Brown listen to some of the Farrell’s first album and wanted to do this album. They headed into Gold Mine Studios in Nashville, which was owned by Chris Christian, and cut the album. Farrell & Farrell are not exactly my preferred genre but they always seemed to have the ability to get a few tracks on each album that I liked. Most of this album is soft rock but there’s a few tracks that keep me interested. This in one of the CCM era albums that everyone should listen to.

Tracklist
1 – I Couldn’t Live Without You – 3:44
2 – Fallen – 3:55
3 – Put More Love In Me – 3:23
4 – Can’t Ask Anything More – 2:27
5 – Boundless Love – 3:34
6 – No Need – 3:04
7 – Find It In The Word – 2:52
8 – Jailhouse Rock (Acts 16:16-34) – 1:50
9 – All You Need – 4:44
10 – Scars – 4:12
11 – A Place In His Heart For You – 3:03

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Jon Goin, Larry Byrom, Ron Elder
Backing Vocals – Amy Grant, Ava Gardner, Cindy Richardson, Marie Clark
Bass – Jack Williams, Jerry Bridges, Mike Leach
Congas, Bongos – Terry McMillan
Cymbal – Terry McMillan
Drums – Kenny Malone, Roger Clark
Electric Guitar – Jon Goin, Larry Byrom
Electric Piano – Randy Goodrum, Bobby Ogden, Shane Keister
Flugelhorn – Harrison Calloway, Jr.
Flute – Quittman Dennis
Horn – Charles Rose, Harrison Calloway, Jr., Harvey Thompson, Ron Eades
Lead Vocals – Bob Farrell, Jayne Farrell
Lyricon – Quittman Dennis
Organ – Shane Keister
Percussion – Roger Clark, Terry McMillan
Piano [Acoustic Piano] – Bobby Ogden, Randy Goodrum, Shane Keister
Strings – Shelly Kurland Strings
Synthesizer – Shane Keister
Saxophone, Lyricon – Quittman Dennis
Trombone – Charles Rose

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Newpax Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Newpax Records, Inc.
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.
Published By – Bug & Bear Music
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Produced For – Chris Christian Productions
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Recorded At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Stewart & Kyle – Isn’t It Strange – 1978

This is the second album of theirs that we’ve featured and I still can’t find out anything about them. This is their second albumand it appears to be U.K. only release except that it was re-released in Germany in 1993 on CD. I have discovered that Chris Kyle has continued his music career as a studio musician and actually appears on lots of projects and is still working currently. Alistair Stewart appears to have moved on from a recording career as there is no activity from him after 1992. This album is also firmly in the easy listening category with a couple upbeat tracks. Some real talent in these guys and I’m surprised this didn’t get an American release. Anyway enjoy the soothing sounds of Stewart & Kyle.

Tracklist
1 – Come Early – 3:49
2 – America – 4:17
3 – C’est La Vie – 3:23
4 – When Love Came Down – 2:52
5 – Open Boat – 4:45
6 – Do You Remember? – 3:57
7 – Don’t Hold Me Back – 4:42
8 – Many Times – 3:25
9 – Living In These Days – 4:57
10 – The Sad And Lonely – 4:14

Credits
Vocals, Guitar, Written-By – Chris Kyle
Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Written-By – Alistair Stewart