Ray Mansfield – Page 70

Philip Bailey – The Wonders Of His Love – 1984

Most reviews of this period of Philip Bailey refer to him as an ex member of Earth, Wind & Fire. That’s not true as Bailey worked with EW&F well into the late 90’s. Now that I have that out of the way this was Bailey’s second solo album. He did parallel releases on both secular and Christian albums through the 80’s. I think it can be said that this was his biggest album on the Christian side of his career. It had 3 CCM singles with “I Will No Wise Cast You Out” making it to #4 despite it’s rather oddly grammered title. “The Wonders Of His Love” and “He Don’t Lie” both singled in the 20’s. This album was not my style in the 80’s so I don’t think I ever intentionally listened to it. Now that I have matured I can say that this is a very good album. Bailey’s high tenor voice is exceptional and not many can match his vocal quality. The song writing is also very good, not exceptional but very good. His vocals are just so strong that it makes any lyrical shortcomings irrelevant. If you skipped this one in the 80’s because R & B wasn’t your style give it a listen now. In fact I wouldn’t even say it’s a R & B album. Give it a listen and tell me how you would classify it, I decided it is Pop.

Tracklist
1 – I Will No Wise Cast You Out – 4:41
2 – I Want To Know You – 4:32
3 – God Is Love – 4:58
4 – Sing A New Song – 4:58
5 – Safe In God’s Love – 3:45
6 – I Am Gold – 5:04
7 – He Don’t Lie – 4:59
8 – The Wonders Of His Love – 5:05
9 – Make Us One – 5:47

Credits
Arranged By [Horn] – Jerry Peters (tracks: A1, B1, B4)
Arranged By [String] – Jerry Peters (tracks: A1, B1, B2, B4)
Arranged By [Synthesizer] – Leonard Caston (tracks: A5)
Backing Vocals – Carl Carwell (tracks: A1 to B2, B4), Carolyn Caston (tracks: A3, A5), Greg Walker (tracks: A4, B1, B4), Gwen Brown (tracks: A4, B1, B4), Jeanette Hawes (tracks: A1 to B1, B4), Julia Tillman (tracks: A4, B1, B4), Leonard Caston (tracks: A3, A5), Margeret Briggs (tracks: A4, B1)
Bass – Freddie Washington (tracks: A4, B1), James Jamerson, Jr. (tracks: A1, A3, A5, B2, B4)
Concertmaster – Charles Veal
Drums – Jerry Brown
Engineer – Jack Joseph Puig
Engineer [Second @ Bill Schnee] – David Schober
Engineer [Second @ Hollywood], Mixed By – Ross Pallone
Engineer [Second @ Mama Jo’s] – Steven Ford
Guitar – Paul Jackson, Jr. (tracks: A1, A3 to B3)
Keyboards – Charles Williams (tracks: B1, B4), George Duke (tracks: A2, B3), Skip Scarborough (tracks: A1, B2)
Keyboards, Organ – Jerry Peters (tracks: A3, A4)
Mixed By [Second Engineer] – Mike Wuellner
Percussion – Paulinho DaCosta (tracks: A1, A2, B1, B3), Ralph Johnson (tracks: A3, B2)
Producer, Backing Vocals – Philip Bailey
Synthesizer – Alan Pasqua (tracks: A1, A5, B2, B4)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders
Mixed At – Hollywood Sound Recorders
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △26563

Dr. Edward Daniel Taylor – The Miracle Faith Telethon – 1990

I really don’t know where to start with this “album”. I imagine that when I was 16 if you gave me a week of studio time and some musicians I would have thought this was a great idea. Unfortunately at 16 I knew nothing about the music industry. Now to be fair Terry Taylor was well versed in how the industry worked but I really don’t know what he was thinking for this album. The bulk of the album is a satirical look at faith based telethons that were popular in the 80’s. I don’t know if this was funny in the 90’s but it didn’t age well and it’s not funny to me now. That said other than that this album has some real gems. There are some new tracks, some remixes, and just some cool stuff. If I had control of this project the Telethon idea would have been it’s own release (that no one would have bought) and all the rest of the tracks (except Pretentious Poetry Readings) would have been their own release. Yes I know I’m being hard on this album but to be clear other than the attempts at humour this album has some great stuff and deserves to be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – The Pool (1990 Version) – 3:38
2 – Riders In The Sky – 4:26
3 – I’m On Your Team – 2:24
4 – The Miracle Faith Prickly Heat Telethon Of Love – 1:49
5 – Hide The Beer, The Pastor’s Here (Party Version) – 3:15
6 – Young Peoples Ethnic Ministry – 0:55
7 – Don’t Hate Yourself/Pulpit Masters (Extended Undanceable Remix) – 1:40
8 – Fruit O’ Ministry – 1:35
9 – Sprinkler Head – 2:57
10 – That Large Family We Always Wanted – 0:30
11 – Untitled (Lost Eddies Instrumental) – 2:15
12 – All Things To All Men – 0:51
13 – Big Guns 1990 – 2:58
14 – Little Dumbo – 1:48
15 – What A World, What A World (‘Mellow’ Version) – 3:50
16 – Beyond The Wall Of Sleep – 3:09
17 – Changeless – 3:28
18 – A Briefing For The Ascent – 3:54
19 – Only One – 3:12
20 – The Unattainable Earth (Remix) – 3:42
21 – Catch That Angel (Remix) – 4:15
22 – Sudden Heaven (Remix) – 3:20
23 – Soon! – 4:34
24 – Pretentious Poetry Readings – 3:15

Credits
Accordion – G. Eugene (tracks: 21)
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Autoharp – G. Eugene (tracks: 21)
Backing Vocals – Crystal Lewis, Jerry Chamberlain, Kenny Samuels, Mike Knott, Riki Michele, Rob Watson, Sharon Croghan, Sharon McCall, Terry Taylor, Tim Chandler, Tom Howard
Bass – Tim Chandler
Cover – T. Taylor
Directed By – Terry Taylor
Drums – Dave Raven* (tracks: 5, 11, 21), Ed McTaggart, Steve Hindalong (tracks: 16 to 18)
Engineer – G. (Oooops!) Eugene
Guitar – Greg Flesch, Terry Taylor, Tim Chandler (tracks: 1, 5)
Guitar [Backing] – Jerry Chamberlain (tracks: 2)
Guitar [Wah Wah] – G. Eugene (tracks: 7)
Illustration – Amy L. Wasserman
Keyboards – Greg Flesch (tracks: 13, 15 to 18), Rob Watson (tracks: 15,19,22,23)
Layout – Joe Potter
Lead Guitar – Ed McTaggart (tracks: 9), Jerry Chamberlain (tracks: 3)
Lead Vocals – Jerry Chamberlain (tracks: 7)
Liner Notes – Brian Quincy
Mixed By – Gene, Terry
Organ – G. Eugene (tracks: 4)
Percussion – Alex MacDougall (tracks: 16 to 19), Ed McTaggart
Producer – Terry Taylor
Recorded By – Gene, Terry
Rhythm Guitar – Jerry Chamberlain (tracks: 3)
Vocals – Terry Taylor

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Alarma Records
Copyright (c) – Alarma Records
Record Company – Frontline Music Group
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – Mixing Lab B
Mixed At – Mixing Lab A
Recorded At – 3-D Studios, Costa Mesa CA.
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Motherlode – The Sanctuary – 1986

Motherlode were another fantastic Rock & Roll band out of Sweden. Though referred to as a Metal band I would actually classify them as a Hard Rock band but I agree that Sonny Larsson’s vocals sound particularly Metal. I can not see that this album was released anywhere other than Sweden though strangely the band were big in Japan. This was the only album from the band as they broke up shortly after the albums release. In 2010 however Sonny Larsson and Tom Nilsson got back together and used the bands name for an album. After the 1987 dissolution of Motherlode and the dissolution of Björn Stigsson’s band Leviticus the two of them came together as XT. I will review that album in a few weeks. This album was released in the secular market but it has several Christian songs and they are good ones. This one really deserves a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Moving Emotion – 5:22
2 – He’s Coming Back – 3:30
3 – Wise Man – 4:38
4 – Downtown – 4:57
5 – The Rock Of Ages – 4:05
6 – Line Of Thought – 5:34
7 – (Singin’ About) Rock’n Roll – 4:25
8 – Father Of Lies – 7:57
9 – The Sanctuary – 2:11
10 – Live It Out – 3:35

Credits
Art Direction, Illustration – Rodney Matthews
Backing Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Kit Woolven
Bass – Peter Rundström
Drums – Martin Hedberg
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tom Nilsson
Engineer [Assistant] – Jonas Kuling
Keyboards – Johan Lindström, Mark Stanway
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Sonny Larsson
Management – Dennis Karlsson
Mastered By, Lacquer Cut By [Cutting] – Ian Cooper
Music By – Motherlode
Photography By – Anders Erkman, Göran Lindsjöö

Companies, etc.
Published By – Active Music Förlag
Published By – Sonet Music AB
Recorded At – Studio Kuling
Mixed At – Studio Kuling
Mastered At – The Town House
Lacquer Cut At – The Town House
Printed By – SIB-Tryck AB, Norsborg

Michael & Stormie Omartian – Mainstream – 1982

This is the third album released by Michael And Stormie Omartian as a couple. It is a follow up to the very popular The Builder album. This album had 2 CCM singles, “It Is Done” made it to #23 and “Praise His Name And See It Happen” made it to #10. I really believe that the CCM charts were manipulated and here is some proof. There was not a charting single on The Builder but 2 on this album. Quite frankly The Builder was a much better album. The song writing was much stronger and the music itself was far better. Here’s a clue as to what was going on, The Builder was on Myrrh Records but this album was on Sparrow. I’m not saying Myrrh was ignored by CCM magazine I’m just saying that Sparrow got more “attention”. I’d love to see the ad spend budget for both of these companies at this point in history. Anyway let’s talk about the album. It is your typical early 80’s worship album, nothing special or distinctive. But it is good, let their be no doubt there was a lot of talent in this marriage. So if you lean to Worship oriented music this is one you should listen to.

Tracklist
1 – The Calling – 8:09
2 – Mainstream – 4:22
3 – Man Out Of Time – 3:38
4 – Come And Give It All You’ve Got – 4:00
5 – Praise His Name And See It Happen – 3:10
6 – Give It Up – 3:40
7 – Believing For The Best In You – 3:27
8 – One Song Is Not Enough – 4:09
9 – It Is Done – 4:13

Credits
Art Direction – Stan Evenson
Artwork [Cover Painting] – Jacque Devaud
Engineer, Remix – John Guess
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Photography By – Harry Langdon
Producer, Arranged By, Written-By – Michael Omartian
Strings, Concertmaster – Assa Drori
Written-By – Stormie Omartian

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Sparrow Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Sparrow Records, Inc.
Published By – See This House Music
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company Inc.
Produced For – Rhema Productions Inc.
Recorded At – Rhema Studios
Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab

Undercover – 3-28-87 – 1988

Here’s a live album from Undercover that was recorded on 3-28-87, hence the name, at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The album has the vocal stylings of The Smiths we heard on their previous album, Branded. The album features all the usual hits from previous album but also has 2 previously unreleased tracks, “You and I” and “One to One”. The album is very well engineered and probably one of the better live albums in the late 80’s. I heard that this album was unofficially billed as their retirement tour but of course that proved to be untrue with many more albums coming out after this.

Tracklist
1 – Is Anyone Thirsty – 4:12
2 – I’m Just A Man – 3:46
3 – God Rules – 1:22
4 – Three Nails – 3:27
5 – Boys & Girls – 3:43
6 – I Love God – 4:08
7 – Cry Myself To Sleep – 2:32
8 – Darkest Hour – 3:32
9 – Build A Castle – 4:00
10 – Pilate – 3:07
11 – You And I – 2:55
12 – I’d Rather Stay – 2:58
13 – One To One – 3:59
14 – Come Away With Me – 4:42
15 – If I Had A Dream – 5:22

Credits
Artwork [Logo] – Rick Griffin
Backing Vocals [Support Singers] – Jim Chevalier, Joy Broome, Riki Michele
Bass, Keyboards – Joey (Ojo Taylor)
Design [Album Design] – Gene Eugene, Riki Michele
Design [Album Design], Photography By – Brian Ray
Drums – Gary Olson
Engineer – Ray Thompson
Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Tim Pinch
Guitar – Gym (Gym Nicholson)
Lead Vocals – Sim Wilson
Mixed By [Mixing Assistent] – Dave Hackbarth
Mixed By, Producer, Design [Album Design] – Ojo Taylor
Photography By [Gary’s Drums] – Steve Lanning

Companies, etc.
Mixed At – 3-D Studios, Costa Mesa CA.
Mastered At – Motown Recording Studios
Edited At – Motown Recording Studios

Barren Cross – Believe – 1985

This was the release that started it all for Barren Cross. The band was started in 82/83 in Los Angeles by friends Ray Parris and Steve Whitaker. This EP was recorded at Pakaderm Studios which was owned by the infamous Elefante brothers and this album was produced by Dino Elefante. It was released in 2 Edition with edition 1 pressed independently on the MPPA label and had a blue cover with white text. Edition 2 was pressed by Erika Records and had a white cover with blue text and was on blue vinyl. All of the tracks on this EP ended up on their first album along with 3 more tracks. This version of those 6 tracks is a little more edgy than the versions that ended up on their premiere album. It should be noted that this was a self financed effort which makes it all the more impressive.

Tracklist
1 – Believe – 2:16
2 – He Loves You – 4:30
3 – Going Nowhere – 3:46
4 – Give Your Life – 2:53
5 – Just A Touch – 3:26
6 – Light The Flame – 5:21

Credits
Dino Elefante – Producer, Engineer
Tim Heintz – Keyboards
Jim La Verde – Songwriter, Bass, Taurus Pedals, Vocals
Mike Lee – Songwriter, Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitars
Mike Micrau – Engineer
Ray Parris – Songwriter, Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitars, Background Vocals
Steve Whitaker – Songwriter, Drums, Vocals

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Erika Records
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios

Armageddon – The Money Mask – 1989

This is the Introductory album from Armageddon. The band actually started up in 1987 as Second Chance and had a couple of Demo’s using that name. There were a few lineup changes in this time but nothing unusual for a new band. It was strange however that they brought in several session musicians to help out with this album which is not something you usually see with a Metal band. Apparently the band went into the studio to release the album themselves but R.E.X. Music decided to take a chance on it and stick their name on it. Unfortunately very few copies were pressed so there wasn’t much distribution of the album. As for the album I think it’s pretty good, several tracks lean hard rock instead of metal and quite frankly I found several tracks to my liking and I don’t really care for Metal. Though this was the only album from the band in the 80’s/90’s but they soldiered on and continued recording and self releasing music in the 2000’s. They now refer to themselves as Armageddon USA. This album was re-released in 2007 by Retroactive Records with an additional disc of bonus material. If I get my hands on that bonus disc I’ll be sure to review it.

Tracklist
1 – The Money Mask – 3:20
2 – Mercenaries Of Injustice – 4:08
3 – More Than Conquerors – 3:58
4 – Looking Out For You – 5:42
5 – The Ship Of Changes – 5:23
6 – (Liberation From) Blazing Wasteland – 3:45
7 – Nightlight – 5:44
8 – Giving It To You – 4:23
9 – The Judge – 4:50
10 – We’re Outa’ Here – 3:59

Credits
Backing Vocals – Charlie Phillips, Mike Vance, Paul Krueger (tracks: 9)
Bass – Dan Wilkinson
Design – Jeff Spencer
Drums – Joe Hasselvander (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 10), Mark Miley (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Guitar – Charlie Phillips (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10), Phil Zeo (tracks: 5, 7, 8), Robby Lee (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10)
Keyboards – Janusz Smulski, Lamont Coward (tracks: 5)
Lead Vocals – Mike Vance
Mixed By – Paul Krueger
Producer – Paul Krueger
Twelve-String Guitar – Phil Zeo (tracks: 5)

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – R.E.X. Music
Manufactured By – American Helix Technology Corporation
Produced For – K Productions
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Talkingtown Records
Copyright (c) – Talkingtown Records
Pressed By – American Helix
Published By – Second Chance Music
Published By – Lamont Coward Publishing
Recorded At – Morning Star Communications

Matthew Ward – Fortress – 1990

Matthew Wards 4th solo album actually turns up the Rock factor compared to previous work. I discovered why on Ward’s website where he says this about the album. “Normally, I write around keyboards. This was the first, and only, CD I have recorded that was written and arranged mostly on and for the electric guitar. I simply did what I wanted and let it rock.” He left that guitar work to James Dillingham who is a relatively little known guitarist but he handled the duties very well. I wouldn’t say this album is Rock & Roll gold but it’s definitely worth a listen. The one thing about Matthew Ward that has always kind of surprised me is that normally I wouldn’t really like his style of music but I always enjoy his albums and several of his songs are in my regular rotation. Of interest on this album is that he closes it out with a guitar heavy Rock version of Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”. I’ve heard several rock versions of this song and this one ranks right up there in terms of quality, especially the guitar work.

Tracklist
1 – Warrior – 4:13
2 – Heaven Is Calling – 4:09
3 – Since I Found You – 4:18
4 – Faithful And True – 4:10
5 – Psalm 33:3 – 4:18
6 – You – 3:51
7 – Indecision – 4:26
8 – God Of All – 3:35
9 – Mixed Emotions – 3:26
10 – Fortress – 5:02

Credit
Arranged By [Arrangements] – Gary Leach, Matthew Ward
Art Direction [Assistant] – David Reid
Art Direction, Design – Bradley Grose
Backing Vocals [All Background Vocals] – Matthew Ward
Bass – Bob Gentry
Drums – Dean Castronovo
Engineer – Greg Hunt
Engineer [Second Engineer] – Gary Leach
Guitar – James Dillingham
Jew’s Harp – Greg Hunt
Keyboards – Gary Leach
Lyrics By [All Lyrics By] – Matthew Ward (tracks: 1 to 9)
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Music By [All Music Written By] – Gary Leach (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 9), Matthew Ward (tracks: 1 to 6, 8, 9)
Other [Make Up/Hair] – Susan Grose
Photography By – Alan Dockery
Producer [Produced By] – Matthew Ward
Programmed By [Synth Programming] – Gary Leach

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Matthew Ward Productions
Copyright (c) – Matthew Ward Productions
Distributed By – Benson Music Group
Distributed By – R.G. Mitchell Family Books, Inc.
Recorded At – Rosewood Studio
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Published By – Megan’s College Fund Music

The Call – Into The Woods – 1987

The 6th release from The Call is often referred to as their “Dark” album. Personally I don’t find it that dark but I also don’t find it that good. It’s not a bad album just not as good as their previous albums. Michael Been states it’s his favourite album and I have to agree that it has some of their best lyrics of all their albums. I personally just preferred the more commercial sound of their previous work. The official single was “I Don’t Wanna” which only climbed to #38 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. My pick for a single is “It Could Have Been Me” with it’s addictive drum line it stands out.

Tracklist
1 – I Don’t Wanna – 5:15
2 – In The River – 4:04
3 – It Could Have Been Me – 4:38
4 – The Woods – 5:10
5 – Day Or Night – 4:12
6 – Memory – 4:05
7 – Too Many Tears – 4:24
8 – Expecting – 4:52
9 – Walk Walk – 3:50

Credits
Michael Been – Bass, Composer, Guitar, Producer, Vocals
Cary Butler – Assistant Engineer
Tom Ferrier – Composer, Guitar
Jim Goodwin – Composer
Stephen Innocenzi – Mastering
Steve Kline – Assistant Engineer
Matt Mahurin – Photography
Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
Scott Musick – Composer, Drums, Vocals (Background)
Eric Myer – Photography
Dan Nash – Assistant Engineer
Dave Reitzas – Assistant Engineer
Dan Smith – Producer
Don Smith – Engineer, Producer
Andy Udoff – Assistant Engineer
Tracy Veal – Design
Gary Wagner – Assistant Engineer

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records
Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Elektra/Asylum Records
Copyright (c) – Elektra/Asylum Records
Published By – Neeb Music
Published By – Tarka Music
Published By – Titleface Music
Published By – WB Music Corp.
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Recorded At – A&M Studios
Recorded At – One On One Studios
Recorded At – Rumbo Recorders
Recorded At – Conway Studios
Mastered At – Precision Mastering

Shelter – Prophets And Clowns – 1983

There is very little information out there on this band. I’m a little surprised at this as the album was produced by Terry Taylor (Daniel Amos). Rob Watson (Daniel Amos) also helped with some Keyboards. The sheer involvement of these guys should have made this band a little more known. On their album sleeve they thank Servant so there is some connection with them too. But that’s it, that’s all I could find on this band. The album is mainly easy listening with a couple livelier tracks but for the main part is light rock. It’s good though and the production is strong so it really deserves at least one listen. It won’t make it into my regular rotation but as I say, it’s worth a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Singer And The Song – 3:15
2 – Prophets And Clowns – 3:22
3 – Super Heroes – 3:15
4 – Walk In The Spirit – 3:15
5 – Here I Am Again – 3:25
6 – This Is The Day – 4:59
7 – Hope – 3:38
8 – I’ll Play The Fool – 3:18
9 – Song To The Church – 4:16
10 – Come All Who Labor – 4:15
11 – Singer And The Song (Reprise) – 1:12

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Mark Sullivant
Drums – Darrell Ferraiuolo
Guitar, Vocals – “Jimmy T” Thomas
Keyboards – Tim Robbins
Producer – Terry Scott Taylor
Vocals, Guitar – David Bunker
Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion – Jan Thomas

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word Records Limited