Ray Mansfield – Page 91

Larry Bryant – The Artist – 1985

This is the first of 2 albums from Larry Bryant who started his music career by writing songs in the early 80’s. He actually attained a fair amount of success writing songs with his wife Lesa later in the 80’s but I’ll document those in the review for his second album. There actually isn’t much info out there on Larry other then his writing career. This album leans towards AOR but there are a couple of pop songs on it. It did spawn a single with “Thankful On My Knees” making it to #24 on the CCM charts. I think it should have climbed higher but it was probably held back by Larry’s relatively little known work at this point in time. He has done something I strongly respect and that is that he offers his 2 albums free for download. You can get this album at http://www.larrybryant.com/downloads/the_artist_downloads.html

Tracklist
1 – That’s When the Angels Rejoice – 3:12
2 – The Artist – 4:03
3 – Shopping List – 3:21
4 – Shadows – 2:48
5 – Crown Of Thorns – 3:42
6 – Father of Lights – 4:26
7 – Note In A Bottle – 3:58
8 – Take A Chance – 3:30
9 – Never Say Never – 2:59
10 – Thankful On My Knees – 3:52

Credits
Keyboards – Michael W. Smith, Shane Keister, Larry Bryant
Guitars – Jon Goin, Greg Jennings
Bass – Mike Brignardello
Drums – Mark Hammond
Vocals – Bonnie Keen, Rich Mullins, Jackie Cusick, Wayne Gurley, Nan Gurley, Larry Bryant
Engineer – Mike Psanos
The cast:
keyboards – Michael W. Smith, Shane Keister, Larry Bryant
guitars – Jon Goin, Greg Jennings
bass – Mike Brignardello
drums – Mark Hammond
vocals – Bonnie Keen, Rich Mullins, Jackie Cusick, Wayne Gurley,
Nan Gurley, Larry Bryant
engineer – Mike Psanos
Producer – Joe Huffman

Randy Stonehill – Love Beyond Reason – 1985

This album is often thought of as Randy’s “safe” album. It sounded much more mainstream than his usual work and by mainstream I mean boring in this case. That said the album was actually pretty good just not representative of Randy’s other work. Of course the big single was a duet with Amy Grant, “I Could Never Say Goodbye” that climbed it’s way to #9 on the CCM charts. Though the album is a bit dull it was a star studded affair with Randy being joined by Bryan Duncan, Keith Green, Bryan Duncan, Mark Heard, Tom Howard, and Tonio K. Most only provided background vocals but Mark Heard Engineered the album as well as providing some guitar tracks. Randy also released a VHS tape in conjunction with the album. It included videos of “Love Beyond Reason,” “Until Your Love Broke Through,” “Hymn,” “You’re Loved Tonight,” “Still Small Voice,” (from Celebrate this Heartbeat) and “The Gods of Men.” Though the album wasn’t overly well received the video was very well received as in this time period any videos of artists were rare.

Tracklist
1 – I Could Never Say Goodbye – 3:44
2 – Love Beyond Reason – 3:36
3 – The Gods Of Men – 4:13
4 – Bells – 4:15
5 – You’re Loved Tonight – 5:50
6 – Until Your Love Broke Through – 4:03
7 – Hymn – 2:47
8 – Angry Young Men – 3:35
9 – Judgement Day – 4:55
10 – Cross That Line – 3:30

Credits
Tim Aller – Simmons Drum Programming
Milo Carter – Guitar
Bryan Duncan – Background Vocals
Todd Fishkind – Songwriter
Richie Furay – Background Vocals
Rick Geragi – Congas, Bongos, Tambourine, Cabasa, Claves, Percussion
Amy Grant – Duet Vocals
Keith Green – Songwriter
Don Griffin – Guitar
Steve Hall – Mastered
Mark Heard – Engineer, Mixed, Guitar
Tom Howard – Songwriter
Danny Jacob – Guitars
Tonio K. – Background Vocals
Barry Kaye – Producer, Arranger, Fairlight C.M.I.
Jay Leslie – Soprano Sax
Barry Liss – Harmonica
David Raven – Drums
Dan Reed – Engineer
Caryn Robin – Background Vocals
Andrea Saparoff – Fairlight C.M.I. Programming and Arranging
Denver Smith – Synthesizers, M.I.D.I. Technician
Randy Stonehill – Songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Tata Vega – Background Vocals
Ray Ware – Executive Producer
Steve Wilkinson – Bass
Tom Willett – Executive Producer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Sound Vault Studios
Engineered At – Fingerprint Recorders
Mixed At – Fingerprint Recorders
Mastered At – Future Disc
Duplicated By – Electrosound Los Angeles

Jan Groth – Good To Know… Where You’re From – 1980

Jan Groth was an artist out of Norway. In the early 70’s he was in a very successful secular band called Aunt Mary. In 1980 he released this his first Christian album. I do not believe this album was released outside of Norway so you may not have heard this one. It has a great late 70’s early 80’s rock feel to it. Don’t worry, no hint of disco and it also does not sound like the usual 70’s Jesus music. Unfortunately Jan passed away in 2014 but we have lots more of his music to hear. He released 4 more albums in the 80’s and many more over the later years.

Tracklist
1 – Peace Like A River – 4:04
2 – Count On Me – 4:18
3 – Mighty Good Friend – 3:38
4 – Let Me Feel Your Lovely Presence – 4:15
5 – Good To Know – 3:09
6 – Hear It Once Again – 4:05
7 – Friend Of Friends – 4:26
8 – Turn Around – 3:10
9 – In The Shelter Of Your Love – 4:22
10 – Thanks To Your Love – 3:04

Credits
Arranged By, Conductor, Bass, Backing Vocals – Svein Gundersen
Backing Vocals – Aleksandra N. Sandøy
Drums, Percussion – Bruce Rasmussen
Electric Guitar – Bjørn Christiansen
Engineer – Alf Emil Eik, Andy Kidd
Keyboards – Geir Langslet
Music By, Lyrics By, Arranged By, Backing Vocals – Jan Groth

The Heart Beats – Only A Heartbeat Away – 1987

I can’t really find any info on The Heart Beats. They were a pretty good girl group of what I assume is 3 sisters. Well at least they all had the same last name so that’s my guess. This was the only album from them so I guess there’s not much more to the story. The album is good fun and actually has 5 pretty good covers. I think my favourite was Higher and Higher originally done by Jackie Wilson. Though my favourite cover of this song in the one in Ghostbusters 2. Rounding out the covers are, Everlasting Love (Robert Knight), When I Need You (Leo Sayer), Chapel Of Love (The Dixie Cups), and Jesus Is The Answer (Andrae Crouch). There may be other covers but those are the ones I recognized. All in all a fun album with a great 80’s girl group sound.

Tracklist
1 – Everlasting Love – 3:44
2 – Higher And Higher – 2:54
3 – When I Need You – 3:57
4 – He’s The Greatest – 2:55
5 – Chapel Of Love – 4:02
6 – Risen Lord – 3:31
7 – Heaven – 2:48
8 – Joining – 4:17
9 – The Superman – 3:39
10 – Jesus Is the Answer – 3:08

Credits
Bass – Dennis Davilio
Drums – David Prater, Terry Silverlight (tracks: A1, A3)
Drums [High Hat] – Rob Cali (tracks: B3)
Guitar – Tony Davilio
Keyboards – George Small
Producer, Arranged By – Joey Powers
Vocals – Angela Bass, Kathleen Bass, Patsy Bass

Various – Serenity Music To Soothe The Soul – 1985

This is a sampler from Light Records. The album features the following artists and song as well as what album they originally appeared on;

1 – David Edwards – Diamond’s Lullaby – Dreams, Tales & Lullabies
2 – Karen Voegtlin – Into Your Hands – He’s My Leader
3 – Dan Burgess – Fill My Life – Fill My Life
4 – Larry Bryant – The Artist – The Artist
5 – Dino – Holy, Holy, Holy – Just Piano… Praise II
6 – The Winans – Tomorrow – Tomorrow
7 – Ralph Carmichael – A Quiet Place – I Looked For Love
8 – Dan Burgess – When We See Him – Dan Burgess With Songs You’ll Want To Sing
9 – Andraé Crouch – My Tribute – Andrae Crouch
10 – Rob Frazier – He Is All You Need – Cut It Away

Tracklist
1 – David Edwards – Diamond’s Lullaby – 5:01
2 – Karen Voegtlin – Into Your Hands – 4:26
3 – Dan Burgess – Fill My Life – 3:23
4 – Larry Bryant – The Artist – 4:03
5 – Dino – Holy, Holy, Holy – 3:29
6 – The Winans – Tomorrow – 4:12
7 – Ralph Carmichael – A Quiet Place – 2:50
8 – Dan Burgess – When We See Him – 3:45
9 – Andraé Crouch – My Tribute – 6:00
10 – Rob Frazier – He Is All You Need – 4:12

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Lexicon Music, Inc.

Eternal Ryte – World Requiem – 1990

This is Eternal Ryte’s one and only on label album. They were yet another band out of the late 80’s California metal scene. They are known for doing the circuit of Secular bars that was considered trendy for Christian Metal bands at the end of the 80’s. As for the album it’s a pretty good metal album but is a little over produced in my opinion but you can still hear the skills of the band. Bobby Smith’s guitar stands out to me and also I found the writing to be a step up from most metal bands of the era. Unfortunately when Pure Metal was sold to Star Song Eternal Ryte is one of the bands that was released so we have to enjoy this album as other than their demo’s it is all we would get. Unfortunately the album is a little difficult to come by these days so it demands a bit of a premium.

Tracklist
1 – Tightrope Dancer – 3:53
2 – Requiem – 4:37
3 – Someone To Love – 4:42
4 – Say Hello – 4:20
5 – The Killer – 4:48
6 – Surrender – 3:07
7 – On The Line – 4:02
8 – You And Me – 3:42
9 – The King – 5:02
10 – No More Lies 5:15

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Fred Gustafsson
Percussion – Scott “Smash!” Earnest
Written-By, Guitar – Bobby Smith (27)
Written-By, Lead Vocals – Phil St. Vincent

Danny Plett – You’re The One – 1983

Recently this album wandered into our studio and I was quite surprised by it. I was surprised because it a local guy from my home city of Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. I have never seen this album, I have never heard this album, and I have never heard of this performer. It was recorded about 5 blocks from where I currently live. Now the style of the album is decidedly AOR so I probably wouldn’t have listened to it much I definitely would have had it in my collection to support a local artist. One would have also thought I might have seen him in concert opening for bands. But no I never heard of him. Danny lives in my home city today and is still involved in the ministry. He had several albums after this one but they were released in Germany where Danny lived for several years. This however is his only 80’s CCM album.

Tracklist
1 – Hallowed Be – 3:00
2 – Halleluia – 3:20
3 – Water Of Life – 1:20
4 – Love That Is Pure – 2:27
5 – You Know What To Do – 4:38
6 – You’re The One – 3:30
7 – Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing – 2:24
8 – Willing Now To Die – 2:54
9 – Oh Sacred Head – 3:04
10 – Yo Te Amo (I Love You) – 3:32
11 – We Stand United – 5:17

Produced by Gary Brenner
Lead vocals : Danny Plett
Keyboards : Danny Plett, Gary Brenner
Electric Guitar : Randy Hiebert
Acoustic Guitar : Ari Lahdekorpi
Bass Guitar : Paul Kelly
Drums : Greg Black
Percussion : Glen Matthews
Background vocals : Danny Plett, Steve Bell, Dodi Bell, Paul Kelly, Angela Kelman
Recorded & Mixed at Century 21 Recording Studios, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Engineered by Ralph Watts

Matthew Ward – Fade To White – 1988

By this point 2nd Chapter Of Acts was all done with studio work so Ward could concentrate on his solo career. Annie Herring from 2nd Chapter however does join Ward on the album. The album continues his more upbeat style and really several tracks on this album could easily be classified as Pop. The album had 3 singles. Far Behind made it to #10, Perfect Union to #3, and You Alone to #21. All in all a pretty successful album though it seems to get lost sometimes as his previous album, Armed & Dangerous, made quite a splash but this one didn’t seem as good of an album.

Tracklist
1 – Then I Realized – 4:32
2 – Racing For The Goal – 4:21
3 – You Alone – 3:42
4 – Show Them – 3:53
5 – Heart – 3:25
6 – So Many Are Lookin’ – 3:10
7 – Time Will Tell – 4:25
8 – Far Behind – 3:30
9 – Perfect Union – 4:38
10 – Fade To White – 4:26

Credits
Arranged By [Musical Arrangements] – John Andrew Schreiner
Art Direction, Design – Bradley Grose
Backing Vocals – Annie Herring, Interdenominational Youth Choir Of Nachodoches, Kelly Willard (tracks: 5), Nelly Greisen
Bass – Leon Gaer
Classical Guitar – Frank Kimlico
Drums – Mike Baird
Engineer [Engineered By] – Greg Hunt
Guitar – Michael Thompson
Keyboards – John Andrew Schreiner
Lyrics By – Matthew Ward
Mastered By – Doug Saax
Music By – Jim Tenneboe (tracks: 5, 6), John Andrew Schreiner (tracks: 1 to 10), Matthew Ward (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 10)
Other [Make Up] – Ken Gonzales
Photography By – Aaron Rapoport
Photography By [Assistant] – Tracy Lamonica
Producer [Produced By] – John Andrew Schreiner
Programmed By [Synthesizer] – Gary Leach, John Andrew Schreiner

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Live Oak Records
Copyright (c) – Live Oak Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Rosewood Studio
Mixed At – Rosewood Studio
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Published By – Megin’s College Fund Music
Published By – JAS Music
Published By – MIDI Mouse Music

Gideon’s Army – Rock & Roll For Your Soul – 1982

San Francisco Bay Area’s Gideon’s Army got their start ministering in the prison system both juvenile and adult throughout California. After many years they finally put out this album in 1982. The album was released on Santa Ana’s Calvary Chapel’s own label “Asaph Records”. This was the second album on the label and as such was not well promoted or known outside of the local California area. Later this label would actually get much better known but in 1982 it was barely known. The band have a strong Late 70’s Southern Rock sound that I think was rather unique for the CCM market. One of the other strange things about the album is the length of some of the songs. There are 4 tracks over the 5 minute mark which was a little more common in the mid 70’s. Because of this the album is limited to only 8 tracks. This album is very unique and you should give it a listen if not just for the historical sound of it.

Tracklist
1 – Light – 6:17
2 – Dream – 4:28
3 – Lift Your Heart – 4:33
4 – What Is Love – 7:12
5 – Better Days – 6:35
6 – On The Move – 3:39
7 – New Man – 6:32
8 – Can You Still Turn Away? – 4:41

Credits
Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Rob Carey
Backing Vocals – Ron Davis
Drums, Lead Vocals – Jerry Anderson
Lead Guitar – Dave Angeles
Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mike Banke
Lead Vocals, Bass – Mark Greves
Organ, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Doug Naruo
Percussion – Tom Long
Trumpet – Jim Gabel, Rob Brockman

The Last Adam – The Last Adam – 1980

The Last Adam were a 70’s Rock band out of Clearwater, FL. This is one of those odd albums that was released on The Salvation Army’s own label. I couldn’t find out much about the band but at the time other than they did play in the church. Must have been some rocking going on there at the end of the 70’s. As for the album it has a very late 70’s rock feel and was probably on the edge of being outdated in 1980. Be careful not confuse the band with the 90’s band “Last Adam”. This album would have been right at home on the Tunesmith label but the church got to them first.

Tracklist
1 – Receive It – 5:12
2 – Resist The Devil – 3:48
3 – Any Old Music – 4:00
4 – Psalm 113 – 5:13
5 – Washed In The Blood – 3:40
6 – Dance Cloud – 5:52
7 – Letter To The Devil – 3:02
8 – More Much More – 3:54
9 – Trips – 3:51
10 – Remember That Name – 4:53

Credits
Rick Tarquine – Guitar
Buddy Fetz – Drums
Patt Wadenpfuhl – Lead Vocals
Ken Wadenpfuhl – Brass
Fred Smith Jr. – Guitar
Debbie Steitz – Keyboards

Companies, etc.
Produced For – The Salvation Army