Ray Mansfield – Page 93

David Zaffiro – The Other Side – 1989

Guitarist David Zaffiro left Bloodgood to do his own thing here. The album definitely has it’s own feel and it shouldn’t be mistaken for Bloodgood. The guitar riffs sound similar in places but it looks like David had his own sound that he wanted to get out to the public. Michael Bloodgood does help out on a couple tracks so it’s nice to see that David leaving Bloodgood wasn’t in bad blood. My only fault on the album is that there should have been a few more rockin tracks and a few less ballads but that said they are very well done and I would have been hard pressed to pick ones to delete. So to sum up this is a good rockin album and I look forward to listening to David’s next album.

Tracklist
1 – Stay – 4:00
2 – I See Red – 3:22
3 – Where Are You Now – 3:36
4 – Why Me – 3:58
5 – The Other Side – 6:18
6 – Diversity – 4:42
7 – You – 3:11
8 – To The End – 4:27
9 – Only Eyes – 3:39
10 – Spirit Of The Lord – 4:50

Credits
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Assemblage – Jason Brown
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Charlene Nemieyer, David Schueler, Marlene Cochran, Paula Prince, Richard Bartholomew
Bass Guitar – Bill Hale (4), Mark Mosholder (tracks: 2)
Co-producer [On Lead Vocals] – Michael Bloodgood (tracks: 2, 10)
Drums – Davin McLaird
Engineer – Charles Meserole
Keyboards – David Hubbard (tracks: 10), Kelly Carpenter
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Producer, Engineer, Written-By – David Zaffiro
Photography By – Mark Wilkins
Rhythm Guitar – Maverick Gibson (tracks: 1)
Written-By, Co-producer [On Lead Vocals] – Maverick Gibson (tracks: 1,8)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Alarma Records
Copyright (c) – Alarma Records
Mastered At – Hitsville
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Published By – Broken Songs
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Silverwind – A Song In The Night – 1982

While the first Silverwind album is still somewhat terrifying to me this one is a huge improvement. Not that the first album was bad it was just scary in it’s level of Easy Listening. This album turns it up a notch or two and presents us with a ABBA sound that was appropriate at the time. Not that I liked ABBA but I sure preferred this sound to their first album. Skip to track2 if you really want to hear that ABBA sound. Now lets be clear, I was not the market for this band and I know it, but I am adult enough to appreciate what they were doing. Their timing was impeccable and this sound was needed in the industry. The first single was “New Beginning” which peaked at #8. The better track however was the second single “A Song In The Night”. There was even a music video for the song which I just watched and it’s not horrible. The title track only made it to #25 which I think is a little low. The rest of the album was too ABBA for CCM magazine to chart any more singles.

Tracklist
1 – A Song In The Night – 4:16
2 – Daybreak – 3:08
3 – Elya – 3:48
4 – Cinderella’s Dream – 3:54
5 – Forgiven – 4:29
6 – A New Beginning – 3:54
7 – Destiny – 3:24
8 – Colors – 2:42
9 – Love Came Softly – 2:53
10 – The Rider – 2:59

Credits
Accordion – Frank Marocco
Arranged By – Georgian Banov, Larry Muhoberac, Tony Salerno
Bass – Abraham Laboriel, Joe Chemay
Design – Stan Evenson Design, Inc
Drums – Paul Leim, Rick Shlosser
Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Ron Capone
Executive-Producer – Tony Salerno
Guitar – Billy Walker, Timothy May
Keyboards, Synthesizer – Larry Muhoberac
Management – Dharma Artist Agency
Mixed By – Bruce Swedien
Percussion – Alex Acuña, Paulinho Da Costa
Performer – Betsy Hernandez, Georgian Banov, Patty Gramling
Photography By – Mark Hanauer
Piano – John Hobbs, Larry Muhoberac
Producer – Georgian Banov, Larry Muhoberac, Tony Salerno

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word Ltd.
Published By – Garden Valley Music
Published By – See This House Music
Recorded At – Westwind Studio
Mixed At – Westwind Studio

Hank Laake Band – How Laake Can You Get! – 1985

This was our final offering from Hank and it followed very closely with his previous work. The hard Rock style he was known for continued. Over his 3 albums the band didn’t seem to mature but for me this is a positive as I loved their sound and still love it today. Apparently Hank got disillusioned with Tunesmith records so this is the end. Not many artists even lasted 3 albums with Tunesmith so he should be commended for trying to make it work. It is probably a testament to how bad he wanted people to hear his music as it’s doubtful he was getting paid what was coming to him.

Tracklist
1 – Dying to Love You – 5:25
2 – Don’t Give Up – 3:30
3 – Plenty of Time – 3:53
4 – Change Your Life – 3:53
5 – Directions – 3:52
6 – Be a Shining Light – 5:31
7 – A Time for Anger – 4:02
8 – Till We Had Jesus – 4:34
9 – Keep Livin’ – 3:57
10 – Family of God – 4:30

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Joe Burriola
Cover Art – Dave Nadler
Cover Photo – Tom Gaskill
Drums, Lead Vocals – Hank Laake
Engineer – Dennis Dyer, Tom Tucker
Guitar – Dan Brown
Guitar, Vocals – Terry Fitzsimmons
Piano – Melody Dyer
Producer – Hank Laake
Synthesizer – Todd Toulouse, Joseph Dunn, Melody Dyer, Josef Laake

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Praise Industries Corp.
Record Company – Tunesmith

Liaison – Liaison – 1989

Liaison was formed by brothers Larry and Tim Melby who grew up in rural North Dakota. The brothers played just about every instrument there was and they display this talent on their first album. The album was very well received partly due to some excellent production by tech wizard Bill Baumgart. This album has an excellent arenas rock feel but leans AOR too. It even had 2 chart singles on the CCM charts. Go And Sin No More made it to #14 and The Way, The Truth, And The Life to #38. I understand it was also very very popular on Christian rock radio but I don’t currently have access to any of their charts. This is a great rock album and everyone should give it a listen. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one track that will fall in your like pile.

Tracklist
1 – When The Kingdom Comes Down – 4:21
2 – You Are His Main Concern – 3:51
3 – Go And Sin No More – 3:31
4 – Man With A Mission – 5:02
5 – The Way, The Truth, And The Life – 4:23
6 – Kick It Down – 3:21
7 – The Light Is On – 4:11
8 – He Lives – 4:15
9 – Give Me One Day At A Time – 3:29
10 – You’ve Got My Heart In Your Hands – 3:42

Credits
Arranged By [Arrangements By] – Tim Heintz
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Bass – Kelly Burns
Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Beth Wisner, Eric Kibby
Engineer [Engineered By] – Dave Jahnsen
Illustration – Jeff Foster
Mastered By – John Matousek
Music By, Lyrics By – Lary, Tim Melby
Musician, Backing Vocals – Bill Baumgart
Musician, Drums – Jeff Porcaro
Musician, Guitar [Additional Guitars] – Gawain Reifsnyder, Glenn Pearce, Vince Mendoza
Musician, Guitar [Guitars] – Michael Landau
Musician, Keyboards – Bill Baumgart, Tim Heintz
Musician, Saxophone – Dave Koz
Performer [Liaison Is], Guitar [Guitars], Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Tim Melby
Performer [Liaison Is], Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar [Guitars], Bass – Lary Melby
Photography By – Ralph Bizik
Producer [Produced By], Arranged By [Arrangements By] – Bill Baumgart

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Frontline Records
Copyright (c) – Frontline Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Produced For – Asylomar Productions
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab
Mixed At – The Mixing Lab
Mastered At – Sound Works West
Copyright (c) – Broken Songs

David Meece – Candle In The Rain – 1987

David continues his Pop dominance of the charts with Candle In The Rain. It had 4 top 10 singles which is a pretty darn successful album. I do have some problems with this album however. Quite simply it is completely over produced. The album had 6 producers and countless mixers and engineers. This is a recipe for success for making hit singles but in my opinion a recipe for disaster for an album. Now I certainly can’t argue with the success of this album but when you listen to the whole album it is disjointed and has no flow. I am not actually a fan of David’s earlier work but it is much better than this. The songs are pop songs with very poor lyrics which I guess doesn’t matter as you can’t hear them properly over the drum and keyboard tracks. But what do I know, the album was a huge success and sold lots of copies. It dominated the charts and I’m sure people of all ages ran right out and bought it. But lets be clear, this is a collection of great singles and not a great album, there is a difference.

Tracklist
1 – All Is God’s Creation – 3:42
2 – Nothing To Forgive – 4:27
3 – God Only Knows – 4:53
4 – The Water Is Fine – 5:40
5 – His Love Was Reaching – 3:29
6 – Amor Conquesta Todo (Love Conquers All) – 4:24
7 – Higher Ground – 3:40
8 – Candle In The Rain – 4:16
9 – Hold On – 3:54

Credits
Jeff Balding – Engineer, Mixed
Brown Bannister – Producer, Mixed, Arranger
Lynn Barrington – Production Coordination, Songwriter
Jonathan David Brown – Producer, Engineer, Mixed, Arranger, Songwriter
Lenny Castro – Percussion
Kevin Clark – 2nd Engineer
Paul Delph – Songwriter
Roy Freeland – Songwriter
David Garibaldi – Drums, Percussion, Drum Programming
Linda Green – Background Vocals
Bernie Grundman – Mastered
Tom Hemby – Guitars
Dann Huff – Guitar
Danny Johnson – 2nd Engineer
Jean Johnson – Background Vocals
Shane Keister – Arranger, Keyboards, Synthesizers
Marva King – Background Vocals
Rhett Lawrence – Producer, Arranger, Keyboards, Synthesizers
Maxayne Lewis – Background Vocals
Carl Marsh – Arranger, Fairlight, Bass, Keyboards, Drums
Debbie McClendon – Background Vocals
Howard McCrary – Arranger, Background Vocals
Steve McMillan – Engineer
David Meece – Songwriter, Acoustic Piano, Vocals
Michael Miller – Electric Guitar, Bass
Paul Mills – Acoustic Piano
Marc Russo – Saxophone
Alfie Silas – Background Vocals
Brian Tankersley – Producer, Engineer, Mixed, Arranger
Keith Thomas – Arranger, Keyboards, Synthesizers
Gino Vannelli – Producer, Engineer, Arranger, Songwriter
Joe Vannelli – Producer, Engineer, Arranger, Songwriter, Keyboards, Sequencer Programming
Bill Whittington – 2nd Engineer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Blue Moon Studio
Recorded At – Ocean Way Recording
Recorded At – Weddington Studios
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Blue Moon Studio
Mixed At – Rivendell Recorders
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering

Fighter – Demo – 1989

As I understand it this was Fighter’s first demo. 2 of the tracks got released on their first album, “Radio Man”, and “Face To Face”. “Leo” and “Irresponsible Evil” remained unreleased until 2019. In 2019 these four tracks were bonus material on a re-release of Fighters first album, The Waiting. Do not confuse this with the 2019 Girder Records release “The Fighter Demos” which is a collection of most of their demo work but not these 4 tracks.

Tracklist
1 – Radio Man – 4:38
2 – Leo – 3:15
3 – Face To Face – 5:27
4 – Irresponsible Evil – 3:24

Credits
Bass – Jim Wolter
Drums – Sean Murphy
Guitar – Billy Heller
Keyboards – Mark Pence
Lead Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy

Arsenal – Armored Choir – 1990

The late 80’s provided the Christian metal scene some fantastic metal bands and this is one of them. Fronted by a female singer they stuck out a bit from the crowd and the fact that she was gorgeous certainly didn’t hamper the band either. Arsenal first appeared on a Regency Records sampler “East Coast Metal”. I am assuming they were well received so the album came about. Unfortunately this is all we got from them as it appears this was a one record deal. This band continues my complete bewilderment of the Christian Metal scene as obviously there was sufficient talent here to merit another album. That said I was not involved with this area of the Christian music scene so I don’t know what kind of sales numbers these albums were getting. Apparently there are demo’s pre and post this album and you can rest assured I’ll be looking for them. I understand that Christine is still strongly involved with music and recent pics of her show that she is every bit as beautiful now as she was when this album came out.

Tracklist
1 – Turn Around – 3:30
2 – Someone Believes In You – 3:38
3 – Armored Choir – 3:39
4 – Coming Back To You – 2:29
5 – Forever Yours – 3:44
6 – The Valley – 3:14
7 – You’re No Good For Me – 3:28
8 – Bishop Of Souls – 3:56
9 – Take It Away – 3:23
10 – The Candle… The Flame – 3:30

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dale Tiemann, Doug Kirkland, Russ Kirkland
Bass – Kandy Slaughter
Cover – Jeff Spencer
Drums – Dave Calliano
Lead Guitar – J.D. Miller
Lead Vocals – Christine Steel
Producer, Engineer, Keyboards – Russ Kirkland

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Regency Records
Made By – Disctronics S
Distributed By – Word (U.K.) Ltd
Recorded At – Papa K’s
Produced For – September Music Productions

Pat Terry Group – Final Vinyl – 1980

This was the final album for The Pat Terry Group but Pat Terry would go on to record 3 rocking albums in the 80’s. It is said that Pat was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the CCM industry and felt it was getting too commercial and stifling his songwriting skills. Apparently he wanted to broaden his songs and slightly reduce the JPM content. So this caused the Pat Terry Group to dissolve? Considering he went on to record several solo albums this explanation of the break up makes no sense at all. Personally I think this had more to do with 2 things. First of all Pat wanted to get away from Newpax records and back to Myrrh. Secondly I think Pat thought the other members of the group were holding him back. It’s obvious he wanted to do more Rock & Roll and the 70’s sound the group was doing wasn’t where he wanted to go. Whatever the reason I think he made the right decision as his solo work is fantastic. That said this album was a good close out for the 70’s. It is a good album but was right at the end of it’s appropriate timeline.

Tracklist
1 – One More Try – 3:31
2 – All I Can Be – 3:38
3 – Faith Has Eyes – 2:32
4 – Everyday Man – 4:35
5 – Seen It Now – 3:44
6 – Bring Me To The Balance – 4:02
7 – I Got To Go Down – 4:00
8 – IRIS – 4:21
9 – So Many Reasons – 2:58
10 – The Heart Of His Will – 3:36

Credits
Backing Vocals – Al Holley (tracks: B1)
Bass Guitar – Randy Bugg
Design [Logo] – Rip Carloss
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Marimba, Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Sonny Lallerstedt
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Pat Terry
Keyboards [Acoustic and Electric] – Tonny Shannon
Mastered By – Glenn Meadows
Mixed By – Randy Bugg, Sonny Lallerstedt
Narrator [Narration] – Randy Bugg (tracks: B1)
Recorded By – Randy Bugg, Sonny Lallerstedt

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Twelve Oaks Studio
Mixed At – Twelve Oaks Studio
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright (c) – NewPax Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – NewPax Records
Designed At – Studio C

Bryn Haworth – Grand Arrival – 1978

This was Bryn’s 3rd album but his first to be released in North America. It’s a rather typical 70’s Jesus music album but Bryn’s vocals do help it stand out. It’s no secret that Bryn is one of my favorite artists so I’m biased in saying this is a fantastic 70’s album. Quick point of trivia is that the Imperials provided some background harmonies which I find odd as this album was actually on A&M records and the Imperials were on Dayspring (Word). Generally speaking Christian labels and secular labels didn’t mix so well but it worked here.

Tracklist
1 – Come See What Love – 4:28
2 – Nothing Without You – 3:41
3 – Woman Friend – 3:00
4 – Moments – 3:00
5 – We’re All One – 4:13
6 – The Grand Arrival – 4:42
7 – Sing To The Lord – 3:42
8 – Full Day – 3:28
9 – Summer Wine – 4:28
10 – Beans On Toast – 4:43

Credits
Backing Vocals – Don Everly
Banjo – Courtney Johnson
Bass – Jessie Boyce, Joe Osborn, John Cowan, Nick Rather, Tommy Cogbill
Claves – Jerry Carrigan
Drums – Buddy Harmon, Jerry Carrigan, Karl Himmel
Engineer – Ronnie Light
Guitar – Bill Sandford, Curtis Burch
Guitar [High String, Gut String] – Harold Bradley
Guitar [High String] – Ronny Light
Guitar, Mandolin, Strings [Harpolek], Vocals – Bryn Haworth
Keyboards – Bobby Woods, Ron Oates
Mandolin – Sam Bush
Percussion – Farrell Morris
Piano – Bobby Woods, Hargus “Pig” Robbins
Producer – Audie Ashworth
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Saxophone – Andrew Love, Billy Puett
Steel Guitar – Buddy Emmons
Strings – Shelley Curland Strings
Trombone – Dennis Goode
Trumpet – George Tidwell, Wayne Jackson
Vocals – Halladay Sisters
Vocals [Harmony] – The Imperials
Written-By – Bryn Haworth

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&M Records Ltd.
Produced For – Audigram Inc.
Published By – Signalgrade
Published By – Island Music Ltd.
Recorded At – Crazy Mama’s Studios
Remixed At – Olympic Studios
Remixed At – Basing Street Studios

Q. Stone – Q. Stone – 1988

Q. Stone are an excellent Blues Rock band out of Finland. My first exposure to them was the 1989 Larry Norman album where they played as his backup band. This album actually has a rather odd release history. It was first released in 1988 in Europe and apparently sold well. It was then released in the United States in 1989 on Refuge Records. Apparently it did not sell well. Then in 2000 Larry Norman obtained the rights to the album and released the album on Solid Rock Records. Apparently it sold slightly better under this arrangement. My favourite track on the album actually features Larry, “Sweet Dreams’. I find it humorous that on Larry’s release of this album his track is the lead track but on other versions it is the 2nd track. Anyway, this is probably one of if not the best CCM Blues Rock album of the 80’s though lets be clear there wasn’t a lot of competition.

Tracklist
1 – Sweet Dreams – 3:56
2 – Open Door – 2:34
3 – High Winds – 4:40
4 – You Did It For Me – 5:35
5 – The Blue View – 4:38
6 – And I Wait – 4:35
7 – Give Me Something Else – 4:38
8 – Blues Man – 2:35
9 – Black Water – 2:49
10 – Behind The Bars – 4:32
11 – Tomorrow With You – 3:29
12 – Zack’s Blues – 1:24
13 – Dead Man At Dawn – 4:08

Credits
Arranged By [Co-Arranged By] – Q-Stone
Bass – Mikko Loytty
Drums – Sakke Loytty
Edited By, Mastered By – Tom Nunes
Engineer – Benny Lundin, Cenneth Almgren, Heikki Silvennoinen
Graphics – Wavelength
Harmonica – Mikko Kuustonen
Harmony Vocals – Larry Norman
Keyboards – Harri Taittonen
Lead Guitar – Heikki Silvennoinen
Mixed By – Bosse Reimer, Larry Norman
Producer, Arranged By – Larry Norman
Vocals – Heikki Silvennoinen, Mikko Loytty, Larry Norman

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Phydeaux Records
Copyright (c) – Phydeaux Records
Recorded At – Royal Music Studio