Category: Albums

Richie Furay – Seasons of Change – 1982

This was Richie’s only release in the 80’s, though he re-released I’ve Got A Reason in 1981. It’s my opinion that this album was his best yet. It’s the only album he did produced by David Diggs and you can tell it sounds a little different. At the time of recording this album Richie had just become or was just about to become the Pastor at Calvary Chapel of Boulder CO. Strange that he would do such a Rock & Roll oriented album at this stage of his life. If you were put off by his easy listening sound in the 70’s give this one a listen. It’s not a heavy duty Rock & Roll album but it definitely leans more that way than his previous releases.

Tracklist
1 – Hallelujah – 3:32
2 – Endless Flight – 3:36
3 – Yellow Moon Rising – 6:15
4 – Seasons Of Change – 3:43
5 – My Lord And My God – 4:34
6 – Rise Up – 2:35
7 – Promise Of Love – 4:14
8 – Home To My Lord – 4:20
9 – For The Prize – 3:05
10 – Through It All – 5:38

Credits
Arranged By, Conductor [Conducted By] – David Diggs
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Edie Lehmann, Marti McCall, Mary Ella Meek, Myrna Matthews, Richie Furay, Virgil Beckham
Bass – Dennis Belfield
Concertmaster [String Concertmaster] – Doug Cameron
Cover [Cover Design] – Chris Whorf
Drums – Ed Greene, Jim Keltner
Engineer [Second Engineer] – Gene Meros
Engineer, Mixed By – Jack Joseph Puig
Guitar – Dan Ferguson, Hadley Hockensmith, Paul Jackson Jr., Richie Furay
Keyboards, Synthesizer [Synthesizers] – David Diggs
Lead Vocals [All Lead Vocals] – Richie Furay
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Musical Assistance [Music Preparation] – Doug Dana
Pedal Steel Guitar – Al Perkins
Percussion – David Diggs, Steve Forman
Photography By – Dan Fong
Producer [Produced By] – David Diggs, Richie Furay
Producer [Production Assistance] – Jack Joseph Puig
Sleeve Notes – Rich Furay
Tenor Saxophone – Jim Coile

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Engineered At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Mastered At – MCA Whitney Recording Studios

Axia – Axia – 1988

Axia was another great Swedish Metal/Hard Rock Christian Band. Their music however was geared at a secular audience their core audience was Christian. This was their only full length album in the 80’s. They also released an EP and a single in the 80’s. There is a 2000 album but I don’t know if it was old or new material. The only noteworthy member of the band was Peo Pettersson who went on to record with Leviticus. That is not to diminish the other members as I believe this was a good tight band who deserve recognition. The album was essentially a self release on Pettersson’s label “Pop Productions”. The album was re-released in 2004 on a German label (MTM Music) with 4 bonus tracks. That is the version we have uploaded here.

Tracklist
1 – Intro (Instrumental) – 1:10
2 – It Ain’t Love – 3:34
3 – Loser – 5:17
4 – In For Rock ‘N Roll – 3:27
5 – Falling Apart – 4:55
6 – On My Way – 2:33
7 – Angela – 3:13
8 – Get Down – 3:49
9 – Confession Of Love – 3:57
10 – Fire – 3:15
Bonus Tracks
11 – Increasing Action – 2:29
12 – Forced Into Darkness – 4:38
13 – Never Ending Love – 3:12
14 – The Savage Ramblers – 3:32

Credits
Artwork, Design [Logo] – Ulrika.A.
Bass, Backing Vocals – Peter Andersson (30)
Crew – Björn Andersson (9), Patrik Süttenbach, Peter Pettersson (3), Stefan Bister
Drums, Backing Vocals – Michael Pethrus
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Morgan Blomquist
Lacquer Cut By – HCB*
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Robert Jacobsson
Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Peo Pettersson
Producer, Arranged By, Engineer – Axia (2)

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Studio Vanäs
Lacquer Cut At – Holland Cutting Room

Amy Grant – Amy Grant – 1977

The introductory album has a background story we’ve all dreamed about of we were musicians. At 15 years old she recorded a demo tape for her parents. The studio owner overheard the recording and played it for someone at Word records and thus her career began. It was recorded in 1977 and released in late 1977 (Wikipedia is wrong) and a year later she performed her first public appearance. There are a few strange things about this album. First of all Word released it on their Myrrh label. Seeing the popularity of the album A&M was approached for a wider audience release. The original cover from Word was absolutely horrible. It had a Jesus Music feel portrait of Amy on the cover which looks horrendous. Thankfully A&M put a stop to the horrible jacket before it got too widely distributed. (It is a collectors item now). They replaced it with a youthful happy picture of Amy that was a huge improvement. Myrrh also released a version of the album that included a second disk that was a sampler of other artists.

Tracklist
1 – Beautiful Music – 3:10
2 – Mountain Top – 3:39
3 – Psalm 104 – 3:27
4 – Old Man’s Rubble – 2:57
5 – Brand New Start – 2:53
6 – Grape, Grape Joy – 1:11
7 – Walking In The Light – 1:38
8 – What A Difference You’ve Made – 3:26
9 – Father – 3:26
10 – I Know Better Now – 2:49
11 – The Lord Has A Will – 2:38
12 – On & On – 3:20
13 – He Gave Me A New Song – 1:22

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Ron Elder, Steve Chapman
Acoustic Guitar, Bells – Brown Bannister
Backing Vocals – Chris Harris, Cindy Lipford, Gary Pigg, Gwen Moore, Marty McCall, The Grapeland Vocal Band
Bass – Joe Osborn, Stephen Schaffer
Drums – Jerry Carrigan, Kenny Malone, Lanny Avery, Larri Londin
Electric Guitar – Joe Wilson, Peter Bordonali, Reggie Young
Engineer – Brown Bannister
Horns – Dennis Good, Don Sheffield, George Cunningham, Roger Bissell
Keyboards – Randy Goodrum, Shane Keister
Oboe – Robert Taylor
Producer – Chris Christian
Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet – Dennis Solee
Strings – Sheldon Kurland Strings

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – A&M Records, Inc.
Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.

Oden – Come For The Children – 1979

This was Oden’s first album after the dissolution of Mustard Seed. The album has hints of the 60’s and the 80’s but is really a solid 70’s album with Rock overtures. The album was well received but didn’t chart, but that’s not unusual for the time it came out. According to the liner notes there were some very well known appearances on the album including John Mehler, Alex MacDougall, Michelle Pillar, Bob Bennett and it was produced by the legendary Jonathan David Brown.

Tracklist
1 – The Mask – 3:15
2 – Natural Man – 4:29
3 – Crazy Voices – 3:40
4 – White Eagle – 4:46
5 – Selfish Man – 4:09
6 – Again And Again – 4:31
7 – Ready To Fly – 3:26
8 – Come For The Children – 7:19
9 – She Begins To Sing – 3:16

Credits
Cover, Illustration – Rick Griffin (2)
Layout – Neal Buchanan
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Jonathan David Brown
Sleeve Notes [Lettered By] – Tim Barela
Written-By, Arranged By – Preston Fong

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Asaph Records
Copyright (c) – Asaph Records
Published By – Maranatha! Music
Recorded At – Maranatha! Studio
Mixed At – Maranatha! Studio
Mastered At – A&M Studios

Steve Camp – Fire and Ice – 1984

This 1984 release from Steve gave us more of what we expected from him. His pop sound continued on this album with some excellent light guitar riffs. The album single “Love’s Not A Feeling” made it to #4 on the CCM chart and staying on the chart for 30 weeks. “Living In Laodicea” also charted but only made it to #13. There were lots of guest appearances on this album including, Gary Lunn and Dann Huff from White Heart, Joe English as well as Carol and Rob Frazier.

Tracklist
1 – Upon This Rock – 3:37
2 – It Is Good – 3:37
3 – Love’s Not A Feeling – 4:17
4 – Heart Of Stone – 4:10
5 – Living In Laodicea – 4:04
6 – Squeeze – 4:57
7 – Fire And Ice – 2:55
8 – Light Your Candle – 3:48
9 – What Would The Devil Say – 2:59
10 – Where Are The Heroes – 4:52

Credits
Arranged By – John Rosasco, Steve Camp
Art Direction – Stan Evenson Design
Backing Vocals – Carol Frazier, Charity McCrary, Diane Thiel, Howard McCrary, Joane Anderson, Joe English, Kevin Thiel, Linda McCrary, Rob Frazier, Steve Camp
Bass – Gary Lunn, John Patitucci
Cover [Coordination] – B. Charlyne Hinesley
Design [Lyric Sheet] – John Taylor, Marlene Bergmann
Drums – Joe English, Keith Edwards
Engineer – Wally Grant
Engineer [Additional] – Brent Maher, Greg Butler, Hank Neuberger, Mike Ross, Steve Wyer
Guitar – Dann Huff, Marty Walsh
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Percussion – Alex MacDougal
Photography By – Craig Barnes
Producer – John Rosasco, Steve Camp
Programmed By [Synthesizer] – Rhett Lawrence
Saxophone – Brandon Fields

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Hearn Records Fund II, Ltd.
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company Inc.
Published By – High Pinnacle Music
Published By – Priority Music, Inc.
Published By – Word Music, Inc.
Engineered At – Weddington Studios
Mastered At – Future Disc

Rich Mullins – Rich Mullins – 1986

Mullins started his music career while attending Cincinnati Bible College in the late 70’s forming a band called Zion (Not the heavy metal Zion). They released a demo in 1981 called “Behold The Man”. On that demo was a song “Praise to the Lord”. This is where it all took off for Mullins. Amy Grant ended up picking up the song and used it on her hit album Age To Age. As a result of Amy’s huge hit Mullins decided to start a solo career. This was his first album on his own and it was a lot more uptempo than his previous work. It was very very well received and it’s Pop sound was played heavy on Christian Radio. Unfortunately on September 19, 1997 Rich passed from this world in a automobile accident.

Tracklist
1 – A Few Good Men – 3:45
2 – A Place To Stand – 4:10
3 – Live Right – 4:34
4 – New Heart – 3:10
5 – Elijah – 4:37
6 – Nothing But A Miracle – 4:06
7 – Both Feet On The Ground – 3:41
8 – These Days – 3:35
9 – Prisoner – 3:27
10 – Save Me – 2:50

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Kent Hunter, Thomas Ryan Design
Bass – Gary Lunn
Drums – Keith Edwards
Engineer – J.B.
Engineer [Assistant] – Billy Whittington, Keith Penny, Spencer Chrislu
Executive-Producer – Brown Bannister, Dan Harrell, Michael Blanton
Guitar – Greg Jennings
Keyboards, Piano – Phil Naish
Keyboards, Synthesizer, Synthesizer [Synclavier] – Reed Arvin
Management – Gay Quisenberry
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Reed Arvin
Sleeve Notes – Amy Grant
Vocals – Amy Grant, Billy Crockett, Chris Harris (2), Chris Rodriguez, Mark Heimermann

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Reunion Records
Copyright (c) – Reunion Records
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – Riverstone Studio
Published By – Meadowgreen Music Company
Published By – Edward Grant, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Made By – Allied DT

One Bad Pig – Smash – 1989

This was the first album from One Bag Pig though there was a demo before this that was re-released in 2008. One bad Pig had a distinctive sound that was a mix of Punk and Thrash. They were a bit of a shock to the Christian music scene/ There had been a few thrash bands but not quite like this one. The band got their name from a pic of a pig wearing sunglasses. Carey Womack remarked “That’s one bad pig” and Paul Q-Pek replied, “That would be a great name for a punk band! We should form one.” The rest is history.

Tracklist
1 – Godarchy – 3:09
2 – Isaiah 6 – 2:38
3 – Let´s Be Frank – 3:38
4 – People Cry Out – 3:57
5 – Frat Rats – 2:26
6 – Smash The Guitar – 3:44
7 – Kingdom Come – 4:33
8 – Take A Flying Leap – 2:15
9 – I´m Not Getting Any Older – 4:28
10 – Looney Tune – 1:24
11 – Don´t Be Fooled – 3:19
12 – Blow And Go – 2:14

Credits
Arranged By – Billy Smiley, One Bad Pig
Artwork [“Pig” Art By] – Jamie Cervantes
Band, Bass – Streak Wheeler
Band, Drums – Philip Owens
Band, Guitar – Paul Q-Pek
Band, Lead Vocals [Lead Screamer] – Carey “Kosher” Womack
Chorus [Gang Chorus Vocals] – Chad Brock, Dale Oliver, Dave Mullen, Ric “Tubes” Florian
Concept By [Cover Concept By] – One Bad Pig
Design [Package Design], Layout – Jeff Spencer
Engineer [Engineered By] – Lee Groitzsch
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By – Billy Smiley, Lee Groitzsch
Percussion – Chris “Slick” McHugh, Mike Connell
Photography By – Weston Wolfe
Producer [Produced By] – Billy Smiley

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pure Metal Records
Copyright (c) – Pure Metal Records
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution, Inc.
Recorded At – Warner Bros Nashville Music Recording Studios
Recorded At – Downstage Studio
Mastered At – Mastermix
Published By – Smiling Swine Music
Published By – Place Of Refuge
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Talking Drums – Courage – 1982

I have a strange relationship with this EP. In the mid 80’s I was working as a secular DJ and some how I discovered this album. It was an import to Canada so it must have been a friend that found it. Anyway I played it fairly heavy and had no idea they were a Christian band. They were one of a few bands that early on were on the “Sticky Music” label out of Scotland. The label was started by a couple of Christian guys who didn’t really intend for it to be a Christian label. I guess it really wasn’t as it featured secular bands but apparently all of them were Christians. This EP was a great dance track album and I have fond memories of playing the lead track quite regularity. Funny it took me over 30 years to learn they were a Christian band.

Tracklist
1 – Courage
2 – Parasuicide
3 – Descartes Lives
4 – Lost In The 20th Century

Credits
Bass – Stewart McEwan
Congas – Malcolm ‘Hyper’ Duffin
Design [Graphics By] – Carol, Mairi
Drums [Talking Drums] – Derek Clark
Engineer – Ian McCreadie
Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Maracas [A Mean Maracca] – Dot Irvine
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Charlie Irvine
Lead Vocals, Typography [Letraset], Percussion – Carol Moore
Producer – Steve Butler
Songwriter [Songs By] – Charlie, Dot

Trytan – Celestial Messenger – 1987

Trytan were often referred to as the Christian Rush. This was their first album and apparently was just a straight remix of one of their Demos. Surprisingly it turned out very well. While the album was missing some dynamic range the mix is really good. It handles the excellent guitar work of Lary Dean as well as the outstanding drumming of Scotty Blackman very well. While the vocals are very “Rush” like I find the music to be it’s own animal and I like it. This is actually the 2000 CD re-release that included 3 bonus tracks. Point of trivia is that Trytan was apparently an acronym for “To Reach Youth Through the Almighty Nazarene”.

Tracklist
1 – Gettin’ Ready – 3:44
2 – Don’t Turn Away – 4:08
3 – Mr. Electric – 5:14
4 – It’s War – 5:19
5 – Rip Van Winkle – 4:22
6 – Chains – 4:47
7 – Nowhere To Run – 4:57
8 – Genesis – 7:07
Bonus tracks
9 – In Her Eyes
10 – The Grinch
11 – To Be Free

Credits
Bass – Steve Robinson
Drums – Scotty Blackman
Guitar – Lary Dean
Keyboards – Steve Robinson
Lead Vocals – Lary Dean
Vocals – Scotty Blackman, Steve Robinson

Pete Carlson – Dreamer’s Dream – 1982

Pete had a few albums in the 70’s but this was really the album that made him known. It is a decidedly easy listening album sometimes referred to as AOR. Again this is not really my style of music but I appreciate music when it’s well done regardless of the style and this album is well done. Dayspring/Word must have sunk some real money into this project as the Credits list is huge. Interesting person on the credit list is guitarist Dann Huff from White Heart.

Tracklist
1 – Let Him Hold Your Heart – 3:35
2 – Run Inside – 3:29
3 – Dreamer’s Dream – 3:44
4 – The Love Of God – 3:28
5 – Warm Fire In A Cold World – 4:15
6 – Take Me Away – 3:37
7 – Lead Me In Your Love – 3:07
8 – What A Friend – 3:48
9 – Lord Of The Universe – 2:21
10 – Thanksong – 3:21

Credits
Pete Carlson – vocals, guitars
Keith Thomas – backing vocals, keyboards, producer
Dann Huff – guitars
Brent Rowan – guitars
Jon Goin – guitars
Bob Wray – bass
Mark Hammond – drums, percussion
Farrell Morris – percussion
Terry McMillan – percussion
Dennis Solee – sax
John Darnall – string arrangement
Terry Townsend – flugelhorn
John Catchings – cellos
Martha Wiggins – cellos
Dan Furth – violas
Kristi Wilkinson – violas
Conni McCollister – violins
Pauli Ewing – violins
Paul Tobias – violins
Lee Joiner – violins
Phylis Hiltz – violins
Larry Lasson – violins
Mark Feldman – violins
Karla Worley – backing vocals
Dennis Worley – backing vocals
Melodie Tunney – backing vocals
John Lee – backing vocals
Jan Lee – backing vocals
Don Hart – vocal arrangement