Category: Albums

20 Twenty – Altered – 1987

20 Twenty (or Twenty Twenty) were an 80’s CCM rock band that apparently gained some popularity in secular radio.

I have been unable to find out anything about them other than what I have documented here. They had 2 albums, this being the second.

They changed their name from Twenty Twenty to 20 Twenty this album. The album was produced by Billy Smiley from White Heart. Strangely the album contains a cover of Hold Your Head Up by Argent.

Track Listing:
1 – Fine Line – 3:31
2 – Get Altered – 3:30
3 – Can’t Run From You – 4:06
4 – For Heavens Sake – 4:43
5 – Eternity In Every Heart – 3:44
6 – Hold Your Head Up – 3:48
7 – Caught Up In Heaven – 3:49
8 – Find Your Way Back – 4:47
9 – Material Things – 3:52
10 – The Tears You’ve Cried – 3:19

Credits:
Ron Collins – lead vocals
Roscoe Meek – guitars
Earnie Chaney – keyboards
Gary McAnelly, Tommy Sims – bass
Greg Herrington – drums
Billy Smiley – synths
Rick Florian – backing vocals
Executive Producer – Bob MacKenzie
Producer – Billy Smiley

The Richie Furay Band – I’ve Got A Reason – 1976

Richie Furay Was one of the founding members of Buffalo Springfield and Poco. He struck out on a solo career (as The Richie Furay Band) as a Christian performer with this album. This album has a rather usual 70’s sound, though considerably more easy listening than his secular works. All in all it’s a good album if you like the 70’s sound. Point of trivia about the album is that it was produced by Michael Omartian.

Track List:
1 – Look At The Sun – 5:07
2 – We’ll See – 3:02
3 – Starlight – 3:39
4 – Gettin’ Through – 2:59
5 – I’ve Got A Reason – 4:07
6 – Mighty Maker – 3:54
7 – You’re The One I Love – 3:40
8 – Still Rolling Stones – 3:54
9 – Over And Over Again – 7:09

Credits:
Bass, Backing Vocals – Jay Truax
Drums – John Mehler
Guitar, Vocals [Lead] – Richie Furay
Keyboards – Tom Stipe
Producer – Bill Schnee, Michael Omartian

Larry Norman – Home At Last – 1989

Larry released this album in 1989 which has mostly new material. Originally released as a 2 LP set, it was also released as a CD and was re-released in 2007 on CD.

The CD only contained sides 1, 2, and 3 of the LP’s. Side 4 of the LP was a live recording of 4 songs. The LP is relatively rare and I’ve never even seen a copy.

One of the favourite tracks was “Sitting In My Kitchen” which was a rework of Randy Stonehill’s “Norman’s Kitchen”.

Track Listing:
1 – Lonely Boy
2 – My Feet Are On The Rock
3 – Country Church
4 – Sitting In My Kitchen
5 – Camel Through A Needle’s Eye
6 – Nightmare #49 (Part One)
7 – Oh How I Love You
8 – Queen Of The Rodeo
9 – He Really Loves You
10 – Here Comes The King
11 – Letters To The Church
12 – We Three Twogether
13 – Somewhere Out There
14 – Selah

Credits:
Larry Norman – vocals, harmonies, guitar, piano, saxophone, harmonica, keyboards
Charles Norman – vocals, guitars, bass, harmonica, keyboards, percussion, drums
Sarah Norman – vocals, harmonies, percussion
Beki Hemingway – vocals, harmonies
Jon Linn – guitar
Bob Somma – guitar
Jellybean Jaquette – bass, engineering
Dave Spurr – drums
John Campbell – keyboards
Steve Goomas – piano
Dan Cutrona – keyboards

Randy Stonehill – Spirit Walk – 2011

This 2011 release from Randy Stonehill proves that he is still highly relevant in the Christian music scene. This album shows us Randy’s quirky side, we all know, as well as his status as a good Rock and Roll performer.

Considering his first album was over 45 years ago, I actually think he is still becoming a better musician every release.

Track Listing:
1 – Blood Transfusion and a Coca Cola – 4:01
2 – Remember the Devil – 5:20
3 – Spirit Walk – 4:59
4 – Life is Tough, God is Good – 4:21
5 – Try Havin’ Some Faith – 4:13
6 – Broken Places – 4:09
7 – Pray For Me – 4:17
8 – That’s Where the Devil Lives – 4:44
9 – Last Time I Saw Eden – 4:36
10 – Finish Well – 5:37

Credits:
Artwork, Design [Cover Design] – Ray Ware
Engineer [Engineered By] – Mike Pachelli
Photography By – Minesh Bacrania Photography
Producer [Produced By] – Mike Pachelli, Randy Stonehill
Written-By – Mike Pachelli (tracks: 2,7,5), Randy Stonehill, Rob Crosby (tracks: 6)

Randy Stonehill – Born Twice – 1971

This is Randy’s debut record from 1971 or maybe 1973. This copy is marked 1973. He has another release from 1973, “Get Me Out of Hollywood” but this isn’t that one.

Side one is a live recording that sounds a little like a church basement, but also a lot like an old school coffee house performance. The crowd is incredibly courteous, completely silent during the songs and responsive to each one. You can almost picture someone sitting in front of Randy holding a little microphone and a hand held cassette tape recorder. I think it was a higher quality affair than that, but it is this intimate.

Side two is a series of studio songs, several of which would later be recorded in more famous versions by Larry Norman. Some were released with different song titles. Larry produced this album, so it’s a little unclear how the songwriting credits were supposed to work. In particular, the song “Norman’s Kitchen” ended up on Larry’s 1990 album “Home At Last” titled “Sitting In My Kitchen”

This is a rarely heard treat that shows us the early start of Randy Stonehill, who is still going strong with a busy touring schedule over 45 years after recording this.

Track Listing:
1 – I Need You
2 – Hand In The Hand
3 – He’s Got The Whole World
4 – Help Me Lord
5 – Thank You
6 – Never Can Repay
7 – All Right Now
8 – Passing Stranger
9 – I Love You
10 – Christmas Time
11 – Norman’s Kitchen

Credits:
Producer, Arranged By, Photography By – Larry Norman

Charlie Peacock – Lie Down In The Grass – 1984

This is Charlie Peacock’s introductory album. Up until this he was best known as being a producer, having produced the Seventy Sevens amongst others.

This album is strongly new wave with very strong synth influence. It is highly produced which I guess is to be expected when a producer produces their own album.

As an aside, in my opinion this album has one of the worst album covers in the 80’s.

Tracklist
1 – Lie Down In The Grass – 3:29
2 – Watching Eternity – 2:58
3 – It’s Gone, It’s Over – 3:47
4 – Human Condition – 3:00
5 – Lost In Translation – 3:47
6 – One, Two, Three (That’s Okay) – 3:45
7 – Whole Lot Different (Whole Lot The Same) – 3:32
8 – Till You Caught My Eye – 3:30
9 – Turned On An Attitude – 2:57
10 – Who Is Not Afraid? – 3:00

Credits
Artwork By – Jim Abegg
Bass – Eric Heilman, Erik Kleven
Bass, Tom Tom, Vocals – Steve Griffith
Design – Jim Abegg
Engineer – Daryl Zachman
Executive Producer – Mary Neely
Guitar – Jim Abegg
Guitar, Vocals – Mike Roe
Mastered By – John Golden
Mixed By – Larry Hirsch
Other [Executive Coodinator] – Jan Eric Volz
Percussion [Additional] – Jim Caselli
Percussion [Ethnic & Orchestral] – Bongo Bob Smith
Photography – Kent Lacin
Producer – Charlie Peacock
Saxophone – Michael Butera
Trumpet – Larry Lunetta
Vocals, Keyboards, Drums – Charlie Peacock
Written By – Charlie Peacock

Randy Stonehill – Welcome To Paradise – 1976

This album was Randy’s third and at this point Randy was a very accomplished musician.

His song writing had always been very strong but now his guitar work was catching up. For many this album was their first exposure to Randy Stonehill and it had strong sales numbers.

Larry Norman both produced and played guitar on the album.

Point of trivia is that T-Bone Burnett joined the album as a bass player.

Track Listing
1 – King Of Hearts – 4:53
2 – Keep Me Runnin’ – 5:57
3 – The Winner (High Card) – 3:43
4 – Lung Cancer – 3:31
5 – Puppet Strings – 4:25
6 – First Prayer – 3:08
7 – I’ve Got News For You – 3:49
8 – Song For Sarah – 3:28
9 – Christmas Song For All Year ‘Round – 3:56
10 – Good News – 2:54

Credits:
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Bass – The Mighty T-Bone
Conductor [Charts And Baton] – Anthony Harris
Drums – Mark Walker
Electric Guitar, Piano, Harmony Vocals – Larry Norman
Engineer – Andy Johns
Engineer [Co-Engineer] – Tom Trefethen
Lead Guitar – Jon “Wonderfingers” Linn
Management – Street Level Artists Agency
Producer, Arranged By, Photography By, Design [Album Design] – Larry Norman
Typography [Lettering] – Joe Taylor
Written-By, Performer [Performed By] – Randy Stonehill

Sparrow Christmas – 1988

It’s Christmas time so here’s Sparrows 1988 Christmas album. Highlights on this album are, White Heart – Little Drummer Boy, Steve Taylor – Winter Wonderland, and Geoff Moore & The Distance – Jingle Bell Rock.

Track Listing:
1 – Bebe & Cece Winans – Silent Night, Holy Night – 5:43
2 – Margaret Becker, Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, Bebe & Cece Winans, White Heart And Steve Camp – Home For The Holidays – 4:18
3 – White Heart – Little Drummer Boy – 4:12
5 – Michael Card – What Child Is This? – 2:47
6 – Deniece Williams – Do You Hear What I Hear? – 4:13
7 – Steve Taylor – Winter Wonderland – 1:56
8 – Margaret Becker – O Come, O Come Emmanuel – 4:52
9 – Steve Camp – O Holy Night – 4:09
10 – Tim Miner – The First Noel – 4:35
11 – Geoff Moore & The Distance – Jingle Bell Rock – 2:59
12 – Steven Curtis Chapman – Away In A Manger – 4:18
13 – Margaret Becker, Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, BeBe Winans And White Heart – Angels We Have Heard On High – 3:31

Street Angel – (self titled) – 1986

Street Angel was an 80’s Christian band with 2 releases.

This EP release was the demo they shopped around before being picked up by Dark Records. The band was fronted by Bill Romansky who had a solo album in 1979 just catching the end of the Jesus music era. The album has strong U2 influence, but with slightly more synth.

Track Listing:
1 – When The Sun Comes Up – 3:26
2 – I Am Calling – 6:21
3 – The Blood – 5:20
4 – Together We – 5:32
5 – Falling – 3:33
6 – MTV – 3:44
7 – The End – 2:47

Petra – Come And Join Us – 1977

This album from 1977 supplied us with the Christian equivalent of a Rock Anthem.

God Gave Rock And Roll To You was on every Christian mixed tape I remember. That said, the album has other gems that have been forgotten over time.

My personal favourite is Woman Don’t You Know.

Little known fact is that God Gave Rock And Roll To You was actually a cover of a Russ Ballard song originally recorded by his band Argent in 1973.

Track Listing:
1 – God Gave Rock And Roll To You – 5:37
2 – Holy Ghost Power – 2:27
3 – Woman Don’t You Know – 3:41
4 – Sally – 4:26
5 – Come And Join Us – 4:39
6 – Where Can I Go – 3:52
7 – Without You – 4:27
8 – Ask Him In – 3:31
9 – God Gave Rock And Roll To You (Reprise) – 2:50

Credits:
Arranged By – Petra (9)
Artwork – Dennis Bellile
Bass Guitar – John DeGroff
Drums, Percussion – Bill Glover
Engineer – Terry Jamison
Guitar – Bob Hartman, Greg Hough
Keyboards – Steve McElyea
Percussion – Steve Mergen
Producer – Austin Roberts