Category: Albums

Wall Bros. Band – Start All Over Again – 1978

The Wall Brothers are one of the most mystifying 70’s bands I have listened to. I missed this album back in the day and I’m guessing it’s because it wasn’t released in Canada. That said the band was hugely popular in the Genre. We get comments all the time about how much people liked them yet, I can find next to nothing about them. Bass player Randy Nelson has chimed in on our website and speaks fondly of his time with the band and says he’s still in contact with them. All that said I can find very very little about them in the interwebs. How did such a popular and excellent band become so unknown? This is a travesty because these guys were great and deserve some attention. Okay let’s get onto the album. While the album has a 70’s feel it does not have a typical Jesus Music sound. This is a Rock & Roll album and not some worship album. That said it does have some Ballads but they are actual Rock ballads. The lyrics are in your face Christianity. None of this ship in the desert stuff. This is well thought out Christ lyrics. Wish I had heard this one back in the day, it would have fit in nicely with our early SCB listening sessions.

Tracklist
1 – I Never Understood – 3:10
2 – Wind On Summer Nights – 4:46
3 – Walkin’ On The Water – 3:15
4 – Your Love Is Just What I Need – 4:45
5 – I Am – 4:38
6 – Givin’ It Up – 3:07
7 – Start All Over Again – 5:12
8 – Joyman – 3:48
9 – Clouds Of Glory – 4:32
10 – Where Will You Be Tomorrow? – 4:42

Credits
Arranged By [Horn Arrangements] – Shane Keister
Art Direction, Design – Bob McConnell
Bass, Vocals – Greg Wall
Drums, Percussion – Lance DeMers
Electric Guitar – Randy Nelson
Engineer – Bob Clark, Gene Eichelburger
Flugelhorn, Trumpet – George Tidwell
Flute – Billy Puett
Keyboards [Fender Rhodes], Lead Vocals – Kraig Wall
Lyrics By – Lance DeMers
Mastered By – Glenn Meadows
Mixed By – Travis Turk
Music By – Kraig Wall
Photography By – Dill Beaty
Producer – Phil Johnson
Synthesizer [Arp] – Shane Keister

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Greentree Records
Published By – John T. Benson Pub. Co.
Published By – Dimension Music
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Ron Salsbury And J.C. Power Outlet – Forgiven – 1974

Jesus Music was in dire need of a rock and roll band. In 1972 Myrrh released the self-titles debut album from JC Power Outlet to mixed reviews. The Devil’s music in your Christian bookstore! Two years later the follow up come out and it was better produced and, in some way, quite a bit harder edged. Bookstores still weren’t ready. The driving force behind JC Power Outlet was Ron Salsbury and he provided a formula of rocker followed by balled followed by rocker throughout each project. This second and final release for the group made a huge impact on the Jesus Music world as they finally had a legit rock band to go with the folk and pop groups like Love Song, Jamie Owens and Honeytree. Nothing earth shattering lyrically here as this is vintage Jesus Music evangelism and rapture ready warnings. But it’s very important to remember that these artists were also walking a very fine line of acceptance within their own churches and making bold proclamations of faith were all but necessary for their own survival and support. Forgiven was a game changer from the very creative artwork to the more consistent “rock” sound for the day, especially landing on a more mainstream Christian label. Here again we have an album that is both good and important to the growth and expansion of the Christian Music industry.

Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com

Tracklist
1 – Peace and Power – 3:17
2 – Oh My Jesus – 2:54
3 – Too Bad – 2:54
4 – My Friend – 2:49
5 – I Choose to Follow You – 5:29
6 – Give Him Your Love – 2:15
7 – Goodbye – 4:07
8 – My Sign – 3:32
9 – Don’t Let Jesus Pass You By – 3:24
10 – Open Your Spiritual Eyes – 3:35

Credits
Arranged By, Producer [Produced By] – Darrell Rodman
Band [J.C. Power Outlet] – Bruce Neal, Dave Edwards, John Pantano, Ron Salsbury
Composed By – Ron Salsbury
Cover, Design Concept – Ron Salsbury
Engineer – Dan Holmes
Lacquer Cut By – Eck
Photography By – Bill Grine
Photography By [Backliner] – Jennifer Salsbury

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word Music, Inc.
Engineered At – Audiotek Studios, Minneapolis

The Alarm – Change – 1989

This was the fourth studio album from The Alarm and the band/label continued their Russian roulette approach to producers. Tony Visconti was chosen as the producer/engineer for this one and quite frankly wasn’t the best choice. He completely failed to capture the feel of The Alarm and instead produced a commercial sounding album that made the band sound like anything else that came out in 1989. This is not to say that the album isn’t good, in fact the songs are great, it’s the arrangements/mix that sucked. So many great songs and if you see any of them live they are fantastic but for whatever reason the label thought the band needed a mainstream sound. The Alarm were not a mainstream band, they were a band of Christians with an edge that Rock and Roll needed, especially in 1989. Some interesting trivial about the album is that it was released on vinyl even though the vinyl version had to eliminate 2 tracks because the album was 2 long. There was a version of the album released in the U.K. that had the extra 2 tracks on a 7 inch insert. If I still collected vinyl I’d love to have that version. The album’s first single, “Sold Me Down the River” is a fantastic track and if you ever hear it live you realize how good a track it really is. It reached #13 on the UK charts, #75 in the US charts and in Canada it reached # 19 so I remember it very well. My personal belief is if this had been mixed properly it would have been a top 10 hit but the label knew better than me, or at least they think they did. Anyway I urge you to listen to the album as it really is very good and I absolutely love it. BUT, if it had been produced properly it would have been huge in my opinion.

Tracklist
1 – Sold Me Down The River – 5:25
2 – The Rock – 4:39
3 – Devolution Workin’ Man Blues – 4:11
4 – Love Don’t Come Easy – 4:08
5 – Hardland – 4:09
6 – Change II – 2:52
7 – No Frontiers – 3:53
8 – Scarlet – 4:17
9 – Where A Town Once Stood – 3:48
10 – Black Sun – 4:30
11 – Prison Without Prison Bars – 3:48
12 – How The Mighty Fall – 4:19
13 – Rivers To Cross – 3:42
14 – A New South Wales – 4:46

Credits
Arranged By – The Alarm
Bass – Eddie MacDonald
Drums – Nigel Buckle
Guitar – Dave Sharp
Keyboards – Mark Taylor
Management – Barry Dickins, Elliot Roberts
Producer, Engineer – Tony Visconti
Vocals – Mike Peters

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Cinram
Record Company – I.R.S. Records
Distributed By – MCA Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – International Record Syndicate, Inc.

Lynn Haney – Rebirth – 1972

My discovery of Lynn Haney is a result of another of my clicking on Discog links. Glenn Schwartz and the All Saved Freak Band join Lynn on the track “Building The Earth” and I found her from them. Lynn was not a member or involved with the All Saved Freak Band in any way that I can find but her sound is much like them. I hesitate to call this a Jesus Music album because it’s much more than that. There is some fantastic blues on this album and that just wasn’t heard in the Jesus Music genre yet. The album is on Tribute Records who had nothing else that sounded like this on their label. In fact while they were a Christian label most of their stuff was geared at the Catholic market so I have no idea how they got involved in this project. Anyway this is almost completely unknown Jesus Music era album that was great and deserved to be better known.

Tracklist
1 – If We Could Share – 3:02
2 – Believe It’s Time – 2:09
3 – Reality – 2:37
4 – Raise Your Voice – 3:04
5 – Hobab – 1:14
6 – Just My Life – 4:16
7 – Building The Earth – 3:03
8 – Makaha – 3:33
9 – You Can’t Run Away – 3:00
10 – Man Of Love – 2:34
11 – Go In Peace – 2:58

Credits
Artwork – Lynne Dudnik
Backing Vocals – Linda Sterrett
Bass – Bob Surga, James Nice
Drums – Jerry Coleman
Engineer – Ken Hammond, Marty Feldman
Guitar – Glenn Schwartz
Guitar, Producer – Ray Tate
Lead Vocals – Lynn Haney
Photography – Billy Bass
Piano, Harpsichord, Flute – Al Porth

Whitecross – In The Kingdom – 1991

This is the 4th studio album from Whitecross. To say it was successful would be an understatement. The album reached #12 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart and won a Dove award for Hard Music Album of the Year. The revolving door of members continued on this album with Butch Dillon on bass and Mike Feighan on drums for this album. I think it’s fair to say that at this point Whitecross was Scott Wenzel and Rex Carroll. Interestingly the track “Holy War” featured hip hop artist Alton Hood of Disciples of Christ. I’ve listened to this track a couple times now and one time I think it’s an excellent track and the next time I think it’s disjointed and doesn’t work. I don’t know if they were trying to reproduce the success of Aerosmith/Run-DMC but it’s certainly not of that level. One last point of trivia was that the music video for “No Second Chances” was the band’s first video ever seen on MTV’s Headbangers Ball.

Tracklist
1 – No Second Chances – 4:45
2 – We Know What’s Right – 6:06
3 – In The Kingdom – 5:20
4 – In His Hands – 3:37
5 – Good Enough – 3:58
6 – Love Is Our Weapon – 4:41
7 – The Eternal Fire (Guitar Solo) – 2:00
8 – You Will Find It There – 6:00
9 – If He Goes Before Me – 4:13
10 – Tell Me The Time – 4:29
11 – Holy War – 5:55

Credits
Backing Vocals – Butch Dillon, Dez Dickerson, Glenn Kaiser, Linda Clifford, Mike Feighan, Rex Carroll, Rey Parra, Scott Wenzel, Steve Watkins, Vicky Hubly
Bass [Musical Support] – Rick Cua
Bass, Vocals – Butch Dillon
Booking, Management – Gavin Markel, PGM Management
Creative Director – Toni Thigpen
Design, Layout – Jeff Spencer
Director Of Photography – Toni Thigpen
Drums [Musical Support] – Mike Mead
Drums, Vocals – Mike Feighan
Engineer [2nd engineer, mixing @ 16th Avenue Sound] – Graham Lewis
Engineer [2nd engineer, recording @ Jor-Dan Studio] – Glenn West
Engineer [editing @ Georgetown Masters] – Carlos Grier
Engineer [mastering @ Georgetown Masters] – Denny Purcell
Executive Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar, Vocals – Rex Carroll
Keyboards [Musical Support] – Chris Cameron
Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel
Other [Make-up] – Michael Tyler
Percussion [Musical Support] – Richard Trelease
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Simon Hanhart
Rap – Alton Hood

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Star Song Communications
Distributed By – Word Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song Records
Copyright © – Star Song Records
Recorded At – Jor-Dan Studios
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
Edited At – Georgetown Masters
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus

The Alpha Band – The Alpha Band – 1976

The Alpha Band rose out of the ashes of the backup band from Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1976. T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles, and David Mansfield had worked so well together on the tour they decided they should head top the studio and this album is the result. The album has a strong T-Bone fell but that’s going to happen as his vocals are so distinct. But musically this is definitely a T-Bone album and is much more in the style of T-Bone than Soles or Mansfield. The album features T-Bone’s signature songwriting but Soles was also heavily involved in songwriting. If you’ve listened to a T-Bone album then you will know what to expect from this album. If the first track doesn’t work for you keep listening as it gets much better. I’m not disrespecting “Interviews” but I just don’t think it was a good choice for the lead track. Track 2 “Cheap Perfume” is much better and set’s the album on a good path.

Tracklist
1 – Interviews – 3:52
2 – Cheap Perfume – 2:49
3 – Keep It In The Family – 4:34
4 – Ten Figures – 4:09
5 – Wouldn’t You Know – 3:51
6 – Madman – 4:23
7 – The Dogs – 4:20
8 – Arizona Telegram – 4:25
9 – Dark Eyes – 3:34
10 – Last Chance To Dance – 3:18

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Nancy Greenberg
Bass – David Jackson (4)
Drums – Matt Betton
Lacquer Cut By [JG etched in runouts] – John Golden
Management [Personal Representation] – Jonathan Taplin
Photography By [Cover] – Deborah Turbeville
Photography By [Sleeve] – Camera 5, Ken Regan
Piano – K. O. Thomas* (tracks: A3)
Recorded By – Larry Hirsch
Violin, Mandolin, Guitar – David Mansfield
Vocals – Rosanna Taplin (tracks: B2), Roscoe West (tracks: A1)
Vocals, Guitar – Steven Soles
Vocals, Guitar, Piano – T-Bone Burnett

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Arista Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Arista Records, Inc.
Recorded At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mastered At – Kendun Recorders
Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN

Lanny Cordola – Of Riffs And Symphonies – 1992

Lanny was best known as a member of Giuffria, House of Lords and Magdallan/Magdalen but he actually was in many bands. He grew up in L.A. and joined the music scene as a young man and worked as a Guitar tech for a few bands. His recording career started with Giuffria. Anyway to make long story short he eventually started the band Magdallan for which he is probably best known amongst our readers. While still in Magdallan he released this solo album. While this album is mostly instrumental tracks there are a few tracks with guest vocalists that included Jon Gibson. I’ll be honest I wasn’t expecting a lot from this album but I was horribly wrong. This is a fantastic album that deserved much more recognition than it got. The album really centers around Larry’s fantastic guitar work but the whole band is spot on. The band included brother Matt and Gregg Bissonette who are some of the best in thew business. We also have a guest appearance from Darrell Mansfield. So if you missed this one in 1992 be sure to give it a listen now. Full disclosure I played producer by merging a few tracks that were separated but were probably meant to be merged. This is another album that should have been listened to on vinyl and not on CD.

Tracklist
1 – Kaleidescope – 0:49
2 – Armashreddin’ – 5:39
3 – Play It Again Shem (That Funky Music) – 4:12
4 – Interlude – 0:18
5 – The Real Thing – 3:19
6 – YV – 4:58
7 – Gettysburg – 3:58
8 – Won’t Be Long Till Paradise – 4:32
9 – The Obstinate Toy Soldiers – 5:14
10 – Nan – 5:00
11 – The Revelation – 4:50
12 – For The Brothers – 5:30
13 – Donna Lee – 4:19
14 – Lo I Be With You Always – 4:02

Credits
Art Direction – Robert Beeson
Co-producer, Engineer – Charlie Watts
Design [Production] – Michael Seeley, SP&D
Mixed By – Paul Freeman
Musician, Backing Vocals – Allegra Parks, Sandra Stevens
Musician, Bass – Matt Bissonette, Mike Norton
Musician, Drums – Greg Bissonette*
Musician, Guitar – Lanny Cordola
Musician, Harp – Darrell Mansfield
Musician, Horns – the Martin Bros.
Musician, Keyboards – Tim Heintz
Musician, Percussion – Scott Breadman
Musician, Vocals – Bret Taylor, James Christian, Jon Gibson, Phil Bardowell
Producer, Arranged By – Lanny Cordola

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Front Page Studios
Mixed At – Front Page Studios
Distributed By – Brentwood Music, Inc.
Glass Mastered At – U.S. Optical Disc, Inc.

The All Saved Freak Band – For Christians, Elves, And Lovers – 1976

The story of the All Saved Freak Band is a fascinating one and I would urge you to read up about them and everything that stood in their way of getting their music out to the populace. But here we will concentrate on their second album. At some point the band discovered that J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian. He was actually the Catholic brand of religion but a pretty devout one apparently. Anyway the band was a fan and they brought together the fantasy world of The Lord Of The Rings with Evangelism and this album was the result. This album helped the band branch out to a whole new audience and was a big hit due to this invented theme. A copy of this album has actually been added to the Tolkien Collection at Marquette University. This album is best listened to it in it’s entirety and in the original order as the album definitely has a conceptual feel and flow.

Tracklist
1 – Stephen – 2:37
2 – Our Feast Of Love (A Merry Go Round) – 3:25
3 – By The Fire – 3:03
4 – The 100th Psalm – 5:21
5 – You Haunt My Mind – 3:38
6 – Water Street – 3:03
7 – Theme Of Fellowship Of The Ring – 3:59
8 – Elfin Chimes – 2:02
9 – Big Race – 3:23
10 – Great Victory – 3:30
11 – The Lord Is My Shepherd – 2:30
12 – Old Man Daniel – 3:07
13 – Valley Of Decision – 2:02
14 – Larry’s Song – 1:25

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Mike Berkey
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Bells, Producer, Arranged By – Rob Galbraith
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Violin, Cello – Kim Massmann
Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Violin, Cello, Arranged By [Special String] – Pam Massmann
Artwork, Photography By – Gary Allen, Joe Markko, John Davies, Mike Bishop
Artwork, Photography By, Engineer – Ken Hamman
Bass – Morgan King
Drums, Percussion – Tim Hill, Tom Eritano
Harp – Cindy Ratzloff
Keyboards – Carole King
Keyboards, Producer, Arranged By, Artwork, Photography By – Larry Hill
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Glenn Schwartz
Rhythm Guitar – Ed Durkos
Violin, Viola – Jane Massmann, Richard Massmann

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Windy Distributor Company
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Rock The World Enterprises
Copyright © – Rock The World Enterprises
Recorded At – Cleveland Recording Company
Lacquer Cut At – Cleveland Recording Company
Mastered At – Nashville Record Productions

Maria Muldaur – Gospel Nights – 1980

This is one of those albums that I wonder how it came about. Here’s the story as it is told today. Muldaur was invited to play a small concert at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in in Santa Monica, CA. She invited The Chambers Bros. to perform with her. For a band she told her friend T Bone Burnett to put something together so T Bone invited his fellow Alpha Band members Steven Soles and David Mansfield along with his friend Stephen Bruton. So now we have all the actors in place let’s move onto the album. I’ll be honest that I wasn’t expecting much from this album as I’m not the biggest Maria Muldaur fan. Boy was I wrong. This is a fantastic album. This is not some hippy dippy affair, this is an in your face soul, blues, rock, bluegrass album. Not all at the same time but they are all there. I guess I should have expected that with such a great line up of artists. I don’t have a top 500 albums list like David Lowman but this would be on mine and I’m surprised it missed David’s list. Anyway, if you missed this one back in the day please do yourself a favour and give it a listen today.

Tracklist
1 – Brothers And Sisters – 6:46
2 – My Jesus Is All – 3:44
3 – Trials, Troubles, Tribulations – 4:22
4 – Bright Morning Star – 3:24
5 – Daniel Prayed – 3:26
6 – Nobody’s Fault But Mine – 1:38
7 – Just Like An Eagle – 4:43
8 – Did You Remember – 3:17
9 – Traveling Shoes – 4:14
10 – People Get Ready – 4:01
11 – Said I Wasn’t Going To Tell No One – 5:55
12 – Guide Me, O Great Jehovah – 1:53

Credits
Art Direction – John Van Hamersveld
Bass – Leon Gaer
Drums – Ron Tutt
Electric Guitar – Stephen Bruton
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Steven Soles
Electric Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin – David Mansfield
Liner Notes – T Bone Burnett
Photography By [Back] – Matt Kramer
Photography By [Cover] – Sally Shoaf
Piano – Danny Timms
Producer – Jon Monday, Maria Muldaur
Recorded By, Mixed By – Ron Marks
Vocals – Maria Muldaur, The Burns Sisters, The Chambers Brothers

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – McCabe’s Guitar Shop
Recorded At – Gingerbread Studios

Lou Hayles – Don’t Hide Away – 1977

Lou Hayles was a member of U.K. band Meet Jesus Music which is how I discovered her. I’ve found so many great albums by clicking on random names on Discogs. Anyway I can’t find any information on Hayles other than she was a member of Meet Jesus Music. As for the album it follows along with her previous bands work but maybe turned down a notch. I can’t really pick a favourite track because well this album just isn’t my style. There is nothing wrong with the album in fact for this style it really a good album so as I usually say, if Jesus Music is your thing this one might be one for you.

Tracklist
1 – Don’t Let Them Fool You – 4:12
2 – Father of the Fatherless – 3:10
3 – Sweet Lamb – 4:10
4 – Tapestry – 3:15
5 – Wedding Song – 1:55
6 – Come to Me – 3:45
7 – The Kingdom Song – 2:27
8 – Traveling Along – 3:15
9 – High Priest – 2:51
10 – Don’t Hide Away – 3:00

Credits
Lou Hayles – Vocals, Keyboard
Barry Morgan – Drums
Dave Markee – Bass
Kevin Peek – Guitar
Lizzie Mills – Oboe
Jon Miller – Producer
Rod Edwards – Producer
Roger Hand – Producer
Lennart Sjöholm – String arrangements
Dave Harris – Engineer