This was Tom’s first album. Myrrh / Word Records took a real chance on Tom as he was actually Catholic and not evangelical. I’m actually quite surprised they took this chance but it was a good idea as he was quite well received. He had been working in secular music with no success and his faith called him to do Christian music. This album is a little heavy on the worship tracks and strangely none of them singled. Several were certainly good enough for the CCM charts but I suspect there was some hesitance due to his denomination. There are a few good pop tracks and I really like “I Know What Love’s About”. CCM needed more songs like this. HIs next album is better and much better known so if you liked his second album, Shadowboxing, you should give this one a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Walk That Talk 2 – The Call 3 – Messiah 4 – (You’re Only As) Sick As Your Secrets 5 – Piece Of The Mountaintop 6 – HGT (Heavy Guilt Trip) 7 – Thank You For Loving Me 8 – I Know What Love’s About 9 – Live On In My Love 10 – Just Passing Through
Leon recorded this album in 82 or 83 while on tour to support his “I’ll Never Stop Lovin’ You” release. It includes most of his big hits up to this point along with renditions of Amazing Grace and This Is The Day. Strangely Leon played the entire concert by himself using backing tracks of Bass and Drums recorded by himself earlier. I found this rather odd and was wondering if it was a tad egotistical but I decided in the end that it was simply a money decision. Normally of course you’d have to pay a support band for the tour as well as their expenses. Doing every thing yourself avoids this splitting and additional costs. Pretty smart financial move but I would think it would have hurt the live experience. If it did you can not tell from the recording. The fans are quite into the concert and it does sound like it was a great show.
Tracklist 1 – Born Again – 5:04 2 – Flesh Of My Flesh – 3:02 3 – Dance Children Dance – 6:46 4 – Amazing Grace – 1:55 5 – Don’t Give In – 4:36 6 – Star Of The Morning – 4:02 7 – Cornerstone – 4:05 8 – Visions (Talk) – 8:00 9 – We Must Believe – 6:17 10 – This Is The Day – 4:46 11 – Go – 5:15
Credits Design, Layout – Dennis Hill Engineer – Skip Konte Engineer [Assistant] – Biff Vincent Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Photography By – Roger Hanlon Piano, Electric Piano [Rhodes], Bass, Drums – Leon Patillo Producer – Leon Patillo, Skip Konte Programmed By [Horns, Strings, Percussion] – Leon Patillo Vocals – Leon Patillo
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Mixed At – Front Page Studio, Costa Mesa, CA Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △26047
This was Teri’s 4th album but her first in the CCM genre. She had a very successful run in Secular music before having a disagreement with her record company and switching to Word/Dayspring records. As a point of trivia her separation from secular Casablanca records left an album on the shelf that has never been released. Another weird piece of trivia is That she put out a secular album in the same year as this one but it was only released in Japan. Anyway onto this album, it was produced by her hubby, Bill Purse. He didn’t have much of a production history but did a great job on this album. The album had 2 singles with “Battleline” making it to #8 and “I Dedicate All My Love To You” to #10. Pretty successful album but given her secular success this isn’t surprising. Actually I’m a little surprised they didn’t pull a 3 and 4th single off the album. The album is a Easy Listening affair but has a couple pretty good upbeat tracks. “Dig A Little Deeper” is the track that most resemble her secular work and has a nice pop dance feel to it.
Tracklist 1 – Thank You – 3:30 2 – Battleline – 3:40 3 – I Dedicate All My Love To You – 4:57 4 – Dig A Little Deeper – 4:00 5 – Clouds Without Water – 5:30 6 – All I Need – 4:30 7 – Jesus, Call Your Lambs – 4:10 8 – I’ll Carry On – 4:54 9 – A Call To Us All – 7:25
Credits Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin – John Chiodini Art Direction, Design – Paul Gross Backing Vocals – Bill Purse, David Roitstein, Kelly Koehr, Kim Fox, Nicole Ann Kujala, Rosalina R. Sackstein, Stephen R. Kujala, Teri DeSario Purse Berimbau, Kalimba, Caxixi – Michael Fisher Concertmaster – Doug Cameron Design [Inner Sleeve] – Steve Elowe Drums – Carlos Vega, Tony Lewis Engineer [Assistant] – Steve Ford Flute – Rosalina R. Sackstein French Horn – William Alsup Guitar – Kevin Clark Harp – Amy Shulman Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Photography By – Harry Langdon Producer, Arranged By, Piano, Synthesizer – Bill Purse Recorded By, Mixed By – Kevin Clark Saxophone – Dave Boruff Sitar – Dan Ratkovich Tabla, Percussion – Ron Wagner
Companies, etc. Mastered At – A&M Studios Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
This was Russ’s first album after leaving the Imperials and I’m pretty sure it’s success confirmed to him that he had made the right decision by going solo. The lead single “We Will Stand” sat at #1 on the CCM charts for 15 weeks. That’s a pretty respectable first album single. He also won the 1983 Grammy award for Best Male Gospel Performance. As for the album I’m pretty sure Myrrh records pulled out all the stops as the production quality and over all quality of the album is very high. If your a fan of Russ’s albums after this one you might be surprised a bit at how mellow this one is. It is definitely a transition of styles from the Imperials to his more rock style on subsequent albums. We did get a hint of what was to come with “Inside Look” which is actually a pretty darn good Rock track. While this album doesn’t make many “Best of the 80’s” lists I think it probably deserves a spot.
Tracklist 1 – Tell Them – 4:23 2 – Walls Of Glass – 3:57 3 – I Want To Change – 5:05 4 – Pure In Heart – 3:59 5 – We Will Stand – 4:37 6 – Jeremiah – 4:02 7 – Inside Look – 4:01 8 – Just Believe – 4:26 9 – Kathryn’s Song – 4:24 10 – Unto The Lamb – 2:42
Credits Mike Baird – Drums Laury Boone Browning – Choir, Background Vocals Bonnie Bramlett – Background Vocals Raymond Brown – Songwriter Harry Browning – Choir Robbie Buchanan – Songwriter, Synthesizer Bass, Rhodes, Synthesizer Don Cason – Choir Lenny Castro – Percussion Bill Champlin – Background Vocals Tamara Champlin – Background Vocals Cynthia Clawson – Choir Ragan Courtney – Choir Charlotte Crossley – Background Vocals Nathan East – Bass Daniel Garcia – Assistant Engineer Bill George – Songwriter, Rhodes Gary Grant – Horns John Hammond – Drums Joann Harris – Background Vocals Susan Pyron Heard – Choir Jerry Hey – Horn Arrangements, Horns James Hollihan – Songwriter, Guitar Richard Hopkins – Bass Abraham Laboriel – Bass Michael Landau – Guitar David Lasley – Background Vocals, Choir Charlie Loper – Horns Arnold McCuller – Choir, Background Vocals Dony McGuire – Background Vocals Bobby Messano – Choir James Newton Howard – Songwriter, Piano, Synthesizer Michael Omartian – Songwriter, Piano, Rhodes, Synthesizer Stormie Omartian – Songwriter Jeff Porcaro – Drums Frank Previte – Choir, Background Vocals Jack Joseph Puig – Vocal Production, Engineer Reba Rambo – Background Vocals Patti Roberts – Songwriter Doug Sax – Mastered Bill Schnee – Producer, Engineer David Schober – Assistant Engineer Russ Taff – Songwriter, Vocals Tori Taff – Songwriter, Choir Keith Thomas – Songwriter Carmen Twillie – Background Vocals Marty Walsh – Guitar Ernie Watts – Horns, Sax Solo Gary Whitlock – Choir
Companies, etc. Record Company – Word, Inc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios Mastered At – The Mastering Lab Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △26106
This was Michele’s second solo album and I noticed something rather odd about her album covers while researching this album. She had 3 albums with Sparrow Records and for some reason Sparrow chose to use a portrait picture of her for all 3 albums. I am assuming this was a strategy for the worship album sector as quite frankly it’s a little weird to me. Often an artists first or second album will have a good picture of the artist which helps people “identify” with the artist but to do it on 3 straight releases is just weird. Anyway on to the album itself. It was quite successful with the title track making it to # 9 and the follow up single “He Rolled Away The Stone” making it to #4. At the same time she had a #4 duet single with Steve Camp, “Love’s Not A Feeling” off of his 1984 album, Fire And Ice. As for the album itself it is your usual female vocalist worship album. I’m not trying to downplay the album but really there were so many of these cookie cutter albums at the time it is very difficult to get excited about them.
Tracklist 1 – Shout It From The Rooftop – 3:41 2 – He Rolled Away The Stone – 4:32 3 – Reign On Me – 3:21 4 – Look Up – 3:04 5 – There He Was – 5:00 6 – My Heart Is A Stone – 4:19 7 – Don’t Wait Too Late – 3:39 8 – When Love Draws Near – 4:04 9 – One Move Of Your Spirit – 4:12 10 – Song Of Praise – 2:43
Credits Arranged By [Strings] – J.L. Wallace Art Direction – Stan Evenson Backing Vocals – Cindy Richardson, Gary Baker, J.L. Wallace, Lenny LeBlanc, Mac McAnally, Michele Pillar Bass – Butch Ledford Concertmaster – Earl Spielman Cover [Coordination] – B. Charlyne Hinesley Design [Lyric Sheet] – Marlene Bergman Drums – Owen Hale Engineer – Jerry Masters, Steve Moore Engineer [Additional] – Dan Garcia Engineer, Remix – Ron Capone Executive-Producer – Billy Ray Hearn Guitar – Will McFarlane Mastered By – Steve Hall Percussion – Alex Acuña Photography – Mark Hanauer Piano, Keyboards – Larry Muhoberac, Steve Nathan Piano, Keyboards, Guitar – J.L. Wallace Producer – J.L. Wallace Producer [Additional], Remix, Mastered By – Ken Pennell Saxophone – Ronnie Eades Vocals – Michele Pillar
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Sparrow Records Recorded At – Muscle Shoals Sound Studios Remixed At – Westwind Studio Mastered At – Future Disc
This is a collection of stuff Phil recorded in his basement studio. It was all recorded on a Teac 144 Porta-Studio and Phil played all of the instruments. If you didn’t know this I’m pretty sure you would think this was a studio recorded album with studio musicians. Apparently there was enough material for a double album but a decision was made to make it a single album release as Volume 1. Volume 2 never came unfortunately. I would have loved to hear more. I had not listened to this album back in the 80’s as I wasn’t really a big Keaggy fan. Wow did I miss out. This is a fantastic album. It has a great rock / pop sound with a 70’s feel. In my opinion this might have been some of his best work. Keaggy said he never intended to release these tracks but somehow it happened. I’d love to hear the story of that decision. Keaggy said of this album “The uniqueness of this album lies in the fact that all the tunes were recorded at my leisure, in a comfortable setting, without realizing they would be used for an official record release. Because of this factor, I feel there is a freedom and confidence expressed in these songs which sets them apart from some of my other recordings.”
Tracklist 1 – What A Love – 3:56 2 – The Ransom – 3:47 3 – Deadline – 3:36 4 – Think About It – 3:36 5 – One In A Million – 4:36 6 – I Know Someone – 3:41 7 – The Two Of You – 4:56 8 – Paid In Full – 4:20 9 – What You Are Inside – 3:35 10 – Follow Me On – 3:24 11 – The Survivor – 5:12
Credits Arranged By – Phil Keaggy Art Direction, Design – Stan Evenson Design Coordinator [Cover Coordination] – Charlyne Hinesley, Judith Cotton Engineer – Phil Keaggy Engineer [Additional Overdubs] – Mike Ross, Wally Grant Mixed By – Bob Cotton, Phil Keaggy Performer, Instruments [All] – Phil Keaggy Photography By – The Design Oasis Producer – Phil Keaggy Vocals – Phil Keaggy (tracks: A1, A3 to B1, B3, B5) Vocals [Additional] – Bernadette Keaggy (tracks: A4) Written-By – Phil Keaggy
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Nissi Records Published By – Marguerite Music Published By – Emmaus Road Music Recorded At – Weddington Studios Mixed At – Weddington Studios Mastered At – Future Disc Distributed By – Sparrow Distribution
I was quite surprised when I first listened to this album. I have heard Thomas’s follow up album to this one and quite liked it’s synth heavy pop sound. This album has nothing in common with that album. This is an instrumental jazz album and quite frankly I don’t like it. I don’t deny that there is a ton of talent here but this album is not what CCM was looking for at the time. I can’t find any info on how well it sold so I’m guessing not well. As I said there is no shortage of talent here but to put out an album for a niche part of a niche market just seems odd to me. Thomas was one of the best studio musicians of the time and must have had tons of contacts in the industry but chose to do a jazz album instead of something a little more trendy. That said if you do like instrumental jazz you’ll love this one and it’s probably the best instrumental jazz album of the era, not that it had much competition in this category.
Tracklist 1 – Road To Paradise – 3:32 2 – I Can’t Believe It’s True – 2:24 3 – Midnight Celebration – 4:15 4 – Made To Love You – 3:18 5 – Livin’ Without Your Love – 3:09 6 – The Heartmender – 3:45 7 – Changes – 5:43 8 – One More Song For You – 3:40
Credits Arranged By [Strings] – John Darnall Art Direction, Design – Bill Brunt Bass – Bob Wray Drums, Percussion – Mark Hammond Engineer [Recording] – Jeff Balding Executive-Producer – Neal Joseph Flugelhorn – Terry Townson Guitar [Acoustic], Electric Guitar – Jon Goin Mastered By – Hank Williams Mixed By – Bill Schnee Percussion – Terry McMillan Photography By – Mike Borum Producer, Arranged By, Piano [Acoustic], Synthesizer [Prophet V, Oberheim], Electric Piano – Keith Thomas Strings – The Kris Wilkinson Strings Woodwind – Mark Douthit
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
There is very little information out there on this band. I’m a little surprised at this as the album was produced by Terry Taylor (Daniel Amos). Rob Watson (Daniel Amos) also helped with some Keyboards. The sheer involvement of these guys should have made this band a little more known. On their album sleeve they thank Servant so there is some connection with them too. But that’s it, that’s all I could find on this band. The album is mainly easy listening with a couple livelier tracks but for the main part is light rock. It’s good though and the production is strong so it really deserves at least one listen. It won’t make it into my regular rotation but as I say, it’s worth a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Singer And The Song – 3:15 2 – Prophets And Clowns – 3:22 3 – Super Heroes – 3:15 4 – Walk In The Spirit – 3:15 5 – Here I Am Again – 3:25 6 – This Is The Day – 4:59 7 – Hope – 3:38 8 – I’ll Play The Fool – 3:18 9 – Song To The Church – 4:16 10 – Come All Who Labor – 4:15 11 – Singer And The Song (Reprise) – 1:12
Credits Bass, Vocals – Mark Sullivant Drums – Darrell Ferraiuolo Guitar, Vocals – “Jimmy T” Thomas Keyboards – Tim Robbins Producer – Terry Scott Taylor Vocals, Guitar – David Bunker Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion – Jan Thomas
Companies, etc. Manufactured By – Word Records Limited
Come As A Child is a live solo set by Larry Norman released in 1983. It was probably recorded in 1982 or 83. This record is billed as a concert for the benefit of The Calcutta Mission. Very little information about that transaction is available, but we assume that a portion of the profits of record sales were used to help the poor in India. It starts out with an introduction by Barry MacGuire, who was a late convert to Christianity and had a huge hit with the spiritual song “Cosmic Cowboy.” Larry always seemed to have a heart for California Culturals who were willing to learn about Jesus. There seems to be no lasting connection between Barry and Larry other than this introduction. Evidently Barry really was a fan. The performance is good and is a great example of vintage Larry. The sound quality is not great, but better than some of the other bootlegs released by Phydeaux. Unlike Roll Away The Stone and Live At The Mac, this album is primarily an acoustic performance. He did a lot of those on tours during the 1970s as well as the ones near the end of his career. Always with his “Spanish guitar” and the contract specifying 2 microphones set at the same volume. One for him and one for the guitar. Nightmare and Peacepollutionrevolution are stand-out tracks here because he did not do them live all that often, and they do not normally show up in his acoustic sets. Some of Larry’s humourous banter is here introducing songs, and talking about salvation and what we now call “Chritianese” on his talk “Heaven And Hell.”
Tracklist 1 – Barry McGuire Introduction – 2:34 2 – U.F.O. – 3:01 3 – I Hope I’ll See You In Heaven – 5:17 4 – Why Can’t You Be Good – 2:38 5 – Singing At The White House – 2:54 6 – The Great American Novel – 4:09 7 – Nightmare – 4:52 8 – Six Sixty Six – 2:26 9 – Peacepollutionrevolution – 2:45 10 – The Outlaw – 3:01 11 – Heaven And Hell – 2:16 12 – Strong Love, Strange Peace – 2:54
Credits Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano – Larry Norman Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Written-By – Larry Norman
Mark Heard tried something a little different for this album. He put down the electric guitar and did everything on an acoustic. The album definitely has an acoustic feel but I’m not comfortable calling it an acoustic album, it’s much more than that. Mark recorded most the tracks himself at home with his wife Janet manning the board. Additional tracks were recorded at Gold Mine studios but there weren’t many. For the most part Mark recorded and played this album himself. Tom Howard did come over one day and they played around with an Emulator Synthesizer. This album gives us a little exposure to another side of Mark and I would say it’s a nice exposure. This album definitely goes down as one I remember well from those days.
Tracklist 1 – Eye Of The Storm – 3:00 2 – The Pain That Plagues Creation – 3:57 3 – Castaway – 3:16 4 – Well-Worn Pages – 2:44 5 – He Will Listen To You – 2:58 6 – In The Gaze Of The Spotlight’s Eye – 3:59 7 – Gimme Mine – 3:33 8 – These Plastic Halos – 3:02 9 – No One But You – 2:27 10 – Moonflower – 2:24
Credits Backing Vocals – Dave De Coup Crank, Mark Heard Design [Cover Design], Art Direction – Tim Alderson Drums [Linn Drums], Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar, Accordion, Mandolin, Harmonica, Xylophone, Percussion, Other [Voicehorns, Voicestrings] – Mark Heard Engineer [Assistant], Photography By – Janet Heard Engineer, Mixed By – Mark Heard Mastered By – Steve Hall Mastered By [Assistant] – Wally Grant Pedal Steel Guitar – Al Perkins Producer – Mark Heard Saxophone – Brandon Fields Synthesizer [Emulator], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer – Tom Howard Synthesizer, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Phil Madeira Tambourine, Shaker, Other [Toothbrush, Bowling Pins] – Harry Stinson Written-By, Design [Cover Design], Photography By – Mark Heard
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Home Sweet Home Records, Inc. Copyright (c) – Home Sweet Home Records, Inc. Published By – Bug & Bear Music Recorded At – Gold Mine Mastered At – Future Disc Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △25939
