Tag: 1996

Sleepy Ray & The Mighty Blood – Where The Highway Turns – 1996

This is Raymond McDonald’s second album and this one got picked up by Crystal Lewis and her husband Brian Ray’s record label Metro One. On his first album he dabbled with a Stevie Ray Vaughan sound but this album he really embraced it. Now I’m not saying the whole album is SRV sounding in fact it’s not but the best tracks have an SRV vibe. That is except for the best track “It’s Only Tuesday” which has a blues sound all it’s own. Unfortunately this is the last album we would get from Ray but the good news is that he still posts of himself on YouTube as the Sr. Pastor at The Vineyard Church of Conroe. He picks up the guitar and leads the congregation in some fantastic rock licks now and then. This is well within my top 50 CCM albums.

Tracklist
1 – Underneath Your Mighty Blood – 3:45
2 – My Answer – 4:06
3 – It’s A Loving Thang – 4:16
4 – You All Along – 4:33
5 – Cadillacs To Heaven – 3:16
6 – You’ve Gone Bitter – 2:51
7 – Where The Highway Turns – 6:40
8 – In The Way Up Down The Road – 4:36
9 – Swing #9 – 3:06
10 – It’s Only Tuesday – 2:44
11 – God Is So Good – 7:23

Credits
A&R – Tim Taber
Acoustic Guitar – Chris Lizotte
Art Direction – Sheri Neville
Bass Guitar – Bobby McDonald
Drums, Percussion – Kevin Jarvis
Engineer – Ken Woodward
Engineer [Additional] – Leo Song
Engineer [Assistant] – Marianne Kleine
Executive-Producer – Chris Wimber
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Raymond McDonald
Mastered By – Robert Vosgien
Mixed By – Michael Dumas
Producer [Additional], Organ [B-3], Piano – Ralph Jordan
Producer [Assistant] – Bobby McDonald, Kevin Jarvis
Producer, Art Direction – Raymond McDonald

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Vineyard Music Group
Copyright © – Vineyard Music Group
Distributed By – Diamante Music Group

The Strawmen – At Home – 1994/1996

So The Strawmen are/were a version of The 77s or at least that’s the traditional view. Whether you consider them that way or not is up to you. The band is/was Mark Harmon and Dave Leonhardt, the bass player and rhythm guitarist for The 77s. They were joined by Mark’s brother Bill on Guitar. It has been reported that this album gave a spark to Mike Roe and Aaron Smith to get the band back together with Mark and Dave. As such this album is kind of held out as a 77s album by a lot of people. Several of the tracks were subsequently re-recorded for the 77s album “Pray Naked”. Bottom line is that you are a 77s fan then this album is a must listen to as it was pivotal in the 77s history in the mid 90’s. The original CD Release had 13 tracks. The 1996 re-release only had 11 of those original tracks but had 4 bonus tracks. Our release here has all of the tracks for a total of 17.

Tracklist
1 – Sometimes – 3:53
2 – Phony Eyes – 4:55
3 – Deep End – 3:49
4 – Come Back – 3:31
5 – Rattles – 3:42
6 – Hard To Say – 4:21
7 – Rant & Rave – 4:11
8 – Hate’m – 4:01
9 – Sometimes (Vocal Mix) – 3:10
10 – Let Love Live – 3:24
11 – The Chop – 3:24
12 – Holy Hold – 3:45
13 – Raging Tomb – 6:23
14 – Talk To Me – 3:48
15 – Ray Of Hope – 3:49
16 – Pick Up The Pieces – 4:26
17 – If We’re So Innocent – 4:00

Credits
Artwork [Cover Art By] – Jimmy Abegg
Bass, Programmed By [Programming], Backing Vocals – Mark Harmon
Guitar [Guitars], Backing Vocals – David Leonhardt
Lead Vocals, Guitar [Guitars], Backing Vocals – Bill Harmon
Liner Notes – Bill Harmon
Written-By [All Songs By] – Strawmen

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Fools Of The World
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Fools Of The World
Glass Mastered At – DADC – DIDX-021258

Santa Fe – Moon Circles – 1996

Dipping well into the 90’s here but this is an 80’s artist. Phillip Sandifer is joined by his brother Michael for this one off album in 1996. Though it’s a 90’s album it really maintains Phillip’s 80’s sound. I’m not a huge fan of Phillip as he doesn’t really do my style of music but this album is actually pretty good. It is fairly mellow but has a nice flow to it and is a good example of how to structure an album so you can listen to the whole thing. The album was well received with 2 top singles, “Love Speaks Louder” and “Wider Sky”.

Tracklist
1 – Wider Sky – 5:08
2 – Moon Circles – 5:31
3 – Soul Need – 5:31
4 – Wanting The Things You Get – 5:15
5 – Looking For A War – 4:38
6 – Imperfect Vision – 5:18
7 – Love Speaks Louder – 4:34
8 – There Is A Place – 4:40
9 – Circle Of Love – 4:59
10 – The Sun Goes Down Too Fast – 4:40

John Schlitt – Unfit For Swine – 1996

This is the second solo album from John Schlitt who was the Lead singer of Petra from 1986 forward. John really turned it up for this one and it is a great Rock & Roll album. It was partly produced by the Huff brothers (Giant/Whiteheart) and partly by Mark Heimermann. You can really hear the Huff influence with some tracks having killer guitar riffs and those guitar riffs were supplied by George Cocchini from the Joe English Band. This album was certain to be a success with this killer lineup. While it can certainly be said That John did some great work with Petra in my opinion he really shines with his solo work. John summed up this album by saying “This is not a safe record for me, but I like it”

Tracklist
1 – Save Me – 3:37
2 – God Is Too Big – 3:42
3 – Can’t Get Away – 4:18
4 – We Worship You – 4:12
5 – Need I Remind You – 4:15
6 – Take You On – 3:53
7 – Helping Hand – 4:49
8 – There Is Someone – 3:45
9 – I Killed A Man – 3:57
10 – Don’t Have To Take It – 3:48

Credits
A&R – Bubba Smith, Lynn Keesecker
Art Direction – Christy Coxe
Bass Guitar – Jackie Street
Design – Astrid Herbold
Drums, Percussion, Overdubbed By – David Huff
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – George Cocchini
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Overdubbed By – Dann Huff
Engineer [Assistant] – Mike Wrucke
Engineer [Assistant], Overdubbed By – Eric Elwell
Engineer, Mixed By – Joe Baldridge
Keyboards – Mark Heimermann
Management – Mike Keil And Associates
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Overdubbed By – The Dobbs, Todd Robbins
Photography By – Matthew Barnes
Producer – Dann Huff, David Huff (tracks: 1, 7, 8, 10), Mark Heimermann (tracks: 2 to 6, 9)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Epic
Distributed By – Epic
Recorded At – Dark Horse Recording
Overdubbed At – Fun Attic Studio
Overdubbed At – Dobb’s Palace
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mastered At – Mastermix