As near as I can tell this is the first album from both Rev. Ian Smale (Ishmael) and Andy Piercy. As such this is an important album in my After The Fire tentacles project. I read that Andy and Ishmael were very good friends and they did more projects like this at the time. They actually had self released a 45 the year before this album but strangely neither of those tracks made it to this album. This was one of the first releases on Myrrh which was called Myrrh Gold at the time. Side 2 of the album might have been recorded live or perhaps just had applause mixed in I’m not sure. Anyway the album mainly consists of them each on an acoustic guitar. As for style it leans more toward Ishmael’s style with a heavier folk influence. The intro track is also probably the best track on the album. Anyway so here’s where two of my favourite artists started out. Also note that Ishmael re released the album on CD at some point and added a 12th track which we have included.
Tracklist 1 – Salt & Light Company – 3:35 2 – Psalm 139 Vs 6-12 – 4:35 3 – Paddy – 5:00 4 – Son Of God – 2:58 5 – Who Is He? – 4:35 6 – Hallelujah Chorus – 3:07 7 – We Got Jesus,We got Joy – 2:36 8 – Schitzo – 2:57 9 – Charisma – 2:50 10 – All Gods Children – 2:16 11 – I’m So Happy – 4:07 12 – The Lords Army – 1:34
Credits Design, Photography – Bernard A Cope Engineer – Lea Nicholson, Nic Kinsey Engineer [Cutting] – John Wadley Performer – Andy Piercy, Ishmael, Littlehampton Youth For Christ Producer – Bobbie Graham
In 1993 Andy got together with David Clifton and recorded a “worship album” and it is without a doubt my favourite worship album of all time. Now you may be wondering who David Clifton is as did I but I can bet you’ve probably heard him. He is a prolific studio guitarist who has appeared on a ton of album and done a ton of tours. He actually started out his recording career in a band called Sensible Jerseys who had a couple of really good singles you’ve probably never heard but you should. As for this album the songs are all very worship oriented BUT the arrangements are not. The arrangements are very contemporary and it really works. Now you know I love Andy’s music and this album may have my favourite track by him. “Precious In Your Eyes” has a fantastic sound and I can sense a touch of Elvis Costello but let’s give Andy and David all the credit. It is a fantastic track. This album was first released on Cassette in 1993 with a CD release in 1994. It has been re-released a few times since with a few tracks added here and there but this is the original.
Tracklist 1 – Praise God – 4:09 2 – God Is Our Refuge – 3:58 3 – Oh How I Love Your Law – 3:58 4 – Come Let Us Sing – 3:01 5 – I Need A New Heart – 2:04 6 – Thank You – 2:25 7 – Father In Heaven – 3:25 8 – Holy Holy – 4:34 9 – Precious In Your Eyes – 5:01 10 – Name High Over All – 3:00
Credits Andy Piercy: vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion David Clifton: vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin and mandola Dudley Phillips: bass guitar Terl Bryant: drums and percussion Martin Neal: drums and percussion Steve Creese: drums Pete Sainsbury: keyboards Holly Coward, Jess Rudolf, Ellen Holly & Laura Piercy, Benj, Barny, Kirsty & Josh Lee: backing vocals Produced by Andy Piercy & David Clifton
After the official breakup of After The Fire Andy Piercy hit the studio for a solo album with Producer John Eden. They had some material left over from the final days of ATF so that’s where they started. The album was to be called Free Heat which was an anagram of After The Fire, with the missing letters creating the word “rift”. Musicians who worked on the album with Piercy and Mal Pope included Roger Taylor (Queen), Henry Spinetti & Bob Jenkins – drums, John Giblin & Andy – bass, Alan Murphy & John Russell – guitar, Adrian Lee – keys. Mal Pope and John Russell both did some backing vocals. CBS released “8 Ball in the Top Pocket” (b-side “Deep Waters Still Run”) as a single and it did not get any airplay. They also pressed an extended version of the single but they ditched it before the release though some copies did sneak out. Work on the album had begun to get difficult as the demos were not turning into the tracks Piercy wished for. Then towards the end of recording, the producer, John Eden, told Piercy that he “didn’t like” any of the styles, bands or writers he was aspiring to. The whole project was dropped by CBS and was never released. Piercy recalls “I think they could have been good but I now realize I didn’t get the production help and direction I needed at the time.” Okay that’s enough of the history lesson so now my opinion. The choice of “8 Ball In The Top Pocket” was absolutely the wrong choice. Then they put “Deep Waters Still Run” on the B side which was even a worse decision. Everyone involved in the project knew the single was “Stop Go” followed up by “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” but CBS didn’t care what all the talent thought. Now as for the album as a whole I actually think I agree with Andy that there were production problems. Normally this is where I would scream and yell about the mix but in this case it’s not the mix that is the problem. Actually I think the production is fantastic BUT the problem is that the tracks were mixed in different styles. I feel that there is 3 distinctly different sounds here. I think they’re all good but the album doesn’t have that continuity that great albums have. That said I believe producer John Eden did a good job but it just didn’t work out. One last gripe was the choice of the album name being a negative attitude towards After The Fire. In my opinion that just wasn’t called for or appropriate and knowing that Andy and Peter Banks were still trying to be friends it was in poor taste.
Tracklist 1 – Stop Go – 4:36 2 – We Gotta Get Out Of This Place – 4:44 3 – Terry – 6:20 4 – Young Love – 4:32 5 – Deep Waters Still Run – 4:13 6 – 8 Ball In The Top Pocket – 5:04 7 – Break Out – 4:53 8 – One Down For The Highway – 4:12 9 – Jewel In The Night – 4:52 10 – 4th Street Room 101 – 4:23
Credits Artwork By [Design] – Roslav Backing Vocals – Mal Pope, John Russell Bass – John Giblin, Andy Piercy Drums – Roger Taylor, Heny Spinetti, Bob Jenkins Guitar – Alan Murphy, John Russell Keyboards – Adrian Lee Photography By – Eric Watson Producer – Andy Piercy, John Eden Vocals – Andy Piercy
