Carman – God’s Not Finished With Me – 1980

Carmelo Domenic Licciardello known to us as Carman came to Christ around 20 years old. A life long musician he was pretty quick to get to work on an album. This is that first album. It was released on micro label Klesis Records and had almost no distribution so most people never had a chance to hear this one. Several tracks from this album would show up on future albums so people got a chance to hear them. This album set the tone for many albums to come. His almost theatric song structure is established here as his style. This is one you may have missed so I strongly suggest giving it a listen, it’s a great album.

Tracklist
1 – God’s Not Finished With Me – 2:30
2 – I Love Jesus – 3:15
3 – Some A Dat – 3:20
4 – I Don’t Believe It – 3:54
5 – Something Changed – 3:22
6 – God Don’t Care – 3:38
7 – I Still Can Rock N’ Roll – 3:15
8 – You’re The Only One – 3:30
9 – Simple Things – 3:31
10 – You Belong To Me – 3:54

Carman – Revival In The Land – 1989

I know I’m going to get some hate for this review but it’s my opinion and I welcome yours. I’m not really too sure what Carman was trying to achieve with this album. We have spoken tracks, conceptual tracks, theatrical tracks, a rap track, and a couple just regular song tracks. Quite frankly Carman could have done an album of nursery rhymes and it would have singled on the CCM charts. Actually I’m not so sure he didn’t do that. Anyway I truly believe that Carman was trying a little of everything in his quest to appeal to youth but the simple fact is that he was liked by our parents not us. At least that was what was happening in my circle. Carman also released a VHS of himself performing the album and I’ve seen bits and pieces of it and quite frankly it’s just bizarre. On a positive note the album did have 3 singles on the CCM charts and also won the Dove award for the Long Form Music Video of the Year for the aforementioned VHS release. Anyway that’s my take on this very bizarre album.

Tracklist
1 – God’s Got An Army – 4:24
2 – I Got The Joy – 4:30
3 – A Witch’s Invitation – 6:45
4 – Get Your Business Straight With God – 3:58
5 – This Blood – 5:29
6 – Saved, Delivered And Healed – 5:40
7 – Jesus Is The Light – 4:53
8 – The Resurrection Rap – 4:05
9 – Shine Through Me – 4:34
10 – Revival In The Land – 6:30

Credits
Carman – Songwriter, Vocals
Susan Ashton – Background Vocals
Kym Barger – Gang Vocals
Shirley Bereal – Background Vocals
Ronnie Brookshire – Engineer
Curt Butler – Gang Vocals
Jacquetta Carr – Background Vocals
Steve Charles – Assistant Engineer
Christ Church Choir – Choir Vocals
Tina Clark – Background Vocals
Dan Cleary – Executive Producer
Ashley Cleveland – Background Vocals
Ed Crippen – Platoon Vocals
Eric Darken – Percussion
Willie Davis – Choir Director, Hammond B-3, Gang Vocals
Wendell DePrang – Platoon Vocals
John Destito – Gang Vocals
Barry Dixon – Assistant Engineer
Mark Douthit – Saxophone
Dave Ecrement – Platoon Vocals
David Felty – Platoon Vocals
Kim Fleming – Background Vocals
Nick Froome – Engineer
Roy Gamble – Assistant Engineer
Steve Gannon – Platoon Vocals
Landy Gardner – Choir Director and Conductor
Andrae Hammond – Gang Vocals
Mark Hammond – Drums, Percussion Programming
Vicki Hampton – Background Vocals
Chris Harris – Background Vocals
Mike Haynes – Trumpets
Mark Heimermann – Background Vocals
Tom Hemby – Guitars
Higher Dimensions Sanctuary Choir – Choir Vocals
Sgt. Penny Hollenbeck – Platoon Vocals
Ron Huff – Orchestra Conductor
Bobby Jones – Gang Vocals
Dan Keen – Platoon Vocals
Brent King – Engineer
Pamela Lee – Background Vocals
Paul Leim – Drums
Stephen L. Lyman – Gang Vocals
David McCune – Platoon Vocals
Chris McDonald – Horn Arranger, Trombone
Donna McElroy – Background Vocals
Shawn McLean – Assistant Engineer
Jerry McPherson – Guitars
James Michael – Bass
Marvin Moore – Gang Vocals
Todd Moore – Production Assistance, Assistant Engineer, Platoon Vocals
Farrell Morris – Percussion
Dave Murphy – Assistant Engineer
Phil Naish – Producer, Arranger, Keyboards
Nashville String Machine – Strings
Gary Paczosa – Assistant Engineer
Carlton Pearson – Guest Vocals
Monica Pearson – Background Vocals
Mary Ann Peterson – Background Vocals
Denny Purcell – Mastered
John Ricroft – Platoon Vocals
Chris Rodriguez – Background Vocals
Maurice Carlton Scott – Gang Vocals
Jimmie Lee Sloas – Bass
Carry Summers – Assistant Engineer
Brian Tankersley – Producer, Engineer, Mixed, Programming
Keith Thomas – Producer, Arranger, Songwriter, Synthesizers, Synclavier and Drum Programming, Percussion
George Tidwell – Trumpets
Jo-Nathan Watkins – Gang Vocals
Bill Whittington – Engineer, Mixed
Daire Winston – Assistant Engineer
Don Wyrtzen – Choir and Strings Arranger

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Benson Company, Inc.
Copyright © – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Distributed By – Mitchell Family Books, Inc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Glass Mastered At – DADC – DIDX-007290
Produced For – Yellow Elephant Music, Inc.
Produced For – GBT Productions
Recorded At – The Bennett House
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – The Reflections
Recorded At – The Church Studio, Tulsa
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Recorded At – Nightingale Studio
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Recorded At – Digital Recorders
Mixed At – Emerald Sound Studios
Mixed At – Mastermix
Overdubbed At – OmniSound Studios
Overdubbed At – Great Circle Sound
Overdubbed At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
Published By – Some-O-Dat Music
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Yellow Elephant Music, Inc.
Published By – Edward Grant, Inc.

Carman – The Champion – 1985

This Carman release from 1985 is one of his albums that stands out. Not so much because of the music but because of one song. The title track is more of a spoken word story than a song that people either loved or hated. Personally I was neither here nor there on it. The track did single at #28 but only stayed on the charts for 8weeks. The real single was Revive Us, Oh Lord which actually climbed to #2 and was on the charts for 24 weeks. Fear Not My Child also singled climbing to #24. There were a couple names on the backing vocals, Marty McCall from Fireworks and Paul Smith of the Imperials. The CD has a bonus track “Love Can” (included here). It was put as the second last track of the CD as I’m guessing they wanted the title track as the last track on both the CD and the Vinyl.

Tracklist
1 – Prepare To Die – 5:20
2 – Abundance Of Rain – 3:36
3 – Revive Us, Oh Lord – 3:47
4 – A Little Bit More Conviction – 4:34
5 – It Happened To Me – 3:24
6 – The Destination Is There – 3:57
7 – Fear Not My Child – 4:55
8 – Love Can – 5:40
9 – The Champion – 8:39

Credits
Arranged By [Strings] – Bruce Koblish (tracks: 7), Ronn Huff (tracks: 5, 9)
Art Direction, Design – Joan Tankersley
Backing Vocals – Bonnie Keen, Marty McCall, Melody Tunney*, Patti Morris, Paul Smith (22)
Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas (tracks: 1), Mike Brignardello (tracks: 2 to 9)
Coordinator [Choir] – Dan Jones (tracks: 9)
Coordinator [Producer’s Assistant] – Brett Perry
Drum Programming [Linn Drum] – Mark Hammond
Drums – Mark Hammond
Engineer [Assistant] – Allan Henry, Bill Heath, Danny Mundhenk, Jeff Coppage, Ken Criblez
Executive-Producer – Lynn Nichols
Graphics – Lori Cooper
Guitar – Greg Jennings, Jon Goin
Guitar [Solos] – Jon Goin
Keyboards, Programmed By [Synth Programming] – Keith Thomas
Percussion – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Aaron Rapoport Photography
Producer, Arranged By – Keith Thomas
Programmed By [Emulator] – Neal Merick
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Sleeve [Logo Design] – Patrick Pollei
Strings – The Nashville String Machine

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word Communications Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Made By – JVC
Recorded At – Emerald Sound Studios
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Recorded At – Goldmine East, Brentwood, TN
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Mixed At – Bullet Recording
Published By – Some-O-Dat Music
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Word Music

Carman – Comin’ On Strong – 1985

This was Carmen’s 4th album and his first with Myrrh records. This album had a “Poppier” feel than his previous and in fact a few tracks could easily have played on pop radio of the time. The album was relatively well received but their were no “chart toppers”. This is probably my favourite Carmen album with my favourite song from him “Spirit Filled Pizza” Yes it’s a bit of a goofy song but I’ve always liked it.

Tracklist
1 – Get Outta My Life – 3:25
2 – This Thing Is Real – 3:56
3 – His Mercy Endures Forever – 3:42
4 – Spirit Filled Pizza – 3:28
5 – Ask Of Me – 4:18
6 – Blessed Is He Who Comes – 3:10
7 – He Is The Son Of God – 3:44
8 – Lazarus Come Forth – 6:25
9 – The Light Of Jesus To The World – 3:59

Credits
Co-producer [Production Assistance] – Jeff Balding
Executive-Producer – Lynn Nichols
Mastered By – Hank Williams (2)
Producer – Keith Thomas
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – A&M Records
Recorded At – Emerald Sound Studios
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Recorded At – Morningstar Studios
Recorded At – Stage III
Mixed At – The Castle Recording Studios
Mastered At – MasterMix

Various – The ’50s in the ’80s – 1988

This is a very rare release from Dayspring Records and as far as I can tell it only came out on cassette. It is basically a collection of various artists that had a 50’s sounding track. Some of the choices are kind of a stretch but it works out pretty good for the main part. Most of the tracks we’ve heard on their original albums but their are a few tracks which while not exclusive to this album, are relatively unknown. The 2 stand out tracks are Kenny Marks – Bon Appetit, and Carman – Spirit-filled Pizza.

Tracklist
01 – New Song – Say Yes
02 – Dion – You Need A Love
03 – The Sharrets – Smile
04 – Randy Stonehill – American Fast Food
05 – Solveigl – My Starlight
06 – Daniel Winans & The Second Half – The American Way
07 – Kenny Marks – Bon Appetit
08 – Allies – It’s Never Easy
09 – Dion – Another Saturday Night In Heaven
10 – The Latinos – The Party’s Over
11 – Carman – Spirit-filled Pizza
12 – Randy Stonehill – Modern Myth 2