Tag: Chuck Girard

Chuck Girard – Fire & Light – 1990

Chuck Girard’s Glow In The Dark album was one of the first CCM albums that my friends and I ever bought. We spent hours listening to Anthem and Somethin’ Supernatural. As such I always a special spot for Chuck but I’ll be honest, he lost me in the 80’s as his albums became meh. But this album is different. Though it’s in his usual style I really like this one. Perhaps it’s because Rob Watson was involved with the production but this album is actually a really good album. When I had to classify it into a style I actually chose Light Rock, up one level from Easy Listening where Chuck’s album normally reside. I really liked the drums on this album which were played by Burleigh Drummond of Ambrosia. So if you grew a little tired of Chuck through the 80’s take some time and listen to this one, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Tracklist
1 – Set The Trumpet To Your Mouth – 5:26
2 – Walls Of Praise – 3:58
3 – Follow the Light – 4:11
4 – Blessed In The City – 4:09
5 – Fresh Bread – 3:54
6 – Fill My Cup – 3:44
7 – Lift My Hands – 3:22
8 – O Holy Night – 4:46
9 – Be Enthroned O God – 4:05
10 – Talk To Me – 3:50
11 – Hearts Of Fire – 4:37
12 – Jesus Is Standing Here – 6:08
13 – Enter In – 4:10
14 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 5:09

Credits
Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Bill Batstone, Chuck Girard, John Barbour
Art Direction, Design – Antonio Lozano
Art Direction, Design, Layout – John Schaffer
Backing Vocals – Alisa Girard, Andy Allen, Bill Batstone, Chuck Girard, John Barbour
Bass – Tim Chandler
Drums, Percussion – Burleigh Drummond
Edited By [Mix Down] – Brian Davis, Chuck Girard
Engineer – Brian Davis
Engineer [Assistant] – Andy Allen
Engineer [Drums] – Doug Doyle
Executive-Producer – Lewis McVay
Guitar – Randy Mitchell
Keyboards, Programmed By, Arranged By [String Arrangements] – Rob Watson
Mixed By – Brian Davis, Chuck Girard, Rob Watson
Photography By – Dianne McVay
Producer, Arranged By – Chuck Girard, Rob Watson

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Asaph Records
Copyright © – Asaph Records
Distributed By – Asaph Musik
Distributed By – Asaph AG
Manufactured By – P+O Pallas – 63486

Chuck Girard – Heart Of Christmas – 2001

Here’s a collection of Christmas favourites by Chuck Girard many of which have updated arrangements. Of interest is Jingle Bells with Christian lyrics and a more modern version of Oh Holy Night. There is also a traditional version of Oh Holy Night.

Tracklist
1 – Jingle Bells – 3:15
2 – We Three Kings – 4:42
3 – What Child Is This – 4:21
4 – Silent Night – 6:37
5 – Oh Holy Night – 5:02
6 – Heart Of Christmas – 4:23
7 – The First Noel – 4:33
8 – Mary’s Boy Child – 5:19
9 – Away In A Manger / Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem – 4:36
10 – In The Bleak Mid-Winter – 4:26
11 – Oh Holy Night – 5:24

Credits
Co-producer, Arranged By – Karen Girard
Producer, Arranged By – Chuck Girard

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Seven Thunders Records
Copyright © – Seven Thunders Records

Love Song – Feel The Love – 1976

This album was actually recorded in 1976 after the band split up but I am going to guess that the split was amicable. I say this because this concert was very tight. The band worked together well and didn’t miss a beat the whole concert. This indicates to me that they were well rehearsed. Bands that get back together for a concert that have hard feelings generally don’t rehearse much and often this is reflected in the concert. Generally I categorize Love Song as a worship band but this album does have a few pretty good 70’s rock tunes. Considering several members of the band went on to do Rock & Roll this shouldn’t be as much of a surprise as I found it to be. The album also included several Devotional moments which are all relevant to this day. I have chopped up this album a little different than the record company. I think it flows a little better my way.

Tracklist
1 – Intro/Front Seat, Back Seat 4:08
2 – Little Country Church 2:58
3 – The Cossack Song 4:14
4 – Manila Story (Devotional) 1:58
5 – A Love Song 2:49
6 – Two Hands 3:54
7 – Feel The Love 5:49
8 – So Thankful 3:28
9 – Since I Opened Up The Door 3:59
10 – Our Journey (Devotional) 5:00
11 – Freedom 4:15
12 – Let Us Be One 5:12
13 – Psalm 150 (Devotional) 1:19
14 – Drum Solo 8:46
15 – Jesus Puts The Song In Our Hearts 4:20
16 – Little Pilgrim 5:29
17 – The Path and the Prayer (Devotional)4:45
18 – Sometimes Alleluia 6:57
19 – Psalm 5 3:37

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Chuck Girard
Bass – Jay Truax
Drums – John Mehler
Electric Guitar – Bob Wall, Tom Coomes
Engineer – Bill Schnee
Keyboards – Chuck Girard
Lead Vocals – Chuck Girard, Tom Coomes
Mixed By – Joe Bellamy
Producer – Chuck Girard, Freddie Piro, Love Song
Vocals – Bob Wall, Jay Truax, John Mehler

Companies, etc.
Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Recorded At – Paramount Northwest Theatre
Recorded At – San Jose Civic Auditorium
Recorded At – Warnors Theatre
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Distributed By – Word
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Good News Records
Copyright (c) – Good News Records

Chuck Girard – The Name Above All Names – 1983

This album marked Chuck’s departure from Good News Records and instead he created his own label for this album. That said I am guessing the experiment didn’t go well as he joined Asaph Records for his next album. Now I’m going to criticize this album but hear me out as it’s not that bad. Chuck brought in Bob Rose to help produce this album. Bob had only produced one album before this one which was Chucks The Stand album. Chuck and his wife Karen took co-producing credits and executive production credits. Quite frankly the album shows the lack of proper production. A few songs have fade ins which is generally avoided by most producers as it not generally well received. That said an occasional fade in song is good for artistic license but not so many. Further the album just doesn’t have that finished feel. Many of the song names are too long and it just doesn’t feel finished. Now that said, the songs are good and the album probably has some of his best lyrics ever. The mix is good if not polished and I noticed that Derald Dougherty gets an engineering credit on the album. So to sum up it’s a good album and my criticism should probably be initially ignored and you should listen to the album and judge it for yourself.

Tracklist
1 – The Name Above All Names – 4:34
2 – Kingdom Come – 4:44
3 – We Are The Righteousness Of God – 3:36
4 – Blessed Be The Name Of My Rock – 3:30
5 – Soldiers Of The Lion – 4:51
6 – Don’t Shoot The Wounded – 4:07
7 – And The Rain Came Down – 4:00
8 – Wall Of Love – 3:37
9 – Walk As I Walk – 4:05
10 – The Power And The Glory – 3:44

Credits
Arranged By, Producer – Bob Rose
Arranged By, Producer [Produced By] – Chuck Girard (tracks: B1)
Art Direction – Liza McDonald
Backing Vocals – Bili Thedford, Chuck Girard, Denny Correll, Terry Clark, Tommy Funderburk
Co-producer, Executive-Producer – Chuck Girard
Engineer – Bill Cobb
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Derald Dougherty, Jonathan Brown
Executive-Producer – Karen Girard
Mastered By – Carol Hibbs
Mixed By [Mixdown Engineer] – Nick Van Maarth
Percussion – Burleigh Drummond
Photography By – Harry Langdon
Synthesizer – Rob Watson

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Seven Thunders Records
Copyright (c) – Seven Thunders Records
Distributed By – Word Records (2)
Mastered At – K Disc Mastering
Recorded At – Poiema Studios
Recorded At – Baby’O Recorders
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios

Love Song – Love Song – 1971

In February 1970 four hippies entered the Calvary Chapel Church in Costa Mesa, California and asked Pastor Chuck Smith if they could perform their music at the Monday Bible Study. That Pastor listened to them perform “Welcome Back” and this is where it started for one of the most important Jesus Music bands of the era. This is considered by many to be one of the most important Jesus Music/CCM albums of the 70’s. It is said they shaped the sound of the mid Seventies. I don’t think I would go quite that far but they were ahead of the curve in the early 70’s. Of course it was the members of Love Song that made the band what it was. The vocals were headed by Chuck Girard who had a long storied CCM career. Also on Vocals was Jay Truax who would go on to be in the The Richie Furay Band. Most of the other members went on to have solo smaller yet notable solo careers.

Tracklist
1 – A Love Song – 1:46
2 – Changes – 1:47
3 – Two Hands – 3:37
4 – Little Country Church – 2:39
5 – Freedom – 3:47
6 – Welcome Back – 4:38
7 – Front Seat, Back Seat – 3:00
8 – Let Us Be One – 3:13
9 – And The Wind Was Low – 3:25
10 – A Brand New Song – 2:33
11 – Feel The Love – 5:08
12 – A Love Song (Reprise) – 0:47

Credits
Artwork By [Design] – Kernie Erickson
Bass, Vocals – Jay Truax
Drums – John Raines
Engineer – Stan Ross
Engineer [Remix] – Eirik Wangberg
Guitar, Vocals – Bob Wall, Tom Coomes
Keyboards, Vocals – Chuck Girard
Music By – Chuck Girard, Jesse Johnston
Photography – Rolland Baker

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Myrrh Records
Published By – Dunamis Music

Chuck Girard – The Stand – 1980

Chuck Girard says about this album, “Most of the songs from this album were written and recorded during my downslide into the depths of the final stage of my alcohol addiction.” The album has a bit of a dark feel due to this and was not as well received as his previous work. His previous albums had sold around 100,000 copies but this album only fared 30,000. Part of those poor sales though was because of Word records (the distributor) tanked the album because Stan Moser (Word CEO) hated it. Quite frankly I think the album is pretty good especially for Chuck Girard. While known for this easy listening style this album was much more upbeat. The lyrics were a little deeper and thought provoking which of course was a recipe for disaster in Christian music at the time.

Tracklist
1 – Soldier – 4:34
2 – Home For Good – 3:20
3 – Busy Day – 5:01
4 – Border Town – 3:22
5 – Witness – 2:39
6 – The Fold – 3:56
7 – The Stand – 3:26
8 – Racin’ Like The Wind – 4:22
9 – Child Come Home – 2:53

Credits
Bass – Joe Puerta (tracks: A1, B4), Skipper Wise (tracks: A2 to B3, B5)
Coordinator [Production Coordinator] – Teri Piro
Design, Layout – Art Hotel
Drums – Burleigh Drummond
Engineer [Engineered By], Co-producer [Associate Producer], Mixed By – Bill Taylor
Guitar – Chuck Girard (tracks: B5)
Guitar [Guitar Solo] – Gary Falcone (tracks: A4)
Guitar [Guitars] – Daryl Caraco
Photography By [Photographer] – Ron Slenzak
Producer, Arranged By – Bob Rose (4)
Rhythm Guitar [Additional Rhythm Guitar] – Gary Falcone (tracks: A1)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Good News Records
Copyright (c) – Good News Records
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Soundcastle
Recorded At – Salty Dog Recording
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Copyright (c) – Dunamis Music
Published By – Dunamis Music

Various – Jubilation! – 1975

This 1975 Myrrh Records sampler had some of the early 70’s best Jesus Music. Strangely, it had the exact same name (Including the exclamation mark) of an album released the same time from The Kingsmen. The album only had one unreleased track, Larry Norman – Dear Malcolm, Dear Alwyn. Larry did finally release the track in 1993 on the So Long Ago The Garden re-release as a bonus track.

Include below is the info on which album the songs were released on

Tracklist
1 – Barry McGuire – Enter In – 5:35 – Seeds
2 – Lamb – The Sacrifice Lamb – 5:09 – Lamb
3 – The Sonlight Orchestra – Easter Song – 2:45 – Love Songs And Other Greats
4 – Randy Matthews – Johnny – 3:30 – All I Am Is What You See…
5 – Petra – Back Sliding Blues – 4:31 – Petra
6 – Walt Mills – You Got The Power – 2:55 – Sincerely, Walt Mills
7 – Ron Salsbury And J.C. Power Outlet – I Choose To Follow You – 5:15 – Forgiven…
8 – Evie – Clean Before My Lord – 3:05 – Evie Again
9 – Parchment – Light Of The World – 4:00 – Light Up The Fire
10 – The Pat Terry Group – I Can’t Wait – 3:42 – The Pat Terry Group
11 – 2nd Chapter Of Acts – I Fall In Love/Change – 4:22 – With Footnotes
12 – Ray Hildebrand – Didn’t He – 5:08 – Special Kind Of Man
13 – Honeytree – Heaven’s Gonna Be A Blast – 2:22 – The Way I Feel
14 – Aleksander John – Days Go By – 3:15 – Days Go By
15 – Love Song – A Love Song – 1:46 – Love Song
16 – Larry Norman – Dear Malcolm, Dear Alwyn – 2:36 – Unreleased until 1993
17 – Malcolm & Alwyn – Tomorrow’s News – 3:30 – Fool’s Wisdom
18 – Ken Medema – Come Let Us Reason Together – 3:35 – Fork In The Road
19 – Chuck Girard & Love Song – Think About What Jesus Said – 4:54 – Final Touch
20 – Marijohn – Where I’m Going – 3:58 – Where I’m Going

Chuck Girard – Chuck Girard – 1975

This is the first solo Christian album from Chuck Girard. He had a successful secular career in the 60’s playing with the Castells and later the Hondells and sang lead on the Hondells single “Little Honda”. However, in the 70’s Chuck was looking for something a little more satisfying. He was a part of the Jesus music era and was in a band called Love Song until 1974. He then released this album and it did well for the time. Most believe his song from this album “Sometimes Alleluia” to be his best song ever.

Tracklist
1 – Rock ‘N’ Roll Preacher – 2:44
2 – You Ask Me Why – 3:14
3 – Evermore – 3:26
4 – Quiet Hour – 3:27
5 – Everybody Knows For Sure – 4:30
6 – Galilee – 3:19
7 – Tinagera – 3:47
8 – Lay Your Burden Down – 5:18
9 – Slow Down – 4:08
10 – Sometimes Alleluia – 5:28

Credits
Bass – Joe Osborne, Joe Puerta
Drums – Burleigh Drummond, Jim Keltner
Guitar – David Pack, Dean Parks
Harmonica – Tommy Morgan
Piano – Christopher North, David Paich
Producer – Chuck Girard

Chuck Girard – Glow In The Dark – 1976

Though this Chuck’s second album I think most of us were introduced to him with this album.

Though a mid 70’s release this album doesn’t really have a “Jesus Music” feel. I would argue it is one of the best mid 70’s Christian albums. The opening a capella track “Anthem” is probably the best Christian a capella song ever released. Admittedly I only know of two though.

“Somethin’ Supernatural” has great blues rock feel and the album closing ballad “Old Dan Cotton” is probably the best cut on the album.

Track Listing:
1 – Anthem – 1:00
2 – Callin’ You – 3:05
3 – I Remember – 4:24
4 – Return – 3:22
5 – I Know A Lady – 3:12
6 – No, No You’re Not Afraid – 2:55
7 – Somethin’ Supernatural – 3:52
8 – When I Was Ready – 5:34
9 – So Thankful (Song For Easter Morning) – 3:02
10 – Old Dan Cotton – 5:34

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Good News Records – 1976
Copyright (c) – Good News Records – 1976
Published By – Dunamis Music
Distributed By – Myrrh Records
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab

Credits:
Arranged By [Strings & Horns] – Barry Fasman
Design – David Larkham, Hoggie McMurtrie*
Photography By – Ed Caraeff
Producer, Lyrics By, Music By, Vocals – Chuck Girard
Recorded By, Mixed By – Tom Trefethen