Tag: Kenny Marks

Well it’s time for another fantastic Kenny Marks album. Unfortunately by the time this album came out I had already abandoned the Christian music genre. Boy did I miss a great album. The album did fairly well on the CCM charts with “I’ll Be A Friend To You” making it to #5. Strangely it also has an excellent cover of Steve Forbert’s “Running On Love” and it may actually be better than the original. The best cut on the album though is the Rock track “Nobody Else But Jesus” which is strongly in the spirit of The Boss. The album includes part 3 of the “Jeannie and Johnny” tetralogy. Unfortunately in this chapter Johnny has abandoned Jeannie and his child and as such it’s a pretty sad song but it did make it to #25. All in all another great album from Kenny.

Tracklist
1 – Running On Love – 3:41
2 – Whisperin’ A Prayer – 3:40
3 – Hope For A Broken Heart – 4:22
4 – I’ll Be A Friend To You – 3:10
5 – Next Time You See Johnny – 5:51
6 – Nobody Else But Jesus – 4:37
7 – Graduation Day – 4:53
8 – Threshold Of Regret – 3:47
9 – Somebody Loves You – 4:12
10 – You Made A Difference For Me – 3:53

Credits
Arranged By – Phil Madeira
Art Direction, Design – Jackson Design
Backing Vocals – Chris Harris, Mark Heimermann, Michael Black
Bass – David Hungate, Randy Moore
Cover [Coordination] – Amy Linde
Drums – Doug Dimmel, Larrie Londin
Electric Guitar – Kenny Greenberg
Electric Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – George Cocchini
Engineer [Assistant] – John Kunz
Executive-Producer – Lynn Keesecker
Harmonica – Buddy Greene
Keyboards – Phil Madeira, Phil Naish
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By – Marc DeSisto
Mixed By [Assistant] – Dave Parker, David Boyer
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Phil Kristianson
Percussion – Eric Darken
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Bubba Smith
Recorded By, Tracking By [Overdubs] – James Kenneth (JB) Baird
Saxophone [Saxophones], Electronic Wind Instrument [Ewi] – Mark Douthit
Tracking By [Overdubs] – Brent King, Doug Sarrett, Greg Parker
Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jon Goin

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Digital Recorders
Recorded At – Recording Arts
Recorded At – Downstage Studio
Recorded At – Mastermix
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Mixed At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – Mastermix

This was Kenny Mark’s third album and was kind of a breakthrough album. Mark’s first two albums received very little airplay as the lyrics and style went a little to far for Christian radio. However this album got heavy radio play in part due to it being better material and also in part to Christian radio was finally growing up and allowing more upbeat pop songs. The album produced 3 singles. Soul Reviver spent 9 weeks on the charts peaking at #35. Heroes was on the charts for 17 weeks peaking at #27 and Friends made it to #21 and was on the charts for 8 weeks. However the best song on the album “The Party’s Over” received no airplay as the JPM count was too low (Jesus Per Minute). Anyway, it’s a great Pop album and the music video for The Party’s Over was excellent.

1 – Life After High School – 3:57
2 – Attitude – 2:53
3 – It Doesn’t Hurt That Much – 4:51
4 – Heroes – 4:28
5 – It’s A Good Thing – 3:33
6 – The Party’s Over – 4:27
7 – Heart Trouble – 4:28
8 – Soul Reviver – 4:33
9 – Friends – 3:40

Credits
Art Direction – Keith Hunter (2), Thomas Ryan Design
Concept By [Cover Concept] – Pamela Marks
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Willie Pevear
Engineer [Assistant] – Alan Henry, Chris Hammond
Executive-Producer – Neal Joseph
Producer – Bubba Smith (2)
Recorded By, Mixed By – David Schober

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Mixed At – Bullet Recording
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Mastered At – Sheffield Lab Matrix
Pressed By – Electrosound Los Angeles – △27138

In the world of Christian pop music more than a handful of artists bounded on the scene without the songwriting credentials, artistic acumen and lyrical insight…and they sold a ton of records. Other like Kenny Marks made a name for themselves and sold a decent amount, but never attained the popularity their quality work deserved. Often favorably compared to Bryan Adam and Richard Marx, Kenny Marks was a singer-songwriter that plied his trade in the CCM world and should have done much better. His songs combined the popular and common themes of mainstream CCM with a twist or difference that set him apart. he would also deal with subjects either taboo or poorly communicated in other settings. He may be most noted for his trilogy of songs that surrounded the relationship between a Johnny and a Jeannie. Two High School sweethearts that date, marry, have a child and divorce. Though a later album would bring Johnny back as a character, it is the three songs on three records in a row that are of most note. That trilogy started here with “Growing Up Too Fast.” The albums biggest hit was the title track, a stirring ballad about God’s undying love and forgiveness. “One Small Voice” reminds the listener of God’s attempt to speak to us in the small things in a busy and loud world. “Single-Minded Love” addresses the loneliness and difficulty of being a single adult within the walls of the Church. Marks had a decent little career, but it should have been stronger and lasted longer. There were three of four fantastic albums released throughout the mid-80’s that still deserve repeated listening.

Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Right Where You Are – 4:11
2 – One Small Voice – 3:17
3 – Prisoner – 4:57
4 – It’s Incredible – 3:21
5 – Gift From God – 4:10
6 – Growing Up Too Fast – 4:00
7 – Single-Minded Love – 3:45
8 – Still Be Believing – 3:20
9 – You’re The Best – 3:40
10 – Sing For Joy – 3:11

Credits
Art Direction – Bill Brunt
Backing Vocals – Denny Henson, Kenny Marks, Pamela Marks, Patti Leatherwood, Randy Guidry
Bass – Mike Brignardello
Drums – Dennis Holt
Engineer – Kyle Lehning
Engineer [Assistant] – Doug Sarrett
Engineer, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Executive-Producer – Neal Joseph
Guitar – Jon Goin
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Percussion – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Keyboards [Mini Moog Bass], Backing Vocals – Keith Thomas
Saxophone – Mark Douthit

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio
Mastered At – Mastermix
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.

After Marks graduated from Messiah College in Philadelphia in 1971 he began to perform with Billy Graham’s Afterglow Concert Series and actually did so for almost 10 years. In 1981 he participated in a project/album called “Premiere Performance” by Myrrh Records. The album was actually a fan vote project where fans would vote for their favourite artist and that artist would get an album deal. Kenny won that competition with the song “You Don’t Have To Try To Be Somebody”. That song appears on this album and I actually don’t find it to one of the stronger tracks on the album but it was 1981 and I was listening to Resurrection band at the time so my taste wasn’t exactly aimed at Kenny’s music. Kenny apparently wrote the whole album and while the writing was good it was not the strong writing that he had on later albums. The album had all the best CCM studio musicians of the time but the one odd inclusion was Dan Huff who was at the same time working on the introductory WhiteHeart album. I find it kind of surprising that there wasn’t a CCM charting song on this album. Given that it was 1982 there are several tracks that could have comfortably sat on the charts.

Tracklist
1 – Lean On Him – 3:37
2 – Lovin’ Me For Myself – 2:55
3 – You Need Love – 3:06
4 – You Don’t Have To Try And Be Somebody – 3:13
5 – In The Middle Of The Night – 3:34
6 – He’ll Finish What He Started – 3:11
7 – Follow Him – 3:23
8 – I Give It All To You – 4:35
9 – Ringin’ The Bells – 2:52
10 – When I Least Expect It – 3:10

Credits
Arranged By – Don Hart
Backing Vocals – Diana DeWitt Hanna, Doana Cooper, Keith Thomas, Pamela Marks, Patti Leatherwood
Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas, Mike Brignardello
Drums – Bob Gelotte, Mark Hammond, Tommy Wells
Executive-Producer – Neal Joseph
Guitar – Brent Rowan, Dann Huff, Jon Goin
Harp – Cindy Reynolds
Keyboards – Keith Thomas
Percussion – Mark Hammond, Terry McMillan
Piano – Bobby Ogdin
Producer, Keyboards – Keith Thomas
Saxophone – Dennis Solee
Vocals – Kenny Marks
Written-By – Kenny Marks

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.