Randy Stonehill – Between The Glory and The Flame – 1981

This follow-up to 1980’s The Sky Is Falling was a much more refined studio approach. Randy recruited a lot of top CCM artists to help out.
Producer Terry Taylor (of Daniel Amos) recruited his entire band to play on the album along with, Tom Howard, another Larry Norman and Solid Rock Records protege.

The result is a tight band performing Randy’s songs in the studio, giving a much more polished sound than we were used to getting from him up to this point.

The song “Die Young” is an example of Randy’s cynical but honest approach, calling out the typical Western lifestyle centered around short term thinking. His combination of humour and truth-telling was present throughout his career.

“Christine” is one of Randy’s reaches out to a lonely and desperate person. It has a significant parallel to the song Christmas at Denny’s, which we get many years later on the Return To Paradise album.

This album established Randy’s ability to move beyond performing as a singer-songwriter.

Tracklist
1 – The Glory And The Flame – 3:10
2 – Die Young – 3:15
3 – Fifth Avenue Breakdown – 2:50
4 – Granfather’s Song – 3:24
5 – Find Your Way To Me – 3:42
6 – Christine – 3:29
7 – Rainbow – 3:49
8 – Givin’ It Up For Love – 4:13
9 – Letter To My Family – 4:58
10 – Farther On – 2:56

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Rebel Base Productions
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Mixed At – Whitefield Studios
Published By – Prime Cut Publishing
Published By – CanaanLand Music
Published By – Tong Songs Music
Published By – Joyful Road Music

Credits
Guitars, Background Vocals – Jerry Chamberlain
Bass – Marty Dieckmeyer
Background Vocals, Songwriter, Synthesizer String Arranger, Piano, Harmonium, Acoustic Guitar – Tom Howard
Percussion – Alex MacDougall
Drums, Percussion – Ed McTaggart
Engineer – Thom Roy
Producer, Songwriter, Guitars, Percussion, Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Producer, Slide Guitar – Terry Scott Taylor

Various – The Rock of Gospel – 1987

This is a fascinating sampler album (CD). It came out on Arrival Records, which is a Sublabel of K-Tel International. I had no idea until I found this album that K-Tel had distributed Christian albums. Even more of a surprise for me is that there were several of these albums. The quality of the CD is horrible, but I’ve cleaned up the recordings as best I could. K-Tel’s vinyl releases were well known for their horrible quality which was a result of cheap vinyl and cheap pressing. This album was released on CD so there was no need for the poor quality. I’ve always suspected that the licensing agreements for these songs included a stipulation that the quality be horrible in hopes people would buy the original album.

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

Tracklist
1 – Michael W. Smith – You’re Alright – 4:39 – The Big Picture
2 – Petra – Back To The Street – 4:17 – Back To The Street
3 – Leslie Phillips – Love Is Not Lost – 4:03 – Black And White In A Grey World
4 – White Heart – The Beat Of A Different Drum – 4:17 – Don’t Wait For The Movie
5 – David Meece – All Is God’s Creation – 3:48 – Candle In The Rain
6 – Kim Boyce – Love Resurrection – 4:11 – Kim Boyce
7 – Randy Stonehill – Defender – 3:02 – The Wild Frontier
8 – Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart – Crack The Sky – 3:59 – Crack The Sky
9 – Rick Cua – This Raging Fire – 3:53 – Wear Your Colors
10 – Steve Camp – Cheap Grace – 5:11 – One On One
11 – David & The Giants – Cold Lonely Nights – 3:37 – Magnificat
12 – Margaret Becker – Fight For God – 4:06 – Never For Nothing

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – K-Tel International (USA), Inc.
Distributed By – K-Tel International (USA), Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – K-Tel International (USA), Inc.

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

Mark Heard – Appalachian Melody – 1979

This was Mark’s second album and his first on Solid Rock Records.

As is typical on Solid Rock albums the whole gang is on the album. I’ve always wondered why Larry felt the need to sing backup on every album (ok almost all) he produced, but I digress.

The album is a fairly light rock affair but Mark does get closer to the Rock and Roll rank on a few tunes. This is an album that will likely grow on you if a first listening doesn’t really capture you.

Track Listing:
1 – On The Radio – 3:38
2 – Castaway – 3:26
3 – Bless My Soul – 4:04
4 – Here I Am (Once Again) – 3:54
5 – With The Setting Sun – 1:42
6 – Appalachian Melody – 4:17
7 – Happy Cornbread Aniversary – 1:48
8 – Two Trusting Jesus – 4:13
9 – Jonah’s Song – 5:26
10 – Sidewalk Soliloquy – 3:18
11 – The Last Time – 3:16
12 – The Saints – 0:22

And here are the bonus tracks from the 2009 CD release:

Credits:
Mark Heard – acoustic and electric guitars, piano, mandolin, hambone, vocals, harmonies, arranging, co-producer, mixing, photography, album artwork
Larry Norman – background vocals, producer, arranger, photography, album artwork
Randy Stonehill – background vocals
Tom Howard – Fender Rhodes, orchestration
Jon Linn – lead guitar
Flim Johnson – bass guitar
Peter Johnson – drums
Al Perkins – pedal steel guitar, dobro
Chuck Long – electric and acoustic guitars, additional photography
Alex MacDougall – percussion and congas
Janet Sue Heard – harmony, additional photography
Tom Howard String Ensemble conducted by Tom Howard

Randy Stonehill – Paradise Sky – 2008

During filming of David Di Sabatino’s Larry Norman documentary, “Fallen Angel” the producers wanted to use various Randy Stonehill songs. This was a problem however, as the rights to those recordings were still owned by Larry Norman’s record labels who needless to say weren’t interested in working with the producers.

Randy however owned the rights to the songs so it was decided to send him back into the studio to rerecord the songs they wanted to use. The result is this album which includes songs from Randy’s first few albums.

The songs are very well produced and this album is an enjoyable visit back to the early days of Randy Stonehill.

Tracklist
1 – Keep Me Runnin’ – 4:57
2 – One True Love – 4:27
3 – King Of Hearts – 4:34
4 – Norman’s Kitchen – 4:11
5 – I’ve Got News For You – 4:30
6 – Even The Best Of Friends – 4:23
7 – The Winner – 3:38
8 – Counterfeit King – 5:34
9 – Trouble Coming – 4:34
10 – First Prayer – 3:20
11 – Good News – 4:10

Credits:
Design [Art Design] – Joe Redmond, Lara Kulczycki
Engineer [Engineered By] – Mike Pachelli
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware
Liner Notes – David Di Sabatino, Randy Stonehill
Photography By [Back Cover Photo] – Susan Uston
Photography By [Cover & Digipak Inset Photo] – Wayne Armstrong
Photography By [Insert Photos] – CCM Magazine*, Duane Pederson, Jerry Hauser, Leonard Stonehill, Pamela Newman, Pauline Stonehill, Hollywood Free Paper*, Randy Stonehill
Producer [Produced By], Arranged By – Mike Pachelli, Randy Stonehill

Larry Norman – Home At Last – 1989

Larry released this album in 1989 which has mostly new material. Originally released as a 2 LP set, it was also released as a CD and was re-released in 2007 on CD.

The CD only contained sides 1, 2, and 3 of the LP’s. Side 4 of the LP was a live recording of 4 songs. The LP is relatively rare and I’ve never even seen a copy.

One of the favourite tracks was “Sitting In My Kitchen” which was a rework of Randy Stonehill’s “Norman’s Kitchen”.

Track Listing:
1 – Lonely Boy
2 – My Feet Are On The Rock
3 – Country Church
4 – Sitting In My Kitchen
5 – Camel Through A Needle’s Eye
6 – Nightmare #49 (Part One)
7 – Oh How I Love You
8 – Queen Of The Rodeo
9 – He Really Loves You
10 – Here Comes The King
11 – Letters To The Church
12 – We Three Twogether
13 – Somewhere Out There
14 – Selah

Credits:
Larry Norman – vocals, harmonies, guitar, piano, saxophone, harmonica, keyboards
Charles Norman – vocals, guitars, bass, harmonica, keyboards, percussion, drums
Sarah Norman – vocals, harmonies, percussion
Beki Hemingway – vocals, harmonies
Jon Linn – guitar
Bob Somma – guitar
Jellybean Jaquette – bass, engineering
Dave Spurr – drums
John Campbell – keyboards
Steve Goomas – piano
Dan Cutrona – keyboards

Randy Stonehill – Spirit Walk – 2011

This 2011 release from Randy Stonehill proves that he is still highly relevant in the Christian music scene. This album shows us Randy’s quirky side, we all know, as well as his status as a good Rock and Roll performer.

Considering his first album was over 45 years ago, I actually think he is still becoming a better musician every release.

Track Listing:
1 – Blood Transfusion and a Coca Cola – 4:01
2 – Remember the Devil – 5:20
3 – Spirit Walk – 4:59
4 – Life is Tough, God is Good – 4:21
5 – Try Havin’ Some Faith – 4:13
6 – Broken Places – 4:09
7 – Pray For Me – 4:17
8 – That’s Where the Devil Lives – 4:44
9 – Last Time I Saw Eden – 4:36
10 – Finish Well – 5:37

Credits:
Artwork, Design [Cover Design] – Ray Ware
Engineer [Engineered By] – Mike Pachelli
Photography By – Minesh Bacrania Photography
Producer [Produced By] – Mike Pachelli, Randy Stonehill
Written-By – Mike Pachelli (tracks: 2,7,5), Randy Stonehill, Rob Crosby (tracks: 6)

Real 80s CCM Podcast #2 Stonehill, Lifters, Larry

Episode #2 Featuring

  • Randy Stonehill
  • The Lifters
  • Larry Norman
  • Scott and Ray talking about old music
  • Another guest appearance by Gena the dog

To view this episode with its original live video, see it here on Youtube:

Listen to just the audio below, or Right Click Here To Download

 

Randy Stonehill – Born Twice – 1971

This is Randy’s debut record from 1971 or maybe 1973. This copy is marked 1973. He has another release from 1973, “Get Me Out of Hollywood” but this isn’t that one.

Side one is a live recording that sounds a little like a church basement, but also a lot like an old school coffee house performance. The crowd is incredibly courteous, completely silent during the songs and responsive to each one. You can almost picture someone sitting in front of Randy holding a little microphone and a hand held cassette tape recorder. I think it was a higher quality affair than that, but it is this intimate.

Side two is a series of studio songs, several of which would later be recorded in more famous versions by Larry Norman. Some were released with different song titles. Larry produced this album, so it’s a little unclear how the songwriting credits were supposed to work. In particular, the song “Norman’s Kitchen” ended up on Larry’s 1990 album “Home At Last” titled “Sitting In My Kitchen”

This is a rarely heard treat that shows us the early start of Randy Stonehill, who is still going strong with a busy touring schedule over 45 years after recording this.

Track Listing:
1 – I Need You
2 – Hand In The Hand
3 – He’s Got The Whole World
4 – Help Me Lord
5 – Thank You
6 – Never Can Repay
7 – All Right Now
8 – Passing Stranger
9 – I Love You
10 – Christmas Time
11 – Norman’s Kitchen

Credits:
Producer, Arranged By, Photography By – Larry Norman

Randy Stonehill – Welcome To Paradise – 1976

This album was Randy’s third and at this point Randy was a very accomplished musician.

His song writing had always been very strong but now his guitar work was catching up. For many this album was their first exposure to Randy Stonehill and it had strong sales numbers.

Larry Norman both produced and played guitar on the album.

Point of trivia is that T-Bone Burnett joined the album as a bass player.

Track Listing
1 – King Of Hearts – 4:53
2 – Keep Me Runnin’ – 5:57
3 – The Winner (High Card) – 3:43
4 – Lung Cancer – 3:31
5 – Puppet Strings – 4:25
6 – First Prayer – 3:08
7 – I’ve Got News For You – 3:49
8 – Song For Sarah – 3:28
9 – Christmas Song For All Year ‘Round – 3:56
10 – Good News – 2:54

Credits:
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Bass – The Mighty T-Bone
Conductor [Charts And Baton] – Anthony Harris
Drums – Mark Walker
Electric Guitar, Piano, Harmony Vocals – Larry Norman
Engineer – Andy Johns
Engineer [Co-Engineer] – Tom Trefethen
Lead Guitar – Jon “Wonderfingers” Linn
Management – Street Level Artists Agency
Producer, Arranged By, Photography By, Design [Album Design] – Larry Norman
Typography [Lettering] – Joe Taylor
Written-By, Performer [Performed By] – Randy Stonehill