This album caught me way off guard. I honestly had no idea that Tom put out an instrumental piano album. I was not expecting this from him at all. That said it’s a very good album if you like Instrumental piano albums. Personally this is not my kind of album but we have uploaded it as Tom is one of our favourite artists.
Tracklist 1 – Humble Yourself (In The Sight Of The Lord) – 6:08 2 – For The Beauty Of The Earth – 5:06 3 – On Wings As Eagles – 5:10 4 – Gethsemane – 5:22 5 – A Shield About Me – 4:17 6 – Horizon Storm – 3:54 7 – Katie’s Rainbow – 3:45 8 – Morning – 6:19 9 – Seek Ye First – 4:41 10 – The Harvest: Prayer; Dance – 5:53
Credits Art Direction – Alex MacDougall Artwork – Kevin Short Design, Typography – Gary De Lacy Engineer – Wally Grant Executive-Producer – Tom Coomes Liner Notes – D. Ellen Harris Mastered By – Steve Hall Photography By – Harriet Burger Piano, Soloist – Tom Howard Producer – Tom Howard
Tom Howard was another one of the Solid Rock posse that circled around Larry Norman throughout the 1970s. This 1981 release was on NewPax records, produced by Terry Taylor of DA, after his debut on Solid Rock with Larry. Danger In Loving You has some strong rock songs and also a lot of the softer side that Tom became known for in his career. “Power Play” is radio single material, while “This Quiet Place” is a song that lives up to its name. “The Serious Occupation of Fish” is a quirky tune that uses humour to get at a profound point. Randy Stonehill also makes an appearance on this album. He’s uncredited, but you can hear his voice come out of the background vocals in places.
Tracklist 1 – Horizon – 2:35 2 – Shine Your Light – 3:35 3 – House Of The Father – 3:32 4 – Passing In The Night – 4:24 5 – Run The Race – 4:30 6 – This Quiet Place – 3:24 7 – Strong Love – 4:15 8 – The Serious Occupation Of Fish – 3:15 9 – Power Play – 2:54 10 – Danger In Loving You – 4:40
Credits Art Direction – Ronald Thomas Backing Vocals – Bill Batstone, Dori Lynn Howard, Elsa Harris, Gerry Limpic, Jerry Chamberlain, Jessy Dixon, Linda McCreary, Randy Stonehill, Sam Allen, Terry Taylor, Tom Howard Bass [Alembic Five-string Base] – Flim Johnson Drums – Bill Berg Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Wayne Johnson Engineer – Thom Roy Lacquer Cut By – Wally Percussion – Alex MacDougall Percussion [Percussive Embellishments] – Bruce Brown Photography By [Black and White] – D.C. Riggott, Kim Halliday Photography By [Color] – Marlene Nelson Millican Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Synthesizer [Oberheim Polyphonic; Moog], Lead Vocals – Tom Howard Producer – Terry Taylor, Tom Howard Saxophone, Oboe – Jon Clarke Typography, Design – Kim Halliday Written-By, Arranged By – Tom Howard
Companies, etc. Produced For – Rebel Base Productions Recorded At – Whitefield Studios Mastered At – Capitol Mastering Pressed By – PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc. Copyright (c) – NewPax Records Phonographic Copyright (p) – NewPax Records Copyright (c) – Tongsongs Music Copyright (c) – Lifesong Music Press Copyright (c) – Joyful Road Music Published By – Tongsongs Music Published By – Lifesong Music Press Published By – Joyful Road Music Published By – The New Benson Music Company, Inc.
Mosaics is another folk-rock sounding album from Mark, a style he settled solidly into after releasing some softer, almost country albums and a few rock albums. This blend suited his creativity well. After this album he had a five year gap before putting out another one. Mark recorded few songs that were not his own writing, so this album stands out with a version of T Bone Burnett’s “Power Of Love.” It’s a pretty close cover of the original on T Bone’s 1980 album “Truth Decay.” An interesting coincidence with the T Bone cover is the appearance of David Mansfield playing lead guitar on four of the tracks on this album. However, David is not credited on “Power of Love” despite having played with T Bone on his albums, as well as their work together in Alpha Band and on Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. As always, Mark was able to attract top level musicians to his project. It seems like everyone wanted to work with him and the results suggest the reason why. Leslie Phillips (aka Sam Phillips) appears on backing vocals on a few tracks, Tom Howard plays keys on several tracks, and John Mehler adds his drumming to make this another all-star cast project.
Tracklist 1 – With Broken Wings – 4:23 2 – Schizophrenia – 3:48 3 – All Is Not Lost – 3:05 4 – Heart On The Line – 4:08 5 – He Plays The Game – 3:20 6 – The Golden Age – 4:08 7 – The Power Of Love – 3:42 8 – I Want You – 4:04 9 – It Will Not Be Like This Forever – 4:18 10 – Miracle – 4:58
Credits Arranged By – Mark Heard Backing Vocals – Dave de Coup-Crank (tracks: 2), Dori Howard (tracks: 10), Leslie Phillips (tracks: 1, 3, 4), Mark Heard Bass – Bill Batstone (tracks: 4) Cover [Front Cover Concept] – Tim Alderson Design, Illustration [Computer Art] – Mark Heard Drums – John Mehler (tracks: 1-6, 8, 9) Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Guitar, Bass, Lead Vocals – Mark Heard Electronic Drums [Simmons Drums] – David McSparran (tracks: 7, 9) Engineer, Mixed By – Mark Heard Harmonica – Buddy Rufus Greene (tracks: 3, 6) Lead Guitar – David Mansfield (tracks: 2, 4, 8, 9) Organ – Barry Kaye (tracks: 9) Percussion, Electronic Drums [Simmons Drums] – Harry Stinson Photography By – Stewart Ivester Producer – Mark Heard Synthesizer – Tom Howard (tracks: 2, 3, 6)
Companies, etc. Distributed By – Word Ltd. Printed By – Shorewood Packaging Co. Ltd. Recorded At – Fingerprint Recorders Mixed At – Fingerprint Recorders
In 1986 Randy woke up his recording sessions and brought us back to a sound he was always good at. Randy can create a rock concert just by showing up, and for the Wild Frontier, he showed up. Side 1 starts off with a slough of tracks that are almost Springsteen-esque but since we remember Randy’s roots from Welcome To Paradise in 1976, we know he was always capable of this. The Wild Frontier is in some ways a triumphant return. Side 2 is a little more of Randy’s personal style, but still much edgier than the two albums that he released before this one. DA’s Jerry Chamberlain provides guitar for this album, and a most of the other musicians are his familiar band-mates. Rick Cua plays bass on some tracks, as does Dave Perkins, who also produced the album. Tom Howard is on keys as usual, as well as Rob Watson.
Tracklist 1 – The Wild Frontier – 4:12 2 – Here Come The Big Guitars – 3:45 3 – The Dying Breed – 4:21 4 – Words On The Wind – 5:47 5 – What’s My Line – 3:13 6 – What Do You Want From Life – 3:54 7 – Get Together – 3:54 8 – Defender – 3:05 9 – Evangeline – 5:45 10 – Hope Of Glory – 4:55
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Dave Perkins, Randy Stonehill Arranged By [Brass Arrangement] – Tom Howard Art Direction [Cover Art Direction], Design – Roland Young Backing Vocals – Chris Harris (2), Dave Perkins, Gary Chapman, Jerry Chamberlain, Peter Case, Peter Noone, Tonio K. Bass Guitar – Dave Perkins, Rick Cua Contractor [Horn Contractor] – John Lunden Drums – Mike Mead Electric Guitar – Dave Perkins, Jerry Chamberlain, Jerry McPherson, Randy Stonehill Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Malcolm Harper Engineer [Engineered By] – Dave Perkins, Dave Schober Engineer [Second Engineers] – Bob Salcedo, Casey McMackin, Dan Garcia, Gene Ford, Jon Ingoldsby, Matt Freeman Executive-Producer – Ray Ware Keyboards – Reese “Mr. B-3” Wynans Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Mixed By – Dave Perkins, David Schober, Randy Stonehill Percussion – Alex MacDougall, Dave Perkins, Keith Edwards Photography By [Cover Photography] – Howard Rosenberg Producer [Produced By] – Dave Perkins Programmed By [Programmer] – Peter Robb Synthesizer – Dave Perkins, Rob Watson, Tom Howard Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Music Grinder Studios Recorded At – The Reelsound Truck Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios Recorded At – Whitefield Studios Mixed At – Mama Jo’s Pressed By – DADC – DIDX-010665 Published By – Stonehillian Music Published By – Word Music Published By – Undone Tunes Published By – Irving Music, Inc.
Some of the old gang from Solid Rock got together for this one minus Larry of course. Bill Batstone had helped out as a studio musician on several early Solid Rock projects and someone had the vision of him and Tom Howard doing an album. Excellent vision. This album works just perfect. Tom and Bill take turns on lead vocals and it works. The album has an excellent flow and their vocals compliment each other. The album was mixed by Mark Heard at his studio and the mix is perfect, but we came to expect that of Mark. The album is a mix of easy listening and light rock but their is something here for everyone. It’s a great rounded album and it definitely deserves a listen.
Tracklist 1 – When The Curtain Falls – 3:42 2 – Storm Moving On – 3:23 3 – Night And Day – 4:04 4 – Think On These Things – 3:53 5 – Heart of a Fool (Psalm 4) – 3:40 6 – Your Constant Love – 3:27 7 – He Took The Form Of Man – 3:23 8 – The Best Thing – 3:33 9 – Show Me The Shepherd – 4:43 10 – And He Heard Them Sing – 4:47
Credits Arranged By – Bill Batstone, Tom Howard Art Direction – Tim Alderson Drums [Drum Overdubs] – David Raven Engineer – Mark Heard Guitar, Bass, Drum Programming [DMX] – Bill Batstone Keyboards – Tom Howard Mixed By – Mark Heard Percussion – Harry Stinson Photography By – Stewart Ivester Producer – Bill Batstone, Tom Howard Vocals – Bill Batstone, Tom Howard
This is the 1994 CD re-release of the Randy Stonehill album “The Sky Is Falling”. Larry seemed to take forever to re-release this album on CD but let’s remember that the album was originally recorded in 1977 but Larry didn’t get around to releasing it until 1980. This album marked the end of the relationship between Randy and Larry as they went their separate ways. It’s never been confirmed but I think we can pretty well assume the friendship ended because Larry was seeing Randy’s wife behind his back. Again I’m not saying that was the reason but I think it’s a safe assumption. The album has a couple stand out tracks, “The Great American Cure” is one of Larry’s great comedy tunes and my favourite track is “Trouble Coming”, a great Rock & Roll tune. Tom Howard is all over the album on keyboards and you can hear his great work very clear. The CD features bonus material none of which really stood out for me but perhaps the better mix of “Teen King”. The Greenbelt performance of “Good News” was also a pleasant surprise.
Tracklist
1 – One True Love – 4:17
2 – Bad Fruit – 5:08
3 – Jamey’s Got The Blues – 4:08
4 – Through The Glass Darkly – 5:53
5 – The Great American Cure – 3:59
6 – Venezuela – 7:01
7 – Emily – 5:41
8 – Trouble Coming – 4:48
9 – Counterfeit King [Alternate Mix] – 5:16
10 – Teen King [Alternate Mix] – 4:42
11 – Postcards From The Heart [Letter To My Family] – 5:19
12 – King Of Hearts [The Orchestral Version] – 3:14
13 – Good News [Live From Greenbelt] – 4:54
Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill
Arranged By – Larry Norman
Artwork – Larry Norman
Autoharp – Larry Norman
Backing Vocals – Sarah Finch
Bass – Dave Coy
Bass – Billy Batstone
Design – Larry Norman
Drums – Alex MacDougall, Peter Johnson
Electric Bass – Larry Norman
Electric Guitar – Jon Linn, Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill
Engineer – Andrew “Just Like That” Johns, Ken Suesov
Graphics – Heidi And Co. Graphics
Graphics [Graphic Printing] – Dan Meireis
Harmonica – Larry Norman
Harmony Vocals – Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill
Keyboards – Tom Howard
Koto – Larry Norman
Layout [CD Booklet] – Makasiyowin, Overmeyer
Lead Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Marimba – Larry Norman
Mixed By – Ken Suesov
Orchestra – Tom Howard
Percussion – Alex MacDougall
Photography – Larry Norman
Piano – Larry Norman, Tom Howard
Producer – Larry Norman
Slide Guitar – Jon Linn
Songwriter – Randy Stonehill
Steel Drums – Larry Norman
Synth [Moog] – Tom Howard
Vocals – Steve Scott
Companies, etc.
Published By – King Of Hearts
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Solid Rock Records
Copyright (c) – Solid Rock Records
Copyright (c) – Street Level Records
Manufactured By – Creative Sound Corp.
Distributed By – Sonrise Music Co.
Printed By – L. Grafix
Glass Mastered At – Technicolor – 100944
Mark Heard produced this Pat Terry album, and if you like Mark’s own albums then you’ll probably like this one too. The harmonies and chorus work is very reminiscent of Mark’s Stop The Dominoes album.
Having said that, Pat Terry has his own contribution to the CCM genre here. He is a witty lyricist and a good musician.
Film At Eleven features a solid collection of songs that can stick with you, starting from catchy, quirky tunes like “Cats and Dogs” and “Yard Sale” to contemplative pieces like “Growing Up and Growing Old.”
Every song on this album is a thoughtful piece if you’re listening.
The style is a little more rock than what the typical country music sound was at the time, but a little less rock than the popular hits. I think this in-between status probably held this album back from broader success.
Pat is an accomplished songwriter, having had songs recorded by Mark Heard, Mylon Lefevre, The Oak Ridge Boys, Tanya Tucker, Kenny Chesney, Travis Tritt, B. J. Thomas and many others.
Pat released seven albums under “The Pat Terry Group” in the 1970s before doing three solo albums in the 1980s.
You can also hear Pat on the Mark Heard tribute album from 1993 “Strong Hand of Love.”
Still going strong, Pat’s most recent album was released in 2018.
Tracklist
1 – Cats And Dogs – 3:18
2 – Yard Sale – 4:20
3 – The World Around Us – 2:58
4 – Change Takes Time – 3:15
5 – In My Dream – 4:32
6 – Common Bond – 3:17
7 – Shadows – 5:12
8 – Growing Up And Growing Old – 3:52
9 – Christ Alone Will Wear The Crown – 4:40
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Pat Terry Backing Vocals – Mark Heard (tracks: A3,B2,B4) Bass – Billy Batstone Drums [And “Giant Hamster Cage Drums”] – John Mehler Electric Guitar – Pat Terry Engineer – Mark Heard Engineer [Assisting] – Mike Ross, Wally Grant Guitar – Mark Heard (tracks: B1) Handclaps – Mark Heard, Pat Terry Harmonica – Pat Terry Mastered By – Steve Hall Mixed By – Mark Heard Musician [Assorted Techno-Musical Contributions] – Mark Heard Organ [Hammond] – Carl Pickhardt (tracks: B1,B3) Percussion – Harry Stinson Piano – Pat Terry Producer – Mark Heard, Pat Terry Programmed By [E-mu Systems Emulator, Voice Programming And Arrangements For Emulator] – Tom Howard Slide Guitar – Pat Terry Snare [Marching] – John Mehler (tracks: B2) Synthesizer [Korg Polysix] – Pat Terry Vocals – Pat Terry
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Weddington Studios
Mixed At – Weddington Studios
Mastered At – Future Disc
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △25998
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Published By – Word Music (2)
Published By – Bug & Bear Music
Tom Howard’s introductory album was only the third album released on Larry Norman’s Solid Rock Records. As such Tom was part of the old gang at at Solid Rock. This album is packed with the rest of the old gang including Randy Stonehill and of course Larry. The album was entirely recorded at night in sessions Tom referred to as “grueling”. The story of Larry finding Tom was actually Tom finding Larry as Tom said he just kept pestering Larry with Demo tapes until Larry gave in and signed him. Many people consider this album to be one of the best of the 70’s and a defining moment in CCM music.
Tracklist
1 – Intro – 0:38
2 – Come On In – 4:18
3 – Mansion On The Sand – 4:15
4 – To Learn By Living – 4:38
5 – We All Mean Very Well – 3:59
6 – One More Reason – 5:09
7 – She Likes To Look At Pictures – 4:15
8 – Blessed Are The Children – 4:23
9 – Marriage Of Our Souls – 3:59
10 – All Through The Day – 4:15
Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Harmony Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Bass – Jimmy Johnson (5)
Congas, Cabasa – Vance Tenort
Drums, Percussion, Harmony Vocals – Peter Johnson (3)
Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocals – Wayne Johnson
Engineer – Jonathan David Brown
Keyboards, Flugelhorn – Max McCoy
Producer, Arranged By, Photography, Acoustic Guitar, Harmony Vocals – Larry Norman
Saxophone, Flute – Jim Coile
Written By, Orchestrated By, Conductor, Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Piano, Lead Vocals – Tom Howard
Celebrate This Heartbeat starts out with an overture, which really does have a strong orchestral sound that only stops a little bit short of sounding like an outtake from The Nutcracker.
“Who Will Save The Children” is an important song on this record. The liner notes included a sign-up form to sponsor a child. Sally Struthers was working hard to get children sponsored at the time, and Randy had his hat fully in the ring starting around this time.
As usual, Randy gives us a fun song to both entertain us and challenge us on this album
Stop the World / I wanna get off / This place is too weird for me
This album is another polished studio approach from Randy, and a little farther from his rock’n’roll roots than what we were used to hearing. Fortunately we wouldn’t have to wait long for him to come back to the rock style we got to know him for.
Tracklist
1 – Overture: Celebrate This Heartbeat – 3:25
2 – Still, Small Voice – 4:04
3 – Celebrate This Heartbeat – 4:08
4 – Modern Myth – 3:51
5 – Who Will Save The Children – 5:27
6 – When I Look To The Mountains – 3:41
7 – Allison – 3:18
8 – Whatcha Gonna Do About That – 3:19
9 – Stop The World – 4:34
10 – I’ll Remember You – 4:26
Credits
Acoustic Guitar [All Acoustic Guitars] – Randy Stonehill
Arranged By [Rhythm Section And Vocal Arrangements] – Barry, Randy
Art Direction – Tim Alderson
Congas, Bongos, Percussion – Rick Geragi
Electric Guitar [Electric Guitars] – Danny Jacob
Electric Guitar [Electric Twelve String Guitar] – Mark Heard
Engineer [Engineered By] – Mark Heard
Engineer [Second] – Dan Reed
Flute, English Horn – John Clarke
French Horn – Darrel Gardner
Harp – Michael Amorosi
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Oboe – Barbara Northcutt
Orchestrated By, Arranged By, Conductor [Conducted By] – Tom Howard
Photography By – Aaron Rapoport
Piano, Electric Piano [Electric Grand Piano], Synthesizer, Timpani – Tom Howard
Producer [Produced By] – Barry M. Kaye
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute – Jay “Shotgun” Leslie*
Vocals [All Vocals] – Randy Stonehill
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – Δ26410
Engineered At – Fingerprint Recorders
Mixed At – Fingerprint Recorders
Edited At – Wilder Bros. Studios, Los Angeles
Mastered At – Future Disc
Published By – Stonehillian Music
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Tom Howard Music
Mark Heard created a tradition of going the extra mile on his records. He wrote lyrics that had real honesty packed in tight, and yet he still managed drop some tongue-in-cheek one-liners. The effect was that when he was cheeky, you still had to take him seriously. Stop the Dominoes is a classic version of this.
He had a lot to say. The liner notes are incredible. CCM records routinely included all the lyrics printed out on the sleeve, but in addition, Mark included 2 full pages of small print, written from his heart to his fans. Mark had a passion for reality. You can hear it in his song lyrics, and these notes include some personal diary entries from his tour stops through Europe. It’s hard to imagine this kind of thoughtful writing being shared with fans now.
These notes were written on his travels, and later collated into this form, typeset and arranged, sent out to print, manufactured, distributed to stores, and then finally brought home to read. I hope a lot of people read them, but then again, I know. In 1982 when we bought records, we read everything.
There was no Twitter feed. The Internet didn’t exist in any consumer form at that time. Mark died in 1992, well before fandom was available online. Long before we would be able to follow someone’s thoughts as they had them.
Sure, we can follow people on social media now, but that’s a different thing. Online posts are so disposable because they are so temporal. Reading someone’s deliberate writing, something that they know they would have to work on, proofread, and only be able to publish to the world once a year – that’s special in a different way.
Mark Heard was one of the most thoughtful songwriters, and gone much too soon and much too young.
Track Listing:
A1 One Of The Dominoes 4:23
A2 Stranded At The Station 3:30
A3 You Could Lie To Me 4:02
A4 One Night Stand 2:52
A5 I’m Crying Again 3:29
B1 Stuck In The Middle 4:39
B2 Call Me The Fool 3:11
B3 I’m In Chains 3:25
B4 Lonely One 4:35
B5 To See Your Face 3:31
Credits:
Arranged By – Mark Heard
Backing Vocals – Dave De Coup Crank, Larry Norman, Leslie Phillips, Little Bobby Emmons, Randy Stonehill
Bass – John Patitucci
Electric Guitar – Tony Eisenbarger
Electric Guitar, Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Mark Heard
Engineer – Jonathan David Brown
Fiddle – Buddy Spicher
Keyboards – Tom Howard
Percussion – Alex MacDougall
Producer – Mark Heard
Saxophone – Karl Denson
Steel Guitar [Pedal Steel] – Sonny Garrish
Written By – Mark Heard
