Tag: Whiteheart

Freedom is the sixth studio album by White Heart and their last with Sparrow Records though Sparrow would continue distribution under an arrangement between the Sparrow Records and Star Song labels. This was also the last album for Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy and Chris McHugh. I guess you could say this album marked a end of a chapter for the band. I read a few reviews of this album and some reviewers thought this was one of their best if not their best album. I don’t really fall in that camp of reviewers. It’s a pretty good album and there’s a track or two that will make it into my rotation but their best? Not really. The album is a nice mix of CCM singles with 3 making it to the charts and “The River Will Flow” doing the best at #13 There’s also a couple power tracks that are more my style. So my final rating is pretty darn good and has enough different style to satisfy most listeners.

Tracklist
1 – Bye Bye Babylon – 4:06
2 – Sing Your Freedom – 4:59
3 – Let the Kingdom Come – 5:04
4 – Over Me – 5:19
5 – Eighth Wonder – 4:25
6 – Power Tools – 4:20
7 – Invitation – 4:53
8 – The River Will Flow – 6:55
9 – Set the Bridge on Fire – 4:31
10 – Let It Go – 4:15
11 – I’ll Meet You There – 4:22

Credits
Art Direction – Barbara Catanzaro-Hearn, Larry Vigon
Backing Vocals – White Heart
Band [White Heart Is] – Billy Smiley, Chris McHugh, Gordon Kennedy, Mark Gersmehl, Rikk Florian, Tommy Sims
Design – Larry Vigon Studio
Engineer [Additional Engineer] – Byron House
Engineer [Assistant Engineers] – Carry Summers, Kevin Twit, Mark Nevers, Paula Montondo, Shawn McLean, Steve Bishir, Todd Moore
Executive-Producer – Peter York
Lead Vocals – Rikk Florian (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 to 11)
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer [Produced By] – Brown Bannister
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Sparrow Corporation
Copyright © – The Sparrow Corporation
Recorded At – The Bennett House
Recorded At – The Castle Recording Studios
Recorded At – Digital Recorders
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Manufactured By – EMI Jax
Published By – Songs Of PolyGram International, Inc.
Published By – Yellow Jacket Music, Inc.
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Kid And The Squid Music

This White Heart live album was recorded on April 20 1984 at Six Flags Over Texas. Confusingly the album “Chris Christian With Whiteheart – Live At Six Flags” was recorded on the same day and released at the same time. This appeared to be the brilliant thinking of Chris Christian and I’m at a loss to see how he thought this was a good idea. Anyway I have covered the Chris Christian album previously so I was interested to hear how this one compared. This album is definitely more upbeat but it feels like the band definitely turned it down for this event. The same day as this was recorded the Imperials played so between these 3 concerts this was definitely the most upbeat. The album is enjoyable and the music is good but usually live albums turn things up a notch but in this case it appears they turned it down a notch. That said it is nice to hear the original band lineup play the songs that brought them onto the CCM scene and if you’re a White Heart fan you’ll probably enjoy the album but it’s certainly not the best live album I ever heard and in fact is not even in the top 20.

Tracklist
1 – Sing Unto The Lamb – 3:20
2 – Carried Away (Safe On The Wings Of The Lord) – 4:15
3 – Nothing Can Take This Love – 6:35
4 – We Are His Hands – 3:50
5 – Hosanna – 3:50
6 – Undercover – 3:58
7 – Quiet Love – 4:00
8 – Vital Signs – 5:27
9 – Carry On – 3:35
10 – He’s Returning – 2:50

Credits
John Allman – Engineer
Jeff Balding – Engineer
Steven Curtis Chapman – Songwriter
Chris Christian – Executive Producer, Engineer
Scott Douglas – Vocals
Mark Gersmehl – Songwriter, Keyboards, Vocals
Wally Grant – Engineer
Dann Huff – Songwriter, Guitars, Vocals
David Huff – Drums, Percussion
Dan Humann – Engineer, Mixed
Gary Lunn – Songwriter, Bass
Jack Joseph Puig – Engineer
Billy Smiley – Songwriter, Guitars, Vocals
White Heart – Producer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Home Sweet Home Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Home Sweet Home Records, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Distributed By – Word (UK) Ltd.
Recorded At – Six Flags Over Texas
Overdubbed At – Gold Mine Studio East
Overdubbed At – Gold Mine Studio
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Mastered At – Future Disc
Published By – Bug & Bear Music
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.

This was the 3rd studio album from WhiteHeart and there were a few firsts and lasts as far as band members went. It was the last for Scott Douglas & David Huff, and the first for Gordon Kennedy. This was also the first album for them on Home Sweet Home Records, a label owned by Chris Christian. The same year as this album came out Douglas was charged with aggravated sexual battery and was sentenced to prison in early 1986. In my opinion this would have killed any Christian Band but somehow they survived this. I can not imagine the horror in the band when they found out about Douglas’s actions. How they worked though this is absolutely beyond me and the fact they soldiered on is really a testament to the fortitude of the band members. The album had 2 CCM singles with “Jerusalem” making it to #3, and “In His Name” making it to #19.

Tracklist
1 – Hotline – 4:14
2 – Gotta Be A Believer – 4:21
3 – Jerusalem – 3:50
4 – Turn The Page – 4:55
5 – She’s A Runaway – 3:40
6 – Heroes – 4:36
7 – In His Name – 4:14
8 – The Victory – 4:22
9 – Walls – 2:35
10 – Keep Fighting The Fight – 3:08

Credits
Art Direction – Bill Brunt
Bass – Gary Lunn
Drums – David Huff
Engineer – Bob Graves (tracks: B4)
Engineer [Second On Tracks] – Clarke Schleicher
Engineer [Second] – David Pierce, Sam Bailey
Executive Producer – Chris Christian
Guitar, Producer, Keyboards – Billy Smiley
Lead Guitar – Gordon Kennedy
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Music By, Words By – Mark Gersmehl (tracks: A2 to B5)
Percussion – David Huff
Photography By – Mark Tucker, Ron Keith, Scott Bonner
Producer, Vocals, Keyboards – Mark Gersmehl
Recorded By, Mixed By – Brent King
Vocals – Billy Smiley, Gordon Kennedy, Scott Douglas
Words By – Billy Smiley (tracks: A1 to B1, B3, B4), Mark Gersmehl (tracks: A2, A3, A5 to B5)
Words By, Music By – Dana Key (tracks: A3), Eddie DeGarmo (tracks: A3), Gordon Kennedy (tracks: B3), Larry W. Stewart (tracks: B3), Scott Douglas (tracks: A1)

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Mastermix
Recorded At – The Bennett House
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio
Overdubbed At – Gold Mine Studio
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Home Sweet Home Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Home Sweet Home Records, Inc.
Pressed By – Electrosound Los Angeles – Δ26727
Published By – Paragon Music
Published By – Bug & Bear Music
Published By – Paragon Music Corp.
Published By – Hall-Clement Publications
Published By – Yellow Jacket Music, Inc.
Published By – Welk Music Group
Published By – Chris Christian Music

Don’t Wait For The Movie was White Heart’s fourth studio album and the first with with vocalist Rick Florian and drummer Chris McHugh. This was also the first album after lead singer Scott Douglas was arrested, convicted, and jailed for sexual offences. This would have retired most bands but White Heart soldiered on with a new lead vocalist. That vocalist, Rick Florian, was apparently a roadie with the band before being called up to the big leagues. This album had a more commercial light rock sound and some of their fans were disappointed with this new sound. The album dominated the adult CCM tracks with “How Many Times” and “Fly Eagle Fly” both making it to #1 and “Maybe Today” making it to #3. The album lingered on the charts from Sep 86 to June of 87. Pretty impressive.

Tracklist
1 – Read The Book (Don’t Wait For The Movie) – 4:51
2 – Holy Ground – 4:42
3 – Beat Of A Different Drum – 4:17
4 – Fly Eagle Fly – 4:41
5 – Convertibles – 3:43
6 – Let The Children Play (Instrumental) – 1:32
7 – King George – 4:20
8 – No Apology – 4:22
9 – Maybe Today – 4:25
10 – Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Christian – 4:40
11 – How Many Times (Seventy Times Seven) – 4:27

Credits
Art Direction – Buddy Jackson
Artwork By [Hand Tinting] – Mike Drake
Bass, Drum Programming [Linn Programming] – Gary Lunn
Design [Lyric Sheet] – Jim Shanman
Drums, Percussion – Chris McHugh
Edited By – Billy Smiley, Ken Love
Engineer – Brent King
Engineer [Second] – David Pierce
Guitar, Lead Guitar, Sitar, Vocals – Gordon Kennedy
Keyboards, Vocals, Trombone – Mark Gersmehl
Lead Vocals – Ric Florian
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Billy Smiley, White Heart
Programmed By [Keyboard Programming] – Tommy Greer
Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Trumpet – Billy Smiley

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Sparrow Corporation
Recorded At – Center Stage Studio
Overdubbed At – Center Stage Studio
Mixed At – Mastermix
Mastered At – Mastermix
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Hall-Clement Publications
Published By – Yellow Jacket Music, Inc.
Published By – Welk Music Group
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Kid And The Squid Music
Published By – White Heart Publishing