Mark Heard

The late, great Mark Heard helped to change my life.

I think it was in 1980 that I bought and listened to his first album.....well, the first album that he made that was marketed nationally. Back then, there was no real firm marketing of recordings in the so-called "Christian" music field....just smaller advertisements in little-circulated magazines....an occasional poster on a Bible bookstore window. There weren't any local Christian music radio stations in southern Indiana, and only weekly, hourlong syndicated programs broadcast on a coupla stations. I listened to those shows as often as I could just to get a taste of what artists sounded like....who was releasing stuff that I might possibly buy. And there was quite a bit of word-of-mouth endorsing.....most kids within the local youth groups seemed to borrow and exchange albums alot. This was a couple of years before the local Bible bookstore finally installed a "listening booth" so that you could listen before buying.

Logos Bookstore near the Indiana University campus was the best place to go and get music then.....bigger selection. There were a few other places but it seemed like they were kinda stuck in the Middle Ages....Tom Netherton....Evie....Jimmy Swaggart....maybe some Dallas Holm or Amy Grant if the owners were feeling real liberal around ordering time that month. : )
Logos carried everything that they were aware of, and the staff also realized they weren't "all-knowing" and weren't averse to ordering and stocking a particular recording if a customer would just turn them onto an artist.

I always paid a lot of attention to the musician and production credits and liner notes of an album. When I saw this debut LP titled "Appalachian Melody" by some guy named Mark Heard, I didn't think the cover shot was that great, but it was on the Sold Rock label (which I had had some good fortune with) and it also said on a sticker that it was produced by Larry Norman (which sold me on it). After one listen, I was not disappointed.

There was actually another album of Mark's that he had produced independently, titled "On Turning To Dust". To obtain them at the following link, you will more than likely need the WinRar application installed (or some other unzipping application, but I'd go with WinRar) and you can find them for free at various spots on the Web...just Google it. You can go to the following link and download both those albums--

http://www.one-way.org/mp3/Mark%20Heard/

Anyway, I bought "Appalachian Melody" and that album started me on a path of following Mark's music for many years. Most of his early albums (at least 3 or 4) came with these extensive liner notes on the album sleeve where much relevant stuff was discussed, usually in an interview format. I was so intrigued by how his take on spiritual things were so different from what I had been brought up to believe.....and really, how things were still being taught by the local churches. His thoughts opened my spiritual eyes.

I felt as if I had been sensitive to artistic expression by that age....I knew the appreciation of true creativity. But listening to Mark's words and work, I felt as if I was hearing real art for the first time as being done by someone who professed to be a Christian. He didn't follow any kind of prerequisite formula set up by standards of the Church in general. Other artists had broken that ground, but Mark was so.....poetic.
Don't get me wrong....I loved some of Randy Stonehill's lyrics that I had heard before discovering Mark...and the ideas that Larry Norman expressed in certain songs ("Walking Backwards Down The Stairs"; "Pardon Me") was unmatched up to that time. But with Mark Heard, Larry met his match. Some of Larry's thoughts were outstanding...but Mark's vocabulary and poetry was better. Read some of this from "True Confessions"-

"We don't seem to seize on the tenets we hold,
and they slip through the sieve of our deeds..."

or this from "The Pain That Plagues Creation"-

"As this planet falls around the sun, trapping us in the orbit
Creation groans in unison like a race of frightened orphans
The darkness of this raging storm is covering up our portals
But a yearning for the light is bourne in the heart of every mortal

Day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues Creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration..."

It's real poetry.....an offering from someone who has really put some effort into determining how he wants to express himself....and he does it so well. Here's a link to lyrics to most of his songs-
http://mhlp.rru.com/


Stop The Dominoes
I am going to leave ya some download links for some of my favorite songs from "Stop The Dominoes" from 1981. It is his first album that he did after switching labels to Home Sweet Home. I think the production is great. He had started exploring a sound with "harder-edge" guitars on this one, but still left plenty of room for what I consider his forte', the country-rock stuff and the mellower "James Taylor-ish" tunes.
"Stranded At The Station" is a pop/rock romp...it's got that "'70's pop" feel. I love the tambourine (or is it a shaker?) work on this one. His idea that our various periods of indecision can be like "missing our plane" is excellent. "You Could Lie To Me" shows the diversity of musical style that Mark can implement. It is a song directed to Satan (or a proponent of his)....this would have went over like a lead balloon around some of the youth group members that I was sometimes involved with. "A song to SATAN!?!" I can just hear their reactions now. But, of course, if Keith Green did it and made it somewhat humorous, then it was all okay. This tune has more of an early Genesis feel...or at least something from Player or Ambrosia. GREAT Bass line, by the way. "Call Me The Fool" has an intro straight off of a James Taylor song.... "Lonely One" utilizes a great mandolin, and Mark plays that bass like it's a lead guitar! Country/rock with a fantastic steel guitar....the singer is speaking to a sad, mixed-up girl who has lost her way. I love the lines "Smiling with your makeup" and "You're not in love....not even with your lovers..." The last one is "To See Your Face", and it is a very poignant song speaking directly to our Savior and about how small we really are. Here's the link to download them all --
Stranded At The Station- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8XUHDX04
You Could Lie To Me- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EK18RQV0
Call Me The Fool- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YFM4UB5P
Lonely One- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U96I3LYG
To See Your Face- http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U1OMJTJF

Mark Heard suffered a heart attack while onstage playing a concert in 1992. He was hospitalized and released, and within two weeks died of cardiac arrest. I will always remember him as a vessel that Jesus used to help me grow into something better than what I was. Here is a link to his Wiki page-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Heard and there is quite a bit more information by doing simple searches on the Internet, including fan sites and groups.

Early Stonehill

I thought that, for my first blog, I would ponder over the earlier music of Randy Stonehill, a "Christian rock" pioneer.
My introduction to Stonehill's music was in the early spring of 1979. My cousin brought me an album to listen to titled "Welcome To Paradise". It is an understatement to say that I liked it very much. It helped to change the way I thought about music with a spiritual bent.
I will focus here on only the first four LP's that Randy recorded...they are the ones that I am most familiar with.


Welcome To Paradise (1976)
This album introduced me to Randy and his music. Unbeknownst to me at the time, it was heavily influenced by the production of Larry Norman. The cuts that stood out to me at the time were "King Of Hearts", "High Card (The Winner)", "Keep Me Runnin' ", "First Prayer", and "Song For Sarah". "Hearts" and "Runnin' " both presented the wonderful sound that you can have by marrying electric and acoustic guitars to each other, and they are ultimate classics in this genre. "Song For Sarah" was always a special favorite for the beautiful falsettos Randy was able to achieve in his vocals. In "Prayer", Randy sang from the viewpoint of someone who had never really known any kind of relationship with a Savior, but was trying to understand the new journey that he had begun. Outstanding lyrics! The harmonies of Larry Norman were all over this album, to it's benefit, along with the creative lead guitar of the late Jon Linn. Rating: 8.7 out of 10

The Sky Is Falling (1980)
Having 4 years in between recordings is not that strange nowadays, but back in the day this was nearly unheard of. Fortunately for me, I had been turned onto "Paradise" in '79, so I didn't wait as long for the follow-up as some other fans. I think this album lacked some of the "heart" of "Paradise", but it is far from disappointing. Stand-out cuts are "Jamey's Got The Blues", "Emily", & "Counterfeit King". This album of Randy's is where I started to realize that he was not going to place himself into a box in order to overtly sing about his salvation and/or his God, but more pointedly sing as a fellow human being on a spiritual journey. Songs like "Venezuela", "Jamey", and "Through The Glass Darkly" reflect his insights into his relationships and speak more of the human condition rather than mentioning Jesus or God. He started to stretch a bit musically on this LP also, exploring a Caribbean sound with "Bad Fruit", although I found myself tiring of the tongue-in-cheekness of "The Great American Cure", more of a novelty song that he had experimented with on "Lung Cancer" from "Paradise". These type of songs seem to rely more on the lyrical content than on "good music", although "Cure" has a great acoustic guitar sound. Rating: 7.6 out of 10


Between The Glory And The Flame (1981)
This album marked Randy's move from the Solid Rock label (Larry Norman's startup label) to Myrrh, and also his involvement with Terry Taylor (of Daniel Amos fame)producing. The title cut reminded me a little bit of the songwriting of Tom Petty with better vocals. "Die Young" seemed to touch upon the staccato guitar-romping that was popular at the time (think Cars), mixed with some mid '60's melodies. "Fifth Avenue Breakdown" utilized definite power chords, much like "Trouble Coming" from "The Sky Is Falling", although with much better lead fills. My favorite from this album is "Find Your Way To Me", a pop tune that shows that Randy doesn't like to repeat himself much in lyrical phrasing or guitar fills within a song structure, much like some Dan Fogelberg tunes. Great falsettos here again. The first side of the LP was much better than the 2nd side, although that means nothing in today's CD world. I admired about 60% of this recording. Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Equator (1982)
When I talked with Randy after a concert in 2002, he told me that this LP was his favorite. When I asked him why, he said that he had had the most enjoyment recording it. His answer kinda surprised me at the time, but now I have had more time to reflect back on that. This was his first album after finding a new love after a painful divorce. He and Sandi were experiencing having a baby daughter, and they remain happily married today. This was also the second recording away from the conflicts within the Solid Rock label and free of the debut pressures of his new label. Evident light-heartedness may be reflected in some of these compositions, e.g., "American Fast Food", "Cosmetic Fixation", "Big Ideas" (In A Shrinking World)", although they return to the satirical format that I don't enjoy as much. "Ideas" shows a foray into utilizing a synth-pop sound, while "Fast Food" has a '50's feel. "Shut De Do" (think Negro/Jamaican traditional) got old real fast, although it still remains a crowd favorite in concert today. To me, the best cuts are his mellower tunes on this outing, namely "Light Of The World", "Even The Best Of Friends" (made me ponder at the time on what was going on between him and Larry), and "Turning Thirty". Rating: 5.7 out of 10