#288 SPREADIN' LIKE WILDFIRE by The Archers (1981)

SPREADIN' LIKE WILDFIRE by The Archers (1981)
MCA Songbird - MCR 5016

Producer: Dony McGuire


File Under: CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Spreadin' Like Wildfire

The Archers were a vocal band with tight sibling harmony, photogenic good looks, and connections to a network of some of the best studio musicians in the country. As a result, they rose to prominence out of the Jesus Music milieu in California in the early 70s. They gave Christian teenagers some acceptable, sonically-excellent pop music to call their own, without giving parents any extra grey hair. But as the 70s came to a close, the CCM landscape was rapidly changing. I had a chance recently to ask Steve Archer what the climate was like for The Archers as the Seventies gave way to the Eighties.

"It was an exciting transition," he said. "In the early to mid-Seventies, we played a lot in churches, schools, coffee houses and Jesus Festivals, that sort of thing. But within a pretty short period of time, from 1978 to 1982 we were blessed to perform at the White House, on the Grammy Awards two years in a row, on the Jerry Lewis Telethon and the Mike Douglas Show! Our audience had expanded and we found ourselves doing large auditorium events like the Astrodome in Houston, McCormick Place in Chicago, the Shrine Auditorium, and Madison Square Garden. So it was a very exciting time."

The group was extremely telegenic, so the "small screen" was a natural fit for them in the early Eighties. "Yeah, since the early days of Christian TV and, really, throughout the 1980s, we were blessed to be on all the networks," Steve recalls. "We even had our own show on TBN for a while."

Recalling the memory of one of their greatest influences, Steve smiled and said, "Andrae Crouch used to say 'take the message everywhere,' so we tried to do just that by following in his large footsteps!"


Their Dad was an Assembly of God pastor in the San Joaquin Valley of northern California. It was only natural that Tim, Steve, and older brother Gary started singing in church at a very early age. 

[Trust me - as a musically-inclined Assembly of God pastor's son myself, and with two similarly musical brothers, I know a little bit about that particular slice of church culture.] 

Tim & Steve as "Teen Talent" finalists

Word soon spread that "those Archer boys can sing" and the trio received invitations to do their thing at other Bay Area churches. So much so that a name was needed. They settled on "The Archer Brothers" for obvious reasons and spent their summers touring. 

The Archer Brothers became trendsetters as they started employing electric instruments in their concerts, something that was quite controversial at the time. 

[I have personal war stories and battle scars along that front as well, but I'll spare you.] 

In 1966, the boys entered a talent competition sponsored by their denomination; it was called "Teen Talent" and was kind of a big deal to kids who grew up in Assembly of God churches. They won second place nationally, and they were on their way. 

[This is yet another area where the Archer Brothers and the Bachmann Brothers have a shared experience. Except that the farthest we went was second place in the Southeast Regionals.] 

After the Teen Talent experience, Tim and Steve started playing guitar and began to evolve toward an even more "contemporary" folk/rock sound. In the late 60s, brother Gary dropped out of the group, making room for guitarist Billy Masters and, eventually, vocalist Nancye Short. The Archer Brothers became The Archers. Kelly Willard was also part of the band for a short while.

Early days

The group was helped along by associations with influential men like Pat Boone, Andrae Crouch and Ralph Carmichael. They came to develop a sound of their own and gained great exposure by playing the iconic Explo 72 festival in Dallas. Before long, songs like It Won't Be Long, Little Flowers, Jesus is the Answer and Keep Singing That Love Song experienced great success and made The Archers famous. In time, Masters and Short were replaced by a teenage Janice Archer, making the group truly a family affair. 

Steve, Janice & Tim performing at the White House in the late 70s

International tours and a White House visit followed, and the first Archers album with Janice on board (Fresh Surrender) would offer up seven back-to-back hits. After another critically acclaimed record (Stand Up!) and a live album, the group won a Grammy Award for their contribution to a musical titled The Lord's Prayer by Reba Rambo and Dony McGuire.

It turns out The Archers' next album would be produced by Dony McGuire, a guy who was, at the time, still a fixture in the Southern Gospel world...and not exactly someone who had mass appeal to the CCM audience. I asked Steve how that relationship began.

"Well, we were blessed to meet Reba early on, when she was traveling with Andrae Crouch," Steve remembers, "and we just fell in love with her. The Archers' very first drummer, Freddy Satterfield, moved to Nashville and joined a Gospel group called The Downings (and later The Oak Ridge Boys), and that's how we first became aware of Dony McGuire. Then, for 2 years in a row, we sort of went back to our roots and performed at the National Quartet Convention and really deepened our relationship with Reba. Of course, we were very familiar with Southern Gospel because our oldest brother Gary was in a couple of quartets, and as kids, we saw The Statesmen & The Blackwood Brothers whenever they came through northern California. So in 1980, we got a call from Dony & Reba to record a song on their project, The Lord's Prayer. It was a wonderful project and it ended up taking all of us - Andrae, B.J. Thomas, Cynthia Clawson, Walter and Tramaine Hawkins, all of us - all the way to the Grammys! We'd had such a wonderful experience working with Dony & Reba that we asked them to produce and write with us for our next album which was going to be on the MCA Songbird label, which, of course, turned out to be the Spreadin' Like Wildfire album." 

Recent photos of Tim Archer with Dony and Reba

When asked about the recording process for Spreadin' Like Wildfire, Steve has fond memories. "It was a wonderful experience and many of the session players on that record were from the amazing Koininia band! What can I say, except that it was an incredibly blessed time for us. We really enjoyed making the album with Dony & Reba. They're excellent writers, and Dony did a great job producing."

Those Koinonia players Steve refers to were bassist Abraham Laboriel, percussionist Alex Acuna, and guitarist Hadley Hockensmith. In addition to those incredible players, the album also benefited from the talents of drummer Larry London, keyboardists Dan Cutrona and Dony McGuire, Bill Kenner on mandolin, and saxophonist Dennis Solee. Add to that list the Sheldon Kurland Strings and a full horn section that included the likes of Buddy Skipper and Roger Bissell. Thus continued what had by then become an annual tradition for The Archers - that is, recording albums that sparkled sonically due to top-shelf production values and a roster of excellent session players. 

"The musicians were stellar," Steve Archer agreed. "Abraham, Shane, Alex, Hadley - all of those guys were amazing. Great strings and horns, too!"

The memorable title track was a funky, upbeat number that reveals quite a bit about the state of our country and her openness toward the things of God in the early 80s, as compared to today. It's a song that describes a spirit of revival. 

There's a new wind rushing down
From the mountain of the Lord
And it's time for righteous men to heed the call
Every spark becomes a flame
By the power of His name
And before His feet, the golden idols fall

Spreadin' like wildfire
The love of Jesus
It's catching on
Growing stronger
Every day
Spreadin' like wildfire
He has freed us
And by His mighty ransom, we are saved

Sadly, it's hard to imagine that song being recorded today. In 1981 Ronald Reagan had just been elected due, in part, to evangelical Christians and Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority. CCM was going strong and growing, and Christian media (both radio and television) was in its infancy and also growing. It was a time when Christians were actively engaged - not only morally and politically, but also as friends, neighbors, employers, employees...visible and indispensable members of their communities. Today, with declining church attendance and more people eschewing any formal connection to organized Christianity in America, there's a climate that has emboldened critics of the Church and has encouraged actual persecution of believers right here in the United States. Who knows, maybe we're on the front end (even as I write this) of a new era in the United States, and perhaps one day soon we can again sing with confidence of the love of Jesus spreading like a wildfire...catching on and growing stronger among us every day. The fires of personal, spiritual revival are going to have to burn bright again among His people in order for that to be the case.

Another strong song on this album was Back In Your Arms. This R&B-influenced ballad features the group's trademark vocal harmonies. "Back In Your Arms was written by my brother Tim," said Steve Archer, "and was also recorded by T.G. Sheppard, a well-known country artist." 
  
"I love the songs on this album," Steve says. "Runnin' Too Long absolutely jams, Nothing Can Separate Us has such a confirming message, and I Never Knew Love has some great chords which led to some beautiful sibling harmony! We sang Everyday on a live Grammy telecast, and Barbara Mandrel also performed it on her TV show. There were some great, heartfelt messages in those songs. Those were blessed times."

By the way, at the time of this writing, there's a YouTube video of The Archers performing Runnin' Too Long on a television show. Two more Koinonia members - drummer Bill Maxwell and pianist Harlan Rogers - were part of the band for that particular TV taping.

The power ballad Care was co-written by Steve Archer and keyboardist Dan Cutrona. "The musical influence on Care was from listening to a lot of Gino Vanelli," Steve admits, smiling. The song features a stirring performance by Steve and some absolutely gorgeous chords on the electric piano.

The funky Merry-Go-Round exhibited a healthy dose of R&B swagger. Written by Steve Archer, it confronts the emptiness of a life devoted to the daily rat race.

Do you feel that your life is like a merry-go-round
Always goin' round and up and down
Do you spend all your time workin' for a new thrill
Just to find that you're all caught up on a spinning wheel

Just like a merry-go-round
Get your feet on the ground

Spinnin', spinnin', spinnin

Spinnin' around and around

Hear what He's tryin' to say
He's calling you to a straight and narrow way

Never Say Goodbye was another great showcase for the group's sibling harmonies. Co-written by Bruce Hibbard and the Archers' own Tony Sena, it closes the album with an encouragement that the Lord never leaves nor forsakes us.

Though I've never seen Your face
I know You're always there
Caring for me
Lifting every sorrow that I bear
Every day the journey
Brings me closer to Your side
And forever in Your presence, I'll abide

I know we'll never have to say goodbye
I know You're always there in every way
And though the journey takes me far and wide
I know we'll never say goodbye

The end result of Spreadin' Like Wildfire was a Grammy nomination and a return trip to perform on the Grammy telecast. The group would have a couple more albums left in them before going their separate ways for good (musically speaking) in 1994. Steve Archer enjoyed a successful solo career, and the siblings have reunited now and then for special appearances. Steve continues to travel and sing in churches and auditoriums large and small, all across the country. You can keep up with the group and download a lot of their music at Tim Archer's website.

I first met Steve Archer in 2014 when he ministered at the church where my family and I attended. It was an absolute pleasure getting to know him just a little bit over the course of that weekend. Of course, the internet has also made the world a much smaller place, as I'm sure you'll agree. Through social media interactions, I've discovered that Tim and Steve Archer are both down-to-earth, humble men who are as friendly and personable as they are talented. 

The Archers will always be remembered as a polished group of professionals who performed and recorded stellar albums of MOR, pop, funk and blue-eyed soul that always pointed the listener to a deeper walk with Jesus. 

The fact that they're such nice people makes the music all the more enjoyable. 

I would go so far as to say that if more of Christ's followers conducted themselves the way The Archers do, there'd be a better chance of Jesus' love catchin' on and growing stronger every day... 

It might even start spreadin' like wildfire again.

#289 WHISTLIN' IN THE DARK by Bryan Duncan (1987)

WHISTLIN' IN THE DARK by Bryan Duncan (1987)
Modern Art Records 7-01-460060-5

Producer: Larry Brown

File Under: Blue-Eyed Soul/CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Help Is On The Way

I don't think Bryan Duncan would be offended if I referred to him as "the little man with the BIG voice." He's somewhat small in stature. And he certainly does have a big voice. One of the biggest in all of music.  

In his Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, author Mark Allan Powell calls Duncan a "Christian music superstar" and says that Duncan's post-Sweet Comfort Band albums are "masterpieces in their own right." Powell writes that Duncan's solo albums "have, in fact, set the standard for blue-eyed soul music." 

Sweet Comfort Band
L-R: Rick Thompson, Kevin Thompson, Bryan Duncan, Randy Thomas

Born in 1953 in Ogden, Utah, Duncan was an Assembly of God preacher's kid (you can read all about Bryan's backstory on our 70s blog). The family eventually settled in North Carolina. Duncan tried to fulfill his family's expectations by heading off to Bible College inFlorida, but he was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole and eventually dropped out. News of the Jesus Movement made its way across the country and soon drew Duncan like a moth to a flame. There, he met the Thompson brothers (Kevin and Rick) and, later, a guitarist named Randy Thomas. The quartet became known as the Sweet Comfort Band and brought a new benchmark of quality musicianship to the fledgling CCM genre. SCB's

catalog of six albums (not counting greatest hits compilations) is among the very best that rock and roll has to offer. They began with a strong jazz influence and an exuberance befitting young believers in Jesus...evolved to more of an arena rock sound and lyrics that explored deeper issues, included painful aspects of life...and ended their career with a harder-edged sound thanks to the production of the Elefante brothers.   

It's been said that the members of Sweet Comfort Band grew frustrated by their failure to achieve a level of acceptance and success commensurate with the group's talent and ability. So SCB came to an end and gave birth to two new musical incarnations: Randy Thomas formed a band called Allies with his friend Bob Carlisle, and Bryan Duncan embarked on a solo career.

Whistlin' in the Dark was the third release in Duncan's solo catalog. I had a chance recently to talk to Bryan about the album. 

"Whistlin' in the Dark went gangbusters," he said. "My first debut of the record was at Knotts Berry Farm Theatre, and everyone already knew all the lyrics."

"It also marked my tendency for flamboyant outfits on stage," Duncan remembered. "I came out in a white jacket with zebra stripes, shoes and sunglasses that matched, and leather pants!"

He smiled and added, "Let's just say that was a big change from the usual Christian presentations."

I asked him about the producer, Larry Brown -- a name not usually associated with CCM records. "Larry was the first non-believer I ever worked with," Duncan answered. "He was a real soft-spoken guy; more engineer than producer, I think. But he had worked with a favorite band of mine: Tower of Power. Plus he had everything 'in house' in the way of recording, and I was budget limited!" 

The title track was trademark Bryan Duncan from a musical and vocal standpoint, with an upbeat, danceable groove...but the lyrics took on a somewhat darker tone. "I wrote Whistlin' in the Dark in my truck," Duncan revealed, "just driving around thinking about all the answers I didn't have in response to faith questions. Acknowledging doubt was a change of direction in my Christian career," he admitted. The song was relentlessly open and honest, and found Duncan in a mood to no longer pretend that he was an expert on spiritual matters...

I spent my time between the answers
And I swear there's nothin leaves you more alone
Tracing your faith through fact and fiction
Whatever it takes to draw that line

You know that I hate to wait

I'm someone that feels
That I can't fake the answers
And I don't make believe
I just keep praying
God don't fail me now!
I hardly know the questions
But I'll stand rest assured
That You won't leave me
Whistlin' in the...

I'm just a man, nobody's hero
And left alone I stand on feet of clay
Counting the cracks found in this armor
So all of my strength must come from you
To carry me through the night

I can't fake the answers
I don't make believe I'm whistlin' in the dark
But I stand rest assured that you won't leave me
Whistlin' in the dark

"I can't fake the answers." That's about as brutally honest as any CCM artist was prepared to be in 1987.

The bouncy Paradise brightened the mood a great deal, and is a favorite from this record. It's almost as if this song is an R&B update on all those songs about Heaven that Bryan grew up singing in his daddy's church. In it, he playfully describes Heaven as "my favorite choice for a relocation." Duncan's old SCB mate Randy Thomas played guitar on this track, and if you listen, you can pick out the voice of Bob Carlisle on backing vocals.

All My Life was a pop ballad that served as a good vehicle for Duncan's powerful voice.

"The best lyric on the record for me was Break Out Of Chains," Duncan told me. One reviewer called that song "an R&B celebration of how the truth will set you free."

Above me gather legions who've stood the test of time
A cloud they are who witness a master's grand design
I find myself surrounded, a threat on every side
I've just begun to suffer where greater men have died
To stand and face the challenge, to quench the fiery dart
Won't find your strength in numbers
In a struggle for the heart
The prisoner of your mind

The lure of secret vices, integrity let slide
Discreet, misplaced affection, a self-indulgent pride
Addictive taste of power, the smell of sweet success
Whatever makes you stumble will be your only test
To stand and face the challenge, to quench the fiery dart
Won't find your strength in numbers
In a struggle for the heart
The prisoner of your mind

Break out of chains
Find the lock and turn the key
Break out of chains
Know the truth will set you free
Break out of chains
One more time, now do it right
Break out of chains
If I have to fight all night
Break out of chains

Break Out Of Chains is especially poignant in light of Bryan's own battles with addiction, a subject about which he has been very open in recent years (more about that in a moment). By the way, John Mitchell turned in a nice sax solo on this track.

When I Think of Home was a memorable ballad from this record. With a different production approach, this song would've fit on an SCB album.

When I told him that Every Heart Has An Open Door was probably my favorite song on the album, Bryan Duncan laughed and admitted, "Every Heart was completely written on the fly! The title was taken out of my journaling and the hook was added last minute. I needed something and I just made it fit!" He also acknowledged that most of the songs on Whistlin' In The Dark "were completely built from loop patterns."

At least one reviewer thought that You Can Rely On Me compared favorably to the Eagles' Heartache Tonight, only with much more hopeful lyrics. The horn section (John Mitchell, Glen Myerscough, Don Markese, Larry Hall, Stu Blumberg) shines on this track.

Another standout track is a funky gem called Help Is On The Way. The memorable bridge recalls Christian Skate Night at the local roller rink.   

Dot dot dot, are-you-O-K? Are-you-O-K?
Oh no! Oh no! S-O-S! Help is one the way!

After almost a full side of Duncan-esque funkiness, it was time to close out the album with another ballad. You're Never Alone, cowritten with Chuck Barth and producer Larry Brown, is a source of encouragement that Jesus is always with us.  

I asked Bryan Duncan if, looking back, he is pleased wit the album Whistlin' in the Dark. "I don't know," he answered,"but it was the best I could do at the time!" He says that WITD marked the beginning of a period of co-authoring more songs with other writers, as opposed to going it alone.

In fact, Chuck Barth co-wrote more than half of the songs on WITD; Brown co-wrote 2; while Don Cason and Gary Whitlock helped out on All My Life.

After Whistlin' In The Dark, Bryan Duncan continued to tour and record...and tour and record...and tour...and record...to the point of burn-out. He eventually became a "star," landing 10 #1 songs on Christian radio in the 1990s. So he found the music industry success that had eluded the Sweet Comfort Band...and yet it was not fulfilling. Even though he ended up selling well over a million albums during a career that has spanned more than 30 years, the pressures of performing 200 dates a year, constantly being away from home, and always having to promote himself wreaked a lot of havoc for Bryan. A marriage dissolved along the way, and he has been quite open about his bouts with addiction and depression. He explains that people (even Christians) engage in self-medication when they rely on something other than God to bring comfort. And when that something becomes unmanageable, it's an addiction. For some it's drugs or alcohol; for others it's food or work or acclaim; still others become addicted to sex or unhealthy relationships. Whatever the coping mechanism, it can be a destructive force. Duncan understands all of that from personal experience. He's now able to reach out to others who have similar issues and point them toward hope and healing. 

Bryan Duncan still writes and records, sings and tours. He'll come to your church, maybe even do a house concert or private event. To learn more about scheduling an event or obtaining Bryan's newest music, visit www.bryanduncan.com. The Sweet Comfort Band even released a reunion album a few years back and they reunite to do select dates now and then. 

On songs like Whistlin' in the Dark and Break Out of Chains, we began to get clues that Duncan was aware of his own shortcomings, his own limitations. Growing up in a pastor's home, he says he was given answers at a very early age to questions no one was even asking. So, during his years with SCB and his solo career, he felt pressure to be an expert on all things spiritual, but he knew that he wasn't.

In a 2009 interview with The Christian Examiner, Duncan said, "I think of all the years I expounded Scripture through music and talked about God's marvelous grace and those kinds of things. I never had much experience on it. I just borrowed what I said and I just cut and pasted what needed to be there to be acceptable in Christian circles."

Over time, that changed. Bryan became very open and honest in his music concerning the fact that he doesn't have all the answers. And he's no longer chasing "success." 

"I don't have to be acceptable in Christian circles any more," he told The Christian Examiner. "Not sure I ever will be. I can only give to God what I have and what I am. It's up to Him to do something from there. The world is clearly not revolving around me."

I hardly know the questions
But I'll stand rest assured
That You won't leave me
Whistlin' in the...

#290 FIRST HAND by Steven Curtis Chapman (1987)

FIRST HAND by Steven Curtis Chapman (1987)
Sparrow Records SPR-1139

Producer: Phil Naish

File Under: CCM

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

My Redeemer is Faithful and True

I'll confess that I've never quite understood Steven Curtis Chapman's immense popularity. And immense is an understatement, by the way. He's the most popular and most heavily decorated male artist in CCM history. But why?

Chapman has always been sort of an "everyman." In his early career, he was the boy-next-door type that a father would trust with his daughter. He was the kind of non-threatening troubadour that teens tolerated and moms loved. He doesn't possess an amazing voice and is not known as an exceptional guitarist. His live shows draw hordes of fans, but he's really not a very exciting performer. His between-song banter can be earnest and folksy in a concert setting, but he's unlikely to say anything that you'll still remember by the time you get to the car. He's written some memorable songs, but many more that are quite pedestrian. Many of the uptempo songs Chapman has written are too wordy and have begun to sound quite a bit alike over the years, but his army of devotees aren't bothered by that at all. Eleven million albums sold...eight gold or platinum albums to his credit...five GRAMMY Awards®...an American Music Award...48 No. 1 singles...and 58 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. Let me repeat that: FORTY-EIGHT #1 hit songs and FIFTY-EIGHT Dove Awards. That's ridiculous, y'all. And all of that just since 1987. He's got to be doing something right. Maybe his musical abilities examined separately, are not that exciting...but the sum of his musical parts add up to something unique and amazing. Like I said, his appeal has always mystified me a bit. But the appeal is undeniable. And it is massive. Eleven MILLION albums sold? That's a staggering number for a guy who doesn't play like Phil Keaggy, doesn't sing like Matthew Ward, and doesn't write like Bob Bennett.

   

Judy and Herb Chapman had a baby boy in November of 1962 and named him Steven Curtis. Herb was a music teacher in Paducah, Kentucky, so Steven and his brother Herb Jr. fell in love with singing and playing guitar and piano at an early age. A college dropout, Steven took off for Nashville to make it in the music business. Like many other young hopefuls in Music City, he scored a gig at an amusement park known as Opryland, and wrote original songs in his spare time. His first big break came when a legendary CCM group known as The Imperials agreed to cut one of his songs (Built to Last). That led to a songwriting contract with Sparrow Records which resulted in artists as diverse as Sandi Patty, Glenn Campbell, the Cathedral Quartet and Roger Whitaker recording his songs.

Several different labels expressed interest in signing SCC to a recording deal in his own right; he decided to go with the late, great Billy Ray Hearn and Sparrow Records in 1987. The result was First Hand, a record produced by Phil Naish. Musically, Chapman's debut was a mixture of soft rock, pop and adult contemporary ballads. The album boasted a strong supporting cast with Jon Goin on electric guitar, Mike Brignardello on bass, Mark Hammond on drums, and Naish on keyboards. Chapman sang, of course, and contributed electric and acoustic guitars. Background vocals were handled by an all-star cast of Chris Rodriguez, Wayne Kirkpatrick and...wait for it...Herb Chapman.

Carl Gorodetzsky and the Nashville String Machine were employed on First Hand, with string orchestrations by Alan Moore. Greg Nelson was the album's executive producer, and Jeff Balding engineered, assisted by Bill Whittington. Mark Tucker took the pictures while Buddy Jackson and Barbara Catanzaro-Hearn designed the album cover. Beth Middleworth drew up the title illustration, and Jane Golden supplied the cover image of the Santa Monica mural. 

Lyrically, this record has a focus on discipleship, which would serve as SCC's main theme for the majority of his albums. Overall, it's a call for listeners to get engaged in the Christian life.

Understandably, SCC was just finding his footing on this, his debut outing. While there are catchy tunes and clever hooks on First Hand, some have said that it took about 3 albums before Chapman began to find his own voice and style. First Hand is more of a one-size-fits-all, light rock, Nashville Machine type album. The record has received a fair amount of criticism for being too derivative. It's been said that he "borrows" too heavily on this album from folks like Huey Lewis, Kenny Loggins, and Richard Marx. The good news is that if you like those artists (and millions do), you'll find plenty to like about First Hand.

The album starts with four strong songs. The title track hearkens back to 50s pop and strikes some listeners as a Footloose clone. One reviewer noted that "It's not hard to sing 'Cut footloose!' several times during First Hand." Another reviewer wrote, "It would probably be lawsuit material if it had been popular enough to gain Kenny Loggins' notice." Ouch. I don't know...I think those criticisms are overblown. There are a limited number of notes and time signatures, and people are always going to hear things that, to them, sound similar to something else they've heard. Do I think SCC sat down and intentionally came up with a plan to rip off Huey Lewis or Kenny Loggins? No. Is his performance on this record reminiscent of those artists? Sometimes. And there's nothing wrong with that.

First Hand may be as dated as SCC's late-80s mullet...but it's an upbeat, feel-good song, and a pleasant way to start the album.

Co-written with James Isaac Elliott, Weak Days was centered around a clever play on words. It was a breakout hit, reaching #2 on the CCM airplay charts. 

An early Chapman family portrait

Another rainy Monday,
Looks like I'm gonna be late again
Why does the race I'm runnin' never seem to have an end
A day away from Sunday
Feels like I'm already losing ground
Funny sometimes how quickly my emotions get turned around
They're letting me down

I gotta keep my eyes on Jesus
Through the weak days
In a world where we really don't belong
I've discovered if I keep my eyes on Jesus
Through the weak days
Then even on the weak days, He'll make me strong

Weak Days is one song that most folks remember from this album; Hiding Place is the other.

A much-loved ballad, Hiding Place has stood the test of time. Providing solace and comfort, it describes God as a loving Defender and Protector, striking a positive chord in the hearts of believers the world over. 

In the distance, I can see the storm clouds coming my way
And I need to find a shelter before it starts to rain
So I turn and run to you, Lord
You're the only place to go
Where unfailing love surrounds me
When I need it most

You're my hiding place
Safe in Your embrace
I'm protected from the storm that rages
When the waters rise
And I run to hide
Lord in You I'll find my hiding place

I'm not asking You to take away my troubles, Lord,
Cause it's through the stormy weather I'll learn to trust You more
But I thank You for the promise
And I have come to know
Your unfailing love surrounds me
When I need it most

Co-written by Chapman and Jerry Salley, Hiding Place is a song that Chapman wouldn't be allowed to stop playing in his live concerts, even if he wanted to. 

Run Away told us, in no uncertain terms, how to escape temptation: 

Don't even look the direction of a thought you should not entertain

It was a catchy, midtempo tune that became one of the album's most popular tracks. Run Away would reach #8 on Christian radio airplay charts.

At the end of the album, Chapman recorded a song that is as profound as any he's recorded during the intervening years. If it's not already there, My Redeemer Is Faithful and True belongs in hymnals. It should be sung by bodies of believers, in unison, on Sunday mornings, in houses of worship from coast to coast. Co-written by Chapman and James Isaac Elliott, it's a beautiful description of the character and attributes of God. Steven Curtis Chapman has said that if he could sing only one song for the rest of his life...My Redeemer Is Faithful and True would be the one. "It's just been a song that, through all of our journey, through losing our daughter, and even before that, sums up everything that I hope my music has communicated over the years," Chapman said. One reviewer called My Redeemer "simply beautiful" and "easily the best cut on the album."

As I look back on the road I've traveled
I see so many times He carried me through
And if there's one thing that I've learned in my life

My Redeemer is faithful and true

My Redeemer is faithful and true
Everything He has said He will do
And every morning His mercies are new
My Redeemer is faithful and true

My heart rejoices when I read the promise
'There is a place I am preparing for you'
I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face
'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true

Chapman recently re-recorded Hiding Place and My Redeemer Is Faithful and True on a project called Deep Roots, a country and bluegrass-tinged collection of hymns that also includes new versions of some of SCC's most-loved ballads from his early catalog. Produced and recorded in conjunction with Cracker Barrel restaurant in 2013, Deep Roots features performances from Chapman's Dad, his brother, his eldest son, and a daughter-in-law. Ricky Skaggs also makes a guest appearance.

Just a few short years after the release of First Hand, Steven Curtis Chapman would be crowned King of CCM. He would go on to write a love song for the ages (I Will Be Here) and sell a gajillion albums. He probably built a new wing onto his home in order to house all of the awards that came his way. 

On a very tragic note, Steven and his family were visited by unspeakable grief when an adopted daughter lost her life in an accident. The Chapmans were already vocal supporters of adoption, and continue to do wonderful work through a nonprofit organization known as Show Hope. 

Many hairstyles later, Chapman's still doing his thing. I attended a show he did alongside Amy Grant about one year ago, in the winter of 2016. He didn't amaze me with vocal gymnastics that night...he did not dazzle the crowd with his guitar skills...he didn't say anything between songs that I can still remember...but he did sing Hiding Place and My Redeemer Is Faithful and True. And that right there was worth the price of admission.