Description
The Lost Artifacts of an American Poet, sub-titled The Original Recordings of Mark Heard, is a compilation CD featuring previously unreleased recordings by the American singer and songwriter Mark Heard, posthumously released on Solid Rock Records in 2007.
These recently uncovered Mark Heard songs contain many of his primary recordings. Solid Rock Records had signed Mark Heard two years before the “Mother” company finally agreed to release his Solid Rock album, which was largely produced by himself. So from the first week Mark moved to Los Angeles and went into the Solid Rock Studios until he was able to make official recordings, he would often drop by SRS and record these beautiful renditions of songs he had written.
His skill as a guitarist and the subtlety of his chording is alarmingly clear. One only has to listen, in contrast, to the songs he later made official recordings of to see that any augmentation through arrangements detracted a great deal of the beauty of his natural instinct and disciplined gift.
Close your eyes. And welcome to Mark’s world.
(Master Recordings #1) [CD liner notes]
From the archives of the label run by Larry Norman‘s family comes a selection of demos recorded between 1975 and 1980 by the late and much lamented US Jesus music pioneer Mark Heard. Whilst the sound quality and delivery are understandably raw, Heard’s skill as a songwriter shines through and, coupled with his gentle vocal delivery, this is an endearing collection of songs that glorify the Saviour. With only his guitar for accompaniment, mostly finger picked and occasionally double tracked, songs such as «The Sheep Trust The Shepherd», «Jesus Is My Help Nowadays» and the supreme «Jesus Loves You Just Like You Are» are newfound classics and see Heard in his natural surroundings before he went on to bigger things. A sincere and thought provoking lyricist, Heard was also able to turn his hand to more light hearted numbers in «Missionary Pie» – a tongue-in-cheek song about the perils of overseas evangelism – and the Noah’s ark pastiche «Forty Day Cruise» which showcase the man’s versatility as a writer. The bonus of this fascinating collection is that the majority of its material has never featured in any form on any of Heard’s official albums, making this an even more remarkable release. [Lins Honeyman, Cross Rhythms, 2008]
CD tracklist:
01. The Sheep Trust The Shepherd
02. Jesus Loves You Just Like You Are
03. Jesus Is My Help Nowadays
04. Take Me Home
05. Call On His Holy Name
06. He Is God
07. Forty Day Cruise
08. Missionary Pie
09. Two Trusting Jesus
10. You Can’t Hide
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