Description
Body & Soul is the fourth album by the American R&B/soul singer and songwriter Jon Gibson, released on Frontline Records in 1989, distributed by The Benson Company. Also released in the UK, distributed by Word UK. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Bill Wolfer with Gibson co-producing. Recorded (with Eric Kibbe as assistant engineer) at The Mixing Lab B in Huntington Beach and mixed (with Jon Gibson as assistant engineer) at 7th Street Sound in Los Angeles, California. All songs written by Jon Gibson except track B4 co-written with Cubby Ingram and track B2; the Stevie Wonder classic “Have A Talk With God”. It was the first of Jon Gibson’s albums to be simultaneously released on 12-inch vinyl LP and CD.
Stevie Wonder is featured on harmonica on Jon Gibson’s cover of Wonder’s “Have A Talk With God”, and Cubby Ingram is featured on lead vocals on “Us Now”.
Having beheld the spectacle of white male Republicans duck-walking across the Potomac, claiming soul music for their own, we now present a happier report, a ‘kinder, gentler’ review of Jon Gibson, whose new album is the sincere work of one who’s immersed himself body and soul in the river of this genre and come up with music worthy of R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Continuing in the direction of last year’s ‘Change of Heart‘, ‘Body and Soul’ is an engaging, revealing record, well-crafted and slightly eccentric. Long-time partner Bill Wolfer handles keyboards and production while the Friendship Baptist Choir crowds into the studio to add stong background vocals.
«Heart of Gold» opens the album with Sgt. Pepper-like charm, as Gibson encourages a young believer whose rigid faith has been shaken by “a crazy world” not to lose heart.
«In The Name of The Lord» proves again that The Bruce Hornsby Sound is now the second-most recognizable franchise in gospel music today (after Chick-fil-A, of course). Gibson gets two demerits and a tongue-clucking for shamelessly wallowing in B. H. cliches, but more than makes up for it with the boldness and beauty of his lyrics, as he questions those who put their trust in a false god: “Do you know him?/ Do you know you god?/ Can you see him doing things in your life?/ Well if you don’t you’ve got the wrong one then…” The soaring chorus proclaims Jesus, “The Name of the Lord” to call on.
«God Will Find Ya», a prayer for a teenager runaway, is Jon’s best song here. Gibson’s delicate vocal performance is vulnerable and flawless. The quietly insistent chorus works perfectly, and the entire song is a jewel of simplicity and understatement.
Other good tracks include «Everyone Needs The Lord», «Merry-Go-Round», and Stevie Wonder’s «Have A Talk With God». [Mark Eischer, CCM, May 1989]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/body-soul/387067886)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Heart Of Gold” – 3:02
A2. “In The Name Of The Lord” – 4:38
A3. “Merry-Go-Round” – 4:46
A4. “God Will Find Ya” – 4:36
Side Two
B1. “Father, Father” – 3:52
B2. “Have A Talk With God” – 3:28
B3. “Long Ago” – 4:32
B4. “Us Now” – 3:07
B5. “Everyone Needs The Lord” – 3:56
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Frontline Records.
CREDITS. Produced by Bill Wolfer. Co-produced by Jon Gibson. Recorded at The Mixing Lab B in Huntington Beach, CA. Mixed at 7th Street Sound in Los Angeles, CA. Recorded and mixed by Bill Wolfer with Eric Kibbe as Assistant Recording Engineer and Jon Gibson as Assistant Mixing Engineer. Photography by Ken Kloster. Art Direction by Ed McTaggart. Executive Producer: Brian K. Tong.
Musicians: Jon Gibson (Lead and Background Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar), Bill Wolfer (Keyboards, Bass Synth, Drum and Mac Programming), Kit Charlton (Guitar), Paul Gottschalk (M-1 Korg and Roland R-8 programming), Vinx (African Drums, Cuica, Djembe), Stevie Wonder (Harmonica). Backing Vocals: Belinda Stewart, Beverly Williams, Crystal Blake, Francine Williams, Lisa Russo Judd, The Friendship Baptist Choir.
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