Lift Me Up

Description

Lift Me Up is the sophomore album by the British singer and songwriter Dave Bilbrough, released on Kingsway Music in 1981. The album was recorded by Dave Aston at ICC Studios in Eastbourne, England; with John Menlove (tracks A2, A5, A6, B2, and B3) and Max Reinsch (tracks A1, A3, A4, B1, B4, B5, and B6) producing. All songs written or co-written by Dave Bilbrough.

Featuring Dave Bilbrough on lead vocals and acoustic guitar backed by Max Reinsch on acoustic guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, and Prophet 5 synthesizer; John Menlove on piano, keyboards, and Prophet 5 synthesizer; Rob McKay on saxophones and bass clarinet; Lars Berg on oboe; Nevil Kiddier on bass and mandolin; and Dave Engel on drums and percussion. Backing vocals provided by Jo Doré, Dave Bryant, Pat Bilbrough, Bernard Cope, and Max Reinsch.

Dave Bilbrough talks about his album Lift Me Up

I had been involved with a number of recording projects that took place out of our church base, the most significant one being the Bind Us Together tour which was a various artists album and major tour across Great Britain and Scandinavia, as well as the very popular Songs Of Fellowship series. ‘Lift Me Up’ was the solo expression of my songwriting profile. Recoded at ICC studios in Eastbourne many of the core band remained the same. John Menlove took on a significant role as co-producer and keyboard player alongside an amazing guitarist of German heritage called Max Reinsch. Dave Aston, the resident ICC engineer, was to prove his worth in gold as he tirelessly worked night after night without sleep to see this album recorded.

‘Lift Me Up’ had a slightly more commercial feel than the rootsy style of ‘Dave Bilbrough & Friends‘. One of the strongest songs, «The Lord Is Good» was a track near the end of the album that was hugely influenced by Jessy Dixon And The Dixon Singers – my first foray into gospel. At the time it was, perhaps, one of my most memorable catchy songs. I well remember being on the Kingsway stand at Spring Harvest where their sale strategy for the album consisted on playing that track again and again and somehow like bees to the honey pot, people would come from every corner, listen and buy, much to the delight of the sales team.

Track three, «Feast Your Eyes» was one that I was particularly fond of. I’ve always wanted to pursue a freer style where the words and the chords paint a picture outside of the conventional lines, and on this track it was my privilege to feature a good friend from Norway, Lars Berg, a skilled professional in the Norwegian Concert Orchestra and a good friend, who added so much on his oboe to the atmosphere of the song. The album built to a climax with a self-penned popular song of the time «Let There Be Love Shared Among Us» written originally for a local event in my own home town but adopted my many to use in their church worship. [Excerpt from the article “Dave Bilbrough: Artist Output – The worship leader talks about his releases so far” published in Cross Rhythms, April 2009]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Lift Me Up” – 4:12
A2. “I’ve Got This Feeling” – 2:55
A3. “Feast Your Eyes” – 3:24
A4. “There’s An Aching” – 3:48
A5. “What A Story” – 4:44
A6. “My Lord He Called Me” – 3:24

Side Two
B1. “Jesus Is Alive” – 2:40
B2. “Shelter” – 4:13
B3. “Love Has Come My Way” – 3:20
B4. “The Lord Is Good” – 4:00
B5. “Let There Be Love” – 2:50
B6. “I Wanna Thank You” – 0:40

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Kingsway Music.