Description
No Turning Back is a live double album by the American rock combo DeGarmo & Key Band, released on Lamb & Lion Records in June 1982, distributed by The Benson Company. The album was recorded live on November 6 and 7, 1981, at the Mabee Center in Tulsa and Putnam City West Auditorium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mixed at Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee; with Ed DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Dan Brock producing for Mint Productions.
This is classic early DeGarmo & Key. Incredible live versions of selected songs from their first three studio albums, released on Lamb & Lion Records – This Time Thru (1978), Straight On (1979), and This Ain’t Hollywood (1980) – as well as four new songs not found anywhere else.
No Turning Back was included among the Best Albums of 1982 by CCM Magazine, on a list featuring thirteen albums.
No Turning Back, CD reissue, ForeFront/Star Song 1993
One of the inevitable flaws of rock criticism is that the critic is often reacting to “expectation.” He or she starts with what can be reasonably expected from a work of art, and the subjective opinion usually is based on whether the work is better or worse than expected. Take, for example DeGarmo & Key: While a younger, less experienced band could get away with some of the uneven work they’ve released in the last decade, the problem is we expect so much better from them.
If you want to know why we expect so much, look no further than the excellent concert record ‘No Turning Back’. Originally released in 1982 and recently reissued under the new ForeFront/Star Song arrangement, here’s a double-live album that is packed with tenderness and fury, reason and passion. It’s a testament to a rock band at its height, from a time when it was still rare to hear a faith statement packaged well enough to share with your friends. it came at a time when “Christian rock” usually still meant folk or metal, and there was a rather insurmountable gap between.
Featuring fresh and organic takes on tracks from their first three albums, ‘This Time Thru‘, ‘Straight On‘, and ‘This Ain’t Hollywood‘, ‘No Turning Back – Live’ was a clear example of solid Christian lyrics without resorting to bumperstickers, and solid, melodic album-oriented rock that was mesmerizing.
The music heroics balance evenly between keyboardist Eddie DeGarmo and guitarist/vocalist Dana Key, with very stronc support from guitarist Tony Pilcher and a solid foundation from bassist Tommy Cathey and drummer Greg Morrow. Nowhere is the fluidity of the band more obvious than in tracks like «Long Distance Runner» with its twin guitar attack (and led by both a bass and a keyboard solo) and the teasing instrumental break of «Let Him Help You Today».
Some tracks, like «Stella, This Ain’t Hollywood» find new life here, sounding much better live than in the studio. And, perhaps more importantly, while this is usually remembered for the blistering classic rock, the ballads are hypnotic and compelling as well, as with the how-could-you-make-this-any-clearer «Matter Of Time» and the very human and honest «Preacher (I’ll Need A Friend)».
Many times I’ve been told that the greatest live rock & roll album of all time was the Allman Brothers’ ‘Live at the Fillmore East’. Still, I can honestly say that if ‘No Turning Back’ isn’t the greatest classic rock live album ever, it certainly ranks as one of the finest. And, while DeGarmo & Key have given us only glimmers of this sort of magic since, in all fairness to them, I can’t think of many other bands that have been able to reach this level of excellence, either. Because, 11 years later, DeGarmo & Key’s ‘No Turning Back – Live’ is still one of the best rock records out today. [Chris Well, Syndicate Magazine, Vol. 8 – Issue 5, September/October 1993]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-turning-back/715561591)
2LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Light Of The World” – 3:58
A2. “Go Tell Them” – 3:52
A3. “Stella, This Ain’t Hollywood” – 3:21
A4. “When He Comes Back” – 3:01
A5. “Jericho” – 4:44
Side Two
B1. “Alleyways Of Strife” – 4:06
B2. “Mary” – 2:54
B3. “Wayfaring Stranger” – 3:40
B4. “Bass Solo” – 3:00
B5. “Enchiridion” – 1:50
B6. “Long Distance Runner” – 4:30
B7. “Matter Of Time” – 4:55
Side Three
C1. “Emmanuel” – 7:27
C2. “Oklahoma Blues” – 6:08
C3. “Preacher I’ll Need A Friend” – 5:56
Side Four
D1. “Over And Over” – 3:45
D2. “Let Him Help You Today” – 9:25
D3. “Love One Another” – 3:50
D4. “I Have Decided” – 3:20
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl double LP by Lamb & Lion Records. Re-issued on 2CD by ForeFront Records in 1989, distributed in the US by The Benson Company. Remastered and re-issued as a double CD by Girder Records in 2022 as a part of the label’s Legends of Rock Series (GR1131), under license from Capitol CMG (Capitol Christian Music Group).
Gatefold Cover Artwork
Gatefold Cover, Inside
Girder Music Promo, 2022
DeGarmo & Key Band were a tour de force, known primarily for their unique Southern-flavored rock in the early years. With two albums of excellent progressive/classic rock and an album of memorable jazz-styled mainstream rock under their belts, they decided to capture their live energy and release a double live album. No Turning Back is considered one of the best live albums in CCM.
Live albums in the 1980s had a tendency to sound overly polished. Shows were recorded and then overdubs would clean up any weaknesses to the point you did not know what was live and what was embellished in the studio. No Turning has the mark of authenticity written all over it.
Beginning with a couple stadium rockers «Light of the World» and «Go Tell Them», the band sound in their element. The Hammond organ and synthesizers are mixed so well with what is guitar-driven AOR. Bands such as Prodigal, Petra, and Servant also incorporated keys in their sound, but none packed the wallop in the Southern-fried rock tradition as effortlessly and competently as DeGarmo & Key did.
Taking it down to mid-tempo, «Stella, This Ain’t Hollywood» and «When He Comes Back» manifest a sophisticated Steely Dan/later Doobie Brothers-inspired sound their previous album was known for. These tracks are followed up with three older classics off their first couple albums. «Jericho» flaunts some tasty blues guitar ala early ZZ Top. On both «Alleyways of Strife» and «Mary», Dana Key trades his electric guitar for an acoustic for their more reflective material. Within the entire catalog of CCM, I dare you to find a more heart-felt and dynamic rock ballad than «Mary».
Moving along, the band pulls no stops and adds their own unique Southern blues spin to the traditional folk hymn, «Wayfaring Stranger». The improv interplay between Ed DeGarmo’s keyboard work and Dana Key’s electric blues soloing is the stuff that brings angels to weep. Utterly satisfying! Following that is a show-stopping bass solo which positions itself both complex and entertaining. Before the audience has a chance to catch their breath, DeGarmo throws down the keys on «Enchiridon», an instrumental piece that rivals in beauty anything Keith Emerson ever committed to tape. This flows into «Long Distance Runner», a rousing number guaranteed to get the limbs moving. Then, «Matter of Time», a new song that could have easily fit on This Ain’t Hollywood, relays the message…
“If you need a miracle, if you need a sign, Look and see how He’s
changed my life. I know someday you’ll change your mind. It’s a
matter of time.”Next up, «Emmanuel» is a progressive rocker from This Time Thru with over four minutes of extending jamming. One of the captivating highlights of a live album is the fun jam excursions that can bring new vitality to familiar songs. Another extended jam is found later in the set with «Let Him Help You Today», a four minute number on Straight On, which evolves into a nine minute jam.
The next two, «Oklahoma Blues» and «Preacher (I’ll Need A Friend)», are exclusive to this album. The former is a robust blues jam, appropriately titled since the album was recorded in two Oklahoma locations. «Preacher» rides out slow and heavy, waxing rhetorically from the perspective of one who feels helpless about the direction of their life. This is a vastly overlooked cut that deserves to be revisited.
After a few more upbeat numbers, Dana Key talks for close to four and a half minutes. Not every touring Christian band gave talks, and some bands could have benefitted from thinking more critically about their message content. DeGarmo & Key were known for their no-nonsense exhortations. The message contained on this album is exemplary of that. With an invitation to follow Jesus, the album closes in the traditional «I Have Decided», Dana Key singing and playing acoustic guitar and the other band members singing harmonies in the background. This is the perfect album closer.
It is hard to believe No Turning Back came out 40 years ago. It was a formative album of its time. Now it has been remastered for an even fuller sound by the seasoned Rob Cowell. With lyrics and extra photos in an expanded booklet, this is a stellar live album from beginning to end, and a highly unique one in its Memphis-styled blues-rock. [Doug Peterson, Down The Line zine]
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