Description
Empty Handed is the gospel debut album by the British singer, songwriter, and producer John Pantry, released in 1978 on both Dove Records in the UK and Maranatha! Music in the US. The album was recorded by the British engineer Andy Kidd assisted by Dave Aston at ICC Studios in Eastbourne, England; with John Pantry producing. Mixed by the American engineer Jonathan David Brown, who at that time was working as the “in-house” producer and engineer for the American label Maranatha! Music located in Southern California. All songs written by John Pantry.
During the 1960s Pantry was a member of a local band called Sounds Around (later known as Peter & The Wolves) that opened for a lot of big bands of the day such as The Who and Eric Clapton’s Cream when their tours came to Essex. Later John Pantry developed his studio production skills in parallel with the music industry of the 60s, working with some of the big names of the era, most notably Kinks, Small Faces, Pentangle, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and the early (pre-disco) Bee Gees. John Pantry also did release quite a few mainstream pop singles himself in the late 1960s and early 70s (most of them are featured on the 2CD compilation The Upside Down World of John Pantry released on Wooden Hill in 2009).
In 1972 John Pantry was enlisted to produce the debut album by gospel folk group Parchment, which turned out to be the first of countless British Jesus music albums to be produced by Pantry. Through this work he encountered Christians and his childhood faith was renewed in the process: “After producing Parchment’s minor hit their record company introduced me to their other artists, including Adrian Snell, Dave Pope and Graham Kendrick. Working with these early Christian artists five days a week and producing their albums brought me back to Christ,” John Pantry told Cross Rhythms Magazine in an October 2000 interview.
Empty Handed was only recorded when a cash starved Pantry found that his visa to work with Maranatha! Music in California had been delayed and he desperately sought financial help from Kingsway Music. “They suggested that I should sign over some of my songs and record decent demos of them. When I eventually got to the States, I heard that Kingsway were going to release them on an album. I was pretty gobsmacked as that wasn’t the original intention at all. Working with Maranatha! in the States was a tremendous learning experience. I had been trained in London as a recording engineer, but the way that they did things in California was quite different. I was able to help them set up a new state-of-the-art studio and I produced various albums over a year – including Graham Kendrick’s Fighter. It was a fantastic lifestyle compared to what we were used to back home – a real gift of God.”
Keyboardist John Pantry has produced countless British Jesus music albums, so he certainly deserves to get his own chance in the spotlight. John’s mellow piano-based pop, rock and ballads style will likely find its audience among admirers of keyboard-pop artists like Elton John and Billy Joel. Several slow songs, including «Reigning In My Heart», «Slip Off Your Shoes», «Priceless» and the gospel-ish title track. «Behold I Stand At The Door And Knock» has a cheerful strolling blues-rock groove worthy of a Bryn Haworth album. «God Is Moving On» rocks fairly decently as well, while «He Will Take Great Care» and «Will I Ever Get Over This» take upbeat pop-rock directions. Participants include Mo Witham, Gwen Murray and Jonathan David Brown among others. Also released in the US on the Maranatha label (78-044). [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/empty-handed/1795949947)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Strong Love” – 3:31
A2. “Empty Handed” – 3:17
A3. “He Will Take Great Care” – 3:12
A4. “Will I Ever Get Over This” – 3:18
A5. “Reigning in My Heart” – 3:53
Side Two
B1. “Behold I Stand at the Door And Knock” – 2:35
B2. “Slip Off Your Shoes” – 3:22
B3. “God Is Moving On” – 3:25
B4. “Sweet Healer” – 3:57
B5. “Priceless” – 3:24
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape and 12-inch vinyl LP by Maranatha! Music. Remastered and re-issued on CD by Kingsway Music in 1989 as a part of the label’s Kingsway Classics Series.
CREDITS. Produced by John Pantry. Recorded at ICC Studios, Eastbourne, UK, by Andy Kidd, assisted by Dave Aston. Mixed by Jonathan David Brown. Art Direction and Sleeve Design by Chris Bourne. Front Cover Illustration by Patricia Dobson. All songs written by John Pantry.
Musicians: John Pantry (Vocals, Keyboards), Robert McKay (Saxophone, Flute), Mo Witham (Acoustic and Electric Guitar), Paul Cobbold (Bass), Mike Wade (Drums). Additional Backing Vocals: Elizabeth Kaufmann, Gwen Murray.
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