Description
The Prize is the sole album by the British pop/rock combo The Alwyn Wall Band fronted by Alwyn Wall of Malcolm & Alwyn fame, released on Myrrh Records in November 1977, a division of Word. (It was released in both the UK and the US, featuring slightly different cover artwork.) The album was recorded June 1977 by Rodger Wake at Redan Recorders in London, England (“Recorded fifteen feet below Queensway at Redan Recorders, London, during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee“); with Jon Miller, Rod Edwards and Roger Hand producing (a team known as Triumvirate Production, which also did the production for Malcolm & Alwyn’s two studio albums). String arrangements and vocal/percussion bits & places by Rod Edwards and Roger Hand. All songs by Alwyn Wall, arranged by the band. The Prize was voted Album of the Year by Buzz, the leading British gospel magazine back in the day.
The band, fronted by Alwyn Wall on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, also featured guitarist Norman Barratt (of Gravy Train and the Mighty Flyers fame), keyboardist Phil Holmes, and a rhythm section consisting of bassist Tony Hudson and drummer Nick Brotherwood (both formerly of the Mighty Flyers). Following the release of their album the band embarked on a European and Scandinavian tour with Larry Norman. Thereafter the band moved to the US and after a year living and touring out of Nashville, Tennessee; the band broke up early on in 1979. (According to a note in the March 18, 1978 issue of Record World, “Myrrh Records and Dharma Artist Agency have entered into a three year agreement to book some of England’s leading Christian pop and rock groups in the United States and Canada. The Alwyn Wall Band (formerly Malcom & Alwyn) will arrive in the U.S. March 15 for one year.”)
The Alwyn half of Malcolm & Alwyn showed us here that there is indeed life after Malcolm. And when you get right down to it, it doesn’t really sound all that different from life with Malcolm. The Prize is mostly good-natured British rock and pop with a lot of the feel of the early Norman and Stonehill Solid Rock catalog. Select guitar work from seasoned Gravy Train graduate Norman Barratt. Other members of the new band include Phil Holmes on keyboards, Tony Hudson on bass and Nick Brotherwood on drums. Alwyn plays acoustic guitar. I especially liked the closing track «All Because Of You» which begins on a soft acoustic note, adds symphonic strings, then builds to a heavy climax. Released on Myrrh both in the UK and US. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]
Nice slice of 1977. This album helped pave the way for the Alwyn Wall Band to tour the UK and the US; produced by the talented Triumvirate team who weaved colour and texture into the songs. This project was the second step in Alwyn’s musical journey, the crowd-pulling duo Malcolm & Alwyn came first, Malcolm left to pastor a church in Florida, where he is today, but Alwyn formed his band. The first thing that hits me on listening to these songs again is the high quality of songwriting. Alwyn is a writer who conveys important themes while being well-able to keep the tune and arrangement aesthetically satisfying. A British writer drawing on the rich seams of Lennon and McCartney and other sixties writers who have always held a fascination with American audiences. «Fly Me» is a classic song, well crafted both lyrically and melodically, Norman Barratt‘s excellent major scale guitar phrases add the icing, which is the second thing I noticed about listening to this album again: Norman is such a fine player, the undisputed UK champion of guitar licks of Christian music albums in the 70’s & 80’s. The Prize is not only an excellent reminder of his formative years but stands up today as good music from a band who played their instruments, before the 80’s when all things electronic started to affect music with sequenced drum and keyboard parts. Most people acknowledge the 70’s was an important time for music, it was also a special time for music written by Christians, God was saying something to the popular culture of the day, this re-mastered CD is part of that message. [Paul Poulton, Cross Rhythms, July 2006]
Alwyn Wall, late of Malcolm & Alwyn, has formed a new band and cut a new record – and a lot more. Outside of a couple of cuts like «Fly Me» and «All That Matters», this album has very little to do with the Malcolm & Alwyn sound of the past. Instead, Wall & Co. have brought us ‘The Prize’ – a real rock & roll record for the seventies. What we have here is dynamic words and music; powerful instrumentation from the band with a strong sense of melody and intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics.
It would seem that a lot of thought (and probably prayer) went into the making of this album. With secular groups such as Boston and Foreigner doing this type of music, it’s great to see a bold step well taken by our brothers from England.
‘The Prize’ was produced by Jon Miller, Rod Edwards, and Roger Hand for Triumverate Productions, who produced both Malcolm & Alwyn albums as well as ‘Only Visiting this Planet‘ by Larry Norman. All songs were penned by Alwyn, and range from the hard-edged sounds of «That’s Life» to the reggae style of «I Don’t Care».
The Alwyn Wall Band sounds good to us, and we’ll be looking forward to seeing them on their current tour of the states. [T.G., Contemporary Christian Acts magazine, July 1978 – Vol 2, No 1]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Fly Me” – 3:10
A2. “Dreams On Sand” – 5:28
A3. “South California” – 3:42
A4. “Music Maker” – 4:36
A5. “Musical Thing” – 4:42
Side Two
B1. “That’s Life” – 4:07
B2. “Hall Of Mirrors” – 5:08
B3. “All That Really Matters” – 3:34
B4. “I Don’t Care” – 3:03
B5. “All Because Of You” – 4:38
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape, cassette, and 12-inch vinyl LP by Myrrh Records. The album tracks “Music Maker” and “All Because Of You” (b/w) were released as a 45 RPM 7-inch vinyl promotional single by Myrrh Records in 1977. The album was digitally remastered by Norman Barratt at DML Studios and re-issued on CD by Fool’s Wisdom Music in 2003. As well, a live recording entitled Live in the USA was later released on CD by Norman Barratt’s independent label Daval Music. (“One night in Costa Mesa, California, The Alwyn Wall band perform a superb live set. Also contains live versions of yet-to-be-recorded tracks from Alwyn’s next studio album” Tracklist: T’s A Reason / Think For Yourself / I Give Thanks / Morning Star / Everlasting Arms / Perfect Love / Jesus Said / Alwyn’s Message / Let The Rain Fall Down / Guilty Man.)
The Alwyn Wall Band, Live in the USA, June 1978. Featuring Alwyn Wall (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Phil Holmes (Keyboards), Norman Barratt (Electric Guitar), Larry Tomaso (Bass), Keith Shealey (Drums).
It’s just my opinion, but the AWB was about the closest Christian group back then that could be called world class. They could have played on any stage and been equal to just about anyone. I say that from experiencing them live. In fact, I promoted a concert of theirs and they had no sound guy and since that’s what I did, I got drafted. We had put them in a beautiful old classic theater next to a local university and the free concert was packed to standing room only. The first half of the concert was done like the MTV Unplugged show, just using vocal mics and mics on acoustic guitars. After a break, they cranked…and it was awesome…also very loud in the theater. So loud so that a man from the theater came up to me and asked me to turn it down. I told him I had only vocals in the mains and the volume was from the stage. He shook his head and said the sound was causing some of the classic acoustic tiles to fall off the ceiling…LOL. I used my talkback mic to ask the guys to turn it down from 11 and they did. But the quality of this band was about the best in “Christian Music” at that time! The next morning, we ate in the hotel restaurant and afterward I did an interview for my radio show in their room. All of the guys were so nice and expressed with a hint of sadness that, even though they loved playing for “the choir”, they couldn’t believe that they couldn’t get gigs in the bars and clubs in this vast country of ours. What a witness they could have been. [Rob Whitehurst, 2021]
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