Description
Get the Picture is the sophomore album by the American singer and songwriter David Edwards, released on Myrrh Records in 1983, a division of Word. The album was recorded and mixed by Britt Bacon at Skyline Recording in Topanga Park, California; with Barry Miller Kaye producing. All songs written by David Edwards.
David Edwards is backed by members of the Kid Brother – Barry Kaye on keyboards, Dan Jacob on guitars, John Trujillo on bass, and Rick Geragi on drums. Also featuring guest vocals by Randy Stonehill. (Barry Kaye would go on to produce two albums by Randy Stonehill in the mid-80s, Celebrate This Heartbeat and Love Beyond Reason, which also featured other Kid Brother members such as Dan Jacob and Rick Geragi.)
GET THE PICTURE – David Edwards – Myrrh/Word MSB-6718 – Producer: Barry M. Kaye – List: 6.98
A part of Word’s ongoing new artist midline series, Edwards’ debut proves itself as a strong portrait of pop ‘n’ roll, with infectious melodies and pounding keyboard textures, delivering tunes that deal primarily with rejection and the search for “love and acceptance.” Buoyed by his “Kid Brother” rhythm section, he brushes with reggae and new music while maintaining a commercial grip on the entire project. David Edwards is another example of the growing maturity alive within the gospel community today. [Cash Box Album Reviews / Gospel, CashBox, Vol. XLIV – No. 51 / May 21, 1983]
In ‘Get the Picture’ (Myrrh MSB-6718), David Edwards has combined the infectious power-pop of his self-titled 1981 debut with a more accessible, mainstream pop sound. The result, while less daring, is an intelligent, highly palatable sound that is sure to broaden Edwards’ audience. While the ‘David Edwards’ album fan may find this outing more subdued, there is a sense of life and relevance about his lyrics and his music that makes ‘Get the Picture’ a rare triumph.
The material draws on the reality of life’s pains and woes, using significant relationships as parallels for one’s ultimate relationship. Similar to the work of Cockburn, Burnett, and Heard, Edwards addresses the issues of love, seduction, commitment, and friendship from the perspective of one who has experienced Christ’s redeeming care.
«Anything But Love», «The Feeling Part», and «How Could You Throw It All Away?» are the clearest moves to pure pop, with a fine sax augmenting the hooky melodies. «Someone to Trust», probably the best ccm radio pick, and «Girls Like You» are ballads that provide a nice contrast to the rest of the album. «Watch Over Your Heart», «(I Love It When You) Put Me Down» and the rest of the second side’s creative power-pop bring the strength and energy of his previous album. The production is full and crisp, and the musicians give Edwards a tight, energetic support.
The ultimate satisfying things about ‘Get The Picture’ are the enlightening looks at real life and the accompanying quotes from authors like Shakespeare, Tolstoy, George MacDonald, and C.S. Lewis. David Edwards brings insight and intelligence to catchy pop with results that are really worth looking into. [Quincy Smith-Newcomb, CCM, February 1983]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Anything But Love” – 3:34
A2. “Someone To Trust” – 3:09
A3. “The Feeling Part” – 4:55
A4. “Watch Over Your Heart” – 3:19
A5. “How Could You Throw It All Away?” – 4:37
Side Two
B1. “Break The Big One (It’s OK)” – 3:38
B2. “(I Love It When You) Put Me Down” – 3:06
B3. “All I Want” – 3:10
B4. “True Confession” – 2:50
B5. “Girls Like You” – 2:18
B6. “A Fool’s Condition” – 5:17
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Myrrh Records. Later re-issued on CD by David Edwards, paired with his self-titled debut album and featuring bonus tracks.
New Music for New Hearts
by Bob Darden, CCM Magazine, August 1983At a time when some critics claim that contemporary Christian music has grown spoiled – too safe, predictable, palatable, big, acceptable – there are unknown musicians with small, cult-like followings, working diligently on the periphery of the mainstream. Their music sounds too angry, loud, different, and adventuresome for the now-established contemporary Christian music market. These underground groups are playing in the clubs and high school auditoriums, composing uncommercial, intensely personal music, writing lyrics that burn like battery acid.
Ray Ware heads up Street Level Artists, an idiosyncratic agency based in Los Angeles that features Daniel Amos, Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill, and Dave Edwards. Ware admits that his musicians aren’t necessarily aiming their messages at the established Christian record-buying public. They’re trying to speak to more than a subculture; they’re trying to reach an entire generation.
“I think most of these artists are interested in speaking to something and someone beyond the church’s doors, to the world as a whole,” Ware says. “Randy and Mark have turned their back on the easier route, on record companies that says, ‘If you’ll follow our formula with Christian record buyers, we’ll make you a star.’ They’ve resisted that for the chance to speak to the whole world.
“It’s good music that they’re making,” Ware continues, “not just music designed to manipulate someone’s feelings. There’s an exciting new revival sweeping the underground when bands like Undercover and the Altar Boys – garage bands, really – can truly releate to today’s young kids with their own music.”
…
And what do the artists themselves say about the whole thing? “I’ve been at this since 1971 and the [Christian music] industry has been going through changes all along,” David Edwards said. “Sometimes the record labels notice it, sometimes they don’t. This kind of music and approach has been ignored for most of that time.”
Edwards plays pop-tinged new wave, faste paced and uncompromising. His second Myrrh LP, ‘Get the Picture’, presents the message there, but it’s a thinking man’s approach.
“The difference has come in the last two years,” he said. “Two years agot the marketing people at Word got my first LP and said, “Hey! We weren’t expecting this. It’s a hot potato. How are we supposed to market it?” Today some of those same people are more radical than I am.
“A lot of people blame the record companies for not blazing trails and for being too conservative. But they’re really at the mercy of what the public will accept. I think they’d put out more uncompromising albums each year if the support was there. They’re at the mercy of the record buyers – and radio.”
Edwards said he’s striving for quality, pure and simple. His lyrics are filled with literary references and allusions, even to the point of quoting T.S. Eliot’s well-known admonishment about the caliber of religious verse. If there is an underground, Edwards says it’s partially a response to unconvincing, white-washed versifying.
“My disenchantment with most Christian lyrics stems from the fact that I don’t believe them. I generally don’t buy it. Man, give me the real goods. Say what you’re touched by – unedited, uncensored, like the Psalms or Job or Ecclesiastes – not what you’d like to be or what you think people want to hear.”
[ Excerpt from the article ‘New Music for New Hearts’ by Bob Darden, featured in the August 1983 issue of CCM Magazine ]
CREDITS. Produced by Barry M. Kaye. Recorded and Mixed by Britt Bacon at Skyline Recording, Topanga Park, CA. Arranging and Synthesizer Programming by Barry M. Kaye and David Edwards. Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M. All songs written by David Edwards. Photography by Bruce Neal. Art Direction by Barbara LeVan. Custom printing by Isgo Lepejian/Hand tinting by Design Oasis.
Musicians: The ‘Kid Brother’ Rhythm Section – Barry M. Kaye (Keyboards), Dan Jacob (Acoustic and Electric Guitars), John Trujillo (Bass), Rick Geragi (Drums, Percussion). Additional Musicians: Jay Leslie (Tenor, Baritone and Alto Sax) Irv Cox (Alto Sax on tracks A3 and A5), Guy Shiffman (Marimba), John Walz (Cello) Bruce Neal (Camera Clicks). David Edwards (Piano on A2 and B5, Acoustic Guitar – tracks: A4, B2, B4). Background vocals: David Edwards, Suzan Curly, John Trujillo, Randy Stonehill.
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