God is Good

Description

God is Good is the fifth album by the American vocal trio First Call (Melodie Tunney, Bonnie Keen, as well as Marty McCall of Fireworks fame), released on Myrrh Records in 1989, a division of Word. Also manufactured and distributed by A&M Records. The album was recorded by Bill Whittington at The Bennett House in Franklin and Gold Mine Studio in Nashville, Tennessee; and at GBT Studio in Hollywood, California; and was produced and arranged by Keith Thomas. Mixed by Bill Schnee at Bill Schnee Studios in North Hollywood, California. Features a cover of “Forgiven”, a song written by Bruce Hibbard and Hadley Hockensmith and originally recorded by Hibbard on his 1980-release Never Turnin’ Back

Something takes over when most of us hear the undivided sound of the First Call. The trio’s first two albums in the DaySpring label provided lovers of tight jazz vocals a Christian answer to mainstream stalwarts like Manhattan Transfer and Rare Silk. No group in Christian music had ever tackled traditional jazz singing – as opposed to the contemporary jazz/pop vocalizing of Take 6, for instance – and pulled it off, and the result was both unique and refreshing.

First Call’s third effort finds the group on pop/rock label Myrrh Records, under the influence of popmeister Keith Thomas. No wonder, then, that ‘God Is Good’ features first rate pop tunes with super slick production; Thomas, who has only improved throughout the ’80s and can hold his own with the best big-name producers in the Christian music marketplace, contributes keyboards and bass on most of the tracks, and Mark Douthit and the team of Mark Hammond and Steve Brewster add searing sax solos and tasty drum/percussion programming, respectively. Interesting tunes include a cover of Bruce Hibbard’s «Forgiven», done as a slow, Al Jarreau-type ballad; «Poverty», a musically funky look at life in Haiti somewhat similar in scope to last year’s «O Sifuni Mungu»; and «Parable of the River», Bonnie and Dan Keen’s tip of the hat to fellow Nashvillian Amy Grant’s «Lead Me On», the best song on the album. The other seven cuts can hold their own with any pop song around.

Pop’s gain is jazz’s loss, however. Gone are the hundred-word-a-minute lesssons in scat like «Somethin’ Takes Over» and the oh-so-smooth Transfer clones like «Billy On the Boulevard», in essence, the very styles that made First Call so unique among Christian artists.

And while the inherent odiousness of this move can be debated by those of us with a real affinity for jazz, the fact that Thomas’ particular strain of pop idiom does not best showcase Fist Call’s awesome vocal aptitude cannot. Bonnie, Marty, Melodie: Go back to the deep end where you can really move about uninhibited and do what y’all do better than anyone ever has. The shallow end’s crowded enough as it is. [Warren Anderson, CCM, October 1989]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/god-is-good/1507703924)

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Someday” – 4:20
A2. “Breaking Through” – 4:14
A3. “Forgiven” – 4:28
A4. “Sweet Love” – 4:14
A5. “Without You” – 4:35

Side Two
B1. “Poverty” – 4:58
B2. “True Love” – 4:24
B3. “Legacy” – 4:24
B4. “Parable Of The River” – 4:50

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Myrrh Records.

---