Description
A True Story is the third album by the American singer, songwriter, and producer Tim Miner, released on Frontline Records in 1990, distributed by The Benson Company. The album was recorded at Knightlight Studios in Dallas, Texas; with Tim Miner producing (except tracks 1 and 6 produced by Tommy Sims and track 5 produced by David Ebensberger).
Before Christian music fans thought rap was cool, around the time when the “urban sound” was being introduced to an unenthusiastic crowd, an ambitious sound was laid down by a white boy from Oklahoma City. The year 1988. The record was ‘I Know You Think You Know‘, from a man with a mission, Tim Miner. Three years and one record label later, miner returns with ‘A True Story’; an auto-biographical account of his music and life. Less issue-driven, Miner digs deeper with this fun, intimate album.
Funk, urban contemporary, rock, hip-hop, R&B; Christian music has had a hard time defining Miner’s unique soul-ridden sound. He always knew what he wanted out of a groove though. In many ways, Miner is peerless with his brand of socially-driven, aggressive music.
Comparisons to secular artists are easy, since no one has been able to effectively re-create this street sound for Christian consumption. However ‘A True Story’ is no clone, but rather an exceptional evangelical tool created for the masses instead of a sub-culture.
«Walked Across My Heart» with rapper D-Boy, is a prime example of this ambitious project. Skillfully mixing R&B, rap, and even a little California sound, Miner’s genius is evident. Having been a producer for quite a stable of artists, Miner exhibits precision in his mixes.
His talent as an arranger, writer, and producer aside, Miner also has quite a set of vocal chords as heard in the sweet ballads «Yesterday» a touching song to his Mom, or the intimate song of praise, «Forgive Me». Miner, both individually, and with wife Cindy Cruse, has crafted some fine tunes whether he’s rockin’ or worshiping.
Take for example, the humorous look at Miner’s earlier days with «White Boy», where Miner and cohort Keith Jackson exchange memories as he sings: “Don’t know what I’d done if Aretha hadn’t come along in my life when she did/ I would have been so broken hearted/ Where would I have started if Stevie Wonder never lived…”
‘A True Story’ is an album of hip sounds and important messages that will gently expand the current boundaries of Christian music. More importantly Miner’s music will do more to evangelize on the street level, by providing a strong, contemporary package. Proving that it’s the message, not the music that is inherently good, or for that matter bad. Tim Miner mixes elements from the past and present/secular and Christian, that when combined make a joyful noise. [Kathleen A. Ervin, CCM, November 1990]
Sometimes, good music pops up where you least expect it. Case in point: Tim Miner. In his first album in ’84 and his second in ’88, he was just another white soulster-wanna-be. But Miner was hatching major plans plans, involving a recording studio that would serve as a spiritual centre for the development of Dallas-area Christian artists, and to spread the gospel. Two years later, there’s a tidal wave of artists coming out of this Dallas scene, including Angie Alan, Cindy Cruse, Margaret Bell, ‘Bubbles’ Bruce, Bernard Wright, the Winans Sisters ‘triangle’, and the Street Church Academy folks like MC R.G., Ge-Gee, and the late Danny ‘D-Boy‘ Rodriguez.
And now a more mature 26-year-old Tim Miner has learned how to move his voice in a manner not unlike Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder, or, most precisely, fellow Frontline soulster Jon Gibson. He evokes feelings and exposes his soul…matching vocal movements and tones to the needs of the lyric and the tune where Gibson tends to slip off into vocal gymnastics.
Miner succeeds on many of his new songs, especially on «Walked Across My Heart» (a wonderful upbeat song of confidence, with a D-Boy rap) and «Yesterday» (a mellow song he wrote for his mother, sung a la Michael McDonald). Then, there is «Don’t Let It Slide», which calls on an unidentified Christian artist to listen to God and not the people around him. Or, «I Can’t Take It», wherein the Miner of ten years ago finds out he can no longer escape God nor God’s call. On «Tell Me» Miner falls back on the overused theme of telling Satan off, and further misses by electronically distorting an otherwise good vocal. In «Supercal», Mark Stitts lays some real hot rock guitar licks into the mix of a good soul song. With this album, Tim Miner serves notice that he is not going to relax from making true popular pop/dance music for Christ. He, like Peacock and the Winans, are now ready with a full-blooded popular urban sound that can stand up to the rigors of radio overexposure without yielding to triteness – great news, if you like that sound as much as I do. [Bob Longman, Cross Rhythms, April 1991]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-true-story/389048297)
CD tracklist:
01. Tell Me – 4:24
02. Walked Across My Heart – 3:30
03. Walked Across My Heart – Reprise – 2:06
04. Yesterday – 4:04
05. Love Me Still – 5:09
06. White Boy – 4:27
07. I Can’t Take It – 3:14
08. Supercal – 4:03
09. Don’t Let It Slide – 2:59
10. Forgive Me – 4:43
11. Vocal Interlude – 0:15
12. Don’t Look Back – 2:58
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Frontline Records.
A full-page advertisement for Tim Miner’s A True Story was featured in the October 1990 issue of CCM Magazine.
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