Time to Run: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Description

Time to Run is an original motion picture soundtrack written and arranged by the Canadian composer Tedd Smith for a movie by the same name produced by Billy Graham’s World Wide Pictures Production. The album was released by World Wide Recordings in 1973, manufactured by Creative Sound. (Also released by Creative Sound featuring different cover artwork.) The album was recorded by Jerry Barnes with Anthony Harris producing. Orchestrations by Leonard Niehaus. The movie received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer.

Singer-songwriter Randy Stonehill provides lead vocals on three tracks, “Gone Away” (a song actually lifted from another World Wide Pictures Production, the movie Isn’t It Good to Know) as well as two versions of his own “I Love You” (orchestral and acoustic versions), a song originally featured on Stonehill’s 1971 debut album Born Twice. (“I Love You” is the only song on the soundtrack not written by Tedd Smith.) A snippet of “I Love You” was as well used for the motion picture radio commercial which was aired on mainstream stations across the US.

Time To Run would be a fairly run-of-the-mill film sound-track were it not for the presence of three otherwise unavailable performances by none other than Randy Stonehill. Not that his covers of his own «I Love You» (two versions, one with a band, the other done acoustically) and Tedd Smith’s «Gone Away» are anything to write home about, still the typical Stonehill collector ain’t gonna care. The remaining selections are all composed by Tedd Smith who also arranged and conducted the project. Not as intriguing as some of Tedd’s other albums like Smash And Grab World or New Vibrations mainly due to the shifting musical styles, but overall I’d say better than average as far as these let’s-reach-the-teens efforts go. The selections with lead vox by Jerry Whitman and Barbara Siegel stand up well, especially Barbara on the lovely acoustic number «Traveling Man». And the instrumental title track is a fun groovy ‘70s Shaft/Superﬂy-like piece of cheese suitable for space age bachelor pad relaxation. The remaining songs with ensemble vocals are of less interest. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th edition]

This movie was produced as a Billy Graham evangelistic tool, shown in theatres nationwide for free, followed by the typical altar calls and evangelistic follow-ups of Billy Graham’s organization. It was really well-made and featured a few decent actors and actresses. The plot wasn’t just “Get Saved or Go to Hell” – it deals with youth issues, nuclear pollution and environmental issues and political activism, the ego’s which some executives are prone toward and its effect on their often-neglected families, and young romance between two people of somewhat different backgrounds and views coming to terms with their well-enacted relationship. It’s a well-balanced movie, not just a stereotypical religious pitch so often associated with Billy Graham by the general public.

Also featured is music by Randy Stonehill, who later made a name for himself as a well-known Christian guitarist and musician and contemporary of Larry Norman, the originator of the “One Way” hand-sign which symbolized the early Jesus Movement. Good for the whole family, and especially youths dealing with their identities and quest for spiritual meaning. [I M Buggy, 2000]

Powerful and moving, Oscar winning cinematographer in top form: When I saw the credit for Charles Rosher as Director of Photography, I knew ‘Time to Run’ had been treated as a quality production. Many well-intentioned Christian-oriented productions suffer, quite frankly, from poor acting and a lack of quality in technical fields. But this film is different. It transcends the 70’s feel and speaks to any audience in any era and contains above-average performances by it’s three leads. And, Rosher of course was the multi-Academy Award winning cinematographer of such masterpieces as ‘Sunrise’ and ‘The Yearling.’ His use of light in ‘Time to Run’ is exceptional, but there is another “light” altogether that is the central focus of this powerful and moving film. [toddsolley63, 2006]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. Jerry Whitman – “Catch Me” – 3:11
A2. Randy Stonehill – “I Love You (Part I)” – 3:05
A3. Randy Stonehill – “I Love You (Part II)” – 3:00
A4. “Time To Run” – 2:35
A5. Barbara Sigel – “Traveling Man” – 2:15
A6. Randy Stonehill – “Gone Away” – 4:10 (From the World Wide Pictures Production Isn’t It Good to Know)

Side Two
B1. Jerry Whitman – “Because We Understand Each Other” – 2:42
B2. “Alleluia!” – 2:46
B3. Jerry Whitman – “Isn’t It Good To Know (Where You’re Going)” – 3:00
B4. “Meditation” – 1:42
B5. “What Shall I Give Unto The Lord” – 3:49

Note: The album was released twice in 1973, by both World Wide Recordings (WWR-1001) and Creative Sound (CSS-1575), featuring different cover artwork. (Later re-issued on DVD format.) World Wide Pictures also released a four-track 7-inch vinyl EP featuring “Catch Me”, “Because We Understand Each Other”, “Traveling Man”, and “I Love You”.