Description
La Vie is the third album by the American singer and songwriter Billy Sprague, released on Reunion Records in 1988. The album was recorded by Doug Scarret with Michael Pool and was produced by Gary Chapman.
We have, indeed, entered the days of urban, street-tough cowboy music, and Billy Sprague follows the leads of John Cougar Mellencamp and, not surprisingly, producer Gary Chapman with ‘La Vie’. Gone is the power pop punch of 1986’s ‘Serious Fun‘. In its place is a pleasant mix of gritty, Mark Heard-like acoustic instrumentation, echoing back to those days – not so long ago – when Sprague was strumming background six-string for that Grant girl.
Credit Chapman with providing simple but tasteful production (although a little more of Phil Naish’s keyboards would have been nice) that maintains the theme throughout – even more pop-oriented offerings like «Someone Is There» and «Heart of the Infidel» feature such progressive country staples as simple chord structures and triadic vocal harmonies. The one exception is «You Can’t Walk the Wire», a nice, jazzy change of pace co-penned by bluesmaster Phil Madeira and Ashley Cleveland, complete with “greasy grand” piano courtesy of Shane Keister and some killer blues bgv’s a la First Call.
Sprague’s crisp, clear, and honest vocals do justice to his simple statements of hope, love, and the Christian life. The title cut sums up his message quite well: “O, la vie est dure (life is hard), that much is sure/ Mais Diew est bon si bon (But God is good)/ Through the fire and the rain I call Him by name/ And when the night is long I remember mais Dieu est bon.” Viva ‘La Vie’! [Warren Anderson, CCM, July 1988]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “I Gotta Hand It To You” – 4:28
A2. “What Goes Around Comes Around” – 4:35
A3. “La Vie” – 3:58
A4. “I Call It Love” – 3:55
A5. “Someone Is There” – 4:49
Side Two
B1. “Heart Of The Infidel” – 3:54
B2. “You Can’t Walk The Wire” – 5:13
B3. “The Ultimatum” – 4:20
B4. “If I Know Love” – 3:25
B5. “A Little Broken Bread” – 4:40
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Reunion Records.
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