Description
Nobody Knows is an album by the American singer and songwriter Brian Steele, independently released in 1979. The album was recorded August-October 1979 by Paul Martinson at Sound 80 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; with Steve Gamble of The Gamble Folk fame producing for Edify Productions. Mixed by Martinson and Brian Steele. Strings arranged by Scott Malchow.
Featuring Brian Steele on vocals and acoustic guitar backed by a session band consisting of Scott Malchow on electric guitar and piano, Jimmy “Flim” Johnson on bass, Bill Berg on drums and percussion (the latter two known as the rhythm section of both the Wayne Johnson Trio and their own contemporary jazz group Flim and The BB’s), and Dave Karr on recorder, with Dan Hansen and Steve Polston providing 2nd acoustic guitars.
The phrase “Jesus music” tends to describe an era (from 1965 to 1980) rather than a particular style of music and indicates how the church gradually emerged from its self-imposed cultural cocoon to embrace more and more of the styles of pop and rock that were prevalent in those years. Jesus music takes in everything including country rock, jazz funk, pop balladry, beat groups, heavy metal and much more. But by far the greatest number of albums listed in Ken Scott’s definitive tome on the subject, Archivist, are acoustic singer/songwriters inspired by the folk revival of the ’60s. Brian Steele was one of the hundreds of American Christian songsmiths who took the courageous step of recording an independent album of his, and others, songs and decades on has made this 1979 album available as a CD. If you’re a fan of Noel Paul Stookey or even early Michael Card you’ll find much on ‘Nobody Knows’ which will please your musical palate. In fact there’s even a cover of Stookey’s «Hymn» which I would suggest is as good as the original while Steele’s own compositions «Love’s Road», «Thank You» and the quite beautiful ballad «Wedding Gift» all work well for the smooth-voiced singer/guitarist. Maybe the piano-led closer, a gentle rendition of the ancient spiritual «Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen» is a little underwhelming, but give Brian a good song like the minor key country rocker «I’ve Got The Joy You’re Looking For» or his rendition of the hymnal favourite «There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood» with an early American melody and the effect is warmly engaging. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, September 1979]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Hymn” – 2:58
A2. “Love’s Road” – 3:33
A3. “Thank You” – 3:14
A4. “Wedding Gift” – 2:57
A5. “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood” – 4:17
Side Two
B1. “I’ve Got The Joy You’re Lookin’ For” – 2:33
B2. “I Was In His Mind” – 2:32
B3. “My Song” – 2:11
B4. “More Love To Thee, O Christ” – 2:58
B5. “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen” – 3:29
[youtube_sc url=”-a__u6Vv5CU” title=”Brian Steele – I’ve Got The Joy You’re Lookin’ For” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]
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