Description
Until We Have Wings is an album by the American singer and songwriter Randy Stonehill, released on Myrrh Records in 1990, a division of Word. Features both studio recordings and live tracks, the latter recorded direct-to-digital during various concerts in Southern California during February and March, 1990. The album was produced by Mark Heard with Stonehill.
Ever since Randy Stonehill began singing songs, he has always drawn a crowd. In spite of releasing 11 albums, it has been Randy’s concerts everyone always talks about. So, for the 20th year of his career, the challenge was to create an album that brings the listener into the concert hall without sacrificing the quality of a studio recording. Under the able auspices of producer Mark Heard, direct-to-digital recordings of 7 Stonehill concerts were recorded in Southern California in February and March, 1990. Half of the songs on the cassette or compact disc you are holding are the result of these live tapings. The other half are songs recorded at Fingerprint Studios in Los Angeles. Until We Have Wings is neither a concert album nor a studio album, but something of both. We hope you hear, as many that have seen his concerts or listened to his records over the past 20 years will attest, Randy Stonehill is something special.
It’s been said that Randy Stonehill has done bigger and louder records than this one, but none that were better. I’d have to agree with that, since this flawlessly-executed effort captures his writing and performance skills at their peak. The first half consists of seven new studio recordings that mark a sort of halfway point between the acoustic solo work of ‘Return To Paradise‘ and the full band rock of ‘The Wild Frontier‘ and ‘Can’t Buy A Miracle‘.
In a childlike way, «Faithful» explores the wonder of faith. «Didn’t It Rain» has a bluesy, gospel feel. «The History in Your Eyes» is a sort of sad testament tempered and made authentic by twenty years of living: “We were young and the world seemed so bright… it’s so strange how those dreams wear thin.”
Corporation-sponsored misery in the Third Word gets a Cockburn-ish treatment in «Can Hell Burn Hot Enough», although Stonehill frames the problem in terms of human sinfulness instead of conveniently dumping it all at capitalism’s door.
The live concert portions, recorded direct-to-digital by Mark Heard at a series of concerts in Southern California during February and March, 1990, show off Stonehill’s mastery at solo performances, and his ability to shift from the sublime to just plain silly in the space of a song. He updates «Turning Thirty» with characteristic humor, noting, “I wrote this song eight years ago/ How times flies, and so do I,” making the refrain “I’ll treasure these years” achingly poignant. «Shut De Do» is either hilarious or unsettling, depending upon how much self-control one thinks Stonehill really possesses, and «Ramada Inn» uses the popular hotel chain as a metaphor for the mediocrity and emptiness of America at the close of the century.
All in all, ‘Until We Have Wings’ is a most fitting resume for a great artist as he passes the twenty-year milestone. Good job, Randy. Thanks for the laughs. But thanks, too, for the times you made us stop, listen, and think. May God grant you grace for the next twenty, may you find better hotel accomodations, and may your Frequent Flyer miles be continuously upgraded. [Mark Eischer, CCM, September 1990]
CD tracklist:
Studio Tracks:
01. Faithful – 3:24
02. Didn’t It Rain – 6:11
03. Born To Love – 4:27
04. Breath Of God – 2:59
05. The History In Your Eyes – 4:31
06. Can Hell Burn Hot Enough – 4:07
07. Old Clothes – 4:03
Live Tracks:
08. Keep Me Runnin’ – 5:49
09. Turning Thirty – 4:39
10. Ramada Inn – 4:00
11. Shut De Do – 11:35
12. Hymn – 4:33
13. Good News – 8:00
14. I’ll Remember You – 3:43
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Myrrh Records. Available at Bandcamp:
https://randystonehill.bandcamp.com/album/until-we-have-wings
https://randystonehill.bandcamp.com/album/20th-anniversary-radio-special-9-15-90
The August 1990 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on Randy Stonehill.
A full-page advertisement for Randy Stonehill’s Until We Have Wings was featured in the August 1990 issue of CCM Magazine.
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