Description
Welcome to Paradise is the third studio album by the American singer and songwriter Randy Stonehill, released on Solid Rock Records i February 1976. The album was recorded by the British engineer Andy Johns (who earlier had worked on classic rock albums like Led Zeppelin’s IV and The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street) at Mama Jo’s Recording Studio and Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California; with Tom Trefethen and Larry Norman producing. (Pre-production done at Solid Rock Recording Studios in Hollywood).
The album was included among Harmony Magazine‘s Best Albums of 1976, a list of ten albums featured in issue No. 11. (“Harmony picks Jesus Music’s best of ’76” – “Regardless of music style, “the best” were picked on the basis of their ability to communicate beyond the four walls of the church.”)
The album includes a re-recording of “Puppet Strings” from Stonehill’s 1973-album Get Me Out of Hollywood. “I’ve Got News For You” was later covered by Cliff Richard on his 1978-album, Small Corners, “First Prayer” was covered by Erick Nelson and Michele Pillar on their album project The Misfit released on A&S Records in 1979, and “Christmas Song For All Year Round” was covered by Aaron Sprinkle on the multi-artist compilation Happy Christmas: Volume 3 released on BEC Records in 2001.
Although he’d already recorded two obscure LPs and had appearances on the Time To Run and Show Me productions, Welcome To Paradise is the album that introduced most audiences to Randy. His love for God, crazy humor, radical look and passionate presentation would make him one of the most respected of Christian music’s singer-songwriters. From delicate soft rock («King Of Hearts»), to orchestrated acoustic ballads («First Prayer», «Song For Sarah»), to the mid-rocking guitar-jamming «Keep Me Runnin», to the harder-edged «Lung Cancer» and «The Winner (High Card)», Welcome To Paradise will always be proudly numbered among Jesus Music classics. Recorded when the Norman-Stonehill chemistry was at its peak and released on the burgeoning Solid Rock label where luxuriant packaging was the rule. Randy’s multi-colored mega-patched jeans deserve a spot in the Smithsonian. [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
One of the most requested CD reissues in CCM history is now available. Indeed ‘Welcome To Paradise’ has been on sale in CD format for over six months now and has almost sold out. This album is usually listed as the best in Randy’s 30 years plus recording career and one of the most significant, groundbreaking Christian albums from the tail end of the pioneering Jesus Movement era. All 10 classic tracks from the original album recorded in 1975 are here and digitally remastered from the original multitrack tapes. Six bonus tracks from the pre-production demo sessions have been added. Thus we have Stonehill singing «Janet» and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar on the first bonus track before deciding to change the girl’s name and song title to Sarah on the album proper. The demos of the «The Winner» and «Keep Me Running» are a delight as they highlight Stonehill’s dexterity with the acoustic guitar. The CD booklet also deserves praise, with producer’s notes from Larry, the song lyrics and Randy’s memories of the sessions and song by song explanations all nicely presented and accompanied with previously unpublished black and white photographs from the sessions. In summary, here we have some of Stonehill’s most enduring and instantly appealing songs, produced by Larry Norman and engineered by Andy Johns (of Rolling Stones and Led Zep fame) meticulously remastered and nicely packaged. Get the picture? [Dougie Adam, Cross Rhythms, July 2003]
> Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/album/3cOpPxIyxYDQhIzM6QYXNS)
LP tracklist:
Side One – Lost in Paradise sorrow and sadness…
A1. “King Of Hearts” – 4:53
A2. “Keep Me Runnin'” – 5:57
A3. “The Winner (High Card)” – 3:43
A4. “Lung Cancer” – 3:31
A5. “Puppet Strings” – 4:25
Side Two – Paradise Regained …turn into gladness
B1. “First Prayer” – 3:08
B2. “I’ve Got News For You” – 3:49
B3. “Song For Sarah” – 3:28
B4. “Christmas Song For All Year ‘Round” – 3:56
B5. “Good News” – 3:18
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape, cassette, and 12-inch vinyl LP by Solid Rock Records. Re-issued on CD by Solid Rock Records in 2002, featuring six bonus tracks; “Janet” (3:09), “The Winner” (3:24), “I’ve Got News For You” (2:56), “Keep Me Running” (3:23), “Let Me Do It” (0:47), and Randy and Larry writing Heart Lock (2:54). Later re-issued again, this time featuring only two of the six bonus tracks; “I’ve Got News For You” and Randy and Larry writing Heart Lock. Available at Bandcamp: https://randystonehill.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-to-paradise-deluxe
Gatefold Cover Artwork
Gatefold Cover, Inside
Though by the time Randy Stonehill’s “major-label” debut Welcome To Paradise was released in 1976 there was a burgeoning Christian music industry, their idea of “contemporary” was already sounding dated. Praise music and inspirational ballads dominated the genre, and real Rock & Roll was hard to find. Leave it to the iconoclastic Larry Norman to shake the rafters even more than he already had. Norman introduced the world to another skinny kid with a warbley voice, a scalding wit, and a love of stripped down R&R.
Norman launched Solid Rock Records via a partnership with Word, then the largest gospel record company in the world. His vision for the company was to cultivate truly cutting-edge artists for launch into the mainstream rock world, not too unlike Squint Entertainment more recently. Though that launch never really happened, Solid Rock became a haven of fringe artists, like Daniel Amos, Pantano-Salsbury, Tom Howard, Mark Heard, Steve Scott, and Norman’s long-time friend, Randy Stonehill.
Stonehill released an underground low-fi record in 1971 called Born Twice on Norman’s One Way label (the only other release on that “label” was Norman’s Bootleg). He also took a shot at the majors with 1973’s Get Me Out Of Hollywood on the mainstream Phonogram label in England. Hollywood was never really released, and Stonehill eventually made it back to Los Angeles, got his proverbial house in order, and hooked back up with Norman’s new band of Jesus Rock renegades. By the time it was released in 1976, his real debut, Welcome To Paradise, was like a breath of fresh air in an all too stagnant room.
Though Norman’s production help was right in step with the California sounds of Jackson Browne and early Fleetwood Mac, it was Stonehill’s amazing songwriting talent that sent listeners a flutter. The album was lyrically broken into themes dubbed “Side One: Lost In Paradise (sorrow and sadness.,.)” and “Side Two: Paradise Regained (…turned into gladness).” The first set, comprised of «King of Hearts», (an epic pop masterpiece from the crystalline guitar intro to the permanently memorable chorus,) «Keep Me Runnin’» (an acoustic rock classic to this day, featuring a glimpse at the artist’s future acoustic guitar prowess), «The Winner (High Card)» (big-league 70s rock a la Mac, Wings, or The Eagles), the hysterical and still painfully relevant «Lung Cancer», and the haunting «Puppet Strings», a reprise from the unreleased Hollywood record all painted vivid character sketches of souls “lost out in the ocean.” With the strings and the falsetto vocals of «Puppet Strings» still hanging in the air, the listener was forced to turn over the record. Side Two was a whole new experience.
The set begins intimately, the singer’s voice accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. «First Prayer» tells of the beginning of a new life in Christ, devoid of religious pretense or false bravado, the singer promises, “I will follow if You lead me, help me make a stand.” The plea is followed by the deceptively quiet acoustic strains of «News For You», a song that quickly opens into a mid-tempo pop gem; more great lyrics and more irresistible melodies. «Sarah» plaintively expresses love for a lost girl. Again, as with every song on the album, Stonehill nails the lyric, the perfect melody, and the performance that sends chills down any Beatles or Elton John fan’s spine. «Christmas Song For All Year ‘Round» picks up the pace slightly, eventually building into a solid pop number, and serving as a portend of Stonehill’s emergence a few years later as a mainstay in MOR Christian radio
The closer, «Good News» opens with some off-mic banter, giving the song a live-in-the-studio feel, and tears off into a full-on Rock & Roll party. The electric guitar licks and leads (courtesy of Norman’s amazing axe-man Jon Linn) give it a Stonesy honky-tonk vibe, and the dual falsettos of Norman and Stonehill in the chorus add enough humor to the mix to keep the song well planted in Stonehill’s garden. The message was simple: “Good news, Christ is returning!” The album, a sometimes-grim look at the reality of broken lives, empty success, self-destruction, and self-inflicted pain, as closed with the promise of hope in the return of Jesus. Unlike so many other Rock & Roll journeys, this one was complete.
By today’s standards, Welcome To Paradise hardly sounds like a hard rock record, but in the world it was born into it was way out on the edge. From The Grateful Dead, to The Stones, to Lennon and The Who, the 70s were about musical diversity. Artists explored the wide pallet that Rock & Roll could draw from. The Stones experimented with Country (as did just about everyone else) and Disco, while The Who and Zeppelin dabbled in orchestration. In Christian music, however, the songs were mostly acoustic guitar over a bed of strings with warm, up-front vocals singing lyrics of praise or testimony. Stonehill’s record was way ahead of its time, out there riding the same wave as Norman’s 1972 opus Only Visiting This Planet. It had all the feel of a complete album – the songs flowed into each other, and the lyrics were poetic, yet easy to grasp. The guitars, acoustic and electric layered thick with prominent bass lines had plenty of rock flourish, and were placed high in the mix, often at the same level as the vocal track. Stonehill mined the outer reaches of his vocal range (sometimes falling over those edges) and his guitar skill. The result was a magical batch of songs that is every bit as vibrant today as it was twenty-six years ago.
[John J. Thompson, HM Magazine, Sep/Oct 2002]
CREDITS. Produced and arranged by Larry Norman. A Solid Rock Studios production. Charts and baton by Anthony Harris. Engineered by Andy Johns. Co-engineered by Tom Trefethen. Pre-Production recording at Solid Rock Recording Studios, 16trk/24trk at Mama Jo’s and Sunset Sound. Mastered at Artisan. Photography and Album Design by Larry Norman. Lettering by Joe Taylor. All songs written by Randy Stonehill.
Musicians: Randy Stonehill (Vocals, Acoustic Guitars), Larry Norman (Electric Guitars, Piano, Harmonies), Jon “Wonderfingers” Linn (Lead Guitar), The Mighty T-Bone (Bass), Mark Walker (Drums).
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