David Meece - NEW ALBUM - October 2nd
Matt
who many consider to be one of the many fathers of CCM, right in there
alongside Norman, Green (Keith, not Steve!) and Stonehill.
In case you haven't heard, David has signed a brand new recording
contract with Aluminum Records and will be releasing "There I Go
Again", his first album of new material in over 7 years, on October
2nd.
Just wondering if any others out there are big David Meece fans and
have been waiting in EAGER anticipation like myself for this album to
be released? Every time my wife and I see him in concert, his music
and his ministry touch our hearts and lift our spirits.
For you "young'uns", here's what David has done in the past:
1976 David
1977 I Just Call On You
1978 Everybody Needs A Little Help
1980 Are You Ready
1982 Front Row
1983 Count the Cost
1985 "7"
1986 Chronology
1987 Candle in the Rain
1990 Learning to Trust
1993 Once in a Lifetime
1995 Odyssey (GREATEST HITS)
David Bruce Murray
"Matt" <mattan...@juno.com> wrote in message
news:3d66bfb4.01082...@posting.google.com...
> I haven't see a whole lot posted in this group on David Meece, a man
> who many consider to be one of the many fathers of CCM, right in there
> alongside Norman, Green (Keith, not Steve!) and Stonehill.
>
> In case you haven't heard, David has signed a brand new recording
> contract with Aluminum Records and will be releasing "There I Go
> Again", his first album of new material in over 7 years, on October
> 2nd.
>
> Just wondering if any others out there are big David Meece fans and
> have been waiting in EAGER anticipation like myself for this album to
> be released? Every time my wife and I see him in concert, his music
> and his ministry touch our hearts and lift our spirits.
Is it in the can? Otherwise, I'll be very surprised to see it by the
published date.
I eagerly awaited his follow up to _Once In A Lifetime_ there for a couple
of years (published to originally release on Dec. 26, 1994, IIRC). I was
somewhat interested when I heard he'd signed a contract with Discovery House
a couple years ago. Now, I don't really care much one way or the other. I'm
sure I'll probably enjoy it if it ever actually shows up.
--
David Bruce Murray / dbmu...@rfci.net
Articles: www.rfci.net/dbmurray and www.musicforce.com
Transcriptions: www.musicscribe.com
Classical Piano: www.mp3.com/virtualvirtuoso
Southern Sounds Quartet: www.mp3.com/ssq
---Making Hay While The Sun Shines---
Bob Weigel
Matt <mattan...@juno.com> wrote:
>I haven't see a whole lot posted in this group on David Meece, a man
>who many consider to be one of the many fathers of CCM, right in there
>alongside Norman, Green (Keith, not Steve!) and Stonehill.
>
one ya know. :-)
>In case you haven't heard, David has signed a brand new recording
>contract with Aluminum Records and will be releasing "There I Go
>Again", his first album of new material in over 7 years, on October
>2nd.
Cool. I wonder how it will sound on Aluminum? I mean it's sure
a step up from the plastic stuff. Not Titanium by any means but
then I dont' want to pay $89 for a record, do you?? :-) Anyway,
I look forward to it. David's always been on of my favorite
artists, and I'm interested to hear what he's doing now. He's
always been a guy who kind of compliments the latests trends
instead of trying to mimick them I guess I'd say. And a fun
guy to see live of course.
Of those listed in the discography below, I consider "Are you ready",
"Count the Cost" "7" (classic piece) and "Learning to trust" (Near
classic piece in many ways) to be the best representation. -bob
Bruce A. Brown
mattan...@juno.com wrote on 8/20/01 8:06 PM:
> I haven't see a whole lot posted in this group on David Meece, a man
> who many consider to be one of the many fathers of CCM, right in there
> alongside Norman, Green (Keith, not Steve!) and Stonehill.
All due respect to David, I would say "veteran" not "father." He's certainly
one of the most accomplished musicians ccm has ever produced, but he's
clearly "second generation," having come along more than five years after
Norman, Stonehill, etc.
He wrote some very good songs (maybe even excellent, by the time of Candle
in the Rain), but nothing I'd put on the level of the best work of the
others mentioned above.
--Bruce (not a "young un")
David Bruce Murray
"Bruce A. Brown" <fathe...@home.com> wrote in message
news:B7A7CBA8.3F35%fathe...@home.com...
I think Meece stands apart with his heavy classical influence more than
anything else. He can excel as an entertainer (from a pure musical ability
point of view). I always preferred his stuff to Norman's, Green's, and
Stonehill's, but moreso because I'm a piano player than any other reason.
There's little about Keith Green's piano playing that would attract another
piano player to his music, for example.
I agree he would be more of a "veteran" than a "father" or "pioneer" when
speaking of CCM in general. It would be valid to say that he led the way in
Christian _pop_ (as a sub-genre of "CCM") alongside Amy Grant, Michael W.
Smith, and The Imperials, but not alongside the artists that Matt mentioned.
Inky
>I haven't see a whole lot posted in this group on David Meece, a man
>who many consider to be one of the many fathers of CCM, right in there
>alongside Norman, Green (Keith, not Steve!) and Stonehill.
>
>In case you haven't heard, David has signed a brand new recording
>contract with Aluminum Records and will be releasing "There I Go
>Again", his first album of new material in over 7 years, on October
>2nd.
>
>Just wondering if any others out there are big David Meece fans and
>have been waiting in EAGER anticipation like myself for this album to
>be released? Every time my wife and I see him in concert, his music
>and his ministry touch our hearts and lift our spirits.
My brother (who's 17) loves DM. Turns out Meece was in concert only 90
miles away but he missed it because there was nearly zero advertising.
(BTW, here in NM, 90 miles is *not* far to travel for something like a
concert or shopping, etc.).
Heard more than 1 promise of a new album and that he had signed with
this label or that. Hope it pans out this time.
>For you "young'uns", here's what David has done in the past:
>
>1976 David
>1977 I Just Call On You
>1978 Everybody Needs A Little Help
>1980 Are You Ready
>1982 Front Row
>1983 Count the Cost
>1985 "7"
>1986 Chronology
>1987 Candle in the Rain
>1990 Learning to Trust
>1993 Once in a Lifetime
>1995 Odyssey (GREATEST HITS)
-- christian
Well, Harv hit the aisles dancin' and screamin'.
Some thought he had religion; others thought he had a demon,
And Harv thought he had a Weedeater loose in his Fruit of the Looms.
-- Ray Stevens (in "Mississippi Squirrel Revival")
Matt
> I eagerly awaited his follow up to _Once In A Lifetime_ there for a couple
> of years (published to originally release on Dec. 26, 1994, IIRC). I was
> somewhat interested when I heard he'd signed a contract with Discovery House
> a couple years ago.
In case you didn't hear the whole story (thanks to Jeremy at
http://www.crosswinds.net/~meece/ for keeping this on the web):
David's last album, Odyssey (a best of collection) was released in
June of 1995 on StarSong records. At that time, David was working on a
new CD, entitled Send Down The Rain, to be released on December 26,
1995. Unfortunately, before it was released, EMI took control of
StarSong records and dropped David from the label, blocking the
release of Send Down The Rain and any other future Meece projects on
that label. They also froze his 3 latest albums on StarSong, Learning
To Trust (1989), Once In A Lifetime (1993), and Odyssey. So for 4
years, David went searching for a new label, while continuing to tour
constantly. In 1999, it was announced that David had reached an
agreement with Discovery House Music, a small independent label run by
RBC Ministries. Unfortunately, as time went on and the release time
came nearer, David and Discovery House began to disagree on creative
issues. Soon thereafter, Discovery House and David parted ways.
Bob Weigel
creative avenue of his own has to have any kind of approval from these
idiots who have done basically nothing but take advantage of people
by reputation...I mean I know none of the companies are owned by Terry
Taylor, Larry Norman, Phil Keaggy, Brian Duncan, or anyone else who
one could say is some kind of legend in this way. It's such a
strange industry when you think of it...wouldn't it be BETTER it if
were actually RUN by guys like David?? Instead of him having to go
around looking for someone to sell his work? -bob
In article <3d66bfb4.01082...@posting.google.com>,
Matt <mattan...@juno.com> wrote:
Jeremy Vis
David Bruce Murray wrote:
>
>
> Is it in the can? Otherwise, I'll be very surprised to see it by the
> published date.
>
> I eagerly awaited his follow up to _Once In A Lifetime_ there for a couple
> of years (published to originally release on Dec. 26, 1994, IIRC). I was
> somewhat interested when I heard he'd signed a contract with Discovery House
> a couple years ago. Now, I don't really care much one way or the other. I'm
> sure I'll probably enjoy it if it ever actually shows up.
>
The pre-releases are out there (or so I'm told).... :) I've seen sound
clips on a website, actually just today in the local cbs. It was
somewhere on Canada's main distribution outlet's site, most likely a
page that only retailers can access cause I can't find it, but I'm
assuming if they've gone so far as to set the date, have it listed on
distributor's sites with sound clips, it looks like it's (finally) in
the can. The followup to OIAL was supposed to come Dec 26, '95... the
first track on Odyssey was actually supposed to be a promo of what was
on that album, but the story goes that the folks who took over StarSong
around that time heard Odyssey, and not quite understanding that it was
a compilation, decided he was way behind the times stylistically, and
dropped him. From what I understand, that album (was going to be called
Send Down The Rain) was complete, too... darnit.
What I did hear today sounded pretty good... actually just 30 seconds of
the title track. Surprisingly heavy on the electric guitars... I was
expecting him to go more in the direction of "God's Promises (Rainbows
In The Night)" towards a more Inspirational market, but he seems to want
to be as cool as he was in the mid '80's again. :) oh well... as long as
he doesn't abandon the classical leanings, I'm happy... his "re-worked"
classical songs (ie Falling Down, God's Promises, et al) are some of my
favorites.
blessings,
jeremy
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jeremy M Vis~~~jv...@home.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ http://come.to/dmeece/ ~~
~~ "I'm gonna die! Jesus, Allah, Buddha, I love you all!" ~~
~~ -Homer Simpson ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edwards556
>in the Rain), but nothing I'd put on the level of the best work of the
>others mentioned above.
Well Perhaps Norman and Green deserve this much credit, But Stonehill though
sometimes original and at times thought provoking is definitely not on the same
level as Green or Norman, especially Norman.
Bruce A. Brown
edwar...@cs.com wrote on 8/22/01 12:57 AM:
Obviously you can't evaluate Keith's music beyond the body of work that he
left before he died, but among those songs are some of the best ever written
in ccm.
As far as Norman and Stonehill being on a par, that is of course subjective.
Randy may not have any "anthems" on a par with "I Wish We'd All Been Ready"
in his songbook, but on the other hand, he has continued to write vital and
compelling songs throughout his career, far surpassing his former mentor in
terms of continuing to create. Stonehill's albums such as "Return to
Paradise" and "Wonderama" were exemplary albums of the 80s and 90s, while
has Larry continued to remake the same album since 1978.
--bab
Joe Bruno
<dbmu...@rfci.net> wrote:
>I think Meece stands apart with his heavy classical influence more than
>anything else. He can excel as an entertainer (from a pure musical ability
>point of view). I always preferred his stuff to Norman's, Green's, and
>Stonehill's, but moreso because I'm a piano player than any other reason.
>There's little about Keith Green's piano playing that would attract another
>piano player to his music, for example.
Oh really, ever hear Keith's Piano Prelude. That's pretty cool, and I
played it in my church and they thought it was cool too.
David Bruce Murray
news:<%Kjg7.12617$4b5.3...@news6.giganews.com>...
>
> > I eagerly awaited his follow up to _Once In A Lifetime_ there for a
couple
> > of years (published to originally release on Dec. 26, 1994, IIRC). I was
> > somewhat interested when I heard he'd signed a contract with Discovery
House
> > a couple years ago.
>
> In case you didn't hear the whole story (thanks to Jeremy at
> http://www.crosswinds.net/~meece/ for keeping this on the web):
I've read the story several times over the past few years.
Two words. Phil Keaggy.
I have always enjoyed Meece's music very much, but the victim story that
accompanies him everywhere he goes has become a bit difficult to accept at
face value anymore. The whole world is NOT out to destroy David Meece. Yes,
I believe he came from a home of abuse, etc., but all this stuff about not
being able to make records for seven years because the record industry did
him dirty is just a bunch of bunk. So Star Song retained the rights to his
last three projects? Big deal. He could still buy from them at 80% off
retail and sell them at his shows.
They can't stop him from putting out more music on another label, or on his
own independent label. Maybe they could for a year or two, but certainly not
now.
I say "Phil Keaggy" because he's a guy who has been in and out of the big
industry scene. If a major label wants to distribute a new Keaggy project,
fine. If not, he sells it directly to his fans. He keeps churning out
records, though, regardless. Meece could look at Keaggy and learn from him.
David Bruce Murray
"Joe Bruno" <j...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:agi7otghp4gbim9oo...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 21 Aug 2001 17:29:35 -0400, "David Bruce Murray"
> <dbmu...@rfci.net> wrote:
>
>
> >I think Meece stands apart with his heavy classical influence more than
> >anything else. He can excel as an entertainer (from a pure musical
ability
> >point of view). I always preferred his stuff to Norman's, Green's, and
> >Stonehill's, but moreso because I'm a piano player than any other reason.
> >There's little about Keith Green's piano playing that would attract
another
> >piano player to his music, for example.
>
> Oh really, ever hear Keith's Piano Prelude. That's pretty cool, and I
> played it in my church and they thought it was cool too.
Sound pretty subjective. They thought it was pretty cool when I played
"Chopsticks" at the age of eight, too. :o)
I'm joking, of course. No, I haven't heard Green's prelude. I'm assuming
it's a composed piece? My exposure to Green's piano playing has been what
I've heard on live recordings while he accompanied himself singing. My
exposure to Meece's piano playing has been the same, hearing him in concert
on several ocassions. There's no comparison to be made there.
Joe Bruno
On Wed, 22 Aug 2001 12:21:40 -0400, "David Bruce Murray"
<dbmu...@rfci.net> wrote:
>> Oh really, ever hear Keith's Piano Prelude. That's pretty cool, and I
>> played it in my church and they thought it was cool too.
>
>Sound pretty subjective. They thought it was pretty cool when I played
>"Chopsticks" at the age of eight, too. :o)
>
>I'm joking, of course. No, I haven't heard Green's prelude. I'm assuming
>it's a composed piece? My exposure to Green's piano playing has been what
>I've heard on live recordings while he accompanied himself singing. My
>exposure to Meece's piano playing has been the same, hearing him in concert
>on several ocassions. There's no comparison to be made there.
Just because Keith Green never played classical music at his concerts
doesn't make him inferior to David Meece. Keith Green probably could
have run circles around Meece in improvisation. I've seen Meece, and
if your impressed with someone who plays classical music entangled in
pop music stylings, that's ok. Besides, Green absolutely blows Meece
away in vocal ability.
David, you should really listen to the body of music, Keith Green left
behind. All of it is truly amazing and shows what a musical genius
this guy really was.
David Bruce Murray
> Just because Keith Green never played classical music at his concerts
> doesn't make him inferior to David Meece.
I never said Green had to be classical to come up to the level of Meece.
Some of my favorite pianists include: Bruce Hornsby, Henry Butler, Michael
Omartian (in particular on _Conversations_), Dave Brubeck, Stan Whitmire,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Harry Connick Jr., and Anthony Burger. Some of these play
with a touch of classical and some don't get anywhere close. Some are
technical wizards. One or two are even posers, but I like them anyway.
There's also a couple of popular piano players out there that leave me
scratching my head as to why they sell so much product. Jim Brickman is one.
All his stuff is simplistic and sounds the same. I can see why John Tesh
sells some product. He works well within orchestrations, but he's really
nothing special on the keys. Understand, I think both these guys ARE capable
players, just not exceptionally so. "Overhyped" would be a good word to
describe them.
In contrast to these, George Winston is a pianist who is very good. I've
just never cared for his particular style.
In other words, I have developed the ability to do all of the following. A.
Enjoy and Admire, B. Not Enjoy and Admire, C. Enjoy and Not Admire, D. Not
Enjoy and Not Admire. This is with "enjoy" reflecting my subjective nature
and "admire" reflecting my objective nature.
>Keith Green probably could
> have run circles around Meece in improvisation. I've seen Meece, and
> if your impressed with someone who plays classical music entangled in
> pop music stylings, that's ok.
Only if it's done well, and Meece does it pretty well. Classical music is
difficult enough to do well by itself, so I have to admire a person who can
incorporate that into another genre.
Having never seen Green in person, I can't comment on his improvisational
skills. What I've heard on the radio seems pretty rhythmic and repetitive in
nature. It reminds me of most bluegrass in that regard. He knows a few good
licks and he keeps going back to them.
> Besides, Green absolutely blows Meece away in vocal ability.
Now we're into another area entirely. Unlike piano skills, the human voice
is a very subjective area.
I'd have to say Keith Green's voice is probably the main reason I've never
listened to much of his music. I agree, he wrote some great songs. I'd just
rather hear someone else sing them. Although I don't consider David Meece to
be a vocal powerhouse, I do prefer the way he sings to Keith Green.
I think _No Compromise_, the tribute recording to Green, is fantastic. With
good production quality and a variety of vocalists, his songs really shine.
I've just never been one who cared much for raw demo quality work (unless
it's the Fairfield Four, where the roughness is 90% of the charm). Sorry,
but that's just how Green's singing comes across to me.
Joe Bruno
<dbmu...@rfci.net> wrote:
>> Besides, Green absolutely blows Meece away in vocal ability.
>
>Now we're into another area entirely. Unlike piano skills, the human voice
>is a very subjective area.
>
>I'd have to say Keith Green's voice is probably the main reason I've never
>listened to much of his music. I agree, he wrote some great songs. I'd just
>rather hear someone else sing them. Although I don't consider David Meece to
>be a vocal powerhouse, I do prefer the way he sings to Keith Green.
>
>I think _No Compromise_, the tribute recording to Green, is fantastic. With
>good production quality and a variety of vocalists, his songs really shine.
>I've just never been one who cared much for raw demo quality work (unless
>it's the Fairfield Four, where the roughness is 90% of the charm). Sorry,
>but that's just how Green's singing comes across to me.
You liked that "No Compromise" recording? I hated it. Probably because
the guy who produced it I don't care for much either. All the songs
were approached with same Brown bannister formula crap that you can
here on every record he produces. This guy completely ruined Petra's
album, "Wake Up Call", and he also completly ruined Out Of The Grey.
Out Of The Grey was doing great until they met Brown bannisher, then
their records changed and he tries to make whatever group he is
producing into the sound that currently or just was popular in the
secular world. This happened in both Petra's and Out Of The Grey's
case.
Getting back to Keith Green...I believe he has much more vocal range
than David Meece. If I remember right, I remember reading that Meece
said he was never a singer, and just a pianist/songwriter. Oh well.
Jeremy Vis
David Bruce Murray wrote:
>
> > In case you didn't hear the whole story (thanks to Jeremy at
> > http://www.crosswinds.net/~meece/ for keeping this on the web):
>
> I've read the story several times over the past few years.
>
> Two words. Phil Keaggy.
>
> I have always enjoyed Meece's music very much, but the victim story that
> accompanies him everywhere he goes has become a bit difficult to accept at
> face value anymore. The whole world is NOT out to destroy David Meece. Yes,
> I believe he came from a home of abuse, etc., but all this stuff about not
> being able to make records for seven years because the record industry did
> him dirty is just a bunch of bunk. So Star Song retained the rights to his
> last three projects? Big deal. He could still buy from them at 80% off
> retail and sell them at his shows.
>
> They can't stop him from putting out more music on another label, or on his
> own independent label. Maybe they could for a year or two, but certainly not
> now.
>
I agree with a lot of what you say there... Though EMI/Star Song was
fairly nasty, in that he did have a contract with them that they backed
out of illegally. From what I'm told, they blocked access to the new
project, Send Down The Rain so he couldn't finish it. But he was able to
look for other outlets. I think the story that surrounds him is more
speculation than actual truth, and it's been a while since David himself
has really said much about it. He has said, though, that during the time
since the StarSong situation blew up, he went through at least a year or
so of severe medical problems, being hospitalized for quite a long time
for some pretty serious diabetes. I don't know dirt about much of
anything medical, so I can't tell you anything about it, besides I
haven't really heard anything about it in quite a while, but I think a
lot of the reason he didn't put out an album for some time was because
he didn't want to, or he wasn't ready to do an album himself.
As to the last 3 albums, they did prevent him from getting at them for
quite a while... at least Learning To Trust and Once In A Lifetime,
because they took them out of print... I know he was selling Odyssey at
his concerts for quite a long time, so I believe he had access to them,
but the other 2 simply weren't available. Apparently Once In A Lifetime
is in print again, and LTT might be, I'm not sure. I know that all 3 are
available through his website, davidmeece.com now.
I do agree that Meece could (perhaps should) learn from Keaggy, since
they keep harping on the fact that he's got 'enough music for 5 albums'
or whatever the number's at now. Frankly, I would have had a low budget
indie album out long ago... probably 3 actually. But Meece seems to
belong to the MWS school of perfectionism... don't do it unless you've
polished it enough to see your image in the reflection.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure that David has been honest with himself, or
with his ministry team on some issues, and that contributes quite a bit
to some of the misinformation out there. Give them credit, though...
about a year ago or so, some site had a story up on the Christian music
industry, spent half of it denouncing Phil Driscoll for playing at a
function where Al Gore was speaking, then spoke about David for a while
and made up all kinds of outrageous stuff ... for instance, a story of a
record executive leading David to a barrel of ash and telling him that
was what they did with the masters to his last 3 projects and the
unreleased one ... just crap that was completely untrue. When some folks
saw this, they wrote all kinds of letters of support to David Meece
Ministries, who finally saw it and posted a note on their own site
saying basically "while David was mistreated by StarSong, this account
was full of embellished half truths and lies". (Or something like that).
either way, I respect the man for a lot of what he's been through,
though I believe he put himself through quite a bit of it... and look
forward to the new project.
jer
Jeremy Vis
>
> Getting back to Keith Green...I believe he has much more vocal range
> than David Meece. If I remember right, I remember reading that Meece
> said he was never a singer, and just a pianist/songwriter. Oh well.
I'm not sure if you're familiar with David's early work, and while it is
true that Meece's voice is an aquired taste, his range is (was) huge...
few people could hit some of the hight notes he hit back in the late
'70's / early '80's.
For Keith Green, definitely someone very respectable in his own right, I
kind of liken him to Neil Diamond myself... I never cared much for
Diamond's voice, I never cared much for his production, but man, could
that guy ever write songs! Same kinda thing. Listening to much more than
an album of Keith Green at a time can get kinda tiring, but then, there
are very few who I would not say that for (ie Mark Heard, my current
favorite). Rich Mullins was another one like Keith Green / Neil Diamon /
etc... a decent voice, and while his arrangements and instrumentations
were generally done quite well, his songwriting is why he survived.
at least, imho. :)
Jeremy Vis
Jeremy Vis wrote:
>
> David Bruce Murray wrote:
> >
> >
> > Is it in the can? Otherwise, I'll be very surprised to see it by the
> > published date.
> >
> > I eagerly awaited his follow up to _Once In A Lifetime_ there for a couple
> > of years (published to originally release on Dec. 26, 1994, IIRC). I was
> > somewhat interested when I heard he'd signed a contract with Discovery House
> > a couple years ago. Now, I don't really care much one way or the other. I'm
> > sure I'll probably enjoy it if it ever actually shows up.
> >
>
> The pre-releases are out there (or so I'm told).... :) I've seen sound
> clips on a website, actually just today in the local cbs.
Allow me to correct my own misinformation... I was told today that the
clips I heard were actually from two unfinished tracks that were on a
sampler handed out by Aluminum Records at GMA Week, unbeknownst to
David. (They told me that David had no idea they were out there as if
this should shock and outrage me as another example of David getting
screwed by a label... whatever.) Word is that the album is *not* quite
mastered yet, but should be by end of next week or so. (should be.
uh-huh).
I still maintain that Oct. 2 is fairly likely, as Brian Hardin (Aluminum
/ Audio X) has been doing a pretty good job so far of getting projects
out the door on time, and with the marketing they've been doing at the
retail level already, I don't think he'll allow much more time for the
album to be late.
But, this *is* David Meece, I suppose... :)
jer
Jeremy Vis
"Bruce A. Brown" wrote:
>
>
> All due respect to David, I would say "veteran" not "father."
>
well... he was the first in mainstream ccm to use female dancers on
tour, unless i'm mistaken... so he's at least something of a pioneer,
right? ;)
> --Bruce (not a "young un")
jeremy (definitely a "young un")
snail
>>listened to much of his music. I agree, he wrote some great songs. I'd just
>>rather hear someone else sing them. Although I don't consider David Meece to
>>be a vocal powerhouse, I do prefer the way he sings to Keith Green.
>Getting back to Keith Green...I believe he has much more vocal range
>than David Meece. If I remember right, I remember reading that Meece
>said he was never a singer, and just a pianist/songwriter. Oh well.
I'm with David, Green wrote some excellent material but I equate
listening to him sing with scratching fingernails across a
blackboard. David Meece has nver blown me away vocally but I
like him and he does play well.
I recall wearing a Meece shirt featuring a photo image of him
to a few metal gigs which pissed off my mates quite well :)
--
snail @ careless net ~ snail | art response theory
Bob Weigel
than one's ability to recreate a sinusoidal waveform over 4 octaves,
but I like both of their voices quite a bit. I believe the reason
Keith found such a HUGE following was that he allowed himself to
be real and God to use that to communicate in MANY DIMENSIONS, as
I believe music should be. Admittedly he had his tripe moments,
particularly later on I believe when "his" ministry became something
of perceived importance from what I can discern, but I'm sure any
of us would have struggled some in that situation. Meece has a
pretty excellent voice, again with a fairly distinct character to
it. This SEEMS to be true of most of the successful male artists in ccm
historically (Brian Duncan, Steve Archer, Larry Norman, Matthew Ward,
Greg Volz, Keith Green, David Meece, Andrus+Blackwood, Rob Carlisle,
Russ Taff, Steve Green, Larnel Harris, Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy,
Michael W. Smith, Steve Taylor, Carman, Camp and Bono? :-) No, don't want to
start another thread on that...) Anyway, all these guys come to mind
as having very easily distinguishable voices. Terry Taylor doesn't
as much which gives me even more respect for his work.
I also REALLY believe that the PRIMARY reason Amy Grant rose to
such heights is because she broke out of a mold that is even harder
for women to break out of. Rather than trying to sound like Sandi
Patti who is one of the few who can, Amy just used the voice she had
and sang with confidence and expression. She did this without getting
classified as "sounding like a hussie (sp?)" by most people...which
of course should give us greater respect for her as an actor....ahem...
Anyway, I'm not sure what standards people use to judge whether a
voice is enjoyable to listen to. Mine is clearly more oriented
towards having the feeling that I'm listening to someone I know and
I'm learning something about them from every nuance that proceeds
from them. -Bob
In article <slrn9o8uik...@zipperii.zip.com.au>,
David Bruce Murray
>
> You liked that "No Compromise" recording? I hated it. Probably because
> the guy who produced it I don't care for much either.
Yeah, Russ Taff's "Your Love Broke Through" and Steve Green's "Grace By
Which I Stand" are my favorite cuts. I'm not a Steve Green fan, generally,
but I like that track.
I agree with you on Bannister and Petra, though. Some acts (mainly solo acts
who have "big voices," like Michael English) can benefit from Bannister's
style of production, but Petra is not one of them.
David Bruce Murray
"Jeremy Vis" <jv...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3B844AFC...@home.com...
>
> David Bruce Murray wrote:
> >
> > They can't stop him from putting out more music on another label, or on
his
> > own independent label. Maybe they could for a year or two, but certainly
not
> > now.
>
> I agree with a lot of what you say there... Though EMI/Star Song was
> fairly nasty, in that he did have a contract with them that they backed
> out of illegally. From what I'm told, they blocked access to the new
> project, Send Down The Rain so he couldn't finish it.
Well, I don't mean to come across really harsh about it. I can certainly see
how elements of that fallout could have slowed him down for a year or so,
but to hear that being cited as a reason why he has no new material six
years later is a bit much.
> But he was able to
> look for other outlets. I think the story that surrounds him is more
> speculation than actual truth, and it's been a while since David himself
> has really said much about it. He has said, though, that during the time
> since the StarSong situation blew up, he went through at least a year or
> so of severe medical problems, being hospitalized for quite a long time
> for some pretty serious diabetes. I don't know dirt about much of
> anything medical, so I can't tell you anything about it, besides I
> haven't really heard anything about it in quite a while, but I think a
> lot of the reason he didn't put out an album for some time was because
> he didn't want to, or he wasn't ready to do an album himself.
If he was seriously sick for an extended period of time, that would also
make a difference. It's the first time I've heard anything about it, but I'm
sure it's possible. At least, that would be some variety to the stories
about Star Song's treatment of him.
> As to the last 3 albums, they did prevent him from getting at them for
> quite a while... at least Learning To Trust and Once In A Lifetime,
> because they took them out of print...
I remember those titles ultimately going out of print, but I didn't think it
was immediately after he was dropped from the Star Song roster. Even then,
there's usually a 60 day period when the title is announced to be going out
of print during which stores can return or buy copies dependig on their
preference. Meece would have had the same luxury, but may have been too
upset over it to have any dealing with them at that point.
> I do agree that Meece could (perhaps should) learn from Keaggy, since
> they keep harping on the fact that he's got 'enough music for 5 albums'
> or whatever the number's at now. Frankly, I would have had a low budget
> indie album out long ago... probably 3 actually. But Meece seems to
> belong to the MWS school of perfectionism... don't do it unless you've
> polished it enough to see your image in the reflection.
I think you're right about that. I remember talking to him in April 1995 at
GMA Week, and a person asked why he never goes out with a band. He said he
plays most of the instruments himself on the recordings and obviously
couldn't duplicate all this live. I gathered that teaching all the parts to
a touring band was just too much of a hassle for him, and that he didn't
think they'd play them the way he wanted.
I enjoy him with just the piano, so it doesn't really matter much to me, but
I think what may be slowing him down in the studio is having to personally
do every detail himself. In contrast, Smitty envisions and oversees the
scope of his own projects, but he also uses hired guns to get the grunt work
out of the way.
> either way, I respect the man for a lot of what he's been through,
> though I believe he put himself through quite a bit of it... and look
> forward to the new project.
Same here. I'm just not holding my breath for it. :o)
David Bruce Murray
> For Keith Green, definitely someone very respectable in his own right, I
> kind of liken him to Neil Diamond myself... I never cared much for
> Diamond's voice, I never cared much for his production, but man, could
> that guy ever write songs! Same kinda thing. Listening to much more than
> an album of Keith Green at a time can get kinda tiring, but then, there
> are very few who I would not say that for (ie Mark Heard, my current
> favorite). Rich Mullins was another one like Keith Green / Neil Diamon /
> etc... a decent voice, and while his arrangements and instrumentations
> were generally done quite well, his songwriting is why he survived.
>
> at least, imho. :)
I agree completely. There are other names you could add to that list,
including Bill Mallonnee, James Taylor, and Bob Dylan.
Jeremy Vis
David Bruce Murray wrote:
>
> > I agree with a lot of what you say there... Though EMI/Star Song was
> > fairly nasty, in that he did have a contract with them that they backed
> > out of illegally. From what I'm told, they blocked access to the new
> > project, Send Down The Rain so he couldn't finish it.
>
> Well, I don't mean to come across really harsh about it. I can certainly see
> how elements of that fallout could have slowed him down for a year or so,
> but to hear that being cited as a reason why he has no new material six
> years later is a bit much.
>
Agreed. :)
>
> If he was seriously sick for an extended period of time, that would also
> make a difference. It's the first time I've heard anything about it, but I'm
> sure it's possible. At least, that would be some variety to the stories
> about Star Song's treatment of him.
>
I think that is just one part of a larger story that isn't really out
there at this point. (Perhaps CCM Mag can do another article like the
big one in '87.... heh...) I do know that he was hospitalized for quite
some time and had a pretty lengthy recovery... there was a letter being
handed out at his concerts at the merchandise table for a while around
the time he signed the deal with Discovery House that told that story
(among other things) in some more detail. I don't know if I still have
it or not, I used to... but apparently David didn't like the way it
sounded and wanted to write another one, so they stopped handing it out
(more perfectionism?).
> > I do agree that Meece could (perhaps should) learn from Keaggy, since
> > they keep harping on the fact that he's got 'enough music for 5 albums'
> > or whatever the number's at now. Frankly, I would have had a low budget
> > indie album out long ago... probably 3 actually. But Meece seems to
> > belong to the MWS school of perfectionism... don't do it unless you've
> > polished it enough to see your image in the reflection.
>
> I think you're right about that. I remember talking to him in April 1995 at
> GMA Week, and a person asked why he never goes out with a band. He said he
> plays most of the instruments himself on the recordings and obviously
> couldn't duplicate all this live. I gathered that teaching all the parts to
> a touring band was just too much of a hassle for him, and that he didn't
> think they'd play them the way he wanted.
>
Indeed... iirc, he has been working with Scotty Smith as a producer on
this record, and while he has been doing it in bits & pieces because he
didn't want to take a break from recording, it's been taking way, way
too long if he's *still* laying down vocals at this point (which he was
at least a couple weeks ago, according to the email sent out from David
Meece Ministries to their mailing list...).
> I enjoy him with just the piano, so it doesn't really matter much to me,
very much agreed. I don't know many people who can play an entire
concert on a piano with his own vocals and have you not even miss all
the missing stuff from the studio...
>
> Same here. I'm just not holding my breath for it. :o)
>
heh... we'll see. :)
Matt
> Allow me to correct my own misinformation... I was told today that the
> clips I heard were actually from two unfinished tracks that were on a
> sampler handed out by Aluminum Records at GMA Week, unbeknownst to
> David. (They told me that David had no idea they were out there as if
> this should shock and outrage me as another example of David getting
> screwed by a label... whatever.) Word is that the album is *not* quite
> mastered yet, but should be by end of next week or so. (should be.
> uh-huh).
As of right now (8/24/01 late evening), there's an Aluminum Records
sampler up for auction on Ebay...it's got 2 or 3 songs from David
Meece! Bidding's up to $15.00 though! I stopped bidding at
$5.50...even though I really wanted it!
If you go to Aluminum Record's web site, you can sign up to receive
"free music" delivered to your doorstep. I wonder if it's this same
sampler that is goin' for $15.00??
M
Matt Honnold -- Decatur, Illinois -- mattan...@juno.com
CONTACT US ON INSTANT MESSENGER AT "mattandcorrie"
http://www.gladtidingsag.com and http://www.theedgerocks.com -- Matt
Honnold, webservant
"You're the great King, the one God, the Lord of us all, there is
none, THERE IS NONE, over You" - David Meece
Jeremy Vis
Matt wrote:
>
>
> As of right now (8/24/01 late evening), there's an Aluminum Records
> sampler up for auction on Ebay...it's got 2 or 3 songs from David
> Meece! Bidding's up to $15.00 though! I stopped bidding at
> $5.50...even though I really wanted it!
>
sshhh!!! ;)
as far as I know, that sampler was handed out at GMA Week... I would
love to get my hands on it. :)
> If you go to Aluminum Record's web site, you can sign up to receive
> "free music" delivered to your doorstep. I wonder if it's this same
> sampler that is goin' for $15.00??
>
that signup has been there for a long, long time... since before
Aluminum Records was what they are now. I signed up a long time ago, and
have received nothing to date... but we'll see. They may be waiting for
completed songs from all their artists ... at least the Meece songs I
know are not final cuts. Now that CCM Magazine reported that you get
free stuff, I guess they'll kinda have to follow through eventually! :)
Matt
> In case you haven't heard, David has signed a brand new recording
> contract with Aluminum Records and will be releasing "There I Go
> Again", his first album of new material in over 7 years, on October
> 2nd.
just found the first store that is offering pre-orders for "There I Go
Again".
Christianbook.com has it for $11.99
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product/53590043?item_no=CD00042&event=SRC
David Bruce Murray
Hmm. Cover art and everything. This is beginning to look like a possibility.