Hand To The Plow(MVM-005)Price: $15.00
SONGS: HAND TO THE PLOW; HELP ME TO SEE; ALL I NEED: SHIPWRECK; LOVE YOU SO;
SPRING OF LIFE; WOMAN/THE MAN THAT I LOVE; NOW AND FOREVERMORE;ONE FINAL WORD
Recorded in August of 1976. Paul’s propensity to explore new music
genres brought a painful close to Paul Clark & Friends,
whose strong community and sonic signatures had established
him as a veteran voice in the growing CCM scene. Unafraid of
change, Paul's set his plow into the rich soil of his
childhood R&B roots. Moving his compositional skills away
from guitar and to the piano for farming the new “Jazz/R&B
sound field,” with Paul joined forces with fellow Kansas
City native and guitarist, Curt Bartlett, and Oklahoma-City
musicians Hadley Hockensmith (Guitar and Bass), Harlan
Rogers (Piano, B3 Organ and Synthesizers), Lanny Hansen
(Drums), and Jim Hochanadel, (Saxaphone and Harmonica). Paul
had met Hadley, Harlan and Bill Maxwell, years earlier in
Oklahoma City, as the 3rd Street Rhythm and Blues
Band, and knew they would be instrumental in his desired
musical change.
Beyond the muscle bound title track, which included an unprecedented
seven-minute plus jam session, and the other infectious
grooves, Paul unveiled an orchestral side to his
multifaceted songwriting expertise. With the Oklahoma City
Philharmonic musicians playing the lush arrangements of
conductor David Powell, Paul's powerful wedding songs,
"Woman/The Man That I Love," (a duet with the undiscovered
Kelly Willard), and "Now And Forevermore," quickly became
two more classic wedding songs of the Jesus Movement
generation
Engineered and mixed by Bobby Cotton and mastered by Hollywood Mastering
Lab genius, Doug Sax, this project is a landmark record
classic firmly established in the foundation of CCM history.