Front Row (David Meece; 1982)

Myrrh Records; Word Records

(c)1982 Myrrh Records This album is titled "Front Row" and was released by David Meece in 1982. The album was originally recorded live at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins, CO. David Meece was born in Humble, TX near Houston (Humble having been an early 20th century oil boomtown that was once home to Humble Oil, which was founded in 1911 and which was eventually folded into Exxon in 1973) but had a difficult childhood with an abusive, alcoholic father. During his childhood, he developed an interest in the piano and was talented enough to tour across America and even in Europe as a teenager. Eventually, Meece would be accepted to the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore; studying piano there while making the two most important connections of his life - as while there he came to faith in Jesus Christ and also ended up meeting his future wife Debbie (who played viola). After his graduation, he was hired as a youth pastor and began writing songs that incorporated pop melodies with classical influences, eventually becoming a father of Kelly and Christopher Meece. Somewhere in the mid-1970s Meece's music came to the attention of executives at Myrrh Records, which saw Meece release his self-titled debut "David" in 1976; and prior to this album he had released 4 albums (the most recent being 1980's "Are You Ready?") For this album; Meece was backed by a crew including Shane Keister (keyboards/synthesizers), guitarists Brent Rowan and Jon Goin, Keith Edwards on drums, Farrell Morris on percussion, woodwinds/saxophones by Billy Puett and Dennis Solee, George Tidwell on trumpet and background vocals by Glenda Smith White, Donna McElroy and Kim Fleming; while production work was handled by Michael Blanton and Brown Bannister (both seasoned veterans by then and who cut their teeth working with Myrrh labelmate Amy Grant - Blanton being Amy's brother-in-law) with Jack Joseph Puig as the main engineer. One of the things Meece is most noted for was his use of classical music either as a basis for songs or as an intro for his songs (for example, "Falling Down" from his follow-up to this album - 1983's "Count the Cost" - is based on a sonata by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; while the song "You Can Go" from his 1985 album "7" had its intro taken from Johann Sebastian Bach's "Two-Part Invention No. 13 in A Minor" {this led to Meece sometimes being erroneously credited with composing a theme used on a series of early 1980s ads for the Commodore 64 such as one here due to that same piece by Bach being played on a synthesizer}) In all; Meece would release 13 albums (not including compilation albums) - most recently 2002's "There I Go Again" and had a number of successful songs on radio - most prominently the song "We Are the Reason" while also appearing at a number of Billy Graham crusades, eventually being inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2008 and even being nominated for an Emmy in 2012 for the song "Hands of Hope". TRACKLIST (Meece wrote 6 of the 9 tracks - all but one of them himself) 1. Heaven Knows (co-written by Dan Walsh {studio singer and brother of frequent session guitarist Marty} and Harvey Price; this song is a cover of a song released in 1970 by a group called Bill Black's Combo {a group of musicians put together by Bill Black, a bassist who was best known for working on Elvis Presley's early projects as part of the Blue Moon Boys; with the band continuing for a fair amount of time after Black's death from a brain tumor in 1965}) 2. Jesus (from Meece's 1976 debut album) 3. Rattle Me, Shake Me (written by Nancy Honeytree {who had herself recently left Myrrh Records}, who recorded that song for her breakout album in 1975's "Evergreen") 4. Mother, Muffler, Mozart & the Beatles (this is mainly a spoken word track where Meece tells a story about his brother interrupting David's classical piano practice to show him an album that Meece's brother had picked up - which happened to be the Beatles' 1967 "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band" album while trying to keep it hidden from their mother - whose presence would be given away due to her car having a rather loud muffler) 5. All the Time 6. Never Gonna Serve Anyone Else But You (from David's 1979 "Everybody Needs a Little Help"; complete with a bit of vocal influence from the Bee Gees) 7. Gospel Train (first of two songs - not including the closing medley - from David's previous album, 1980's "Are You Ready") 8. Comin' Back (also from "Are You Ready") 9. Crucifixion Medley (this nearly 16-minute track is a medley of "There Once Lived a Man", "Intermezzo" {an instrumental section}, "Ten Thousand Angels" {written by Southern Gospel singer Ray Overholt and recorded by - among many others - the Tampa-based Rebels Quartet, Jimmie Davis [who in addition to a music career in both Southern Gospel and country music also served two different stints as Governor of Louisiana], the Happy Goodman Family, Ron & Carolyn Patty [parents of Sandi], televangelism pioneer Rex Humbard and the Cathedral Quartet, the Blackwood Brothers, George Beverly Shea, Loretta Lynn, the Kingsmen, James Blackwood, another televangelist cover by Kenneth Copeland, the choir of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Alicia Williamson-Garcia, the Ruppes and Archie Dennis}; Were You There and finally We Are the Reason {from Meece's previous album "Are You Ready" and which remains his best-known song})