People who have ordered the Rich Mullins Tribute on CD, 20: The Countdown Magazine remembers Rich Mullins, have begun receiving those.
UPDATE 04 Jul 99: This CD has entered "out-of-print" status.
Other 20: The Countdown Magazine news includes their "All Time Top 100 Songs" which aired New Year's Day. Here are some highlights:
# Title Artist 88 Creed Rich Mullins 37 If I Stand Rich Mullins 25 Hold Me Jesus Rich Mullins 16 Sometimes By Step Rich Mullins and the top ten were... 10 Basics Of Life 4 Him 9 Watercolour Ponies Wayne Watson 8 Saved By Love Amy Grant 7 His Eyes Steven Curtis Chapman 6 For The Sake Of The Call Steven Curtis Chapman 5 Place In The World Michael W Smith 4 The Great Adventure Steven Curtis Chapman 3 Where Is The Faith 4 Him 2 Thank You Ray Boltz 1 Awesome God Rich Mullins
As announced in the previous post, KTLI Light 99 had their own "best of" radio special New Year's Eve - the Top 97 songs for 1997. At the end of the program, Bob "Michaels" Thornton announced Light 99's "Man of the Year." Believe it or not, Rich won! ;-) We heard from Jon Rivers as he read Bob's very well written recap of Rich's last few years this side of the cross.
The entire list of top 97 songs as well as the entire transcript of Bob's half hour presentation, will be online on the new Light 99 page.
Bob is frantically making the finishing touches to the new page, and as you already surmised, it has been delayed a few more weeks. The biggest delay in getting everything just right, is getting the Wichita Memorial RealAudio files prepared. Bob thanks you for your patience.
Mitch has been a busy traveller as of late. After heading back to New Mexico to his home (just to visit) for the first time since the accident, Mitch visited friends in the area. Mitch still intends to have a mailing list and web page, and we've asked him to write a brief letter to start things off. There is no hurry.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 00:33:37 From: Martin Maxwell Subject: Mitch update Hi! I just thought you might like to know that Mitch McVicker visited us this week here in Mesa Arizona.. He came to St. Timothys Catholic Community to see a play written by Tim and Julie Smith called Jubilee 2000, about 2000 years of Christianity in America. He was at Mass tonight, and sat right behind me! I was able to talk with him a little, though tried not to pay too much attention to him so as to not make him feel uncomfortable, but welcome, a tradition we extend to everyone at St. Tims, not just those that are popular or somewhat famous. Mitch was quiet, though he did sing during Mass and was actually convinced to sing and even play guitar with the band during our last couple songs! He was there with his lovely and obviously very supportive girlfriend, Shelly. She sang a couple songs also, what a BEAUTIFUL voice! It was great seeing him again. I hadn't seen him since the concert he and Rich did New Years Eve 1996 for us. He says he still has some double vision, he speaks softly and his handshakes are soft also. We can only pray for his continued recovery and thank God himself that we still have this messenger among us to continue to share the work that Rich so loved with us all. Martin Maxwell St. Timothy's Parish Mesa, Arizona
No concrete news from Kid Brothers on the new CD of Rich music as of yet, but there are a few bits of info that I've picked up from the This Train Mailing List.
In case you are new to the mailing list, Rich had recorded the demo of what was to be his next CD, ten songs for Jesus, on a jambox just a week before he died. Currently the Ragamuffins are recording this new work, with lead vocals primarily by Mark Robertson, Rick Elias, Jimmy Abegg, and a few as-of-yet unannounced "guest vocalists". There are eight songs written by Rich, one by Rick, and one by Mark. Originally there were hopes that the recording would be a double CD, consisting of the main Ragamuffin-led recording and a "cleaned up" version of the original demo tape. Now it seems that the demo is beyond the quality desired for a retail package.
There were some asking if "Madeline's Song" (see Wichita Memorial Page) would be on this next CD, since it had not been recorded yet. It will not, but don't give up yet.
When asked on the This Train Mailing List about who would be producing this CD, Mark Robertson replied ...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Rick Elias is producing the new record, which means it should be tons better, more organic and 'artsier'...Rich won't be here to sing and play on the record, but we still would like to honor him by making the best record of his last songs as possible. -Mark =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This could be one of the easiest buying decisions you've ever made. Please pray for the Ragamuffins as they continue this emotional work of love for their brother - and for us.