Date: 16 July 1996
To: RichMailList
Subject: [RichMailList 76]: Comments on Songs


From: Steve Harris
Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 11:33:16 -0400 (EDT)

Well, I guess us die-hard fans have many favorites which were not
radio releases, and it appears that Rich followed the standard
format of a greatest hits by releasing all his radio songs plus
a couple new ones.  Too bad that we who have all his albums will
have to spend full price for the CD to get only the two new
songs.  Well, that's the music industry for ya. :)

Steve\

From: Ashwin Vasavada Date: Mon, 1 Jul 96 11:01:19 PDT Hi Danl - Thanks for continuing to provide all the great info. I'm a bit unclear on which of the songs have been recorded especially for the album. I know 'Sing Your Praise' and 'We Are Not as Strong' have, but what about Elijah, Screen Door, Verge of a Miracle? Thanks, Ash (ashwin@ptolemy.gps.caltech.edu) ----------

Hi Ash,

"Sing Your Praise" (which was obviously redone for this CD) was recorded by Rich on his first album before he went solo; before he was discovered by Amy Grant. The album is called Behold The Man, and the group was Zion, which was a praise band from Cincinnati College. See: [RichMailList 22]: Rich Discography & ReleasExtra, also [RichMailList 64]: Results: Rich Top 20 Survey

The new song is "We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are". Rich has never recorded this one at all. Interesting story on this one. See: [RichMailList 50]: Rich in Tulsa

"Elijah" was re-recorded especially for this CD, however, now that you mention it, I've never heard that arrangement of "Screen Door" other than live, so it must have either been re-recorded or more probably a version they had and didn't use on Pictures In The Sky. "Verge Of A Miracle" was also previously on Pictures In The Sky.

Danl


From: John Santosh
Date: Mon,  1 Jul 96 14:26:32 EDT

Hey bro, I got back from Creation 96 yesterday.  It was a blast.  
I'll try to give you a summary later.  I've got lots of work to 
catch up on as you can imagine.  sigh...
Just wanted to let you know 2 things..._Songs_  was available at 
Creation and I got to hear it.  _Sing Your Praise to the Lord_ is 
too good!  I love the guitar.  As for _We Are Not As Strong_... 
well, I thought it was OVERproduced.  I was kinda hoping for Rich 
and a piano, period.  But still, it's good stuff...plus, there are 
2 more verses to add to the lyrics we have.  The other thing is 
that Rich made a surprise appearance at the end of the Hokus Pick 
segment and sang "Step By Step" with them.  You know...HP started 
singing and playing...Rich casually walks on stage, sings, and 
leaves.  
I love RM...he's just the man...I'll try to write more later.  
Hope all is well.
God bless always.
Finally, be strong in the Lord.
Philippians 1:6
             "We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made,
              Forged in the fires of human passion,
              Choking on the fumes of selfish rage.
              And with these our hells and heavens, 
              so few inches apart,
              We must be awfully small, 
              and not as strong as we think we are." -RM

From: Brendt Waters Date: Thu, 04 Jul 96 00:56:00 -0500 [snip] Danl wrote: > In case you're wondering which of the songs we picked to make it on > the greatist hits (see [RichMailList 64]: Results: Rich Top 20 > Survey) , I've > done the figuring already. I guess we didn't do very good, as we > only picked slightly more than half of the songs. Depends on how you define "good". Rich told me in the interview that they decided to simply go with what did well on radio, "which is a pretty good indication of how the songs were received" (rough quote from memory). However, he also said that if he had picked his favorites, there would be several songs on the album that didn't make it, and several that did make it that he wouldn't have chosen. [snip] Thanks, Brendt
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 96 07:40:50 CST From: Kathie Scott Danl wrote: >Cool. I finally got to hear "Sing Your Praise" on the radio today. I like >the arrangement. It's really different from how Rich usually does it live, >especially since I usually heard him do it solo (w/piano). But I really >like the rhythm section and the feel. Can't wait to hear "We Are Not As >Strong". I'm anxious to hear how you like the "original" recording of "Sing >Your Praise" on _Behold The Man_. Listened to it Saturday. I liked it. Kind of has a 70's folk flavor to the whole album. I had heard Rich really used to be a piano-pounder, and it's more evident in that version than in more recent stuff (a few missed notes here & there as well). I have to admit that I'm not really fond of the women's voices...kind of thin & reedy. But then, I'm terribly critical of women's voices. Margaret Becker is just about the only female artist I listen to. [snip] Kathie
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 96 08:02:36 CST From: Kathie Scott Did you get it? What do you think? I just love the photos on the front & back. I also love the guitar line on "We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are." And I've always been partial to the long version of "Screen Door." I always kind of felt cheated that it wasn't available & I could only hear it on the whim of my radio station. Also, do you find that you know Rich's other releases so well, that you expect a certain song to follow the one you just heard on this release? It always kind of throws me not to hear whatever song comes next on the original release. Anyway, just hoping that you finally got your copy! Later! Kathie
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 10:01:03 -0700 From: Dan Moynihan Hi, I picked up songs on 7/11. I love the two new songs, Sing Your Praise and We Are Not As Strong. Nice arrangements and well sung. Rich does a remake of Elijah, which is one of my alltime favorites. Allthough the arrangement is good, I think he sang it with more passion on the first album. As for the content, It must have been really hard deciding where to cut off the selections. I was pleasently surprised to see "Calling Out Your Name" make the cut. It is one of my top favorites, didn't know it was anyone elses. I was disappointed that "What Susan Said", "Growing Yound" and "Maker Of Noses" didn't make it but hey, this could have been a five CD set if I had my way. The Long version of Screen Door is a nice touch. Dan Moynihan Forestport, NY
From: Steve Harris Date: Sun, 14 Jul 1996 02:53:44 -0400 (EDT) I just got the Songs CD and was checking the liner notes to clear up a question I had, but it is not any clearer, so I'll as the the Rich experts. From looking at Screen Door's lyrics in the new CD, it is obviously a blind copy of the lyrics from the earlier album and not the true lyrics of this longer version of the song, so I'm guessing that the lyrics for Sometimes by Step are also a copy from the WABIRIt Vol II, Where in the lyrics, it says: Sometimes it seemed to STEEP so close Listening to the song, Rich might be saying STEEP or STOOP, and in concert, he definitely said STOOP. STOOP also makes better sense in context as I've never seen steep used as a verb before, though if he is using it, it is very clever poetic license and there is no doubt what he means. So which is it REALLY? Thanks for the help. Steve Harris ----------

Hi Steve,

I used to sing it as (and have it written out on my guitar sheet as) "seemed too steep, so close", until you mentioned this once before. I think you're right. I'm fairly certain Rich is saying "stoop" when he sings it.

Danl


Date: Tue, 16 Jul 96 04:56:37 UT From: Julia Christian Danl, Hi! Haven't heard from you in a while. I got Songs this weekend and I really like the songs I hadn't heard, though I still can't quite get Amy out of the background on Sing Your Praise... [snip] Blessings, Julia

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