Grapevine Records

Here are some samples of lost treasures:
Dave and Dana Morning Star. 1978. Producer Sue McClellan. Grapevine 124.
Terrific breathy vocals from Dana Lee Price, who also demonstrates a great rock and roll voice.
Starts with a funky late 70s style number and then ranges through self-penned songs and standards by well-known song-writers of the period. He's not a rumor is their own rock'n'roller. Enjoyed it enormously. Cannot find any trace of any other work by this couple. A shame.

Kevin Gould Clear Vision. 1978. Producer John Pac. Grapevine 122.
A surprisingly strong offering from this Welsh crooner. Gould had a brief moment of fame on the gospel scene but was not regarded as a top league musician. This album is lyrically strong with decent melodies and strong production. He later became a pastor in Alaska, USA, and continues to produce the occasional album.
Backing vocals are attributed to 'Parchment' and song rights are also attributed to "Parchment Ltd". Wonder what happened to Parchment Ltd. And does this mean this is the last album on which they appear as a band?

Malcolm Wild Broken Chains. 1979. Producer John Pac. Grapevine 131
Despite early promise from the opening track, Love is you, a disappointing solo album by one half of the highly rated Malcolm and Alwyn. The combined talents of three great British gospel combos of the 70s, Malcolm and Alwyn, the Alwyn Wall Band and Parchment, together with numerous other musicians, failed to rescue a production relying too heavily on string arrangements. A classic case of the parts of a great song-writing team not being as good as the whole. Enjoyable enough for hardcore Malcolm and Alwyn fans.

Koinonia Gentle as Morning. 1977. Producer Sue McClellan Pilgrim 427
Perhaps where Sue Mack learnt the choral management skills she later applied with such good effect to her own band River. This was an Irish choir, decked in the long pinafore dresses that were fashionable about five years earlier. An enjoyable gallop through some lesser known worship songs of the period. I cannot find any indication they wrote any of their own material.

Pilgrim Records and the Grapevine Label was owned by the Christian publisher Marshall, Morgan and Scott which in turn was owned by the Pentos Group. I believe Pentos went into liquidation in the mid-90s, so who owns the rights of these labels is an intriguing question.

Do you own a Grapevine Record that's not been reported on this site? Could you submit a short review in the above style? Post it here.

Whitsuntide Easter and Grapevine

This is Whitsuntide Easter performing in their home country of Holland. Although they were advertised as performing at the Kamperland Festival in 1978 they did not attend.

The Heavenly Grooves blog now has Grapevine's Whitsuntide Easter Next Time You Play a Wrong Note...make it a short one album to download.
So we can stop saving our pennies for this rarity of rarities. Production was by John Pac and Pete Yates-Round. The sound? very much progressive rock in the Dutch tradition with long instrumental introductions and the merest smidgeon of folk influence.

I'll be reviewing a range of the less valuable Grapevine albums in the near future. What's becoming clear is how the team from Parchment truly put their stamp on this label, leading to consistently interesting production work over a series of several hundred, very diverse albums.

This was our posting sometime ago with a picture of Parchment playing at the 1978 Kamperland Festival, which was in Holland.

(Download policy: we'll post links to downloads for albums that are not available in CD form or readily on the second hand market. If you're a copyright holder and have objections, please let us know)
(Posting up-dated Jan 2008 to make clear venue was not Kamperland Festival. There's also a discussion on this on the next post)