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Producer: Jimmy Dooley
Label: Independent Release
Website: http://www.jimmydooley.com

Jimmy Dooley is name you will be hearing more and more from as time goes by. This guy writes beyond his years and I’ve become very impressed with what I hear flowing from his pen. Jimmy manages to take subjects that are commonplace in gospel circles, and pen lyrics that hook us and reel us in. Included on this latest recording are a few tunes that have recently been cut by various artists and Jimmy provides his own renditions of these tunes, as well as providing some new cuts.

The upbeat “THE GRACE THAT I’M UNDER” (charted last year by Ivan Parker) gets things started and Jimmy does his a good job with his own rendition before slowing down for the striking tune entitled, “THAT WOULD BE ME (WITHOUT YOU)” reminding us that we’d be lost for eternity had it not for God’s grace. I’d love to see a major group like Karen Peck & New River really do something with this song.

With its scratchy record start, the title song, “THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW” quickly moves to a modern sound and leads very well into the Crabb style of “THANK GOD” and the soulful feel of “POUR IT ON DOWN”.
The upbeat tune, “SHINE THE LIGHT” sounds like something Hope’s Call would do, while the power ballad “WHAT STAINED THE CROSS”, recently recorded by the Beene Family, is a highlight of the recording.

Churning out his own rendition of “I’M HAVING ONE OF THOSE DAYS” recently recorded by Ivan Parker, Jimmy moves on to the emotionally tinged, “OPEN ARMS” and while a tremendous song in its own right, it’s one of Jimmy’s weaker vocal performances. Jimmy then turns in a soulful version of the classic song “HE SET ME FREE”.

Rounding out the recording is the ballad, “I WILL” (someone will pick this song up and run with it) and the uptempo, “JOY FOR THE JOURNEY”, which ends the recording on a positive note.

Jimmy has earned my respect as a songwriter. He’s great now, and I predict that he will only get better. My only constructive criticism is that I’d like to see Jimmy do more writing with other good writers; as they say…iron sharpens iron. As far as this recording goes; great songs, good vocals, good tracks with an overall production quality not quite up to his previous recording or what you’d expect from a major label project, but it definitely is more than adequate and a job well done.

Personal Favs: THE GRACE THAT I’M UNDER; THAT WOULD BE ME; THANK GOD; SHINE THE LIGHT; WHAT STAINED THE CROSS

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