Pros: New versions of familiar songs.
Cons: The most popular songs aren't here.
The Bottom Line:
Don Francisco's songs
Freshly recorded for fans
Who will love results
Classic Songs Get an Acoustic Makeover
Don Francisco has faced a problem many artists whose
popularity has faded face. His music is mostly out of print. To make the
problem worse, the majority of his stuff was released in the 70's and 80's, so
very little of it was released on CD. He faced the problem head on with a very
cleaver solution. Since he owns the rights to the songs themselves, he decided
to record new versions of some of his most popular songs. Beautiful to Me is the second
such CD.
As with the first, the arrangements are simple. Almost all
of them feature Don solo on guitar. It gives the songs an acoustic feel; it
sounds much like he does in concert. Occasionally, his wife helps out with some
background vocals or other instruments, most notable strings.
Don is best known for taking familiar Bible stories and
giving them a new twist as a song. This CD offers several examples. In fact, it
opens with "Jehoshaphat," an Old Testament story about how King Jehoshaphat
defeated a much larger army simply by praising God. This song is almost
completely guitar, but he plays it so well you'd never know. And it's a great,
upbeat way to open the project. Your toes will be tapping before you know it.
This is the fastest song here since most of them are mid-tempo to slow songs.
The title track tells the story of the woman who washed
Jesus' feet with tears. The twist here is that it from the point of view of
Simon the Pharisee. This is one of the songs that features strings, making for
a beautiful, flowing song.
There's no question the most fun of the ballads here is
"Balaam." Again, it is based an Old Testament story, this time about
a donkey that started talking. It has a bit of a country flavor. Combine that
with the fun way he tells the story, and this one will have you grinning. Yet
he drives home a point about who God can use at the end.
The overall theme of the CD is living the Christian life.
This is driven home by some of the non-ballads here. "Steeple Song"
is an absolutely challenging. In it, God points out that He doesn't care about
many of the outward things we Christians care about but only really cares about
our hearts and how we treat those around us. Somehow, just having the guitar
backing Don makes this song even more powerful.
He makes the same point in a humorous way in "Everybody
Else but Me." This song mocks modern day Pharisees who think that the
message applies to someone else. I wish I could say this never applied to me,
but I do have to be truthful. Yet it's takes such a fun approach to the subject
that it can convict with humor.
"There is No Condemnation" is a fun reminder that
God forgives our sins. Taken from an event in Don's life, he talks about his
struggle to accept God's forgiveness after sinning in front of a bunch of
people. I especially like the fact that he admits not accepting that
forgiveness for a while. I must admit I fall into that trap quite a bit myself.
"Give Your Heart a Home" is the only song on here
that Don co-wrote. His co-authors here are Bill and Gloria Gaither, a
powerhouse couple in Christian music. It's a song of encouragement from God as
He promises to carry our burdens if we'll just give them to Him. I was a bit
surprised to find this is another example of just Don and his guitar since the
original featured a nice orchestra, but the beauty of the song and the message
still shines through.
The song that is the biggest break from the others is
"I Could Never Promise You." Instead of guitar, this one backed up by
keyboard. It makes quite a change, but it sounds wonderful. This song is meant
to be sung at a wedding, acknowledging that it is God and God alone who will
help the couple fulfill their vows. I fell in love with this song the first
time I heard it and hope to have it sung at my wedding one day.
The keyboard does make another appearance for the CD closer.
It backs up Don's guitar on "Lullaby." The two combine to make a
comforting song about God's protection.
I mentioned earlier that Don's biggest success was during
the 70's and 80's. But that doesn't affect the musical style here. Since it's
just guitar most of the time, the songs sound timeless. Yet it still sounds
familiar enough that long time fans will recognize the songs right from the
start.
While the first of these CD's he released included his
biggest hits, it has plenty of favorites his fans will appreciate. I got
Beautiful to Me when it was first released almost 10 years ago and have listened to it
plenty since then.
CD Length: 44:12
Tracks:
1. Jehoshaphat
2. Voyage to Gennesaret
3. Steeple Song
4. Beautiful to Me
5. There is No Condemnation
6. Give Your Heart a Home
7. It Ain't No Sin to get the Blues
8. Everybody Else but Me
9. Balaam
10. I Could Never Promise You
11. Still Your Soul is Silence
12. Lullaby
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