''Lights from the Valley'' is the seventh album by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock band Chilliwack, released in June 1978; the album marked the recording debut of

Brian MacLeod Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meanin ...

with the band, while serving as the swan song for founding Chilliwack members Glenn Miller and Ross Turney. In November 1978, Lights from the Valley was certified Platinum (in excess of 100,000 copies sold) in Canada.

Recording

At the time of the release of ''Lights from the Valley'', Chilliwack had been recording tracks intended for the band's seventh album release over the period of a year. After rejecting two distinct sets of tracks which the band had submitted for album release,

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

had had Chilliwack - til then self-produced - collaborate with producer Marc Gilutin who co-produced a third distinct set of tracks to be issued as Chilliwack's seventh album, with the sessions co-produced by Gilutin introducing as members of Chilliwack guitarist Brian MacLeod who'd remain a member for four Chilliwack albums, and Jamie Bowers (guitar/ keyboards) who would not record again with the group. The tracks co-produced by Gilutin included two songs written by MacLeod and also two "outside songs" - the first (and it would prove only) non-original material ever to be recorded by Chilliwack since the band had been rebranded from " The Collectors" - : "

Arms of Mary "Arms of Mary" is a song written by Iain Sutherland and performed by Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. It was a 1976 international hit single for the band; the ''Glasgow Herald'' in its obituary for Iain Sutherland described "Arms of Mary" as "a p ...

" and "In Love With a Look": "In Love With a Look" was a co-write by Ted Myers who'd fronted Glider a session group whose self-titled 1977 album release had been produced by Gilutin, while the 1975 original

Sutherland Brothers The Sutherland Brothers (Gavin and Iain Sutherland) were a Scottish folk and soft rock duo. From 1973 to 1978, they performed with rock band Quiver, and recorded and toured as Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. Under this combined moniker, the grou ...

version of "Arms of Mary" had enjoyed widespread international hit status while barely registering in North America. The third intended version of Chilliwack's seventh album was issued in June 1978 under the title ''Lights from the Valley'', a quote from "Arms of Mary" which track served as lead single: "Arms of Mary" would fail to become one of Chilliwack's most successful Canadian chart hits with a modest #49 peak, although the track would become the fourth Chilliwack single to rank on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' with its #67 peak outranking the band's three previous Hot 100 entries. A second single release: "Never Be the Same" was a low impact Canadian chart item with a peak of #59 and would not register on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: in fact "Arms of Mary" would remain Chilliwack's last Hot 100 entry until 26 September 1981 when " My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)" debuted at #81: by its third week on the chart - that of 10 October 1981 - "My Girl..." had bested "Arms of Mary" as Chilliwack's highest ranking Hot 100 entry, "My Girl..."'s 10 October 1981 Hot 100 ranking being #60 (the eventual Hot 100 peak of "My Girl..." would be #22).

Impact

Intended to build on the qualified success of the precedent ''

Dreams, Dreams, Dreams ''Dreams, Dreams, Dreams'' is the sixth album by the Canadian rock band Chilliwack. This was the eighth album (including two as The Collectors) done by the band's core of Bill Henderson, Glenn Miller and Ross Turney, and the third with Howard ...

'' album, ''Lights from the Valley'' would not in fact rise above its predecessor's success level, with Mushroom's financial problems incurred via litigation with the rock band

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

hampering the promotion of ''Lights from the Valley''. In fact the turmoil inherent in the album's convoluted recording history threatened to shut down the band: veteran guitarist Howard Froese was replaced by Brian MacLeod after the first attempt at Chilliwack's seventh album was rejected - although Froese would receive "special thanks" on the released ''Lights from the Valley'' album, citing background vocals and acoustic guitar - , and by the time of the release of ''Lights from the Valley'' Glenn Miller (bass) and Ross Turney (drums) - who had worked alongside Chilliwack's lead vocalist/ guitarist Bill Henderson since the Chilliwack forerunner the Collectors - had left the group necessitating the recruitment of new members Skip Layton (drums) and Ab Bryant (bass) to perform with Henderson, Bowers and MacLeod in Chilliwack's live gigs,''Ottawa Journal'' 4 August 4, 1978 p. 47 and only Henderson, MacLeod and Bryant would remain with Chilliwack for the group's eighth album: the 1979 release '' Breakdown in Paradise''. In 2013, all of the Chilliwack albums on Mushroom were rereleased in CD format: the CD release of ''Lights from the Valley'' featured as bonus tracks "Mary Lou and Me" - the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to the 1977 single "Fly by Night" - and also the songwriting demo of "The Hardest Things to See" an intended track for Chilliwack's seventh album.

Track listing

#"Never Be the Same" (Henderson) (3:30) #"I Wanna Be the One" (Henderson, Turney) (3:20) #"How Can You Hide Your Love?" (MacLeod) (3:46) #"(We Don't Have To) Fall in Love" (Henderson) (3:45) #"Lookin' for a Place" (Henderson) (4:55) #"

" (Sutherland) (3:01) #"Tonight" (Henderson, Turney) (3:10) #"She Keeps On Cryin'" (Henderson, Turney) (3:03) #"In Love With a Look" (Myers, Jalananda) (3:20) #"No Love At All" (MacLeod) (4:12)

2013 Bonus Tracks

# "Mary Lou and Me" (Henderson, Turney) (3:47) # "The Hardest Things to See" (Henderson, Turney) (songwriting demo) (2:07)

Personnel

;Chilliwack * Bill Henderson - guitar, vocals *Glenn Miller - bass, vocals *Ross Turney - drums, percussion *

- guitars, vocals *Jamie Bowers - guitar, keyboards with: *Howard Froese - acoustic guitar, backing vocals (not listed as group member/ credited as "Special thanks") *Eddie Tuduri - drums (not listed as group member/ credited as "Special thanks")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lights From The Valley 1978 albums Chilliwack (band) albums Mushroom Records albums