The Collection (1986)

The Collection is an official compilation album by Christian singer - songwriter Amy Grant, released on July 22, 1986 by Myrrh/Word Records and A&M Records.

Released one year after the successful release of Grant's first mainstream album Unguarded. The Collection contains two new songs: "Stay for Awhile," which was released as a single on both Christian and mainstream AC radio stations along with a music video that won a Dove Award for Short Form Music Video of the Year, and "Love Can Do."

The Collection was originally released in two different versions: a cassette version and an LP version. The LP version was directed to her newer fans, who knew her primarily for her Top 40 pop hit "Find a Away." The cassette version was directed to her older fans, who knew her for her Christian work as well as her secular work. The LP version contained ten tracks, and the cassette version contained fifteen tracks. In 1990, The Collection was re-released on CD with the 15 tracks featured on the cassette version, and two additional tracks, "Too Late" and "I'm Gonna Fly," both from In Concert, Volume 2. Songs from Amy Grant and In Concert are not represented on this album.

That same year, Grant collaborated with former Chicago lead singer Peter Cetera on the single "The Next Time I Fall" (from Cetera's solo album Solitude/Solitaire) and went to number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and AC charts, giving Grant her first number one hit. The Collection topped the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart and would make its year-end charts Top 10 for the next four years from 1987 to 1990, taking the number one album of 1988. It also peaked at number 66 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and went platinum in 1989. In 2007, the album was digitally remastered and reissued by Sparrow Records/EMI-Christian Music Group.

Track listing on the CD version

1. Stay for Awhile (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Wayne Kirkpatrick) (new recording) -5:37

2. Love Can Do (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Wayne Kirkpatrick) (new recording) -4:22

3. Find a Way (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith) (from Unguarded) -3:27

4. Everywhere I Go (Mary Lee Kortes) (from Unguarded) -4:10

5. Angels (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Brown Bannister, Gary Chapman) (from Straight Ahead) -4:10

6. Thy Word (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith) (from Straight Ahead) -3:19

7. Emmanuel (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith) (from A Christmas Album) -3:07

8. Where Do You Hide Your Heart (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith) (from Straight Ahead) -3:55

9. Sing Your Praise to the Lord (Rich Mullins) (from Age to Age) -3:17

10. In a Little While (Amy Grant, Gary Chapman, Brown Bannister, Shane Keister) (from Age to Age) -4:22

11. El Shaddai (Michael Card, John Thompson) (from Age to Age) -4:06

12. I Have Decided (Michael Card) (from Age to Age) -3:16

13. Too Late (Amy Grant, Gary Chapman, Chris Christian) (from In Concert Volume 2) -4:24

14. I'm Gonna Fly (Amy Grant) (from In Concert Volume 2) -4:23

15. All I Ever Have To Be (Gary Chapman) (from Never Alone) -2:38

16. Father's Eyes (Gary Chapman) (from My Father's Eyes) -4:05

17. Ageless Medley (from the single EP Ageless Medley) -6:10

Old Man's Rubble (Brown Bannister)

Too Late (Amy Grant, Chris Christian, Brown Bannister)

Walking Away With You (Amy Grant, Gary Chapman, Chris Christian)

El Shaddai (Michael Card, John Thompson)

I'm Gonna Fly (Amy Grant)

Father's Eyes (Gary Chapman)

Sing Your Praise to the Lord (Rich Mullins)

I Have Decided (Michael Card)

Gold certified in 1987.

Platinum certified in 1989.

Production credits

Brown Bannister -producer (all tracks)

John Potoker -co-producer (tracks 1 and 2)

Accolades

Dove Award -Short Form Music Video of the Year ("Stay for Awhile")

Radio singles

1986 "Stay for Awhile" -#18 Billboard AC, #1 Christian CHR, #2 Christian AC

1986 -1987 "Love Can Do" -#6 Christian CHR

Previous release: Unguarded (1985)

Next release: Lead Me On (1988)

Watch the music video of "Stay for Awhile" here: