Hidden Gems: Cathedrals – “Evergreen”

While the Cathedrals remain one of SG’s most popular and enduring groups, even now some 14 years after their retirement, there remains a lot of the group’s catalog that is fairly undiscovered by most fans of this music, especially in the pre-Danny Funderburk years.  This song comes from their 1981 album Colors Of His Love featuring Kirk Talley, Glen Payne, Mark Trammell, George Younce, and Roger Bennett.

This mellow sounding ballad starts with some swirling strings that put the listener in mind of wind whirling through the evergreen trees to which the title of the song refers.  It’s an interesting lyric that refers to evergreen trees standing through the storms that come up and blow.  The chorus is a prayer for God to make the believer as strong as the evergreen that stands in the forest.  It’s a very well crafted lyric that is accecntuated with some beautiful singing from Kirk Talley and some gorgeous harmonies from the quartet.  Adding to the creativity is the fact that Talley sings his step out lines on the second chorus an octave higher than on the previous chorus, swooping up from the quartet harmonies to the higher melody.  The tag includes the swirling strings, though a bit more subdued than the intro, but features a swirling round vocal tag that features the Cathedrals first, with the repeat done by female studio vocalists, again hearkening the listener to winds whipping through a forest of evergreen trees in winter.

There’s not a whole lot of flash here, but it’s a gorgeous, very well crafted song.  Someone needs to bring this one back.  If you have the album (or like me, the LP AND the 8-track!), spin it up and give it another listen!

The Top 5 SG Albums of All Time – #4 (tie)

Singing Americans – Black and White “Black And White was way ahead of its time in terms of production and performance style. Twenty-five years later, this album still sounds like it could have been recorded recently. Michael English had emerged as a dominant and unique lead singer by this point and the song selection couldn’t be better. Black And White has the perfect balance of variety ranging from toe-tappers like “Jesus Got Ahold Of Me” and “Victory Side” to ballads like “Welcome To Heaven” and “I’d Still Want To Go.” The a cappella closer “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” is the icing on the cake.” – David Bruce Murray, musicscribe.com

Cathedrals – Something Special “After spending two decades laying the foundation for their future success, Something Special was the first of a string of landmark albums that would make the Cathedrals a mega-group. From the radio hit “Step Into the Water” – the biggest radio hit the Cathedrals ever had – to the novelty song “Mexico,” several songs from this project would stay in the Cathedrals’ repertoire for the remaining seventeen years they spent on the road.” – Daniel Mount, southerngospelblog.com

100 Years Of SG At NQC

I’m going to take a break from the top 5 listing for something that is well worth bringing up. I received this press release yesterday from the NQC:

On Saturday afternoon, September 18th during the National Quartet Convention, an event celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Southern Gospel Music will prove to be one of the most historic events ever offered at the National Quartet Convention. The showcase, produced by Norman Holland of Daywind Music Group, will pay tribute to many of the artists that shaped the genre of Southern Gospel Music down through the decades.

Here are just a few of the segments that will be featured during this showcase:

• Bluegrass segment featuring members of the legendary Lewis Family, Jeff & Sheri Easter, and the newly formed Lewis Tradition
• A Gospel Caravan segment with the Lefevre Quartet, the Chuckwagon Gang, and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet
• A Speer Reunion with members Diane Mayes, Ann Downing, Sue Dodge, Jeannie Johnson, Karen Apple, Ben Speer, Faye Speer, the Speer Sisters.
• A Cathedral Reunion with Legacy Five, Greater Vision, and the Mark Trammell Quartet
• A Hinson Reunion featuring Ronnie Hinson, Chris Freeman, Larry Hinson, Bo Hinson and many former band members such as Gary Prim
• A Downings Reunion featuring Ann Downing, Joy Gardner, and Donnie McGuire
• A Rambos Reunion featuring Reba Rambo McGuire, Buck Rambo and Reba’s daughter Chastity
• A Singing Americans reunion with Michael English, Ed Hill, Rick Strickland, and Dewayne Burke
• A reunion of 1980′s version of Gold City featuring: Tim Riley, Brian Free, Ivan Parker, Mike Lefevre, and Garry Jones

The event will take place at 12:00 noon in Freedom Hall and is part of the Saturday afternoon Showcase Spectaculars at the National Quartet Convention. Complete schedule and ticket information can be found at http://www.natqc.com or by calling 800-846-8499. Those unable to attend in person may also watch this historic event live as it happens or on demand through October 31st on the NQC Webcast. Details also available at http://www.natqc.com

Wow. Let that sink in for a minute. The Gold City reunion that was the rave last week was just the tip of the iceberg. A reunited Gospel Caravan? A Downings reunion? I’m not really a fan, but a Hinson reunion? A Speer reunion? The “Evening to Remember” Cathedrals guys? A Singing Americans reunion with Michael English and Rick Strickland? Are you kidding me??

When the SN Fan Awards announced they were leaving the NQC, the natural question was “What is the NQC going to do now?” Well, I think they have answered that question and gone above and beyond any expectations that we had. I do know that they are currently looking into recording this event for an eventual DVD release. They need to do everything humanly possible to make sure this is done, as this is really a rare opportunity indeed, to see a reunion of all these greats.

Forgotten Albums: The Cathedrals – Voices In Praise Acappella

Much acclaim is given to Gold City’s 1993 acappella CD, Acappella Gold, and rightfully so as it is a tremendous album.  However, this 1983 recording by the Cathedrals during the Kirk Talley/Mark Trammell era stands as its equal.  These two albums form the “gold standard” by which all other SG acappella albums should be judged.   This album is a collection of hymns, and it was arranged masterfully by Lari Goss.  It is quite heavily stacked, and unless I miss my guess, Roger Bennett adds a fifth vocal part quite frequently.  However the arrangements are thrilling, the performances flawless, and the album impeccable.  “Brethren We Have Met To Worship” opens the album and is a true highlight.  This album also contains my favorite version of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and “Abide With Me.”  The “Children’s Medley” is also exquisite.  If the truth be told, there isn’t a weak song on the entire LP.  However, for some reason, this album is very rarely mentioned when talking about SG acappella performances, and it’s an absolute shame, as it is quite an album.  If you have this, pull it out and listen.  If you don’t, start scouring Amazon and Ebay now.

Album Amnesia – Why??

In yesterday’s post I suggested that there are albums that are so influential that we tend to forget any previous recordings by a group.  Gold City’s Pillars Of Faith, the Cathedrals’ Something Special, the Kingsmen’s Chattanooga Live are great examples of this phenomenon.  The follow-up question in my mind is this:  Why?  What is it about these albums that produce this effect?

I was discussing this via email with Daniel Mount yesterday and he made the statement that he feels it is because these albums redefine the artist.  I agreed with him, and after further reflection I still do.  The album doesn’t even necessarily have to be the “best” or “capstone” album of the group’s career, though I feel this is certainly the case with Pillars. However, as far as album quality goes, I think Symphony of Praise by the Cats outshines Something Special, and Live Naturally may be an even better Kingsmen album.  However, these “amnesia albums” mark a milestone in an artist’s career.  It designates a place where everything changed.  Daniel’s post today is carrying a tangent from my initial post yesterday, and in his comments Brady is submitting the Hoppers’ On These Grounds project as an “amnesia album.”  Here’s the money quote in his justification:

…the most important single off that recording, “Here I Am,” the group’s first number one song and the first single with Kim Hopper on it. She redefined that group with one single, in my opinion, and they’ve never looked back. While that album was more of a transitional recording and certainly not of the classic caliber that the aforementioned Cathedrals projects became, it established the beginning of Kim’s career with them and the beginning of their stronghold at the top of the family/mixed group genre.

This is exactly what I’m getting at with these posts.  These projects represent a momentous point in a group’s career where individual songs that predate those albums may survive and still thrive, but the body of previously recorded work as a whole will suffer when such a definitive statement is made by the artist.  Do you agree?

Albums That Cause Amnesia

Nate and I were discussing Kyle’s latest Recording Oddities post about Gold City’s Answer The Call album, and the fact that a great album like ATC is largely overlooked these days, especially since it was the precursor to Pillars Of Faith.  (Be looking for a new series on forgotten albums in the next few days, and that one will be Exhibit A.)  Nate made a very astute statement.

“Pillars was so huge it caused a lot of amnesia to their discography.”

I tend to agree.  These days, when discussing great albums by Gold City, the discussion basically starts with POF, and goes forward from there.  You’ll see albums mentioned like Walk The Talk, Revival, and Preparing The Way mentioned.  While those albums have their own merits, there were some great albums before Pillars as well.  Windows Of Home is an incredible album, probably the best pre-Pillars recording in their catalog.  There are others, the aforementioned Answer The Call, Live, Movin’ Up, Portrait are wonderful albums, and Double Take is one of the best live albums you’ll hear.  All these are largely forgotten these days, as Pillars really seemed to draw a line in the sand for the group.

I’d posit that Something Special accomplished the same thing for the Cathedrals.  How much do people ever discuss albums like Welcome To Our World, With Brass, or With Strings?  Those are great albums, as are Live In Concert and Then And Now.  It seems that Something Special really drew the same kind of line in the sand for the Cathedrals that Pillars did for Gold City.

What do you think?  Can you think of other albums that seemed to cause most previous ones by the artist to be forgotten, even though there were some great ones before?  How about We Shall Behold The King by the Nelons?  Does that one fit?

Concert Review: An Evening To Remember

Last Friday night, my wife and I attended one of the Cathedrals Tribute series concerts, that are promoted as “An Evening To Remember.”  Quite so.  The concert was held at a fairly large church in Olive Branch, MS.  The balcony area was empty, but the main floor of the sanctuary was pretty much full.  My guess would be 400 or so in attendance.  We were a bit surprised that there weren’t more people, as I said, no one was in the balcony area at all.  There was no opening group (thankfully), and the concert lasted for nearly four hours.

First on stage was Danny Funderburk.  I’ve had to guess at a couple of these song titles, but the guess does at least make sense, and here is his set list:

• The Offer Still Stands
• He Set Me Free
• Rise Up And Walk
• Everybody Praise the Lord
• You’re Still God
• Statue Of Liberty

Danny may not have the range that he used to have, but his voice is still strong and pure.  Most of his solo stuff is pitched more in a lead or baritone range, so much so that Christy leaned over and said “I thought he was a tenor singer??” at one point.  That was a bit of a shock to us, as I’d not really heard much from Danny since his Perfect Heart days, save a couple of Silent Power cuts and a Royals cut here and there.  However, Danny still has that ability to connect with his audience, and still can convey his message in song like few others.  He used a video presentation with “Statue of Liberty” that was very well done, and added a lot to the impact of the song.  Danny has had a lot of major health issues over the past 4 years or so, and it’s nothing short of a miracle that he is still standing on stage and performing at a high level.  It was good to see and hear him again.

Next came the Mark Trammell Quartet, whom I was looking very much forward to seeing.  I’d not seen Mark since his Gold City days.  Here is their set list:

• Gentle Shepherd
• Hallelujah I’m Going Home
• How Big Is God
• Leave Your Sorrows And Come Along
• Loving The Lamb
• I’ll Have A New Life/Everybody Will Be Happy Over There

MTQ hit the stage with Dustin Sweatman at the piano and Mark playing bass.  “Gentle Shepherd” was incredibly smooth.  Pat Barker has really made a name for himself with “How Big Is God”, and could soon be likened to Ernie Haase and “Oh What A Savior” in that he has taken an “oldie” and turned it into a signature song all of his own.  He really does an outstanding job on it, and has a tremendously expressive bass solo voice.  After that song, Dustin got up from the piano for the next two.  “Loving The Lamb” is absolutely huge.  Great lyrics, great arrangement, great performance.  Barker’s bass foundation really completes the song, and Mark absolutely sings the fire out of it.  Easily one of the highlights of the night, but so was the next song.  Mark said “I’ve got 3 minutes left and I don’t know what to do with myself…”, and at this point Legacy 5 had made their way to the stage and were sitting down in some chairs off to the side.  Mark said he’d had a request for an old Cathedrals tune, left the mic for a minute and spoke with Dustin and Pat, then Dustin started into the Cathedrals’ classic medley of “I’ll Have A New Life/Everybody Will Be Happy Over There.”  The crowd ate it up, so they encored it and Legacy 5 joined in on the encore.  It was a great moment.

Obviously Legacy 5 hit the stage next.  After some humorous banter between Mark and Scott, L5 got their set going.  Here is the set list for them:

• Strike Up The Band
• I’ve Been Changed
• Wonderful Grace Of Jesus (piano solo)
• I Stand Redeemed
• Life Will Be Sweeter Someday
• Great Is Thy Faithfulness

“Strike Up The Band” is a great, high-energy song for Legacy 5 to hit the stage running, so to speak.  Glenn Dustin’s performance of “I’ve Been Changed” is fantastic, and Tim Parton is a true piano guru.  Gus does well with the reinvented version of “I Stand Redeemed”, and it’s a great feature for his full-voiced tenor style.  He has really fit in well with Legacy 5, and has taken them to another level.  “Life Will Be Sweeter” is another Cathedrals tune that popped up before the actual “tribute” started, and they do well with it.  “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” is a typical Goss epic ballad, and was another one of the night’s highlights.  I came away incredibly impressed by Legacy 5, their sound with Gaches has really gelled.

Sitting in the headliner slot was Greater Vision.  I was very excited to get to hear them so soon into Allman’s return tenure with the group.  Their set list included only one “recent” GV song, the rest have been around for quite a while:

• I Could Never Praise Him Enough
• He’d Still Been God
• Tell Me The Story Of Jesus/I Love To Tell The Story
• You Better Hurry Up
• Hallelujah Square
• My Name Is Lazarus
• It Pays To Pray

I hadn’t heard Greater Vision in concert since the mid-late 90s at the beginning of the Waldroup era.  Chris Allman has either been stuck in a time warp, or had his voice cryogenically preserved.  He sounded amazing, like he just stepped out of 1994.  My earlier comments about Pat Barker and “How Big Is God” could easily be repeated here for Allman and “Hallelujah Square.”  One advantage to a previous member returning to a group is that it does not take long for the sound to gel, and that is the case here.  They’ve just kept going without missing a beat, and are vocally top notch.  I also really liked the pacing of their set, it was pretty much high energy from the get-go.

After an intermission, Gerald, Scott, Mark, Danny, and Glenn performed their tribute to the Cathedrals and shared some stories along with the singing.  Here is the set list:

• Plan Of Salvation
• Master Builder
• There’s Something About That Name
• I Will Serve Thee
• Somebody Touched Me
• Movin’ Up To Gloryland
• Heavenly Parade
• Boundless Love
• Wonderful Grace Of Jesus
• Daystar
• Champion Of Love

“Plan Of Salvation” was pretty predictable to start out this portion of the concert, but the predictability in no way compromises the effectiveness.  Gerald played for Danny, Scott, Mark, and Glenn, and those four have a really nice blend.  Glenn Dustin deserves some praise here.  His performance was very reminiscent of George Younce, without being an obvious imitation of George.  His approach to the song was similar to George’s, without mimicking Younce’s vocal stylings.  In George’s absence, no one could do a finer job on the song than Glenn Dustin.  “Master Builder” was as great and exciting as ever, and the next two songs “Something About That Name” and “I Will Serve Thee” featured some really smooth harmonies.  Danny gave a great performance on “Somebody Touched Me.”  I mentioned that he’d lost some range over the years, but listening to this song took you back 20 years or so.  “Movin’” provided some nice comedic fodder.  First, Pat Barker had written out the words for Glenn Dustin, and had purposefully mixed the lyrics up.  At one point, Gerald took over singing bass for Glenn with Tim Parton moving to the piano, and in “retaliation”, Glenn started pulling the slack out of Gerald’s mic cord, with the unexpected result of nearly changing Gerald from a bass to a soprano!  Gerald quipped as he avoided the cord, “You about made me jump 2 octaves!”  After the laughter subsided from ALL parties, Gerald stayed on bass vocals for an acappella rendition of “Heavenly Parade.”

Dianne Wilkinson was in attendance that night, and so the guys paid tribute to her by singing her monster hit, “Boundless Love”, and again, you’d have thought you were listening to the Travelin’ Live album.  “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” was delightfully disastrous, then Gerald, Mark, and Danny provided another concert highlight with an incredible performance of “Daystar.”  “Champion Of Love” concluded the night with everyone on stage for the finale.

This was one of the most enjoyable concerts that I’ve ever attended.  Gus Gaches told me afterwards that a lot of what went on during the Cathedrals tribute was spontaneous and unplanned, but that was what they all enjoyed about these concerts.  The artists are truly having as much fun with it as the audience is in listening.  If you get a chance to attend one of these, do not miss it!  You’ll laugh, cry, and have the time of your life!  Thanks guys for a wonderful evening!

Mansion Releases Sing Out America DVDs

In the early 80s, Bill Traylor had a TV show called “Sing Out America!” (thanks Kyle!).  Last night after running some errands down around the mall, I told my wife I’d like to head over to Lifeway and just look around a while.  I must say that while their selection of SG CDs was decent, but fairly picked over, they did have a pretty nice selection of SG DVDs.  There were a couple of Crabb Family DVDs, Brian Free & Assurance’s latest DVD (with the songs from Real Faith), and several other non-Gaither DVDs.  As I was looking through, I came across several DVDs that were labeled “Sing Out America” from Mansion Entertainment.  Volume 5 was labeled “Gold City Quartet.”

I bought the DVD for $12.98 and took it home.  There were 10 songs on it, 8 of which were from the short lived Brian Free/Bill Crittendon/Jerry Ritchie/Tim Riley lineup.  The other two were the classic Free/Parker/Lefevre/Riley lineup.  It’s interesting to note that while a full band accompanies both eras, the earlier performances are obviously done live, while the Parker/Lefevre songs (“Cool Drink Of Water” and “After I Bow”!!) are pretty obviously lip-synched to the Double Take recording.  Still, it’s a great video to watch, as it documents the early days of Gold City, as well as being a very rare lineup.

I checked Mansion’s website this morning, and there are 10 volumes.

• Volume 1: A Classic Collection
• Volume 2:  The Blackwood Brothers with Guests, The Speer Family, The Dixie Echoes
• Volume 3: The Speer Family
• Volume 4: Florida Boys
• Volume 5: Gold City Quartet
• Volume 6: Rusty Goodman Family
• Volume 7: The Hoppers
• Volume 8: The Hinsons
• Volume 9: The McKameys
• Volume 10: Wendy Bagwell and The Sunliters

The video and audio are of pretty good quality, and definitely better than the Gospel Singing Jubilee DVDs I found a while back at Dollar General.  They’re not quite Gaither quality, but they’re definitely worth watching.  Though they aren’t credited as such, The Cathedrals do appear on both Volumes 1 and 2 of the collection.  One minor glitch, at least on the Gold City DVD, is that the song listing on the back of the DVD case is incorrect, and not a complete list.  “After I Bow” was not listed at all, but was instead a VERY pleasant surprise, as it’s one of my all time favorite Gold City songs.

Be watching out for these.  I know Lifeway has them, and you can get them Direct from Mansion’s website.

Thanksgiving Hidden Gem: Cathedrals – “We Are So Blessed”

With this being a short week and the season to give thanks, I thought it would be appropriate to turn the attention to SG songs that express the sentiment.  There aren’t many finer songs that do so than this classic from the 1983 Cathedrals album, Live In Atlanta.  There’s no screaming high ending, no weird chord progressions, or subsonic bass singing.  What you get is a subdued yet beautiful ballad by Kirk Talley, Glen Payne, Mark Trammell, and George Youce, with some of the prettiest singing you’ll hear from that lineup.  The lyrics are really the strength of the song, and the no frills arrangement really highlights the message well.  Pull out your copy and spin it up again.  It’s a great way to get into the proper frame of mind for Thanksgiving.  I’d love to hear the Booth Brothers apply their smooth vocals to this song.

Thoughts Of The Day: Dominant Radio Singles

David Bruce Murray has some very thought provoking posts about the lack of dominant singles in SG radio these days.  Both posts are definitely worth reading, and to dovetail on his idea, I also find it interesting that there seems to be a specific lack of dominant number 1 chart songs.  From his post, the single longest time period spent at number one by one song is three months, “Through The Fire” by the Crabb Family, and equaled by “Searchin’” from the Talley Trio.  Both of those songs were in 2000.  I can think of three or four songs off the top of my head that easily equal or beat those two.  “Excuses” by the Kingsmen stayed number one for multiple months, as did “Learning To Lean” by the Blackwood Brothers, and if I recall “Midnight Cry” and “Step Into The Water” both held the top spot for several months as well.  It’s interesting to consider the reasons why there doesn’t seem to be the chart domination that we saw 10-20 years ago.  Are more good songs being written, or is it just a glut of songs and artists period, quality notwithstanding, thereby diluting the mixture, so to speak?  What think ye?