Personal Vault – ‘Final Destination’

This week I went in to the personal vault and pulled out another fairly recent recording released in 1999.  Not only do I want to present albums that helped shape my love of Southern Gospel music as a kid but I also want to present some of my personal favorite recordings.  I also enjoy presenting music by artists that many current listeners of Southern Gospel are not familiar with.  This week’s artist is one of those type artists.

The Crossmen Quartet began their career in 1993.  Based in Kentucky, the quartet found minimal success in the mid to late ’90′s releasing several chart hits and appearing several years at the National Quartet Convention.  Started by the Flener Brothers (Boyce and Scott), the group still travels and records today, though to little Southern Gospel mainstream attention.

Listen to sound bites from a 1999 album release by the Crossmen Quartet titled Final Destination.

Personal Vault – ‘Every Day Is A Testimony’

This week I went in to the personal vault and pulled out one of the best Southern Gospel albums you’ve never heard.  So far, I have featured recordings from the 1980′s that influenced me as a kid.  This week I wanted to find a fairly recent recording that is one of my all time favorite recordings.

The 2002 recording Every Day Is A Testimony by Paid In Full is the featured personal vault recording this week.  Even though this trio won Horizon Group at the Singing News Fan Awards several years ago, they still haven’t attained that ‘top tier’ status.  This group has all the vocal talent to compete with the industry’s top all male trios, but the Southern Gospel listening audience doesn’t seem to take notice.

With Every Day Is A Testimony being a recent recording it is available via digital download sites.  Listen to sound bites of this recording by Paid In Full.  Enjoy!

Personal Vault – ‘Think On The Good Things’

This week I went in to the personal vault and pulled out a 1983 recording from the Hoppers.  Many readers are already aware the Hoppers Brothers & Connie were the first group I saw in concert as a kid.  Their LPs were abundant in our household.

There are several other albums that will eventually be featured in the personal vault but this week I wanted to feature Think On The Good Things.  This recording, released on Benson’s Lifeline label, was the last to feature Roger and Debra Talley.  Later that year they would join forces with Kirk to form the Talleys.

Also, it was only a year prior when Dean moved off the drums and began singing lead for the Hoppers.  Enjoy sound bites from the Hoppers 1983 album, Think On The Good Things.

Personal Vault – “Double Take Live”

This week’s personal vault selection is Gold City’s 1986 album, Double Take Live In Charleston South Carolina.  As a kid, I loved listening to live recordings.  For me, it always brought back memories of seeing the group in concert.

Double Take Live was the first major recording to feature the line-up of Free, Parker, LeFevre and Riley.  Anchored by songs such as “When I Get Carried Away”, “After I Bow”, “Come On In”, “Cool Drink Of Water” and “Loose Him And Let Him Go”, this recording is one of Gold City’s greatest recordings.

Enjoy sound bites of this week’s personal vault selection; Gold City’s Double Take Live.

Personal Vault – ‘We Shall Behold The King’

This week I went into the personal vault and pulled out the Rex Nelon Singers 1983 album, We Shall Behold The King.  There seemed to be an abundance of mixed group Southern Gospel LPs in my household growing up.  While I enjoyed quartets it was those mixed groups that really shaped my love of Southern Gospel music.

One of the biggest songs of the Rex Nelon Singers career came from the We Shall Behold The King recording.  ”O For A Thousand Tongues” went on to win song of the year in 1984.  The Nelons also helped shape an era of mixed groups in the 1980′s.  They were one of the most successful mixed groups in Southern Gospel music in that decade.

That legacy can be felt some 30 years later as current groups cover songs introduced by the Nelons.  ”When I Receive My Robe And Crown”, “Lord, Please Shine Your Light”, “Walk Right Out Of This Valley”, “Fight The Good Fight” and “I Can’t Keep It To Myself” were all songs from this album that have since been covered by artists over the course of the last several years.

Listen to sound bites of another recording from the personal vault; the Rex Nelon Singers, We Shall Behold The King.

Personal Vault – ‘Antioch Church Choir (Uncle Jesse)’

This week I went into the personal vault and pulled out the Dixie Melody Boys; Antioch Church Choir (Uncle Jesse).  Released in 1982, the Dixie Melody Boys actually released the album first under a different title.  When the song “Uncle Jesse” took off, Benson Music Group picked up the album and re-released on the Lifeline label as Antioch Church Choir (Uncle Jesse).

To date, “Uncle Jesse” remains the Dixie Melody Boys only #1 song in Southern Gospel music.  Growing up in central Maryland, one would think the opportunity for seeing groups in concert were tough.  That was not the case.  The town I grew up in had an annual Southern Gospel concert that would bring in three major artists every year.  And, when there weren’t groups close to home our family would travel to Lancaster PA to all of the Garden Spot Promotion events.

I saw the Dixie Melody Boys many times in concert, as a kid in the ’80s and their LPs were abundant in our household.  Listen to sound bites of an album that helped shape my love of Southern Gospel music; the Dixie Melody Boys, Antioch Church Choir (Uncle Jesse).

Personal Vault – ’10th Anniversary Live!’

The album I pulled out of the personal vault this week is the Greenes; 10th Anniversary Live.  Released in 1989, this recording became a landmark album for the group and propelled them to the next level within Southern Gospel music.  The group’s first #1 song, “When I Knelt, The Blood Fell”, is found on 10th Anniversary Live.

More than the acclaim this album brought the Greenes, this recording helped shape my love of Southern Gospel music.  Just like the Kingsmen’s Live…Naturally album last week, this live recording from the Greenes received many listens.

With power house songs like “More Precious Than Gold”, “When I Knelt”, “It Sure Sounds Like Angels To Me”, “Arise My Love” and “Miracle In Me”, the Greenes became one of my favorite groups to see in concert.  Listen to sound bites of another recording from my personal vault that helped shape my love of Southern Gospel music; 10th Anniversary Live by the Greenes.

Personal Vault – ‘Live…Naturally’

As the new year approached, I was pondering new features to offer the reader in 2012.  Fans of any genre of music seem to enjoy talking about favorite artists and artists they don’t care for (the latter seems to be the more vocal of the two).  Having a music blog about Southern Gospel music, I personally feel an obligation to present all aspects of this music without showing partiality to any one group or style.

At the same time, folks still tend to ask me who my favorite groups are or asking what I am currently listening to.  While I won’t use this blog to harp on personal favorite groups, the questions got me to thinking.  How can I allow my readers to see a more personal side to my love of Southern Gospel music?  With that thought in mind, the new feature, personal vault was born.  Each week in the new year I will present a Southern Gospel album that shaped my love of this music growing up and offer audio sound bites of the recording being featured.

In this inaugural edition of the personal vault is the one album that stands above all others when talking about recordings that shaped my love for Southern Gospel music as a kid.  That album; Live…Naturally by the Kingsmen.  I was six years old in 1981 when this particular album was released.  That same year was the first time I saw the Kingsmen live in concert.  I remember listening to this album, more times than you can count, re-living the concert experience I had with the Kingsmen.

Jim Hamill, the larger than life personality, became my Southern Gospel hero as a kid in the ’80s.  Listen to audio sound bites of the recording, Live…Naturally.