Album Covers To Rank – Set 16

Time to rank set 16 of the best/worst Southern Gospel album covers.  In the comments section rank them from 1 to 6 (1 being best, 6 being worst).  Click on thumbnail for larger image.

Things That Last Forever – Brian Free and Assurance (1995)

Prayer In Motion – Crabb Family (1998)

A New Chapter – Dixie Echoes (2005)

100% Pure Southern Gospel – Dixie Melody Boys (1997)

Crucified With Christ – Driven Quartet (2011)

Everyday People – Greater Vision (2007)

Concert Review – Joyful Hearts 9th Annual Homecoming

This weekend boasts two home town concerts; a rarity even for Mooresville NC.  First up was Saturday (09/10/11) at the Mooresville High School.  Home town artist, the Joyful Hearts held their 9th annual homecoming concert.  Here are some highlights in order of appearance.

The Reggie Saddler Family didn’t have to travel too far to the concert tonight, calling Cherryville NC home.  This family burst on the scene in the late ’90s and had some success with a song featured on one of the Gaither Homecoming videos “I’ve Got Me A Home”.  They also turned in some crowd pleasing performances every year at NQC.  On this particular night the group shined on “Whiter Than Snow”, “It’s Still The Blood” and “The Blood Will Never Lose It’s Power”.  While the group don’t travel as much as they used to, Reggie still makes it fun for those who come to hear some good Southern Gospel music.

Home town artist, the Joyful Hearts were next on the program.  They went through “John The Revelator”, “I’ll Put On A Crown” and “Living In Canaan”.  Tenor Ryan Taulbee was impressive on the Southern Gospel standard “Oh What A Savior”.  The home town crowd seemed proud of their home town group after the performance.

To close out the program was Driven Quartet from Charlotte NC.  This young quartet, headed by Jason Funderburk, is one of the most talented young quartet’s on the road today.  Their blend is well beyond their years and they have a finesse on stage that misleads the audience in to believing they have been at this a lot longer than they have.  The group’s handling of Cathedral standards “Plan Of Salvation” and “He Made A Change” were impressive.  They also did two selections with just piano; “Just A Little Talk With Jesus” and “Heaven’s Jubilee”.  The crowd really loved those.  The overall stand out of Driven’s set was their performance of “Crucified With Christ”.  It brought the crowd to their feet.  Great!

Crucified With Christ – Driven

Driven Quartet has nearly five years under their belt.  2011 saw the release of the group’s third album; Crucified With Christ.  This follows the group’s debut recording He Will Provide and most recently their sophomore effort Driven.

This new nine song recording is mainly a collection of previously recorded music and therefore will not receive my traditional rating scale.  Instead I will offer a little insight on whether this project is worth adding to your collection.

The first plus the group has going for them, for many Southern Gospel fans, is they are a quartet.  The many quartet fans of Southern Gospel music would appreciate this young quartet putting their own ‘spin’ on some quartet standards.  The current group is composed of Scott Penuel (Tenor), Jason Funderburk (Lead), Chad Smith (Baritone) and Will Lane (Bass).  Jason is the son of Cathedral/Perfect Heart tenor Danny Funderburk.

Amongst the many quartet standards found on Crucified With Christ, the album does contain two new songs.  Both could be single possibilities.  “Marriage Supper” (Nathan Widener) is a big Southern Gospel ballad that the group has been staging now for a couple of years.  On the other end of the tempo spectrum you have ”What The Sea Saw” (Richard Calhoun).  This up tempo ‘barn burner’ would make a great live concert tune.

The group does justice to the Catheral classic “He Made A Change” (Ernie Haase/Joel Lindsey), while covers of “Oh What A Savior” and “Boundless Love” (Wilkinson) fall short; only because they have hit the ‘worn out’ threshold.  Other pleasant covers include “He Touched Me” (William Gaither) and “Thanks To Calvary” (James Pearson).

Driven is a young quartet that has a bright future if they continue to produce Southern Gospel quartet music the way they have now on all three of their recordings.  If you’re a fan of Southern Gospel standards you will enjoy Crucified With Christ.

SONG LIST:  1. “Satisfied With Jesus”  2. “Oh What A Savior”  3. “Boundless Love”  4. “He Touched Me”  5. “Marriage Supper”  6. “What The Sea Saw”  7. “Thanks To Calvary”  8. “Crucified With Christ”  9. “He Made A Change”

Smack Down!! – “Plan Of Salvation”

This week’s Smack Down feature is a bass singer show down of one of my all time favorite quartet songs.  “Plan Of Salvation”, written by Ruby Moody was recorded by the Cathedrals on their 1986 recording Master Builder.  For any fan of bass singing, the bass singer gets the lead on the verse to this song.  George Younce’s version to this song is off-limits.  He had the definitive version so you can’t choose his version.  In this Smack Down you have to choose among the (3) bass singer covers to determine which one you enjoy.  This is not to determine who sounds most like George Younce but which newer version you enjoy most.

Their have been more than three groups cover this song over the years.  I only pulled three more recent versions to use for this week’s Smack Down.  In chronological order we’ll start with Will Lane’s bass cover from Driven Quartet’s 2007 debut recording, He Will Provide.  That will be followed by Pat Barker’s bass cover from the Dixie Echoes 2009 album, I’d Rather Have Jesus.  We’ll close it out with the most recent cover, that of Tim Duncan’s off of Ernie Haase & Signature Sound’s 2010 recording, A Tribute To The Cathedral Quartet.  Enjoy!!

George Younce

Will Lane

Pat Barker

Tim Duncan

Smack Down!! – “Let Me Live”

Quick Reminder:  One more day to get your answers in for the NQC webcast giveaway.  The winner will be announced on Thursday 09/09/10.

Now let’s get to this week’s smack down.  This week we have a great quartet number titled “Let Me Live”.  Originally recorded on JD Sumner & Stamps 1972 album, Sweet Song Of Salvation, this song is for any fan of great bass singing.  Richard Sterban was with the Stamps at this time and is featured on both verses of the song.  It’s one of those quartet numbers that start slow on the verse and then the tempo increases when it gets to the chorus.  This was really a stellar line up for the Stamps at this time period with Bill Baize, Donnie Sumner, Ed Enoch and Richard Sterban.  The Stamps will take the first verse and chorus.

A young quartet decided they would cover this song on their 2009 recording, Driven.  Driven Quartet allows bass singer Will Lane to really shine on this number.  As is the case with most covers, the arrangement of Driven’s version doesn’t stray too far from the original.  Driven Quartet has yet to really get noticed by the Southern Gospel masses, but they are a fine quartet and probably one of the finest among today’s young quartets.  Driven will take the second verse and chorus.

“Let Me Live”.  Is it the Stamps or is it Driven?