Ten On Ten – Ruppes

The ten on ten feature continues this week, highlighting the recording career of the Ruppes.  Sisters is one of the best vocal groups touring the Southern Gospel circuit in 2013.  All three members of Sisters (all siblings) got their start singing with mother Brenda Ruppe as part of the female trio, the Ruppes.

The trio recorded their first album in 1975 and ended up with 15 albums by the time they recorded their final album as the Ruppes in 2005.

The Ruppes ten best albums are as follows:

1. Through The Fire (1995)
2. Seasons (1997)
3. Born To Serve (2001)
4. Sweet Forever (2005)
5. Harbor Of Hope (1999)
6. Something In The Air (2004)
7. Until He Comes (1992)
8. Free (2002)
9. Up There Somewhere (1993)
10. Put That On My Account (1986)

• The pinnacle in the Ruppes discography is their 1995 album, Through The Fire.  This was the album that launched the Ruppes career and made them a household name in Southern Gospel music.  Their break through mega-song, “Under His Wings” is found on Through The Fire.
• “Under His Wings” went on to be nominated song of the year at the Singing News fan awards in 1997 and their performance of the song on the awards show was one of the best NQC performances of the last 20 years.  The album also contained “Cross By The Cross”, “The Father’s Compassion”, “Follow The Leader”, “He’s Not Here” and “We’re Gonna Rise”.
• The Ruppes 1997 album, Seasons ranks #2 among the group’s ten best.  This album contained the group’s first #1 song, “Angels In The Room”.  The Ruppes became the first all female group to garner a #1 song on the Singing News chart.
• The album also gave the listener “Bless The Lord”, “Come Sweet Anointing”, “Light From Heaven”, “Redemption Complete”, “We Shall Behold Him” and “When Jesus Speaks Peace”.
• The Ruppes spent their biggest years in Southern Gospel music with SpringHill Records.  Six of the group’s ten best were recorded with SpringHill.
• If you can find a copy, the real gem in the Ruppes discography is their 1992 album, Until He Comes.  This recording was my first introduction to the Ruppes, anchored by the song “Thorns Crowned The Rose”.  This song still remains one of my favorite Ruppe songs.
• The oldest Ruppe album to make the list of ten is the 1986 recording, Put That On My Account.  The album contains some great covers of “He’s On The Throne”, “Overcomer”, “Then I Met The Master”, “This One Thing I Know” and “Welcome To Heaven”.
• In addition to the songs already listed, the Ruppes introduced the Southern Gospel listener to the following hits:  ”By The Way Of The Cross”, “Do You Love Me”, “The Healer”, “Hope Is Alive”, “Jesus You Are Him”, “Lord It Hurts”, “Made By Mercy”, “My Wants Been Changed”, “Singing In The Rain”, “Some Things Never Change”, “Up There Somewhere” and “The Victory’s In The Shout”.
• The Ruppes are one of only a handful of all female groups to have success in Southern Gospel music.  They join groups such as Heirloom, Johnson Sisters, McRaes, Perry Sisters, Red Roots and Sisters.
• It is nice to see the Ruppe legacy continue with Heather, Kim and Valerie (Sisters).

***NEXT UP ON TEN ON TEN:  PERFECT HEART***

sghistory.com Retro Spotlight – ‘The Way-The Truth-The Life’

After reading this post this morning regarding Sisters power house performance last evening at the Absolutely Gospel awards program, I thought I would piggy back on that post and offer a retro spotlight of the Ruppes very first album.

The Way-The Truth-The Life was recorded by the Ruppes in 1975.  Kim Lord and Heather Day were youngsters when they recorded this album with mom Brenda Ruppe.  The Ruppes burst on the scene in 1996 with the release of their most popular song, “Under His Wings”.  They followed that up by becoming the only all female group to ever garner a #1 hit on the Singing News charts; “Angels In The Room”.

While this older album may not stand up to today’s recording standards, the nostalgia of the recording is too good not to play.  Listen to sound bites of the very first album recorded by the Ruppes; The Way-The Truth-The Life.  Enjoy!

Retro Spotlight – 1992 – Part 1

It has been two weeks now since I offered my first retro spotlight post of 1986.  Due to the positive feedback, the retro spotlight will become a regular feature of this blog.  I already have several requests for different years to be featured and I will get around to all of them.  This week I wanted to shine the spotlight on the year 1992.  This year alone could bring a weeks worth of posts with the amount of music I have.  I am going to bring you two parts with a post today and a post tomorrow.

As I began looking through my collection for music from 1992, the sheer number of recordings was a bit overwhelming.  I started part 1 with a clip from the Anchormen’s 1992 recording, In Concert.  David Hill was the lead vocalist at the time of the recording for “Behold The King”.

One cannot talk about 1992 and miss what many herald as one of the greatest Southern Gospel music albums ever recorded.  I am talking about Gold City’s Pillars Of Faith.  Every song on this recording is worth providing a clip but I decided to choose “If God Be For Us”.

The Greenes were also riding high during this era.  Amy Lambert was the group’s soprano during this time and 1992 saw the release of two albums by the Greenes.  Safe In Christ was the mainline release but the group also released and album titled Mountain Heritage.  The Greenes took a Phil Spector song made popular by the trio of Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt and sang it as a gospel song.  With it being Valentine’s day I thought it would be fitting to use “To Know Him Is To Love Him”.

The Hoppers were also coming to the fore front during this time period.  Mention My Name was the group’s release in 1992.  The title track along with “Milk & Honey” were both #1 hits from that recording.  A clip of “Milk & Honey” has been provided.

The Kingdom Heirs were already known for being Dollywood’s quartet.  Just as now, during the winter months the group toured.  In 1992 the group released Extraordinary.  The vocal line-up during this time period was Rick Strickland (Tenor), Clayton Inman (Lead), Steve French (Baritone) and Eric Bennett (Bass).  Listen to “I Can See Heaven”.

A group that ended up winning horizon group at the Singing News fan awards during this era had one of my favorite albums of 1992.  One Step Forward by the Mullins took that classic country sound similar to the Hinsons and brought it up to date (for 1992) to create a unique sound.  “This Shelter’s Strong” is the clip provided.

The mother/daughters trio, the Ruppes, didn’t make a name for themselves in the industry until later in the decade with “Under His Wings”.  The truth is the group actually released their first recording as far back as 1975.  In 1992 the group released an album titled Until He Comes which featured a great ballad titled “Thorns Crowned The Rose”.

Don’t fret if you think I am missing anything from 1992 because I will be posting part 2 tomorrow.  The final recording for part 1 comes from the Singing Americans.  This was the final configuration of the group before they disbanded for good a couple of years later.  1992 saw the release of On Stage.  The song “I’ll Not Turn Back” was more recently recorded by the Kingsmen.  Here is the Singing Americans version.