This week’s artist album smack down is the first match up for the Kingsmen. Listen to sound bytes of each recording and then vote for the album you think should win.
Album – Stand Up At Opryland USA- Release Year – 1986
- Vocal Line Up – Gary Sheppard (tenor), Jim Hamill (lead), Ed Crawford (baritone), Ray Dean Reese (bass)
- Song List – (1) “Meet Me At The Table” (2) “Nobody Saved But Me” (3) “The Captain” (4) “Leave Your Sorrows And Come Along” (5) “Piano Medley” (6) “We May Be Leaving” (7) “I Sing Because” (8) “Stand Up” (9) “Angels Are Hard To Find” (10) “Stand Up – Reprise”
Album – Proven Time And Time Again- Release Year – 2000
- Vocal Line Up – Jerry Martin (tenor), Bryan Hutson (lead), Parker Jonathan (baritone), Ray Dean Reese (bass)
- Song List – (1) “Getcha To The Other Side” (2) “The Next Cloud” (3) “Without Jesus” (4) “Oh Brother” (5) “Angels Is Flight” (6) “I’ve Made A Covenant With My Lord” (7) “Forever Redeemed” (8) “Going Home To Live” (9) “I’ll Meet You When The Morning Comes” (10) “I’ve Never Trusted You” (11) “Heaven Now Is Waiting” (12) “A Much Better Way”
Southern Gospel Views From The Back Row 
By far, Stand Up…hands down!
I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I prefer _Proven_.
The Martin/Hutson/Jonathan/Reese line-up is the second best lineup the Kingsmen ever had (#1 being Phillips/Hamill/Maynard/Reese).
_Shelter_, _Proven_ and _I Will_ were all excellent.
From the old days of the Kingsmen, I’ve always preferred the Ernie Phillips/Wayne Maynard recordings over the Garry Sheppard/Ed Crawford releases. I realize _Stand Up_ is very popular, but I like stuff like _Live At The University Of Alabama_ better. Phillips/Hamill/Maynard/Reese with the occasional feature for Eldrige Fox was an incredible combination.
Yeah, I don’t know if the Kingsmen ever sounded better than that late ’90s early 2000s lineup. “The Next Cloud,” “Joy’s Gonna Come,” “God Sits on High”…really good sangin’.
Now if the smackdown had been between Live at the University of Alabama and Stand Up, my choice would have been Live at the University of Alabama! That was a GREAT live album! They certainly don’t make ’em like they used to!
Stand Up at Opryland is my personal favorite Kingsmen recording!
While I might actually prefer the vocal lineup on “Proven Time and Time Again”, I will rarely vote for a studio recording over a live one…”Stand Up” gets my vote.
I actually went for Proven. I know, the Kingsmen’s live albums were what made them great, but when we’re pitting a good-but-not-quite-as-great live album against one of the best studio recordings they ever made, with one of the best vocal lineups they ever had, I had to go with Proven.
“Proven Time and Time Again” is one of the best southern gospel recordings you will every hear. I have been a Kingsmen fan for a long time and was a huge fan of Garry Shepard, however based on the talent line up and the song selection “Proven” to me is their best recording.
“Stand Up” was not bad, but not their best live album. However, each of their live albums displayed that Kingsmen quality that defined them as a group, namely, their stage presence. Never known for exceptionally tight harmonies, they were nevertheless unsurpassed as live performers during their heyday. IMO they should have made every recording a live album.
As far as studio recordings go, I’d have to pick “Good News” as one of the best the Kingsmen/Carolina Boys ever did. From the clips I’m hearing of “Provern..”, to me, it doesn’t top “Good News”.
For the question of this blog post, I see that the poll is now closed, but I’d go with “Stand Up”.
Now, if you’d done this with “Big and Live 2”, as the one live album (“Not Quite as Big, but Just as Live Again”, a remake of many of the songs on Big and Live, but with Jerry, Bryan, Parker, and Ray singing) is sometimes called, that would be a closer contest.