With 2 successful albums under their belt, the Talleys decided to start broadening their music, and “United” would have a bit more of an edgier feel to it. The Talleys were very comfortable expanding their horizons and creating music that had a bit more of a contemporary feel, and “United” was a successful fusion of Southern Gospel and Contemporary sounds. Even the splashy and colorful cover shot and artwork immediately let you know that “United” was going to be something different!

Once again produced by Bill Gaither and Gary McSpadden, they went back with Don Hart (who provided orchestral arrangements on their “Wherever I Am” album) for strings and brass, but also utilized the expertise of Bill George to assist with some of the brass arrangements, along with the vocal arrangements as well. Bill George had done some work on their “Wherever I Am” album, and had also arranged vocals for other contemporary artists during this time, and Bill Gaither suggested bringing him back to assist with this recording. As I mentioned earlier, you can definitely tell that a more concentrated (you could say a “United”) effort was made to push the musical envelope with this recording, while yet maintaining their Southern Gospel roots, and thus created an extremely successful album that yielded one of their greatest hits in their career!

The recording kicks off with the fun, brass infused, “It Runs in the Family”, which was written by Daryl Williams and Kirk Talley, and published through Rex Nelon’s publishing company, RNS Music. The Talleys were one of the first groups to record Daryl’s songs, and in fact, when Kirk was still with the Cathedrals, he published Daryl’s first song in the Cathedrals publishing company, Homeward Bound Music. Daryl pitched this song to the Talleys, but Gaither thought it needed a different verse, so Daryl went back and wrote a new second verse. Also, Gaither felt that a bridge was needed in the song, so Kirk ended up writing a bridge, making the song complete. It’s a fun and energetic tune, effectively setting the tone for the rest of the album. It’s a great song, and in fact, the Collingsworth Family revived this song when they recorded it on their 2018 recording, “Mercy & Love”.

Beautifully orchestrated, the tempo slows down as Debra delicately delivers a powerful performance on the song, “I Can Touch Him”. Due to the success of “Thinking About Home”, the Talleys were trying to find another song Debra could really sink her teeth into, but due to the overwhelming success of “Thinking About Home”, this song never really took off like they thought it would. Nonetheless, it’s a powerful song and one of my favorite Debra Talley features. Written by Steve Richardson, this was a song that Gaither pitched to the group, and in fact, Gaither pitched another song for this album that Steve wrote called, “Daystar”, and they worked on an arrangement that featured Kirk singing the song, but the Talleys eventually passed on the song, as they just didn’t feel it would work for this album. The Gaither Vocal Band eventually went on to record the song on their 1988 album, “Wings”, and it has gone on to become a classic. Hindsight being 20/20, Roger says they probably should have recorded the song! How amazing would it had been to have been the first to record “Daystar” and hear what the Talleys would have done with the song? But I digress…

With its cool piano intro, the tempo picks up for the highly enjoyable tune, “Worship the Name of the Lord”, which was written by Daryl Williams and Rich Moore. Daryl had written the first part of the song and sent it to his friend, Rich Moore, to try to finish the song, who, in turn, sent his lyric back to Daryl, who finished work on the song and eventually pitched it to Kirk for the Talleys to record. Though it was never a radio song, it was very radio friendly and became a popular concert favorite for the Talleys. In the summer of 1987, I had found Paul Heil’s “The Gospel Greats” radio program and he played this song on one of his shows and I fell in love with it and it’s one of my all-time favorite Talley tunes. I would eventually get my hands on this album when I saw the Talleys a few months later, and I couldn’t wait to listen to this song. In fact, the Talleys (Roger, Debra & Lauren) re-recorded the song several years later on their 2004 recording, “Praise for the Ages”, sticking pretty closely to the original arrangement.

Over the years, the Talleys became known for singing “family” oriented songs, and both Debra and Roger appropriately share verses for the song, “We’re Building Temples”, which was written by Kathie Hill, Gary McSpadden, and Bill George. The Talleys found this song specifically for the purpose of singing it to Lauren (Roger and Debra’s daughter), and it grew to be a very special, warm and fuzzy moment in each of their concerts, and became one of their most requested songs. Back when they were singing, they could never keep the soundtrack for the song in stock because it was their biggest selling track, and in fact, they still receive requests today from people looking for the soundtrack for this song!

The Talleys always loved tackling songs that were fun to sing, and closing out the first side is the Steve Richardson penned tune, “It Must Have Been Someone”, which features Kirk. Featuring a fun brass track, this was a great and enjoyable tune to round out the first side.

Side 2 kicks off with what became one of the Talleys best known and best loved songs, “Triumphantly, the Church Will Rise”, which was written by Kirk. Brilliantly orchestrated and backed by a choir, it was the first single from this album, and though it only topped out at #12 for the June 1987 Singing News chart (I always felt it should have gone #1), this was the Talleys “showstopper” for years. When I saw the Talleys for the first time in the fall of 1987, I recall that church came unglued on this song, and that particular performance of the song is still stuck in my head nearly 40 years later! The song went on to become a huge song in the church world and it has been sung by church choirs from all denominations, all over the world. Kirk was inspired to write the song from a sermon he heard Phil Hoskins preach on the rapture of the church, and the finished song wasn’t quite as polished as what you hear on this recording, but with some musical ideas by Bill Gaither, the song became the massive song you know today. I remember reading an article in the Singing News many years ago, where Kirk stated that after Gaither got ahold of the song, he felt the song had been “gaitherized”! The song was very different from the average songs on Southern Gospel radio at the time, and I think some of the more traditional minded listeners didn’t quite know what to think of the song, but it was a stunning anthem for the church that has become one of the true classics of our genre.

With nice piano and horn accents, along with a thumping bass track, “There’s Still Power in the Blood” picks the pace back up. Written by Kirk and featuring Roger, this was the second single release from the recording, topping out at #17 in November 1987 and again in January 1988. Kirk came to write the song after hearing some hymnal companies began omitting songs that referred to the blood from their hymnals, and knowing that you can’t remove the very thing that gives us forgiveness and salvation, he penned this song. The song still holds up today, as the Collingsworth Family recorded it on their 2015 recording, “That Day is Coming”, and did a great job with their rendition of the song.

With the success the Talleys had with singing songs with a black gospel feel, “Yes Lord, Yes”, was a perfect addition to this album. Written by Lynn Keesecker, who was a writer for Word Music at the time, the song features Kirk and was a one they used often as their opening song. Using a trick that really allowed them to make the track work for them, at the time the Talleys used ear monitors and they had a copy of the track mixed so that the Talleys would hear the click count in their ear along with the pitch of the song, and they would kick the song off acapella before the music would kick in, and the Talleys were always right on the beat and in perfect harmony! Audiences would be amazed how they could do that, but the secrets out now! The Pfeifers recorded an excellent rendition of the song in 1987 on their “Giving Our Best” album, and the song also was a popular tune for Shirley Caesar, who recorded the song on her 1988 album, “Live in Chicago”.

Southern Gospel sounds abound as Roger and Kirk are both featured on the catchy, upbeat tune, “Worthy of Our Praise”, which was another Steve Richardson penned tune, before the album closes out with the dramatic power ballad, “This Same Jesus”, which was written by Bill & Gloria Gaither, along with Danny Daniels and Dony McGuire. Featuring both Kirk and Debra, Gaither specifically pitched this song to the Talleys to give them a big power ballad in the similar vein of Sandi Patti and Larnelle Harris, and with the addition of a big choir on the final chorus, it provides “United” with a grand finish.

“United” was a groundbreaking album for the Talleys, and at the time, was their most aggressive push towards a more contemporary sound. Even though there are live orchestrations throughout the album, some of the synthesized sounds does give it a strong 80’s vibe, but it doesn’t distract from the overall uniqueness and cutting edge feel of the album. Also, compared to the warm feel of “Wherever I Am” and “Work of Heart”, I felt that “United” had a very bright and upbeat feel to it. “United” also featured 2 landmark songs for the Talleys, while also supplying a few fantastic concert favorites, making this album one of their most popular and memorable offerings during their roughly 9 years on the road.

Debra Talley was still the reigning queen in Southern Gospel Music, as once again, during the 1986 Singing News Fan Awards, she took home the “Favorite Alto” and “Favorite Female Singer” awards. The Talleys were continuing to enjoy the success of “Sweeter as the Days Go by”, from their “Work of Heart” album, as the song became one of the Top songs in 1986! Their popularity was growing, and their music was gaining wider exposure and acceptance, as it was going places that many other Southern Gospel artists could not reach. Eventually, the Talleys would find their way onto larger stages, singing to packed arenas, as they would open periodically for Sandi Patti, who was the reigning queen in the Inspirational/Contemporary gospel market. This exposed Southern Gospel music to thousands of potential fans as the Talleys represented our genre with dignity and class. As the title of this album implies, the Talleys were a “United” force, bridging the gap across multiple genres, and their future releases would continue that trend, solidifying the Talleys as a multi-genre and multi-generational artist, a truly astonishing feat that very few artists have been able to boast!

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