I hope everyone enjoyed the last series on the Talleys. As we move on to our next group, we’ll tackle a more traditional group as we talk about the music of the Inspirations. I don’t remember ever NOT hearing their music, as I grew up watching them on the Gospel Singing Jubilee during the mid to late 70’s. Additionally, I grew up listening to their albums, as my dad had their first 13 albums in his collection, and they were the first group I remember seeing in concert in the summer of 1980. Their music is a big part of my youth, and even today their music is making a huge impact on me. I hope you’ll join me as we tackle a large portion of their discography from 1966 through 2001. Along the way we’ll talk about their history and the wonderful music they have made through the years, so let’s get started…

The first couple of years of the Inspirations’ existence, several men passed through Martin Cook’s doors for nightly singing sessions in his basement, but by late Spring of 1966, the group consisted of Martin playing piano, along with Archie Watkins on tenor, Ronnie Hutchins singing lead, Jack Laws handling the baritone, and a very young Troy Burns tackling the bass. Troy had only been with the group for one or two weeks before they went into the studio to record their very first album, “Our Pioneer Heritage”. In fact, if my dates are correct, the album was recorded right before the Inspirations sang their first major concert in Atlanta, GA on June 10, 1966, but not entirely sure the album was released by that time.

“Our Pioneer Heritage” was recorded at Mark V Studios in Greenville, SC, which was one of the early independent music studios in the southeast. The studio was still relatively new at this point, as 3 brothers, Bill, Harold, and Joe Huffman had opened the studio just a few years earlier in 1961. The studio became a major hubbub of activity, as artists from not just gospel, but from all facets of the music industry recorded there during the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The Inspirations recorded all their early albums at Mark V, and even after they had signed with Canaan Records in 1972, they continued to record many of their label albums at Mark V Studios throughout the 70’s and 80’s.

The album completely embodied the title, “Our Pioneer Heritage”, from the songs and arrangements to the cover art and picture, which was taken at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, near Cherokee, NC, which is at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Inspirations were proud of their heritage and being from Bryson City, NC, and this album was the first of many albums over the years that proudly showcased the beautiful scenery of the area. In fact, the Inspirations returned to the same spot for the cover shot of their 2022 recording, “A Pioneer Legacy”. For this initial recording by the Inspirations, Martin Cook played the piano, along with Harold or Bill Huffman playing bass (there is some uncertainty on which brother played bass). Some of the Inspirations’ earliest albums did not credit a piano player, but it is believed that Martin played on their earliest albums, with Jack Clark and Otis Forrest playing on the later ones.

“Our Pioneer Heritage” features mostly popular songs of the day that were performed by the Statesmen, Sego Brothers & Naomi, Happy Goodmans, Oak Ridge Boys, LeFevres, Speers and others, such as “That Heavenly Home”, “Silver and Gold”, “Little is Much”, “I Wouldn’t Take Nothing for my Journey Now”, “Without Him”, “I’ll Really Be Free”, “Born to Serve the Lord”, “I am His and He is Mine” and “I Like the Old Time Way”. As a kid at the time I heard this album, my exposure to Southern Gospel was pretty limited, and this album was actually my initial introduction to several of these songs, as I had not yet become familiar with many of their more popular versions.

Closing out each side, the group also renders their own rendition of the classic hymns, “How Great Thou Art” (side 1) and “Amazing Grace” (side 2). Though not originally recorded as the iconic acapella version they were known for in later years, “Amazing Grace” eventually became a signature song for the group. In fact, the Inspirations went on to record the hymn at least 6 times over a 57-year span, and they still perform the song from time to time in their concerts today.

Though all the songs from “Our Pioneer Heritage” were basically “cover tunes”, this album offers the earliest of the Inspirations’ influences with the song, “Live Like Jesus”, which they learned from the Harmonizing Four, and was recorded on their 1960 album, “God Will Take Care of You”. Groups like the Statesmen, Blackwood Brothers and others, were heavily influenced by black gospel quartets such as the Harmonizing Four and the Golden Gate Quartet, and the Inspirations were no different. If you notice, the Inspirations’ version more closely follows the version by the Harmonizing Four, rather than the popular version by the Statesmen, which they recorded on their 1966 album, “The Happy Sound…”. In forthcoming articles, we’ll be re-visiting the relationship between the Inspirations and the Harmonizing Four quite often, as they had an enormous influence on the group. Sadly though, the Inspirations drifted away from some of those amazing tunes as the 70’s gave way to a slightly different sound. The guys would still churn out some great spirituals over the course of their career, but there was just something “spiritual” about those spirituals they recorded during the 60’s.

Shortly after releasing “Our Pioneer Heritage”, the Inspirations released, “Cool Water”, which offered more robust arrangements with additional instruments, including drums and guitar, played by Mike Burnette and Joe Huffman, respectively. It is likely that both albums, “Cool Water” and “Just as Long as Eternity Rolls”, were either recorded and released at the same time, or very closely together. Again, both albums were recorded at Mark V Studios in Greenville, SC and unlike their first album, both albums featured stock pictures for the cover, but each album did feature a picture of the group on the back.

“Cool Water” kicks off with what eventually became one of the Inspiration’s most popular tunes, “On the Sunny Banks”, which was written by Dottie Rambo. Recorded by several groups around this time including the Speers, Downings, Gospel Echoes (Rambos), Oak Ridge Boys and others, the Inspirations created a unique arrangement having Archie taking the lead, with the others providing some beautiful high harmony on the verses. I definitely hear a bit of a Swanee River Boys influence, and it became an extremely popular song for the Inspirations. In fact, the song was still charting in the Singing News charts in early 1970, 4 years after the album was released!

Much like their first album, “Cool Water” features popular tunes of the day including “I Will Follow Thee”, “Well Done My Child”, as well as another Dottie Rambo classic, “Come Spring”. When the Inspirations were first starting out, they sang a lot of songs from Stamps-Baxter songbooks, and on this album, they included popular Stamps-Baxter tunes, “Getting Ready to Leave this World”, “We’ll Soon Be Done with Troubles and Trials” as well as another rarely heard gem, “Glorified Body” (written by Agnes McLemore and Rev. James Poole), which is one of my personal favorites from this album. In fact, the Hopper Brothers & Connie recorded the song several years later, on a 3-record set they released in 1977. Additionally, the Inspirations were one of the first groups to record “He’ll Hold My Hand”, which was another Stamps-Baxter tune, written by Henry Donohue. This original version features Jack Laws, but several years later it became one of Ronnie Hutchins’ signature songs. When Ronnie left the Inspirations in 1973, he joined the LeFevres and he recorded the song with them on their 1973 album, “Happiness is Gospel”. The song became a big hit for the LeFevres, soaring to the #4 position in the Singing News chart in July 1974. When Ronnie returned to the Inspirations in the mid-80’s, he re-recorded the song on their 1987 album, “It’s Still the Blood”.

As we revisit their Harmonizing Four influences, the Inspirations churn out the spiritual, “That’s Why I Love to Call His Name”. The Harmonizing Four recorded the song on their 1960 album, “God Will Take Care of You”, which is where the Inspirations originally heard the song. With black gospel being a huge influence in the Southern Gospel quartet circuit, the song was adapted by Rex Nelon and the LeFevres in the early 60’s, and they recorded an exciting performance of the song in 1963, thus becoming their sugar-stick for many years. Eventually, the song saw a huge resurgence in popularity in the early 2000’s when both the Dove Brothers Quartet and the Kingdom Heirs recorded it on their respective recordings released in 2000, becoming major concert favorites for both groups. Ultimately, it was the Kingdom Heirs’ version of the song that soared to #1 in the Singing News chart in September 2001.

A couple of songs that I particularly enjoy is the campmeeting feel of “When We Get Home”, which captures that classic Inspirations’ sound, and “He Saved My Soul” (aka-“I Cried My Way to Victory”). Both songs were found in the various songbooks the Inspirations liked to sing from in their early days. These songs are rare gems that showcase the Inspirations’ ability to find wonderful obscure tunes that no one else was singing, and to execute them flawlessly!

Another unique song from this album is the title song, “Cool Water”, featuring some nice guitar work by Joe Huffman and an exceptionally nice lead by Ronnie. The song was a cowboy gospel tune popularized several years earlier by Marty Robbins, and in fact, the Rangers Trio recorded it a couple of years earlier on their 1964 album, “The Rangers Sing Songs of the Trail and Hymns of the Cowboy”.

The Inspirations’ third album, “Just as Long as Eternity Rolls”, which was released very soon afterward, or in conjunction with “Cool Water”, featured a very similar feel and sound. Once again, showcasing the Inspirations’ version of popular tunes and spirituals of the day including, “Swing Down, Sweet Chariot”, “Who Am I”, “When God’s Chariot Comes”, “Victory is Coming”, “I’m Saved”, “Hide Me, Rock of Ages” and the Dottie Rambo favorite, “The Church Triumphant”.

The title song, “Just as Long as Eternity Rolls”, written by W. H. Bazemore and A.B. Sebren, became a popular tune for the Inspirations. The song was a regional favorite often sung around the hills and hollers of the area, and it has remained one of my all-time favorite Inspirations tunes. The Inspirations have recorded the song 3 times over the years, in 1966, 1970 and again on their 2022 recording, “A Pioneer Legacy”. A handful of groups have recorded the song over the years including the Hopper Brothers & Connie in 1971, but the Inspirations appear to be the first group to record the song, and it has stuck with them for nearly 60 years!

“My Name is Written There” was a popular campmeeting favorite taken straight out of the Red-Back Hymnal, and the Inspirations do a great job with the song. They included another campmeeting favorite titled, “I Can Almost See the Lights of Home”, which was written by Ray Wafford in 1966, and it’s one of my favorite versions of this oft recorded tune. The Inspirations eventually re-recorded the song on their 1993 recording, “Cry for the Children”. As an aside, the Inspirations really had a knack for tackling those campmeeting type tunes, which made them popular on the campmeeting/revival circuit. Evangelist Ralph Sexton utilized them many times for his campmeetings during the 60’s and early 70’s. In fact, the Inspirations and Ralph Sexton recorded an album together around 1970, with them singing and him preaching…but I’m getting way ahead of myself…more on that later!

Continuing with that old-fashioned campmeeting feel, we find two up-tempo tunes titled, “My Lord and My God” and “Mansion in Glory”, which were popular mountain favorites during this time, and were likely originally recorded and performed by the Chestnut Grove Quartet out of Virginia, which was a highly popular quartet who performed with no musical accompaniment, relying solely on singing their songs acapella. Both songs are well done and were great inclusions on this album.

It’s interesting to hear the Inspirations on these earliest albums. Though there was a very short time span between these albums being released, these gentlemen gelled together very quickly, and you hear early semblances of what they would eventually become, vocally. It’s exciting for me to listen to these early albums in succession, and to hear them progress and mature as singers and musical creators. Their first album was pretty simple, as far as instrumentation, arrangements, etc., and was a bit ordinary, but you could still hear their uniqueness and brilliance shine through on some of the songs. “Cool Water” and “Just as Long as Eternity Rolls” showcased some bigger arrangements and instrumentation, and they seemed more comfortable with themselves, and sounded more natural as a group and as individual singers. Over the next few albums, they continue to hone their craft, and that identifiable sound that is unmistakably “Inspiration” shines through loud and clear!

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