For years, I had assumed “The Night Before Easter” was released in 1969, but thanks to Lucas Vaught, and a newspaper article in the Asheville Citizen-Times from February 22, 1970, it was confirmed that this album was recorded in early 1970 and released the following Spring. With Ronnie departing the group in August 1969, the group didn’t have to search very far for his replacement with Eddie Dietz. In fact, a little-known fact is, Eddie almost became an original member of the Inspirations! In 1964, he was invited down to Martin’s house to join in some of their singing sessions, but Eddie was 17 years old at the time, and he was singing with his mom and dad in a group. Also, Bryson City seemed a little far from where Eddie lived (25 miles away in Sylva, NC) and because he didn’t have transportation at the time, Eddie turned down the invitation. Eddie answered the call to preach in 1965, and he began pastoring a church in the community of Crabtree, North Carolina, and after he joined the Inspirations in 1969, he resigned from the church. But when you are called to preach, it’s something you never fully get away from, and Eddie would eventually navigate back into the pastorate and evangelism.

“The Night Before Easter” would be Eddie’s first album with the group, and the sound of the Inspirations began to change slightly. With this album, you hear Archie gradually taking the lead more, but it would still be a little bit before they started purposely building their sound around Archie’s voice. Eddie gave the group a very different vocal dynamic than they had with Ronnie, but Eddie had an amazing vocal range, giving the Inspirations added flexibility, which they utilized extensively. Eddie had some similar tones to Ronnie, but he definitely had his own unique style, which added so much to the Inspirations during his tenure, and in my opinion, he made an outstanding first impression on this album.

The album kicks off with the highly invigorating tune entitled, “I’ll Be in the Rapture”, which was the first song they recorded written by Ila Knight, who went on to pen many other popular songs for the Inspirations. Ila had just started her songwriting journey with the passing of her beloved uncle in January 1970, and not long after he had passed away, Ila woke up in the middle of the night and she could hear every word and note in the song. Ila was close friends with all the Inspirations, as they lived in the same area, and she called Martin Cook on the phone to tell her about the song, and he had her sing a little bit for him. He liked what he heard and told her they were recording the next day, and the Inspirations would be at her house that night to learn the song. Around 1am in the morning, the Inspirations showed up at Ila’s door and they gathered around the piano to learn the song, and about 12 hours later they had it on tape! Martin talked to Les Beasley of the Florida Boys about publishing Ila’s song in his publishing company, Beasley and Barker Publishing, and Les published her songs for the next few years until the Inspirations started their own publishing company in 1974. The Florida Boys recorded Ila’s song a year later, on their 1971 album, “Sand in their Shoes and a Song in Their Hearts”, and briefly charted their version of the song (the Inspirations version was never singled), which crested at #18 in the May 1972 Singing News chart. I love everything about this song…the music, the enthusiasm, the stair-step arrangement of the vocals with each singer grabbing their respective notes…it’s just an exciting and electrifying piece of work and one of my all-time favorite Inspirations songs. I was thrilled to see the group, Paid in Full, record the song back in 2002 and they took it up the charts with their invigorating arrangement. I can’t decide which version I love better…the Inspirations or Paid in Full!

By complete contrast with the opening tune, the tempo slows down as we come to the nice, soothing country feel of the medium tempo, “Tell of His Love”, which features Jack. Written by a Holiness preacher named, James Tompkins (some sources cite Judy Tompkins as co-writer, but the sheet music only lists James), the Inspirations met Tompkins at the White County Campmeeting in Cleveland, Georgia and heard his song and decided to record it for this album. This is Jack’s only feature on this album, but I love his warm delivery of the song, and it’s one of my all-time favorites that feature him, before newest member of the Inspirations, Eddie Dietz, steps up to take the lead on the title song, “The Night Before Easter”. Written by Donnie Sumner and Dwayne Friend, this was a huge song in 1969 and into the early 70’s, with several groups recording this tune including JD Sumner & the Stamps, Speer Family, Blackwood Brothers, Rebels, Prophets, Thrasher Brothers and others, even claiming the #1 spot on the Singing News chart for the Blackwood Brothers (Stamps were also credited as well) in May 1970. The song even took home the Dove Award for “Song of the Year” in 1970, and back then, the song was the winner of the award, and not the artist, so no artist is able to claim the title of winning the award. The Inspirations version was the first version of the song I heard as a kid, and it is probably my favorite rendition of the song.

“The End of Time is Near” featuring Archie, became a big concert favorite for the Inspirations and was written by Bill Carter, from Richland County, Georgia, and published by Beasley and Barker Publishing. The song became so popular that other artists recorded it as well, including the Cathedrals, Steve Sanders and the Sego Brothers & Naomi. Neat story about the song, after singing the song on the set of the Gospel Singing Jubilee, Howard Goodman told the Inspirations that it was one of the most powerful songs he’d ever heard, and though it was written 55+ years ago, it’s still relevant today!

With a strong blues feel, Troy tackles the highly enjoyable, “I Shall Not Be Moved”, and was yet another tune the Inspirations borrowed from the Harmonizing Four, who recorded it back in 1959. With some high harmony by Archie, Eddie and Jack, this is a huge highlight of the album and was a song the Inspirations had a lot of fun singing during this time, and it is one that the current group will pull out of the hat and have fun with from time to time as well.

Rounding out the first side, Eddie is featured once again as he sings “Constantly Aware of His Love”, which was written by Dottie Rambo and Elmer Mercer. The Rambos originally recorded the song on their 1966 album, “Come Spring”, but I didn’t hear the Rambo’s version until many years later. I love both versions of the song and really have a hard time picking which is my favorite.

The convention feel of “God Will Deliver” (aka-“God Will Go With Us”) kicks off the second side and has that classic Inspirations sound, featuring bass step out lines by Troy. The Inspirations borrowed the song from a group called the Tails Creek Quartet out of Tails Creek Baptist Church in Ellijay, Georgia, and it’s long been one of my favorite songs from this album.

“The Unseen Hand” written by Albert J. Sims, became Eddie’s signature song and was a popular concert favorite for the Inspirations during the early 70’s. The song was published through the Rambos publishing company, and as far as I know, the Inspirations were the first major group to record the song. Eventually, the Rambos ended up recording the song a year later, on their 1971 album, “Rambo Reflections”, and it became a popular tune for the Rambos as well. The Inspirations version was the first version I ever heard as a kid, and I’ve always been quite partial to their performance of the song, as I loved the dramatic musical punctuations on the chorus, as well as Eddie’s performance. The song was eventually recorded by numerous groups in the early 70’s including the LeFevres, Downings, Sego Brothers & Naomi, Statesmen and more recently, by the Greenes on their final recording, “Hallelujah” which was released in 2010. The song has remained a timeless classic and is one of my all-time favorite songs.

The Inspirations didn’t record a lot of Gaither tunes, but Archie does a great job rendering, “I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary”, before the tempo picks up a bit for the nice acoustic feel of the fun, quartet classic, “Wonderful Time Up There”, which was written by Lee Roy Abernathy. Troy and Archie do a great job tackling this enjoyable tune, and though the song was a Blackwood Brothers standard during the 50’s and early 60’s, the Inspirations version is the first version I recall hearing as a kid. Listening to this song retrospectively, it’s an interesting arrangement, because the Inspirations basically recorded an abbreviated version of the song, clocking in at just over a minute and a half. After a nice acoustic musical intro, the guys run through the chorus, Archie sings one verse (incidentally, it’s the last verse of the song), they run through a bridge, featuring vocalizations by Troy and the rest of the group, then they do one final run of the chorus, before the song fades out mid-way through. Like I said, it’s a unique and interesting inclusion for this album.

Archie is featured once again as he sings, “Thank God I’m Free”, which was written by James McFall. Originally discovered by Joel Hemphill and the Hemphills, the song was a huge hit for the Happy Goodmans, who recorded it on their 1969 album, “This Happy House”, and ultimately claimed the #1 spot in the Singing News chart for April and September 1970 with the song. The Inspirations do a nice job before rounding out the album with an excellent rendition of the Chuck Wagon Gang classic, “Echoes From the Burning Bush”. Featuring some really nice guitar work, this was my introduction to the song as a kid, and I always thought it was a cool tune. With the Chuck Wagon Gang being such an early influence on the Inspirations, it only seemed appropriate they conclude the album with this classic tune.

“The Night Before Easter” has a distinct acoustic feel to it, giving the album a very laid-back vibe, and I love the doghouse bass and guitar work throughout the recording as well. There are no production credits on the album, but I did confirm Otis Forrest played piano, and you definitely hear his unique touch throughout the album. This was an album I listened to a lot as a kid, and it was one I seemed to really connect with. With “The Night Before Easter” being their first album after their first major personnel change, it does offer some differences in their sound that I am sure their most loyal fans had to adjust to at the time. This particular iteration of the group had been together for almost 6 months prior to recording this album, and they seemed to have gelled very nicely. As I previously mentioned, Eddie, though a very different singer than Ronnie was, gave the Inspirations a unique blend that helped create the exciting iconic sound that made them such a hugely popular group throughout the 70’s. As we press through the early 70’s, the Inspirations continued to experience changes with their vocal line-up, but they continued gaining momentum fueled by releasing great albums with exciting songs that seemed to resonate strongly with fans across the nation!

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