With Mike Holcomb joining in September 1972, the Inspirations continued with Mike, along with Archie, Ronnie and Eddie, as the front-line vocalists for about 8 months. Ronnie’s departure in May 1973 would be the final change in the vocal line-up for the next several years, and after Ronnie left, there was some deliberation about how to fill the vacant position. Troy asked if he could try to sing the lead part, because while he was playing the bass, Troy was back there singing along with the guys and felt he could carry the lead for the group. Additionally, Troy would also fill in for Ronnie if he was out, and with the ever-versatile Eddie Dietz, any high notes Troy had trouble hitting, they’d simply swap parts and Eddie would nail them! Troy’s first date as their lead singer was May 27, 1973, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which also happens to be the exact date that Roger Fortner began his tenure with the group, initially coming aboard to play bass, since Troy moved to lead. Roger wouldn’t become a full-time member of the group until late spring 1974, as he would only travel with the Inspirations part-time, depending on his school schedule. The vocal iteration of Archie, Troy, Eddie and Mike is probably the most iconic version of the group, and it’s the version that I grew up watching on the Gospel Singing Jubilee every Sunday morning. In fact, after being frequent guests on the Gospel Singing Jubilee over the last few years, on June 1, 1973, the Inspirations officially became regular members of the show, and would remain weekly performers on the program for the remainder of the 70’s.

Though 1971 and 1972 were a complete blur for the Inspirations, that time was just prep work for what 1973, 1974 and beyond would hold, as the Inspirations monopolized the top of the charts for the next 2 years, and for the remainder of the 70’s, they were a dominating force in Southern Gospel Music. While they had enjoyed several hit songs over the last couple of years, this latest album, “Touring that City”, created a frenzy that few groups have ever been able to match, and it took their huge wave of success to even greater heights.

Produced by Marvin Norcross and recorded at the RCA Studios in Nashville, “Touring that City” was recorded in mid-June 1973 and released in the fall, with the cover shot being taken somewhere around Cherokee, North Carolina. I made mention in my last article about the difference in the quality of the sound and overall feel of their previous 2 albums, and with “Touring that City”, Bill Vandevort (who engineered “Old Time Singin’”) is back behind the sound board, and once again, I feel a certain warmth in the quality of the music emanating from the grooves of this album.

Kicking off with the iconic acoustic guitar intro, Archie is featured on the title song, “Touring that City”. The song soared all the way to #1 in the Singing News chart for 5 months from November 1973 through March 1974, and scored “Song of the Year” honors during the 1974 Singing News Fan Awards! The song was written several years earlier by Harold Lane of the Speers, who was inspired to write the song shortly after Mom Speer’s death in 1967. Knowing the end was near for Mom Speer, Hinkle Little, a pastor from Taylorsville, North Carolina, offered some words of comfort to the Speer family by saying, “someday we’ll be there touring the city together”, and those words struck a chord with Harold, and he soon penned the words to this classic tune. The story doesn’t stop there, because on June 11-13, 1973, the Inspirations and Speers were on the set of the Gospel Singing Jubilee television program during a 3-day taping session, and Archie asked Ben Speer if he had any good songs (Ben owned Ben Speer Publishing who published Harold’s songs), as the Inspirations were getting ready to record the following week. The next day Ben brought them Harold Lane’s song, “Touring that City”, and said that though the song didn’t seem to fit the Speers, it may work for the Inspirations. That afternoon, the Inspirations worked on the song and on the last day of taping for the Jubilee, they sang “Touring that City”, and by the next week, they were in the recording studio recording this album. After the Inspirations recorded it, the Speers decided it just might fit them after all, and they ended up recording it as well. The Speers version of the song charted alongside the Inspirations, with the Speers version peaking at #2 in March 1974. The song has become a Southern Gospel classic, not only identified with the Inspirations, but as one of the grandest songs in our genre.

Troy’s first big feature as the Inspirations’ new lead singer is the classic tune, “The Fa Sol La Song” (aka-“Reverend Everett Beverly and Sister Anna Laura”). With its rustic country feel recalling simpler times, legend has it that the song is based on the true story of “Great-Great Grandpa Beverly and Grandma Anna Laura” who sang and preached at those all-day singings and dinner on the ground. The song was written by Jerry House, and a gentleman named Joseph Brown discovered the song and his group started singing it, and that is where the Inspirations first heard it. The song was a charting success for the Inspirations, logging in at #9 in the December 1973 and January 1974 Singing News chart. The Kingsmen, who likely heard the song from the same group, recorded it around the same time as well, and their version of the song charted also, topping out at #10 in October 1973. The song continues to make its way onto the Inspirations set list from time to time, and is always a crowd favorite, allowing the tenor to make the rafters ring and the bass to rattle the floors!

Slowing the tempo down, we come to the song “I Know He Hears”, which features Mike on the second verse, along with some step out lines on the chorus. Filled with nice steel and electric guitar highlights, I love the dynamics of the song with the first verse being sung softly and then they all come in full force on the chorus. The song was written by Marvin P. Dalton, who is the writer of such classic songs as “Oh What a Savior” and “Looking for a City”.

With a nice electric guitar intro, Troy takes the lead on the verses, with Archie handling the melody on the chorus of the delightful, “Love Reached Down”, which was written by Colbert and Joyce Croft, before Eddie steps up to sing the enjoyable, “I’ll Make it to Heaven Someday”. This was actually a song that Eddie had heard another group sing and he liked the song so much that he pressed Martin for the Inspirations to sing and record the song. The song was a popular concert favorite for the Inspirations and is one of my personal favorites from this album.

Archie is featured on the prophetic upbeat number, “Matthew 24”, which concludes the first side. I was obsessed with this song as a kid because it was such a different sounding song for the Inspirations, as it featured the banjo…specifically, the 4-string tenor banjo, which was played by music industry legend, Harold Bradley, giving the song a distinct Appalachian feel. The Inspirations got this song from the Lewis Family, who had originally recorded it in 1962 on their “Anniversary Celebration” album.

Convention sounds abound, as side 2 kicks off with one of my all-time favorite Inspirations tunes, “Living on Higher Ground”, which was a concert favorite for the group. Coincidentally, this was the first song the current Inspirations learned when they re-grouped in 2020 during the pandemic, and they recorded it on their first recording together, “What a Wonderful Time-Live!”, which was released in 2021. The song was written by Bruce Thornhill, who was the music minister at a church in Arab, Alabama. Bruce also penned another popular Inspirations tune called, “Lay it Down”, which they recorded about 12 years later, on their “Praise God and Country” album.

Slowing the tempo down, Jack does a great job as he sings the invitational, “Only One Door” (aka-“One Door to Heaven”), which was written by Dottie Rambo and Jimmie Davis back in the mid-60’s. The Rambos never recorded the song, but Davis originally cut it on his 1965 album, “At the Crossing”.

Archie takes the lead on the classic Colbert and Joyce Croft penned tune, “I Believe He Died for Me”. Archie kicks off the song without any type of musical introduction, then they slow down the tempo for the verse, before picking it back up for the chorus, giving the song a slight dramatic feel which was something a little different for the Inspirations. This was a popular song in the early and mid-70’s, recorded by numerous artists including the Happy Goodmans, Hopper Brothers & Connie, Jerry & the Goffs and Thrasher Brothers. Several years later during the early 90’s, it was also a popular song for Charles Johnson & the Revivors, as well as for Darrell Luster, who left the Revivers, embarking on a solo career, and this was a big chart song for him in the mid-90’s.

The convention feel of “When I Walk on the Streets of Gold” picks up the pace, and is a highlight of the recording. With Mike and Archie taking turns with the lead on the chorus, the song, very effectively, shows off Mike’s dynamic rhythm, and it’s these types of songs that fit him perfectly! Originally recorded by the Chuck Wagon Gang on their 1959 album, “Let’s All Praise the Lord”, the song further demonstrates their influence on the Inspirations, and it’s one of my favorite songs from this recording. The Inspirations re-recorded the song several years later, on their 2006 recording, “I Know”, and then again in 2021 on their live recording, “What a Wonderful Time-Live!”.

Archie is featured once again on the medium tempo, “I Can’t Do it Alone”, which is a fantastic song of our reliance on the Lord, before the album finishes off with the bouncy, up-tempo tune, “After the Sunrise”. Written by JR Baxter and Eugene Wright, this classic Stamps-Baxter tune was another early popular Chuck Wagon Gang song they first recorded in 1947. The song has also been recorded over the years by such groups as the Dixie Echoes and Cathedrals, and in fact, the Kingsmen recorded an outstanding rendition on their 2011, “Grace Says” recording.

“Touring that City” is an iconic album to me, and it is one of 2 of my all-time favorite studio albums by the Inspirations. I bought this album around 1981/1982 at a local music store, and they had this album, along with “When I Wake Up to Sleep No More”. I had enough allowance money to only buy one, and my dad said I could only buy one or the other, but not both! It was a gut-wrenching few minutes for this (then) 9/10-year-old kid to decide which album to get, but after some deliberation, I chose “Touring that City”. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done anything differently, as I absolutely adored this album, and I listened to it constantly, relishing all the things this album had to offer. Incidentally, I wouldn’t get the album “When I Wake Up” until many years later in the mid-90s when I started collecting vintage records.

Looking at this album from a historical perspective, despite the personnel changes they had encountered, the Inspirations did not miss a beat! I feel that they had gelled perfectly as a vocal group, and that this was one of their absolute best studio recordings. I’m smart enough to know that sometimes our opinions can be jaded by feelings of nostalgia because of our emotional connections with certain recordings, but this album was filled with excellent singing, outstanding musicianship, along with perfect song selection and arrangements that highlighted the strengths of each vocalist. In my humble opinion, “Touring that City” was a near perfect album, and it absolutely set the stage for the Inspirations for the remainder of the 70’s, setting the bar extremely high for every album afterwards!

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