After releasing just one album in 1974, the Inspirations released 2 new studio albums in 1975, with “I’m Taking a Flight” being the first one. Recorded in March and released in late Spring/early Summer of 1975, this album remains one of their most popular recordings in the Inspirations’ discography, mostly for their #1 hit, “Jesus is Mine”, but also due to several popular concert favorites that are included as well. Interesting story about this particular album, the first shipment of records that came into the Inspirations’ office from the record company actually had the wrong record inside, and it ended up being some older gentleman singing country music! The issue was quickly resolved, and new records were pressed and shipped back out pronto!

With Marvin Norcross producing, Bill Vandevort is back at the helm engineering this album, and the warmth is once again prevalent in the overall sound of the album. While a producer calls the shots and may also be involved in arrangements and song selection, the engineer is an important component, as they can either make or break a recording, as they work hard to capture the sound, feel, essence, texture or “color” of the music and singing, giving the recording its distinctive personality.

I didn’t hear this album until I added it to my personal collection back in the early/mid-90’s, but I was very familiar with the iconic cover, having seen it in various ads and catalogs growing up. I was always intrigued by the unique blue cover, along with the individual pictures of the Inspirations forming the big “I” on the front. It was definitely eye-catching for its day, and it’s still one of my favorite covers by the Inspirations.

Archie kicks off the album with the title song, “I’m Taking a Flight”, which features subtle steel guitar slides almost mimicking an airplane taking off. Published by the Inspirations, the song was written by an unknown songwriter named, Katherine Boyington, and the song had to be completely re-written, as it originally had 5 verses, but they combined some of the verses to create a chorus. The finished song became a popular one for the Inspirations as the song charted very well for the group, peaking at #5 in February 1976. In fact, there is an extra verse to the song that Archie would sometimes sing when the group performed the song live. Another interesting fact, the song eventually became part of the highly popular off-Broadway musical, “Smoke on the Mountain”, back in the 1990’s and into the 2000’s.

Featuring some nice acoustic guitar work, one of the most popular songs from this album was the highly enjoyable, “When I Cross to the Other Side of Jordan”. Written by Ed O’Neal, the song was published by the Hopper Brothers & Connie, and in fact, Ed’s own group (the Dixie Melody Boys) initially passed on the song, but the Hoppers recorded it first on their 1974 album, “I’m Going There”. Eventually, Ed pitched the song to the Inspirations, and though it wasn’t a chart song for the group, it became a hugely popular concert favorite. Ultimately, the Dixie Melody Boys did record the song, and it became a huge concert favorite for them as well. Additionally, numerous other groups have recorded the song through the years including JD Sumner & the Stamps, Singing Echoes, LeFevres, Blackwood Brothers and Nelons.

Slowing the pace down, we come to one of my personal favorite Inspirations songs entitled, “The First Million Years”, written by husband-and-wife team, Colbert and Joyce Croft. Another song that never charted, it too, was a popular concert favorite for the Inspirations and featured Troy on the first verse and Archie on the second verse, along with carrying the lead on both choruses. The song was included on their 1976 live album, “A Night of Inspiration”, which is where I first became familiar with it. By the time the Inspirations recorded the song that night, they had re-arranged it slightly, by dropping the key about a half step and having Troy sing both verses, thus becoming one of his best loved features. The song made a comeback in the mid to late 90’s when John Darin Rowsey’s group, New Journey, recorded a dynamic, power-ballad arrangement of the song on their 1996 recording, “Heart of the Matter”.

Eddie is featured next as the tempo picks up for the bouncy, acoustical feel of, “I’m One of His Own”. Written by Roger Horne (former tenor for the Cathedrals), the song was originally recorded by the Scenicland Boys (a group that Horne was a member of at the time) on their 1975 album, “I Know Jesus Will Always Be There”.

The tempo maintains a lively feel for the up-tempo, “When We Look On His Face”, which was written by Carl David Dixon and published by Canaanland Music (a subsidiary of Canaan Records). The song features step-out lines by Mike on the chorus, along with Archie singing the second verse, before the tempo slows back down a bit as the first side closes out with the song, “Tell My Friends”. Featuring Jack Laws, this sentimental classic tune was written by Little Troy Lumpkin and was recorded in 1960 by the Weatherford Quartet. The song was one of the Weatherford’s greatest hits, and while the Inspirations version may not be as “pretty” as the Weatherfords, they made the song fit them and it was a perfect tune for Jack to sing.

Side 2 kicks off with the convention feel of one of the Inspirations’ best loved and most popular songs, “Jesus is Mine”. There has been some discrepancy over the years as to who wrote the song, but a lady named Virginia Nell Cook is the songwriter, and Wally Fowler was the one who helped get her song published. The Inspirations first heard the song from a group called the Senators (led by Ray Shelton) who recorded it on their 1974 album, “Sing Gospel”. A bit of trivia for you…the tenor for the Senators at the time was Junior Shelton, who got his start singing with his family group, the Sheltons. If you recall, the Sheltons initially discovered the song, “Jesus is Coming Soon”, which is where the Inspirations first heard it back in 1968! Getting back to “Jesus is Mine”…when the Inspirations heard the Senators version of the song, this album was already completed, but the Inspirations didn’t want to let this song slip through their fingers, so they quickly made their way to Mark V Studios to cut this song, and ended up bumping another song to make room on the album (more details on that song in another article!). Due to the swiftness of getting the song recorded and added to this record, Roger Fortner was brought into the studio to play guitar on this song, which would be his first recorded effort with the Inspirations. Once again, the Inspirations struck gold, as “Jesus is Mine” shot up to #1 in the Singing News chart from February through May 1976, and even won “Song of the Year” honors during the Singing News Fan Awards in 1976! As so often is the case, the song took on a life of its own when they started performing the song live, and over time, the group began speeding up the tempo, giving the song added exuberance and excitement. Additionally, the song “Jesus is Mine” (along with “I’m Taking a Flight”) ended up being a part of the play, “Smoke on the Mountain” as well.

The Betty Jean Robinson penned, “On the Way Home”, featuring Troy, was a popular song around this time, being recorded by numerous other artists including the Florida Boys, Jimmie Davis, Hoppers, Kingsmen and Lewis Family. Personally, my favorite rendition is the original version by Betty Jean, but with a bit of a ragtime feel, the Inspirations do a good job with their version of the song, which features some nice piano fills, leading perfectly into a newly written Cleavant Derricks tune entitled, “Have a Little Talk with Him” (not to be confused with “Just a Little Talk with Jesus”) which features Mike. The revival of Cleavant Derricks’ songs during the mid-70’s is a wonderful, heartwarming story…in January 1975, Cleavant (along with his son) was in Nashville looking to get some of his new songs published and recorded. They had wondered into the offices of Canaanland Music, and after the staff realized who he was, they listened to his new songs and immediately wanted to publish them. Derricks was up in age by this time, and would soon fall into failing health, but he would go on to record 2 albums with his family on Canaan Records. During the remainder of the 70’s and into the 80’s, his songs were being recorded by such artists as Rusty Goodman, Cathedrals, Howard & Vestal Goodman, Oak Ridge Boys, Willie Wynn & the Tennesseans, LeFevres and others. In fact, the Inspirations recorded Derricks’ song, “We’ll Soon Be Done” on their second album, “Cool Water” back in 1966, and they would go on to record a few more of his songs in forthcoming years, with those tunes becoming very important songs in the Inspirations’ repertoire. The story doesn’t stop there, as when Canaanland Music realized Derricks was never paid royalties for the numerous recordings of his songs from the past, they were able to work with BMI and obtain back royalty payments totaling $14,000 on his behalf. Thankfully, he was able to enjoy this wrong made right, and see his songs being recorded again before he passed away on April 14, 1977.

With a nice electric and steel guitar intro (which sounds similar to the musical intro to the song “A Happy Forever” that the Hemphills recorded on their 1974 album, “Ready to Leave”), Archie slows the tempo down as he steps up to sing the encouraging, “Sounds of That City”. Written by a gentleman named Lee Roy Kent, this is one of 4 songs on this album that was published by Inspirations Quartet Music. Speaking of which, the tempo picks back up for the Ila Knight penned, “He’ll Call My Name”, which was also published by the Inspirations. This remains one of Ila’s favorite songs that the Inspirations recorded that she wrote, and it’s a great convention-type song where just about everyone gets a piece of the action on the chorus.

The album concludes with the medium tempo, campmeeting anthem, “Christ Still Lives”, which features some nice steel guitar highlights. Written by Norman Bonds and published by the Inspirations, the song features Archie and fits the Inspirations’ style and messaging perfectly…”I love that old time religion for it will never change, I love that precious Holy Bible, for it’s always the same, the road’s still narrow, the way is still straight, you must be born again, Christ still lives, He still reigns and He’s coming again!” I think that this would be a perfect song for the current Inspirations to bring back today.

This album had a very different feel than “More to Go to Heaven For”, which was a very upbeat and happy album. “I’m Taking a Flight” was a bit more balanced with tempos, but lacked the abundance of convention-type tunes that was so prevalent on their last album. I love both recordings immensely and I appreciate how they contrast one another. One thing I noticed with “I’m Taking a Flight”, and especially on future albums, the Inspirations began relying more and more on songs from their own publishing company, as they seem to specifically secure songs that closely matched their artistic vision and gospel messaging. Whether it was fully intentional or not, I believe this helped them create a repertoire of songs that more closely aligned with their specific branding, as well as satisfying their immense and loyal fan base. The Inspirations would incorporate a few other ideas in the upcoming years as they continued to preserve creative control over their music and sound, but we’ll get more into that in an upcoming article…so stay tuned!

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