As we come to 1978, we find what I consider to be one of the Inspirations’ absolute best studio recordings, “Looking for You”. A lady that my mom worked with had given me this recording (along with a few others, including “The Inspirations Have Something to Sing About”) back when I was in 3rd grade in 1980/1981, and I fell in love with “Looking for You” immediately, and I rank this album (along with “Touring that City”) as my personal favorite studio albums by the Inspirations.

Produced by Marvin Norcross and recorded at Mark V Studios in Greenville, South Carolina, I feel that the Inspirations took some creative liberties and tried some new things musically with this album, yet still remaining well within the confines of their unique and identifiable sound and style. While Martin, Roger and Dale are playing on this album, Jack does not, but rather it is likely one of the Huffman brothers (Bill or Harold) playing the stand-up bass. The cover shot was taken at East Sylva Baptist Church in Sylva, North Carolina, which was the church that Eddie Dietz’s wife grew up in. The Inspirations were singing there during the service, and planned to do the cover shoot that day there on the church property.

With a wonderful steel guitar intro by Dale Jones, the title song, “Looking for You”, kicks the album off very nicely. Featuring Eddie and the Smoky Mountain Trio (Eddie, Archie & Troy), this Roscoe Reed penned tune paints a beautiful picture of the love of Christ…“looking for you in the sunshine, waiting for you in the rain, caring for you while in trouble, burdened with sorrow or pain, He traveled this pathway before you, often He walked it alone, then He ascended to Heaven, now waiting to welcome you home!” From my first listen as an 8-year-old kid, I fell in love with this song and it’s one of my favorite Inspirations tunes.

The tempo picks up for an exciting tune that allows Mike to sink his teeth into called, “Soul Savin’ Meeting”, and it’s one of my favorite bass features by Mike, allowing him to really show off his rhythmic timing. Written by Paul Craven, this was one of the first songs published by the newly formed Tuckaseigee Publishing Company, which the Inspirations had created to be affiliated with the ASCAP licensing agency (Inspirations Quartet Music was affiliated with BMI). Craven was already licensed as an ASCAP writer, and his previous songs that were recorded by the Inspirations were with another publishing company licensed through ASCAP. So, the creation of Tuckaseigee Publishing Company, allowed the Inspirations to publish his songs “in-house” under the ASCAP license.

Slowing the tempo down and featuring some nice electric and steel guitar highlights, Troy and Archie share lead duties on one of my favorite Colbert and Joyce Croft penned tunes entitled, “He Gave His Life”, before Archie and Mike trade off lead lines on the invigorating, “Going Home on a Glory Cloud”. Written by Ila Knight, the Inspirations sang at Ila’s church one day, and after they had sung, the pastor preached on going home on a glory cloud, and the thought struck Ila so profoundly, that she sat there in the pew and wrote the song before the service was over! Naturally, since the Inspirations were part of the service and their music was at the forefront of Ila’s mind, the song fit them like a glove!

Next, we come to the bouncy, “Hallelujah, I’m Heaven Bound”, which was written by Eugene Whitt and published by Stamps-Baxter Music, and it is the first of 4 Stamps-Baxter tunes on this album. This is a delightful song that features Archie, along with some step-out lines by Mike and Troy, and I love the old-time convention feel of the song that Martin provides on the piano. The current Inspirations re-recorded the song on their 2022 recording, “A Pioneer Legacy”, and did a great job reviving this tune.

The first side concludes with an acapella performance of the classic hymn, “The Solid Rock”, which features Archie on the verses, with the guys backing him up on the chorus. It’s a pretty simple, straight-forward arrangement, done in a manner that reflects the music of the region that the Inspirations hailed from. I will admit, when I first heard this album 45 years ago, I was already familiar with the Kingsmen and their “Chattanooga Live” recording which contained Squire Parson’s incredible performance of “The Solid Rock”, so when I heard the Inspirations’ version from this record, it didn’t quite appeal to this then, 8-year-old kid. Over time though, I did come to appreciate the Inspirations’ version and what they were trying to do with their arrangement of it.

The second side kicks off with what is probably Roger Fortner’s most famous guitar intro on the exciting, “I’m Bound for that City”. Roger was a Waylon Jennings fan and his use of a phaser on the guitar, so Roger went out and got him one, and during practice leading up to the recording, Roger tried it and liked the result. Then in the studio, Roger tuned the top string on his guitar from E down to D, and then he doubled the last lick in the intro. Marvin Norcross loved the sound, and thus was born one of the most iconic musical intros in gospel music. Written by Sanford Massengale, the song remained relatively unknown until it was discovered by the guys in a random songbook. Featuring an outstanding performance by Mike, this was the only song that charted from this album, cresting at #18 in December 1978 and again in February 1979 in the Singing News chart. Despite the relatively low showing on the charts, the song became one of the Inspirations best loved tunes, and it still remains one of their most requested songs to this day. Musically, the song was a little edgy for the Inspirations, and as a kid, I was absolutely obsessed with this song, and even as an adult, I’m still a just wee bit obsessed with it!

Offering something that was a bit more traditional, we come to “Old Campmeeting Time”, which features Troy (one of my favorite Troy features), as well as a nice piano intro by Martin. The guys churn out a rousing performance on this Paul Craven penned tune, and I love the exciting campmeeting fervor of the song, making it another one of my favorites from this album.

With a nice dobro intro played by Dale Jones, Archie sings the classic James B. Coats tune, “The Sweetest Gift”. Although this was such an endearing song that was a popular bluegrass/country gospel song, this version by the Inspirations was my initial introduction to this wonderful Stamps-Baxter tune. The song was recorded by Linda Ronstadt on her 1975 album, “Prisoner in Disguise”, and in fact Ronstadt, along with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris performed a wonderful rendition of the song on Dolly’s variety show back in the 70’s. The Judds were also known for singing this song in their very early days before being discovered, and in fact, used this as one of 2 songs that they sang when they auditioned for RCA Records in 1983. The Judds would eventually record the song a few years later, on their 1987 album, “Heartland”. Earliest recordings of the song go back as far as the 1940’s with James and Martha Carson (in fact, Archie’s mom used to sing the song to him when he was a little boy), and was later recorded by such artists as Trisha Yearwood, Carl Story and The Seldom Scene. Over the years, the song has continued to be enjoyed within Southern Gospel circles having been recorded by the Lewis Family, on their classic 1979 album, “Hallelujah Turnpike”, and in turn, Jeff & Sheri Easter recorded it on their second duet album, “Homefolks”, that was released in 1988. The song was another outstanding tune to add to the Inspirations’ “mama songs” repertoire, and as a kid, when I first heard the song on this album, I was instantly drawn to its beautiful story, ranking it as one of my favorite songs recorded by the group.

Written by JR Oatman, Roger Fortner makes his singing debut on the Stamps-Baxter classic, “I’ll Be a Friend to Jesus” (page 386 in the “Red Book”), which has Eddie taking the tenor, along with Jack handling the baritone and Mike on bass. Though I’ve never been able to find a clip of this on You Tube, I remember back when I was a kid watching Roger sing this song one Sunday morning on the Gospel Singing Jubilee, and I recall being pretty impressed with his singing. Who knew that way back then, he would eventually be singing and playing with one of the best loved mixed groups in our genre (the McKameys) and even have his own #1 song, 35 years later with, “Unspoken Request” in January 2013?

Slowing the pace down slightly, we come to the warm acoustic feel of the spiritual, “Ten Men Came”, which features Troy singing the bass. The song has that classic Swanee River Boys feel to it, and rightly so, as it was written by Buford Abner of the Swanee River Boys. Abner had pitched it to the Inspirations, and they published the song through Inspirations Quartet Music. This was such a great inclusion for this recording, leading perfectly into the final song, the classic Dad Speer penned, “Sweeter Each Day”, featuring Jack. With a simple acoustic guitar track, Eddie, once again takes the tenor part, giving the song a warm, subtle feel to finish out an outstanding album!

As I alluded to earlier, I love the variety found on “Looking for You”, and I think it’s their best studio album during this timeframe. I love the arrangements, song selection, pacing of the songs, the singing and the delightful musical moments interspersed throughout the recording. It all came together to create a wonderful and inspiring listening experience. The Inspirations’ band showcased some stellar musicianship on this recording, and Archie, Troy, Eddie and Mike (along with Jack and Roger) sounded as solid as ever.

Along with the release of this album, 1978 also brought a unique experience for many Inspirations fans, as the group took the Primitive Quartet out on the road with them. Over the last couple of years, the Primitive Quartet had been an influence on the Inspirations (and vice versa), and thus began a deep abiding friendship between the two groups. With that in mind, wanting to expose the Primitive Quartet to a broader audience and believing that the fans of both groups were like-minded people, for about 18 months, the Inspirations included them on all their “Night of Inspiration” concerts, as well as most other events where the Inspirations sang. The exposure was a huge boost for the Primitive Quartet, and they remained extremely grateful to the Inspirations for that exposure, even until their retirement in 2023. In fact, the Inspirations currently travel in the very bus that the Primitives were using when they retired!

Lastly, during the 1978 Singing News Fan Awards, Mike took home “Favorite Bass”, and the Inspirations walked away as the “Favorite Group” once again. Though the Inspirations would win a couple more individual awards over the next 2-3 years, this would be the last Singing News Fan Award they would win as a group for nearly 25 years, until 2002, when they won “Song of the Year” honors for their song, “I’ll Not Turn My Back on Him Now”. Moreover, in 2005 and 2006, the Inspirations would re-claim “Favorite Group/Quartet”, and the current iteration of the group walked away with that same award (including “Song of the Year” along with every individual award as well!) during the 2024 Singing News Fan Awards! But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves…our next article will dial it back to 1979, as the Inspirations prove that they still “…Have Something to Sing About”!

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