By the 1980’s, we reach an interesting point in the Inspirations career as a group, because by this time they had enough hit songs and concert favorites to put on their very own all-night singing all by themselves, and not repeat a single song! Where it seemed almost every song on their albums in the 70’s was a memorable affair, by the time the 80’s rolled around, they were no longer part of the Gospel Singing Jubilee where they could perform various album cuts, plus it was nearly impossible for the guys to stage a lot of the songs from their newest albums because the demand was so great to sing the hits and popular songs. That may be one reason “Is That Footsteps That I Hear” ended up being the final studio album featuring 12 songs. Most groups had dropped it to 10 songs per album by the mid to late 70’s, but the Inspirations were one of the last groups to consistently record 12 songs on each studio album, with “Footsteps” being their last album with 12 songs.

While I have not been able to 100% validate the timeline of events, it appears that “Is That Footsteps That I Hear” was set to be released independently on Inspirations Records, but it is likely Canaan quickly saw the potential with this album and its title song, and decided they wanted to release the album. It seems that the Inspirations already had the cover completed and printed, so the first pressing of the album had the Canaan label on the vinyl, but the Inspirations’ cover. To date, no one has been able to find an Inspirations Records release with an “Inspirations Records” label on the vinyl, as they have all had the Canaan logo. Future pressings had a different design for the cover, with the main photo cropped a bit, along with the Canaan label on the cover. Speaking of which, the cover picture was taken somewhere around the Marion/Spruce Pine area in North Carolina. No credit is given to the photographer other than “The Inspirations”, but the story goes that as the bus was driving through the area, Martin saw the hillside in the distance and loved the scenery, and he prompted the photographer to take the picture of the group in that spot, which happened to be on private property. They hurriedly snuck in a few pictures, and quickly left before the owner saw them!

Once again, gathering in Mark V Studios in Greenville, South Carolina, Martin Cook served as producer, and the outstanding piano work you hear on this album is none other than former Kingsmen pianist, Nick Bruno! “Is That Footsteps that I Hear” was released in June 1981, just in time for their annual Singing in the Smokies, and in fact, the live album “Second Helpin’” (which was recorded a year earlier) was released at the same time as well.

The album kicks off with the Inspirations making a firm statement with the Albert E. Brumley classic, “I Firmly Promise You”. I always thought this song was an unusual way to kick off this album, and felt this song, and the title song, should have been flipped, using the title track as the lead off song for the album. For about as long as I can remember, I have always considered this song to be a sugar stick for Wendy Bagwell & the Sunliters, as they usually closed out their concerts with this song. Wendy originally recorded the song on their 1965 album, “Down Home”, and again on their 1976 album, “We’re Not Getting Older, Just Closer to Home”, where it charted briefly in the Singing News Chart in 1977.

Next, we come to the title song, “Is That Footsteps That I Hear”, which became one of the Inspirations best loved tunes. Written by husband-and-wife team, Colbert & Joyce Croft, the song was a huge hit for the group, peaking at the #4 position in the Singing News chart for 4 months in April, May, June and August of 1982. The song stayed in the Top 10 for almost a full year, remaining a huge concert favorite for many years. In fact, before Martin retired in 2017, the Inspirations performed this song nearly every single night for over 35 years! The Inspirations first heard the song while visiting with the Crofts in their home, as the couple sang the song for them. Originally written with a slightly slower tempo and not as a bass feature, as the Inspirations worked on the arrangement, the tempo sped up, and originally had Troy singing lead. As things weren’t quite clicking, they changed the key to feature Archie, but then Mike started doing the bass step-out lines for the chorus and the arrangement stuck! Musically, the song featured that classic precision singing and diction that is classic Inspirations, and was arranged with a heavy beat, giving it the feel of footsteps walking across the floor. That is exactly how Mike projected the song in concert, and he knew how to work the crowd as he’d take giant strides across the stage as he sang, “Is that footsteps that I hear, Heavenly portals seem so near, Heavenly lights are shining clear, is that footsteps that I hear!”. Additionally, Martin always seemed to have so much fun at the piano when performing the song live. Despite the fun nature of the song, it has a very timely message that was inspired by a story a preacher had told the Crofts. While the preacher was visiting Israel, he came upon some nomads living in tents. One of the nomads spoke good English, and the preacher asked him if he knew the Messiah. The nomad answered, “oh yes, I know Messiah!” The preacher then asked, “are you looking for Him to come?” and the nomad put his hand up to his ear, and with a chilling and heightened expectancy in his voice, he said dramatically, “listen, listen, is that His footsteps I hear now?”!

Slowing the tempo down a bit, Troy takes the lead on the hopeful song of encouragement titled, “Hold On”, which was written by Squire Parsons, before picking the tempo back up for the Ruby Moody penned, “Count Me In”. Published by the Inspirations, the song fit the guys perfectly, and I love hearing Archie and Troy singing the second verse in harmony with one another.

With some nice steel guitar fills, the tempo slows down as Mike takes the verses, while Troy sings the lead on the chorus of the song, “Jesus Rescued Me”, which was written by William Edward Odom and published by the Inspirations. There aren’t a lot of bass singers who can pull off a meaningful solo on slower songs, but Mike proves he can interpret a heartfelt lyric as good as anyone, and it’s a highlight of the album.

The first side finishes out with the Stamps-Baxter tune entitled, “Let Us Sing”. Written by JR Baxter and Dwight Brock (who was the brother of Lena “Mom” Speer, matriarch of the Speer Family), the song was a little different for the Inspirations, but it’s one of my favorites from this album. With a strong convention feel, I love how they sing the first chorus acapella, before the music kicks back in for the second verse. It’s a cool song, and in fact, Troy’s group, the Troy Burns Family, recorded an excellent rendition of the song on their 2015 recording, “It’s Only Goodnight”. I think that this would be a great song for the current Inspirations to bring back and sing!

Archie opens up the second side with the exciting proclamation, “Thank God I’ve Made It”, which was previously recorded by the Singing Ledbetters in the late 1970’s. Though the song was never a chart song for the Inspirations, many long-time fans of the group remember the song, and it’s one of my personal favorite Archie features. Written by Gene Anderson, the Inspirations re-recorded the song several years later, on their 2009 recording, “The Son Came Down”, and though Archie had retired from the group at this point, Dallas Rogers, who was their tenor at the time, did an outstanding job with the song on that recording.

Picking up the tempo, Troy sings, “Let’s Restore the Family Altar”, which was written by Newt Kelly (writer of “Your Tears Are Touching God”) and published by the Inspirations. The Inspirations were never afraid to sing songs directed at the Christian family and upholding Christian values, and as these concerns became more prevalent during the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s, they continued making a statement through their music, and those types of songs resonated exceptionally well with their audiences.

Jack is featured next as he sings the acoustically driven prayer in song, “Touch Me Again, Lord”, which was written by Colbert & Joyce Croft, before the tempo picks back up for the Cleavant Derricks penned, “My Soul is Satisfied”, which features some playful dobro accents and step out lines by Mike on the chorus. The Perrys recorded an exciting version of this Stamps-Baxter favorite on their 1990 live recording, “Little Thunder-Live from Alabama”.

Troy steps up once more as he sings another Colbert & Joyce Croft penned tune entitled, “I’m the Reason”, before the album finishes off with the up-tempo, “I’ve Got My Foot on the Rock”, which was written by Lavanul Sherrill (who also wrote “City Coming Down” by the Speers). This was a popular song amongst several groups during this time including the Lamar Sego Family, Uncle Alf LeFevre Singers, Rex Nelon Singers, as well as a relatively unknown group at the time, the McKameys, who recorded the song on their 1980 album, “Genuine”. Archie heard the song from that recording and wanted to record it, and that recording introduced the Inspirations to the McKameys, and a long, endearing friendship was forged between the two groups that continues to this very day.

By late fall of 1981, Roger and Dale had decided to leave the Inspirations. Dale would go on to play for the Rex Nelon Singers for a few years, before moving on to a family group called the Mashburns. While Dale doesn’t play full-time, he makes occasional appearances with the Inspirations for special dates. Roger went on to play for the Hoppers, Goodmans (right before the group retired), Greenes, and eventually found his forever home with the McKameys, marrying Ruben and Peg’s daughter, Connie. Roger played with the McKameys for about 32 years until they retired in 2019, and since that time, he has been singing with Connie and their son, Eli, as McKamey Legacy. Roger also worked at Granite City Recording in Mt. Airy, North Carolina for a couple of years doing studio work, but since the 1990’s, Roger has been a highly sought after musician, playing on recordings by just about everybody in the industry.

1981 also saw the Inspirations included on a variety album released by Canaan Records called, “Canaan Country Christmas”, along with the Happy Goodmans, Florida Boys, Jimmie Davis, Cathedrals and others. The Inspirations recorded a great rendition of the classic, “What Child is This”, which features Mike on the verses. As I noted earlier in this article, Mike is one of the few bass singers who can churn out a heartfelt solo on a slow song, and he does a great job on the song. I bought the album from the Canaan Record & Tape Club sometime in the mid-80’s and I treasure this entire album, as it features rare performances not heard anywhere else!

Although I was familiar with a few songs from “Is That Footsteps That I Hear”, for whatever reason, I did not add this album to my personal collection until sometime in the early 1990’s. This was an excellent album by the Inspirations, but it seems most of the songs were overshadowed by the massive success of the title song, which was their first Top 5 hit in 2 years, and was the catapult for their continued success during the remained of the 80’s.

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