1989 was another celebratory year for the Inspirations, as they were celebrating 25 years as an organized group. From their humble beginnings practicing in Martin Cook’s basement, to the heights of popularity and fame, the Inspirations have done it all and seen it all! Though during the decade of the 80’s, the Inspirations had not enjoyed the wild and insane popularity they enjoyed during the 70’s, it was still a very fruitful and productive time for the group. Before the decade wrapped up, the Inspirations released this latest album titled, “Silver Anniversary”, to commemorate that 25-year legacy.

As I mentioned in my last article, the Inspirations had decided to leave Canaan Records in 1988, and “Silver Anniversary” would be their first fully independent release since their early days. If you think about it, how appropriate that the very first album that they recorded in 1966, “Our Pioneer Heritage”, was a purely independent release (this was before Mark V created their own record label), and this latest album commemorating their 25th anniversary, would follow suit and be recorded and released independently as well. Incidentally, “Silver Anniversary” would also be the last recording that was released on vinyl by the group, as all their forthcoming recordings would be released only on cassette and CD.

Like all their other albums during the 80’s, “Silver Anniversary” was produced by Martin Cook, and much like their last album, the Inspirations would only use the bare necessities for musical accompaniment, with Otis Forrest playing piano, Tim Compton on bass, and Mike Riddle playing the guitar. Recorded at Dawn Studios in Ashville, North Carolina, the album features a very plain and simple, gray looking cover, with a very nice portrait of the group gracing the front. In a unique move, the Inspirations did not release any singles to radio from this album, and in fact, they sent the entire album to radio stations across the country. I was a DJ when this album was released, and I remember getting the album at the radio station where I worked. Accompanying the album was a letter, and in that letter, they told the DJ’s to play whatever song or songs that they wanted to from the album. Additionally, the letter also made some airplay suggestions by highlighting a few songs, but they left it up to the DJ’s discretion on what songs to play. As such, since no specific single was ever released from the album, no songs from “Silver Anniversary” ever made it into the Singing News charts, which is sad, as there are some really good airplay worthy tunes on this album that I think could have done well in the charts.

The album kicks off with the medium tempo, “Going Home to Spend the Day with the Son”, which is a highlight of the album. Written by Lois Gail and published through Tuckaseigee Publishing, the song parallels the story of Enoch going to Heaven, with the moment we all get to “spend the day” with the Son for eternity. It’s a great song, and I felt it was an excellent opening tune for the album, and it could have been a decent radio single as well.

During the Inspirations’ earlier years, they recorded several songs written by Luther Pressley (including one of their biggest hits, “Shoutin’ Time”). In fact, if my info is correct, up until this point, they had recorded about 9 of his songs, with “They Shall Walk With Me in White”, being one of their first songs of his they recorded, back in 1968 on their “Jesus is Coming Soon” album. For this “Silver Anniversary” album, they pulled the song back out and gave it a fresh, new arrangement featuring Mike’s booming bass voice on the chorus. With it’s nice acoustic feel, it’s a very different arrangement from their original cut of the song, but I like it, though I still prefer the original cut from 1968, which I admit is likely because I am partial to it, since I literally cut my teeth listening to that “Jesus is Coming Soon” album as a kid, with “Walk with Me in White” being one of my absolute favorites from that recording.

Featuring some nice piano fills, Troy takes the lead on the bouncy Lee Penland penned tune, “When the Son Breaks Through the Clouds”, which has that classic Inspirations feel to it, leading perfectly into the next song entitled, “It’s a Matter of Time”. Written by Tommy Swindle, the song features lots of usage of the left hand on the piano by Otis, giving the song a bit of a dramatic feel. This is reminiscent to some of Otis’ piano playing on their “The Next Step You Take” album from 1969, where you hear lots of the lower end of the piano throughout that recording. Interestingly, in my head, I can easily hear the McKameys singing this song, with Peg taking the lead on it.

Rounding out the first side, Mike sings the verses of the song, “A Way in a Manger”, which I think would have made a great single release. I love the play on words with the title, as the song is a celebration of what salvation means to the sinner…“a way out of the shackles that bound my poor soul, a way to bind up the wounds, make this heart of mine whole, a way to the treasures of a Heavenly home, a way in a manger for me”. Written by Ray Vaughn, who was the pastor at Bethany Baptist Church in Thomasville, NC, the Inspirations would go on to record a few other tunes written by Vaughn in the forthcoming years. Vaughn was a tremendous songwriter, who also wrote one of my all-time favorite songs by the McKameys entitled, “Handfuls of Purpose”.

Side 2 kicks off with the rhythmic up-tempo tune, “You Talk About Joy”, which was a song that was written by none other than Martin Cook. With Mike taking the lead step-out lines on the chorus, it’s a fun song that I’m sure went over extremely well in concert, and I think would have been another great radio song for the group. Since it was written by Martin, it naturally has that classic Inspirations feel to it, before Archie takes the lead on the medium tempo, “I Dreamed About Heaven Last Night”, which was written by Don McHan and Edward Hines.

Archie maintains the lead on the bluegrass/acoustic feel of the sentimental, “Where No Cabins Fall”, with Chris and Mike both taking a line or two in the chorus. Written by Nolan Jeffress and published by the Hartford Music Company, this was a popular song for the legendary Chestnut Grove Quartet (an early influence on the Inspirations), and the song is also a popular bluegrass favorite, having been recorded by such artists as Rhonda Vincent, Red Smiley, the Country Gentlemen, and others. Archie wanted to record the song as it was something that his uncle, Walter Laws (who was Jack Laws’ uncle as well) sang many years ago with his group, the Smoky Mountain Quartet, who was an early musical influence on Archie and Jack.

Troy steps up next as he takes the solos on another classic tune titled, “An Empty Mansion”. This Stamps-Baxter classic was first published in 1939, with lyrics written by Beuna Ora Bryant Karnes, and music written by Clarence A. Luttrell, and has been recorded over the years by such groups as the Chuck Wagon Gang, Cathedrals, Swanee River Boys, and many others. During the 60’s and 70’s, the Inspirations recorded a ton of songs from the Stamps Quartet and Stamps-Baxter catalogs, and this was the first Stamps-Baxter tune recorded by the group in about 5 or 6 years, further demonstrating the influence Chris Smith had in the group, as he pushed them to return to some of the basic musical foundations the Inspirations were founded on.

Speaking of Chris, he closes the album out with his only feature on the Dottie Rambo classic, “Tears Will Never Stain the Streets of that City”. This was a highly popular concert favorite for the group during the 70’s, and the Inspirations recorded it in 1975 as the Smoky Mountain Trio (Eddie, Archie and Troy), but this latest version is given the full quartet treatment, and it’s an appropriate finish to the album.

Overall, “Silver Anniversary” is a low-key album with a very laid-back vibe, as many of the songs are medium to slower tempo tunes, with only a couple of upbeat songs interspersed within. There are a good number of songs on this album that I really have enjoyed over the years, but because the album was a bit slower paced, it wasn’t one that I pulled out to listen as often as some of the others. While “Yes, I Will Be There” and “Silver Anniversary” were very similar as far as the musical accompaniment, I felt “Yes, I Will Be There” was a better album overall. The simple instrumentation was a cool and unique concept for one record, but I think keeping that concept going for a second album created some challenges in trying to keep the arrangements exciting and refreshing, at least for me; and I think that the Inspirations probably saw that, and when they went back into the studio to record their next album, “What’s That I Hear”, they really stepped things up a bit and created something that was truly exciting and wonderful! Stick around, as we’ll dive into that recording in our next article!

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