Though Horizon Music Group had been around since 1992 and was literally right down the road from the Inspirations’ home base, the Inspirations remained an independent artist throughout most of the 90’s and into the new century. The Inspirations’ journey through the 90’s and into the new millennium, all set the stage for this point in time when it all came together in 2001, as both the Inspirations and Horizon felt it was time to join forces, and it was one of the best decisions the Inspirations ever made! That relationship has continued to flourish for 24 years now, as the current group still makes their home with the label. For “Pure Vintage”, Martin is credited as Producer, but with signing to a major label, there are additional things at play, and label executives, Mickey Gamble and Chris White, serve as Executive Producers for this recording. Musicians include the exact same band that has been playing the past few years on their last several recordings…Otis Forrest playing piano, Tim Compton playing bass, Mike Riddle on acoustic guitar, Roger Fortner playing electric guitar and David Johnson on steel and dobro, mandolin, harmonica and fiddle. I think at times during the last decade, the Inspirations “settled” on being “good enough” for some of their recordings, but when a major label is involved, “good enough” isn’t good enough, and they pushed for the best sound from the group and studio musicians, resulting in one of the best recordings in their entire recording career! In fact, “Pure Vintage” is the recording that made me a fan of the Inspirations again!

Everything about this recording is simply spectacular, and even the cover design and photo shot is simply outstanding. The cover shot was taken at Sugar Daddy’s Classic Diner in Arden, North Carolina, and sadly, the diner is no longer in existence, as it’s a McDonald’s now (just what this world needed…another McDonalds! But I digress…). Also, the milk shakes were supposed to be props, but you can see from the cover shot, who were enjoying the props (notice that Matt’s cup is empty!)! Additionally, the logo for the recording’s title, “Pure Vintage”, takes a nod from the “Pure” gas station logos. Funny story about the back cover shot…the clock on the wall behind the guys had “It’s Miller Time” on the face of the clock, so it was promptly photo shopped out of the picture!

The recording kicks off with the Sandi Knight penned, “I’ll Not Turn My Back on Him Now”, which shot all the way up to the #1 spot in the Singing News chart for January and February 2002, becoming their first #1 song in about 26 years! The song also won “Song of the Year” honors during the 2002 Singing News Fan Awards! I will admit, the unique rhythmic timing of the song threw me off a bit when I first heard it, but I quickly grew to love it, and it’s become one of the Inspirations best loved songs, and it was a signature tune for Archie for many years afterwards!

Featuring some nice steel guitar highlights, Matt steps up next as he sings, “The Great I Am”, which is one of my personal favorite songs from this recording. Written by Traci Jones and published by the Inspirations, the group went on to record a couple more of her songs on forthcoming recordings. Some of her better-known tunes were “I’m Blessed” and “One More Time”, which she co-wrote with Ricky Atkinson, and those songs went on to become two of his biggest hit songs, as well as two of my personal favorite tunes sung by Ricky Atkinson & Compassion.

Picking up the tempo, we come to the highly enjoyable tune entitled, “He Broke the Chains”. Written by Mike Payne, the song was the second single from the recording, peaking at #15 in the August 2002 Singing News chart. This was a song the Paynes originally recorded back in 1984 on their “I’m a Jesus Fan” album, and I’ve always loved the Paynes bluesy feel of the song, but songwriter, Lance Carpenter (writer of their future #1 song, “I Have Not Forgotten”) had recorded the song and highly recommended that the Inspirations should record the song as well. Mike took the song and arranged it as a bass feature and it became a hugely popular concert favorite, which the group today still sings from time to time.

Slowing the pace back down, Archie sings the thoughtful, “Prayer Moves the Heart”. Written by Barbara Huffman and Randall Hunley, I love the lyric in the chorus, as it says, “prayer moves the heart, that moves the hand, that moves the world…”, emphasizing how important our prayers truly are, before Melton sings the comforting message of, “Mercy at Midnight”, which was another song penned by Barbara Huffman and Randall Hunley, along with Rick Shelton, and was a great addition to the recording.

Next, we come to what is possibly the final song chosen for this recording, as Jack was actually slated to sing another song (more on that in a second), but Jack shines as bright as ever on the Arlie Petree penned tune, “Heaven Gets Sweeter”. Filled with nice twin fiddle accents and hauntingly low harmony, this song is a perfect match of song and singer, and it’s one of my favorite Jack Laws features. I mentioned this was possibly the final song chosen for the recording, because the next song, “He Swept Me Off My Feet”, was originally slated to be Jack’s feature song for this recording. At some point during preparations for this recording, Jack decided this song may be a better fit for Melton, and he offered it to Melton to record. Written by Larry Petree, Melton was so taken by the message in the song, because it mirrored his own salvation experience, and he was so excited at the opportunity to sing and record it. With nice fiddle and steel guitar accents, I love the country feel of the song and it’s one of my favorites from this recording.

After 4 medium to slow tempo songs, the tempo finally picks back up for the convention feel of the Adgar Pace penned classic, “When Jesus Shall Reign”. Featuring some nice mandolin highlights and bass step-out lines by Mike on the chorus, the song is a highlight of the recording, featuring Archie’s classic curly-que ending on the final note, leading perfectly into “The Book, The Blood, The Blessed Hope”, which was written by Jerry Lee Moore. Featuring Matt, the Inspirations received the demo from the writer and instantly identified with the song and its message, ultimately deciding to include it on this recording. Though it was never a single, it was a popular song for the group, and in fact, a local preacher used the Inspirations’ version as the intro and outro for his radio program for several years.

Rounding out the recording, Mike sings the unique song entitled, “Endangered: The Christian Family”. Written by Ben & Robin Durr and published by the Inspirations, the song continues the tradition of the Inspirations proudly carrying the banner of Christian conservatism, as the song is uniquely written as a dream where the gravestones of tightly held Christian virtues and values are found, such as courage, truth, honesty and morality, before stumbling upon a newly dug grave with the headstone, “Christian Family”. It’s a rather grim closing song to a fabulous recording, but it’s an important and stark reminder for the listener to hold on to these Christian virtues and to proudly pass them on to their families.

The years 2001 and 2002 was a pivotal time for the Inspirations, with the release of “Pure Vintage” being the start of an Inspirations revolution! As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the group had, for the most part, been an independent artist since 1989, so when 2001 rolled around, and they decided to sign with Horizon Music Group, it was the best decision they could have ever made, and that partnership yielded astounding results, which are still felt today! “Pure Vintage” was a historic success for the group, yielding the Inspirations their first #1 song in 26 years, with the song “I’ll Not Turn My Back on Him Now”, which also took home “Song of the Year” honors during the 2002 Singing News Fan Awards. Adding to the celebration, Mike Holcomb also won “Bass Singer of the Year” honors that year, and Martin Cook took home the “Templeton/Norcross Award” (formerly known as the “Marvin Norcross Award”) for his tremendous contributions in gospel music, as well as within his local community! It was an amazing time for the Inspirations, and that success continued throughout much of the forthcoming decade! This success rejuvenated the group tremendously, and also thrilled many loyal fans, brought back many former fans (like myself) and also won the group countless new fans! It was an exciting time and is truly one of my all-time favorite Southern Gospel “come back” stories! And what is so cool, is that the Inspirations did it AGAIN in 2020, with yet another come back that was even greater than the last!!

When I decided to do this series on the Inspirations, I felt “Pure Vintage”, and its wonderful success story, would be the perfect stopping point, so this article will conclude this series on the group. I cannot let this article pass without recognizing those members of the Inspirations that have passed on, as Jack Laws passed away on August 27, 2013, Ronnie Hutchins passed away on May 21, 2021, and Martin Cook passed away February 23, 2022. The legacy of the Inspirations remains strong, which has been recognized by the Southern Gospel Music Association, as that organization has inducted 4 members of the group into the SGMA Hall of Fame…Martin Cook (2003), Archie Watkins (2007), Troy Burns (2017) and Mike Holcomb (2024). My hope is that one day the Gospel Music Association will recognize the Inspirations, and the enormous contributions they have made to gospel music, and they will induct the Inspirations into the GMA Hall of Fame along with other notable names already a part of the HOF such as the Happy Goodmans, Kingsmen, Statesmen and others.

As I close, I must thank several people who helped make this series on the Inspirations a success…first, thank you to Lucas Vaught for his help and being my liaison for Archie. Quite honestly, there is no possible way I could have done this series on the Inspirations without Lucas’ help, as he is truly a treasure, and a wealth of information! I deeply appreciate our friendship and the many long conversations we’ve had diving into the history of the Inspirations and these recordings! I would like to give a posthumous thank you to Martin Cook and Bob Terrell for providing a lot of insight via the book, “What a Wonderful Time”, that was written about the history of the Inspirations. Additionally, I sincerely appreciate Archie, Troy, Eddie, Marlin, Mike, Roger, Matt and Melton for sharing their stories and memories from their time with the group, along with Ila Knight, Joe Williams (former piano player for Jack Campbell & the Ambassadors), Andy Tolbird, Jeff Gibson, Daryl Williams, Tammy Burns, Richard McBrayer, Wilma Tomblin and Larry Petree for sharing their memories and stories as well! All of the aforementioned individuals truly helped make these articles extremely insightful and informative, and I deeply appreciate their time!

A special thank you also goes to David Bruce Murray for allowing me to share these articles here on Musicscribe. David’s other website, SGHistory.com, is also a huge help with album scans, song stats and other information. That site contains a wealth of information, which helps to ensure these articles are historically accurate. Please join us next week, as we start a new series on one of my favorite groups from the 90’s…the Bishops!

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