Released in 1990, this latest recording by the Bishops is appropriately titled, “Class of ‘90”, as they seem to be making the statement that the group had finally “come of age”, so to speak. From a personal perspective, this recording is kind of unique and special to me because I am a “Class of ‘90” high school graduate, so I was basically “coming of age” as well! In a lot of ways, this recording represents my musical tastes at the time, as I was really starting to branch out more musically outside my usual norm. As a kid, just hitting 18 years old, I was enjoying a mix of different musical styles, and you find a bit of that on this recording, as the Bishops celebrate their heritage, while also looking ahead.

As mentioned in previous articles, the last couple of years was a time of transition for the Bishops, as they had downsized from a full band to just piano, and had not yet taken the giant leap into full-time work. For several months in 1989, the Bishops utilized Steve Perkins to play bass guitar, as his own work schedule would permit, but by October 1989, the Bishops and Steve worked out an agreement, and he officially joined the group at that time, with the Bishops officially going full-time in the Spring of 1990. Steve would become an integral part of the Bishops, being more than “just” a bass player, but also assisting with song arrangements, handling a lot of “grunt work” as they prepared for recordings, and using his keen sense of business and finance to assist the Bishops with their everyday business of running a group, as well as assisting with contract negotiations with the record company. Around the time Steve officially joined the group, Jerry Hedrick (who had been playing piano/keyboards for the Bishops over the previous year) decided to leave the group, and the guys brought on a young man named Danny Napier to play keys.

Produced by Eddie Crook, “Class of ‘90” had a more straight-ahead Southern Gospel feel to it, but there are also a couple of songs that stretched the Bishops a bit musically, and it was an excellent follow-up album to “Marching On”. Steve Mauldin handled orchestrations, though they were scaled back a bit, but still very tastefully utilized on a couple of songs. The cover features a nice shot of the Bishops taken at Union Station in Nashville, Tennessee, which was the same place where the Nelons did the cover shot for their 1990 “The Best of Times” recording. One interesting thing about the cover shot…it’s the first shot of the group of just Kenneth, Mark and Kenny for the cover of a recording, though the insert does feature the group along with Steve Perkins and Danny Napier.

The recording kicks off with the medium tempo, “I Need You More Today”, which was written by a young lady named Dawn Smoot from Lynchburg, Virginia. This was the first song she had ever written, and she originally pitched it to the Bishops a few years earlier for their “Live at Fayetteville Community Church” album, but they already had all the songs picked out, so they shelved the song because they really liked it. The song was inadvertently overlooked for their “Marching On” album, but when it came time for choosing material for “Class of ‘90”, they remembered this song, and subsequently recorded it, becoming a big hit for the group. Released as the first single, it rose to #4 in the February and March 1991 Singing News chart, and the tune really started a trend for the Bishops, as they tended to release songs that were easy going, medium tempo tunes, which really became their sweet spot over the years. Fast forward nearly 20 years later, and Jeff & Sheri Easter recorded the song on their 2009 release, “Expecting Good Things”, and it went on to become an extremely popular song for them, taking it one step further up the chart than the Bishops did nearly 20 years earlier, cresting at #3 in the January 2011 Singing News chart! Additionally, Kenny recorded the song on his 2006 self-titled solo recording, doing a fantastic job with his unique arrangement of the song.

With some nice mandolin and harmonica embellishments, we come to one of my personal favorites from this recording, “Miracle Rose”, which was written by and features Mark. This medium tempo tune was a concert favorite for the Bishops, and though it never made it to radio, I always thought this could have been an excellent single release for the Bishops. This is one of Mark’s personal favorite songs that he has written, and he eventually re-recorded an excellent updated arrangement of it on his 2006 solo recording, “Everyday”.

With its black gospel piano and organ highlights, giving it the feel of an old time spiritual, the tempo picks up for the fun and energetic tune entitled, “Angels Watching Over Me”, featuring an energetic performance by Kenny. Written by Gina Vera and originally recorded by her family group, Gina Vera & Heritage, Gina was another wonderful writer whose early songs were published through Chestnut Mound Music. Gina has had her songs recorded by several artists over the years including Brian Free & Assurance, Ruppes, Karen Peck & New River, Perrys, Ivan Parker, Gold City, Booth Brothers and even Kenny Rogers! Along with the aforementioned piano and organ, it also features a fun banjo track, making this my favorite song on this recording, and though it’s a delightfully fun tune, it reminds us that God has His angels watching over us all the time. This song went over exceptionally well in concert, and it was actually considered to be released as the second single from this recording, but the record company opted to go in another direction.

Slowing the pace down, we come to a very nice and understated arrangement of the classic hymn, “In the Sweet By and By”, featuring just the piano and bass guitar, expertly played by none other than Eddie Crook and Steve Perkins! Kenneth kicks off the song singing the melody for the first verse, but by the first chorus, Mark takes the lead, and as they take a second run on the chorus, the song modulates again as Kenny takes the lead, and it’s a very sweet and airy performance, before Kenny turns in a masterful delivery on the song, “The Carpenter’s House”. Written by Jerry Salley and Jim Chapman, this is one of my all-time favorite performances by Kenny, and that last note that he hits is just pure perfection! It’s a song that was a little different for the Bishops, but the guys turn in an excellent performance as they sing, “He’s gone to prepare a place for me now, built by the blood and sweat of His brow, created by love, standing on holy ground, where we shall live forever, in the Carpenter’s house!”. I love the steel guitar embellishments on the chorus, and the song is truly a highlight of the recording.

Kicking off the second half, we come to the power ballad, “For Every Cross There is a Crown”, which was written by Mark. Featuring Kenny on the verses, with he and Mark trading lead duties on the chorus, this was the second single from this recording (Mark’s first self-penned song to be singled to radio), which flew all the way to the #2 position in the Singing News chart for October 1991. Interesting side note, on this recording, the song features Kenny on the verses, but as they started performing the song in concert, Mark eventually started taking the first part of each verse, with Kenny coming in on the second half of the verses (you hear this on their 1997 live recording, “Classics Live”). Personally, I prefer them splitting the verses like that, as the first part of the verses are lower than the second half, and having Mark and Kenny split the verses really enhances the overall feel of the song. Additionally, Mark did not initially write the song with the intention of the Bishops recording it, because he felt it was too different for the group, but Kenny loved the song, as he saw the potential in it and wanted the group to record it. Despite the song being very different for the Bishops at the time (even featuring power chords on the electric guitar), it went on to become one of the Bishops biggest and most remembered hit songs.

In complete contrast with the previous tune, the Bishops dive into the highly enjoyable, “One Size Fits All”, which was written by John Rimel, who was also co-writer with Jimmy Fortune on the Statler Brothers’ hit song, “More Than a Name on the Wall”. The Bishops were fans of the Statler Brothers, which they had originally recorded the song on their 1984 album, “Atlanta Blue”, and they also included it on their 1986 gospel album, “Radio Gospel Favorites”. The song fit the Bishops perfectly, as does the acapella, “One Way or Another”, which was written by a wonderful singer/songwriter named Nancy Click-Banfield, who sang with another outstanding singer/songwriter, John Darin Rowsey in the group New Song Revival, who later re-branded themselves as New Journey. Nancy currently sings with another excellent singer/songwriter named Diana Gillette in the Perry Sisters. Speaking of the Perry Sisters, the next song, “More Than Just a Hill”, which was written by Del Toler, was also a popular song for the female trio, who recorded it on their 1989 recording, “Do It Right”. The Bishops’ version featured both Mark and Kenny, and it was also a big concert favorite for the Bishops during this time as well.

The recording concludes with the fun, acoustic flavor of the song, “It Ain’t the Mountain”, which was written by and features Mark. The song is a throwback to the early sound of the Bishops, featuring mandolin, banjo and harmonica highlights. It’s a dandy little ditty, rounding out the recording on a more playful note.

I bought “Class of ‘90” from our local Christian bookstore on cassette when it was released, and there is some discrepancy as to whether or not “Class of ‘90” was initially released on CD. The recording may have been re-released on CD at a later time, but the songs “I Need You More Today” and “For Every Cross There is a Crown” was re-released the following year as bonus tracks to their 1991 recording, “Once in a Lifetime” (CD version only, the cassette version did not include those songs), which makes me think “Class of ‘90” was not originally released on CD. Personally, I have never seen a CD version of this recording (that does not mean it does not exist), but if one does exist, I’d sure love to get my hands on a copy!

“Class of ‘90” was a pretty laid-back recording overall, and it continued to build on the amazing success the Bishops had enjoyed up to this point, adding fuel to an already spreading wildfire! It proved that “Marching On” wasn’t merely a “2 hit wonder”, and that the Bishops had “graduated…with honors”, becoming a successful full-time group and were true mainstays within this industry!

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