1994 was a celebratory year for the Bishops, as they were commemorating 10 years together as a group! Some groups struggle to make a name for themselves within 10 years’ time, but for the Bishops, it was a rapid fire of hits, and they were about as close to an overnight success as anyone can get in our genre…or so it seems. That success didn’t come without a lot of hard work and determination on their part, along with the backing of a great record company, as well as the support of radio making it all happen! To honor this milestone achievement, it was determined that a new live audio and video recording was in order! Not just “any old” live recording would do, as the Bishops and the Eddie Crook Company decided to pull out all the stops and take it “up town”, recording the Bishops “live”, backed by a full orchestra, under the direction of Steve Mauldin!

Eddie Crook stepped back from producing, allowing Steve Mauldin to serve as producer (and arranger) for this live recording, but Crook still had the final say, serving as Executive Producer. In talking with Mark Bishop, Steve Mauldin, Eddie Crook and Steve Perkins about this recording, there was A LOT of work that went into making “Chapter X Live” a reality. For Steve Mauldin, this would be the first recording he would use a computer to write the entire orchestral score (rather than manually writing them by hand). As fate would have it, as he got about halfway through writing the score, the motherboard somehow cracked and he ended up having to buy a new computer, re-writing what he had completed already and then finishing the rest. The coordination of the orchestra was a bit difficult, as instead of using the professional orchestral players Mauldin was accustomed to using, it was decided to use the local orchestra, which had their very first practice session with the group on the afternoon of the concert. Even after the live recording was put to tape, they ended up going back and dubbing in additional strings in the studio.

The live recording was also a melding together of 3 separate bands…the Bishops’ regular stage band (Johnny on piano and Steve on bass), studio players who had come to play that night (Kelly Back/Bruce Watkins on guitars and John Gardner on drums) and the local ensemble orchestra…so there were a lot of moving parts that night. Steve Perkins was the band leader for the rhythm section, and he also handled a lot of the behind-the-scenes work…hashing out how the Bishops wanted the songs to go, along with working with Eddie and Steve Mauldin on finalizing arrangements. After they had finalized the songs and basic arrangements, he went to Eddie Crook’s house one evening and spent a few hours working with him on ideas and getting his thoughts on the arrangements. Once that was finalized, Perkins got with Mauldin for final prep work on arrangements leading up to the big day.

All the prep and hard work came together on Friday, April 29, 1994, at the Brock Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. Promptly at 8pm the preliminaries began, and before the tape began to roll, the Bishops came to the stage and did a mini-concert, performing a few songs to get a sound check before officially starting the live recording with the orchestra.

“Chapter X Live” kicks off with no formal introduction, but rather with a movie score sounding “Overture” by the orchestra. Next, the rest of the band takes their places as they kick off the intro for the upbeat, Mark Bishop penned, “That’s All He Needs to Know”, which was a perfect lead off song for this celebratory live recording, before we move on to the medium tempo, “Look What Jesus Has Done”, which was written by Kenny. Featuring both Mark and Kenny, the song starts off with the guys singing the chorus acapella, before the band kicks in on the final line of the chorus. The final chorus features the guys singing with just the string section playing behind them, giving the song a bit of a classical feel. Orchestra music aside, the basic rhythm pattern and feel of the song has that classic Bishops sound and is a highlight of the recording.

Kenny, in his witty and uncanny way, then takes a moment to welcome everyone, before the guys sing the great song of promise, “God Has Provided a Lamb”. This was a song Eddie Crook pitched to the Bishops for this live recording, which was written by brothers, Jason and Jeff Johnson, and published through Chestnut Mound Music. This was the second single from this recording, peaking at #7 in the Singing News chart for July and August 1995.

Moving on, Kenny does a tremendous job singing the Dee Gaskin penned, “He’s My Hiding Place”, which was the first single released from this recording, going all the way to the #1 position for 3 months in the Singing News chart for January through March 1995. The Bishops had been recording songs written by Gaskin since their early days, and in fact, her song, “Battle Scarred Soldier” garnered the Bishops their very first Top 20 song 8 years earlier. How appropriate that it would be one of her songs that would snag the Bishops their second #1 hit? I love the orchestrations on this song, and it continues a long line of easy going, medium tempo radio tunes for the Bishops. Neat historical fact, the song placed in the top 10 of the National Southern Gospel Song Competition nearly 10 years earlier. It was released on an album in 1986 featuring those top 10 songs performed by the Speers, Cathedrals and Singing Americans, and it was the Singing Americans who recorded “He’s My Hiding Place” on that album.

Changing the mood, Kenny humorously sets up the acapella, “Angels Walking Around”, as he has the orchestra give them the key to the song, before the guys jump in and deliver a flawless performance. Written by Earle and Mark Wheeler of the Marksmen, who originally recorded it on their 1986 album, “Cookin’ Now”, it was a cool inclusion and a highlight of the recording.

As the applause dies down, the orchestra begins to play as they set the mood with a nice jazzy feel, as Kenneth takes the lead on the fun tune, “Worryin’”. Written by Buford Abner of the Swanee River Boys, who recorded the song on their 1968 album, “Old Virginny”, the Bishops and orchestra did a marvelous job delivering the goods here, and it’s truly a magnificent gem of a song! The Bishops met Abner sometime after the release of this recording, and he told them how much he loved what the Bishops did with his song, and it truly is a highlight of the recording!

Mark steps up next as he takes the lead on his powerful song, “He Gave it to Me”. This was the emotional highlight on this recording, but it also ended up being a big “omg…what do we do?” moment as well! An encore was not planned, but you never can tell how a song is going to “hit” a crowd (or a singer, for that matter!), and after a huge response from the audience, an encore was definitely in order, but then Mark decided he wanted to talk, which was something he never did! Those in the orchestra (who were strictly following their music charts) were confused and didn’t know where to go. So, while Mark spontaneously shared his heart, and Johnny Sansom freely played the piano behind Mark, thanks to the musical prowess of the 2 Steve’s (Mauldin and Perkins), they were able to get all the musicians on the same page (literally!), and by the time Mark started singing the second verse, all was right with the world again! Despite the slight chaos that may have been going on behind the scenes and the rough, emotion-ridden vocals on the encore, it’s my favorite moment from the recording, and is one of the Bishops’ best performances ever!

Changing the mood completely, the guys jump into the highly invigorating, “Holy Ghost Revival”, which was written by Joel Hemphill. The Hemphills originally recorded the song on their 1989 album, “Celebration”, and Kenny really liked the song and wanted the Bishops to record it for this live album. The song was a huge concert favorite for the Bishops for a few years, and I always felt it would have been an excellent radio single for the guys. In fact, the song was performed by the Bishops on one of the Gaither videos recorded at the Georgia Dome in front of 40,000 plus people. Featuring fun piano and electric guitar highlights, the guys turn in an exciting encore, and as Kenny calls for yet another encore, I always thought the dead time before the second encore was a bit awkward.

Once again, in typical Kenny fashion, he talks where he wasn’t supposed to, and it’s a comical moment on the recording. As he quickly takes a moment to be serious, he pays tribute to “Granny” Bishop (who encouraged the Bishops to record their first album in 1984) and honors her memory as he introduces the “Hits Medley” which features the Bishop classics, “He’s in the Midst”, “For Every Cross There is a Crown”, “I Need You More Today”, “He’s Living Again” and “I’ll Live Again”. As the guys move from song to song, the audience applaud their approval as they remember these wonderful foundational songs for the Bishops. I personally would have loved to have heard them include “Battle Scarred Soldier” and “God’s Amazing Grace”, or even “I’m Gonna Move” in the medley, but I digress. Nonetheless, the medley was an outstanding representation of the last few years of their success, and it was initially arranged and pieced together by Steve Perkins. As Perkins was trying to arrange the songs and decide their placement in the medley, he sought advice from Garry Jones, who arranged the medley for Gold City’s “Medley of Favorites” from their “10 Year Celebration” live recording that was released in 1991. Perkins was able to pick Garry’s brain about his thought process behind the medley and how he put it together, and he later told Perkins that he was thoroughly impressed with the Bishops’ medley. In the final stages of arranging, Steve Mauldin added his final touches to the arrangements, creating the orchestral score and making the medley the crowning jewel of the recording.

This live recording would not be complete without the inclusion of the Bishops biggest hit song, “Lazarus Come Forth”. The song was initially intended to be part of the medley, but it’s such an important part of the Bishops history, they decided to do the entire song, rather than just a snippet of it in the medley, and it’s the perfect grand finale for the live recording. As the Bishops take their final bow and exit the stage, the band and orchestra continue to play through the chorus of the song, as the audience cheers on.

The live recording had a couple of hiccups that night, as already mentioned, there were a couple of unplanned encores, and they also had to go back and re-start a couple of songs during the concert for various reasons, but all in all, it was a memorable and exciting evening for the Bishops! Being the trailblazers that they were, they were the first group to pull off a live recording backed by a full orchestra, which was something no one in our genre had done before! The Greenes would follow, releasing a live recording with a live orchestra in 1996 titled, “And the Walls Came Down…Live”.

Kenny also recorded his first solo recording, “Reaching Out”, which was released later in 1994. This recording included a few classics such as “I’d Rather Have Jesus” and “I’m Bound for that City”, along with Dottie Rambo’s, “I Will Glory in the Cross” and “I Go to the Rock”, as well as a few songs Kenny had written including “I’m Gonna Move” and “New Campmeeting Days” (which the Bishops recorded on their 1992 recording, “No 2 Ways About It”) and “Jesus, Me and You” (which is a song my best man sang at my wedding in 1997).

Getting back to “Chapter X Live”, I remember that it was met with overwhelming fanfare (due to a massive media blitz prior to and around its release in the summer of 1994), and it was an immediate hit with the fans. The Bishops were enjoying amazing success, and it had been a tremendous 10-year ride for them! The storybook of their success was filled with happy chapters of joys and triumphs, but it was also filled with hard chapters of trials and rough patches, but as they hit “Chapter X”, it was a faith-filled chapter filled with a lot of fortitude and favor! Their story wasn’t over either, as each forthcoming year presented new chapters that were filled with exciting new songs that continued to push the Bishops even further!

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