How do you follow-up the immense success of the Bishops’ monumental recording, “Chapter X Live”? You do what the Bishops did…you record a “hymns” album! I have a deep love and appreciation for hymns, and historically, most artists in our genre have tended to take a low budget approach when making hymn recordings. Plus, they tend to record them with very basic arrangements, making those recordings sound very dry and boring, which is why I generally have not been a fan of hymn recordings. There are a few exceptions, in fact, my favorite hymn album was recorded by Howard & Vestal Goodman in 1983 called, “Take Us Back”. What most people may not realize is that Steve Mauldin handled the orchestrations for that wonderful album, so it’s no surprise his work is equally as impressive here on this latest recording by the Bishops, aptly titled, “Seems Like Only Yesterday”!

Along with Steve Mauldin handling the orchestral work, “Seems Like Only Yesterday” has Eddie Crook back at the helm producing (after stepping back for Mauldin to produce “Chapter X Live”). This latest effort features some unique arrangements to these classic hymns, which the Bishops all grew up listening to, and ironically, they all came from the Church of God hymnbook, nicknamed “The Red-Back Hymnal”. In fact, they even included the page numbers for each song from that classic hymn book. “Seems Like Only Yesterday” features a good mix of musical styles ranging from the expected acapella arrangements, along with bluegrass/acoustic sounds, traditional Southern Gospel sounds, as well as big arrangements with fully orchestrated tracks. As appropriate, the recording prominently features Kenneth on several songs, and those are truly highlights of the recording.

“Seems Like Only Yesterday” kicks off with a very classy acapella arrangement of the George Bennard penned classic, “The Old Rugged Cross”. With just a verse and chorus, starting off singing in unison before splitting into parts, this solemn arrangement effectively sets the tone for the recording, before we come to the old-time feel of the up-tempo, Albert E. Brumley classic, “Jesus Hold My Hand”, which features Kenneth. Featuring a dominant dobro track, the tempo slows down about halfway through the song, as Kenneth shares his early memories of singing many of these hymns in church, before the band kicks back in, as the guys sing a couple more choruses of the song.

With its fun, lilting piano track, along with some nice guitar work, Mark takes the lead on a jazzy arrangement of “Honey in the Rock”. If you’re looking for a comical performance akin to Little Roy Lewis and the Lewis Family (who first recorded the song way back in the early 1960’s), you won’t find it here, as the guys turn in a classy, but yet fun performance of the song, before Kenny steps up to sing the “gospel” feel of, “I’m Going That Way”, which was written by James Rowe in 1920. Rowe has over 9,000 published works (hymns, poems, etc.) to his credit, including the classic hymn, “Love Lifted Me”, along with “Won’t it Be Wonderful There”, “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again” and “Press Along to Gloryland”. This recording by the Bishops was my initial introduction to this song, as I don’t recall ever hearing it prior to this recording coming out, and I’ve been a huge fan of this song since the first time I heard it. Kenny does a superb job declaring the song’s wonderful faith-filled lyrics, and I always thought it would have been worth releasing this song to radio, as it was a big concert favorite for the guys. The Inspirations would later go on to record it on their 2025 recording, “Up Above the World So High”, and they did a great job with their version of the song as well!

The acoustic/bluegrass feel of the bouncy, “The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago” is next, and features Kenneth, Mark and Kenny on their respective verses. This has been one of the most recorded hymns in our genre, having been recorded numerous times over the years by such artists as the Cathedrals, Speers, Greenes, Couriers, Statesmen, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry & the Goffs, Inspirations, Bill Gaither Trio and many others, and it’s also a popular song on the campmeeting circuit as well! It’s a great inclusion, and a highlight of the recording!

As we move from the old-fashioned sounds of the “old country church” to the more formal feel of the “First Baptist Church”, we come to the beautifully arranged, “The Lily of the Valley”. Featuring lush orchestrations tastefully arranged by Steve Mauldin, Kenny is featured on a very classy rendition of this testimonial hymn, which was written by Charles Fry a year before his death in 1882. As a historical side note, Fry, by a series of unique events (too much to expound upon here), played a role in founding the original Salvation Army Band in 1878.

In keeping with a more formal appeal, the Bishops turn in an excellent performance on “The Haven of Rest”, with Mark and Kenny both sharing lead duties. This song, as well as “The Lily of the Valley”, feature more of what I call “high church” music, with big orchestral sounds and a more formal arrangement, highlighting the Bishops ability to perform this type of music, and both songs are true highlights of the recording. Interesting side note, the Booth Brothers would eventually record “The Haven of Rest”, utilizing the Bishops’ track from this recording, when they recorded their first album with Eddie Crook, “Praise God Anyhow”, in 1996, and it was a popular concert favorite for the Booth Brothers. In fact, I saw the Booth Brothers around 1999/2000 at a church in Greensboro, North Carolina, and they were still staging this song then.

Up next, the tempo picks back up for the enjoyable Southern Gospel feel of, “The Meeting in the Air”, which features Kenneth. Written by Mae Taylor Roberts and published in 1925, this is another oft recorded number having been recorded by such artists as Jimmy Swaggart, Speers, LeFevres, Wendy Bagwell & the Sunliters, and Walt Mills, among others, and the Bishops do a great job with their version of the song, before slowing the pace back down for the nice easy-going tempo of the classic, “The Eastern Gate”, which was written in 1905 by Nazarene minister, Isaiah G. Martin. With nice steel guitar highlights, Kenneth initially takes the lead, then Mark takes it for the next verse, before Kenny takes the final verse and carries it out through the end of the song. This was the only tune that was released as a single from this recording, ultimately stalling out at #17 in March 1996 during its 5-month run in the Singing News chart. Of course, everyone remembers this was a classic tune for the Happy Goodman Family during the 1970’s, recording the song on their 1970 album, “Good Times with the Happy Goodmans”, before taking the song to #4 in the Singing News chart in January, May and July 1972, ultimately keeping the song in the charts for 20+ months during 1971 and 1972.

Picking the pace back up, we come to a fun arrangement of the E.M. Bartlett penned classic, “Everybody Will Be Happy Over There”. I love this arrangement of the song, as about midway through, the tempo goes into double time, and before the song is over, Mark has some fun with a few step-out lines and it’s a highlight of the recording. This was a popular concert favorite for the Bishops, and if I remember correctly, I saw the group perform this song on the “Crook & Chase” television show on the Nashville Network, not too long after this recording was released.

One of my all-time favorite hymns is the William Newell penned, “At Calvary”, and the Bishops do a great job delivering an acoustic rendering of the song. While the Bishop’s version is pretty cut and dried and it’s one of my favorites, there are multiple arrangements by various groups over the years that I particularly enjoy as well. Two that immediately come to mind are stark contrasts with one another, as Wendy Bagwell & the Sunliters recorded a countrified, up-tempo version on their 1994 recording, “Timeless”, while the Collingsworth Family delivered a stellar, power ballad arrangement on their 2011 recording, “Part of the Family”, becoming a powerful concert favorite for the family. Nonetheless, I’ve always loved the wonderful lyric to this fantastic tune, and I’m glad the Bishops included it on this recording.

Using the song as an appropriate bookend, closing the recording out like it began, we come to an acapella arrangement of the Rev. E.A. Hoffman penned song, “Are You Washed in the Blood”. It’s a unique arrangement as they only sing the chorus about 3 times, first with Mark singing solo, and with each subsequent pass of the chorus, Kenny joins and then Kenneth. Then, they change the chorus from a question to a declaration, as they sing, “I am washed in the blood” for a couple of rounds, before ultimately finishing out with Kenny singing the last line solo, leaving the listener with the question, “are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?”. It’s a very unique and fitting way of closing out this outstanding collection of hymns by the Bishops.

Releasing an album of “hymns” as a mainline recording or even releasing a hymn as a radio single, can be tricky and challenging, because though people love the old songs and classic hymns, those songs tend to not do as well in the charts. The ones that have done well in the charts have usually been spectacularly re-arranged or completely re-imaged in a way that makes it almost sound like a new song. “Seems Like Only Yesterday” was a tremendous seller for the Bishops, but it didn’t yield any major hits for the group. Since the late 1980’s, the Bishops have consistently had a song in the Singing News Top 10 chart, with only a few exceptions where a song fell below the top 10 as another was coming up in the charts, but for a span of 15 months though (between September 1995 through November 1996), the Bishops would not be found in the top 10 charts. That would change soon though, as this would be the final recording the Bishops would record for the Eddie Crook Company. After 10 years with the label, the Bishops would part ways with ECC, and they would eventually sign with Bill Traylor and Homeland Records. Though the group only released 3 mainline recordings on Homeland between 1996 and 1999, it was a time of tremendous creativity for the Bishops and for Mark Bishop as well, as after the Bishops’ freshman release on Homeland, their recordings became a potpourri of Mark Bishop tunes, as he began contributing more songs for them to record, and his writings became the anchor for their music. While the last 11 years was filled with lots of growth and expansion for the Bishops, the next 6 years would prove to be exceptionally fruitful for the group as well!

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