The Greenes started singing as a family group back in 1979, and between 1980 and 1984, they recorded 3 albums, mostly independently. In the early 1980’s, Tim Greene opened his own recording studio in the basement of the Greene’s home called Mountain Top Studios, and the Greenes started recording their albums there. In addition to that, Tim also created his own record company called Gloryland Records, and the Greenes began releasing their albums with that imprint. Their first albums contained mostly cover tunes that were recorded by some of their favorite groups at the time, such as the Hemphills, Rambos, Singing Cookes, Hinsons, Rex Nelon Singers, and others. Tim also started writing songs in 1981, and the Greenes recorded a few of his early songs on those first few albums.

The Greenes’ first big break came with their 1982 album, “Gloryland”, with the title song becoming their very first chart song. Written by Jeff Gibson, “Gloryland” spent an entire year in the chart, peaking at #31 in the July 1984 Singing News chart. Jeff’s group, HeavenBound, had originally recorded the song a couple of years earlier on their “Thinkin’ ‘Bout Home” album, but HeavenBound were enjoying the immense success of a few other Gibson penned tunes at the time, including “Canaanland is Just in Sight”, “We Are Those Children” and “I Know My God Can Do It”, and the song “Gloryland” basically became free for the taking, and the Greenes took it and made it their own!

By 1984, the Greenes were also starting to mature into adulthood as individuals and as a group. Tony, who was the youngest, was 15 years old and his voice was still maturing as well. Kim was just coming into her own as a true vocal stylist and arranger, and Tim was maturing as a singer, musician and songwriter as well. Everette was the foundation of the group playing piano and singing bass, and by this time, the group had hired Robbie Stevens as their drummer, who would remain with the group for a couple of years.

“Greenehouse” was recorded in 1984 at Mountain Top Studios in Boone, North Carolina. Recording engineers for the album were Tim Greene, along with the Greenes older half-brother, Ronnie Brookshire, who could very easily be named the “silent member” of the Greenes, as he played a big role behind the scenes in their recorded music over the course of their 31-year span…even playing drums on their earlier recordings. In fact, Ronnie would go on to become an award-winning recording engineer, working with such artists as the Collingsworth Family, Michael W. Smith, Donnie McClurkin, Natalie Grant, CeCe Winans, Point of Grace, Sandi Patty, Carman, Steven Curtis Chapman, Martins, Janet Paschal and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, along with the Greenes, Hoppers, Kim Hopper and TaRanda Greene.

Roger Talley (who had left the Hoppers just a few months prior to launch the Talleys with his brother, Kirk and wife, Debra) produced “Greenehouse”, and he also played piano/keyboards. Other musicians playing on the album include Chuck Tipton, who played guitars and harmonica, Roger Fortner (who would actually join the Greenes within the next few months) playing bass and lead guitar, Robbie Stevens (who was the Greenes’ drummer at the time) on drums, Chris Austin playing banjo and mandolin, and David Yates on the fiddle. After the album was completed, the song, “It Sure Sounds Like Angels to Me” somehow caught the attention of super-producer, Eddie Crook, who sought out the Greenes and signed them to his Morningstar label, and ultimately released “Greenehouse” to the masses. Signing with Morningstar, the Greenes joined an exciting roster of artists at the time, that included the McKameys, Johnny Cook Trio, Perrys, Big Mo & Chosen, Spencers, Dixie Echoes, Segos and Naomi and others. At the time, the Eddie Crook Company was becoming a well-oiled machine and was creating an exciting brand of artists and music that would dominate the Southern Gospel landscape for the next 10-15 years.

I love the play on the Greene’s name with the title, “Greenehouse”, and always thought the cover graphics were very cool as well. Interestingly, the cover graphics for the album was actually Kim’s idea, and Bill Barnes and Deb Mahalanobis took her vision and turned it into a reality, creating a highly memorable cover, that wasn’t your typical “Southern Gospel” cover! Look at Kim, already making her mark on the industry way back then!

With its harmonica driven track, the album kicks off with the sweet sounds of “It Sure Sounds Like Angels To Me”, which was written by Jean Canter, a friend of the Greenes who attended their church in Boone. Featuring Kim, this was the first major hit for the Greenes, peaking at the #12 position in the August 1985 Singing News chart. This was a fantastic song highlighting the wonderful family harmonies of the Greenes, which they’d emphasize even more so when they’d perform the song live, by slowing the tempo down when they’d get to the line, “I’ve never heard such sweet harmony”, almost stopping the song completely to emphasize their beautiful harmonies. The song was definitely a showstopper for the Greenes, and it became the album’s centerpiece, truly setting the Greenes apart from every other group out there at the time!

The tempo picks up for the country feel of the Claude Ely penned, “Hills of Old Judea”, which features Tony, along with some light fiddle and piano accents. Claude Ely was a holiness preacher and songwriter who also penned the classic, “Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down)”, and was one of the early rockabilly/country gospel singers during the 1940’s and 1950’s. This particular tune would have been right at home on a Christmas album, but it fits here as well on this recording. As a side note, the Spencers also recorded the song a year earlier, on their 1983 Morningstar album, “God’s on Our Side”.

As they keep the tempo upbeat, Tony takes the lead on the verses, with Kim stepping into the lead for the chorus for the song, “I’ll Take You Home”. With its piano, electric guitar and harmonica driven track, this is another Jean Canter penned tune, and it was later recorded by Kim and the Hoppers on their 2012 recording, “Count Me In”. The song’s tempo was slowed down slightly for the updated arrangement, and it was an exciting chart song for the Hoppers, peaking at #7 in September 2014. It’s so neat contrasting the two versions, as they’re nearly 30 years apart, and it really shows how Kim’s voice and style has evolved over the years.

Another beautiful harmony song is found in the acoustic feel of, “Calmer of the Storm”, which was written by both Tim and Kim. Featuring Tim on the verse, with Kim taking the lead on the chorus, it’s a highlight of the recording and my favorite song from the album. Inspired during a time that the siblings were dealing with growing pains as a group and growing into adulthood, Tim, being the “heart” of the group, reflected on these things, and began penning his thoughts of their need for the “Calmer” of the storm to intervene. Through that experience, with Kim adding her input as well, the song was born, and it’s yet another highlight of the recording.

Picking the tempo back up to close out the first side, we come to the medium tempo, country feel of “Guide My Ship”, which features some nice piano, electric guitar and fiddle highlights. Written by Milton Ostrander (aka-Big Mo) and featuring Tim on the verses, the song has the feel of a classic Rambos song, complete with the inverted harmony throughout the chorus as Kim, Tim and Tony all switch off on the melody during the chorus. Also, Kim’s step out lines on the final tag of the chorus make this song a big highlight of the album. This is another one of my favorites from this recording and I think this would be a great song for someone to bring back today.

The second side of “Greenehouse” features all cover tunes from this time period, which include the classics “We Shall See Jesus” (Cathedrals) and “Look For Me” (Goodmans), for which the Greenes do a valiant job with their versions of those songs. Sandwiched in between those 2 major classic tunes are 3 lesser-known cover tunes, “Pearly Gates”, which was recorded by the Singing Americans in 1983 on their “Everybody Ought to Praise His Name” album, “Headed for Canaan”, which was a popular song for the Singing Cookes from their 1983 album, “Mail Order From Heaven”, and “I Know What Lies Ahead”, which was another tune written by Jean Canter, which had already been recorded by the Talleys, Big Mo & Chosen and the Hoppers. This song would take on a newly resurrected life several years later with a more soulful feel, when it was recorded by Charles Johnson & the Revivers on their 1991 recording, “The Time is Drawing Nigh”, and again 10 years later by the Oak Ridge Boys on their 2001 gospel recording, “From the Heart”. Both groups enjoyed immense success with the song during the 1990’s and 2000’s. Despite all the songs on the second side being cover tunes, the Greenes took their liberty at not making them carbon copies of the originals, and they made each song their own!

Even though the Greenes enjoyed good success with their first radio single, “Gloryland”, this latest album, “Greenehouse”, really did a marvelous job putting the Greenes on the map, causing industry folks and fans to sit up and take notice! “Greenehouse” was a good mix of cover tunes and new songs, and though they were a young group with limited resources to songwriters at the time, all they needed was one great “new” song, and they found that in Jean Canter’s fantastic tune, “It Sure Sounds Like Angels”, and the Greenes got a lot of mileage out of that one great song! “Greenehouse” is also like a time machine of sorts, as you listen to a much younger version of Tim, Kim and Tony (who were all around 20, 17 and 15 years old, respectively), whose voices and singing styles were still developing and maturing. With each successive recording, you hear their voices and collective sound evolving into a much fuller and richer sound! As time marched on, Tony’s voice matured and thickened, Tim’s voice would get stronger (and he would really come into his own tackling those high tenor notes in those big arrangements the Greenes were known for), and Kim would really come out of her shell and become a vocal force to be reckoned with!

As one who watched the Greenes grow and mature in real time, viewing them through the eyes of a true fan, it was neat hearing the group as things began falling into place for them! Even though I was just a teenager myself at the time, I knew they had something unique and I loved what I was hearing. As we take a retrospective look at these early major albums by the Greenes over the next few weeks, we’ll discuss lots of changes, as their sound evolved into the iconic group they would eventually become!

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