After the amazing success of their last album, the Greenes’ record company, Eagle One, essentially went out of business, and the former head of Eagle One, Roger Bennett, created a new label called Journey Records. Additionally, since Roger acquired the masters and artist contracts (as well as some of the publishing agreements) from the defunct Eagle One label, the Greenes, Dixie Echoes and Lesters moved over to Journey Records. Unfortunately, the label would stay within Roger’s purview for only a short time though, as he eventually would return to the Cathedrals in late 1988, and Journey Records would be acquired by Homeland Music Group, which was owned by Bill Traylor at the time.

“From Our Heart” would be the only album the Greenes released with Journey Records, and once more, Eldridge Fox is in the producer’s chair, with Roger Bennett serving as Executive Producer, and once again, Steve Mauldin is providing string and brass arrangements. Compared to “Family Praise”, the orchestrations are a bit more understated on this recording, and by comparison, the album has a very different feel overall. While it does have some of the dramatic elements that made the Greenes unique and “Family Praise” such a remarkable recording, “From Our Heart” has a more laid-back, acoustic feel, and is a bit more low-key as well. Calling attention to the cover, it features a nice shot of the Greenes, minus their dad, Everette, as he had stepped back from performing with the Greenes to handle driving the bus, and going forward, the Greenes would remain a mixed trio.

The Easter themed, “He’s Gone”, which was written by Tim, gets the recording underway with its orchestrated track, which gives the song a big, dramatic feel. Featuring Tim and Kim, with the tremendous success spurred from “Miracle in Me”, the Greenes found their niche with big power ballads and anthems, and “He’s Gone” would fill that need for this album. Though not officially a single release for the Greenes, the song was sent to radio as an Easter Special, and though it wasn’t a chart song, it could have been a very strong contender for the charts, as I feel it was one of Tim’s strongest tunes, which he wrote as he was coming home to Boone from the Greensboro airport. While going down the road, Tim prayed for a powerful new song for the upcoming album, and within 5 minutes of that prayer, he began thinking about Easter and the empty tomb, and the inspiration for the song was born! Eventually, Tim would re-record the song for his 1999 solo recording, “In His Eyes”. It’s also worth mentioning that in January 1988, Tim accepted the call to preach, and you definitely hear that influence in his songwriting going forward. Tim was always a “heart” songwriter, but over the next several years, Tim would write some strong, Biblically based songs, reflecting his deeper dive into the Word, with “He’s Gone” being his strongest song to date. In fact, this song was the perfect finale for the Greenes’ 10th Anniversary Live video that was shot a year later at Viking Hall in Bristol, Tennessee, and it was a highlight of that video.

As the tempo picks up, we come to the upbeat, “Take My Word For It”, which was written by Daryl Williams and Kirk Talley in a hotel lobby in Nashville, Tennessee during NQC week. Naturally, with Kirk as co-writer, the song has a definitive “Talley” feel and would have been a perfect song for the Talleys to record at that time, as well as possibly the Nelons. It’s a little different for the Greenes, but it fits well on this album.

As the mood shifts, we come to the warm, acoustic feel of the timeless hymn, “God Leads Us Along”. Featuring a fantastic performance by Kim, I was a teenager when this album came out, who was still discovering the older songs and classic hymns, and though I likely heard the song somewhere down the line growing up, this recording of the song made me take notice and it quickly became one of my all-time favorites. From my very first listen, I was captivated by this hymn and its deeply comforting message, as well as the Greenes’ powerful, yet delicate performance, and it’s my favorite rendition of this wonderful hymn. Discovered while thumbing through the hymnbook at their church, shortly thereafter, a friend of the group casually mentioned that he felt the Greenes could really sing that hymn and strongly encouraged them to record it. It’s one of those songs that highlight the beautiful singing and harmony the Greenes could produce, and it’s the crowning jewel of the album for me.

Featuring a nice rustic feel (and some excellent guitar work), Tim takes the verses, while Tony handles the melody on the chorus, on the driving, up-tempo feel of, “Everything’s Alright”. Having the feel of a spiritual, coupled with a slight Pentecostal shuffle, the song was inspired after experiencing a wonderful and joyous move of God during a church service, and Tim penned this affirming song of faith, declaring that, “everything’s alright in my soul!”, and it’s a highlight of the recording.

With its simple piano intro, Kim delivers another fantastic performance on the Felicia Shifflet penned prayer in song entitled, “A Servant’s Heart”, which finishes out the first side. Shifflet is a wonderful writer penning several songs over the years including “Called Out” (Kingsmen), “Always” (Freemans), “Holy Anointing” (Gold City), “My Father’s Words” (Karen Peck), “Empty Vessel” (Kingsmen), “Going Back” (Freemans) and many others. This song of consecration remains one of my favorite Kim features, and in fact, Kim re-recorded the song several years later, on a table project the Hoppers recorded in 1996 called, “Revised Edition, Volume One”. The Greenes would re-record the song as well, on their 1995 recording, “Mama’s Heart”.

Side 2 kicks off with the highly enjoyable tune, “Restless Hearts”, which was written by Phil & Carolyn Cross and features Tony. This would be released to radio stations as a single, peaking at #12 in the July 1989 Singing News chart. With its acoustic/electric guitar track, accented with subtle brass highlights, this was a great up-tempo tune, leading perfectly into the peppy, “Let the Redeemed Say So”, which was another song written by Felicia Shifflet. This was a highly popular concert favorite for the Greenes, and it was the perfect concert opener for the group. In fact, the Greenes would eventually bring this song back, re-cutting it on their 1994 recording, “Fields of Greene”.

Kim steps up once again as she sings the beautiful ballad, “Land of Peace”, which was written by Roger Bennett. I admit that I initially wasn’t a big fan of this song, but over the years, I’ve grown to really love it, and I think it’d be a really great song for someone to bring back. I am a huge proponent of groups going back and grabbing those lesser-known tunes and breathing new life into them. So many great songs get recorded once, and nothing is ever done with them, and they become missed opportunities for someone else to grab to sing and record, and I believe this is one of those songs!

With its electric guitar driven track, Tony steps up next as he sings the upbeat, “Jerusalem Coming Down”, which was written by Daryl Williams. This was a song Roger Bennet fell in love with before Daryl was even done writing the song, and upon only hearing the partially written tune, he immediately wanted publishing on it, and ironically, it would be producer, Eldridge Fox, who actually pitched the song to the Greenes to record. With its slight “Rambos” feel, it’s a great addition to this album, and is another song that I think would be great for someone to bring back!

As we come to the final tune from this album, we find the ballad, “To the Homeland”, which was another song written by Phil & Carolyn Cross. Nicely accented by strings and featuring brothers Tony and Tim, the song showcases that classic “Greenes” harmony. The song would actually end up being recorded later by Rusty Goodman, on his final album by the same title, which was released in 1989. Incidentally, the song would be Rusty’s final radio single before passing away on November 11, 1990.

I bought the cassette of “From Our Heart” when I saw the Greenes in Henderson, North Carolina in September 1988 (the Greenes were no longer carrying records by this time), and I would later buy the vinyl sometime in the early to mid-1990’s. When I saw the Greenes that September afternoon, I remember it was supposed to be an outdoor event at Nutbush Campground at Kerr Lake, but it ended up being a very rainy weekend (and I mean a HARD rain!), and the event was moved to the armory in the nearby town of Henderson. I was a disc jockey, and I interviewed the Greenes that day, and I recall Everette being absolutely drenched from the rain, but he was so kind to me, as he put his arm around me and told me he appreciated the work I did as a DJ and for supporting the Greenes. I also remember Kim was on crutches that day, as she was recovering from a very serious car accident, and as Kim sang on stage with crutches, I remember her giving a very emotional and heartfelt testimony recovering from what could have been a fatal accident.

“From Our Heart” would be the last vinyl recording released by the Greenes, as all future recordings would be released on cassette and CD. “From Our Heart” had an almost rustic quality to it, and as I alluded to earlier, though there are some strings and brass on some of the songs, they are very understated and not utilized as prominently as on their last album. While I probably wouldn’t rank “From Our Heart” as one of my all-time favorites by the Greenes, it’s a really good album overall, and I like the overall feel of the recording. Along with the Greenes maturing their sound, I think the understated feel of the recording was done purposely, in order to contrast it with the big feel of their “Family Praise” album.

One thing that really does set “From Our Heart” apart from all their previous ones, is that I feel this album really showcases Kim’s ability to render some powerful and heartfelt performances. Between her features on “He’s Gone”, “God Leads Us Along”, “A Servants Heart” and “Land of Peace”, Kim shines bright on this album as a vocalist, proving that she is not only an amazing singer with incredible artistic ability, but she is also a dynamic communicator as well! One thing I appreciated with these songs is how they really seemed to showcase her lower register, which further proved her versatility as a vocalist, and that she was so much more than just all big, high notes!

Speaking of Kim, changes were on the horizon, as Kim and Dean Hopper (of the Hoppers) would marry on November 20, 1988. In fact, Kim sang a duet with Dean on the beautiful ballad, “In Heaven”, on his solo album that was released in 1988 titled, “Solo But Never Alone”. As fate would have it, Kim would eventually leave the Greenes to join the Hoppers towards the end of 1989, bringing an end to an important era of the Greenes, but not before the group would release one final outstanding recording as a family unit, celebrating their 10 years as a group. We’ll deep dive into that wonderful live recording next time…so stay tuned!

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