With this latest release, the Inspirations scaled the instrumentation back to just piano, bass and acoustic guitar. The album had a more rustic feel, but was undeniably “Inspirations”.
James Hales
James is a lifelong fan of Southern Gospel Music. Being exposed to the music through his dad's record collection as a 7 or 8 year old boy in the late 70's, James grew to love the music of the Happy Goodmans, Kingsmen, Inspirations, Rambos, Florida Boys and others. James has been a staff writer for Absolutely Gospel since 2000 writing music reviews and various articles, and he has contributed to Musicscribe and SGHistory.com for several years as well. James also writes for his own music page on Facebook as well, via James' Music Page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063484056683).
The Inspirations – “It’s Still the Blood” (1987)
This would be Ronnie Hutchins’ only mainline release during his brief tenure with the group in the 80’s. It was a great album, with the title song becoming one of the Inspirations’ most loved tunes and one of Archie’s sugar sticks.
The Inspirations – “Tell It To A Friend” (1986)
After about 6 years with the same line-up, Jack Laws left the Inspirations, and though he is on the album, he is not on the cover. This was a unique album for the group and ranks as one of my personal favorites. Check it out…
The Inspirations – “Praise God and Country” (1985)
The Inspirations love this country! They have always been proud to show their patriotism, and this latest album featured the patriotic title song, “Praise God and Country”. This album was a little different than most, but it was a good album overall. Read all about it…
The Inspirations – “Twentieth Anniversary” (1984)
By 1984, the Inspirations were celebrating 20 years as a group, releasing this classy album. One of my personal favorites from this era, it’s a wonderful piece of history from the legendary Inspirations!
The Inspirations – “The Wonder of Wonders” (1983)
For their 20th Canaan album, the Inspirations enjoyed great success with the title song from this 1983 release. It’s one of the more laid-back album, but was a great one, nonetheless!
The Inspirations – “Someday” (1982)
The early 80’s continued to bring great success for the Inspirations, and their 1982 release, “Someday”, continued that success with the song, “They’re Holding Up the Ladder”.
The Inspirations – “Is That Footsteps That I Hear?” (1981)
1981 brought the Inspirations one of the best known and best loved songs, with the title song, “Is That Footsteps That I Hear”. Read all about it!
The Inspirations – “Singing in the Smokies…Live” (1980) / “Second Helpin’” (1981)
1980 and 1981 saw the Inspirations releasing 2 live albums, both recorded the same night during the 1980 summer session of the Singing in the Smokies. 2 very different live albums, showing the unique shades of music by the Inspirations.