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Dave's Top Eight
1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars) Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.
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Most Recent Articles
My Take on "Quality" Radio
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-----------April 12, 2007Beating The Revolving Door DilemmaIt's too bad there isn't more stability in Southern Gospel. If an Oak Ridge Boys song comes on the radio, I immediately know it's the Oaks regardless of whether it's a song from 1980 or 2007. This is only partly because it's the same four guys. It's due more to the unique character of each voice and the unique blend that results when they sing together. Change is SG has always been a fact of life, even in SG's supposed "heyday." Stability in SG is likely to remain a rarity. It's still possible for a group to have a unique sound, though. I believe the key is having at least two key members with defining vocal potential. This is most likely to happen when the group owners are the individuals whose voices have the most defining characteristics. The best example of this is the Cathedrals. If you had put any adequate tenor, any baritone who could sing in the lead range comfortably, and any decent piano player on the stage or in the studio with George Younce and Glen Payne, you'd have had a sound people could aurally identify as the Cats. (Of course, it's ideal if there's defining potential in all four voices and no changes in group members for a number of years...as with Triumphant Quartet.) The other key is producers who enhance and define the group's sound with their arrangements. J D Sumner & The Stamps Quartet made such a recording with the Michael Sykes/Michael English production team in 1995. Steve Mauldin was responsible for putting the defining stamp on Gold City's major releases for a number of years with his brass heavy arrangements. More recently, he's started doing the same thing for Triumphant Quartet and the Mark Trammell Trio. A testament to Mauldin's ability as a producer is the fact that you can hear differences when you compare his work with Gold City, Triumphant and the MTT. Wayne Haun took Brian Free & Assurance from being just another quartet to super-group status by suggesting a song like "Long As I Got King Jesus" and then building on it with "Jesus Will Pick You Up" and "The Coming Of The King." It will be interesting to see if Lari Goss adds to what Haun started with the next BF&A release or if he takes them another direction entirely. When I look at groups like the current Kingsmen, who have snatches of fresh possibilities until yet another member departs, I see several factors at play. They travel extensively. They still use a band. They have a legacy hanging over their heads...which can be both good and bad...good in the sense that people know the name, but bad in the sense that fans still ask why Hamill isn't with the group now. I think the Kingsmen have been hampered by this state of limbo ever since they went through the name change and subsequent "return." Fortunately, things are looking up. Until Good, Good God, their recordings have left something to be desired in terms of making any sort of unique statement. Even though two vocalists will have changed by the time the next Kingsmen CD rolls out, this move is still a very positive step. Let's hope the return of Bryan Hutson and whoever takes over at tenor will be the beginning of a stable period for the group...not just in terms of member changes, but also in terms of creating a fresh sonic identity for the Kingsmen. There are many other examples I could mention other than the Kingsmen, but my points would be more or less redundant. A consistently unique vocal blend (regardless of personnel changes) coupled with consistent arrangement/production enhancements is the best way to duplicate the consistency exemplified by the Oak Ridge Boys. Labels: Observations posted by David Bruce Murray @ 10:19:00 AM
 
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