Mark Trammell – The smartest singer in gospel music?
After listening to Gold City’s Renewed project (and a conversation with Wes Burke), a question entered my mind….Is Mark Trammell the smartest singer in gospel music?
When Mark joined the Cathedrals, their harmony seemed to adjust somewhat, allowing Glen Payne (who had been the group’s lead/second tenor singer) to move down to a baritone range and stacking Mark and Kirk Talley/Danny Funderburk above him. For years, Mark was billed as a baritone, and in many instances, he sang the baritone part, but just as often, he sang second tenor.
Later on, when he joined Gold City, he continued as baritone, but still had his moments where he would climb comfortably into the upper lead range (such as “Calvary’s Hill”). Even today, with his own trio, he still cuts loose on songs like “Love Lifted Me.”
A lot of lead and tenor singers start off their careers trying to show off how often they can hit (and hold) the high notes. This is great for the first few years, but after a while, it takes a toll on the voice, and they start to suffer. Mark, however, makes his living in the lower register, even though he has the ability to shoot up to the upper range virtually on demand.
It’s not like a baritone is the most popular part to sing. It’s very difficult to harmonize, especially in the lower register, and as Glen once remarked [half] jokingly, “Nobody cares about the guys in the middle!” When people talk about the Cathedrals, they often mention Danny Funderburk or Ernie Haase, and when they say Gold City, they often remember Jay Parrack. But Mark has made his entire career out of being a support player. Heck, when with the Cats, he was very rarely afforded the opportunity to even leave his spot on stage, since he was limited by a mic stand while playing the bass!
Yet even today, Mark still has just as strong of a voice as ever, and much fuller as he has matured. Perhaps this should be a sign to wanna-be Ivan Parkers, Guy Penrods, or Michael Englishes….sometimes it’s wiser to play it safe.
I think Mark mostly did what needed done. I also think his high notes and voice in particular is more developed than it was back then. I heard he took lessons. Also, I think he does play it smart and doesn’t sing everything high, but maybe not so much that he can’t, or maybe not even to save his voice (which might be all or part), but to make the times he does do so stand out more. When the songs call for it he does it and very well. But if he were to always do that, it would get old, expected and not special.
Yes, and Mark has had the lead spot in several popular songs with the Cathedrals… “Can He, Could He, Would He”, “Sin Will Take You Farther”, and don’t forget the lead in the second verse of “Step Into The Water”!
His voice is unmistakable in Greater Vision’s “New Wine”.
In my opinion, the best song that he sang while with Gold City was “Show Me The Cross”.
Like George Younce said, there is no better quartet man than Mark!
A better example of using his upper register with his trio would be some of the songs on their latest project, “Always Have A Song.” Mark gets pretty up there in “Loving The Lamb” and “Called In, Called Up, Called Out,” and I believe he actually goes into low tenor range on “If Only Just A Few.”
[...] Boreing has a fascinating post on if Mark Trammell is the smartest singer in Southern Gospel. It’s an interesting [...]
i very rarely comment on any SG stuff but I’ll add this, as someone who used to dabble on and behind stage in that world, not only is trammel brilliant, but he is also one of the nicest guys in the biz. very real and sincere. rare in that world.
Some very accurate observations. I was a Cat’s fan and regular concert-goer from the Funderburke years up to the end (even saw Kurt Young on his first weekend with them) and I noticed early-on, to put it bluntly, that Glen got the lead-singer billing (and the credit) while Mark ALWAYS took the higher part when the tenor took the lead. The same trend continued when Scott Fowler took Mark’s place. Mark has always been a gentleman and never seemed put out at the situation. That arrangement no doubt extended Glen’s career and allowed the Cathedrals to retire, if not at their prime, then very close to it. Mark is a class act and a great singer.
Yeah Trammell and Fowler did take the “second tenor part” if the tenor had lead. Glen could still hit the G’s at times. but I am not sure he could have stayed up there throughout a lot of a song anymore. Besides, he sang baritone for several years before finally getting to sing lead. His voice was also more weighty in the middle and lower range (just like Don Reid and J.P, Pennington’s were) however, Glen COULD sing higher than some in thie predicament. However, in the Stats, Phil’s range and timbre seemed more suited for a second tenor. He wasn’t a good “lead singer” but his range fit better as a second tenor harmony singer as was Redid better in the baritone harmony. In Exile, Taylor was good on leads, but didn’t have as weighty of a voice as Pennington.