The Kingsmen – Proven…Time & Time Again (2000)
As we approach the new millennium, the Kingsmen experienced a couple of changes. As I mentioned in my last article, Jason Selph joined the group to play bass, but he also was quite the vocalist and lent his vocals on several songs during his time with the Kingsmen. Jason had tones very similar to Tim Surrett, and that relegated him to singing “Wish You Were Here” on most nights, but if you listen to some of his recorded songs during his time with the group, you will find a lot of depth to his singing. Randy Miller also departed the Kingsmen sometime before the turn of the century, as he transitioned into a solo ministry for a while. Today, he and his wife Sherri (whose dad was Kenny Parker, who played piano for the Rambos during the late 60’s and early 70’s) has a successful music ministry together. After Randy left, the Kingsmen opted not to replace him and began to rely solely on a 3-piece band with Andrew Ishee at the piano, Jason Selph playing bass and Greg Fox on drums. Speaking of Greg, it was around this time frame that Ray Reece’s son, Brandon, began assisting on drums, as Greg would either need to stay home and tend to the needs of his dad, or would need to come off the road due to knee surgery and his own rehabilitation. Eventually, Brandon would begin playing drums full-time for the Kingsmen, and Greg would run sound. In fact, Greg ran sound for many years while playing drums, but when Brandon started playing full-time, Greg began running sound from out in the audience instead.
Before I dive into “Proven…Time & Time Again”, I want to set the stage on some behind the scenes things that were happening with Horizon Music. In the mid 90’s, Horizon Music and Sonlite Records merged and created Crossroads Label Group, which houses several record labels including Horizon Records, Sonlite Records, Skyland Records, Mountain Home Music, as well as Crossroads Distribution along with their own recording studios and soundtrack line. Additionally, roughly a year or so prior to this latest recording coming out, an organization called Pamplin Distribution forged a relationship with Crossroads, and they began funneling finances and resources into the company for the next couple of years. I noticed almost immediately that many of the recordings released by Crossroads during this time had a much higher production value, and you definitely hear that in this latest recording by the Kingsmen.
In preparation for “Proven…Time & Time Again”, Greg reached out to former Kingsmen pianist, Nick Bruno, to come on board and assist Greg with producing the recording, and basically gave Nick free reign to do whatever he wanted. Nick was able to capture that classic Kingsmen sound, while also stretching the Kingsmen vocally and musically with unique arrangements that challenged them, and thus, creating an outstanding recording that rivaled anything they had done in the previous several years. While they did utilize the normal studio musicians they had used in the past (David Johnson, Tony Creaseman and Roger Fortner), they also utilized several different musicians including Nick Bruno, along with Jason Webb and Milton Smith (piano/keyboards), Bryan Sutton, Chris Lucinger and Kelly Back (guitars), Scott Sanders (steel/dobro), Mark Fain and Marty Sharbel (bass guitar), Bruce Watkins (fiddle), John Hammond and Jerry Kroon (drums) and Terry McMillan (harmonica/percussion). Nick also handled string arrangements and had Steve Mauldin handle the brass arrangements. Nick also traveled with the Kingsmen for several weeks, working with them on the arrangements for the songs, all culminating into a breath of fresh air for the Kingsmen. When I talked with Nick about this recording, he was exceptionally proud of “Proven…” and felt this was the best recording the Kingsmen had ever made, as he wanted to showcase the Kingsmen doing more than just 3 chords and a cloud of dust type of singing. In fact, several members of the Kingsmen cite “Proven…” as their favorite recording by the group!
“Proven…” kicks off with the catchy, “Getcha to the Other Side”, which was written by Tim Lovelace and his wife, Mary Alice. Featuring a bit of Texas Swing, this was something totally different for the Kingsmen, and when I first heard the song, I immediately fell in love with it, and it ranks as one of my all-time favorite Kingsmen tunes. The Kingsmen had a lot of fun with this song, and Nick worked with Ray on the “Walkin” part, which is the crowning moment of the song. This was a huge hit for the Kingsmen, topping out at the #2 spot in the Singing News chart for December 2000. I think it should have been a #1 song, but it was denied the #1 spot by a little song called, “Four Days Late”!
Slowing the tempo down, we come to the Sandy Knight penned, “The Next Cloud”, which did make it all the way to the #1 position for May 2001! Featuring Parker, in my opinion, with the doghouse bass feel along with the fiddle, steel guitar and strings, it had a very distinct Goodman feel to it, which I think helped with the popularity of the song; and speaking of strings, I believe that the live strings took the song to the next level! Just prior to recording the song, Parker pulled a trick out of Hamill’s playbook, and tried the song out a few times on the road to get a feel for it, and one night they sang it at a particular church and the place just came alive during the song, and they knew right then it was going to be a hit!
Featuring some beautiful guitar work, the Rodney Griffin penned “Without Jesus”, has that classic quartet feel to it, and Bryan does a really nice job on the verse, before the tempo picks up for the modern harmony of the Squire Parsons penned, “Oh Brother”, which features fiddle and guitar embellishments as well as some fun, popping horn inflections throughout. Interestingly, “Oh Brother” was slated to be the title for this recording, but at the risk of it coming across silly or hokey, that idea was abandoned for the “Proven…Time & Time Again” title.
The true prize of the recording is found in the stunningly gorgeous song, “Angels in Flight”, which features an outstanding performance by Jerry Martin. Written by LaHona Arnold (whose brother was mid-west gospel music promotor, Frank Arnold), Nick brought this song to the Kingsmen to record, and the intricate harmonies found in the song were very different from anything the Kingsmen had ever recorded. In fact, Bryan states it was the hardest song he has ever had to learn, and it is probably my favorite Jerry Martin feature during his time with the Kingsmen. I also love the modulation going from the verses into the chorus…it’s just a splendid piece of ear candy along with its comforting message of assurance.
Getting us to the halfway mark, we come to a revived Kingsmen classic, “I’ve Made a Covenant”, which was something Ray really wanted to bring back and record. Though the song follows a similar arrangement from the Kingsmen’s original version off their 1976 album, “It Made News in Heaven”, the fresh track, along with the added strings, brings a renewed excitement to the song and it was a thrill hearing the song refreshed for this recording.
Next, we come to the bluesy feel of another Sandy Knight penned tune called, “Forever Redeemed”, which features Kingsmen bass player, Jason Selph. With its cool guitar track along with fun dobro, harmonica and fiddle highlights, the song is one of my favorite tunes from the recording, and Jason does an outstanding job on the song.
Prominently featuring the fiddle, and nicely accented with strings, giving it the feel of some of those old Canaan albums from the mid-70’s, Jerry sings the emotionally tinged, “Going Home to Live”, which was written by Sandy Knight, before moving on to another “Knight” penned tune, “I’ll Meet You When the Morning Comes”, which was written by Ila Knight. After the Kingsmen enjoyed tremendous success with Ila’s song “I’ll Live Again”, she pitched them this song to record. With its convention feel, the song is totally within the Kingsmen wheelhouse and is a highlight of the recording, before Bryan slows the pace down as he sings the vulnerable lyric of, “I’ve Never Trusted You”. Written by former Kingsmen alum, Garry Sheppard along with Daryl Williams, the recording gets its title “Proven…Time & Time Again” from a line in the first verse of the song, and it remains one of my all-time favorite Hutson features.
“Heaven Now is Waiting”, written by Squire Parsons, has that classic quartet feel to it and prominently features Jerry and Ray with the high and the low step out lines, along with Bryan and Parker, to a lesser extent. I always thought adding some horn/woodwind embellishments would have really taken this song to a whole new level, but I digress! It’s a magnificent song that showcases some outstanding singing, before the recording closes out with another Squire Parsons penned tune titled, “A Much Better Way”. With Parker taking the lead on the first half and Bryan taking the lead on the second half, along with Ray taking a few step out lines on the chorus, the song has that classic Kingsmen feel to it, and was a perfect closing tune.
“Proven…Time & Time Again” was such an outstanding recording by the Kingsmen, and you can tell a lot of hard work and effort went into making this recording. The music tracks, the vocals, the songs, the arrangements…all culminated into creating one of the greatest recordings the Kingsmen ever recorded. The production aspects truly made this a remarkable piece of work, and while much of it is due to the sheer talent of the Kingsmen, musicians, producers, engineers and songwriters, some credit must also be given to the Pamplin organization who challenged Crossroads to take it to the next level with the overall production aspects, thereby allowing the Kingsmen, and those involved with the recording, to create such a superb piece of work!
In closing, the Gospel Music Association, which was founded in 1964, created the GMA Hall of Fame in 1972 and began inducting various individuals at that time. In 1998, they began inducting various groups into the Hall of Fame, and in the year 2000, the Kingsmen were honored to be inducted into the GMA Hall of Fame! This was truly an honor, and it was wonderful that Eldridge Fox was able to experience that event before passing away a couple of years later! The Kingsmen legacy, which began in 1956, had flourished through the 60’s, exploded in the 70’s and 80’s, endured many changes during the 90’s, but still remained faithful to the call, and enjoyed much continued and consistent success. As the title of this recording confirms, the Kingsmen had consistently “Proven…Time & Time Again” they were giants and legends in their field.
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