Welcome to the latest edition of my “Discography Series”, as we talk about one of the classiest groups in our genre…the Talleys! Though I was raised listening to more traditional groups such as the Florida Boys, Happy Goodmans, Inspirations and Kingsmen…I did enjoy the more contemporary sounds of the Rambos, and I was a big fan of the Rex Nelon Singers as well. By the mid-80’s, I had been introduced to the music of Sandi Patti and Steve Green, so my musical tastes were evolving. Depending on the artist and how far they were leaning away from my core roots, I did enjoy some of the more contemporary stuff. We didn’t have a lot of radio stations around that played Southern Gospel Music while I was growing up, but on a really good day, I could get WWMO out of Reidsville, North Carolina, and that was where I finally heard the music of the Talleys, and the first songs I remember hearing were “Thinking About Home” and “Sweeter as the Days Go By”. Thanks to the Singing News, I was already familiar with who they were as a group, and I had seen Kirk Talleay a couple of times while he was with the Cathedrals, so the group itself wasn’t foreign to me, but their music was. I wasn’t as familiar with Roger and Debra Talley, as I wasn’t into the Hoppers music at that time yet. I did grow up listening to some of the Hoppers’ albums from the 60’s, and I did see them on the Gospel Singing Jubilee a couple of times in the late 70’s, but did not really get into their music until after I saw them in concert for the first time in July 1985.
I bought my first album by the Talleys (“Work of Heart”) in the summer of 1986 at the local Record Bar, and I thoroughly enjoyed that album. I did not see the Talleys in concert until early fall of 1987 at a church homecoming here in Durham, where the Talleys were the afternoon entertainment. I really enjoyed them that day and I bought their “Wherever I Am” and “United” albums and had Roger, Kirk and Debra autograph the “Wherever I Am” album for me. I would see the Talleys several times over the next few years, and they were always one of my favorite groups to see in concert because I enjoyed their music and found their concerts to be spiritually uplifting, musically stimulating as well as quite entertaining (thanks to Kirk’s humor as an emcee).
Many younger people today may be more familiar with the later version of the Talleys that included Roger, Debra and their multi-talented daughter, Lauren…but the version of the group I am covering in this series is the version from the 80’s and early 90’s that included Roger, Debra, and Roger’s brother Kirk. Ironically, the history of the Talleys goes back even further than that, as the “Talley Trio”, which they were originally known as, began singing together around 1969/1970. Consisting of Roger, Kirk and their sister, Diane, the Talley Trio became popular around the east Tennessee, western Virginia area due to their exposure on the “Huff-Cook Gospel Sing” television show. Their earliest musical influences were woven around church, as they grew up singing in their local church, but such groups as the Rambos, Downings and Speers had a strong influence on their musical style. They recorded a couple of albums in the early 70’s, and in fact, legendary producer, Tilford Salyer produced their first album in Kingsport, Tennessee. By 1974, Roger graduated college and was hired to play piano for the Hopper Brothers & Connie, and the Talley Trio was no more. Within a couple of years, Roger’s younger brother, Kirk, joined the Hoppers, where he would play bass guitar and sing. Both Roger and Kirk remained with the Hoppers for several years, but in 1979, Kirk left and joined the Cathedrals as their tenor singer. In fact, Kirk turned in his resignation to Claude Hopper the weekend the Hoppers recorded a new live album in Clinton, North Carolina. The Hoppers eventually released “Live” in 1980 and left Kirk on the album, but gracing the cover was newest member, Debra Talley, who had married Roger in 1978. Debra would be the first female to join Connie on the front lines in the Hoppers as their soprano singer. By the end of 1983, Roger, Kirk, and Debra had decided to re-form the Talley family group, and in December 1983, Roger and Debra resigned from the Hoppers and Kirk resigned from the Cathedrals.
Their first “date” as the Talleys was during a telethon for Channel 16 in Greenville, SC in January 1984, where they sang every song that they knew at the time and literally “practiced” numerous songs as well! They released a couple of albums independently before ultimately signing with Canaan Records later in 1984, and they would remain with Canaan/Word until they retired in 1993, releasing 8 albums for the label. The Talleys first 2 albums were filled with songs that they really enjoyed singing, and while both albums showed glimpses into what the future Talleys would sound like, it wasn’t a true cohesive sound. Not until they signed with Canaan and enlisted the help of Bill Gaither and Gary McSpadden, that they were able to create their own brand of gospel that was a little Southern, a little Inspirational, a little Contemporary and a little choral…a style and sound they simply called “Talley Music”!
Though the Talleys were not your typical Southern Gospel group, audiences took to them immediately and they enjoyed numerous chart songs such as “Thinking About Home”, “Sweeter As The Days Go By”, “Triumphantly, the Church Will Rise”, “Typical Day”, “God’s Gonna Send Revival” and “He is Here”, but they also had a ton of wonderful concert favorites such as “If It Had Not Been”, “We’re Building Temples”, “Yes Lord, Yes”, “God of My Praise”, “Lonely People”, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb” and others.
You could never pigeonhole the Talleys into one style though, because they could do straight up Southern Gospel with such songs as “No Other Word for Grace”, “Sweeter As The Days Go By” and “Get the Bride Ready”, then jump into something highly contemporary such as “How Many Ways Can We Praise Him”, “Radiant Lamb” or “Free at Last”. They could do the big power ballads such as “Triumphantly, the Church Will Rise”, “There is a Name” or “Not the Half Has Been Told”, then tenderly reach in and pull your heart strings with such heartfelt songs as “Thinking About Home”, “Past Your Past” or “I Can Touch Him”. They could easily lead you into worship with such songs as “Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb”, “He is Here” or “Magnify Him”, and then throw you a curve ball with something fun and quirky like “My Faith Grows”, “The Word Impossible” or “Gimme, Gimme, Take, Take”. They could also reach down deep with some amazing soulful sounds with such songs as “If it Had Not Been”, “Naaman” or “Yes Lord, Yes” and easily slip into the high church sounds with “When Jesus Breaks the Morning” and “This Same Jesus”. Speaking of church music, the Talleys’ music was widely accepted in many large churches across the nation, and such songs as “Triumphantly, the Church Will Rise”, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb”, “He is Here”, “We Are Still the Church” and “Magnify Him” have been sung by church choirs all over the country and the world.
The Talleys music was always well rounded with multiple styles and hues, and at the heart of many of those songs was the pen of Kirk Talley, whose songs all touched each of those styles and sentiments I mentioned above. Kirk had already proven himself as a songwriter nearly 10 years earlier while he was with the Hoppers when he wrote his first song, “When I See His Face”, which the Hoppers recorded on their 1976 album, “Higher”. Eventually, the Cathedrals picked up the song and recorded an outstanding rendition of the song on their 1978 album, “Sunshine and Roses”. Ironically, a year later in 1979, Kirk would join the Cathedrals and they would go on to record several of his songs, including the massive hit, “Step Into the Water” on their 1982 album, “Something Special”, which held on to the #1 position in the Singing News chart for 9 months between October 1982 and June 1983. In addition to being a wonderful singer and songwriter, Kirk was also an amazing communicator as he sang such songs as “Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb”, “Past Your Past”, “Naaman” and others with such genuine emotion and feeling. Additionally, when the Talleys came together in late 1983, Kirk handled the emcee duties. Kirk could hold an audience in the palm of his hand as he shared stories behind how he wrote songs, moving you to tears, and then turn right around and move you to tears of laughter with some joke or one-liner! Kirk no doubt, kept Roger and Debra on their toes!
Debra was also an amazing singer and communicator herself. Having sung with the Songmasters for several years prior to joining the Hoppers in late 1979, Debra had developed her own style and could pull on your heart strings with amazing performances on such songs as “Thinking About Home”, “I Can Touch Him”, “There is a Refuge”, “Simple Love” and “No Other Word for Grace”. Though not duplicated, she learned from Connie Hopper about sharing her heart, and some of my favorite moments during a concert by the Talleys was when she would share her heart before delivering one of her heartfelt songs.
With Kirk and Debra on the high end, Roger gave the Talleys an exceptional depth to their sound. When asked what part Roger sang in the Talleys, he is always quick to say, “I just come in on the chorus!”…but Roger’s contributions cannot go unnoticed, as he not only played piano and was an exceptional vocalist (who was featured on several of their classic tunes such as “Typical Day”, “God is Able” and “God is With Us”), but he was largely responsible for arrangements and also did an exceptional job playing Kirk’s comedic straight man on stage.
Along with the Nelons, the Talleys were one of the most progressive groups on the circuit at the time, and I don’t think the Talleys ever received the recognition or appreciation they truly deserved as trailblazers and trend setters in our industry until after they had retired. Often times, history proves to be a friend to those who may not have received their rightful praise, and I think most people can look back at the music that the Talleys released between 1984 and 1992 and say they were one of the greats and were indeed trendsetters and trailblazers. Notwithstanding, I feel that the Talleys were also one of the classiest groups to ever grace a stage. Period!
Next week, we’ll start diving into the music of the Talleys, and while it may be a short series compared to the Kingsmen, it will be fun and adventurous! By the way…the one clue I gave about a small connection with the Kingsmen…for those wondering, Kirk Talley pitched the Kingsmen the song “I Don’t Want to Live No More Without Jesus” for their 1982 album, “Your Rides on the Way”!
