The Kingsmen – Wish You Were Here (1991)
After the immense success of “Live in Dayton”, instead of doing another live album, the Kingsmen returned to the recording studio to record a studio album instead. Released in the summer of 1991, “Wish You Were Here” would go down as one of the major landmark studio recordings in the Kingsmen’s discography. With their last studio recording, “The Judgement”, the Kingsmen dabbled with some different styles and sounds, and in keeping with that trend, “Wish You Were Here” would offer even more musical variety, while also maintaining that classic Kingsmen feel.
“Wish You Were Here” was produced by Eldridge Fox, Jim Hamill, and Anthony Burger, along with Steve Mauldin once again supplying string arrangements on a few songs. Anthony, Tim, and Gary all play on the recording, with Tony Creaseman playing drums and David Johnson playing fiddle, mandolin, and guitars. Much like “The Judgement”, I felt “Wish You Were Here” was very indicative of what you would hear on stage if you saw the Kingsmen in concert, and felt this was one of their best studio recordings from this era. Also worth mentioning is the cover work, which gave a warm, sentimental ambiance, similar to the cover of the Rambos’ 1974 album, “Yours, Until He Comes”.
The recording kicks off with the warm feel of the title track, “Wish You Were Here”, which features a stellar performance by Tim Surrett. Originally titled, “Postcard from Heaven”, the song was written by Michael Williams and Jim Stover. Williams was a songwriter that Eldridge Fox knew well, and he tried so hard to write a song for the Kingsmen to record, but nothing ever seemed to fit what the Kingsmen needed. One day, Michael was telling Foxie about the loss of his mom and dad, who had passed away within a short time of each other, and how he was grieving that terrible loss. Foxie tried to encourage him and told him that he needed to go home and write about it, which he did. The song would end up being a work in progress, taking some time to write and complete, but in November 1990, he and his good friend Jim Stover, got together and finished work on the song, which Michael would finally pitch to Foxie, who fell in love with the song, but wasn’t sure how to make it fit the Kingsmen. Hamill wanted to find something unique and different for the Kingsmen to record, but he wasn’t sold on the song either. In the course of arranging, Tim Surrett got ahold of the song and worked at trying to find an appropriate arrangement, eventually keying in on an Eagles vibe (think, “Tequila Sunrise”). In fact, at this point Garry Sheppard really wanted to be the one to sing the song, but Foxie and Hamill knew it belonged to Tim, who still sings the song today with his bluegrass group, Balsam Range. The song obviously resonated exceptionally well with Southern Gospel fans, as it held the #1 position for 4 months in a row from May through August of 1992, even taking home “Song of the Year” honors during the 1992 Singing News Fan Awards! I remember when I first heard the song, I wasn’t completely sold on it either, as it did not sound like the Kingsmen, but over time, I too have come to love and appreciate the song and the sentimental value it has brought to me personally, as well as the countless thousands of others.
Picking up the tempo a bit, Garry Sheppard steps up next as he sings his self-penned tune, “Bought By the Blood”. This medium tempo tune has remained one of my favorite songs from this recording, and it was a popular concert favorite. Once they started staging it, Hamill revamped the song slightly, and slowed down the line, “bound in His love”, in the final chorus, holding out each word, which always generated a certain amount of excitement from the crowd. It was a great song and one of my favorite Garry Sheppard penned tunes.
Eldridge Fox is featured next on the country feel of the emotionally tinged, “Ring Out the Welcome”, which was written by Rick Ashe, whom Parker traveled with during his days with Royal City. Featuring the steel guitar, fiddle and harmonica, the song drips of that natural country flavor that suits Foxie to a ‘T’, before the tempo finally picks up for the Larry Gatlin penned, “Prodigal Son”, which features Ray, along with Tim. The song was initially pitched by Greg Fox to the group for Tim to sing, but as they started working on arrangements, it became a joint feature for Tim and Ray. This was the second single release from this recording, peaking at #12 in the Singing News chart for November 1992. I remember initially hearing the song in the Spring of 1991 during the Dove Awards, as the Gatlin Brothers performed the song and were joined by the Gaither Vocal Band, Jake Hess and JD Sumner. I recall thinking that it was such a great song and that somebody should record it, and was thrilled when I found out it was included on this recording. The song became one of Ray’s personal favorite songs, and in fact, the Kingsmen re-recorded it on their 2019 recording, “Victory Shout”.
Slowing the pace back down is the majestic and regal sounding, “We Represent the King”, which was a song fit for the Kingsmen. Nicely accented with strings, the song was written by Jim Chapman and Jerry Salley and features an excellent performance by Parker. It was a little different for the Kingsmen, but was a true highlight of the recording. Salley pitched this song to Eldridge Fox, as he felt no one represented the King better than the Kingsmen, and he really wanted Foxie to sing the verses, but in the course of arranging, Foxie felt Parker was better suited to sing the song, and the inclusion of “The King is Coming” as a bridge just takes the song up another level.
With Tim taking the lead to start off, “I Just Stopped By (On My Way Home)”, was written by Al Harkin and Billy Ready, and was a sure-fire sugar stick for the Kingsmen during the early 90’s. With Hamill tackling the second verse, the song kicks into high gear as Ray takes the chorus before Garry kicks it up another notch for the final chorus. As they started staging the song, Tim suggested trying something the old-time mountain churches used to do called, “lining out”, where the song leader would sing a line and then the congregation would sing it back, and they would do that through the whole song until the song was complete. They would start the song with Tim acting as the song leader and he would sing a line, and the Kingsmen would sing it back. The song would get in gear by the time they got to the chorus, and the song went over like a firecracker and was an exciting crowd pleaser, as the Kingsmen would typically end their stand with this tune with the crowd on their feet, clamoring for more! This song remains one of my all-time favorite Kingsmen tunes and I was thrilled when they re-recorded it on their 2024 release, “Unstoppable God”.
Parker steps up once again as he sings the comforting message of, “God’s in Command”, which was another tune written by Rick Ashe. Nicely accented with strings, I love the musical swells in the intro, and the song was something a little different for the Kingsmen at the time and was perfect for Parker, before Anthony is featured on the piano for the patriotic, “Anthony’s Salute to the Troops”, as he plays the song representing each branch of our armed forces. As a finale to this piece, the Kingsmen join Anthony in singing the chorus of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. With the country involved in the Gulf War, this piece truly resounded in the hearts of many fans at the time and was a timely inclusion on this recording. In 1991, Anthony released his 5th instrumental recording with the Kingsmen called, “Precious Memories”, and just in time for Christmas, he released his 6th recording, “An Anthony Burger Christmas”.
Straight out of the Red Back Hymnal (page 135), the Kingsmen tear into one of my personal favorites from this recording, “I’ll Be Satisfied”, which features Hamill on the melody, along with Ray on the second verse, and step-out lines by Garry on the final choruses. The song has that classic Kingsmen feel and is a highlight of the recording, before Hamill closes things out with the rockabilly feel of “Child of the King”, which was written by Billie Ray Dixon. With heavy electric guitar and harmonica highlights and a solid beat, the song had a strong Pentecostal feel to it and was a little different for Hamill. I love Hamill’s performance as he really puts a shine on the song with his enthusiastic delivery, and it was an excellent song to finish out the recording.
I bought this recording when I saw the Kingsmen in August 1991 at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion in Greenville, South Carolina, and it quickly became one of my favorite Kingsmen studio albums. It has that classic Kingsmen feel and excitement, but also has some very different sounds and styles. Obviously, fans agreed as the album won “Album of the Year” honors at the 1992 Singing News Fan Awards. But going back to 1991, during the Singing News Fan Awards that year, the Kingsmen Band took home the “Favorite Band” award once again. Speaking of the band, before 1991 came to a close, after about 14 years of service with the Kingsmen, Gary Dillard decided it was time to slow down a bit and he left the Kingsmen and joined the Isaacs’ band (as their schedule was much slower than the Kingsmen’s at the time), and he remained there for about a year or so before coming off the road entirely, settling in to a normal family life, but would join the Kingsmen from time to time on reunion dates through the years. Sadly though, Gary passed away on June 17, 2020. After Gary left, the Kingsmen opted not to fill the role and continued for about a year or so as a 3-piece band with Anthony, Tim, and Greg.
After about 15 years of being associated with the Benson Company, this would be the final recording the Kingsmen would release for RiverSong Records, as they would sign with Foxie’s newly created Horizon Records, under the Horizon Music Group umbrella. Just prior to the Kingsmen leaving RiverSong, they did record one last song for a multi-artist recording called, “Southern Praise”, which was basically a Southern Gospel style Praise & Worship recording featuring the RiverSong family of artists which included Gold City, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Kelly Nelon Thompson, Greater Vision, HeavenBound and others. Along with all the artists coming together on the song “We Come to Worship”, the Kingsmen recorded a song called, “I’ll Let Nothing Praise Him in My Place”, which featured Garry Sheppard, and I thought it was a fantastic song that fit the Kingsmen like a glove.
As I alluded to a bit earlier, the Kingsmen were entering a season of change…which included membership changes as well as record company changes, and over the course of the next couple of years, the Kingsmen would experience some of their most challenging days. True to form though, the Kingsmen would persevere and create a new niche for themselves with some startling new music and sounds, proving yet again, they were the MIGHTY Kingsmen!
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