1994 was a celebratory year for the Bishops, as they were commemorating 10 years together as a group! Some groups struggle to make a name for themselves within 10 years’ time, but for the Bishops, it was a rapid fire of hits, and they were about as close to an overnight success as anyone can get in our genre…or so it seems. That success didn’t come without a lot of hard work and determination on their part, along with the backing of a great record company, as well as the support of radio making it all happen! To honor this milestone achievement, it was determined that a new live audio and video recording was in order! Not just “any old” live recording would do, as the Bishops and the Eddie Crook Company decided to pull out all the stops and take it “up town”, recording the Bishops “live”, backed by a full orchestra, under the direction of Steve Mauldin!
Eddie Crook stepped back from producing, allowing Steve Mauldin to serve as producer (and arranger) for this live recording, but Crook still had the final say, serving as Executive Producer. In talking with Mark Bishop, Steve Mauldin, Eddie Crook and Steve Perkins about this recording, there was A LOT of work that went into making “Chapter X Live” a reality. For Steve Mauldin, this would be the first recording he would use a computer to write the entire orchestral score (rather than manually writing them by hand). As fate would have it, as he got about halfway through writing the score, the motherboard somehow cracked and he ended up having to buy a new computer, re-writing what he had completed already and then finishing the rest. The coordination of the orchestra was a bit difficult, as instead of using the professional orchestral players Mauldin was accustomed to using, it was decided to use the local orchestra, which had their very first practice session with the group on the afternoon of the concert. Even after the live recording was put to tape, they ended up going back and dubbing in additional strings in the studio.
The live recording was also a melding together of 3 separate bands… the Bishops’ regular stage band (Johnny on piano and Steve on bass), studio players who had come to play that night (Kelly Back/Bruce Watkins on guitars and John Gardner on drums) and the local ensemble orchestra…so there were a lot of moving parts that night. Steve Perkins was the band leader for the rhythm section, and he also handled a lot of the behind-the-scenes work…hashing out how the Bishops wanted the songs to go, along with working with Eddie and Steve Mauldin on finalizing arrangements. After they had finalized the songs and basic arrangements, he went to Eddie Crook’s house one evening and spent a few hours working with him on ideas and getting his thoughts on the arrangements. Once that was finalized, Perkins got with Mauldin for final prep work on arrangements leading up to the big day.
All the prep and hard work came together on Friday, April 29, 1994, at the Brock Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. Promptly at 8pm the preliminaries began, and before the tape began to roll, the Bishops came to the stage and did a mini-concert, performing a few songs to get a sound check before officially starting the live recording with the orchestra.
“Chapter X Live” kicks off with no formal introduction, but rather with a movie score sounding “Overture” by the orchestra. Next, the rest of the band takes their places as they kick off the intro for the upbeat, Mark Bishop penned, “That’s All He Needs to Know”, which was a perfect lead off song for this celebratory live recording, before we move on to the medium tempo, “Look What Jesus Has Done”, which was written by Kenny. Featuring both Mark and Kenny, the song starts off with the guys singing the chorus acapella, before the band kicks in on the final line of the chorus. The final chorus features the guys singing with just the string section playing behind them, giving the song a bit of a classical feel. Orchestra music aside, the basic rhythm pattern and feel of the song has that classic Bishops sound and is a highlight of the recording.
Kenny, in his witty and uncanny way, then takes a moment to welcome everyone, before the guys sing the great song of promise, “God Has Provided a Lamb”. This was a song Eddie Crook pitched to the Bishops for this live recording, which was written by brothers, Jason and Jeff Johnson, and published through Chestnut Mound Music. This was the second single from this recording, peaking at #7 in the Singing News chart for July and August 1995.
Moving on, Kenny does a tremendous job singing the Dee Gaskin penned, “He’s My Hiding Place”… which was the first single released from this recording, going all the way to the #1 position for 3 months in the Singing News chart for January through March 1995. The Bishops had been recording songs written by Gaskin since their early days, and in fact, her song, “Battle Scarred Soldier” garnered the Bishops their very first Top 20 song 8 years earlier. How appropriate that it would be one of her songs that would snag the Bishops their second #1 hit? I love the orchestrations on this song, and it continues a long line of easy going, medium tempo radio tunes for the Bishops.
Changing the mood, Kenny humorously sets up the acapella, “Angels Walking Around”… as he has the orchestra give them the key to the song, before the guys jump in and deliver a flawless performance.
As the applause dies down, the orchestra begins to play… as they set the mood with a nice jazzy feel, as Kenneth takes the lead on the fun tune, “Worryin’”. Written by Buford Abner of the Swanee River Boys, the Bishops and orchestra did a marvelous job delivering the goods here, and it’s truly a magnificent gem of a song!
Mark steps up next as he takes the lead on his powerful song, “He Gave it to Me”. This was the emotional highlight on this recording, but it also ended up being a big “omg…what do we do?” moment as well!
Changing the mood completely, the guys jump into the highly invigorating, “Holy Ghost Revival”… which was written by Joel Hemphill.
Once again, in typical Kenny fashion, he talks where he wasn’t supposed to… and it’s a comical moment on the recording. As he quickly takes a moment to be serious, he pays tribute to “Granny” Bishop and honors her memory as he introduces the “Hits Medley”…
This live recording would not be complete without the inclusion of the Bishops biggest hit song, “Lazarus Come Forth”. The song was initially intended to be part of the medley, but it’s such an important part of the Bishops history, they decided to do the entire song…
The live recording had a couple of hiccups that night… but all in all, it was a memorable and exciting evening for the Bishops! Being the trailblazers that they were, they were the first group to pull off a live recording backed by a full orchestra…
Kenny also recorded his first solo recording, “Reaching Out”… which was released later in 1994.
Getting back to “Chapter X Live”… I remember that it was met with overwhelming fanfare… and it was an immediate hit with the fans. The Bishops were enjoying amazing success, and it had been a tremendous 10-year ride for them!
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