Game-Changers: “Pillars Of Faith”
If there was one album that defined the southern gospel music of the 1990s, it would have to be this release by Gold City that was voted Singing News Album of the Year two years in a row (the only album to ever do so) – Pillars Of Faith, released in 1992.
Without a doubt, Gold City was the ‘premier’ quartet at the time. Since the mid-to-late 1980s, the combination of Brian Free (tenor), Ivan Parker (lead), Mike LeFevre (baritone), and Tim Riley (bass), accompanied by Garry Jones (piano) and the ‘Band Of Gold’, had been sweeping the Singing News Fan Awards. In fact, Gold City took home the award for Favorite Group six years in a row! Not to mention, the group had a number of hit songs to their credit: “When I Get Carried Away”, “Who But God”, “John Saw”, “One Scarred Hand”, and most notably, “Midnight Cry”.
Just before recording Pillars Of Faith, the group experienced a minor lineup change – the departure of Mike LeFevre (who joined the group in 1985). Steve Lacey, a rather new face on the southern gospel scene, is hired to fill the baritone slot. And thus, the lineup of Brian, Ivan, Steve, and Tim, enter the studio to record this legendary album…
Pillars Of Faith begins with an a cappella rendition of “’Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus”, before launching into the up-tempo “If God Be For Us”, written by Squire Parsons. This song sets the musical tone for the album. Just like the Cathedrals Symphony Of Praise (which we discussed a few months back), orchestrations will be prevalent throughout Pillars Of Faith. In this case, they are provided by the noted Nashville String Machine. However, in the same manner as that famed Cathedrals recording, the orchestrations complement the songs, they do not overpower. In fact, a good many selections on this Gold City recording also feature more ‘traditional’ southern gospel instruments: violin, steel guitar, banjo, piano.
Three of the ten songs from this recording were singled to southern gospel radio – the aforementioned “If God Be For Us” (which climbed to #3 on the charts), and two ‘power ballads’ – “There Rose A Lamb”, and “One More Time Will Do It”.
“There Rose A Lamb” is a powerful anthem featuring lead singer Ivan Parker. It was written by noted southern gospel songwriter Kyla Rowland. In fact, Gold City had recorded a number of Kyla’s songs in years past, including “One Scarred Hand” in 1990. Although it never reached #1 on the charts, it was nonetheless voted Song of the Year at the 1993 Singing News Fan Awards, and remains perhaps the ‘signature’ song of this recording.
“One More Time Will Do It” closes the recording with a reminder of Christ’s promised second coming. Written by Ronny Hinson, tenor Brain Free is featured. Again, here is another Gold City ‘standard’ that never reached #1, peaking at #3 in April of 1994.
One simply cannot overlook the songs that were not singled to radio. There are many great up-tempo numbers such as “Where Is God?” (written by Kyla Rowland) and “He Sent Me Running” (written by Sandy Knight). Brain Free gets another feature on “Beneath This Armor”, while newcomer Steve Lacey steps out front on “He Brought Me Thru” (both penned by Squire Parsons).
What makes Pillars Of Faith such a ‘game-changer’? Many southern gospel commentators note the ‘timeless’ nature of this recording. It has a certain ‘polish’ that has enabled it to ‘age well’ over the last 30 years. In fact, one could listen to the CD and easily argue that it had just been recorded sometime in the last 5 years! It was also a pivotal recording for Gold City, marking the ‘end of an era’, so to say. Pillars Of Faith was followed by a groundbreaking a cappella recording, A Cappella Gold, and then, by late 1993, news broke of departures from the group. Longtime lead singer Ivan Parker left to pursue a solo career, while longtime tenor Brian Free launched his own group, Assurance. Rumors began to circulate that Gold City was disbanding – but they proved the critics wrong. By mid-1994, the group had welcomed Jay Parrack on tenor and southern gospel ‘veteran’ Mark Trammell to sing baritone (Steve Lacey was promoted to lead singer). This new ‘era’ of Gold City would take the southern gospel scene by storm well into the early 2000s.
What’s exciting is that, just recently, Gold City has re-released Pillars Of Faith, making it available on digital streaming platforms. This ‘remastered’ version is direct from the original master tape, allowing us to hear subtleties that were perhaps ‘hidden’ due to the limitations of 1990s audio reproduction technologies. What’s more, if you happen to catch Gold City in concert, chances are you’ll hear a good many songs from this monumental recording still being staged.
So, if I’m ever asked to introduce someone to southern gospel music…to ‘define’ it for them, so to say…I’m going to pull out Gold City’s Pillars Of Faith and invite them to take a listen.
