''Sail On'' is the 24th studio album by the Christian music vocal group The Imperials. Released in 1977, it is their first album on

Word Records Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In 1 ...

' DaySpring label. It is also the first appearance of two new members,

Russ Taff Russell Taff (born November 11, 1953) is an American gospel singer and songwriter who grew up in Farmersville, California. He has sung a variety of musical styles throughout his career including: pop rock, traditional Southern gospel, contempora ...

on lead vocals and David Will on

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

vocals, in addition to founding member, bass vocalist Armond Morales and tenor Jim Murray. Taff and Will replaced

Sherman Andrus Sherman Andrus (born June 23, 1942) is an American gospel singer, who is probably best known as the man who broke the "color barrier" by becoming the first African-American lead singer of a mainstream Christian music group (The Imperials). He ha ...

and

Terry Blackwood Terry Blackwood is a contemporary Christian musician who is best known as lead singer for Christian pop act The Imperials. He was with the group for nearly a decade, joining in 1967 and remaining with them through 1976. At that time, he left the g ...

, who went on to form the Christian music duo

Andrus, Blackwood and Company Andrus, Blackwood & Company was a racially integrated Contemporary Christian Music group, releasing six albums between 1977 and 1984. The group was composed of two former members of The Imperials, Sherman Andrus and Terry Blackwood as co-lead voca ...

in 1977 after the release of the 1976 Imperials' album ''Just Because''. In 1978, the group won their second

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary or Inspirational for ''Sail On'' at the

20th Grammy Awards The 20th Annual Grammy Awards were held February 23, 1978, and were broadcast live on American television. They were hosted by John Denver and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1977. Award winners *Record of the Year **Bi ...

and at

10th GMA Dove Awards The 10th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held during the National Quartet Convention recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year. The show was held in Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee an ...

they were named Male Group of the Year. The Imperials' first chart appearances was on ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

s contemporary hit radio chart in August 1978 with the title song climbing to number three a couple of months later. ''Sail On'' has never been released on CD.

Track listing

Personnel

The Imperials *

– lead vocals * Jim Murray – tenor, vocals * David Will – baritone, vocals * Armond Morales – bass, vocals

Charts

Radio singles

Accolades

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

GMA Dove Awards *1978 Male Group of the Year

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums The Imperials albums Word Records albums