''Side by Side'' is the 29th studio album by

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...

vocal group

The Imperials The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been active for over 55 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many ...

, released in 1983 on DaySpring Records. It is the Imperials' first double album to feature each member taking a solo side. On lead singer Paul Smith's side, it features a duet between Smith and a new female CCM singer-songwriter named

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

on the track "Make My Heart Your Home." Phillips had just released her debut album ''

Beyond Saturday Night ''Beyond Saturday Night'' is the first album by Leslie Phillips, released in 1983 on Myrrh Records. The album's style is placed between the contemporary Christian music artist Amy Grant, Christian rocker Margaret Becker and hard rock group, Resurr ...

'' that same year. In 1984, the album was nominated for a

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 pr ...

for Best Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group at the

26th Grammy Awards The 26th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1984, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1983. Michael Jackson, who had been recove ...

and at the

15th GMA Dove Awards The 15th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on 1984 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 1983. The show was held in Nashville, Tennessee. Award recipients *Song of the Year **"More Than Wonderful"; Lanny Wolfe; Lanny Wolfe Music (A ...

, the group won their final Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year. ''Side by Side'' peaked at number 10 on '' Billboards Top Inspirational Albums chart.

Track listing

''Jim Murray''; produced by Neal Joseph ''David Will''; produced by Neal Joseph and Keith Thomas ''Armond Morales''; produced by Neal Joseph ''Paul Smith''; produced by Keith Thomas

Personnel

The Imperials * Paul Smith – lead vocals, backing vocals (17, 20) * Jim Murray – tenor, lead vocals * David Will – baritone, lead vocals * Armond Morales – bass, lead vocals Musicians * Mitch Humphries – acoustic piano (1-5), Rhodes Chroma (1) * Dick Tunney – Fender Rhodes (1, 2, 3, 5),

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is concept ...

(4) * Keith Thomas – acoustic piano (6, 7, 9, 10), backing vocals (6-9, 17), Fender Rhodes (7, 8, 10), synthesizers (8, 10, 17), keyboards (16, 18, 19, 20),

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

(16, 17) *

David Huntsinger David Huntsinger is a pianist, composer, songwriter, and arranger who moved from his native California to Nashville, TN, in 1976 and played for the Rambos. He co-wrote the song, "Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome", with Dottie Rambo, as well as the chi ...

– acoustic piano (11, 13, 14), Fender Rhodes (11-14) * Alan Steinberger – synthesizers (11, 12) * Tricia Walker – acoustic piano (15) * Jon Goin – guitars (1-5, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20), guitar solo (8) *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

– lead guitar (6), guitars (8, 9, 16, 18, 19, 20), "midget" guitar (16), guitar solo (17) * Bruce Dees – guitars (6, 10), electric guitar (7) *

Brent Rowan Brent Rowan (born May 28, 1956 in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American session musician and record producer who works primarily in country music. Active since the 1970s, Rowan began working with John Conlee through the recommendation of record produce ...

– guitars (6, 10, 13, 14, 15), acoustic guitar (7) * Mike Brignardello – bass (1-5, 8, 9, 20) * Bob Wray – bass (6, 7, 10) * Gary Lunn – bass (11-15) * David Hungate – bass (16) *

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the po ...

– bass (17, 18, 19) * Mark Hammond – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 16) *

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most liste ...

– drums (7, 9-14, 17, 19) * David Huff – drums (18) * Farrell Morris – percussion (1-5, 11-15) *

Terry McMillan Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist. Her work centers around the experiences of Black women in the United States. Early life McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1977 from ...

– percussion (6, 8, 9, 16-19) * Sam Levine – saxophone solo (10) * Mark Douthit – saxophone (19) * Bobby Taylor –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

(15) * Cindy Reynolds – harp (15) * Terry Mead – flugelhorn (16) * Ronn Huff – string arrangements (1, 2, 3, 5) * Alan Moore – string arrangements (7, 9, 10) * Don Hart – string arrangements (12, 13, 15) * John Darnall – string arrangements (18, 20) * The Kris Wilkinson Strings – strings (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 20) * Beverly Darnall – backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 9) * Neal Joseph – backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 12) * Melodie Tunney – backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 14, 20) * Steve Green – backing vocals (6, 7, 8) * Gary Pigg – backing vocals (6) * Beverly Baxter – backing vocals (12) * Donna McElroy – backing vocals (14, 19) * Steve Taylor – backing vocals (14) * Marty McCall – backing vocals (17, 19) *

– lead vocals (18) * Patti Leatherwood – backing vocals (19) * Denny Henson – backing vocals (20) Production * Neal Joseph – producer (1-15) * Keith Thomas – producer (11-20) * Jeff Balding – engineer * Scott Hendricks – engineer * Jim Baird – engineer (1-15) * Travis Turk – engineer (1-5, 16-20) * Steve Fralick – engineer (6-10, 16-20) * Brent King – engineer (6-15) * Danny Mundhenk – engineer (6-10), assistant engineer (11-20) *

Kyle Lehning Kyle Lehning is an American record producer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. He has produced virtually every album released by Randy Travis, who described their partnership "an interesting relationship." The only exceptions are ...

– engineer (16-20) * Lee Groitzsch – assistant engineer (6-10) * Phil Diehl – assistant engineer (11-20) * Hank Williams – mastering at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee) * Bill Brunt – album design * Mark Tucker – photography

Charts

Radio singles

Accolades

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

References

{{Authority control 1983 albums The Imperials albums Word Records albums