''Songs of Inspiration''
/ref> is the twentieth studio album and the first gospel album by American country music group Alabama, released on October 24, 2006. The album debuted at No. 1 on both the Top Country Albums and Top Christian Albums charts, with 41,000 copies sold the first week. The album has sold 170,000 copies as of September 2015. It ranked at No. 15 on Billboard 200 album charts and No. 1 on Billboard Country Albums chart.
Track listing
#" His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (Civilla D. Martin
Civilla Durfee Martin (August 21, 1866 – March 9, 1948) was a Canadian-American writer of many religious hymns and gospel songs in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Biography
Civilla Durfee was born in Jordan, Nova Scotia on A ...
, Charles H. Gabriel Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (August 18, 1856 – September 14, 1932) was a writer of gospel songs and composer of gospel tunes. He is said to have written and/or composed between 7,000 and 8,000 songs, many of which are available in 21st century hym ...
) - 4:10
#"In the Garden
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* Independ ...
" (C. Austin Miles
Charles Austin Miles (January 7, 1868March 10, 1946) was a prolific American writer of gospel songs, who is best known for his 1912 hymn " In the Garden".
He studied at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the University of Pennsylvania. I ...
) - 3:28
#" Amazing Grace" ( John Newton) - 3:35
#" How Great Thou Art" (Stuart K. Hine) - 4:26
#"I Need Thee" (Annie S. Hawks, Robert Lowry Robert Lowry may refer to:
* Robert Lowry (governor) (1829–1910), American politician, governor of Mississippi
* Robert Lowry (hymn writer) (1826–1899), American professor of literature, Baptist minister and composer of gospel hymns
* Robert L ...
) - 2:09
#"Old Shep" ( Red Foley) - 3:06
#"Jesus Loves Me
"Jesus Loves Me" is a Christian hymn written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called ''Say and Seal'', written by her older sister Susan Warner (1819–1885), in which t ...
" (William Batchelder Bradbury
William Batchelder Bradbury (October 6, 1816 – January 7, 1868) was a musician who composed the tune to " Jesus Loves Me" and many other popular hymns.
Biography
He was born on October 6, 1816, in York, Maine, where his father was the leader o ...
, David Rutherford McGuire, Anna Bartlett Warner
Anna Bartlett Warner (August 31, 1827 – January 22, 1915) was an American writer, the author of several books, and of poems set to music as hymns and religious songs for children.
Biography
Anna Bartlett Warner was born on Long Island on August ...
) - 3:19
#" Silent Night" ( Franz Gruber, Josef Mohr) - 3:31
#"I Am the Man Thomas" (Larry Sparks
Larry Sparks (born September 25, 1947) is an American Bluegrass singer and guitarist. He was the winner of the 2004 and 2005 International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year Award. 2005, won IBMA for Album of the Year and Re ...
, Ralph Stanley) - 2:02
#"Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to:
Films
* ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips
* ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below)
Music
* ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...
" (Augustus Montague Toplady
Augustus Montague Toplady (4 November 174011 August 1778) was an Anglican cleric and hymn writer. He was a major Calvinist opponent of John Wesley. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages". Three of his other hymns †...
, Thomas Hastings Thomas Hastings may refer to:
*Thomas Hastings (colonist) (1605–1685), English immigrant to New England
*Thomas Hastings (composer) (1784–1872), American composer, primarily of hymn tunes
*Thomas Hastings (cricketer) (1865–1938), Australian cr ...
) - 2:36
#"In the Sweet By and By
"The Sweet By-and-By" is a Christian hymn with lyrics by S. Fillmore Bennett and music by Joseph P. Webster. It is recognizable by its chorus:
Background
Bennett described the composition of the hymn in his autobiography.
Per ...
" (Sanford F. Bennett, Joseph Philbrick Webster
Joseph Philbrick Webster, also known as J.P. Webster (February 18, 1819 – January 18, 1875), was an American songwriter and composer most notable for his musical compositions during the Antebellum South, antebellum and American Civil War p ...
) - 3:28
#" The Old Rugged Cross" ( George Bennard) - 3:09
#"What Will I Leave Behind" (Sherrill Brown) - 2:40
#"One Big Heaven" ( Randy Owen) - 4:16
#"Rain" (Owen) - 3:35
Personnel
Alabama
* Jeff Cook – electric guitar, vocals
* Randy Owen – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
* Teddy Gentry
Alabama is an American country music band formed in Fort Payne, Alabama, in 1969. The band was founded by Randy Owen ( lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and his cousin Teddy Gentry ( bass, backing vocals). They were soon joined by another cousin, Jef ...
– bass guitar, vocals
Additional Musicians
* Gary Prim – acoustic piano, synthesizers, Hammond B3 organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...
* Joey Miskulin – accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
* Mark Casstevens – acoustic guitar, banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
, dobro
Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.
The Dobro was originally ...
, harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
* Randy Kohrs – acoustic guitar, dobro
* James Alan Shelton
James Alan Shelton (November 3, 1960 – June 3, 2014) was an American bluegrass guitarist. Shelton was a solo musician, released 10 albums, and performed with the Clinch Mountain Boys.
Life
James was born in Kingsport, Tennessee and raised in G ...
– acoustic guitar
* Larry Paxton – electric guitar, nylon string guitar, acoustic bass, bass guitar, string arrangements
* Steve Sparkman – banjo
* Nathan Stanley – mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
* Eddie Bayers – drums, percussion
* Dewey Brown III – fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
* Aubrey Haynie
Aubrey Haynie (born March 27, 1974) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle and mandolin. In his career, he has recorded three studio albums for the Sugar Hill Records label, all three of which contained mostly songs that he wr ...
– fiddle, mandolin
* Kristin Wilkinson – string arrangements
* Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor
* Kirsten Cassi – cello
* Anthony LaMarchina – cello
* Bruce Christensen – viola
* Christopher Farrell – viola
* Gary Vanosdale – viola
* David Davidson – violin
* Conni Ellisor – violin
* Carolyn Huebel – violin
* Pamela Sixfin – violin
* Alan Umstead – violin
* Mary Kathryn Vanosdale – violin
* Bailey Barnes – backing vocals
* Karstin Brewis – backing vocals
* Kensley Brewis – backing vocals
* David Burt – backing vocals
* Sawyer Burt – backing vocals
* Michael Curtis – backing vocals
* Melinda Doolittle – backing vocals
* Kim Fleming – backing vocals
* Ella Fowler – backing vocals
* Abby Fraebel – backing vocals
* Griffin Horton – backing vocals
* Kaden Horton – backing vocals
* Rebecca Isaacs Bowman –backing vocals (5)
* Ben Isaacs – backing vocals (5)
* Nathan Isaacs – backing vocals (5)
* Alexis Lutz – backing vocals
* Emma Lutz – backing vocals
* Jesse Lutz – backing vocals
* Belinda Wallace – backing vocals
* Nathan Young – backing vocals
* Ralph Stanley – vocals (9)
Chart performance
Awards
In 2007, the album was nominated for a Dove Award
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 Awards ...
for Country Album of the Year at the 38th GMA Dove Awards
The 38th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on April 25, 2007 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2006. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Brian Littrell, Natalie Grant, and Donn ...
.38th Annual GMA Awards
on About.com
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Songs Of Inspiration
2006 albums
Alabama (American band) albums
RCA Records albums