Sometimes we think of history as something that happened before we were born, or maybe back even further than that. But history is history, whether it was yesterday or in the time of the Civil War or the Roman Empire.

With that in mind, we're going back to just over a decade ago, to show some appreciation to two landmark albums in particular, from two different artists, both of whom were already legends when they recorded them —Donald Vails and Walter Hawkins.


Donald Vails
A Sunday Morning Songbook
Malaco Records
The late Donald Vails was raised in Atlanta, emerged onto the national scene in Detroit in the late 1970's with the Billboard-charting Voices of Deliverance project, What A Wonderful Savior I've Found, and earning a Grammy nomination with his acclaimed The Donald Vails Choraleers on the He Decided To Die album, which went Gold.

Vails moved to the Washington DC area in the mid 1980's and continued his work with area church choirs ensembles, and counted among his numerous service his role as Director of the vast National Baptist Convention Choir and the National Minister of Music for the GMWA Mass Choir.

On A Sunday Morning Songbook, Vails was truly in his element. Dedicating the project to "the thousands of church choirs across the country that will never win a Grammy, a Stellar, a Dove award, or may never see a gold record", Vails aimed to encourage and uplift them all, encouraging them to keep singing "for God is coming soon."

Delving into his love and passion for that big choir sound, Vails was joined in the effort not only by two vast choirs from disparate parts of the country (his own DC Chorale Kaleidoscope and the Atlanta Concert Choir), but also by choir directors Byron Cage, Stephen Hurd and Sean Deveax, songwriters Carnell Murrell and V. Michael McKay, Margaret Douroux, Hurd and Timothy Wright, soloists Milton Biggham, Marcia Sapp, Smallwood Singer Debbie Steele-Hayden and a band crew that included Jeffrey LaValley on keys, Rick Carter on bass and Patrick Lundy on organ.

Noted songs on the project were William Boyd's powerful delivery on the Roberta Martin classic, "God Is Still On The Throne" and Bryon Cage's vocals on V. Michael McKay's melodic "I Can't Help But Put My Trust In God".

A Sunday Morning Songbook reached number 33 on the Billboard Gospel chart in 1994.


Walter Hawkins
Love Alive IV
Malaco Records
In between his much-vaunted releases on Light Records (Love Alive I, II and III) and his recent Love Alive V double CD from GospoCentric, Walter Hawkins put out Love Alive IV on Malaco Records in 1990.

To this day, many well-known artists look to the material on that album with fond recollections, some going so far as to rework some of the songs into their own repertoire. In 2002, Mary Mary honored the smash hit "Thank You" by covering it on their Incredible album and actually sampling elements of the song in their version.

The album was recorded live at Love Center Church in Oakland in January 1990, and featured a stable of longtime Hawkins vocal collaborators, including Yvette Flunder (on "Thank You") and Brenda Roy on "Come To Jesus".

The duets on the project were spectacular, with Flunder and Hawkins working on "The Just Shall Live" and Flunder and Shirley Miller together on "Full & Complete". Love Alive Mass Choir's Music Director Edwin Hawkins sang with Lavern Moore on "Oh My Jesus".

Several traditional arrangements were included as well, including the memorable album opener, "God Will Take Care Of You" and "Solid Rock" and "Who Shall Separate Us" (which featured a barrage of sololists).

The album hit the top of the Billboard Gospel chart and was resident for over nine months, earning a Grammy nomination.