#59 ONE MORE SONG FOR YOU by The Imperials (1979)

ONE MORE SONG FOR YOU by The Imperials (1979)
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How much difference can a producer make? 

Well, suppose I told you that the producer in question cut his teeth as a session player for Steely Dan. What if I told you that he has produced critically acclaimed albums for Clint Black, Michael Bolton, Debby Boone, Steve Camp, Peter Cetera, Christopher Cross, Amy Grant, Benny Hester, Whitney Houston, The Jacksons, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, and Trisha Yearwood? What if I told you that he produced number one records in three consecutive decades and has won multiple Grammy and Dove Awards? 

Back to the original question: Can a producer really make a substantial difference in an album? When the producer’s name is Michael Omartian, the answer is an emphatic ‘yes.’ 

As groups go, The Imperials had already lived several lifetimes before they crossed paths with Omartian. They began as an all-star Southern Gospel quartet, the brainchild of the legendary Jake Hess. When Hess retired due to health concerns, the group continued and over a period of several years morphed into a trend-setting modern Gospel group, forsaking old traditions and attracting new listeners along the way. The hair grew longer and the stage clothes began to reflect the styles of the times (yikes!). They started covering Jesus Music standards and spiritually aware pop songs, and eventually ended up backing Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. Then in 1972, Sherman Andrus smashed the color barrier when he was hired as the group’s baritone singer.  

L-R: Joe Moscheo, Jim Murray, Sherman Andrus,
Terry Blackwood, Armond Morales

The “Andrus-Blackwood years” were very good to the group, resulting in award-winning albums produced by the likes of Bob MacKenzie, Gary S. Paxton, and Phil Johnson. But all good things eventually seem to come to an end. Terry Blackwood needed to leave the road following the death of his father; Andrus left the group shortly thereafter. Benson Records later talked the two into forming a group of their own, hoping to keep some of the audience that was so loyal to The Imperials…because The Imperials were headed to Word Records.  

Enter two new singers and a new producer. Chris Christian was a fellow with a growing reputation as an excellent producer. He would produce or co-produce the group’s next 3 albums.  

The Imperials hired David Will as their new baritone. Originally from Benton Harbor, Michigan, Will looked and sounded a bit like Kenny Rogers. He would remain a fixture with The Imperials for the next 24 years, singing signature songs for the group such as Bread Upon the Water, Pieces, and You’re the Only Jesus.  

Meanwhile, the group decided to take a gamble by hiring as their new lead singer an unproven young man from rural Arkansas. His name? Russ Taff. 

L-R: Jim Murray, Russ Taff, Armond Morales, David Will

The son of a Pentecostal, alcoholic preacher man and a Gospel music-loving mom, Russ Taff was encouraged early on to honor God with his voice. And he became aware as a small child that when he sang, people responded.  

“God put something in me when I was a kid,” Taff recalls. “He gave me a gift and a talent, and I feel like it’s my job to protect it and watch over it and let Him lead and guide it.” 

As a teenager, he formed a group called Sounds of Joy, and started experimenting with Christian music that didn’t sound at all like his mother’s Blackwood Brothers and Statesmen records. In what had to be a divine appointment, Taff’s group was booked one night to serve as the opening act for a concert by The Imperials. Two years later, he was offered the opportunity to become the Imps’ new lead singer.  

“I was so green,” Taff remembers. “But the Imperials handed me the opportunity of a lifetime, and I was thrilled to be able to do what I loved to do.”  

With Taff and Will in place, the stage was set for The Imperials to enjoy the most successful era of their storied history. Armond, Jim, Russ & Dave finally completed the group’s lengthy transition from a Gospel quartet to a pop/rock vocal band that would set records in terms of radio airplay, concert attendance, music industry awards, album sales, and critical acclaim.  

It all started with a misstep, however. 

The Imps went into the studio with Gary S. Paxton behind the console and delivered an album that left the studio executives scratching their heads. Now known as The Lost Album, it has been immortalized as one of “The 101 Strangest Records on Spotify.” Described as deep-space-blues-meets-lightweight-supper-club-funk, it was considered less than Imperials-worthy. Studio heads knew that the first post-Andrus & Blackwood album had better be good...and this thing was downright weird in places. Legend has it that the master tapes were intentionally “lost” and the Imps were ordered back into the studio to make an entirely different album, this time with the aforementioned Chris Christian turning the knobs and calling the shots. The result was Sail On, a record that one reviewer described as “a notch above The Lost Album in just about every way that counts.” [By the way, The Lost Album was finally “found,” packaged, and released 30 years after it went “missing.”] 

In ’77, ’78 and ‘79, the Imperials worked with Chris Christian to release Sail On, Imperials Live (1978) and Heed the Call. Songs like Sail On, Bread Upon the Water, Water Grave, Praise the Lord, and Oh Buddha became huge hits, and Russ Taff became a Christian music star. But it was the group’s next two albums that would forever solidify Taff as one of the best white, male blues singers alive. 



Michael Omartian

Michael Omartian was tapped to produce and arrange what would become the breakthrough album for The Imperials, 1979’s One More Song For You. Omartian employed a stellar lineup of A-list session players but made Russ Taff’s voice the most important instrument on the album. He also brought a really strong group of songs to the table (many of them written by himself and his wife Stormie). John Styll has said that Omartian’s production skills gave the Imps “unprecedented credibility” and a “sound that kicked in the afterburners at the peak of their popularity.”  

The Imperials seemed to realize that they had been given a tremendous advantage with the skills of Omartian, his musicians, and writers, and they took advantage of the situation. The result was what David Lowman has described as “a classic” and “a monster album.” Styll called the album “a turning point.”  

It’s been said that One More Song For You and its successor, Priority, were recorded in Omartian’s “basement studio” on “tight budgets.” If that’s true, it makes the end result that much more impressive. 

The record opens with the bright, sparkling, slightly disco-influenced What I Can Do For You, a song penned by Team Omartian. Taff takes the lead on the verses, while Jim Murray sings the bridge. They were able to add some bass lines toward the end of the song for Armond Morales. 

I’m Forgiven, with lyrics written by Bruce Hibbard, immediately follows and contains a contagious groove that’ll stay in your heart and head for hours at a time. Russ sang lead on this one as well, and it became a #1 hit on CCM charts. Jim Murray again shines on a line or two. 

The tempo slows with the beautiful and stirring All My Life. A piano-and-strings ballad, it was tailor-made for tenor Jim Murray. The lyrics were vintage Stormie Omartian: 

All my life

Never knowing what I was reaching for
Never could I find any reason for

Always feeling somehow there must be more  

Then there came a light

Searching out my heart in the blackest night

Touching me with love that I knew was right

Lord of all, filling all my life

All my life

Looking back 

Jesus through my life You were everywhere

Picking up the pieces I'd scattered there

Holding them for me ‘till my heart could care

You gave me life

You made my spirit new

Now I give all my life to You

Yes, my Lord 

You were everything I was searching for

You were every dream I have dreamed before

Now every day of life is worth so much more

You gave me life

You made my spirit new 

Now I give all my life to you 

Smooth, 70s pop was back with Living Without Your Love, another song that featured Jim Murray. This song was penned by Tom Hemby (not to be confused with Ron Hemby, who would later be a member of The Imperials). Living Without Your Love could have easily been a hit song for the Bee Gees. 

Side One concludes with a song written by Russ Taff and his wife Tori. The ethereal Eagle Song, with its deep lyrical theme, was one of the record’s highlights: 

I stood and watched an eagle fly
Spread his wings and soar across the sky
So gracefully he flew
Rising effortlessly
I wanted to know just how to be free

Tiny fingers curled 'round mine
Perfectly formed; newborn
The image of two
Infinite mystery
I wanted to know where life comes from

What human intellect can't sway
Must be explained away
Earth wisdom, religions of men
Search without end to fill the spirit house within
Simplicity of God somehow escapes man

I reach for the Eternal One
Creation He was waiting to reveal
His purpose in me
He said this is where life begins
I made your spirit to glide on the wind

Come, let's fly on the wind

Come on, let's fly on the wind
On the wind 

The close vocal harmonies on Eagle Song brought to mind some of the group’s earlier offerings. The vocals on that particular song were arranged by Russ Taff, Bill George, and Charles Davis. 

There are no jaw-dropping instrumental performances on One More Song For You – which is as it should be. The focus is on the singers, and the music serves the vocal performances. But that is not to disparage the studio players in any way. It really was a ‘who’s who’ group of session players, including Abraham Laboriel, Paul Leim, Kim Hutchcroft, Victor Feldman, Marty Walsh, and Michael Omartian himself. John Guess, Jack Lees, and John Banuelos engineered the record; Guess also mixed it.  

Side Two kicks off with another Omartian-esque pop song titled Closer Than Ever. Taff sings lead, while the choruses seem to feature Jim Murray and one or two female backup singers. 

The title track was an anthemic, piano-based ballad that featured David Will. It was one of the record’s more memorable tracks – and contained a melody with a higher-than-average degree of difficulty.   

You were there with Your songs of laughter
Words of hope for my fears
But what are songs when no one will sing them
What are words when no one hears
There were times life became a question

When I asked, no one knew
‘Till I found the answer in You

Love is in the air around me

Hope abounds everywhere
Living life in the arms of Jesus

Learning how to really care
Every day is filled with purpose

All the old is made new
And I know I owe it all to You  

As long as there is time

And one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
As long as there is room

For one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth

To help my brother through
There'll be one more song for You

Well, the record had to have at least one rock and roll track, right? Why not a Denny Correll/Darrell Mansfield cover! Taff rips and burns through Higher Power, and the electric guitars are freed a bit. This is another one of those tracks that’s retrofitted with some bass vocal lines so that Armond Morales isn’t left to twiddle his thumbs over in the corner.  

A cover of Michael & Stormie Omartian’s More Like You wraps up the album all too quickly. This is more vintage, radio-friendly, 70s pop. It’s what Omartian knew how to do better than anything else. Laboriel’s bass parts stand out on this cut. 

Russ Taff truly became the dynamic, distinctive voice of the group on this record, and Michael Omartian gave him room to do just that. As David Lowman wrote, Omartian’s production and arrangements gave the album “an authenticity that kept them from sounding like a Southern Gospel Quartet trying to be cool.” Taff took his role seriously and really took things to a new level.

The Imperials would continue in this vein a year later, again with Omartian producing, on an album titled Priority. Taff would soon be called “the single most electrifying voice in Christian music” by Billboard Magazine.

"Russ truly puts his soul into his music," writes Robert Oermann, contributing editor at Music Row magazine. "I know everybody throws that word around loosely, but in his case, it really is the truth. He is just head and shoulders above anybody else as a vocalist."



Russ Taff today

Crosswalk.com wrote in 1999 that Taff was deserving of every scrap of acclaim heaped on him.

“There’s a real fire in his belly," adds Marcus Hummon, a Taff friend and songwriting collaborator. "I don’t know anyone who lights up a microphone with the kind of authenticity Russ has. You can feel it."

During Taff’s tenure with The Imps, the group recorded seven albums, broke down barriers, and had a tremendous impact on Christendom. By 1981, it was time for Taff to go solo, and time for The Imperials to turn another page and keep right on ticking.

The Imps were more than a group, they were a dynasty…one of the most successful franchises in the history of CCM. Like a lot of great sports dynasties, such as the New York Yankees, New England Patriots or Alabama Crimson Tide, The Imperials didn’t fold or go into a “rebuilding” mode; they simply reloaded!

Michael Omartian

Paul Smith was welcomed aboard and they really didn’t miss a beat for the next several years. They got back to a more direct approach to group vocal harmony and a renewed emphasis on ministry. Meanwhile, Russ Taff recorded a string of amazing albums throughout the 1980s and beyond. 

Over the years, the numbers for The Imperials are impressive: 

• More than 40 albums

• Fourteen #1 songs

• 4 Grammy Awards

• 13 Dove Awards

All of which makes them one of the most popular Christian music groups ever. 

They received an assist in 1979 from a gifted and creative producer who understood them well and helped them flourish.