The Talleys – Typical Day (1989)
After the Talleys’ foray into the choral realm with “For Every Generation”, they decided to scale things back with a recording that was a bit more “Southern”. That doesn’t mean there aren’t elements present that made the Talleys…well, the Talleys…because it’s all there! While “Typical Day” offered a bit more of a Southern Gospel feel, it still had those big ballads and “churchy” type songs, but the overall feel of the recording was quite a bit more rustic and laid back then their previous recordings had been.
Produced by Gary McSpadden (with John Mays and Roger Talley serving as Executive Producers), with vocal arrangements by Bill George, and orchestrations being handled by Steve Potts. Potts is an amazing musician, orchestrator and choral arranger who had been Sandi Patti’s musical director for 16 years, and he also played piano for the Bill Gaither Trio and the Gaither Vocal Band for several years as well. While “Typical Day” doesn’t boast the heavy orchestrations as some of their previous recordings, Steve did an outstanding job tastefully orchestrating the ballads for this recording. Additionally, while neither the banjo, mandolin nor fiddle are prominent instruments in “Talley Music”, they are tastefully utilized on this recording and are very skillfully played by a couple of notable individuals. On the banjo, we have world renowned banjo player, Bela Fleck, lending his amazing talents on the title song, “Typical Day”. Fleck is a 17-time Grammy winner, who at the time of this recording, was just starting to make a name for himself. Playing fiddle and mandolin is Mark O’Connor, who has gone on to take home the CMA Award for Musician of the Year from 1991-1996, and he is also a 3-time Grammy winner himself! Both musicians made classy and subtle contributions to the overall musicality of this recording, giving “Typical Day” a unique edge over their other studio recordings.
As an aside, I do want to mention the ingenious cover shot for “Typical Day”, which was taken in front of an old storefront in Rogersville, Tennessee. I always felt that the cover shot, with its casual feel, perfectly matches some of the rustic musical undertones found on this recording.
“Typical Day” begins with the delightful title song, which is one of my favorite Talley tunes, and became one of the Talley’s highest charting songs, peaking at #7 in December 1989 and again in January 1990. With its electric guitar-driven track and tinkling piano fills, along with Bela Fleck picking the banjo in the background, it was such an eclectic song for the Talleys (and unique for Southern Gospel Music at the time) and it sets the tone for the recording. Great story about how the Talleys came to record this gem of a song…they had all their songs chosen for the recordinga but were really wanting to find another good, up-tempo tune, and just in the nick of time, Daryl Williams pitched them this song. In fact, Daryl pitched 5 songs to the Talleys, 2 of which he and his publisher, Roger Bennett disagreed on, and out of those 5 songs, it was those 2 songs that the Talleys ended up recording! For this particular song, Daryl thought it was too traditional for the Talleys, but Roger was insistent on sending them the song. The Talleys obviously loved it, but they wanted to make one small change…the song was originally titled, “Another Day In The Life (of a child of God)”, which was the original last line of the chorus, and Roger Talley asked if they could change the last line to, “just another typical day…”, and thus, the song became “Typical Day”, and the rest is history! The song was also made into a cool concept video, where the Talleys depicted a typical day in the life of a gospel singer.
Kirk is featured next on the bluesy feel of his self-penned tune, “Friend in the Fire”, which features nice brass embellishments, before the tempo slows down as Debra is featured on the breathtakingly beautiful song, “Unmerited Favor of God”, which was written by one of my all-time favorite songwriters, Dottie Rambo. Featuring stunning orchestrations and beautiful guitar work throughout, the song became a popular concert favorite for the Talleys. Dottie recorded a gutsy rendition of the song on her and Buck’s 1987 recording, “The Legend Continues”, and Executive Producer, John Mays, suggested the song to the Talleys to record. Comparing Dottie’s original version with the Talleys is like comparing apples to oranges…as Dottie delivers a gritty and powerhouse performance of the song, while the Talleys gave a very elegant and classy performance, and it is one of my absolute favorite Debra Talley features.
The black gospel/Pentecostal feel of “When You Speak the Name Jesus” features Kirk, and it’s an excellent inclusion for this recording. Written by Daryl Williams, this was the other song he and his publisher, Roger Bennett disagreed on, but in this case, Roger didn’t think the song was a fit for the Talleys. Inspired by a message Daryl heard Jimmy Swaggart preach on television where he stated, “When you speak the name Jesus, Mary shouts ‘I’m free!”, and that statement resounded so profoundly with Daryl, he put pen to paper and wrote the song. Interesting side note about “Typical Day” and “When You Speak the Name Jesus”…both songs were written a year prior to the Talleys recording them, and when the Talleys received the demos for consideration, they had already chosen all the songs for this recording and were going to record music tracks the next week, but they loved Daryl’s songs so much, they dropped 2 songs in order to make room for Daryl’s songs!
The first half of this recording concludes with the powerful worship anthem, “Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb”, which was written by Gary McSpadden, Dawn Thomas, and Pam Thum. Since Gary McSpadden was the producer, he pitched the song to the Talleys, but almost took it back because he decided he wanted to record it himself, but the Talleys talked him out of it, because they both knew it was going to be a big song for the Talleys. Eventually though, Gary did record the song a year later, on his 1990 solo recording, “From My Soul”. This ended up being the Talleys “sugar stick” the last few years they were on the road, and the song never ceased to bring the crowd to their feet, remaining one of their most remembered songs, and possibly my all-time favorite song the Talleys ever recorded. Kirk always had a specific way of delivering this powerful lyric by keeping his mic on the stand and using his hands to help tell the story. The song was eventually released to radio as a single, but for whatever reason, it never charted. The Talleys eventually recorded the song with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir on their 1991 live recording, “The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir…Live with Friends”, and they did a spectacular job! Most recently, TaRanda recorded the song on her 2018 solo recording, “The Healing” and the Booth Brothers recorded it as well on their 2022 recording, “Speak Jesus”.
Kicking off the second half, Dawn Thomas (writer of such amazing songs as “I am Not Ashamed” and “He’ll Do it Again”) penned the up-tempo song, “Get the Bride Ready”, and it’s one of the most Southern Gospel sounding tunes the Talleys ever recorded. Featuring Debra, Gary McSpadden pitched the song to them and it’s one of my favorites from the recording. Ann Downing did a great rendition of the song when she recorded it a few years later, on her 1997 solo recording, “Let’s Talk”.
With a simple arrangement and instrumentation, the poignant “Lonely People”, which was written by Kirk, is a deeply personal song for Kirk and it was a song that changed his whole mindset about songwriting. Sitting at an ice hockey game with some friends, Kirk was in a very low place, mentally, and even though he was surrounded by friends who were all enjoying the game, Kirk felt all alone and couldn’t concentrate on the game. In his mental fog, he picked up a popcorn box off the floor and ripped it open to where the inside was white, and he began writing the chorus to this song, and sometime thereafter, he began formulating the verses. After the Talleys began staging the song, it impacted people on a deeply personal level, drawing individuals to the altar while they would sing the song, without a formal invitation being given, and it really opened Kirk’s eyes to the true power of a song. Kirk vowed that he would write more songs that made people stop nodding and clapping, and to make them really think and be challenged. Kirk eventually brought this song back when he recorded it on his 2003 solo recording, “Net Breaking, Boat Sinking, Bountiful Blessings”.
The Southern Gospel feel of “Close to the Well” is a fun little ditty that features Roger. The Old Time Gospel Hour Trio recorded the song on their 1989 album, “The Lamb Has Prevailed” and then 10 years later, Ivan Parker recorded a very popular version on his 1999 recording, “Believe”.
The acoustic feel of the soothing, “My Redeemer is Faithful and True” slows the pace back down and features an outstanding performance by Debra. Written by Steven Curtis Chapman and James Isaac Elliott, I love the guitar and harmonica work on the song, and it was a perfect addition for this recording. Though it wasn’t a charting hit for Chapman, it was a popular concert favorite for him, who originally recorded it on his first major album, “First Hand”, which was released in 1987. Executive Producer, John Mays pitched the song for Debra to sing, and it fit her like a glove. The Greenes also recorded the song a few years later, on their 1994 recording, “Fields of Greene”.
Featuring Kirk and Debra, along with Roger playing piano, the recording finishes out with the worshipful, “Center of My Joy”, which was written by Bill & Gloria Gaither along with Richard Smallwood. Smallwood originally recorded the song on his 1987 album, “Textures”, which was released on Word, and has gone on to become a worship classic, crossing multiple genres, having been recorded by a broad spectrum of artists including the Gaithers, Collingsworth Family, Tanya Goodman-Sykes, Ron Kenoly, Sensational Nightingales, as well as the 2003 American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard.
Debra Talley was still the favorite alto in Southern Gospel Music, as she walked away with the “Favorite Alto” award during the 1989 Singing News Fan Awards. This would be her last award for several years until the “new” Talleys (Roger, Debra, and Lauren) hit the road in the mid to late 90’s, where she would win the “Favorite Alto” once again in 2003 and 2007, and she would also reign once more as the “Queen”, nabbing the “Favorite Female Singer” award once more in 2004.
Although “Typical Day” had a much more Southern Gospel feel to it than their previous recordings, it was never one of my favorite Talley recordings, and though I’ve had it since I was in high school (1989), it is probably the one I have listened to the least (outside of their first 2 independent albums). There are some spectacular tunes on here that are some of my most favorite Talley songs, but overall, the recording just didn’t seem to strike a chord with me. It’s not that I dislike the recording, but rather it’s my least favorite of all their recordings. Nonetheless, the Talleys had definitely cornered the market for church music in our genre during this time, and they were creative trailblazers with their music. Even though “Typical Day” was a bit more “Southern” and laid-back, it was still a creative and artful piece of work, filled with timeless and meaty songs meant to entertain, minister, and inspire for generations to come!
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