MORE OF THE MUSIC THAT MOST INFLUENCED MY LIFE - PART 5

Russ Taff
Walls of Glass, Medals, Russ Taff, The Way Home

The Imperials
Sail On, Heed The Call, One More Song For You, Priority

Back to the soundtrack of my life... When I think of the music that most influenced my life, another voice keeps coming up again and again... I first heard the voice when he was part of the "gospel" quartet, The Imperials. I believe the album was Sail On. I think the title cut was "the hit" from that album, but not for me... Not for my brother... No, the "hit" on the album for us was this new soulful voice that broke through on the first cut, "Water Grave." Man, when I heard that voice I thought, "That's how I want to sing when I grow up." Too bad... I've never been able to sing like Russ Taff... Truth is, I've never been able to sing...

But that was the voice...

Russ sang with The Imperials for about five years... Talk about some good music? Check out the albums from this era, One More Song For You or Priority. I mean, if you were doing church when Priority came out you can't but remember Russ's piercing vocal breaking through Michael Omaritan's production on "The Trumpet of Jesus."

"I listen to the trumpet of Jesus, while the world hears a different sound...
I march to the drumbeat of God Almighty, while the others just stumble around..."

Oh, man... Some time ago I found a re-issue of this album on CD, Russ's voice on that song still smokes!

Somewhere around 1981, run left The Imperials... Me and my brother held our breath... Hoping... Waiting for this dude to sing some more... He didn't disappoint...

Russ went on to record a string of great solo albums... I'll mention a few that really marked my life....

Walls of Glass
This was Russ Taff's first solo album. It was released in 1983. This is still one of the most soulful Christian albums ever recorded. One of Russ's biggest hits came off this album... Anybody ever remember singing, "We Will Stand"? We must have sang that song 500,000 times back then, and every time we sang it we all tried to sing it like Russ... But there's only one Russ...

A couple of years later, Russ would come out with Medals. My brother was the first to pick this one up. I later bought it on cassette and totally wore the sucker out... In fact, a couple of years ago I replaced the long lost cassette with an mp3 download of the album... After almost 25 years, it's still a great album...

Highlights from the album include Medals, Not Gonna Bow, Rock Solid, Vision, I've Come Too Far... This is still a killer album!

Two years later, Russ would release his self-titled album, Russ Taff. Once again, I originally picked this one up on cassette and totally wore the thing out...

I remember walking out of Lanham's Bible Bookshop, opening the cassette and jamming it into the player in my car and hearing Russ light it up with the lines, "All that can shake...is gonna shake...." Bam! I looked at my wife... No words... Big smiles... Heads into bang position... Turn it up, baby! This is music...

Highlights from the album? Are you kidding me? The whole stinkin' thing... I mean it! There's not one bad cut on the album, but there are some that still blow me away...

Russ covered The Call's, "I Still Believe" on this album... Two years ago when I walked through the darkest period of my life, I listened to this song over and over and over again... Amazing how a song can still move you after 20 years... This album is one of Russ's best ever...

Next up for Russ? The incredible, The Way Home. This was the first Russ Taff album I bought as a CD. I've still got the one I purchased 20 years ago. It's still amazing. Some believe this to be Russ's best album ever... I'm not sure, but I will tell you, you've got to have lead in your soul not to be moved by tracks like Winds of Change, It Was Love, He Came Through, Ain't No Grave, Take My Hand... Shoot, the whole album is awesome...

It's important to point out, Russ is still kickin'! In fact, two or three years ago Russ and his long time guitar player, James Hollihan did a weekend for my brother in Louisville, Kentucky. Kelly was blown away! The dude was still doing what he's always done. Making incredible music...

When I was a kid still trying to sing (this was back before I discovered I actually can't sing...), I wanted to sing like Russ Taff... Something in the guy's voice moved me... It was like the dude had seen something, tasted something, experienced something and the tone and soul of his voice made you WANT to listen while he told you about it....

I'm not the only one... Come on, now! Let's be honest... Most of the guys doing Christian music TODAY still want to be like Russ. For me and my brother, (who actually can sing, by the way, and leads worship in ATL), Russ is still "the man."

Maybe one day we'll get to host Russ at a2 Church? Wouldn't that be so stinkin' cool? If we do, I want "the man" to rock it! I mean it... I know over the last few years he's spent some time with Bill Gaither's Homecoming bunch, but I've got a hunch that the dude can still bring it!!! And I would love to hear Russ belt out the line, "All that can shake...is gonna shake..." at a2... If that happens and James Hollihan and the band kick in with a live version of Shake... Well, just wake me up before you turn out the lights.. I'm certain, I'll be gone...

Check out Russ's music on iTunes, Amazon or Lala.com. You'll be glad you did...

And that's more of the music that most influenced my life.

To be continued...