CD Review: Brotherhood (Signature Sound/Booth Brothers)

Today I'll be reviewing a CD called Brotherhood, which is a live recording that EHSS and the Booth Brothers collaborated on. EHSS is Ernie Haase on tenor, Devin McGlamery on lead, Dustin Doyle on baritone, and Paul Harkey on bass. At the time of the recording, the Booth Brothers' lineup was Michael Booth on tenor, Ronnie Booth on lead, and Paul Lancaster on baritone, but Ronnie resigned not too long ago and former GVB lead Buddy Mullins is taking his place. Anyway, Ronnie also played acoustic guitar on this recording, Michael played drums, and Dustin played electric guitar that night. Tyler Vestal, EHSS' pianist, played piano. Michael's oldest son, Christian, played electric alongside Dustin. Former EHSS bass guitarist David Griffith played bass. In addition to the music tracks, there are a couple talking tracks, so I'll denote which is which as we go through the review. I will just say up-front that all the songs on this recording are classics and therefore would be familiar, so I won't go into too much detail on the messages of the songs like I normally do.

1: Life's Railway to Heaven—This opening track featured all the guys on the first verse and Ronnie on the second (with some of the other guys backing him up on the second half... it definitely didn't sound like everybody, but I can't tell who all it was since it's not a video). At any rate, this one's a lot of fun and a great way to open this album.

2: Home—This one also featured all the first verse, and then Paul L took the second verse. I think now would be a good time to request prayer for Paul and his family, because his wife, Michelle, passed away from cancer in January, so I am sure this song carries even more meaning now than it did when they originally recorded it. Even so, he does a great job on this recording and shows his incredible vocal range.

3: Introduction—Ernie took a moment to explain that, as had been requested many times during the Brotherhood Tour, they were finally recording this concert. He then introduced all the group members and instrumentalists, but since I already did that, I'm not going to bother doing that again. Ernie almost "forgot" to say that Michael was playing drums and they joked around about that. Then Michael asked 3 of the guys (unnamed) to move so everybody could see him playing the drums. Ernie asked Ronnie if Michael had always been crazy like that, to which Ronnie said, "In our family tree, he's from the fruit section." Whatever THAT means. From there, the guys started talking about how Ronnie was influenced by the Gatlin Brothers...

4: All the Gold in California—…and how the first song of theirs he learned was "All the Gold in California," which the guys proceeded to do. Ronnie did a nice job singing the verse. Some listeners might be a bit surprised to hear a country song on a gospel recording, but I thought it fit well.

5: Influences—In a similar vein, Ernie talked about his own influences: the Cathedrals and the Oak Ridge Boys... cue Devin breaking out in "Elvira." Ernie interjected that the song he was referring to was "Jesus is Coming Soon," to which Devin said, "That's the one I meant." Sure, Devin, sure...

6: Jesus Is Coming Soon—The guys did this one in traditional quartet style (which is probably the way it's supposed to be but I didn't know the song beforehand so I'm not sure) with Devin taking the lead on the verses. He, Ronnie, and Ernie traded standout lines on the choruses. Devin also got the entire second verse to himself and did a great job! Another fun one.

7: I'll Fly Away—From there, the guys went right into I'll Fly Away. This arrangement is as upbeat as it should be and includes a lot of electric guitar. Since Dustin and Christian were both playing electric, I couldn't tell whose playing was whose, but one of them had a pretty cool solo during the interlude! I'll guess that was Dustin based on a video I saw of this version. Tyler also did an awesome piano solo during the interlude. The guys all sang the first verse, with Devin taking the lead, and Paul L sang the second verse, again displaying his upper range. This one is also a LOT of fun!

8: Reminiscing—Michael made a joke about having beat the devil out of the drums on that last song, saying he wouldn't have been able to do while growing up as a conservative Baptist. Oh boy... He joked about wanting to raise his hands, to which Ernie told him to control himself. Then Ernie reminisced about how about 30 years ago, he sang with Squire Parsons and at the same time, Paul L was singing with the Mullins Family and both groups sang in Gadsden, AL. Through this reminiscing, Ernie introduced the next song, which Squire wrote.

9: Beulah Land—Paul L sang the first verse and Devin did the second before the other guys joined them on the chorus and then Devin led the audience in another chorus. You've undoubtedly heard a lot of versions of this song, but you sure don't want to miss this one.

10: Going Home—From there, the guys went right into this Gaither classic. Paul H sang the first verse and Dustin sang the second verse before the rest of the guys joined them for the chorus. They did a great job on this. :) Since this song was calmer and more laid-back than some of the other tracks, it was a nice contrast. Of course, nothing's wrong with the upbeat ones, but you know.

11: In the Garden—After this, Ernie started off the Brotherhood version of "In the Garden," which they already did on the Friday Night Sing, a YouTube series EHSS did. You can see my FNS review here. The song appeared on episode 10 of the series. Like I said on the FNS review, it is simply a STUNNING arrangement. This is especially true of the harmonies at the beginning of the second chorus! It's no surprise that the audience broke into applause right there. Definitely my favourite on this CD.

12: Inspiration—Michael discussed how music displays the beauty of God's creation, be it through singing, songwriting, or playing instruments. He also recognized Ernie for the falsetto he pulled off in that last song. It definitely was pretty. :) He also made a joke about being Ernie's vocal instructor, which Ernie played right along with. Michael then preached a little bit, admitting that people probably didn't want to pay to hear preaching but saying that this part was free. He spoke of the wonder of how God created everything with just his words, although it's sometimes hard to understand how God works. Michael talked about his family a little and then shared a story from when one of his sons (again, he didn't specify which one but I assume it was Christian) was little and applied the story to how God must feel when we come to him with our everyday problems. Sometimes we don't see these problems solved but we just have to have faith that one day, we will go to be with God and he will wipe the tears from our eyes, and we'll understand then. I don't understand why paying to hear this would be a problem! It was so good.

13: Look For Me at Jesus' Feet—Correlating to this discussion, Michael transitioned into this Mosie Lister classic (Mosie was Michael's wife's stepfather) which was totally relevant to this discussion! He sang the first verse solo before the others backed him up on the second verse and joined him on the chorus. This one was also great!

14: I'll Fly Away (reprise)—The guys ended with a repeat of the chorus of "I'll Fly Away." Fun way to end off the CD! :) Since it's a repeat, I don't think I need to say anything more about it here.

In closing, I highly recommend this CD! It definitely has more talking than your average CD, but I guess that's to be expected given that it was a live recording. At any rate, it was definitely a pleasurable listen with something for everyone.