Martha Pilkenton of McKinney Texas released her album on hers and her husband, Ken’s label sometime in 1980. This is it.
It starts with the classic “Born Again” and Martha definitely has a very country sounding voice, and she’s particularly good at singing this one. It’s a real nice version of this song too. Next up is “Jesus is the Sunshine” and it comes off a bit slower, but Martha keeps delivering some great vocals only one song into the album so far. We go onto the track “Jesus, Jesus, He is the Son of God” and you know, the title sounds familiar, but so far the lyrics don’t sound as familiar as the title. Martha slows it down once more, but it’s still some good Gospel music on this one. Martha does hit some delightful high notes in this one too. The song ends on a long high note, but then the album continues with another familiar song, “Say I Do” I can’t remember where I heard it before, but Martha’s version is rather nice. She hits some high notes again in the chorus, and yes, I do remember this track. So far, this one is shaping out to be a rather pleasant listen. We end the A-Side with the rather slow, “Just As I Am” and it’s not a bad song, but the more upbeat, quick tempo’d songs are a lot more complimentary of Martha’s vocal skills. BUT, Martha does have a spoken word part, and we all know how great a spoken word part in a Gospel song is. Martha does have a really nice Southern twang to her voice as well.
The B-Side opens with the song “One Touch of His Love” and it’s not bad, Martha delivers more powerful vocals and is backed by a wonderful group of background singers, who remain uncredited on this album. Next is the slower, “My House is Full” and it’s a good song, I just wish that she had kept it more upbeat. We go onto “He is More Precious to Me” and the keyboard playing on this one really stands out, it sounds like it may be a Rhodes Organ too even. Whatever it is, it’s great. The song itself is alright, I do wish it was more faster paced. “A Star Was Born” continues the album, the song isn’t bad, got some high notes, a slow tempo but great musicianship. We do get another spoken word part in this song, which is always great. The album closes with “It Is Well with My Soul” and of course, I know this classic. Martha does go into a beautiful rendition of the song. All in all, not a bad album!
Catalog Number:
SLM-LPR 308
Credits:
Produced & Arranged by Stephen Beck
Vocals – Martha Pilkenton
Recorded and Mixed at Sounds Fantastic Studio, Decatur, IL.
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