Singing Samford Family – “Jesus is Coming Soon”

So, back in 1970, Dale and Martha Samford of Murfreesboro, TN decided to round up their kids, Vicki, Steve, Debbie and Linda, and record a nice family album of cherished Gospel songs, the album was then sold for the quaint price of $4.95! What a steal!

The album starts with the title track, “Jesus is Coming Soon” – which features the whole family on harmony vocals, and you know they have a nice little sound to them, piano playing and the family singing reminds me a bit of the J.B. Betts Family – and all in all, not a bad opening to the album. Next comes “I’m Not Alone” and I’m not sure who is singing, I’m guessing Vicki, and she has a nice voice, and the family doing supporting vocals is nice. “All That Thrills My Soul” follows, and we get the whole family back to harmonizing together, which is nice and relaxing, but I do wish we had more solos, but we’re only three tracks in. “Shall I Find Any Star” comes next, and we really are following in the Betts’ family footsteps on this one, but they have an organ too. We go onto another family harmony track, but this one features more prominent female vocals singing lead, but they are still very much hidden among the group, this one is titled “No One Understands like Jesus” – it’s not bad. “He the Pearly Gates Will Open” comes next, and it’s definitely one of those choir type sounding songs in my opinion. “Springs of Living Water” ends the A-Side and follows suite of the rest of the album thus far.

The B-Side opens with “The Way That He Loves Me” and we continue on with the whole family singing together, I’ll say that I do quite enjoy the organ playing on this one. “He Touched Me” – which is a classic, comes next and it’s not bad, not my favorite version by any means, but also not the worst. “It is Well With My Soul” comes next, and they continue to enjoy their time around the piano, singing their songs as a family, which hey, that’s fun! “That Same Hand” follows, and at first I thought I was going to get a solo song, but instead, it’s an a cappella song, it’s not bad, but it’s the same as the others just with no backing music. “So Little Time” comes next, and we still continue on with the same traditional way we’ve been going through this album, just this time with some organ playing. The album closes with “Christ Returneth” and it does open with some nice piano playing, and back into the group harmony vocals.

Catalog Number:
701135

Credits:
Manufactured by Artists’ Recording Co. Cincinnati, OH

Related Vinyls:

The Open Door – “An Invitation” The Braillettes – “Our Hearts Keep Singing” Evie – “Never the Same” Rob Costanza – “Jesus is the Answer”