Release Year: 1998
Album Rank for Group: #3 of 15
Here’s a blurb: Recorded right in the middle of my favorite recording era by any southern gospel group, Gold City’s Within the Rock has some of my favorite uptempo and mid-tempo songs the quartet has ever recorded. “Gonna Take It and Leave It” is the quintessential brassy barnstormer, “When He Knocked on the Door of My Heart” is a little more country-flavored, and “In Time, On Time, Every Time” is rollicking, but they all have one thing in common. They all turn Jay Parrack loose and climb up into stratosphere with the vocals. And that’s why we all listen to Gold City, right? Along with “Gonna Take It,” this album contains two more of the late Doug Riley’s best compositions: the exciting album opener “He Lifted My Burdens Away,” and the tremendous Trammell-led mid-tempo number “Mercy Rescues Me”. (Listen for this…in the first verse is where you find the album’s title.) The only reason this album is ranked this “low” is that it doesn’t hit a home run with a power ballad. The Wilburn-led “When He Touched Me” is the closest, but it’s not quite at the level of other Trammell features recorded in this era.
Knock my socks off: Gonna Take It and Leave It, When He Knocked on the Door of My Heart, In Time On Time Every Time, Mercy Rescues Me
Don’t skip that one: He Lifted My Burdens Away, Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah, Isn’t He Wonderful
I could honestly do without: None; not a really weak song here
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I listen to this cd on my mail run from Dallas to Tulsa. The more I listen to it I realize how much different Mark sounded with GC than he did with the Cathedrals. I’ve always thought that he was a good hole filler (part wise ) but not a real out front type soloist. On this release, I’ve changed my mind.” Mercy Rescue’s Me ” has become one of my favs. All in all, a pretty good project.
I always liked Mark, but as I have said before he improved after the Cathedrals. I probably saw it some in Greater Vision, but it became more obvious on “Calvary Came Through”. He didn’t stop there and has continued to improve. Now you have something like “Loving the Lamb” that showcases him at his best.
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I’ve always thought “The Lamb Has Prevailed” from the Cathedrals’ Climbing Higher and Higher album (1990) was a sort of preview of the kind of singing he would do with Gold City. Listen to the first verse, and see if you hear what I’m thinking.
Funny, I thought of that song when I was posting. It certainly showed growth over his previous Cathedrals’ leads that I can think of offhand.
My friend Kevin plays “Isn’t He Wonderful” in that exact arrangement. Of course, being the awesome pianist he is, he can play almost any arrangement of Gold City and Cathedrals music.