CD Review: Vintage Gospel (Mark Trammell Trio)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Average Song Rating: 4.3 stars
Executive Producer: Mark Trammell. Associate Producer: Dustin Sweatman.
Song list: Leave Your Sorrows and Come Along; Mansion Over the Hilltop; Hold Me; John Saw Me; Standing On the Solid Rock; While Ages Roll; Sweetest Song I Know; Sin Will Take You Farther; In the Sweet Forever; Hide Thou Me.
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After Joel Wood joined the Mark Trammell Trio earlier this year, there evidently wasn’t enough time to turn around a CD of new songs featuring the new lineup by NQC. So the group decided to put out its second CD of classic songs. (Their first, Journey Thus Far, introduced Dustin Sweatman in 2006.) Much like Journey This Far, Vintage Gospel includes a mix of hymns, classic convention songs, and songs Mark Trammell was known for other with other groups.
Mark Trammell reprises his rendition of his Cathedrals hit song “Sin Will Take You Farther.” He also performs a song that originally featured George Younce, “Hold On.”
Uptempo convention songs like “Leave Your Sorrows and Come Along” and “Sweetest Song I Know” reinforce something I’ve said before: The Mark Trammell Trio is the best quartet without a bass singer on the road today. Other trios, like the Booth Brothers, Voices Won, and the Bishops, have (or had) a sound that was so trio a bass singer just wouldn’t fit. But this group is a mega-quartet waiting to happen.
Joel Wood is featured on “Mansion Over the Hilltop” and “Hide Thou Me.” Particularly on “Mansion,” his voice tone is enough like Eric Phillips that a casual observer might hear the song and not even notice that there’s a new tenor. His voice doesn’t seem to be quite as high, and seems to have a more power-tenor mid-range (should the group choose to employ it). But he should have little problem with the group’s repertoire.
Dustin Sweatman keeps improving as a vocalist. This is most notable on the song “John Saw Me,” where he has an impressively smooth yet powerful solo.
It took a member change to prompt Journey This Far—one of the group’s best CDs to date. It took another member change to prompt this project. If this keeps up, the group might soon find their fans doing something incredibly odd: Hoping there will be a member change … so the group puts out another table project of this caliber!
But, truth be told, it would be far more sensible for the fans to do something that would work just as well: Purchase so many copies of this project that it doesn’t take a lineup change for them to put out the next one.
Blame it on whatever you like! Fact is, my reason is simple enough: I have no interest in any secular music. 
(jealous pout)
Comment by Brian (September 25, 2009, 7:26 am)
Now I just have to wait until they make it available online.
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Comment by Brandon Coomer (September 25, 2009, 10:41 am)
Daniel, I searched for your review of “Journey Thus Far” with no luck. Did you write a review of that project?
Which project would you say is better, “Journey Thus Far” or “Vintage Gospel”?
I can’t wait to get this project!
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Daniel J. Mount Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
That’s a hard call.
I’m not sure, but I believe JTF came out before I started the blog.
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Comment by Brad (September 25, 2009, 7:46 pm)
I agree that MTT would sound great as a quartet. In fact, they are a quartet (thanks to guest vocalist Joseph Brown of the Diplomats) on “Hide Thou Me”, and it is very good. I would love to see Mark add a bass singer. The Mark Trammell Quartet sounds good to me!
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Daniel J. Mount Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Woe is me. I listened to that track only once since I’m burnt out with that particular song. I can’t believe I missed that.
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Comment by Dean Adkins (September 25, 2009, 10:44 pm)
“Other trios, like the Booth Brothers, Voices Won, and the Bishops, have (or had) a sound that was so trio a bass singer just wouldn’t fit.”
Have you listened to the Booth Bros “Going in Style” on Pure Southern Gospel project or “Jesus My Wonderful Lord” on the Jubilee project? Each has a bass singer and IMHO sounds very much like a quartet.
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Daniel J. Mount Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 7:12 am
I’m not denying that either sounds good. But on “Goin’ in Style,” in particular, they sounded to me like a trio with a bass singer.
They have a great sound, period. But I think their tight harmonies work best in the trio setting – it wouldn’t be the same with a bass.
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Dean Adkins Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Well that’s your take.
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Daniel J. Mount Reply:
September 27th, 2009 at 6:23 am
True.
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Comment by Amy Rogers (September 26, 2009, 7:52 pm)
I hadn’t heard of this project yet. My dad has gotten pretty excited about some of MTT’s stuff – specifically the old/old-style songs. I guess I’ll keep this in mind at Christmas-time! (No worries, he doesn’t get online much.)
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Daniel J. Mount Reply:
September 27th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Then I think your father would *love* this.
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Comment by Brad (September 28, 2009, 6:57 pm)
As far as the quartets without a bass singer discussion, I think each of the trios Daniel mentioned could be a quartet if they wanted too. However, they would have to adjust there song selection to such songs as those on “Goin In Style”, etc. In other words you could not just take your entire Booth Brothers collection, put it on shuffle and add a bass singer to any song that came on. You might get something like “Testify” (which I really like) that would not make a very good quartet song (IMO of course).
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Daniel J. Mount Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Practically any trio could sing with a bass singer. But many would have to change their arrangements and a few would even have to change the way they harmonize / blend.
The Mark Trammell Trio wouldn’t have to change either.
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