CD Review: Mile Marker One (Zane and Donna King)
Zane and Donna King do not have voices that I would have put together in a duet, but they found a way to blend their musical styles and voices that really works.
The only song on this CD that was not written or co-written by Zane and/or Donna is the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, which starts the CD.
The CD continues with that same theme in a song titled No One Like God.
I first heard Keep Me in Your Will when Jessica King sang it a number of years ago. I did not realize until this CD that Zane King co-wrote that song. It continues to be one of my favorites, and Zane and Donna do a great job on it.
Donna sings the uptempo Shine. “When things get too tough to handle, just shine.”
Nothing Without You is self-explanatory.
If There Was Any Other Way talks about God’s heart toward those who are suffering and hurting. Although there are times you must walk through dark valleys, God is still there holding your hand.
Hallelujah Jesus Saves has a fun tune that you will enjoy singing along with.
Anything reminds us that nothing is too hard for God.
When love finds the lonely, when sweet prayers are spoken and tears are washed away, and when He hears “Jesus loves me” from the lips of a little child … these are the moments When God Smiles.
How Does It Feel to Be Home was written in memory of Norman Holland, the former vice president of A&R at Daywind Records. Although we miss those who have gone before, we would not wish them back.
The CD ends as it began: with the Postlude: Oh Tu Fidelidad/Great is Thy Faithfulness.
I have always enjoyed each and every article you have sent out. I am a relatively new convert to Southern Gospel Music as my wife and I started following it in about 1997. Donna King at that time was Donna Beauvais (spelling) and she was with a group called One Heart. I fell in love with their music. When we started the Lexington Southern Gospel concert series, I wanted to get that group. Found out that they had temporarily broke up. Then I heard she had started a new group called Hope’s Call. We got hold of them and they started being regulars at our series. We’ve had them even in our home for dinner a few times. Jeri Van Eck left the group and Eddie Harrison came into the group. Eddie and Donna’s daughter Jessica got married and then went national. All the sudden we found out that they were not singing any more. Later found out that Donna and her husband had gotten a divorce. We have in the last couple years made contact and she has sent me some tracks from when they were with Hope’s Call and a couple of her new ones. Love her and Zane together. And you can tell that their love is real. Thanks for spotlighting them. They are awesome,
Thank you for sharing that. I first became familiar with Donna back in the Hope’s Call days, but I’m not sure I ever heard them sing. I love my blog, in that it allows me to reach people such as yourself, who haven’t been familiar with this music very long. I started listening back in the mid-1980s, but was out of the loop through the 1990s and into the 2000s. Even now, it’s harder for me to keep up with the groups as much as I used to, but I am trying, as this is still the music that lifts my spirits more than any other.
Thanks for the reply. Probably the highlight of knowing them was a few years ago we were at a Bill Bailey Winter Program in Bradenton, FL and Our Friends “The Booth Brothers” sang a song acapella (spelling again) and after they were finished Michael said, “Now we want you to see how that song should be sung. They invited “Hope’s Call” up on stage and they sang the same song to the crowd. When they were done, their table was packed with interested persons. When we got to their table they were shocked to see us there. Again, thanks for your blog. I have library of 774 Southern Gospel CD’s and listen to them a lot.
Wow. You have me beat in the CD department but I do have quite a few, not to mention records and cassettes. š