Busy with other projects — including translating many of her songs and CDs into Spanish — Janice Kapp Perry did not plan on doing anything special for Joseph Smith's 200th birthday celebration.
"But we kept getting so many calls about whether we were doing a musical production that wards and stakes could put on during this year that we got busy and did it," she said.
With her son, Steven Kapp Perry, and her daughter, Lynne Perry Christofferson, they have come up with a CD and songbook called "Let the Morning Come: A Musical Celebration of Joseph Smith & the Restoration."
The two-CD set includes both vocal and instrumental performance tracks, and the songbook has a narrative script that could be used for a musical program. Included on the CD are new arrangements for "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning" and "Praise to the Man," as well as seven new songs, such as "We Named Him Joseph," "Waiting for the Light to Shine" and the title cut, which focuses on the life and mission of Joseph Smith.
Although the three Perrys are all prolific and talented musicians in their own right, this is the first time they have collaborated in this way. "Working with my two children was the sweetest thing," said Janice. "To meet and talk about things that mean so much to us on an almost daily basis was special. We had a lot of spiritual moments, but we had a lot of fun, too."
They divided the project up, so each person was responsible for different songs. "But we also had to study, study, study, to write the script," she said.
With everything else they had going on, "none of us really had time for a full project," said Steven. "Working together was the only way we could get it done. But it really came together well."
They decided to give the music an early American feel. "We talked to Greg Hansen about that, and almost overnight he came up with the arrangements. He did a great job," Steven said.
It would have been nice had they started last year, said Janice, because they wanted to get it out early in the year, so people could make plans. That meant an intense, concentrated effort. "But it is a subject we all love and could devote ourselves to easily with all our hearts."
It was a wonderful experience to immerse themselves in the life of this great man, she added. "It's hard to do him justice. But we did our best to come up with something worthy of consideration. All we can do is give one point of view. But if we put it out there, and give people the music, we hope it will give other people something to think about, to appreciate."
Another special CD project honoring Joseph Smith is a 200th Anniversary edition of Kenneth Cope's "My Servant Joseph."
The CD contains songs from the original CD, first released in 1993, plus six more songs taken from Cope's "The Seer" CD.
"We wanted to make the story more complete," said Cope. "We wanted to set the stage for his birth (with the song "Birthright," which stretches back to the Old Testament), and we wanted to add something about the fun in his life ("Sleigh Ride") to make him more dimensional, a complete person."
Liner notes help complete the story, providing insight into and reasoning behind each of the songs. If someone reads that and then listens to the CD, it will add a lot to the listening experience, Cope said.
Cope is happy to have some part in the many celebrations that will honor Joseph Smith this year. "I enjoy reading historys and love to read about people's lives. But I've always been fascinated by the life of Joseph Smith. The more you read, especially some of the firsthand accounts, the more you realize how amazing he was.
"Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff and other great church leaders were in such awe of this man. Brigham Young was blown away by Joseph. Plus, I've had many special witnesses in my own life that Joseph was who he said he was. I've always wanted to tell his story."
It's a story of church beginnings, church history, said Cope. "He's ours. But he never said I'm the one, when I go away, it will end. He said, come join me and this is what we can do together. It's a great story."