Perry family and Kenneth Cope create musical tributes to 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."