|
 |
By J. MATTHEW COBB Gospel music is filled with rich history and of course, a heritage that is closely knit to the fabrics of our ancestors and family roots. While we celebrate Black History Month yearly in the month of February, we here at PRAYZEHYMN are committed in perserving the legacies and rich traditions of our forefathers and will highlight dozens of important pioneers and events that helped shaped us as a people, as a nation and as a family. Keep your eye here throughout this month and watch this online scrapbook flourish with historical information on Gospel's influential trailblazers.
OTHER VALUABLE RESOURCES TO LOOK INTO:
|
When Charles H. Nicks, Jr. became the organist for the St. James Baptist Church in Detroit in 1957, a thirty-year success story was begun, one which continued throughout his pastorate of the church. His recordings with the St. James Adult Choir, which captured the "feel" of the traditional Black Baptist church, helped to strengthen Detroit's position as a major center for gospel music. Rev. Nicks was born in Lincoln, Nebraska to the Reverend Charles Nicks, Sr., a Baptist pastor, and Alliece Nicks, a pianist who was his first musical influence. After extensive training in classical and gospel music, Rev. Nicks developed on organ style that attracted students from around the country who wanted to learn how he made the Hammond organ "talk." A founding member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, he was also organist for the Harold Smith Majestics and a respected record producer.
The St. James Choir's popularity began to take off in the early '70s with the release of its album "The Gospel According to St. James." Subsequent recordings on the Sound of Gospel label established St. James' reputation as one of the finest choirs in Detroit gospel history. In 1974, its name was changed to the St. James Adult Choir, and since 1976 the choir had been under the able direction of Brother Jimmy Dowell, whom recently passed away. Rev. Nicks, who died in 1988, was celebrated for composing and/or singing several gospel classics, including "He's So Real," " Something About God's Grace," and "I Really Love the Lord."
Combining the heritage of African culture and the experiences encountered while in bondage, early African American music would become a unifying and driving force among America's slaves. Spirituals, as many of these songs came to be called, expressed faith in God, helped make work more bearable, and also revealed plans to revolt. The Fisk University Jubilee Singers was the first group to publicly perform the songs of slaves and they shared them with the world. When the Fisk Jubilee Singers first performed in the late 1800s, they sang ballads and patriotic anthems; it was their director, George White, who suggested that they sing the songs of their ancestors. The group was hesitant at first to expose this sacred music but agreed to add a few spirituals to their program. The music was well-received, often moving audiences to tears. With their performances, the Jubilee Singers were able to keep alive these songs of the past and reveal the emotions and strong faith of the African American slave.
The group was given its name by director White. In Old Testament history, each fiftieth Pentecost was followed by a "year of jubilee" - a year in which Hebrew law required that all slaves be set free. Organized in 1871, in the dark shadow of slavery, the "Jubilee Singers" seemed a most appropriate name. While this Fisk group was active in the 1890s, it continued on throughout the years, of course with some different members each year and a complete turnover of members within each four years. For the most part, the singers were students at Fisk. 
The highly energetic singer known for penning signature gospel standards such as "You Can't Hurry God (He's Right On Time", "That's Enough", "I'm Holding (And I Won't Let Go Of My Faith)" and "Get Away Jordan" rose to stardom in the 1950s as a member of the Original Gospel Harmonettes, a group from Birmingham, Alabama. While she revealed many musical qualities that were vulnerable of criticism such as her gutsy, "raggedy" and hoarse sound, she had a vocal power that superceeded the most powerful gospel male vocalists during her time. R&B and pop legends such as Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and the Supremes drew on her songs and performances for inspiration. She also was a well-respected gospel songwriter - even to this day her music continues to circulate in current repetoires. The Gospel Harmonettes with Coates on board achieved great success and record-breaking sales in the gospel industry. On Speciality Records, they recorded the classics "I'm Sealed", "He's Calling Me", "No Hiding Place", "Get On Board" and "Get Away Jordan". Coates also was a forerunner in the Civil Rights Movement, working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She later moved to Savoy Records during the early 70s. After deciding to retire from recording music in the 1970s because of the mistreatment of gospel artists and royality issues, she made occasional apperarances in the films "The Long Walk Home" and "Beloved" towards the end of her career.
Andrae Crouch is best known for creating a contemporary sound that helped influenced the first generation of Contemporary Christian artists and was a key figure in the Jesus Music Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. But he is truly a gospel artist with roots in the Church of God In Christ and music styles ranging from traditional gospel music to pop-oriented contemporary music. He is a sixteen Grammy recipient and also was the third gospel artist to have a star honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1960 after receiving much of his musical instruction from his parents, he decided to form the COGICS (Church of God In Christ Singers), which also featured his sister, Sandra Crouch the legendary Billy Preston. In 1965, Crouch founded the Disciples and for many years, this group recorded with Crouch a string of hits such as "Through It All", "Bless His Holy Name", "Jesus Is Lord", "Soon And Very Soon", "It Won't Be Long", "My Tribute (To God Be The Glory)" and "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power". Because of his innovative sound in modern music, Crouch's musical influence reached beyond the African American base and touched a racially and musically diverse audience. 
As a member of the Jackson Southernaires, Frank Williams became one of gospel music's
most celebrated artists, working extensively with Malaco Records. Born Franklin Delano Williams in 1947 in the small town of Smithdale, MS, he became aquainted with gospel music at a very young age. During the late '50s and early '60s, he performed as part of the Southern Gospel Singers and the Williams Brothers . In 1964, he teamed up with his brother Huey Williams as part of the Jackson Southernaires , which were signed to Duke/Peacock Records at the time. Following a debut release, Too Late, the group signed with ABC/Dunhill in 1972 and recorded the Look Around and Save My Child albums. Within a few years, the group signed to Malaco Records -- Legendary Gentlemen (1979), Touch of Class (1981), Down Home (1982) -- and became one of the label's most important artists, winning a number of awards during the 1980s. In addition to his work with the Southernaires , Williams became the executive producer and director of gospel promotion at Malaco in 1979 and remained so for many years. He later formed the Mississippi Mass Choir in 1988 and continued working in the industry until his death in 1993. He is remembered for writing some of Gospel's greatest treasures including "Your Grace And Mercy", "Thank You For My Mansion", "It's Good To Know Jesus" and "If Jesus Can't Fix It". 
Best known for their chart-breaking R&B and soul hits on the Stax music label, the Staple Singers are celebrated for being one of the most celebrated gospel groups to ever crossover to mainstream music (pop, R&B) while continuing in their gospel roots. Roebuck "Pop" Staples was born in 1915 in Winona, MS and drew heavy inspiration on the music of the church. While becoming adept as a solo blues guitarist in his early youth, "Pop" moved to Chicago and began his family life with the birth of his two daughters Cleotha and Mavis and his one son Pervis. He exposed them to music and later formed a family group called the Staple Singers. They recorded throughout the 60s on various music labels including Vee-Jay, Riverside, United and Epic. Their styles of music also shifted from Southern blues 
Heavily responsible for developing the modern mass choir movement in Gospel music, Alex Bradford was a multi-talented gospel composer, performer, singer, arranger and proclaimed choir director. It is also known that he influenced a new generation of blues and soul singers such as Ray Charles and Little Richard. Bradford was born in Bessemer, Alabama and later moved up north to New York following a racial incident involving his family. He eventually returned south to attend school at Snow Hill Institute in Snow Hill, Alabama. While there, he also taught other students and was nicknamed "Professor". He moved to Chicago in 1947 and began his musical career recording music with the Alex Bradford Singers and the Bradford Specials. In 1953, Bradford wrote and recorded his big hit, "Too Close To Heaven". He amasses a large following, not only for
not only for the beauty of his singing, marked by a throaty baritone and shrill falsetto, but his flamboyance as a stage personality and performer. In 1961 he turned to the theater and achieved a huge success in Langston Hughes's Black Nativity (1961), which then toured Europe and was broadcast nationwide on television in the US. In 1972 he appeared on Broadway in Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope , for which he won the Obie Award, and again in 1976 in Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God . He composed more than 300 gospel songs, including "He'll Wash You Whiter Than Snow" (1955) and "After It's Over" (1963).
It premiered on WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee in 1976 and continued until 1980 until it was picked up by the emerging cable television channel, Black Entertainment Television (BET) in November. Years later and the show is still going strong. The show is still the #1 gospel TV program in the world; hosted by Dr. Bobby Jones and also features his singing aggregation, the New Life Singers and the Nashville Super Choir. The show has featured a Who's Who of Gospel artists ranging from traditional to contemporary gospel throughout the years. Artists including Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee & New Life, Hezekiah Walker, Yolanda Adams, the Mississippi Mass Choir, Vickie Winans, Vanessa Bell-Armstrong, Dottie Peoples, Shirley Caesar and Andrae' Crouch have all shared the spotlight on the stages of Bobby Jones' televised tapings. The show can be seen on Sunday mornings on BET at 9:00 a.m. EST.
Sallie Martin was born in rural Georgia (Pittfield) and was raised as a Baptist, yet she took a drastic turn towards the Pentecostal movement when she later moved to Chicago in 1927. She is known for being the "Mother of Gospel Music" for her efforts in helping popularize the music of Thomas A. Dorsey as well as her own achievements in the early years of gospel music. Her singing style is best described as being rough-hewn and combined shouting and enthusiastic preaching in her performances. She helped assist Dorsey in founding the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses (NCGCC)
and proved to be an able organizer with a shrewd financial sense in marketing Dorsey's songs and organized his finances. While the genesis of gospel music began to becoming increasingly popular, Martin sought out to organize the Sallie Martin Singers (members included jazz diva Ruth jones a.k.a. Dinah Washington, Brother Joe May and Cora Martin) in 1940 and also started her own publishing company, the historic Martin and Morris Music, Inc., with Gospel music publisher, songwriter and arranger Kenneth Morris. Martin and Morris, Inc. was known for being the first of its kind to promote the compositions of artists other than themselves. Martin eventually retired from performing in the mid-1950s due to the heavy strain of touring as the Gospel Golden era approached. An important bit of information for historians: Sallie Martin was not related to gospel great Roberta Martin.