Podcasts about Edwin Hawkins

Celebrating Resurrection Day: Power and Purpose in Jesus' SacrificeDarryl Anderson hosts a special episode of Man to Man 360 focused on Resurrection Day, the celebration of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. He emphasizes the significance of this event as the greatest holiday for believers, explaining that Jesus' resurrection not only represents victory over death but also grants believers the power to live victorious lives. Anderson recounts a recent trip to a Sight and Sound play, shares his favorite songs from Edwin Hawkins' Easter album, and reads from Isaiah 53 to highlight Jesus' sacrifice. He encourages listeners to remember this event's meaning, overcome personal struggles, and live empowered lives through faith.00:00 Introduction to Resurrection Day00:30 Significance of Jesus' Sacrifice01:32 Encouragement and Empowerment02:29 Welcome to Man to Man 36003:14 Special Episode for Resurrection Day03:47 Personal Reflections and Experiences04:49 Resurrection Day vs. Easter06:32 Favorite Gospel Music for the Holiday07:56 Isaiah 53: The Prophecy of Jesus' Suffering15:18 Encouragement for Men20:09 The Man Cave: A Ministry for Men23:30 Final Encouragement and ConclusionVISIT OUR WEBSITE for Man2Man 360Show is Recorded, Edited and Produced by Darryl D Anderson of Ambassador Media GroupPodcasts drop every Saturday at 9am.  Live Airing of the show is on http://rSpirit.Online - Thursdays 8pm, Saturdays 8am and Tuesday NOON Get the rSpirit.Online app Live Airing of the show is on Opposition Radio at  https://TheOppsRadio.Live - Saturdays 8am Please visit, LIKE and Comment about the show at our Facebook.com/Man2Man360 Also visit our radio station page at Facebook/rSpirit.Online;  Intro Theme Song Edited by Darryl Anderson (AMG) and Mixed by Damion Hill of https://e-mixonline.com   VoiceOvers by Christopher Bell & Daphne BryantLicensed to use song:Tough Kid https://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty-free-tracks/tough-kidIt's Raining Againhttps://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty-free-tracks/it-s-raining-againHava Nagila Hip Hophttps://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty-free-tracks/hava-nagila-hip-hopSFX - https://musicradiocreative.com/Try our NEW Fan Mail experience and send us a Text Message from HERE!

Multi-talented singer/songwriter DeeAnn has received numerous well-deserved accolades in her hometown of Buffalo, New York's 10th Annual “JazzBuffalo” musical greats poll. She was awarded “Jazz Female Vocalist of the Year”, receiving the most votes for her still-popular 2023 album “It's My Time”, and was chosen runner-up for “Most Memorable Performance” and the “John Hunt Jazz Artist of the Year” Award. Her new single “Simply Beautiful,” was been released, which is a sensual, deep soul bluesy twist on an early 70's Al Green song from his landmark #1 Billboard album “I'm Still in Love with You”. She collaborated with her new producer Ted Perlman, on this song and the upcoming new album featuring both originals and re-imaginings of classic songs from various eras. Working with Perlman puts DeeAnn in the classic company of the multi-genre greats he has produced, arranged, recorded, and toured with over the past five decades - including Burt Bacharach, Whitney Houston, Manhattan Transfer, Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Ronald Isley, Jermaine Jackson, Edwin Hawkins, CeCe Winans, Brian Wilson, Dr. Dre, Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Chicago and Young MC. She joined the podcast to discuss it all. Podcast Host: Toni Ann Marcolini

Keyboardist: Gail NoblesStory by: Gail NoblesPhoto: Rob Mieremet / AnefoUsage: Wikipedia Public DomainToday's topic is the Edwin Hawkins singers. They sing: Children, Oh children, won't you try to get together? Children Oh children, try a little love for your sisters and brothers.My dear friends, today I invite you to join me in a melody that rings through the ages, a song that speaks to our hearts. It is an anthem of love and unity, as expressed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers in their call to "Get Together." The song comes from their 1971 album: The Edwin Hawkins singers-Children Get Together.In a world that often pulls us apart, we hear the clarion call that beckons us to embrace our sisters and brothers with a spirit of love and compassion. In the beauty of this song, we find a profound truth: every child, every individual, is a thread woven into the magnificent creation. We must remember that it is love that binds us together and forges the connections that transcend the barriers of race, creed, and circumstance.Let us take a moment to think about this call. It urges us to reach out—to think about the life we lead and how we interact with one another. Are we lifting each other up? Are we approaching our fellow beings with kindness? Or are we stuck in our own narrow outlooks, forgetting that we are all part of the same human family?Friends, it is not enough to simply coexist. We must actively engage in the sacred act of love. This love is not merely an emotion; it is a duty, a responsibility we owe to one another. It asks us to stand in the face of division, to break down the walls of indifference and to say, "I will take a step toward you; I will meet you where you are."The Edwin Hawkins Singers remind us, "Try a little love for your sisters and brothers." Such simple words carry immense weight. It asks us to take action—to extend our hands, to open our hearts, and to share the burden of one another's struggles. To love is to recognize the inherent dignity in every human being, regardless of where they come from or what they believe.Let us embrace this vision, where love is our guiding principle. Love is powerful enough to heal wounds, to mend broken relationships, and to foster a world where understanding prevails over conflict. In this collective love, we can build bridges, break chains, and uplift those who have been grouped together and oppressed.So please, let us pledge to try a little more love for our sisters and brothers.I'm Gail Nobles. You're Listening to the Gospel Greats. Today's topic: The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Children Get Together.

Blind Faith was a supergroup formed from Cream members Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, Traffic founder Steve Winwood, and Family bassist/violinist Ric Grech.  Cream collapsed after increasing strife between members, particularly Baker and bassist Jack Bruce.  Traffic went on hiatus, and Winwood began jamming with Clapton in his basement.  Baker sat in on a session shortly after they moved to Traffic's rehearsal space in Berkshire, and was added to the lineup after some reluctance from Clapton was overcome.  Finally, Grech was invited to join, and  left the Family in the middle of a U.S. tour, creating understandable grievances.  The group created blues-oriented and psychedelic rock for their eponymously named Blind Faith debut album.  A summer tour was launched, but it was a challenging thing.  Clapton didn't want to do long jam sessions on the tour, but their single album was not a lot of material for a concert.  As a result, they wound up playing a significant amount of Cream and Traffic songs.  This delighted the audience, but irritated and distanced Clapton.  Despite great buzz from critics and fans alike, the group was destined to only last a few months.  Clapton began drifting away while on tour, spending more time with opening act Delaney & Bonnie.  He would eventually join that group prior to launching Derek & the Dominos.  Ginger Baker would move on to form Ginger Baker's Air Force, bringing in Winwood and Grech for a short stint before Winwood rejoined Traffic.  Rob brings us this short-lived supergroup in this week's podcast. Had to Cry TodayThe title track dispenses with the 3-minute single format in favor of a long form jam written by Steve Winwood.  The lyrics are ambiguous, and could reference a dying relationship, or perhaps a friend drifting away.Can't Find My Way HomeWinwood also wrote this well-known single from the album, covered by a number of artists including Joe Cocker, Alison Krauss, and Bonnie Raitt.  Winwood has been asked about the meaning of the lyrics, but has said that discussing song lyrics is a little like explaining a joke - it doesn't add anything to the experience.  Clapton leaves his electric guitar in favor of a rare acoustic one for this song.Well All RightThis track is the only one not written by members of Blind Faith.  Buddy Holly, Norman Petty, Jerry Allison, and Joe B. Mauldin wrote this song, and Holly sang it in 1958.  Clapton takes lead vocal duties on this song.Sea of JoyA piece of Winwood's writing also leads off side two of the album.  While some believe the song references hallucinogens, a simpler meaning would be simply the joy of being on the water.  “And I'm feeling close to when the race is run.  Waiting in our boats to set sail.  Sea of joy.” ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:Pfft You Were Gone (from the variety show “Hee Haw”)This country comedy and music show premiered on CBS in this month.  Buck Owens and Roy Clark led an ensemble of regulars and guests in this variety show. STAFF PICKS:These Eyes by The Guess WhoWayne starts out the staff picks with a song co-written by lead singer Burton Cummings and lead guitarist Randy Bachman.  This was their breakout song, with lyrics that describe the devastating feeling in the days following a long relationship break-up.Badge by CreamLynch reminds us that while Cream may have disbanded by this time, their music was still on the charts.  Eric Clapton and George Harrison wrote this song.  It was supposed to be called "Bridge," but was named "Badge," due to a misreading of the handwritten title.  George Harrison plays rhythm guitar, credited as "D'Angelo Misterioso" to avoid contractual issues.Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins SingersBruce features the first gospel song to hit the charts, reaching number 4 on the US singles chart.  Edwin Hawkins took a hymn originally written by Phillip Doddridge in 1755, and updated it with a piano introduction inspired by Sergio Mendes and lyrical improvisations influenced by James Brown. See by The Rascals Rob finishes the staff picks with the fuzzy lead off and title track to the Rascals sixth studio album.  Between 1966 and 1968, the Rascals released a number of soul-inspired singles.  This album marked a change in the band's focus from blue-eyed soul to psychedelic rock. COMEDY TRACK:Gitarzan by Ray StevensOne of the earliest comedy singles from Stevens closes out our podcast this week. Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?” NOTE: To adjust the loudness of the music or voices, you may adjust the balance on your device. VOICES are stronger in the LEFT channel, and MUSIC is stronger on the RIGHT channel.Please follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/whattheriffpodcast/, and message or email us with what you'd like to hear, what you think of the show, and any rock-worthy memes we can share.Of course we'd love for you to rate the show in your podcast platform!**NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.

The Edge 162 - The Hidden Gem of Gospel: The Matthew Sisters & Edwin Hawkins' 1977 Fusion Album | Roger Moore & Kevin Tomlin   Host Roger Moore from Affinity Xtra sits down with historian Kevin Tomlin to uncover a hidden gem of gospel music history: The Matthew Sisters' remarkable 1977 collaboration with gospel icon Edwin Hawkins. This album was a groundbreaking fusion of gospel, jazz, and disco—an extraordinary blend that pushed the boundaries of the genre. Discover the story behind this unique release, why it was so ahead of its time, and how it combined different styles to create an unforgettable sound. Join us as we celebrate the creativity and legacy of this under-appreciated masterpiece.   #TheMatthewSisters #EdwinHawkins #GospelJazz #GospelDisco #RogerMoore #KevinTomlin #AffinityXtra #HiddenGems #GospelMusicHistory #1977Album #MusicFusion #GospelLegends #JazzAndDisco #MusicDocumentary #BlackMusicHeritage #UnderratedAlbums   https://youtu.be/AF2maQyDY0M

Join gospel recording artist Shontelle Norman Beatty as she shares her incredible journey with Lin. Woods on this rewind episode of the Lin. Woods Gospel Entertainment Podcast! After singing with legends like Edwin Hawkins and jazz icon DeeDee Bridgewater, Shontelle has a hit single, “Jesus Will Fix It,” on DARE Records. Tune in to hear about her experiences growing up as a COGIC pastor's kid in Memphis, the loss of her brother—gospel artist Shea Norman, and much more.

Some dynamite gospel this week that leans heavily on the influencers, but we won't let that lock us in. We'll be cutting a broad swath across the Americana landscape, with deeper gospel tracks from some of the greats like the Selah Jubilee Singers, the rollicking Reverend Robert Ballinger, The Bronzeman, and some other greats you may or may not know. But we'll also share tracks from the next generation secular branding with just a taste of gospel in their music: Johnny Taylor, Edwin Hawkins, and Curtis Mayfield. We'll also share a couple of Marty Stuart gospel tracks in another look at the deepest roots from the past century. So grab the headphones and get ready for a revival without beating you about the head with any false fundamentalism. All for our favorite listeners, beaming down from the ether on KOWS Community Radio 

Við töluðum aðeins um mannlega þáttinn í Mannlega þættinum í dag, sem sagt mannlega þáttinn á vinnustöðum. Við höfum fjallað talsvert í þættinum um streitu og vanlíðan í vinnunni. Ef stemningin er ekki góð á vinnustaðnum, þar sem starfsfólk jafnvel upplifir sig vanmetið, lítilsvirt og óöruggt, þá eru talsvert meiri líkur á að lenda í kulnun eða að upplifa kulnunareinkenni. Við fengum þær séra Díönu Óskarsdóttur, doktor í handleiðslufræðum og Sigrúnu Harðardóttur doktor í félagsráðgjöf og dósend við Félagsráðgjafardeild HÍ, til að segja okkur frá því hvernig fagleg handleiðsla getur nýst, t.d. sem forvörn og til að styðja að bæta vinnustaðamenninguna og getur jafnvel minnkað starfsmannaveltu og fjarveru vegna veikinda. Þær Díana og Sigrún útskýrðu þetta frekar fyrir okkur í þættinum. Með hækkandi sól og hækkandi hitatölum spretta kylfingar úr hverju horni tilbúnir að arka út á golfvelli landsins til að elta litlu hvítu boltana í sem fæstum höggum ofan í holurnar. Í fyrravor komu golfvellirnir ekki vel undan vetri eftir frosthörkur, en spurningin er hvernig staðan er á þeim núna? Brynjar Eldon Geirsson, framkvæmdastjóri Golfsambands Íslands kom í þáttinn og fór með okkur yfir stöðuna og hvað er framundan í golfinu í sumar. Heilbrigð þarmaflóra er grunnurinn að góðri heilsu bæði líkamlega og andlega. Þetta hafa rannsóknir sýnt fram á með afgerandi hætti undanfarin ár og gjörunnin matvæli, sykruð, söltuð og reykt vinna gegn góðri flóru. Birna G. Ásbjörnsdóttir doktor í heilbrigðisvísindum og sérfræðingur í þarmaflóru segir lykilatriði að borða eins ólíkar tegundir af grænmeti og ávöxum í viku til að hafa sem öflugasta flóru meltingarkerfinu. Hún nefnir að hátt í 30 tegundir væru langbesta markmiðið, auk þess að borða mikið af hnetum, fræjum og baunum. Sykurlausir gosdrykkir og orkudrykkir séu alslæmir fyrir bakteríubúskap í þörmunum og þá eigi að drekka í algjöru lágmarki. Helga Arnardóttir ræddi við Birnu á Heilsuvaktinni í dag. Tónlist í þættinum í dag: Pólstjarnan / Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson (Ágúst Pétursson, texti Kristján frá Djúpalæk) Oh happy day / The Edwin Hawkins singers (Edwin Hawkins) Im a believer / The Monkees (Neil Diamond) UMSJÓN GUNNAR HANSSON OG GUÐRÚN GUNNARSDÓTTIR

JOIN THE PATREON Blowin' In The Wind is one of the most recognizable songs from one of the most renowned songwriters ever. Fittingly, so many legends have tried their hand at it. Find out who, and some unknowns who might've blown them all away. Featured Artists: Bob Dylan, The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Blue Shamrocks, Eric Bibb, Peter Paul and Mary, Jimmy Buffett, Plavci, Matt Collins, Javi Zimmerman, Joan Baez, Someone, Pondézeu, Edwin Hawkins, Stevie Wonder, Odetta, Staples Singers, Mayries, Low, Elvis Presley, Arne Domnerus, Glen Campbell, Mountain, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Love Supine, Ben Sidran, Ziggy Marley, Abyssinians, and Sam Cooke --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blanketingcovers/message

Episode 168 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Say a Little Prayer”, and the interaction of the sacred, political, and secular in Aretha Franklin's life and work. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-five-minute bonus episode available, on "Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Aretha Franklin. Even splitting it into multiple parts would have required six or seven mixes. My main biographical source for Aretha Franklin is Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz, and this is where most of the quotes from musicians come from. Information on C.L. Franklin came from Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom is possibly less essential, but still definitely worth reading. Information about Martin Luther King came from Martin Luther King: A Religious Life by Paul Harvey. I also referred to Burt Bacharach's autobiography Anyone Who Had a Heart, Carole King's autobiography A Natural Woman, and Soul Serenade: King Curtis and his Immortal Saxophone by Timothy R. Hoover. For information about Amazing Grace I also used Aaron Cohen's 33 1/3 book on the album. The film of the concerts is also definitely worth watching. And the Aretha Now album is available in this five-album box set for a ludicrously cheap price. But it's actually worth getting this nineteen-CD set with her first sixteen Atlantic albums and a couple of bonus discs of demos and outtakes. There's barely a duff track in the whole nineteen discs. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A quick warning before I begin. This episode contains some moderate references to domestic abuse, death by cancer, racial violence, police violence, and political assassination. Anyone who might be upset by those subjects might want to check the transcript rather than listening to the episode. Also, as with the previous episode on Aretha Franklin, this episode presents something of a problem. Like many people in this narrative, Franklin's career was affected by personal troubles, which shaped many of her decisions. But where most of the subjects of the podcast have chosen to live their lives in public and share intimate details of every aspect of their personal lives, Franklin was an extremely private person, who chose to share only carefully sanitised versions of her life, and tried as far as possible to keep things to herself. This of course presents a dilemma for anyone who wants to tell her story -- because even though the information is out there in biographies, and even though she's dead, it's not right to disrespect someone's wish for a private life. I have therefore tried, wherever possible, to stay away from talk of her personal life except where it *absolutely* affects the work, or where other people involved have publicly shared their own stories, and even there I've tried to keep it to a minimum. This will occasionally lead to me saying less about some topics than other people might, even though the information is easily findable, because I don't think we have an absolute right to invade someone else's privacy for entertainment. When we left Aretha Franklin, she had just finally broken through into the mainstream after a decade of performing, with a version of Otis Redding's song "Respect" on which she had been backed by her sisters, Erma and Carolyn. "Respect", in Franklin's interpretation, had been turned from a rather chauvinist song about a man demanding respect from his woman into an anthem of feminism, of Black power, and of a new political awakening. For white people of a certain generation, the summer of 1967 was "the summer of love". For many Black people, it was rather different. There's a quote that goes around (I've seen it credited in reliable sources to both Ebony and Jet magazine, but not ever seen an issue cited, so I can't say for sure where it came from) saying that the summer of 67 was the summer of "'retha, Rap, and revolt", referring to the trifecta of Aretha Franklin, the Black power leader Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (who was at the time known as H. Rap Brown, a name he later disclaimed) and the rioting that broke out in several major cities, particularly in Detroit: [Excerpt: John Lee Hooker, "The Motor City is Burning"] The mid sixties were, in many ways, the high point not of Black rights in the US -- for the most part there has been a lot of progress in civil rights in the intervening decades, though not without inevitable setbacks and attacks from the far right, and as movements like the Black Lives Matter movement have shown there is still a long way to go -- but of *hope* for Black rights. The moral force of the arguments made by the civil rights movement were starting to cause real change to happen for Black people in the US for the first time since the Reconstruction nearly a century before. But those changes weren't happening fast enough, and as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", there was not only a growing unrest among Black people, but a recognition that it was actually possible for things to change. A combination of hope and frustration can be a powerful catalyst, and whether Franklin wanted it or not, she was at the centre of things, both because of her newfound prominence as a star with a hit single that couldn't be interpreted as anything other than a political statement and because of her intimate family connections to the struggle. Even the most racist of white people these days pays lip service to the memory of Dr Martin Luther King, and when they do they quote just a handful of sentences from one speech King made in 1963, as if that sums up the full theological and political philosophy of that most complex of men. And as we discussed the last time we looked at Aretha Franklin, King gave versions of that speech, the "I Have a Dream" speech, twice. The most famous version was at the March on Washington, but the first time was a few weeks earlier, at what was at the time the largest civil rights demonstration in American history, in Detroit. Aretha's family connection to that event is made clear by the very opening of King's speech: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Original 'I Have a Dream' Speech"] So as summer 1967 got into swing, and white rock music was going to San Francisco to wear flowers in its hair, Aretha Franklin was at the centre of a very different kind of youth revolution. Franklin's second Atlantic album, Aretha Arrives, brought in some new personnel to the team that had recorded Aretha's first album for Atlantic. Along with the core Muscle Shoals players Jimmy Johnson, Spooner Oldham, Tommy Cogbill and Roger Hawkins, and a horn section led by King Curtis, Wexler and Dowd also brought in guitarist Joe South. South was a white session player from Georgia, who had had a few minor hits himself in the fifties -- he'd got his start recording a cover version of "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor", the Big Bopper's B-side to "Chantilly Lace": [Excerpt: Joe South, "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"] He'd also written a few songs that had been recorded by people like Gene Vincent, but he'd mostly become a session player. He'd become a favourite musician of Bob Johnston's, and so he'd played guitar on Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme albums: [Excerpt: Simon and Garfunkel, "I am a Rock"] and bass on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, with Al Kooper particularly praising his playing on "Visions of Johanna": [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Visions of Johanna"] South would be the principal guitarist on this and Franklin's next album, before his own career took off in 1968 with "Games People Play": [Excerpt: Joe South, "Games People Play"] At this point, he had already written the other song he's best known for, "Hush", which later became a hit for Deep Purple: [Excerpt: Deep Purple, "Hush"] But he wasn't very well known, and was surprised to get the call for the Aretha Franklin session, especially because, as he put it "I was white and I was about to play behind the blackest genius since Ray Charles" But Jerry Wexler had told him that Franklin didn't care about the race of the musicians she played with, and South settled in as soon as Franklin smiled at him when he played a good guitar lick on her version of the blues standard "Going Down Slow": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Going Down Slow"] That was one of the few times Franklin smiled in those sessions though. Becoming an overnight success after years of trying and failing to make a name for herself had been a disorienting experience, and on top of that things weren't going well in her personal life. Her marriage to her manager Ted White was falling apart, and she was performing erratically thanks to the stress. In particular, at a gig in Georgia she had fallen off the stage and broken her arm. She soon returned to performing, but it meant she had problems with her right arm during the recording of the album, and didn't play as much piano as she would have previously -- on some of the faster songs she played only with her left hand. But the recording sessions had to go on, whether or not Aretha was physically capable of playing piano. As we discussed in the episode on Otis Redding, the owners of Atlantic Records were busily negotiating its sale to Warner Brothers in mid-1967. As Wexler said later “Everything in me said, Keep rolling, keep recording, keep the hits coming. She was red hot and I had no reason to believe that the streak wouldn't continue. I knew that it would be foolish—and even irresponsible—not to strike when the iron was hot. I also had personal motivation. A Wall Street financier had agreed to see what we could get for Atlantic Records. While Ahmet and Neshui had not agreed on a selling price, they had gone along with my plan to let the financier test our worth on the open market. I was always eager to pump out hits, but at this moment I was on overdrive. In this instance, I had a good partner in Ted White, who felt the same. He wanted as much product out there as possible." In truth, you can tell from Aretha Arrives that it's a record that was being thought of as "product" rather than one being made out of any kind of artistic impulse. It's a fine album -- in her ten-album run from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You through Amazing Grace there's not a bad album and barely a bad track -- but there's a lack of focus. There are only two originals on the album, neither of them written by Franklin herself, and the rest is an incoherent set of songs that show the tension between Franklin and her producers at Atlantic. Several songs are the kind of standards that Franklin had recorded for her old label Columbia, things like "You Are My Sunshine", or her version of "That's Life", which had been a hit for Frank Sinatra the previous year: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "That's Life"] But mixed in with that are songs that are clearly the choice of Wexler. As we've discussed previously in episodes on Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, at this point Atlantic had the idea that it was possible for soul artists to cross over into the white market by doing cover versions of white rock hits -- and indeed they'd had some success with that tactic. So while Franklin was suggesting Sinatra covers, Atlantic's hand is visible in the choices of songs like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "96 Tears": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "96 Tears'] Of the two originals on the album, one, the hit single "Baby I Love You" was written by Ronnie Shannon, the Detroit songwriter who had previously written "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Baby I Love You"] As with the previous album, and several other songs on this one, that had backing vocals by Aretha's sisters, Erma and Carolyn. But the other original on the album, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)", didn't, even though it was written by Carolyn: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] To explain why, let's take a little detour and look at the co-writer of the song this episode is about, though we're not going to get to that for a little while yet. We've not talked much about Burt Bacharach in this series so far, but he's one of those figures who has come up a few times in the periphery and will come up again, so here is as good a time as any to discuss him, and bring everyone up to speed about his career up to 1967. Bacharach was one of the more privileged figures in the sixties pop music field. His father, Bert Bacharach (pronounced the same as his son, but spelled with an e rather than a u) had been a famous newspaper columnist, and his parents had bought him a Steinway grand piano to practice on -- they pushed him to learn the piano even though as a kid he wasn't interested in finger exercises and Debussy. What he was interested in, though, was jazz, and as a teenager he would often go into Manhattan and use a fake ID to see people like Dizzy Gillespie, who he idolised, and in his autobiography he talks rapturously of seeing Gillespie playing his bent trumpet -- he once saw Gillespie standing on a street corner with a pet monkey on his shoulder, and went home and tried to persuade his parents to buy him a monkey too. In particular, he talks about seeing the Count Basie band with Sonny Payne on drums as a teenager: [Excerpt: Count Basie, "Kid From Red Bank"] He saw them at Birdland, the club owned by Morris Levy where they would regularly play, and said of the performance "they were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before. What I heard in those clubs really turned my head around— it was like a big breath of fresh air when somebody throws open a window. That was when I knew for the first time how much I loved music and wanted to be connected to it in some way." Of course, there's a rather major problem with this story, as there is so often with narratives that musicians tell about their early career. In this case, Birdland didn't open until 1949, when Bacharach was twenty-one and stationed in Germany for his military service, while Sonny Payne didn't join Basie's band until 1954, when Bacharach had been a professional musician for many years. Also Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet bell only got bent on January 6, 1953. But presumably while Bacharach was conflating several memories, he did have some experience in some New York jazz club that led him to want to become a musician. Certainly there were enough great jazz musicians playing the clubs in those days. He went to McGill University to study music for two years, then went to study with Darius Milhaud, a hugely respected modernist composer. Milhaud was also one of the most important music teachers of the time -- among others he'd taught Stockhausen and Xenakkis, and would go on to teach Philip Glass and Steve Reich. This suited Bacharach, who by this point was a big fan of Schoenberg and Webern, and was trying to write atonal, difficult music. But Milhaud had also taught Dave Brubeck, and when Bacharach rather shamefacedly presented him with a composition which had an actual tune, he told Bacharach "Never be ashamed of writing a tune you can whistle". He dropped out of university and, like most men of his generation, had to serve in the armed forces. When he got out of the army, he continued his musical studies, still trying to learn to be an avant-garde composer, this time with Bohuslav Martinů and later with Henry Cowell, the experimental composer we've heard about quite a bit in previous episodes: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] He was still listening to a lot of avant garde music, and would continue doing so throughout the fifties, going to see people like John Cage. But he spent much of that time working in music that was very different from the avant-garde. He got a job as the band leader for the crooner Vic Damone: [Excerpt: Vic Damone. "Ebb Tide"] He also played for the vocal group the Ames Brothers. He decided while he was working with the Ames Brothers that he could write better material than they were getting from their publishers, and that it would be better to have a job where he didn't have to travel, so he got himself a job as a staff songwriter in the Brill Building. He wrote a string of flops and nearly hits, starting with "Keep Me In Mind" for Patti Page: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Keep Me In Mind"] From early in his career he worked with the lyricist Hal David, and the two of them together wrote two big hits, "Magic Moments" for Perry Como: [Excerpt: Perry Como, "Magic Moments"] and "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins: [Excerpt: "The Story of My Life"] But at that point Bacharach was still also writing with other writers, notably Hal David's brother Mack, with whom he wrote the theme tune to the film The Blob, as performed by The Five Blobs: [Excerpt: The Five Blobs, "The Blob"] But Bacharach's songwriting career wasn't taking off, and he got himself a job as musical director for Marlene Dietrich -- a job he kept even after it did start to take off.  Part of the problem was that he intuitively wrote music that didn't quite fit into standard structures -- there would be odd bars of unusual time signatures thrown in, unusual harmonies, and structural irregularities -- but then he'd take feedback from publishers and producers who would tell him the song could only be recorded if he straightened it out. He said later "The truth is that I ruined a lot of songs by not believing in myself enough to tell these guys they were wrong." He started writing songs for Scepter Records, usually with Hal David, but also with Bob Hilliard and Mack David, and started having R&B hits. One song he wrote with Mack David, "I'll Cherish You", had the lyrics rewritten by Luther Dixon to make them more harsh-sounding for a Shirelles single -- but the single was otherwise just Bacharach's demo with the vocals replaced, and you can even hear his voice briefly at the beginning: [Excerpt: The Shirelles, "Baby, It's You"] But he'd also started becoming interested in the production side of records more generally. He'd iced that some producers, when recording his songs, would change the sound for the worse -- he thought Gene McDaniels' version of "Tower of Strength", for example, was too fast. But on the other hand, other producers got a better sound than he'd heard in his head. He and Hilliard had written a song called "Please Stay", which they'd given to Leiber and Stoller to record with the Drifters, and he thought that their arrangement of the song was much better than the one he'd originally thought up: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Please Stay"] He asked Leiber and Stoller if he could attend all their New York sessions and learn about record production from them. He started doing so, and eventually they started asking him to assist them on records. He and Hilliard wrote a song called "Mexican Divorce" for the Drifters, which Leiber and Stoller were going to produce, and as he put it "they were so busy running Redbird Records that they asked me to rehearse the background singers for them in my office." [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Mexican Divorce"] The backing singers who had been brought in to augment the Drifters on that record were a group of vocalists who had started out as members of a gospel group called the Drinkard singers: [Excerpt: The Drinkard Singers, "Singing in My Soul"] The Drinkard Singers had originally been a family group, whose members included Cissy Drinkard, who joined the group aged five (and who on her marriage would become known as Cissy Houston -- her daughter Whitney would later join the family business), her aunt Lee Warrick, and Warrick's adopted daughter Judy Clay. That group were discovered by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and spent much of the fifties performing with gospel greats including Jackson herself, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. But Houston was also the musical director of a group at her church, the Gospelaires, which featured Lee Warrick's two daughters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick (for those who don't know, the Warwick sisters' birth name was Warrick, spelled with two rs. A printing error led to it being misspelled the same way as the British city on a record label, and from that point on Dionne at least pronounced the w in her misspelled name). And slowly, the Gospelaires rather than the Drinkard Singers became the focus, with a lineup of Houston, the Warwick sisters, the Warwick sisters' cousin Doris Troy, and Clay's sister Sylvia Shemwell. The real change in the group's fortunes came when, as we talked about a while back in the episode on "The Loco-Motion", the original lineup of the Cookies largely stopped working as session singers to become Ray Charles' Raelettes. As we discussed in that episode, a new lineup of Cookies formed in 1961, but it took a while for them to get started, and in the meantime the producers who had been relying on them for backing vocals were looking elsewhere, and they looked to the Gospelaires. "Mexican Divorce" was the first record to feature the group as backing vocalists -- though reports vary as to how many of them are on the record, with some saying it's only Troy and the Warwicks, others saying Houston was there, and yet others saying it was all five of them. Some of these discrepancies were because these singers were so good that many of them left to become solo singers in fairly short order. Troy was the first to do so, with her hit "Just One Look", on which the other Gospelaires sang backing vocals: [Excerpt: Doris Troy, "Just One Look"] But the next one to go solo was Dionne Warwick, and that was because she'd started working with Bacharach and Hal David as their principal demo singer. She started singing lead on their demos, and hoping that she'd get to release them on her own. One early one was "Make it Easy On Yourself", which was recorded by Jerry Butler, formerly of the Impressions. That record was produced by Bacharach, one of the first records he produced without outside supervision: [Excerpt: Jerry Butler, "Make it Easy On Yourself"] Warwick was very jealous that a song she'd sung the demo of had become a massive hit for someone else, and blamed Bacharach and David. The way she tells the story -- Bacharach always claimed this never happened, but as we've already seen he was himself not always the most reliable of narrators of his own life -- she got so angry she complained to them, and said "Don't make me over, man!" And so Bacharach and David wrote her this: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over"] Incidentally, in the UK, the hit version of that was a cover by the Swinging Blue Jeans: [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "Don't Make Me Over"] who also had a huge hit with "You're No Good": [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "You're No Good"] And *that* was originally recorded by *Dee Dee* Warwick: [Excerpt: Dee Dee Warwick, "You're No Good"] Dee Dee also had a successful solo career, but Dionne's was the real success, making the names of herself, and of Bacharach and David. The team had more than twenty top forty hits together, before Bacharach and David had a falling out in 1971 and stopped working together, and Warwick sued both of them for breach of contract as a result. But prior to that they had hit after hit, with classic records like "Anyone Who Had a Heart": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Anyone Who Had a Heart"] And "Walk On By": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Walk On By"] With Doris, Dionne, and Dee Dee all going solo, the group's membership was naturally in flux -- though the departed members would occasionally join their former bandmates for sessions, and the remaining members would sing backing vocals on their ex-members' records. By 1965 the group consisted of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, the Warwick sisters' cousin Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. The group became *the* go-to singers for soul and R&B records made in New York. They were regularly hired by Leiber and Stoller to sing on their records, and they were also the particular favourites of Bert Berns. They sang backing vocals on almost every record he produced. It's them doing the gospel wails on "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms: [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms, "Cry Baby"] And they sang backing vocals on both versions of "If You Need Me" -- Wilson Pickett's original and Solomon Burke's more successful cover version, produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me"] They're on such Berns records as "Show Me Your Monkey", by Kenny Hamber: [Excerpt: Kenny Hamber, "Show Me Your Monkey"] And it was a Berns production that ended up getting them to be Aretha Franklin's backing group. The group were becoming such an important part of the records that Atlantic and BANG Records, in particular, were putting out, that Jerry Wexler said "it was only a matter of common decency to put them under contract as a featured group". He signed them to Atlantic and renamed them from the Gospelaires to The Sweet Inspirations.  Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham wrote a song for the group which became their only hit under their own name: [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Sweet Inspiration"] But to start with, they released a cover of Pops Staples' civil rights song "Why (Am I treated So Bad)": [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad?)"] That hadn't charted, and meanwhile, they'd all kept doing session work. Cissy had joined Erma and Carolyn Franklin on the backing vocals for Aretha's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"] Shortly after that, the whole group recorded backing vocals for Erma's single "Piece of My Heart", co-written and produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] That became a top ten record on the R&B charts, but that caused problems. Aretha Franklin had a few character flaws, and one of these was an extreme level of jealousy for any other female singer who had any level of success and came up in the business after her. She could be incredibly graceful towards anyone who had been successful before her -- she once gave one of her Grammies away to Esther Phillips, who had been up for the same award and had lost to her -- but she was terribly insecure, and saw any contemporary as a threat. She'd spent her time at Columbia Records fuming (with some justification) that Barbra Streisand was being given a much bigger marketing budget than her, and she saw Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick as rivals rather than friends. And that went doubly for her sisters, who she was convinced should be supporting her because of family loyalty. She had been infuriated at John Hammond when Columbia had signed Erma, thinking he'd gone behind her back to create competition for her. And now Erma was recording with Bert Berns. Bert Berns who had for years been a colleague of Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers at Atlantic. Aretha was convinced that Wexler had put Berns up to signing Erma as some kind of power play. There was only one problem with this -- it simply wasn't true. As Wexler later explained “Bert and I had suffered a bad falling-out, even though I had enormous respect for him. After all, he was the guy who brought over guitarist Jimmy Page from England to play on our sessions. Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, and I had started a label together—Bang!—where Bert produced Van Morrison's first album. But Bert also had a penchant for trouble. He courted the wise guys. He wanted total control over every last aspect of our business dealings. Finally it was too much, and the Erteguns and I let him go. He sued us for breach of contract and suddenly we were enemies. I felt that he signed Erma, an excellent singer, not merely for her talent but as a way to get back at me. If I could make a hit with Aretha, he'd show me up by making an even bigger hit on Erma. Because there was always an undercurrent of rivalry between the sisters, this only added to the tension.” There were two things that resulted from this paranoia on Aretha's part. The first was that she and Wexler, who had been on first-name terms up to that point, temporarily went back to being "Mr. Wexler" and "Miss Franklin" to each other. And the second was that Aretha no longer wanted Carolyn and Erma to be her main backing vocalists, though they would continue to appear on her future records on occasion. From this point on, the Sweet Inspirations would be the main backing vocalists for Aretha in the studio throughout her golden era [xxcut line (and when the Sweet Inspirations themselves weren't on the record, often it would be former members of the group taking their place)]: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] The last day of sessions for Aretha Arrives was July the twenty-third, 1967. And as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", that was the day that the Detroit riots started. To recap briefly, that was four days of rioting started because of a history of racist policing, made worse by those same racist police overreacting to the initial protests. By the end of those four days, the National Guard, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 101st Airborne from Clarksville were all called in to deal with the violence, which left forty-three dead (of whom thirty-three were Black and only one was a police officer), 1,189 people were injured, and over 7,200 arrested, almost all of them Black. Those days in July would be a turning point for almost every musician based in Detroit. In particular, the police had murdered three members of the soul group the Dramatics, in a massacre of which the author John Hersey, who had been asked by President Johnson to be part of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders but had decided that would compromise his impartiality and did an independent journalistic investigation, said "The episode contained all the mythic themes of racial strife in the United States: the arm of the law taking the law into its own hands; interracial sex; the subtle poison of racist thinking by “decent” men who deny they are racists; the societal limbo into which, ever since slavery, so many young black men have been driven by our country; ambiguous justice in the courts; and the devastation in both black and white human lives that follows in the wake of violence as surely as ruinous and indiscriminate flood after torrents" But these were also the events that radicalised the MC5 -- the group had been playing a gig as Tim Buckley's support act when the rioting started, and guitarist Wayne Kramer decided afterwards to get stoned and watch the fires burning down the city through a telescope -- which police mistook for a rifle, leading to the National Guard knocking down Kramer's door. The MC5 would later cover "The Motor City is Burning", John Lee Hooker's song about the events: [Excerpt: The MC5, "The Motor City is Burning"] It would also be a turning point for Motown, too, in ways we'll talk about in a few future episodes.  And it was a political turning point too -- Michigan Governor George Romney, a liberal Republican (at a time when such people existed) had been the favourite for the Republican Presidential candidacy when he'd entered the race in December 1966, but as racial tensions ramped up in Detroit during the early months of 1967 he'd started trailing Richard Nixon, a man who was consciously stoking racists' fears. President Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, who was at that point still considering standing for re-election, made sure to make it clear to everyone during the riots that the decision to call in the National Guard had been made at the State level, by Romney, rather than at the Federal level.  That wasn't the only thing that removed the possibility of a Romney presidency, but it was a big part of the collapse of his campaign, and the, as it turned out, irrevocable turn towards right-authoritarianism that the party took with Nixon's Southern Strategy. Of course, Aretha Franklin had little way of knowing what was to come and how the riots would change the city and the country over the following decades. What she was primarily concerned about was the safety of her father, and to a lesser extent that of her sister-in-law Earline who was staying with him. Aretha, Carolyn, and Erma all tried to keep in constant touch with their father while they were out of town, and Aretha even talked about hiring private detectives to travel to Detroit, find her father, and get him out of the city to safety. But as her brother Cecil pointed out, he was probably the single most loved man among Black people in Detroit, and was unlikely to be harmed by the rioters, while he was too famous for the police to kill with impunity. Reverend Franklin had been having a stressful time anyway -- he had recently been fined for tax evasion, an action he was convinced the IRS had taken because of his friendship with Dr King and his role in the civil rights movement -- and according to Cecil "Aretha begged Daddy to move out of the city entirely. She wanted him to find another congregation in California, where he was especially popular—or at least move out to the suburbs. But he wouldn't budge. He said that, more than ever, he was needed to point out the root causes of the riots—the economic inequality, the pervasive racism in civic institutions, the woefully inadequate schools in inner-city Detroit, and the wholesale destruction of our neighborhoods by urban renewal. Some ministers fled the city, but not our father. The horror of what happened only recommitted him. He would not abandon his political agenda." To make things worse, Aretha was worried about her father in other ways -- as her marriage to Ted White was starting to disintegrate, she was looking to her father for guidance, and actually wanted him to take over her management. Eventually, Ruth Bowen, her booking agent, persuaded her brother Cecil that this was a job he could do, and that she would teach him everything he needed to know about the music business. She started training him up while Aretha was still married to White, in the expectation that that marriage couldn't last. Jerry Wexler, who only a few months earlier had been seeing Ted White as an ally in getting "product" from Franklin, had now changed his tune -- partly because the sale of Atlantic had gone through in the meantime. He later said “Sometimes she'd call me at night, and, in that barely audible little-girl voice of hers, she'd tell me that she wasn't sure she could go on. She always spoke in generalities. She never mentioned her husband, never gave me specifics of who was doing what to whom. And of course I knew better than to ask. She just said that she was tired of dealing with so much. My heart went out to her. She was a woman who suffered silently. She held so much in. I'd tell her to take as much time off as she needed. We had a lot of songs in the can that we could release without new material. ‘Oh, no, Jerry,' she'd say. ‘I can't stop recording. I've written some new songs, Carolyn's written some new songs. We gotta get in there and cut 'em.' ‘Are you sure?' I'd ask. ‘Positive,' she'd say. I'd set up the dates and typically she wouldn't show up for the first or second sessions. Carolyn or Erma would call me to say, ‘Ree's under the weather.' That was tough because we'd have asked people like Joe South and Bobby Womack to play on the sessions. Then I'd reschedule in the hopes she'd show." That third album she recorded in 1967, Lady Soul, was possibly her greatest achievement. The opening track, and second single, "Chain of Fools", released in November, was written by Don Covay -- or at least it's credited as having been written by Covay. There's a gospel record that came out around the same time on a very small label based in Houston -- "Pains of Life" by Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio: [Excerpt: Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio, "Pains of Life"] I've seen various claims online that that record came out shortly *before* "Chain of Fools", but I can't find any definitive evidence one way or the other -- it was on such a small label that release dates aren't available anywhere. Given that the B-side, which I haven't been able to track down online, is called "Wait Until the Midnight Hour", my guess is that rather than this being a case of Don Covay stealing the melody from an obscure gospel record he'd have had little chance to hear, it's the gospel record rewriting a then-current hit to be about religion, but I thought it worth mentioning. The song was actually written by Covay after Jerry Wexler asked him to come up with some songs for Otis Redding, but Wexler, after hearing it, decided it was better suited to Franklin, who gave an astonishing performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] Arif Mardin, the arranger of the album, said of that track “I was listed as the arranger of ‘Chain of Fools,' but I can't take credit. Aretha walked into the studio with the chart fully formed inside her head. The arrangement is based around the harmony vocals provided by Carolyn and Erma. To add heft, the Sweet Inspirations joined in. The vision of the song is entirely Aretha's.” According to Wexler, that's not *quite* true -- according to him, Joe South came up with the guitar part that makes up the intro, and he also said that when he played what he thought was the finished track to Ellie Greenwich, she came up with another vocal line for the backing vocals, which she overdubbed. But the core of the record's sound is definitely pure Aretha -- and Carolyn Franklin said that there was a reason for that. As she said later “Aretha didn't write ‘Chain,' but she might as well have. It was her story. When we were in the studio putting on the backgrounds with Ree doing lead, I knew she was singing about Ted. Listen to the lyrics talking about how for five long years she thought he was her man. Then she found out she was nothing but a link in the chain. Then she sings that her father told her to come on home. Well, he did. She sings about how her doctor said to take it easy. Well, he did too. She was drinking so much we thought she was on the verge of a breakdown. The line that slew me, though, was the one that said how one of these mornings the chain is gonna break but until then she'll take all she can take. That summed it up. Ree knew damn well that this man had been doggin' her since Jump Street. But somehow she held on and pushed it to the breaking point." [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] That made number one on the R&B charts, and number two on the hot one hundred, kept from the top by "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and his Playboy Band -- a record that very few people would say has stood the test of time as well. The other most memorable track on the album was the one chosen as the first single, released in September. As Carole King told the story, she and Gerry Goffin were feeling like their career was in a slump. While they had had a huge run of hits in the early sixties through 1965, they had only had two new hits in 1966 -- "Goin' Back" for Dusty Springfield and "Don't Bring Me Down" for the Animals, and neither of those were anything like as massive as their previous hits. And up to that point in 1967, they'd only had one -- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for the Monkees. They had managed to place several songs on Monkees albums and the TV show as well, so they weren't going to starve, but the rise of self-contained bands that were starting to dominate the charts, and Phil Spector's temporary retirement, meant there simply wasn't the opportunity for them to place material that there had been. They were also getting sick of travelling to the West Coast all the time, because as their children were growing slightly older they didn't want to disrupt their lives in New York, and were thinking of approaching some of the New York based labels and seeing if they needed songs. They were particularly considering Atlantic, because soul was more open to outside songwriters than other genres. As it happened, though, they didn't have to approach Atlantic, because Atlantic approached them. They were walking down Broadway when a limousine pulled up, and Jerry Wexler stuck his head out of the window. He'd come up with a good title that he wanted to use for a song for Aretha, would they be interested in writing a song called "Natural Woman"? They said of course they would, and Wexler drove off. They wrote the song that night, and King recorded a demo the next morning: [Excerpt: Carole King, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (demo)"] They gave Wexler a co-writing credit because he had suggested the title.  King later wrote in her autobiography "Hearing Aretha's performance of “Natural Woman” for the first time, I experienced a rare speechless moment. To this day I can't convey how I felt in mere words. Anyone who had written a song in 1967 hoping it would be performed by a singer who could take it to the highest level of excellence, emotional connection, and public exposure would surely have wanted that singer to be Aretha Franklin." She went on to say "But a recording that moves people is never just about the artist and the songwriters. It's about people like Jerry and Ahmet, who matched the songwriters with a great title and a gifted artist; Arif Mardin, whose magnificent orchestral arrangement deserves the place it will forever occupy in popular music history; Tom Dowd, whose engineering skills captured the magic of this memorable musical moment for posterity; and the musicians in the rhythm section, the orchestral players, and the vocal contributions of the background singers—among them the unforgettable “Ah-oo!” after the first line of the verse. And the promotion and marketing people helped this song reach more people than it might have without them." And that's correct -- unlike "Chain of Fools", this time Franklin did let Arif Mardin do most of the arrangement work -- though she came up with the piano part that Spooner Oldham plays on the record. Mardin said that because of the song's hymn-like feel they wanted to go for a more traditional written arrangement. He said "She loved the song to the point where she said she wanted to concentrate on the vocal and vocal alone. I had written a string chart and horn chart to augment the chorus and hired Ralph Burns to conduct. After just a couple of takes, we had it. That's when Ralph turned to me with wonder in his eyes. Ralph was one of the most celebrated arrangers of the modern era. He had done ‘Early Autumn' for Woody Herman and Stan Getz, and ‘Georgia on My Mind' for Ray Charles. He'd worked with everyone. ‘This woman comes from another planet' was all Ralph said. ‘She's just here visiting.'” [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"] By this point there was a well-functioning team making Franklin's records -- while the production credits would vary over the years, they were all essentially co-productions by the team of Franklin, Wexler, Mardin and Dowd, all collaborating and working together with a more-or-less unified purpose, and the backing was always by the same handful of session musicians and some combination of the Sweet Inspirations and Aretha's sisters. That didn't mean that occasional guests couldn't get involved -- as we discussed in the Cream episode, Eric Clapton played guitar on "Good to Me as I am to You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Good to Me as I am to You"] Though that was one of the rare occasions on one of these records where something was overdubbed. Clapton apparently messed up the guitar part when playing behind Franklin, because he was too intimidated by playing with her, and came back the next day to redo his part without her in the studio. At this point, Aretha was at the height of her fame. Just before the final batch of album sessions began she appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and she was making regular TV appearances, like one on the Mike Douglas Show where she duetted with Frankie Valli on "That's Life": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin and Frankie Valli, "That's Life"] But also, as Wexler said “Her career was kicking into high gear. Contending and resolving both the professional and personal challenges were too much. She didn't think she could do both, and I didn't blame her. Few people could. So she let the personal slide and concentrated on the professional. " Her concert promoter Ruth Bowen said of this time "Her father and Dr. King were putting pressure on her to sing everywhere, and she felt obligated. The record company was also screaming for more product. And I had a mountain of offers on my desk that kept getting higher with every passing hour. They wanted her in Europe. They wanted her in Latin America. They wanted her in every major venue in the U.S. TV was calling. She was being asked to do guest appearances on every show from Carol Burnett to Andy Williams to the Hollywood Palace. She wanted to do them all and she wanted to do none of them. She wanted to do them all because she's an entertainer who burns with ambition. She wanted to do none of them because she was emotionally drained. She needed to go away and renew her strength. I told her that at least a dozen times. She said she would, but she didn't listen to me." The pressures from her father and Dr King are a recurring motif in interviews with people about this period. Franklin was always a very political person, and would throughout her life volunteer time and money to liberal political causes and to the Democratic Party, but this was the height of her activism -- the Civil Rights movement was trying to capitalise on the gains it had made in the previous couple of years, and celebrity fundraisers and performances at rallies were an important way to do that. And at this point there were few bigger celebrities in America than Aretha Franklin. At a concert in her home town of Detroit on February the sixteenth, 1968, the Mayor declared the day Aretha Franklin Day. At the same show, Billboard, Record World *and* Cash Box magazines all presented her with plaques for being Female Vocalist of the Year. And Dr. King travelled up to be at the show and congratulate her publicly for all her work with his organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Backstage at that show, Dr. King talked to Aretha's father, Reverend Franklin, about what he believed would be the next big battle -- a strike in Memphis: [Excerpt, Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech" -- "And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right."] The strike in question was the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike which had started a few days before.  The struggle for Black labour rights was an integral part of the civil rights movement, and while it's not told that way in the sanitised version of the story that's made it into popular culture, the movement led by King was as much about economic justice as social justice -- King was a democratic socialist, and believed that economic oppression was both an effect of and cause of other forms of racial oppression, and that the rights of Black workers needed to be fought for. In 1967 he had set up a new organisation, the Poor People's Campaign, which was set to march on Washington to demand a program that included full employment, a guaranteed income -- King was strongly influenced in his later years by the ideas of Henry George, the proponent of a universal basic income based on land value tax -- the annual building of half a million affordable homes, and an end to the war in Vietnam. This was King's main focus in early 1968, and he saw the sanitation workers' strike as a major part of this campaign. Memphis was one of the most oppressive cities in the country, and its largely Black workforce of sanitation workers had been trying for most of the 1960s to unionise, and strike-breakers had been called in to stop them, and many of them had been fired by their white supervisors with no notice. They were working in unsafe conditions, for utterly inadequate wages, and the city government were ardent segregationists. After two workers had died on the first of February from using unsafe equipment, the union demanded changes -- safer working conditions, better wages, and recognition of the union. The city council refused, and almost all the sanitation workers stayed home and stopped work. After a few days, the council relented and agreed to their terms, but the Mayor, Henry Loeb, an ardent white supremacist who had stood on a platform of opposing desegregation, and who had previously been the Public Works Commissioner who had put these unsafe conditions in place, refused to listen. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one who could recognise the union, and he wouldn't. The workers continued their strike, marching holding signs that simply read "I am a Man": [Excerpt: Stevie Wonder, "Blowing in the Wind"] The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP had been involved in organising support for the strikes from an early stage, and King visited Memphis many times. Much of the time he spent visiting there was spent negotiating with a group of more militant activists, who called themselves The Invaders and weren't completely convinced by King's nonviolent approach -- they believed that violence and rioting got more attention than non-violent protests. King explained to them that while he had been persuaded by Gandhi's writings of the moral case for nonviolent protest, he was also persuaded that it was pragmatically necessary -- asking the young men "how many guns do we have and how many guns do they have?", and pointing out as he often did that when it comes to violence a minority can't win against an armed majority. Rev Franklin went down to Memphis on the twenty-eighth of March to speak at a rally Dr. King was holding, but as it turned out the rally was cancelled -- the pre-rally march had got out of hand, with some people smashing windows, and Memphis police had, like the police in Detroit the previous year, violently overreacted, clubbing and gassing protestors and shooting and killing one unarmed teenage boy, Larry Payne. The day after Payne's funeral, Dr King was back in Memphis, though this time Rev Franklin was not with him. On April the third, he gave a speech which became known as the "Mountaintop Speech", in which he talked about the threats that had been made to his life: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech": “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."] The next day, Martin Luther King was shot dead. James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, pled guilty to the murder, and the evidence against him seems overwhelming from what I've read, but the King family have always claimed that the murder was part of a larger conspiracy and that Ray was not the gunman. Aretha was obviously distraught, and she attended the funeral, as did almost every other prominent Black public figure. James Baldwin wrote of the funeral: "In the pew directly before me sat Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis, Eartha Kitt—covered in black, looking like a lost, ten-year-old girl—and Sidney Poitier, in the same pew, or nearby. Marlon saw me, and nodded. The atmosphere was black, with a tension indescribable—as though something, perhaps the heavens, perhaps the earth, might crack. Everyone sat very still. The actual service sort of washed over me, in waves. It wasn't that it seemed unreal; it was the most real church service I've ever sat through in my life, or ever hope to sit through; but I have a childhood hangover thing about not weeping in public, and I was concentrating on holding myself together. I did not want to weep for Martin, tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and I could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep I would not be able to stop. There was more than enough to weep for, if one was to weep—so many of us, cut down, so soon. Medgar, Malcolm, Martin: and their widows, and their children. Reverend Ralph David Abernathy asked a certain sister to sing a song which Martin had loved—“Once more,” said Ralph David, “for Martin and for me,” and he sat down." Many articles and books on Aretha Franklin say that she sang at King's funeral. In fact she didn't, but there's a simple reason for the confusion. King's favourite song was the Thomas Dorsey gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", and indeed almost his last words were to ask a trumpet player, Ben Branch, if he would play the song at the rally he was going to be speaking at on the day of his death. At his request, Mahalia Jackson, his old friend, sang the song at his private funeral, which was not filmed, unlike the public part of the funeral that Baldwin described. Four months later, though, there was another public memorial for King, and Franklin did sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at that service, in front of King's weeping widow and children, and that performance *was* filmed, and gets conflated in people's memories with Jackson's unfilmed earlier performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord (at Martin Luther King Memorial)"] Four years later, she would sing that at Mahalia Jackson's funeral. Through all this, Franklin had been working on her next album, Aretha Now, the sessions for which started more or less as soon as the sessions for Lady Soul had finished. The album was, in fact, bookended by deaths that affected Aretha. Just as King died at the end of the sessions, the beginning came around the time of the death of Otis Redding -- the sessions were cancelled for a day while Wexler travelled to Georgia for Redding's funeral, which Franklin was too devastated to attend, and Wexler would later say that the extra emotion in her performances on the album came from her emotional pain at Redding's death. The lead single on the album, "Think", was written by Franklin and -- according to the credits anyway -- her husband Ted White, and is very much in the same style as "Respect", and became another of her most-loved hits: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Think"] But probably the song on Aretha Now that now resonates the most is one that Jerry Wexler tried to persuade her not to record, and was only released as a B-side. Indeed, "I Say a Little Prayer" was a song that had already once been a hit after being a reject.  Hal David, unlike Burt Bacharach, was a fairly political person and inspired by the protest song movement, and had been starting to incorporate his concerns about the political situation and the Vietnam War into his lyrics -- though as with many such writers, he did it in much less specific ways than a Phil Ochs or a Bob Dylan. This had started with "What the World Needs Now is Love", a song Bacharach and David had written for Jackie DeShannon in 1965: [Excerpt: Jackie DeShannon, "What the "World Needs Now is Love"] But he'd become much more overtly political for "The Windows of the World", a song they wrote for Dionne Warwick. Warwick has often said it's her favourite of her singles, but it wasn't a big hit -- Bacharach blamed himself for that, saying "Dionne recorded it as a single and I really blew it. I wrote a bad arrangement and the tempo was too fast, and I really regret making it the way I did because it's a good song." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "The Windows of the World"] For that album, Bacharach and David had written another track, "I Say a Little Prayer", which was not as explicitly political, but was intended by David to have an implicit anti-war message, much like other songs of the period like "Last Train to Clarksville". David had sons who were the right age to be drafted, and while it's never stated, "I Say a Little Prayer" was written from the perspective of a woman whose partner is away fighting in the war, but is still in her thoughts: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] The recording of Dionne Warwick's version was marked by stress. Bacharach had a particular way of writing music to tell the musicians the kind of feel he wanted for the part -- he'd write nonsense words above the stave, and tell the musicians to play the parts as if they were singing those words. The trumpet player hired for the session, Ernie Royal, got into a row with Bacharach about this unorthodox way of communicating musical feeling, and the track ended up taking ten takes (as opposed to the normal three for a Bacharach session), with Royal being replaced half-way through the session. Bacharach was never happy with the track even after all the work it had taken, and he fought to keep it from being released at all, saying the track was taken at too fast a tempo. It eventually came out as an album track nearly eighteen months after it was recorded -- an eternity in 1960s musical timescales -- and DJs started playing it almost as soon as it came out. Scepter records rushed out a single, over Bacharach's objections, but as he later said "One thing I love about the record business is how wrong I was. Disc jockeys all across the country started playing the track, and the song went to number four on the charts and then became the biggest hit Hal and I had ever written for Dionne." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Oddly, the B-side for Warwick's single, "Theme From the Valley of the Dolls" did even better, reaching number two. Almost as soon as the song was released as a single, Franklin started playing around with the song backstage, and in April 1968, right around the time of Dr. King's death, she recorded a version. Much as Burt Bacharach had been against releasing Dionne Warwick's version, Jerry Wexler was against Aretha even recording the song, saying later “I advised Aretha not to record it. I opposed it for two reasons. First, to cover a song only twelve weeks after the original reached the top of the charts was not smart business. You revisit such a hit eight months to a year later. That's standard practice. But more than that, Bacharach's melody, though lovely, was peculiarly suited to a lithe instrument like Dionne Warwick's—a light voice without the dark corners or emotional depths that define Aretha. Also, Hal David's lyric was also somewhat girlish and lacked the gravitas that Aretha required. “Aretha usually listened to me in the studio, but not this time. She had written a vocal arrangement for the Sweet Inspirations that was undoubtedly strong. Cissy Houston, Dionne's cousin, told me that Aretha was on the right track—she was seeing this song in a new way and had come up with a new groove. Cissy was on Aretha's side. Tommy Dowd and Arif were on Aretha's side. So I had no choice but to cave." It's quite possible that Wexler's objections made Franklin more, rather than less, determined to record the song. She regarded Warwick as a hated rival, as she did almost every prominent female singer of her generation and younger ones, and would undoubtedly have taken the implication that there was something that Warwick was simply better at than her to heart. [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Wexler realised as soon as he heard it in the studio that Franklin's version was great, and Bacharach agreed, telling Franklin's biographer David Ritz “As much as I like the original recording by Dionne, there's no doubt that Aretha's is a better record. She imbued the song with heavy soul and took it to a far deeper place. Hers is the definitive version.” -- which is surprising because Franklin's version simplifies some of Bacharach's more unusual chord voicings, something he often found extremely upsetting. Wexler still though thought there was no way the song would be a hit, and it's understandable that he thought that way. Not only had it only just been on the charts a few months earlier, but it was the kind of song that wouldn't normally be a hit at all, and certainly not in the kind of rhythmic soul music for which Franklin was known. Almost everything she ever recorded is in simple time signatures -- 4/4, waltz time, or 6/8 -- but this is a Bacharach song so it's staggeringly metrically irregular. Normally even with semi-complex things I'm usually good at figuring out how to break it down into bars, but here I actually had to purchase a copy of the sheet music in order to be sure I was right about what's going on. I'm going to count beats along with the record here so you can see what I mean. The verse has three bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and three more bars of 4/4, all repeated: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] While the chorus has a bar of 4/4, a bar of 3/4 but with a chord change half way through so it sounds like it's in two if you're paying attention to the harmonic changes, two bars of 4/4, another waltz-time bar sounding like it's in two, two bars of four, another bar of three sounding in two, a bar of four, then three more bars of four but the first of those is *written* as four but played as if it's in six-eight time (but you can keep the four/four pulse going if you're counting): [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] I don't expect you to have necessarily followed that in great detail, but the point should be clear -- this was not some straightforward dance song. Incidentally, that bar played as if it's six/eight was something Aretha introduced to make the song even more irregular than how Bacharach wrote it. And on top of *that* of course the lyrics mixed the secular and the sacred, something that was still taboo in popular music at that time -- this is only a couple of years after Capitol records had been genuinely unsure about putting out the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", and Franklin's gospel-inflected vocals made the religious connection even more obvious. But Franklin was insistent that the record go out as a single, and eventually it was released as the B-side to the far less impressive "The House That Jack Built". It became a double-sided hit, with the A-side making number two on the R&B chart and number seven on the Hot One Hundred, while "I Say a Little Prayer" made number three on the R&B chart and number ten overall. In the UK, "I Say a Little Prayer" made number four and became her biggest ever solo UK hit. It's now one of her most-remembered songs, while the A-side is largely forgotten: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] For much of the

•Bishop Walter Lee Hawkins One of gospel music's legendary artists, and beloved figures in contemporary Gospel Music. In over Thirty years of his career, he created one of the most prolific and outstanding catalogs of hit gospel recordings and published songs which include such great hits as: Marvelous, Going Up Yonder, Changed, Be Grateful, Thank You, He's That Kind Of Friend, Until I Found The Lord, Jesus Christ Is the Way, I'm Not The Same, Holy One, Follow Me and a multitude of others. •Walter Hawkins began singing with his family which expanded to his older brother Edwin Hawkins' choir.  In the early 1970's Walter left the Edwin Hawkins Singers to establish the Love Center Church in Oakland, California. • Rev. Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir had considerable success with the “Love Alive” series of recordings which sold over a million copies. •In 1990 the “Love Alive IV” recording hit #1 on the Billboard Gospel Album charts where it  remained for 33 weeks. •Bishop Walter Hawkins wrote, produced or collaborated on 116 hit songs which were listed on the Billboard Gospel Music charts. •Please send me an email sharing your thoughts about this show segment also if you have any suggestions of future guests you would like to hear on the show. Send an email to letstalk2gmg@gmail.com •You may also “like” and share the podcast episode; or you may Subscribe to be alerted when the newest show is published. •NEW RADIO SHOW ON INTERNET RADIO STATION WMRM-DB SATURDAY MORNING 9:00 AM CST / 10:00 AM EST •The Radio show can be heard anywhere in the World! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

Contemporary gospel is the genre of music that Celeb Savant, Barret Edelstein is focusing on in this episode of the podcast. Barret spoke with American Gospel singer and songwriter, Lena Byrd Miles. Lena explains how she started performing at the age of 3 at her grandfather's church, and how her journey led her from performing with Edwin Hawkins for 10 years, to her current solo success! Website - www.lenabyrdmiles.com Instagram - @lenabyrdmiles Facebook - @TheLenaByrdMiles Twitter - @lenabyrdmiles

Edwin Hawkins and the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choir send the live audience home with a rousing “None But the Righteous.”

Pastor Ron Thompson sang with Edwin Hawkins in the Laney Junior College choir, where they both attended school. Pastor Ron talks about the amazing talent they grew up with, in the Oakland area, and the tradition of “midnight musicals” in the COGIC church. He describes how he was able to navigate his role as a husband, kids, college student, and a full-time job at General Motors while touring with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and reflects on what prompted his ultimate decision to leave the Edwin Hawkins tour. He talks about The Holy Spirit as an integral part of the choir's DNA, and how The Holy Spirit made every performance a ministry.Highlights:Ron meets Edwin during his studies at Laney Community College;Edwin asks Ron to join the Hebrew Boys, and later the Northern California Youth Choir:Ron misses the original recording, due to his work schedule at General Motors:The success of “Oh Happy Day” inspires GM to give Ronald time off to tour with the choir:The. Hebrew Boys record their album while on tour with the Edwin Hawkins singers, in New York: and“Oh Happy Day” touches the hearts of people across denominational divides.

Gwendolyn Lee Mitchell is the youngest sister of Arva Campbell and one of the youngest members of The Northern California State Youth Choir, at the age of 14. Gwen talks about growing up in The Bay Area surrounded by the youth of Ephesians Church of God In Christ. She describes being on tour as a family affair, the many siblings who were part of the choir, and the parents who chaperoned when they toured. She shares her favorite songs on the album and how this music became an important part of who she is today.Highlights:A shy Gwen is invited into what would become The Edwin Hawkins Singers, after simply singing the scales;Ed's arrangements of gospel music really spoke to her as a singer;Gwen performs at the choir's first big concert at the University of California Berkeley's Greek Theatre, with Cannonball Adderley and Nina Simone;Gwen performs at Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Gardens, flying in an airplane for the first time, and meeting celebrities like Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and José Feliciano; andGwen stops touring with the choir to turn her focus back to finishing high school.In the next episode, meet Pastor Ronald Thompson, a classmate of Edwin Hawkins and another voice in the choir.

Diane Williams, cousin of Co-Host, Clara Williams shares a story that is part of the motivating force behind the creation of this podcast. Diane talks about growing up in the Church of God In Christ, with a family who loved gospel music. She shares her journey from shame to self-love, after becoming a pregnant teen. She talks about the people who influenced the music of that era and celebrates how singing in the choir healed her life.Highlights:Just after high school, a young Diane becomes pregnant and is shunned and isolated for her “sin.”Shortly after the birth of her son, Diane is disappointed because she could not participate in the first national tour with the Edwin Hawkins singers; Diane takes cousin Clara's spot on the second tour, when Clara decides to go to college; andDiane discovers ministry and healing through song. In the next episode, Gwendolyn Lee Mitchell shares her experience as one of the youngest members of the choir.

Donald Casimere was a member of the choir at Ephesians Church of God In Christ, when Edwin Hawkins was both the church organist and choir director. He shares his experience as a baritone-bass on the original recording of the album, “Let Us Go Into The House of The Lord” which included the recording “Oh Happy Day”. Donald describes Edwin's ability to bring out the best in every voice in the choir. He provides a unique perspective on the era. He received a very low draft lottery number and chose to enlist in US Air Force at the height of the Vietnam War when “Oh Happy Day” became a hit. He reveals the impact of being a young, black man from Berkeley, who was placed in the jungle of Thailand during a time of war, as a testimony to his faith.Highlights:Donald joins the choir, along with his sister Bonita and brother, Ronald. They perform on the original recording of the ‘Oh Happy Day” album and reflects upon the presence of the Holy Spirit during the recording;Donald graduates Berkeley High School and enrolls in the Police academy, then is suddenly decides to enlist after receiving a low draft lottery number;Donald is with a group of Black GI's in a remote outpost in Thailand when “Oh Happy Day' is played on the radio; andEdwin's music represents a new sound in gospel music. Church leaders are divided in their approval, with the debate of “holy vs worldly music”.In the next episode, Diane Williams talks about the impact of growing up in a strict Pentecostal household, becoming a teenage mother, and being ostracized by her family as the biggest challenge of her life. A last-minute opportunity to join the choir on tour came up after her son was born. And with the support from her mother after Ed said she could tour with the group her mission to be an advocate for young girls who find themselves in similar situations she went through.

Clara Williams recalls the moment that catapulted “Oh Happy Day” onto the radio waves and into the hearts of people across the country. She chronicles the series of events, surprising changes and tense moments that followed. Clara speaks of coming of age on a national tour, shortly after the death of her mother - and some of the most treasured performers who emerged during this era.Highlights:How “Oh Happy Day” becomes an overnight sensation, and peer and community reaction that was beyond anything they ever imagined;A special business meeting is called to change the name to the Edwin Hawkins singers - and whether the Northern California Youth Choir would continue to exist;.Clara challenges Edwin for making deals and taking action on his own, without informing the choir, but decides to stay with the Edwin Hawkins Singers; andPerforming with The Beach Boys, and performing at rock festivals with everyone from Diana Ross and The Jackson Five.In the next episode, receive a lesson in San Francisco/Oakland gospel music history from Kathy Gaines.

Clara Williams reflects on growing up in West Oakland, California and attending Berkeley High School. Her father started his ministry as an associate ordained minister at Ephesians Church of God In Christ (COGIC) - known for its flagship status as one of the largest pentecostal churches in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area during the early sixties. Clara shares her experiences as a “PK” (preacher's kid) when her father “accepted the call” and became a full-time pastor at the “Power House”, COGIC, while maintaining a full-time job with the City of Berkeley. She admires her Dad, who subsequently received a doctorate in Divinity. Clara shares the strong community values she learned during her childhood, In speaking of the Crystalettes, a family social club that her parents and other African American families created to provide a wholesome supportive space for their families. Clara recalls the origins of the Northern California State Youth Choir of the Church of God in Christ, started by bay area gospel singer celebrities, Edwin Hawkins and Betty Watson. Clara recounts the gospel scene in the Bay Area and the prominent gospel groups during the 1960s. She remembers her rich experience, and describes the “Oh Happy Day” recording and performances as a testimony she wants to share.Highlights:In 1966, Clara discovers the Northern California Youth Choir, and sees an opportunity to have additional church activities outside of her father's church;The choir's recording project to sell their own music, begins as a fundraiser to finance a trip to an east coast COGIC youth conference, becomes an unexpected mega billboard hit;Dorothy Morrison, a member of Clara's church, is selected as the lead singer, and “Oh Happy Day” is recorded in 1968;Despite the excitement of the recording, Clara's family faces the challenge of her mother's diagnosis of a life long heart condition she could no longer endure without surgical intervention in 1968, and she is worried that her mother may not survive the new surgical procedures; andIn the next episode, Clara's story continues and “Oh Happy Day” becomes an overnight success.

•Edwin Hawkins was a musician, songwriter, multi award winning recording artist, composer and arranger. He was one of the originators of the Urban Contemporary Gospel sound. Founder of the Edwin Hawkins Singers & Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar. •Edwin was one of 8 children born in Oakland, California who as a child the family sang every Sunday at many churches in the area. At the age of 7 he became the pianist for the family group and by the age of 17 began travelling as a musician for other ministries. •Edwin and Betty Watson co-founded the Northern California State Youth Choir in 1967 and for a fund raiser recorded a 2-track record which included Edwin's arrangement of the Hymn “Oh Happy Day”. That arrangement launched the career of Edwin, the Youth choir and the beginning of the Edwin Hawkins Singers to worldwide acclaim. •Please send me an email sharing your thoughts about this show segment also if you have any suggestions of future guests you would like to hear on the show. Send an email to letstalk2gmg@gmail.com •You may also “like” and share the podcast episode; or you may Subscribe to be alerted when the newest show is published. NEW RADIO SHOW ON INTERNET RADIO STATION WMRM-DB SATURDAY MORNING 9:00 AM CST --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

Episode 86 Merry Moog 2022 Vintage Holiday Music Performed on the Moog and other Synthesizers Playlist Frank Luther with Zora Layman, “Christmas Bells” from Christmas In Song (1939 Decca). This is the original 78 RPM release featuring a vocal quartet, bells, and music played on the Hammond Novachord. 0:38 Frank Luther with Zora Layman, “Christmas Day in the Morning” from Christmas In Song (1958 Vocalion). This is a reissue of the 1939 release featuring a vocal quartet, Zora Layman, bells, and music played on the Hammond Novachord. The stereo is simulated. There are some nice moments for the Novachord on this record. 3:12 Paul Tanner, “Holiday on Saturn” from Music for Heavenly Bodies (1958 Omega). This rare disc features Tanner playing the Electro-theremin, an imitation of the Theremin that was a box with an audio oscillator inside and a rotary dial to control the pitch. Tanner, a renown studio musician and trombone player, later provided the sound of the Electro-theremin on the Beach Boys hit Good Vibrations (1966). 4:16 Greg Lake, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, “I Believe In Father Christmas” from I Believe in Father Christmas (1995 Rhino). Produced by Keith Olsen; written by Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield; vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Greg Lake; Drums, Percussion, Carl Palmer; Hammond organ, Piano, Moog Synthesizer, Keith Emerson. This is the original version released in 1975 with a choir and Moog Modular. It differs significantly from the stripped-down mix, also included on this CD, originally appearing on Works Vol. 2 in 1977 and then later in 1994. Rhino Records was kind enough to package all of ELP's X-Mas related tunes onto a CD EP in 1995, from which this version comes. 3:34 Keith Emerson, “Troika (From Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite)” from The Christmas Album (1995 Rhino). This is the Prokofiev composition that Greg Lake adapted into “I Believe in Father Christmas.” Later on, Emerson released this interpretation of the Prokofiev piece on The Christmas Album” that appeared in the US in 1995. It doesn't appear on the original UK version in 1988. And again, this is taken from the nifty holiday CD EP also released in 1995 by Rhino. This album was made with instruments from Korg, Ensoniq, Alesis, and Opcode. 4:19 Jean Jacques Perrey and Sy Mann, “Jingle Bells” from Switched on Santa (1970 Pickwick). Moog Modular Synthesizer, Sy Mann; Moog Modular Synthesizer Programmed by, Jean-Jacques Perrey. 1:44 Douglas Leedy, “The Coventry Carol” from A Very Merry Electric Christmas to You (1970 Capitol). Moog Modular Synthesizer and Buchla Synthesizer. 4:46 Jean Jacques Perrey and Sy Mann, “Christmas Bells” from Switched on Santa (1970 Pickwick). Moog Modular Synthesizer, Sy Mann; Moog Modular Synthesizer Programmed by, Jean-Jacques Perrey. 1:52 Don Voegeli, “Chanukah” from Holiday & Seasonal Music (1977 EMI). Produced at the Electrosonic Studio of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Don wrote the original synthesized version of the NPR “All Things Considered” theme. It was created in his Electronic Studio of the University of Wisconsin. He used a Moog Modular Synthesizer plus a Fender Rhodes, Polymoog, and ARP string synthesizer and 16-track recorder. 1:02 Joseph Byrd, “Christmas in the Morning” from A Christmas Yet to Come (1975 Takoma). ARP 2600 Synthesizer with an Oberheim Expander Module. 1:34 Douglas Leedy, “Good King Wenceslas” from A Very Merry Electric Christmas to You (1970 Capitol). Moog Modular Synthesizer and Buchla Synthesizer. Leedy was an American composer, performer and music scholar. He founded the electronic music studio at UCLA where he had access to both Moog Modular and Buchla synthesizers, and it was during this period from about 1969-71 that he was commissioned to create several albums of electronic music. His training as a minimalist and experimental composer always flavored his music with unexpected sounds and patterns. 3:05 Moog Machine, “O Holy Night” from Christmas Becomes Electric (1970 Columbia). Moog Modular Synthesizer. 2:43 Armen Ra (Armen Hovanesian), “O Come All Ye Faithful” from Theremin Christmas (2018 Sungod). Moog Etherwave Pro Theremin. Armen Ra is an American artist and performer of Iranian-Armenian descent. He plays Theremin. His music fuses Armenian folk music with modern instrumentation, along with melodic lounge standards and classical arias. 4:43 Don Voegeli, “Carol of the Drum” from Holiday & Seasonal Music (1977 EMI). Produced at the Electrosonic Studio of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. 1:01 Philippe Renaux, “Noël Blanc” (“White Christmas”) from We Wish You A Cosmic Christmas (1977 Sinus). Belgium. Minimoog, Arp Axe, Arp Soloist, EMS Synthesizer, Stringman Crumar, Fender Rhodes, Electronic Drums. 3:21 Jean Jacques Perrey and Sy Mann, “Tijuana Christmas” from Switched on Santa (1970 Pickwick). Moog Modular Synthesizer, Sy Mann; Moog Modular Synthesizer Programmed by, Jean-Jacques Perrey. 1:58 Joseph Byrd, “Carol of the Bells” from A Christmas Yet to Come (1975 Takoma). ARP 2600 Synthesizer with an Oberheim Expander Module. 1:12 Андрій Кок (Andriy Kok), “Небо І Земля” (“Heaven and Earth”) from Різдво На Галичині. Колядки (Christmas in Galicia. Christmas carols) (2006 Ліда). Folk singer, accordion and synth player Andriy Kok has recorded many albums of Ukrainian folk music in addition to a number of holiday songs and carols. 5:00 Douglas Leedy, “In Dulci Jubilo” from A Very Merry Electric Christmas to You (1970 Capitol). Moog Modular Synthesizer and Buchla Synthesizer. 1:14 Bernie Krause, Philip Aaberg, “Deck the Halls” from A Wild Christmas (1994 Etherean Music ). This delightful cassette is from Bernie Krause, known for his Moog explorations with Paul Beaver back in the day. He later turned his attention to audio ecology and the recording of nature sounds, particularly of animals. This very special Holiday recording is composed entirely of animal sounds. Some you'll recognize as the natural animal voices themselves. Others may sound like instruments, but they are actually digitally transformed animal sounds. Wild Sanctuary Productions invites you to enjoy a truly unique celebration of both the wild kingdom and Holiday Spirit. All animal and ambient sounds recorded on location worldwide by Bernie Krause with the exception of the fish (courtesy of U.S. Navy). Animal samples, Bernie Krause and Phil Aaberg. Arrangements, new materials, all keyboards (K 2000/Emulator III) Phil Aaberg. 8:12 The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Freeman, and The Chicago Synthesizer-Rhythm Ensemble, John Tatgenhorst, “The Little Drummer Boy” from Turned On Christmas (1985 Columbia). Conductor, Paul Freeman; synthesizers, The Chicago Synthesizer-Rhythm Ensemble; Orchestra, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Keyboards & Synthesizer Concepts: Ed Tossing; Electric Bass, Steve Rodby or Bob Lizik; Drums, Tom Tadke; Guitars, Ross Traut and Bill Ruppert; Percussion, Russ Knutson. 4:08 Montana Sextet, “Little Drummer Boy Jam” from Christmas Time Is Here (1987 Philly Sound Works). Arranged By, Conductor, Producer, Fender Rhodes, Piano, Cowbell, Shaker, Yamaha DX7 Synthesizer, Musser Vibraharp, Vincent Montana Jr.; Congas, Greg Peache Jarman; Guitar, Ronnie James; Snare Drum, Tenor And Bass Drum, Gene Leone. 8:46 Montana Sextet, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from Christmas Time Is Here (1987 Philly Sound Works). Arranged By, Conductor, Producer, Fender Rhodes, Piano, Cowbell, Shaker, Yamaha DX7 Synthesizer, Musser Vibraharp, Vincent Montana Jr.; Congas, Greg Peache Jarman; Guitar, Ronnie James; Snare Drum, Tenor and Bass Drum, Gene Leone. 4:56 Mannheim Steamroller, “Good King Wenceslas” from Christmas (1984 American Gramaphone). Arranged, conducted, produced by, Chip Davis; Drums, Percussion, Soloist Recorder, Black Oak Hammered Dulcimer, Soprano Dulcian, Crumhorn, Bells, Vocals, Dry Ice, Chip Davis; Lute, Bass, Eric Hansen; Baldwin SD-10 Synthesizer, Harpsichord, Clavichord, Toy Piano, Prophet 5 Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, Vocals, Bells, Jackson Berkey; Classical Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Ron Cooley; Flute, Willis Ann Ross; French Horn, David (High D) Kappy; Harp, Mary Walter; Oboe, Bobby Jenkins; Strings, Bill Ritchie, Grace Granata, Michael Strauss, Michelle Brill, Richard Altenbach, Richard Lohmann, Roxanne Adams, Wayne Anderson. 3:39 Don Voegeli, “Jingle Bells” long, short, and tag from Holiday & Seasonal Music (1977 EMI). Produced at the Electrosonic Studio of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. 1:56 Don Voegeli, “Lully, Lullay - The Coventry Carol” from Holiday & Seasonal Music (1977 EMI). Produced at the Electrosonic Studio of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. 1:01 Fossergrim, “Ave Maria” (2020 Bandcamp). Fossegrim is billed as “Dungeon Synth music from the Adirondack Mountains.” In Scandinavian folklore, Fossergrim is is described as an exceptionally talented fiddler. No fiddles here. I think Fossergrim is one Ian Nichols of Albany, New York. Check out his Bandcamp presence. 3:54 Phillip Fraser, “Rub A Dub Christmas” from Rub-A-Dub Christmas (1985 Tuff Gong). Jamaican reggae recording for the holidays. Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Bass, King Asher, Steely Johnson. 2:53 Phillip Fraser, “The Lord Will Provide” from Rub-A-Dub Christmas (1985 Tuff Gong). Jamaican reggae recording for the holidays. Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Bass, King Asher, Steely Johnson. There is some crazy synth material on this track. Despite it being recorded in 1985, it sounds quite analog for a synth. 3:17 Unconditional Loathing, “Carol, with the bells” from Holiday Mood (2018 Bandcamp). Every artist dreams of releasing an album of hit holiday songs that will surprise the world and bring great wealth. This is not that album. But it is remarkably noisy and dark. Check out Unconditional Loathing, from Fargo North Dakota, on Bandcamp. Self-described as “A footnote in the history of Midwestern noise that refuses to completely go away.” 1:51 The Smurfs, “Deck the Halls” from Merry Christmas With The Smurfs (1983 Dureco Benelux). This album is in English from the Netherlands. 2:17 Vatto Lofi, “Holiday Lofi” from A Merry Lofi Christmas EP (2021 Bandcamp). Providing a low-fidelity tune for the holidays, but I don't know if “lofi” refers to the low-fidelity sound that is currently a thing (and it does sound like that) or is the actual name of this Icelandic musician. 2:21 Rotary Connection, “Silent Night” from Peace (1968 Cadet Concept). I think this holiday album from the famed psychedelic soul ensemble was perhaps only their second album. Produced by Charles Stepney and Marshall Chess, I've included this track not only because it features some crazy electric guitar but also because Minnie Riperton's five-1/2-octave vocal range could effectively imitate a Theremin, which begins in this track around 1:30 into it. In an interview I once heard her say that one of her childhood fascinations was imitating that “science fiction stuff” with her voice. Interestingly, Charles Stepney also included a Moog synthesizer, used sparingly, on some Rotary Connection tracks, but I've heard none on this album. Co-producer Marshall Chess often added Theremin to Rotary songs but this is not one of them. It's pure Ripperton. The Rotary Connection vocalists: Bobby Simms, Jim Donlinger, Jim Nyeholt, Minnie Riperton, Mitch Aliota, Sidney Barnes, Tom Donlinger; The studio band, Leader, David Chausow; Bill Bradley, electronic effects; guitar, Bobby Christian; bass, Louis Satterfield; bass, Phil Upchurch; bass vocals, Chuck Barksdale. 3:52 Klaus Wunderlich, “Sleigh Ride” from Multi Orchestral Organ Sound (1982 Teldec). Wunderlich was a prolific musician who mastered the Hammond Organ. Occasionally, he performed with a synthesizer and this track comes from an album not of holiday music but of various favorites, performed in the style of the original artists. This is a Leroy Anderson song arranged in the Anderson style. The MOOS (Multi Orchestral Organ Sound) was produced by the Wersi organ company in Germany. This organ/synth/drum machine hybrid was also known as the Wersi Galad and play both synth and traditional organ sounds. There is a current musician advocate for this instrument in Florian Hutter (listen to the next track), of Germany. 3:11 Florian Hutter, “Frosty the Snowman” privately released (2022 No Label). Florian is a living master of the vintage Wersi Delta and Atlantis synthesizer/organ hybrids with a built-in rhythm box. In recent years he has begun to release his music on Spotify. This is taken from the first or second day of his Christmas Special 2022 during which he releases a new tune every day. I don't normally feature tracks recorded from YouTube, but this was too good to pass by and it fits with the vintage music played in the previous track by Wunderlich. Check him out. 2:34 Edwin Hawkins, “The Christmas Song” from The Edwin Hawkins Christmas Album (1985 Birthright). Produced when the Yamaha DX-7 became the top selling synthesizer on the planet, this is a great example of its tidy, digital sound. Richard Smallwood, keyboards, synthesizer; Edwin Hawkins, keyboards, synthesizer; Joel Smith, Drums and Fender bass; Kenneth Nash, percussion. Sounds like one or two Yamaha DX-7s. 3:57 Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本龍), “Father Christmas” from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (戦場のメ)(1983 Virgin). Music By, Composed By, Performer, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Our best wishes to Mr. Sakamoto who is suffering from Stage 4 cancer. In June he said, “Since I have made it this far in life, I hope to be able to make music until my last moment, like Bach and Debussy whom I adore.” 2:06 Bob Wehrman, John Bezjian and Dusty Wakeman, “Ring Christmas Bells” from Christmas Becomes Electric (1984 Tropical Records). Not be confused with an album by the same name by The Moog Machine in 1969. Unnamed synthesizer programmed and performed by Bob Wehrman and John Bezjian. From Marina Del Rey in California. 1:46 Hans Wurman, “Overture Miniature” from Electric Nutcracker (1976 Ovation). This Austrian composer made several remarkable, classically influenced Moog Modular albums from 1969 to 1976. This was one of his last big Moog projects and is difficult to find. 2:54 Hans Wurman, “Danse De La Fee-Dragee ( Sugar Plum Fairy)” from Electric Nutcracker (1976 Ovation). Moog Modular synthesizer, Hans Wurman. 1:33 Hans Wurman, “Danse Des Mirlitons (Flutes)” from Electric Nutcracker (1976 Ovation). Moog Modular synthesizer, Hans Wurman. 2:14 Keith Emerson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, “Nutrocker” (live) from Pictures at an Exhibition (1972 Cotillion). A fitting reworking of Tchaikovsky arranged by Kim Fowley and performed live, Newcastle City Hall, 26 March 1971. Hammond C3 and L100 organs, Moog modular synthesizer, Minimoog, Clavinet, Keith Emerson; bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, Greg Lake; drums, percussion, Carl Palmer. "Nut Rocker", a rock adaptation of The Nutcracker originally arranged by Kim Fowley and recorded by B. Bumble and the Stingers in 1962. 3:48 Richie Havens, “End of the Season” from Alarm Clock (1970 Stormy Forest). A melancholic reflection on life from Mr. Havens, totally synthesized on the Moog Modular by Bob Margoleff. 3:32 Bernie Krause, Philip Aaberg, “Feliz Navidad” from A Wild Christmas (1994 Etherean Music ). This delightful cassette is from Bernie Krause, known for his Moog explorations with Paul Beaver back in the day. All animal and ambient sounds recorded on location worldwide by Bernie Krause with the exception of the fish (courtesy of U.S. Navy). Animal samples, Bernie Krause and Phil Aaberg. Arrangements, new materials, all keyboards (Kurzweil 2000/Emulator III) Phil Aaberg. Percussion on Feliz Navidad performed by Ben Leinbach. 5:37 Opening background music: Jean Jacques Perrey and Sy Mann, “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” from Switched on Santa (1970 Pickwick). Moog Modular Synthesizer, Sy Mann; Moog Modular Synthesizer Programmed by Jean-Jacques Perrey. 2:16 Moog Machine, “Twelve Days Of Christmas” from Christmas Becomes Electric (1970 Columbia). Arranged by Alan Foust; Synthesizer Tuner, Norman Dolph; Moog Modular Synthesizer, Kenny Ascher. 3:55 Jean Jacques Perrey and Sy Mann, “Silent Night” from Switched on Santa (1970 Pickwick). Moog Modular Synthesizer, Sy Mann; Moog Modular Synthesizer Programmed by Jean-Jacques Perrey. 1:52 Opening and closing sequences voiced by Anne Benkovitz. Additional opening, closing, and other incidental music by Thom Holmes. See my companion blog that I write for the Bob Moog Foundation For additional notes, please see my blog, Noise and Notations.

I'll be playing your favorite musical family,siblings,and relatives including:The Jackson 5,The Osmonds,The Winans,The Clark Sisters,The Pointer Sisters,Walter & Edwin Hawkins,and The Isley Brothers.Plus Peebles and Cherelle,Gladys Knight & The Pips and more. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/samuel-wilsonjr/message

•Pastor Daryl Lynn Coley, Pastor, Musician, Songwriter, Solo Artist and given an affection name of “The Prince of Gospel” by his record label. Daryl had a unique quality of presenting Gospel music by incorporating Jazz inflections into his songs. His range was phenomenal and lyrics clear with powerful messages. •Daryl has a litany of music in his Discography which not only includes Gospel music but Jazz and his voice on a popular animation series “The Simpsons”. Daryl sang and recorded with many choirs, the late Nancy Wilson, Edwin Hawkins and was the musical director for Tramaine Hawkins when she began her solo career. •Darly was a featured vocalist with at the Boston POPS Orchestra where he shared his vocal background which he picked up from his Mother who also sang as a Lyric - Mezzo Soprano. In Daryl's own words there was all types of music in his home growing up which included Gospel, Classical and Jazz. •Please send me an email sharing your thoughts about this show segment also if you have any suggestions of future guests you would like to hear on the show. Send an email to letstalk2gmg@gmail.com •You may also “like” and share the podcast episode; or you may Subscribe to be alerted when the newest show is published. •NEW RADIO SHOW ON INTERNET RADIO STATION WMRM-DB SATURDAY MORNING 9:00 AM CST AND SATURDAY EVENING 5:00 PM CST --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

LOVED talking to Nona Brown about her recent Trip. SHe has such a wise view of life and So much talent The smooth and unconventional sound of San Francisco Bay Area native Nona Brown is “a breath of fresh air” according to her fans. From the sweet and silky sound of her voice to her piano playing, songwriting and producing, the Nona Brown impression is sure to be lasting. Nona recorded her first CD in 1997 entitled, I'll Sing My Song. In 2019, after writing music for years, she emerged with her sophomore release, Songs from my Journal Volume 1, ranking #14 and #21 on Billboard Gospel chart in weeks one and two! Nona's gospel music roots led to many wonderful collaboration opportunities such as working with Josh Groban as choir coordinator for his Northern California tour, guest vocalist and composer on three national recordings of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, guest vocalist at Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball and group member of gospel music legend, the late Edwin Hawkins and the New Edwin Hawkins Singers. With the success of Songs from my Journal Volume 1, Nona is excited to share Songs from my Journal Volume 2, scheduled for release on August 22nd. The project features some of the Bay Area's finest vocalists and musicians performing songs written by Nona. Nona's music career includes some amazing accomplishments – arranger and background vocalist on the 2022 GRAMMY Award winning Best Children's Album by Falu A Colorful World and 2022 Telly Award Winner for her “Black Lives Matter” music video co-written with Tony Saunders. As an active member of the music community, Nona previously served as San Francisco Chapter Board Governor, Vice President, and Black Music Collective (BMC) Ambassador before becoming the first black woman to be elected President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy. Nona Brown is a name to remember and a life to be inspired by.

As i close out Black Music Month,we're going to do Tributes:honoring our African American Musicians that have passed away:today,and down thru the years.Selections from:Michael Jackson,Prince,Luther Vandross,Marvin Gaye,Aretha Franklin,Minnie Riperton,Mary Wells,James Brown,Edwin Hawkins,Mahailia Jackson,Miles Davis,Tupac,Biggie,Manu Dibango and more. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/samuel-wilsonjr/message

The Harlem Cultural Festival was a music festival taking place in the same summer of 1969 as Woodstock, and its amazing line-up, and insight into how it happened, is finally presented, 52 years later. Movies about music festivals have a built-in appeal: if you like the kind of music featured, the festival film gives you a variety of different artists in that genre. The gold standard is still Monterey Pop, about the 1967 festival of that name. And of course, there's Woodstock, chronicling the famous gathering in 1969 that was seen as a kind of summing up of the rock and pop music then. Now, just last year, a film was released about a major music festival that took place the same summer when Woodstock was happening. It was the Harlem Cultural Festival, a free event that occurred at Mount Morris Park on six successive weekends from June to August of '69. This did not get very much attention. I, for one, had never heard of it. The film is called Summer of Soul, and my jaw dropped when I saw the list of performers. But first you need to know that Summer of Soul is also a record of a crucial time in the history of the Black community in America, and the production was put together by Ahmir Thompson, more popularly known as Questlove, a major author and producer, and one of the frontmen for the band The Roots, which is The Tonight Show band. Each weekend in the Harlem Cultural Festival highlighted a different type of Black American music. In the course of the film, we watch performances by B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Chambers Brothers, and David Ruffin, the lead singer for The Temptations who had just left that group to go solo. We see The Fifth Dimension performing there as well, and two of the members of that group talk about how excited they were to play in Harlem, because their sound was sometimes dismissed as “too white,” but the film showcases their stunning vocal mastery. The jazz portions include Herbie Mann, Abbey Lincoln, and Nina Simone. And a very interesting long middle section shows the strong influence of gospel on the Black music scene, with performances by The Staple Singers, The Edwin Hawkins singers with “Oh Happy Day,” and the Queen of Gospel, Mahalia Jackson. Interspersed with all the great music are clips and interviews profiling the social and political situation in Black America at that time. Dr. King had been murdered only the previous year, and there was a new militancy in the air. Civil rights and social justice were part of the festival, and we are shown a very young Jesse Jackson speaking to the audience about the need to continue the struggle for peace and justice. Interviews with artists and people involved in putting the festival on emphasize the strong sense of togetherness experienced at these events. In such an atmosphere of joy and hope, it is somewhat difficult for us now, over five decades later, not to feel some frustration at how much racism has continued as a political force in our country. But the people being interviewed caution us against despair. The love and solidarity, expressed through music and activism, is still alive today, as we see, for instance, in the Black Lives Matter movement. So why did it take so long for this film to be released? One of the sponsors of the festival, Maxwell House Coffee, filmed all the performances. But after being minimally aired on a couple of TV specials, the footage ended up sitting in a basement for fifty years until it was discovered by an archivist in 2004 who alerted others to take on the task of restoration. Now, thanks to them and to Questlove, this brilliant event has come to life again in Summer of Soul. You owe it to yourself t

Editor's Note: There is a change in audio at 35:40. Our special guests for this Thanksgiving episode are Bishop Robert Allen, who brings our sermon, Angela Allen, and Zaidrick, Valencia, and Wanda Hayes, who bring our music selections. Worship Leader: Rev. Emily Freeman Penfield Sermon: Bishop Robert Allen Organist: Andy Plummer Pianist: Zaidrick Hayes Choir: Lisa Russell Lowe, Clara Russell, Tommy Russell, Jr., Kenny Williamson Keith, Tina Hendrickson Guest Singers: Angela Allen, Wanda Hayes, Valencia Hayes   Songs: "Prelude in F Major" by J. S. Bach "Let All Things Now Living" (1966) by Katherine Davis "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" (1779) by Edward Perronet "Thank You Lord" (2008) by Edwin Hawkins, performed by Angela Allen and Zaidrick Hayes "How Great is Our God" (2004) by Chris Tomlin, performed by Angela Allen, Wanda Hayes, Valencia Hayes, and Zaidrick Hayes "Arioso on 'Thanks Be to Thee'" by Handel/Lamb "Rejoice the Lord is King" (1746) by Charles Wesley "God of Grace" by Paul Manz   CCLI 20178353 To donate to Woodlawn UMC, visit https://www.woodlawnbham.com/giving or use Venmo @woodlawnumc  

Brenton & Kristiana Cox are a husband and wife singing duo from Atlanta, Georgia. They both come from musical families and music is what brought them together. They met on the campus of Clark Atlanta University as music majors and have been inseparable ever since. Brenton is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and a licensed and ordained minister, Brenton is passionate about sacred storytelling and story linking and that passion has lead him to writing screenplays, stage plays, and content creator for television and social media. Kristiana is a native of Hartford, Connecticut. She is a fashion enthusiast turned stylist and is dedicated to helping her clients discover their style by building their confidence and broadening the way they view themselves. She has a blog called Dark Glitter and also enjoys acting. To date: Brenton & Kristiana have written and released several musical project. What they are most proud of, however, is the family they have created, which includes their their two beautiful children, Cameron and Landon Cox. Brenton & Kristiana are singers and songwriters. They are currently working on their New Gospel/Inspirational EP. But above all, Brenton & Kristiana are servants of the Lord and their common goal is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ inside and outside the church. Their philosophy for life and ministry can be summarized by an excerpt from the modern day psalmist Edwin Hawkins's song "Give Us This Day" - To Show someone who is lost and help them find their way, the way to truth and faith so they can be free. https://music.apple.com/us/album/flowers/1573907299

Brenton & Kristiana Cox are a husband and wife singing duo from Atlanta, Georgia. They both come from musical families and music is what brought them together. They met on the campus of Clark Atlanta University as music majors and have been inseparable ever since. Brenton is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and a licensed and ordained minister, Brenton is passionate about sacred storytelling and story linking and that passion has lead him to writing screenplays, stage plays, and content creator for television and social media. Kristiana is a native of Hartford, Connecticut. She is a fashion enthusiast turned stylist and is dedicated to helping her clients discover their style by building their confidence and broadening the way they view themselves. She has a blog called Dark Glitter and also enjoys acting. To date: Brenton & Kristiana have written and released several musical project. What they are most proud of, however, is the family they have created, which includes their their two beautiful children, Cameron and Landon Cox. Brenton & Kristiana are singers and songwriters. They are currently working on their New Gospel/Inspirational EP. But above all, Brenton & Kristiana are servants of the Lord and their common goal is to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ inside and outside the church. Their philosophy for life and ministry can be summarized by an excerpt from the modern day psalmist Edwin Hawkins's song "Give Us This Day" - To Show someone who is lost and help them find their way, the way to truth and faith so they can be free. https://music.apple.com/us/album/flowers/1573907299

Welcome to GLIDE Memorial Church’s “Tiny Celebrations,” the mini-podcast highlighting the inspirational words and music from our Sunday Celebration. In this episode The Glide Ensemble presents their rendition of Edwin Hawkins' "Let Us Go Into The House."Please support the music, the art, and the message of GLIDE Memorial Church. Please donate today. https://www.glide.org/igive/

Gospel recording artist Shontelle Norman Beatty shares with Lin. Woods how after singing for years with legends like Edwin Hawkins and jazz icon DeeDee Bridgewater, she finally has her own hit single on DARE Records, “Jesus Will Fix It.” Plus, growing up in Memphis as a COGIC pastor's kid, losing her brother,  Gospel artist Shea Norman and more. Listen. Like. Follow. Download Free. Subscribe. Social connects:  Twitter @linwoods, @ShontelleNormanBeattyFB Lin Woods, Shontelle Norman Beatty; Instagram @linwoods96, @ShontelleSings901

Affectionately called the Lady with Three Names, Oakland Bay Area's darling, Lena Byrd-Miles has been singing since she was 4 years old. Coming from a musical family, she launched her singing career at her grandfather's church where she lent her gift until relocating to her current home church where she serves as Worship Leader alongside her husband Tobias Miles, the Minister of Music. One of the most sought-after vocalists in contemporary gospel, her sultry, soulful, and extraordinary vocal prowess has mesmerized musicians and artists alike. Her gift has opened many doors and was recently used to soothe the souls of many onlookers and family members attending DMX's funeral service where she sang the Clark Sister's “You Brought the Sunshine” with Kanye West's Sunday Service. Her vocal style sparked the interest of Grammy® Award-winning producer and My Block Inc. President, Warryn Campbell. Soon after, she inked a deal, and now joins the ranks of the “My Block” family with artists such as multiple-award-winning duo Mary Mary, Erica Campbell, JoiStaRR, rising star Jason McGee and the Choir, and vocalist Jason Champion. She has also shared the stage with such luminaries as Tye Tribbett, Lalah Hathaway, Deitrick Haddon, Dorinda, John P. Kee, Doobie Powell, the late Thomas TC Clay, and more. And she was privileged to sing with the legendary Edwin Hawkins as part of the New Edwin Hawkins Singers—where it all began. More than an artist, Lena is a wife, daughter, sister, friend, and licensed hairstylist with a unique ability to connect with people. Her innate comedic prowess and infectious laugh draw you in, but her compassion for mankind will cause you to appreciate her heart. As an innovative game-changer, the future is bright for Lena. By taking the torch of the legendary Hawkins family, Lena is continuing the journey of the rich heritage of Gospel music by representing the new sound of the Bay. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tyrideius-brownlow/support

Tribute show of "OH HAPPY DAY"! This song was a written hymn in the 18th century Words: Phillip Doddridge and Music by: Edward F. Rimbault. In the 19th century it was revived with a "Gospel" Vibe which hit the secular charts; by accident. Edwin Hawkins gave this song a boast that (I'm sure) he had no idea it would take off as it did, and also cause controversy in the church. Listen as different versions of the song made their mark and the impact the 1968 release revolutionized the World. If you have any questions/suggestions for this episode, please send an email to letstalk2gmg@gmail.com

Os Reis da Cultura Inútil dessa semana voltam ao cinema. Apenas um episodio sobre filmes que marcaram as nossas vidas seria pouco e como todo sucesso de bilheteria ganha sempre uma sequela, vem aí a parte II. Foi um papo muito divertido onde pudemos revisitar os filmes que nos fizeram emocionar nas telonas e também aqueles na telinha da sessão da tarde. Nos lugares marcados nessa exibição cinematográfica tivemos:Dryelli Bernardo a Baronesa do Rio Grande do Norte e Pernambuco.Erika Sanches a Condessa de São Bernardo – SP Janice Queiroz a Duquesa Itarema – CEMônica Paiva a marquesa de Eusébio – CE Natércia Medrado a Viscondessa de Aracaju – SEPatrícia Vieira a Duquesa de Igaratu e Fortaleza – CE Sidney Bernardo o Grã-duque de Cascavel – CE Thays Carioca a autointitulada Princesa da Inglaterra e Rio de JaneiroThalya Carvalho a baronesa de Maracanaú – CEVanessa a Condessa de Fortaleza – CEConcorrendo ao Óscar de melhor trilha sonora:A Música “Oh Happy Day” dos imperiais Philip Doddridge, Edward F. Rimbault e Edwin Hawkins.“God Is Trying To Tell You Something” com a rainha Tata Vega no Filme a Cor purpura. “Dark Fantasy” do rei Kanye West para o fime Se beber não case 3. “Thriller” do rei do pop Michael Jackson.“Love Theme” do magistral Ennio Morricone para a trilha de Cinema Paradiso.“Sadness” de AShamaluevMusic.“Hakuna Matata” do Imperador Elton John.“Lua de Cristal” de Xuxa a Rainha dos Baixinhos.“Main Theme” do majestoso Nicola Piovani para o filme A Vida é Bela.“White Room” de Cream no filme Coringa. “The Good Old Days (The Little Rascals Theme Song)” da realeza Leroy Shield para o filme Os Batutinhas.“Theme from Jaws” do Rei John Williams para a trilha de Tubarão.Estrelando os Reis do cinema internacional Wladson Sidney, Jaime Rocha e Max Pertterson.

Attention all!  This is our second episode in our series of the Many Styles of Christian Music.  This episode touches on the "protest" songs in Gospel music.  But we also want to appeal to all you "Vinyl" collectors, enthusiasts, addicts, and lovers, how you can help Professor Robert Darden and his team at the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project make a copy of every song released by every Black Gospel artist or group ever.   He and his team provide the Gospel music for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture.  And of course, Professor Darden shares with us a list of his Gospel music selections to introduce new listeners or to remind old listeners of some of the great songs of Gospel.Contextualized playlisthttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_EIRKmIkHx1a0D_wA7TOw/playlists

Cette saison, attends-toi à du neuf : interviews, scoops, indiscrétions, nouveautés musicales... tout ce qu'il y a à savoir au sujet de tes artistes chrétiens préférés, c'est LÀ dans le Journal du Gospel que ça se passe avec Annette et Sam ! - Bientôt Là : Fortran Bigirimana, Prince K-Mer, Océane Maribelle, Carry Yank, les Grammy Awards, Steph MacLeod, Blanca, Mona Abel. - Cette année-là : 1969 - "Oh Happy Day" d'Edwin Hawkins.  Support this podcast

Noelette Leader-Hutton is a classically trained, gospel/jazz interpreter of song. She is the author of recently released devotional book titled, “No More Monday Morning Blues”. Her inspiration for writing the book was to assist in reversing the negative and hopeless feelings people feel when Monday's roll around. This is the first in a five-book series. The book is available on Amazon kindle and eBook: https://payhip.com/b/Bxdq She also has a weekly blog and music which you can experience on her website: www.noeletteleader.com Noelette has a passion for the Word of God and the music with which He has blessed her. It is her purpose as she ministers, to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit and make real in the hearts of those who hear, the God of creation and the universe, and Jesus Christ the Savior. She has ministered throughout the US, Bermuda and Barbados since the age of 21. She has been privileged to share the stage with The Richard Smallwood Singers, Edwin Hawkins, Shelton Kilby, and the brilliant Jazz pianist & composer, Mary Lou Williams, singing the lead in her Jazz Mass, to name a few. #AllAboutTheExperiences #LivingWithoutLimits #Podcasts #NoeletteLeaderHutton #Author #NoMoreMondayMorningBlues #Singer #Speaker #Composer #SevenDaysToPraise --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aate/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aate/support

Ce cantique n'est pas devenu populaire grâce aux élèves de Sister Act, l'histoire remonte à bcp plus tôt que ça… flashback jusqu'en 1969... cette année-là, grâce à Edwin Hawkins, on ne l'oubliera pas ! Support this podcast

In episode #20 of the Life Behind The Music Podcast, Kathy & Micayla are speaking with a brilliant mind and the Director of Music and Art at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Greensbor, NC. In this episode Kathy, Micayla, Corey & Kelvin discuss relevancy in the church and how technology has impacted our overall ability to connect, share God's word, and execute the vision! Enjoy! FEATURED MUSIC: It's Christmas Time from the E.P. “I Believe” by Kathy D. Horry. Corey Williams Official Bio Corey is an anointed and appointed man of God who has served in music ministry most of his life and for over 35 years has served in a full time capacity. He currently serves as Director of Music and Arts at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro Inc. A Brooklyn New York native, and being born into a musically inclined household caused him to pursue what God had destined for his life in music ministry! He is also a gifted songwriter. Gospel recording artists such as Edwin Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins and many others have recorded songs penned by him. One of many other recordings includes Gospel Heritage Foundation's "Gospel Today 4" (In His Presence, led by LeJeune Thompson and produced by Cedric Thompson) and The Full Gospel Mega Mass Choir "Let it Rain" project (High Praise). God has placed a tremendous burden on him for music ministry and the relationship between the pastor and the minstrel. Because of this he focuses on relationship, commitment and consistency. He understands the challenges that come with leading the people of God particularly in the area of music. He is no stranger to theatre production, and has served as Musical Director for several productions such as Peace like a River, and the Christmas play "Black Nativity" (2009-2012) at The Barn Dinner Theater, Greensboro). Corey is also a board member of the Greensboro NC Symphony. His creative and artistic contributions helped the organization's vision to bring more energy to their work and make connections with the local and international gospel music community. He's always served the church in music ministry with his first position as church musician at the age of 15 in NYC. Now serving full time at Mount Zion with over 6,000 members and overseeing a department with well over 350 volunteers and 10 part time staff members. Minister Williams conducts music/worship workshops around the country and abroad. He was chosen as one of the top ten Praise & Worship leaders in the nation in 2004 and 2005 by the Gospel RoundUp Magazine. He possesses solid knowledge and experience in the areas of worship and praise, choirs, vocal training, musicianship and administration. Corey believes excellence is not an option but a requirement. He strives to pass on this standard to the worship leaders, praise singers, choirs, musicians, songwriters and others with whom he shares with in the work of the music ministry given to him by God. Corey Williams is a licensed minister. He is married to Colette B Williams, has 3 adult children and 6 grandchildren. #LifeBehindTheMusic #CoreyWilliams #KathyHorry

Singer/Songwriter J Mitch has penned songs for Karen Clark Sheard, Edwin Hawkins, Mississippi Mass Choir and more, from Gospel to Broadway to film. He talks with Lin. Woods about his new music, long career - its valley lows and mountain highs, including how he was cheated out of royalty dollars because he didn't know the business, and the upside - having a song placed in a movie that’s still $blessing decades later. Listen. Like. Follow. Download FREE. Subscribe. Follow on: Twitter @linwoods, Instagram @linwoods96 #JMitch #GospelPodcasts

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Nona’s musical journey spans over 30 years, working with The Fray, Lenny Williams, Pattie LaBelle, Stephan Jenkins and Mickey Thomas. In addition, Nona’s gospel music roots led to many wonderful opportunities such as working with Josh Groban as choir coordinator for the Northern California tour, guest vocalist and composer on three national recordings of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA), guest vocalist at Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball and until he passed, group member of gospel music legend Edwin Hawkins and the New Edwin Hawkins Singers.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Nona’s musical journey spans over 30 years, working with The Fray, Lenny Williams, Pattie LaBelle, Stephan Jenkins and Mickey Thomas. In addition, Nona’s gospel music roots led to many wonderful opportunities such as working with Josh Groban as choir coordinator for the Northern California tour, guest vocalist and composer on three national recordings of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA), guest vocalist at Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball and until he passed, group member of gospel music legend Edwin Hawkins and the New Edwin Hawkins Singers.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Nona’s musical journey spans over 30 years, working with The Fray, Lenny Williams, Pattie LaBelle, Stephan Jenkins and Mickey Thomas. In addition, Nona’s gospel music roots led to many wonderful opportunities such as working with Josh Groban as choir coordinator for the Northern California tour, guest vocalist and composer on three national recordings of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA), guest vocalist at Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball and until he passed, group member of gospel music legend Edwin Hawkins and the New Edwin Hawkins Singers.

As a lover of original gospel music, while being inspired and connected with his own God-given ability to sing, Marcellus Coleman (Mars) was born a protege and began leading and directing choirs at the very young age of ten years old. Surrounded by parents who listened to artists ranging from Walter Hawkins and the Winans to Earth, Wind & Fire, and George Duke, he has always had a great appreciation for phenomenal singers. With support from his community in Palmdale, CA, Mars was exposed to so many thriving ministries and was eventually guided to his current residence in Oklahoma City, OK. Gaining his musical influences from artists such as Yoko Kanno, Akino Arai, Michael League (Snarky Puppy), Kirk Franklin, Edwin Hawkins, and Israel Houghton, Mars channeled this creativity into his own art form and began lending his talents as writer and performer on tunes such as “Rightly” and “Lift” from J. Lee The Producer's album “Music Box”. Mars released his first single “Guide” in 2017. He created the “Sessions” podcast in 2018 and is currently writing music for local and regional artists within the music industry. As a worship leader for five years at Victory Family Church, Mars is branching off into the area of music publishing and copyrighting to increase his knowledge and impact within the market. Website The Mars Invasion Mars on Instagram Bridgetown Church CREATE:film Fest

A Música Oh Happy Day é uma música gospel que foi adaptada de um hino também gospel, porém, um pouco mais lento do que conhecemos cantado na 1ª adaptação pelo Edwin Hawkins. Ouça esse episódio lindo e emocionante que trará para você gratidão maior na sua vida. Vamos juntos! Entre em contato com o Paulinho Siqueira Pra entrar nos nossos grupos de Ouvintes, clique abaixo: Whatsapp Telegram Seja um Partner do Coachcast Brasil Entre em contato conosco pelo email: contato@coachcast.com.br Instale o iTunes aqui Acesse o Canal Homens de Valor no Telegram

This episode features a discussion with Raina Bundy, the founder of Lection Records. We will discuss the signing of featured artists; such as, Clinton Utterbach & The Praisers, Edwin Hawkins, Witness, and Keith Staten.

Christmas365 presents: Music Podcast 2018.20In this new Christmas music-podcast our guests are: 01 - Edwin Hawkins singers - Oh happy Day02 - Scala and Kolacny Brothers - River03 - Sinead O Connor - Silent Night04 - Solomon Burke- Presents For Christmas05 - Tracey Thorn - River06 - Various Artists - Mary Did You KnowVoice-Over: Anjes.For more Christmas365 Music visit our website: https://christmas365music.blogspot.com or download the Spreaker-radio app (for all devices),** or the Google-Podcast App or Apple-Podcast App, Search for Christmas365 make it your favorite and join the club.**Frits365 Music podcast is available on Googlepodcast, Applepodcast,Podcastaddict, Soundcloud, Tunein and Castbox .https://www.facebook.com/frits365 https://www.twitter.com/frits365

Daneen Wilburn has been taking fans on a musical journey of emotion and passion since she was a child. Her style transitions from soul to gospel, jazz and ballads effortlessly. "She is an engaging performer and a true talent. If you ever have a chance to see her perform, do it." These are the words of Grammy Winner Clarence McDonald, producer of Nancy Wilson’s Music on My Mind album, and Bill Withers’ "Lovely Day."   This is why her fans have been eagerly awaiting her debut album, produced by two-time Grammy Winner, Kamau Kenyatta. Kamau is best known for his discovery of singer Gregory Porter. His production of Gregory's four albums yielded four Grammy nominations and two wins.  Kamau has also worked with Patti Austin, Earl Klugh, Ed Motta and Carl Anderson (Jesus Christ Superstar). ​ Daneen's self titled album was released in June to rave reviews. "This album is an arousing debut by one soulful singer" says Patrick Van De Weile, of Key and Chord Magazine in Belgium. Together with Kamau, Daneen carefully crafted a blend of soul, jazz and gospel. But, before any of this, she was just a San Diego girl with a dream.     Daneen’s parents were both gospel singers and made music an important part of her life. By age seven, she was the lead singer of the family band and by age nineteen, she found herself singing at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, with some of gospel music’s top names, including, Edwin Hawkins, Darryl Coley, and Ricky Grundy. After a few years, she married and started a family, deciding to leave the music industry to be a full-time mother. Her dream would be put on hold, but not forgotten. Throughout the years, she loved her role as a mother and looked forward to the day when her voice would be heard again.   Daneen returned to music twenty years later, quickly becoming one of San Diego’s most sought after vocalists. She had the honor of performing for former First Lady Laura Bush, and when US Women’s soccer star, Alex Morgan wed Servando Carrasco, Daneen sang as she made her way down the aisle.   In 2013, MLB’s San Diego Padres asked Daneen to sing for the memorial service of baseball legend Tony Gwynn. Before 25,000 fans at Petco Park and a national television audience, she performed a version of "Amazing Grace" that silenced the spellbound crowd. ​ Daneen's new album is a reflection of her life surrounded by singers and musicians.  It includes a remake of a gospel quartet song recorded by her uncles in the early nineteen seventies, entitled, "I'll Be Free."  Radio personality, Fred Carter of KPVU Radio in Washington DC, describes her performance as "bold, honest, and inspirational." Daneen's personal motto is "a song should be both heard and felt."   ​

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This episode tells the story behind The Edwin Hawkins Singers' ceiling-shattering song, ""Oh Happy Day". It was the first gospel song to top the secular charts. Hawkins' use of contemporary sounds - a Latin groove, synthesizers and a soul-influenced lead vocal performance - created a new model for gospel music. But some in the church didn’t want sanctified music to leave the sanctuary.

1:51 Would you sing in 4 part harmony as kid in your family? 2:50 How big is your family? 3:06 Was your mom a trained musician? 3:27 Talking about the amazing church in Buffalo 5:26 Do you have Absolute Pitch or Perfect Pitch? 5:31 Did your parents ever ask you to practice? 6:32 Talking about “Oh Happy Day" by Edwin Hawkins 7:20 What did you mean by conservative? 7:40 Talking about Alan Johnston and his wife Shirley's influence 9:03 Being very self taught, did you take things from records and peers? 10:30 On listening to Earth, Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder when young 11:13 How would you work out songs by ear that you heard? 12:13 On the influence of Gene Puerling and the Hi-Los 12:54 Did you own a record player or listen on the radio? 13:26 Was that around the same that you met Mervyn Warren at Oakwood? 13:37 What was a typical day like at Oakwood with Mervyn Warren? 15:10 When was the very first time that you started arranging? 15:45 Was it true that you actually majored in business and computer programming? 17:29 What did you mean by your own rules of Harmony with Mervyn Warren? 19:11 Working with Ray Charles 21:05 What did Ray Charles mean by not wanting to choose a particular song, was it the music or the lyrics? 22:00 What did he think about the music you were creating, harmonically? 22:39 Working with Quincy Jones 24:19 How do you think of lyrics? 25:43 Do you work better in the morning or the evening? 26:39 How much listening have you done in your life? 29:19 Describe the influence of jazz in your music 30:56 Working with Ella Fitzgerald 31:25 Talking about Al Jarreau 33:27 Arranging “Seven Steps to Heaven” on The Standard, with Al Jarreau 35:15 Who are your favorite jazz instrumentalists 36:19 Do you play any other instruments? 36:48 What's it like working with Stevie Wonder? 38:54 What are you still learning in music? 40:33 How are you going about learning music theory? 41:27 Do you listen to classical music? or film music? 43:06 Talking about the album “Iconic” 44:59 Talking about the track “Back in Love Again” 46:13 Talking about the track “Can't Stop the FeelinG” 47:27 How is the Mark Kibble today different from the Mark Kibble of 10-20 years ago? 47:55 Have an example of a song or album that shows you going crazy with the harmony in your younger days? 49:42 Is there anyone that you would have liked to work with in the studio in history? 50:43 Upcoming projects 51:58 Wrapping Up ----- Our guest today is multi-GRAMMY Award-winning singer, arranger, composer and producer, Mark Kibble, of the famed American vocal group Take 6! With a career spanning over 25 years, 16 albums, 10 GRAMMY awards, 10 Gospel Music Association Dove awards, and 3 gold albums, Take 6 is the most awarded a cappella group in history, performing with some of the biggest names in music such as Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Don Henley, James Taylor and many more. Their most recent release is 2018's “Iconic”. We talk about his musical development from young, his approach to arrangement, harmony, working with Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau and so much more!

Im sechsten Jahr in Folge gedenkt unser Buddy Marc Hype mit mit seiner Mixtape-Serie "GONE… but not forgotten" den im Vorjahr verstorbenen Musikern. Auch im Jahr 2018 sind zahlreiche Künstler von uns gegangen, an Material für das 2018'er Tribute-Tape mangelte es (leider) nicht. Rest in Peace: France Gall, Hugh Msekela, Dennis Edwards, Leon Ndugu Chanceler, Lovebug Starski, DJ Kuya, Henry Storch, Jerzy Milian, DJ Devastate, Craig Mack, Matt Dike of Delicious Vinyl, Cameron Paul, Alias of Anticon, Chuck Freeze of Jazzy 5, Bob Dorough, Godfather of Boo Yaa Tribe, John Jab’o Starks, Huckey of Texta, Reggie Lucas, Demba Nabé of SEEED, Jalaluddin Nuriddin aka Lightnin' Rod of The LAST POETS, Aretha Franklin, DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys, Charles Aznavour, Melvin "Wah Wah" Watson, Roy Hargrove, Yvonne Staple of the Staples Singer, Joe Jackson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Gary Harris Sugarhill Records, Paul Trouble Anderson, Bobby Davis, Nancy Wilson, Galt McDermot,Cecily Taylor, Coco Schumann, Edwin Hawkins, Ray Thomas, Denise LaSalle, Otis Rush, Marty Balin, Mac Miller, Ed King, Russ Solomon, Burt Reynolds, Verne Troyer, Anthony Bourdain, Winnie Mandela, Stan Lee

Im sechsten Jahr in Folge gedenkt unser Buddy Marc Hype mit mit seiner Mixtape-Serie "GONE… but not forgotten" den im Vorjahr verstorbenen Musikern. Auch im Jahr 2018 sind zahlreiche Künstler von uns gegangen, an Material für das 2018'er Tribute-Tape mangelte es (leider) nicht. Rest in Peace: France Gall, Hugh Msekela, Dennis Edwards, Leon Ndugu Chanceler, Lovebug Starski, DJ Kuya, Henry Storch, Jerzy Milian, DJ Devastate, Craig Mack, Matt Dike of Delicious Vinyl, Cameron Paul, Alias of Anticon, Chuck Freeze of Jazzy 5, Bob Dorough, Godfather of Boo Yaa Tribe, John Jab'o Starks, Huckey of Texta, Reggie Lucas, Demba Nabé of SEEED, Jalaluddin Nuriddin aka Lightnin' Rod of The LAST POETS, Aretha Franklin, DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys, Charles Aznavour, Melvin "Wah Wah" Watson, Roy Hargrove, Yvonne Staple of the Staples Singer, Joe Jackson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Gary Harris Sugarhill Records, Paul Trouble Anderson, Bobby Davis, Nancy Wilson, Galt McDermot,Cecily Taylor, Coco Schumann, Edwin Hawkins, Ray Thomas, Denise LaSalle, Otis Rush, Marty Balin, Mac Miller, Ed King, Russ Solomon, Burt Reynolds, Verne Troyer, Anthony Bourdain, Winnie Mandela, Stan Lee

Im sechsten Jahr in Folge gedenkt unser Buddy Marc Hype mit mit seiner Mixtape-Serie "GONE… but not forgotten" den im Vorjahr verstorbenen Musikern. Auch im Jahr 2018 sind zahlreiche Künstler von uns gegangen, an Material für das 2018'er Tribute-Tape mangelte es (leider) nicht. Rest in Peace: France Gall, Hugh Msekela, Dennis Edwards, Leon Ndugu Chanceler, Lovebug Starski, DJ Kuya, Henry Storch, Jerzy Milian, DJ Devastate, Craig Mack, Matt Dike of Delicious Vinyl, Cameron Paul, Alias of Anticon, Chuck Freeze of Jazzy 5, Bob Dorough, Godfather of Boo Yaa Tribe, John Jab’o Starks, Huckey of Texta, Reggie Lucas, Demba Nabé of SEEED, Jalaluddin Nuriddin aka Lightnin' Rod of The LAST POETS, Aretha Franklin, DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys, Charles Aznavour, Melvin "Wah Wah" Watson, Roy Hargrove, Yvonne Staple of the Staples Singer, Joe Jackson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Gary Harris Sugarhill Records, Paul Trouble Anderson, Bobby Davis, Nancy Wilson, Galt McDermot,Cecily Taylor, Coco Schumann, Edwin Hawkins, Ray Thomas, Denise LaSalle, Otis Rush, Marty Balin, Mac Miller, Ed King, Russ Solomon, Burt Reynolds, Verne Troyer, Anthony Bourdain, Winnie Mandela, Stan Lee

Hosted by @damien.lamarand @bluefranswa, Taste Test Live #podcast is back with your weekly update and features an in-depth discussion about the latest in urban music, exclusive tracks, remixes and more.  This week's show, Damien his favorites from the week, along with news about @seinabosey @erykahbadu @homergaines @johnlegend @ellamai @marshaambrosious @tyresegibson @macmiller And guess what? It’s a “Happy Day” with week’s guest is a film-maker and history buff, Emanuel Washington, who joins Damien and Blue in the studio as discusses his new film documentary about the creator of the gospel classic “Oh Happy Day: The Journey of a Song” by the godfather of contemporary gospel music Edwin Hawkins.   About Emanuel Washington Since 1999 Emanuel Washington and his partner, Tiffany Duhart, have been working to bring exposure and promote the cultural arts entertainment in Jacksonville through their company, Nokturnal Escape, LLC. For Emanuel, it really began when he noticed that there was a missing audience at events that were of artistic value. The desire to spread the word became his mission and with this came the creation of Jacksonville’s biggest and longest-running spoken-word and live music event, Soul Release. Emanuel has also produced plays from local writers, fashion show after parties and historic parties for regional and national artists. As Nokturnal Escape grew, they began to provide marketing services to companies like the Florida Black Expo, the St. Augustine Amphitheater, the Ritz Theater the Florida Theater Florida State College of Jacksonville Broadway productions of Drumline Live, The Color Purple and more. In 2012 Emanuel filmed and produced a documentary entitled “We remember Raines, an American high school” which was screened at the Auburn African-American Library in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, Emanuel is the Creative Director of a literacy program entitled “Before e-mail: A reader’s theater production.” After creating “Before e-mail,” the program was presented during the second year of One Spark crowdfunding event. It was also highlighted in an ARBUS article entitled “20 Set to Shine.” As a result, the program was picked up by the Jacksonville Public Library and featured live performances at various library branches. Emanuel Washington is currently working on his next film and is proud to be joining the board of DieRections, Inc. He discovered that he had met Loutricia Gebbs-Tolbert, the Director, at an earlier session of Soul Release Poetry. It is with great honor that he is joining her in support of the inspiring work at DieRections, Inc. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tastetestlive/message

Get ready for the Multi-talented Bernita Ewing who will keep you on the edge of your seat with her powerful vocals and high energy performances. You can see her most recent work in movies such as The Calling & Black Nativity. She joins us today on Media Fury. Bernita is a playwright, director, producer and actor currently starring in the her original musical comedy “Bernita EwingUnstoppable” as the hilarious, sassy, outspoken and witty “Sista Ida Mae” Bernita has worked with such artists as Marvin Sapp, Pastor Gary Oliver, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Mavis Staples, Burt Bacharach, Michael O'Hara, Shirley Henderson, Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Bishop TD Jakes, Shirley Murdock Debbie Allen, Phylicia Rashad, James Pickens and scores of others. Bernita's talent has taken her to 27 countries. Bernita believes in the irrevocable favour of God!

This episode is solely dedicated to the musical genius of Edwin Hawkins 'GOSPEL ROYALTY!!!' Most famous for the track, Oh Happy Day he was a pioneer along side the likes of James Cleveland and Andre Crouch. VINYL TRACK LISTING: 1. Lift Him Up, 2. Call On Jesus, 3. Keep Moving On, 4. He Won't Let You Down, 5. Spirit, 6. With My Whole Heart, 7. Have Mercy, 8. Give Us Peace & 9. Special Gift

Music has become a large part of the Olympics experience. In this special episode of Memory in Top 40 Music, we remember the songs associated with the Olympics which made the pop charts. In our Memory Jogger features, we remember the late Edwin Hawkins, Dolores O’Riordan and Hugh Masekela, as well as talk about some of the songs from the Olympics which did not make the charts. Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/03x07at8b9z62qxhm2e39m4cf/playlist/7zaEyxtPVTYRBKx8sqcyAf?si=-hP_7yJyTJuYUqb1SMQAlg email: Memory@SpokenJoe.com

Today on On Course with Hart Ramsey, we go Hart to Heart with Pastor Hart. We pay tribute to Grammy winning legend, the late Edwin Hawkins. Have we seen the greatest songwriters in music pass away or is music in great hands with today's songwriters? How do we approach transition in any arena? It's an introspective type of session today. Be sure to take notes and share your thoughts with us using the hashtag #Hart2Heart or #OnCourse. Rate, download, and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and GooglePlay.

While we were recording this episode, we were waiting to hear whether or not the government would be shutting down. Since then, the government has shut down and reopened (at least for three more weeks). On this episode, we discussed the issues leading to the shutdown, Kanye done named his new baby Chicago, and we talked comics in preparation for Black Panther. Also, gospel great Edwin Hawkins lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last week, so we discussed the significance of his career and his most popular tune, "Oh Happy Day". Enjoy this episode with a glass of Riunute and a handful of communion wafers! #ohhappyday #gospel #crossover #comics #blackpanther #DontStopListenListen #trapbrew #PodcastsInColor #blackmedia #independentmedia #blr

Sad news from the world of music this week as we learn that Edwin Hawkins has died at the age of 74. I have to confess that this came as a surprise because I started doing the math and realized that Hawkins was in his mid-20s when "Oh Happy Day" became a hit. For whatever reason I thought he was at least twenty years older THEN. Hawkins was the founder of the Northern California State Youth Choir, and the choir recorded some songs to make a fundraiser album, which unfortunately didn't get pressed until after the event for which they needed the money. That event was a choral competition, and the NCSYC came in second, perhaps because "Oh Happy Day" wasn't one of the songs they sang. As it turns out, that wasn't one of their favorite songs! The unexpected success of "Oh Happy Day" led to the group being asked to provide the backup singing for Melanie's tribute to her experience at Woodstock, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". The Edwin Hawkins Singers experienced some more success on the Gospel charts over the years, and lead singer Dorothy Morrison gained acclaim as a backup singer for several rock artists. And I'm sure you know the drill by now, but if your RSS feed is failing you somehow, there's always the player below for listening or downloading: And please feel free to leave comments here, or leave a review on your favorite podcast software.

Musician Edwin Hawkins has died at the age of 74, and like so many other artists, his first hit was an off-the-wall discovery by a promoter and a disc jockey, about two years after it was recorded on the cheap.

DC Hits on the #TidePodChallenge where people are trying to eat them, the crazy lines for the new Levi Jordan 4's in San Francisco, and pays respect to Bay Area gospel legend, Edwin Hawkins!

DC Hits on the #TidePodChallenge where people are trying to eat them, the crazy lines for the new Levi Jordan 4's in San Francisco, and pays respect to Bay Area gospel legend, Edwin Hawkins!

Deardra Shuler talks with American actress, singer and vocal coach, Peggi Blu. Peggi has sung, wrote, co-produced and co-arranged recordings in movies and on stages for countless stars such as Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Burt Bacharach, Edwin Hawkins, The Staples Singers, Imelda Papin, Quincy Jones, Adam Sandler,  Luther Vandross, The Crystals, The Sandpebbles, Phyllis Hyman, Stephanie Mills, Aaron Neville,et.al.  She performed at the 1993 & 1997 inaugerations of President Bill Clinton and appeared in a Barbra Streisand special.   Her albums and singles include “I Got Love,” “I Want It All Now,” Girls It Ain't Easy and her critically acclaimed cd “Blu Blowin,’” “Livin’ On Love,”"Love Is The Magic", “What About You,” "When We Loved" & "I See You" with the group Cool Million and a host of duets with major stars. Peggi is the 1986 Female Vocalist Grand Champion of Star Search and Vocal Coach for American Idol.  She wrote three one-woman shows and received rave reviews for her show “Sinatra In Blu.” She won the Malibu Music Award for Best Vocalist, and was a presenter and performer at the 2014 NAACP Awards. She has numerous movie soundtracks to her credits such as “Set It Off” with Queen Latifah “The Hurricane” starring Denzel Washington and “Desert Heat” starring Jean Claude Van Damme. She appeared on stage in The Wiz as Aunty Em. Ms Blu will be appearing at the Metropolitan Room, on August 11th, 2017 @ 7pm, located at 34 West 22nd Street NYC. 

This week on THE JANUS ADAMS SHOW – wrapped up and tied in a bow - readings from my new book due out later this week: “SEDIDDY: Stories of History, Heritage, Hope, and Seeing Red.” And, there's more: the music of Roberta Flack, Edwin Hawkins, Rene Marie, Les McCann, and Catherine Russell. Hear the show live on WJFF – www.wjffradio.com Saturdays at 4pm. Subscribe to our podcast (uploaded weekly on Mondays) at: soundcloud.com/janusadams/ The Janus Adams Show, a weekly public radio program and podcast, is “a show about race – every race – and courage.”™ To learn more about the show and join the conversation, visit us at: JanusAdams.com.

Dr Shane, Dr Euan and Dr Jen discuss male parenting, narwhals, climate change, tickling and the invention of the foil electret microphone. First guest: Professor Lisa Randall from Harvard University, tells us all about her upcoming talks in Australia and current dark matter research. Second guest: Dr Edwin Hawkins from WEHI, discusses the longstanding question of how leukaemia survives chemotherapy has been answered by researchers in Australia and the United Kingdom, bringing the world closer to more effective therapies for this devastating cancer. Program page: http://www.rrr.org.au/program/einstein-a-go-go/ Facebook page: Einstein A Go Go Twitter: https://twitter.com/einstein_agogo

POLO x Moz x Arca x Verdi x Lang x Edwin Hawkins x more

Klavier, Bass, Schlagzeug und ein Chor waren genug, um Ende der 60er Jahre die Charts zu stürmen. Edwin Hawkins war es, der mit seinen “Singers” die wegweisende Einspielung von “Oh happy day” zu verantworten hatte. Der Gospel liegt ihm im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes im Blut: Für die Hawkins-Family eine Selbstverständlichkeit, das Evangelium mit Ekstase zu verkünden. Mittlerweile ist er 71 Jahre alt und wird am Freitag in Bonn auf der Bühne stehen. Über seine Erwartungen für das Konzert mit dem Bonner Gospel-Chor “Wave of joy” spricht er im Kreuz&Quer-Interview. Das Konzert steigt in der Aula des EMA in Poppelsdorf. Moderation: Tanja Störtenbecker

Kim Burrell, Don't Count Me Out, Tasha Lockhart, Kefia Rollerson, Edwin Hawkins

Multi-talented multi-Grammy award winner Edwin Hawkins remains in the forefront of Gospel music by continually transforming Gospel music and attracting new audiences. He is the man who recorded the biggest gospel hit record of all time in 1969, “Oh Happy Day.” He and his brother Bishop Walter Hawkins are the founders of the Edwin Hawkins & Walter Hawkins Music and Arts Love Fellowship Conference, now in its Twenty- Eight year. SECOND HOUR LOTL WELCOMES            Stacye Branché  .debut her hit new single " PILLOW TALK.With a vocal style borne through a study of the emotional nuances of Minnie Riperton, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald, Branché has combined that knowledge with the influence and inflections of her work with Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert and The Emotions to bring her distinctive style full circle. In essence, she has found her “truth.”

Come and see what's inside...! Producer/songwriter/musician Montage Pheloan joins us tonight! His gifts have definitely made room for him, allowing him to write and produce for Gospel Greats like Edwin Hawkins, Wallter Hawkins, The Chicago Mass Choir and just recently, Isaac Caree! Also, the nephew of Vickie Winans, Tim Bowman Jr. has got act all his own!  He joins us at 8:30p as he debuts his new single 'HE WILL.' Come and hang out with us as we get to know Montage and Tim Bowman Jr. a little bit better! It's THE MUSIC BOX with ya' other sis, Tanya Dallas-Lewis!