Podcasts about gospel music workshop

Guest: Cedric BarnettOrganization: Montgomery Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of AmericaPosition: Chapter RepresentativeTopic: a discussion of the work of GMWA and the Montgomery chapter, a preview of the chapter's Anniversary Celebration on April 26, 2025, and a look ahead to the GMWA Annual Convention in Montgomery July 13-18, 2025. Montgomery Chapter Facebook Group: Link  

•Terry Davis began his musical journey singing as a child at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon. Being blessed with the gift to hear and teach harmony at a young age, he began directing New Hope's Angel Choir.  In 1978, God gave Terry the ability to play piano by ear. Terry accompanied the choirs of New Hope and other local groups and choirs in the Portland-Vancouver area. •In 1983, Terry's genesis as a songwriter began to emerge. Since then, he's been blessed to share his music on a local, regional, and national level. His music has been performed or recorded by artists such as Portland Mass Choir, Pacific Northwest Mass Choir, New Song Church, Portland/Vancouver Chapter and Columbus Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) and many other choirs, groups and other recording artists. •Terry has had the blessed privilege to work alongside some well-known artists in the Gospel industry such as the late Thomas Whitfield, Jeffrey LaValley, Rev. Milton Biggham, the late Rickey Grundy, David Curry, the late Helen Stephens, Dr. Margaret Douroux, the late Dr. Charles Fold, the late LaShun Pace, and Pastor Pharis Evans, Jr. •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. •LET'S TALK: GOSPEL MUSIC GOLD RADIO SHOW AIRS SATURDAY MORNING 9:00 AM CST / 10:00 AM EST ON INTERNET RADIO STATION WMRM-DB •The Podcast and Radio show is heard anywhere in the World! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

Various artists gospel music please like our page Andrea ministries.com and thanks so much for listening we solicit your prayers. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/andre-murphy8/message

Rev. James Cleveland Founder developer and President Gospel Music Workshop of America --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/andre-murphy8/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

“Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 23:14). Lucinda Moore remains one of the most prolific voices of gospel music. A gospel singer, songwriter, and arranger with a big voice suited for leading large choirs -- Moore is a living witness of the anointing that transfers the power of God to those who first serve the purpose of God in the capacity that God gives them.  A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Moore began singing in church in early childhood, and by her early teens was singing lead in local choirs. Her professional career began a few years later when she netted a position as backing vocalist for one of her influences, Tramaine Hawkins. Moore has performed with multiple gospel vocal groups, including appearances with the Gospel Music Workshop of America; she self-released her first solo recording, an EP titled Unlimited Praise; which led to a spot on the Tyscot Records roster, who issued her debut LP, Lucinda Moore (2006), which produced the chart topper "Turn Your Pressure Into Praise”; followed by Blessed, Broken & Given (2010) earning her a Stellar Award for Traditional Female Artist of the Year. Moore launched the Nalah Music Group with the release of Walking In My Favor (2017), and her latest Lord, I Hear You (June 2023). Oh, what a difference the anointing makes when it is allowed to flow! Tune in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reverend James Moore was a singer and songwriter first “discovered” on the recording of Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMAC) where he dazzled the ears, touched the hearts and ministered to spirts of those who heard him.  Although he had a harsh childhood it was the relationship, he had with one of his mentors who took him to church.  Mrs. Elma Parham encouraged him to join the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) where he gave his life to God. •In 1974 Savoy releases James'  first recording “I Thak You Master”,  just months after he had been awarded the Thurston Frazier Scholarship from the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA).  It was over 10 years later before he broke into the industry in a major way in 1988 under the Malaco record label “Live”  The album hit the Top 10 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart. •James Moore recorded with GMWA, the Hawkins Family, Daryl Coley and so many others prior to him becoming a chart-topping solo artist. •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

Lady Helen Stevens musician, singer, director and organizer of Northern California (Nor-Cal) Chapter of Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA). She founded groups and choirs one of which was The Voices of Christ, of Berkeley, California at Progressive Baptist Church •Helen Stephens had a long history in music obtaining a music degree at Dillard University in 1949.  Dillard being the first Historically Black College Universities in the United States.  Helen was very active in the gospel music community as musician, singer and educator.  She presented quite a few firsts and accomplished recordings with all of her groups and choirs. •For her work in gospel music across the country and abroad she earned the title Lady Helen Stevens.  Bringing her talents from New Orleans, her birthplace to the California Bay Area being one of the key persons to launch Community Choirs in Northern California. •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

•Paul Parker is a Minister of the Gospel, Preacher, Songwriter, Musician and Producer who currently serves as the minister of music and associate minister for the Greater Morning Star church in Santa Monica, California.  He began his music ministry at the age of 7 under the leadership of the late Pastor Verdell Calhoun.  Paul's musical service spans over 40 years at the St. Luke Baptist Church and Gospel Memorial COGIC with Pastor Joe L. Ealy •Minister Paul has toured ministering all over the country and many other great places with World Renowned the late Rev. James Cleveland and the LA Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA).  He has shared the national music stage with the late Bishop Walter Hawkins and the late Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar.  In the 1990's he performed with the late O'Landa Draper and Associates and Evangelist Sherry Livingston for his annual Outreach Ministry Concerts. •Minister Paul has been working on his soon to be released International Single Entitled “Lord You Are My Rock” 2023 under Dr. Norman Hutchins and IR Music Group which features some of Gospel Music Greatest Voices of our day.  He is actively involved in soul winning outreach Ministry.  And trademarked the slogan “Touching Lives, One at a time for the Kingdom”. •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 •Click link for Radio Station: https://player.live365.com/a50411 •The Podcast and Radio show are heard anywhere in the World! Follow us at https://www.facebook.com/LetsTalk2GMG/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

Daphney Hilton is a multi-award winning recording artist. She's a native of Miami, Florida and has made Atlanta, Ga her hub to expand her ministry and artistry. Daphney has shared the stage with many gospel greats as a lead and a background vocalist. She has appeared on several TV broadcast shows and her songs have been featured on two independent SAG film soundtracks. Daphney was awarded the Gospel Choice Music Award Artist of the Year for 2019. She is one of the CEOs of Blue Mile Music Consultants, LLC, a member of the Contemporary Adult Division of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA), a SAGMA member of the Stellar Gospel Music Awards, and now serves on the board of the Gospel Choice Music Awards. She is also the founder of her non-profit organization, “Daddy's Girls of Destiny”. She is a songwriter, a vocal producer/technician, a youth minister, and a mentor Daphney voice has been capturing and uplifting souls throughout the United States, and internationally. We introduce to the world her new single "The Way You Made Me"

•Keith Butler has directed a 1, 000 voice choir at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago for the National Baptist Convention.  He was the Music Director for the Midwest Youth Conference of America and also served as Vice President of the Illinois Missionary Baptist State Convention Music Auxiliary.   Keith was a music instructor at The Dorolyn Academy of Music in Oak Park, Illinois. •He began conducting workshops in the early 1990's in Houston, TX.  and taught in the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) Chicago Chapter which catapulted his ministry and led to widespread travels to various churches presenting such topics as “Proper/Improper Music for Worship Services”, Choir Etiquette, Decorum and Appearance” to name a few workshop topics. •Keith is the founder & CEO of the Delegation for Christ Chorale who released their debut CD in 1999 entitled “He's Been Good to Me.”  And in 2022 celebrated their 30th year Anniversary at Miracle Revival Cathedral in Chicago. •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 Podcast and Radio show is heard anywhere in the World! •Follow us at https://www.facebook.com/LetsTalk2GMG/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

David's instructor sought to further David and asked his mom if she could take him under her wing and mentor him as a church musician at a very large church on Chicago's Southside- his mother readily agreed. It was during this time that David started developing his songwriting ability. David practiced many of his compositions, first teaching them to the youth choir at his home church without informing them that he had written them. His early works were sung in churches, and they were well received. Committed to studying and enhancing his gift, he traveled across the country, gaining knowledge from the workshops and seminars offered by Ron Winans, Michael Brooks, John P Kee, and the Gospel Music Workshop of America. After forty years of service as a church musician, David decided to present and releases his inaugural single '1 Remember You' (2022). With over 100 songs in his arsenal, he wanted his first release to hold a special sentiment. David released I Remember You as a tribute to his mother, who passed away in 2012. The single is featured by BJ McKenzie David also presents another single, Bow To Y ou', which he "wrote as a prayer for God to rescue us in these perilous times.It is to let Him know that through it all we know that He is yet sovereign, and we will continue to worship Him as such" David shares. The song is beautifully performed by the lead singer, Tysings, and The Epoch House Choir from Nigeria.  Pleased with his musical journey thus far, David knows something greater is in store in the days and years ahead. IJN

  KENE WAYNE   Kene Wayne has performed with some of the industry's greats, such as Kanye West, T.I, Plies and B.O.B. After the passing of his grandmother, Kene returned to Louisiana, which motivated him to continuously seek greatness through music. His southern slangs coupled with his strong vocal abilities, makes him a musical rarity. Kene Wayne, is THE NEW SOUND that we've been waiting for!************************************************************************************************************************ DEAD CAT BOUNCE   All-around music producer. From drums, guitar, piano, and classical instruments to pretty much anything. Tend to mix traditional instruments with modern drums, beats, and sounds to create soul, funk, and hip-hop flavored tracks.***************************************************************************************************************************************************   ELLEN HAYES Recording is nothing new for Ellen. She recorded her first song in her early 20s. Step Into Your Blessing was her debut CD release. Dropped in 2012, the project featured tracks written by Ellen and producer Michael Mindingall. It was the first time that audiences were able to witness Ellen on her own and the CD gave the songstress an opportunity to spread her musical wings. It was also the first time that Ellen was recognized by the industry for her work; the title song received four Rhythm of Gospel Award Nominations. In 2018, the Gospel Music Workshop of America held their 50th Anniversary in Detroit and celebrated with a live recording entitled Bringing It Back Home. Ellen, a member of the GMWA Detroit Chapter, was honored when her song, “Oh King,” a stunningly beautiful worship tune that morphs into a powerful Gospel anthem, was featured on the record.

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.

Dr. Juancarlos Rodriguez De Santiago https://www.milagronationn.co The journey began in 1995 when Juan Santiago formed Juan Santiago and the Praise Community Choir. Juan Santiago organized singers from all over the East and West Coast, which uniquely combined an array of Solo Artist, Worship Leaders, Pastors, Co-Pastors, as well as other ministry leaders in order to create a united and effective music ministry. In 2000 the name of the group was changed to Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise also known as “JSUP.” In 2005 JSUP released their debut album "Takin' it to Da Streetz" Which produced three popular singles entitled “Get Cha' Praise On”, “More Than You Can Bear”, and “I Give You Peace, all of which remained number one on local stations for 14 weeks. Juan Santiago's passion for music and Christ has turned into a flourishing ministry which has led to opportunities to minister at star studded live events, appearances, and opening performances with artist such as; Pastor Shirley Caesar, Bobby Jones Gospel, Keith Pringle, Vicki Yohe, Timothy Wright, The Canton Spirituals, Damita Haddon, Russell Delegation featuring Jonathan Nelson & Purpose, B. Chase Williams & Shabach, and Woody Rock (formerly of the R & B group Dru Hill) As well as stage plays "In Times Like These" and "Lord, I'm Coming Home," featuring Karen Clark-Sheard, Vicki Winans, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Tampa, Florida. JSUP was also a quarter-finalist for “The Gospel Challenge” (produced by TV One), and served as Host Choir for “Visions Unlimited” with Pastors Mark & Hope Mason

Dr. Juancarlos Rodriguez De Santiago https://www.milagronationn.co The journey began in 1995 when Juan Santiago formed Juan Santiago and the Praise Community Choir. Juan Santiago organized singers from all over the East and West Coast, which uniquely combined an array of Solo Artist, Worship Leaders, Pastors, Co-Pastors, as well as other ministry leaders in order to create a united and effective music ministry. In 2000 the name of the group was changed to Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise also known as “JSUP.” In 2005 JSUP released their debut album "Takin' it to Da Streetz" Which produced three popular singles entitled “Get Cha' Praise On”, “More Than You Can Bear”, and “I Give You Peace, all of which remained number one on local stations for 14 weeks. Juan Santiago's passion for music and Christ has turned into a flourishing ministry which has led to opportunities to minister at star studded live events, appearances, and opening performances with artist such as; Pastor Shirley Caesar, Bobby Jones Gospel, Keith Pringle, Vicki Yohe, Timothy Wright, The Canton Spirituals, Damita Haddon, Russell Delegation featuring Jonathan Nelson & Purpose, B. Chase Williams & Shabach, and Woody Rock (formerly of the R & B group Dru Hill) As well as stage plays "In Times Like These" and "Lord, I'm Coming Home," featuring Karen Clark-Sheard, Vicki Winans, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Tampa, Florida. JSUP was also a quarter-finalist for “The Gospel Challenge” (produced by TV One), and served as Host Choir for “Visions Unlimited” with Pastors Mark & Hope Mason

•Sr. Lajuana D. Weathers who has served as a “Holistic Vocal Technique Clinician” which has allowed her the opportunity to work with various groups for over 60 years. She served as the first Minister of Music for the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago. •Sr. Lajuana was the vocal coach for Pastor Dan Willis on his recording “A Man and His Music”. She was also a facilitator at the Lighthouse 2016 Conference along with Benny Hinn and Lanny Wolfe. •As a member of the Gayden Sisters Trio, (best known for the song "Honestly, Honestly") they sang locally and were guests on the Mahalia Jackson Show; guests on the Today Show and the Arthur Godfrey Show in 1955. This group is the oldest living sister trio. •And the First Female to conduct a choir in Bethlehem Square in Jerusalem. Sr. Price has worked with such groups as the Wooten Choral Ensemble, Doris Ward Workshop Chorale, Mark Hubbard, the Ecclesiastes Community Choir, Gospel Music Workshop of America Choir (GMAC), Chicago Mass Choir and many others. •You may also “like” and share the episode. And you may Subscribe so you will be alerted when the newest show is published. If you have questions or comments about this episode, please send an email to: letstalk2gmg@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

Lisa Collins a contributing columnist of Billboard Magazine writes her "In The Spirit" article covering the Gospel Music Workshop of America's Gospel Convention in 1993. Her highlights not only share details about the convention she also discusses the Gospel Artists attending and participating as well as covers the FIRST Singsation Gospel Expo where prize awards for competition of $25,000 in scholarship money. There was also a "Battle of Quartets" where the purses ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 in awards. In this September 4, 1993 issue of Billboard there was a review and interview of the newly elected, Al Hobbs, Chairman of Gospel Music Workshop of America. This on the 26th Anniversary of the workshop following the passing of founder Rev. James Cleveland. The show rounds out with the Top 40 Gospel Albums ending the week of September 4, 1993; with the closing highlighting snippets of the Top 10. You may also “like” and share the episode. And you may Subscribe so you will be alerted when the newest show is published. If you have any questions or comments about the show, please send an email to: letstalk2gmg@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/letstalk2gmg-ansonia/message

Tune in as we review a biblical concept that you may have overlooked during the pandemic. Apostle Ed Johnson shares a keen revelation from Genesis 13:2 that is wrapped around the Abrahamic blessing that all believers have access to, during a famine or not! Born Edward Lee Johnson, Jr., Bishop Ed – as he is affectionately called - is a native Houstonian. He is the son of Deacon Edward L. and Erma Johnson, Sr. He attended M. B. Smiley High School, Texas Southern University, and is a certified Christian Counselor. He is the husband of Pastor Marilyn Johnson and the proud father of Chãs Braxton, Christal Joi, Edward III (Tre'), and Kyle Maxwell. Bishop Ed is the founder and president of Ed Johnson International Ministries, which includes several ministries and conferences: Woman You Have Dominion Too Conference, Next Life Seminar, Church Music Symposium, Church Ministry Leaders Workshop, and more.      Bishop Ed is the founding and senior pastor of Christ Worship Center (Houston, Texas), serving with Pastor Marilyn for over 20 years.  The ministry has seen its ups and downs, but the preaching and teaching of Bishop Ed have never wavered from the holy and sanctified living required of all believers.       Bishop is an accomplished singer, songwriter, musician, and choir director, appearing on stage with many renowned gospel artists throughout the years.  In the early '90s, he formed a group called “Ed Johnson & Praise,” which attained prominence with the original recording of “Where Are The Christians?” That year at the Texas Gospel Music Awards, they were nominated in three categories and won two, Group of the Year and Song of the Year. Bishop has been awarded: Legend's Award (by Kim Burrell), Living Legend's Award (by the Houston Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America), They Gave Us Gospel and many others.      Walking with God since the age of 9, Bishop Ed's fervor for God and the things of God has only grown through the years.  He has spent hours in the presence of God, praying, in the Word of God, and fellowshipping with the Spirit to prove the anointing on his life; it is evident once you hear him literally break the bread of life.  Bishop attributes his love for the Word of God to his avid attendance of Sunday School and Bible Training Sessions during his youth and young adult years.  He has also experienced great trials and spiritual attacks by the powers of darkness (s and naturally) but has weathered every storm by the Grace of God.  It is obvious in his delivery of the Word.        Bishop has recently published his first book entitled “Righteous & Rich”, where he explores the spiritual and natural inheritance of God's provision for His Children.  He dares to ask the questions of why we believe what we believe and how exactly does that belief fit into the promises of God.  Bishop says, “Are we living the life preachers and teachers have instructed us into, or are we living the life that God ordained for us?  Because there is a difference!” People all over the country have been sharing their eye-opening experiences after reading the book.    The love that Bishop Ed has for God is evident in the manner he handles God's people. He is constantly seeking ways to establish the people of God in the service of God. He is an ordained apostle, bishop, and pastor. He is an entrepreneur, published author, husband, father, friend, musician, visionary, and a man who loves and fears God.  His life's mission is to prepare the saints for the world to come! For more info go to www.edjohnsonministries.com.

•Dr. Kathryn Baker Kemp is associate minister at Memorial M.B. Church in Chicago. She is an author of four books and multiple articles covering Gospel music, icons and music ministry. •Dr. Baker Kemp is a board member of the Chicago Gospel Music Heritage Museum and serves on the academic faculty of Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA). •She began her music ministry over 50 years ago as the pianist for the Junior Choir of the Morning Star Baptist Church in Chicago. If you have any questions or comments about this show please send an email to: Letstalk2gmg@gmail.com

I had the pleasure on speaking with my friend, Bob Marovich. I met Bob about ten years ago on a Vee Jay Records site. Bob is the expert on Vee Jay – The Gospel Years. So, this is Bob !!! He has been a writer since he was old enough to spell, is a grantwriter, fundraising professional, and serves as the editor of the GlobeTrade monthly "Borderbuster" e-newsletter. Bob launched JGM on the tenth anniversary of its predecessor website, The Black Gospel Blog, which he founded July 28, 2004, as the first blog to cover African American gospel music. Bob is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Since 2001, he has produced “Gospel Memories.” The show features classic gospel, spiritual, and jubilee music, and interviews with gospel legends. It airs Saturday mornings on Chicago's WLUW-FM and throughout the week on several Internet and low-power FM radio stations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Bob has been interviewed about gospel for television, radio, and newspapers, and was featured on a BBC Radio 2 documentary on the life of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. He is also the gospel editor for ChicagoMusic.org. Bob's work has been published in the Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music (Routledge 2005), Encyclopedia of African American Music (Greenwood Publishing 2010), and in the ARSC Journal of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections. He has presented and participated in panel discussions on gospel music at the Gospel Music Workshop of America, National and Independent Gospel Music Association Industry Summit, Blues and the Spirit Conference at Dominican University (River Forest, Illinois), the American Library Association, and the Association of Recorded Sound Collections annual convention. Formerly second vice president of the Chicago Area Gospel Announcers Guild (Gospel Music Workshop of America), Bob is on the board of the Chicago Gospel Music Heritage Museum, the Rhythm of Gospel Awards, Blackburn College, and Tree House Humane Society. He is a member of the Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy, the National Independent Gospel Music Association, the Recording Academy, the Center for Black Music Research, and the Association of Recorded Sound Collections. Bob's collection of historic gospel recordings exceeds 5,000 vinyl discs that contain more than 19,000 individual tracks, and thousands of gospel CDs. His collection of gospel music memorabilia includes sheet music, song folios, photographs, signatures, anniversary programs, tickets, posters, and other promotional material. Bob holds a bachelor's degree in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. His first book, Shout Troubles Over: The Birth of Gospel Music in Chicago, published in March 2015 by the University of Illinois Press as part of its Music in American Life Series. Bob lives in Chicago with his wife, author Laurel Delaney, and their two cats. Bob's wife, Laurel, has a podcast for women entrepreneurs. Bob gives the podcast name towards the end of our podcast. I will be listening to it! He can be contacted by email at journalofgospelmusic.com and gospelmemories.com. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/michelemarotta/support

•Dr. Kathryn Baker Kemp is associate minister at Memorial M.B. Church in Chicago. She is an author of four books and multiple articles covering Gospel music, icons and music ministry. •Dr. Baker Kemp is a board member of the Chicago Gospel Music Heritage Museum and serves on the academic faculty of Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA). •She began her music ministry over 50 years ago as the pianist for the Junior Choir of the Morning Star Baptist Church in Chicago. If you have any questions or comments about this show please send an email to: Letstalk2gmg@gmail.com

Growing up in Vacherie, Louisiana, Zachariah D Landry had a gift and love of music he did not realize. He found himself sitting at a keyboard listening to music then duplicating it. He was told, “Maybe you should take this serious. Not too many people are able to play by ear.” Zack, as he is called by his family and friends, began to play the organ and piano at age 15. He was then placed in classes where he learn how to read music. It did not take long for his family to realize that he was given the gift of music by God. The family's faith was tried and tested. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina displaced Zack and his family. Times were hard but his faith grew stronger. At that time, he realized what the songwriter meant when he wrote, “Because He Lives.” Zack realized that it was God who had the final say because He held tomorrow. Through this adversity, Zack wrote several songs, “Lord, We Say Thank You” and “I Realize.” He realized his purpose is to win souls for Christ throughout the nation with music. Zack has had the pleasure of singing these song with a group of his friends, Phaze. The group was created in 2008 when Zack was asked to lead praise and worship at his church. In October 2015, Zack and Phaze recorded an album, “Come On, Praise Him.” They have performed at the New Orleans Jazzfest on the Gospel Stage as well as the New Orleans Chapter of Gospel Music Workshop of America. He has also performed with various artists, one of whom more noted, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, who encouraged Zack to “Set a standard in music. Be a trendsetter, not a follower.” In 2015, Zack was the winner of the Rhythm of Gospel Best Contemporary Artist. In 2016, he won the NOLA Award for Best Contemporary Artist. Zack has remained humble in his walk with God. His love for gospel music has not changed. With a neo-soul flare and a jazzy twist, his style not only reaches young people but the young at heart as well. Recognizing the calling God has placed upon him, Zack currently works as Minister of Music. His mission is to “Fulfill God's word through music.”

Rev. James Cleveland was known to some as the Crown Prince of Gospel Music. He was a minister, singer, composer and philanthropist. James Cleveland was born in Chicago, IL December of 1931. His influence on Gospel Music spanned over 40 years. He began composing songs in his youth, and at the encouragement of Roberta Martin (founder of "The Roberta Martin Singers) began publishing his music. James Cleveland was a member, musician and featured singer with The Caravans. He started his own group in the late 1950's (The Gospel Chimes) and from there went on to begin several other groups. Rev. Cleveland worked with, wrote for, produced many other choirs and groups. His major accolades is over the years of his service to Gospel Music he Founded the Gospel Music Workshop; had over 16 Gold albums; 3 time Grammy winner and the first Gospel Music Artist to be presented with a star on the "Walk of Fame". If you have any questions or comments about this show, please send an email to: letstalk2gmg@gmail.com

Today, our special guest was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, the youngest of (5) children. He attended and graduated from the Atlanta Public School System and attended Morris Brown College, where he marched in the Marching Wolverine Band as a Drumline and Drum Major member. He received his Associate Degree in Biblical Studies from the Andersonville Theological Seminary, and he is currently completing his bachelor’s degree in Theology. Since the age of 11, he has served in music ministry, and throughout his musical career, he has shared the stage with many of today’s Great Gospel Artists, Pastors, and Bishops. He served as Minister of Music for the Atlanta Chapter GMWA Youth and Mass Choirs; he also served the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship from 1996-2007 in Georgia. Then in Mississippi, he served as the State Minister of Music and Minister of Music in the Central and Southwest Districts. He has been a member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America since 1994 and recently served as the Assistant Chapter Representative of the Greater Jackson Chapter GMWA. He has been preaching the Word of God since July 19, 1987, and God has favored him with the opportunities to preach the gospel in various services, revivals, and conferences in many cities, states, and countries. During his pastoral journey, he has served (2) congregations as Pastor: Ratliff Chapel MB Church (2005-2013), then organized The Gathering of Believers Church in 2013. In 2009, he was duly consecrated and elevated as Presiding Prelate/Founder of the Abundant Faith Covenant Fellowship. He also serves as the Provost and Vicar Apostolic for the Apostolic Covenant of Churches. His Statement for Life is: “Your Comfort Is an Enemy To Your Destiny” Welcome our Featured guest, Michael Nesby. This is an episode that is surely worth exploring every minute of their discussion. Tune in and listen. #kut2thachase #podcast #unscripted #unbridled #episode4everyone #E76 #yourcomfortisanenemytoyourdestiny #satx #sanantonio #sanantoniopodcast #sanantoniopodcaster #sanantonioinfluencer --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kut2thachase/support

Growing up in Vacherie, Louisiana, Zack Landry had a gift and love of music he did not realize. In October 2015, Zack and Phaze recorded an album, “Come On, Praise Him.” They have performed at the New Orleans Jazzfest on the Gospel Stage as well as the New Orleans Chapter of Gospel Music Workshop of America. He has also performed with various artists, one of whom more noted, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, who encouraged Zack to “Set a standard in music. Be a trendsetter, not a follower.”  In 2015, Zack was the winner of the Rhythm of Gospel Best Contemporary Artist. In 2016, he won the NOLA Award for Best Contemporary Artist. His new song  "Hold On" debuts March 12, 2021. You can find the song on iTunes.  Check it out. The Kingdom Investor | PodcastTake your generosity to the next level, impact more lives and build a godly legacy! Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Support the show

Growing up in Vacherie, Louisiana, Zachariah D Landry had a gift and love of music he did not realize: He was able to easily duplicate music that he heard "by ear." Zack (as he's called by family and friends) began playing piano and organ at age 15, and with his family's encouragement, he started classes to develop his music reading skills. It was during this time that Zack's family came to know that this talent for music was a Gift From God.In 2005, Zack's family's faith was tried and tested when Hurricane Katrina displaced them from their home. Times were hard but Zack's faith grew stronger. Through this adversity, Zack wrote several songs, "Lord, We Say Thank You" and "I Realize." Zack has had the pleasure of singing these songs with a group of his friends, Phaze.Formed in 2008, Zack and Phaze recorded a 2015 album, "Come On, Praise Him." They have performed at the New Orleans Jazzfest on the Gospel Stage, as well as the New Orleans Chapter of Gospel Music Workshop of America. Zack has also performed with various artists, including Pastor Donnie McClurkin, who encouraged Zack to "Set a standard in music. Be a trendsetter, not a follower." In 2015, Zack was the winner of the Rhythm of Gospel Best Contemporary Artist. In 2016, he won the NOLA Award for Best Contemporary Artist. Zack is currently a Minister of Music with a mission to "fulll God's word through music."https://www.iamasound.org/https: //www.facebook.com/zdlmusichttps: //instagram.com/officialiamasound

Lady A began her performance career as a back-up singer in a Motown Revue band during the 90's. Her love of music, gospel background, Louisiana roots, and musical family always led her back to the blues and gospel music, mixed with flavors of soul and funk like a perfect jambalaya. Known as "The Hardest Workin Woman in Blues, Soul, Funk & Gospel" continue reading and find out why... Voted Best Blues Performer of the Year 2020 ~ Lady A's NEW CD Project: Lady A Live in New Orleans released in July of 2020. She and co-producer John Oliver III have been dreaming of doing a live project for some time, and they enlisted the assistance of her Mississippi producer, Dexter Allen. Though born and raised in Seattle, Washington, you can clearly hear the southern undertones in her music and lyrics . Lady A also performs as a solo act when on the road and has been front woman for European bands such as Sweden's Top Dogs of Soul and The Netherland's band Blind Bart & the Visionarries. Lady A also works and performs with her accompanist and pianist/producer John Oliver III, doing special projects such as, United by Music Europe and North America, for which she was a mentor from 2011 - 2016. Because of her assistance with the UBM organization, she was asked to come to Denmark by Music Unites Europe in order to work with and teach a Gospel Music Workshop with bands and singers from Germany, Holland, Sweden and Denmark. Both organization help intellectually disabled persons sing and perform on stage and are dear to Lady A's heart. Her belief is to always "Give Back, that which you have been Blessed with"She produced her first mini tour, Buzin The Northwest, in March of 2015 featuring Deep Rush Record Recording artist, Dexter Allen and herself, from Seattle to Portland. This tour was met with acclaimed success by sold out audiences and festival producers have praised her accomplishment of producing and performing during this tour. In May of 2017, she produced The Big Blues Blowout with mentor and friend, 2017 Grammy Winner Bobby Rush, Chicago's Nellie Tiger Travis, and Producer, Dexter Allen. Again to a sold out Seattle audience. Proving she is a producer as well as an artist.She is also a mentor to young people as well as a community activist.https://www.ladyababyblues.comhttps://thetruthisloud.info/https://www.ladyababyblues.com/moments-in-black-history-2021-food-for-the-soulshttps://www.instagram.com/LadyA_bluesdiva/Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9JCBNUCRNRVKY&source=url)

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.

The ArtistBorn in the small town of Ozark, Alabama, she enjoyed singing for her family. She hails from a strong religious background; her father was a noted minister while her mother was a well-respected missionary. With deep gospel roots her yearning to sing thrived. Today, her love for Gospel has awarded her many opportunities to minister through music, and has led Voncile Belcher to peruse her fourth solo project.In 1968, Voncile moved her family to Rochester, New York. There she became affiliated with the City of Rochester Mass Choir, which was her first opportunity to perform on a professional level.In 1974, she and her family returned to Ozark, Alabama. There she was introduced to Gospel Music Workshop of America – Alabama Chapter. This association would prove to be the catalyst to her first recording venture. With the Harris Temple Church of God in Christ, under the direction of Keith Ellison, she recorded and sang lead vocals on “Do You Know Who Jesus Is” which became a blessing and inspiration to many. Later in1985, she again relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and she transferred her GMWA membership to the Atlanta Chapter. She was welcomed with open arms. While in Atlanta she took charge of her career and began recording. Steady, in the studio Voncile met a man that would change the course of her life. Milton Bigham, the then President of Savoy Records gave her a little piece of paper with three lines. With those three lines she sang lead vocals on the track ‘Look Where He Brought Me From' that appeared on Georgia Mass Choir's 1985 ‘We've Got the Victory' album. The song became an instant hit on The Gospel Billboard Charts. Along with Georgia Mass Choir, Voncile also sang lead on ‘Hold To God's Unchanging Hand' written by Gospel Great James Bignon.As success arose it enabled Voncile to expand her ministry by booking various performances across the country, and ministering to audiences of all race and religions. As Voncile returned to her solo career, with a leap of faith it led her to the release her first album entitled ‘Be Strong'. Coming off the highs of ‘Be Strong', Voncile began to cultivate her gift of writing. She released her second project ‘What a Time' in which she did a vast array of writing, arranging, and co-producing. Once more again with success and opportunity in view she headed back to record her third project. Low Rush Music released ‘Kourageous' in the Summer 2010. Now, under her own newly formed Glory Bound (GB)Records, she is set to release her most anticipated solo project, with its leading single ‘Alright' produced by Tim Fryar & Rodney Edge under New Me Productions. It is a fresh, new, and innovative Voncile Belcher.Voncile's opportunities have enabled her to perform with small, medium, and large ensembles, which have included professional choirs. Voncile continues to lend her vocals to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Battle of the Bands. It is her desire to continue to minister the Word through song so that all may be HEALED, DELIVERED, & SET FREE!!!

The ArtistBorn in the small town of Ozark, Alabama, she enjoyed singing for her family. She hails from a strong religious background; her father was a noted minister while her mother was a well-respected missionary. With deep gospel roots her yearning to sing thrived. Today, her love for Gospel has awarded her many opportunities to minister through music, and has led Voncile Belcher to peruse her fourth solo project.In 1968, Voncile moved her family to Rochester, New York. There she became affiliated with the City of Rochester Mass Choir, which was her first opportunity to perform on a professional level.In 1974, she and her family returned to Ozark, Alabama. There she was introduced to Gospel Music Workshop of America – Alabama Chapter. This association would prove to be the catalyst to her first recording venture. With the Harris Temple Church of God in Christ, under the direction of Keith Ellison, she recorded and sang lead vocals on “Do You Know Who Jesus Is” which became a blessing and inspiration to many. Later in1985, she again relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and she transferred her GMWA membership to the Atlanta Chapter. She was welcomed with open arms. While in Atlanta she took charge of her career and began recording. Steady, in the studio Voncile met a man that would change the course of her life. Milton Bigham, the then President of Savoy Records gave her a little piece of paper with three lines. With those three lines she sang lead vocals on the track ‘Look Where He Brought Me From' that appeared on Georgia Mass Choir's 1985 ‘We've Got the Victory' album. The song became an instant hit on The Gospel Billboard Charts. Along with Georgia Mass Choir, Voncile also sang lead on ‘Hold To God's Unchanging Hand' written by Gospel Great James Bignon.As success arose it enabled Voncile to expand her ministry by booking various performances across the country, and ministering to audiences of all race and religions. As Voncile returned to her solo career, with a leap of faith it led her to the release her first album entitled ‘Be Strong'. Coming off the highs of ‘Be Strong', Voncile began to cultivate her gift of writing. She released her second project ‘What a Time' in which she did a vast array of writing, arranging, and co-producing. Once more again with success and opportunity in view she headed back to record her third project. Low Rush Music released ‘Kourageous' in the Summer 2010. Now, under her own newly formed Glory Bound (GB)Records, she is set to release her most anticipated solo project, with its leading single ‘Alright' produced by Tim Fryar & Rodney Edge under New Me Productions. It is a fresh, new, and innovative Voncile Belcher.Voncile's opportunities have enabled her to perform with small, medium, and large ensembles, which have included professional choirs. Voncile continues to lend her vocals to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Battle of the Bands. It is her desire to continue to minister the Word through song so that all may be HEALED, DELIVERED, & SET FREE!!!

MULTI AWARD WINNING AND INTERNATIONAL GOSPEL RECORDING ARTISTS JUAN SANTIAGO & UNINHIBITED PRAISE (JSUP) The journey began in 1995 when Juan Santiago formed Juan Santiago and the Praise Community Choir. Juan Santiago organized singers from all over the East and West Coast, which uniquely combined an array of Solo Artist, Worship Leaders, Pastors, Co Pastors, as well as other ministry leaders in order to create a united and effective music ministry. In 2000 the name of the group was changed to Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise also known as “JSUP.” In 2005 JSUP released their debut album "Takin' it to Da Streetz" Which produced three popular singles entitled “Get Cha' Praise On”, “More Than You Can Bear”, and “I Give You Peace, all which remained number one on local stations for 14 weeks. Juan Santiago's passion for music and Christ has turned into a flourishing ministry which has led to opportunities to minister at star studded live events, appearances, and opening performances with artist such as; Pastor Shirley Caesar, Bobby Jones Gospel, Keith Pringle, Vicki Yohe, Timothy Wright, The Canton Spirituals, Damita Haddon, Russell Delegation featuring Jonathan Nelson & Purpose, B. Chase Williams & Shabach, and Woody Rock (formerly of the R & B group Dru Hill) As well as stage plays "In Times Like These" and "Lord, I'm Coming Home," featuring Karen Clark-Sheard, Vicki Winans, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Tampa, Florida. JSUP was also quarter finalist for “The Gospel Challenge” (produced by TV One), and served as Host Choir for “Visions Unlimited” with Pastors Mark & Hope Mason.2010: JSUP signed with Naro Group Productions®2011: The highly anticipated sophomore project entitled "The Ultimate Worship Experience - Live" was released and produced top-charting singles such as “Healing Rain”, “Holy is the Lord” {Stellar Award Eligible} and “Majesty” 2012-2013: Was a busy year for JSUP, with appearances and concerts all over the United States, As well as a performance for the Radio One 103.9 The Light, “Unity in the Community” alongside artists such as Karen Clark-Sheard, Anthony Brown and Group Therapy, Kurt Carr, Smokie Norful and others.2014: JSUP was nominated and won choir of the year for the Music love awards. JSUP was blessed to take their “Majesty Tour” to London England in October, where they ministered at several Colleges and Churches. November 2014 JSUP recorded their sophomore Live Worship CD, "Fresh Fire" which will be released Mid 2015.2015: JSUP new single release “Take Your Burdens” is heavily in rotation nationwide, is currently charting at #2 on I Gospel Radio. JSUP has been nominated for the 2015 Music Love Award for Praise and Worship, Choir of the year, Songwriter of the Year, and Director of the Year.2015 Rhythm of Gospel Award nominations for Traditional choir of the year, Traditional Artist of the year, Traditional song of the year and Community Choir of the year. As of July 15, 2015 “Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise Ultimate Worship Experience Live” CD has sold over 67,000 units. JSUP has received many nominations throughout their time in ministry such as “The Blue Mic Award” for Choir of the year, “Prayze Factor Award” for Worship Choir of the year, and the “Music Love Award” as Choir of the year. JSUP has also taken part in the “Unrestrained Worship Encounter” in Atlanta Georgia, and were the featured choir and background vocals for Bishop Paul S. Morton, Tony Sutherland, Bishop William Murphy and other well- known artists. JSUP was blessed to minister at the South Carolina State fair in Aiken, SC as the head liner, as well as TBN and Atlanta Live. JSUP has also been chosen to be one of the choirs to do a tribute for the legendary Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. JSUP has been fortunate to share their love for the Lord to the masses, however acknowledges their ministry is not only to sing, but to embrace the broken and lost, spread God's love and joy to both the

MULTI AWARD WINNING AND INTERNATIONAL GOSPEL RECORDING ARTISTS JUAN SANTIAGO & UNINHIBITED PRAISE (JSUP) The journey began in 1995 when Juan Santiago formed Juan Santiago and the Praise Community Choir. Juan Santiago organized singers from all over the East and West Coast, which uniquely combined an array of Solo Artist, Worship Leaders, Pastors, Co Pastors, as well as other ministry leaders in order to create a united and effective music ministry. In 2000 the name of the group was changed to Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise also known as “JSUP.” In 2005 JSUP released their debut album "Takin' it to Da Streetz" Which produced three popular singles entitled “Get Cha' Praise On”, “More Than You Can Bear”, and “I Give You Peace, all which remained number one on local stations for 14 weeks. Juan Santiago's passion for music and Christ has turned into a flourishing ministry which has led to opportunities to minister at star studded live events, appearances, and opening performances with artist such as; Pastor Shirley Caesar, Bobby Jones Gospel, Keith Pringle, Vicki Yohe, Timothy Wright, The Canton Spirituals, Damita Haddon, Russell Delegation featuring Jonathan Nelson & Purpose, B. Chase Williams & Shabach, and Woody Rock (formerly of the R & B group Dru Hill) As well as stage plays "In Times Like These" and "Lord, I'm Coming Home," featuring Karen Clark-Sheard, Vicki Winans, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Tampa, Florida. JSUP was also quarter finalist for “The Gospel Challenge” (produced by TV One), and served as Host Choir for “Visions Unlimited” with Pastors Mark & Hope Mason.2010: JSUP signed with Naro Group Productions®2011: The highly anticipated sophomore project entitled "The Ultimate Worship Experience - Live" was released and produced top-charting singles such as “Healing Rain”, “Holy is the Lord” {Stellar Award Eligible} and “Majesty” 2012-2013: Was a busy year for JSUP, with appearances and concerts all over the United States, As well as a performance for the Radio One 103.9 The Light, “Unity in the Community” alongside artists such as Karen Clark-Sheard, Anthony Brown and Group Therapy, Kurt Carr, Smokie Norful and others.2014: JSUP was nominated and won choir of the year for the Music love awards. JSUP was blessed to take their “Majesty Tour” to London England in October, where they ministered at several Colleges and Churches. November 2014 JSUP recorded their sophomore Live Worship CD, "Fresh Fire" which will be released Mid 2015.2015: JSUP new single release “Take Your Burdens” is heavily in rotation nationwide, is currently charting at #2 on I Gospel Radio. JSUP has been nominated for the 2015 Music Love Award for Praise and Worship, Choir of the year, Songwriter of the Year, and Director of the Year.2015 Rhythm of Gospel Award nominations for Traditional choir of the year, Traditional Artist of the year, Traditional song of the year and Community Choir of the year. As of July 15, 2015 “Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise Ultimate Worship Experience Live” CD has sold over 67,000 units. JSUP has received many nominations throughout their time in ministry such as “The Blue Mic Award” for Choir of the year, “Prayze Factor Award” for Worship Choir of the year, and the “Music Love Award” as Choir of the year. JSUP has also taken part in the “Unrestrained Worship Encounter” in Atlanta Georgia, and were the featured choir and background vocals for Bishop Paul S. Morton, Tony Sutherland, Bishop William Murphy and other well- known artists. JSUP was blessed to minister at the South Carolina State fair in Aiken, SC as the head liner, as well as TBN and Atlanta Live. JSUP has also been chosen to be one of the choirs to do a tribute for the legendary Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. JSUP has been fortunate to share their love for the Lord to the masses, however acknowledges their ministry is not only to sing, but to embrace the broken and lost, spread God's love and joy to both the

EPISODE 328 WIT' LADY VONCILE BELCHER AND JERRY ROYCE LIVE -WORLDWIDE! LISTEN TO HER NEW HIT SINGLE "I'LL STAND".LADY VONCILE BELCHER"The Voice that Rejuvenates Traditional Gospel Music"Born in the small town of Ozark, Alabama, she enjoyed singing for her family where she hails from a strong religious background; her father was a noted Minister while her mother was a well-respected Missionary. With deep gospel roots her yearning to sing thrived. Today, her love for Gospel Music has awarded her many opportunities to minister in song and has led Lady Voncile Belcher to pursue her fourth solo project.Voncile moved her family to Rochester, New York where she became affiliated with the City of Rochester Mass Choir, which was her first opportunity to perform on a professional singing level. In 1974, she and her family returned to Ozark, Alabama, where she was introduced to the Gospel Music Workshop of America – Alabama Chapter. This association would prove to be the catalyst to her first recording venture with the Harris Temple Church of God in Christ, under the direction of Keith Ellison, where she recorded and sang lead vocals on the song “Do You Know Who Jesus Is ” which became a blessing and inspiration to many. Later in 1985, she then relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and transferred her GMWA membership to the Atlanta Chapter where she was welcomed with open arms. Residing in Atlanta, she took charge of her music career and began recording and while in the studio, she met a man that would change the course of her life in music. Rev. Milton Biggham, then the President of Savoy Records, who gave her a little piece of paper with three lines that said "Look Where He Brought Me From" . With those three lines, she sang lead vocals on the track that appeared on the Georgia Mass Choir’s 1985 album ‘We’ve Got the Victory’ . The song became an instant hit on The Gospel Billboard Charts and is still sung across the country in churches even today. Along with Georgia Mass Choir, Voncile also sang lead on ‘Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand’ also written by Gospel-Great James Bignon.Continuing her solo career with a leap of faith. it led her to the release her first solo album entitled ‘Be Strong’. Coming off the highs of ‘Be Strong’ she began to cultivate her gift of writing, releasing her second project ‘What a Time’ in which she did a vast array of writing, arranging, and co-producing. Once more again with success and opportunity in view, she then released her third project with Low Rush Music “Kourageous" in the Summer 2010. 2014 was an exciting year for Lady Voncile Belcher as she was awarded by the Rhythm of Gospel Awards as the "Traditional Artist of the Year" and is already nominated in 3 categories for the 2015 Awards Show. Under her own newly formed Glory Bound (GB) Records, and working with Producers Tim Fryar and Rodney Edge and New Me Productions, her single release of the song " Alright" is playing on the radio in the U.S. and International markets. The Christmas release of "A Time to Celebrate" proved as a seasonal hit with a perpetual impact. And now in 2015, the highly anticipated release of her fourth solo project entitled "Phenomenal" where you will be sure to hear a fresh, new, and innovative Lady Voncile Belcher.

EPISODE 328 WIT' LADY VONCILE BELCHER AND JERRY ROYCE LIVE -WORLDWIDE! LISTEN TO HER NEW HIT SINGLE "I'LL STAND".LADY VONCILE BELCHER"The Voice that Rejuvenates Traditional Gospel Music"Born in the small town of Ozark, Alabama, she enjoyed singing for her family where she hails from a strong religious background; her father was a noted Minister while her mother was a well-respected Missionary. With deep gospel roots her yearning to sing thrived. Today, her love for Gospel Music has awarded her many opportunities to minister in song and has led Lady Voncile Belcher to pursue her fourth solo project.Voncile moved her family to Rochester, New York where she became affiliated with the City of Rochester Mass Choir, which was her first opportunity to perform on a professional singing level. In 1974, she and her family returned to Ozark, Alabama, where she was introduced to the Gospel Music Workshop of America – Alabama Chapter. This association would prove to be the catalyst to her first recording venture with the Harris Temple Church of God in Christ, under the direction of Keith Ellison, where she recorded and sang lead vocals on the song “Do You Know Who Jesus Is ” which became a blessing and inspiration to many. Later in 1985, she then relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and transferred her GMWA membership to the Atlanta Chapter where she was welcomed with open arms. Residing in Atlanta, she took charge of her music career and began recording and while in the studio, she met a man that would change the course of her life in music. Rev. Milton Biggham, then the President of Savoy Records, who gave her a little piece of paper with three lines that said "Look Where He Brought Me From" . With those three lines, she sang lead vocals on the track that appeared on the Georgia Mass Choir’s 1985 album ‘We’ve Got the Victory’ . The song became an instant hit on The Gospel Billboard Charts and is still sung across the country in churches even today. Along with Georgia Mass Choir, Voncile also sang lead on ‘Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand’ also written by Gospel-Great James Bignon.Continuing her solo career with a leap of faith. it led her to the release her first solo album entitled ‘Be Strong’. Coming off the highs of ‘Be Strong’ she began to cultivate her gift of writing, releasing her second project ‘What a Time’ in which she did a vast array of writing, arranging, and co-producing. Once more again with success and opportunity in view, she then released her third project with Low Rush Music “Kourageous" in the Summer 2010. 2014 was an exciting year for Lady Voncile Belcher as she was awarded by the Rhythm of Gospel Awards as the "Traditional Artist of the Year" and is already nominated in 3 categories for the 2015 Awards Show. Under her own newly formed Glory Bound (GB) Records, and working with Producers Tim Fryar and Rodney Edge and New Me Productions, her single release of the song " Alright" is playing on the radio in the U.S. and International markets. The Christmas release of "A Time to Celebrate" proved as a seasonal hit with a perpetual impact. And now in 2015, the highly anticipated release of her fourth solo project entitled "Phenomenal" where you will be sure to hear a fresh, new, and innovative Lady Voncile Belcher.

Growing up in a small 3 bedroom house in Raleigh, North Carolina; Al Chauncy experienced what it was like to live in a lower income neighborhood called Apollo Heights. With three brothers in one room and one boxed floor television in the living room, he had to become more creative. Being the Son of a Rock & Roll/Jazz trained Pianist, Al Chauncy's musical prowess begun at the early age 11; penning his first song to the Maxi single instrumental of Ice - T “Original Gangster”. Being involved around church since his early childhood, Al Chauncy learned three part harmonies and vocal arrangements from singing in  The Gospel Music Workshop of America(Ricky Dilliard, Vickie Winans, James Moore), and the MLK All Childrens choir.His story telling style is heavily influence by The Notorious BIG and his love for storylines in films. At the age of 16 he joined a super rap group Bloodline which comprised of 6 members who sung and rapped; they were compared to The Fugees and even got a chance to work with the Fugees producer/engineer Joe “The butcher” Nicolo in Philadelphia. In the midst of the few lucrative deals Bloodline had on the table, the group disbanded due to creative differences. After the big group break up Al Chauncy continued his musical dream and became a state wide figure in the Carolina music scene. He was nominated for Best  Artist in the 2009 North Carolina Underground Music Awards and also recieved the moniker as The Carolina Mayor from his fans.  

Le'Andria Johnson, Mississippi Mass Choir, God's On Your Side, GMWA, Gospel Music Workshop of America, #GospelUpdates, Gospel Updates, Gospel News, find more at http://www.gospelupdates.com

The show comes to you live from the Gospel Music Workshop of America, spotlighting several aspiring and seasoned artist.

SHARI ADDISON, a vocalist extraordinaire, possesses a soulful passion for music. While her career spans diverse music genres, her heart truly belongs to gospel. In 2007, Shari appeared on BET's premier broadcast of the gospel talent competition, Sunday Best and placed second. Her powerful performances helped BET garner the highest rated gospel show in its history with a voting audience of more than 1.5 million viewers. Our second segment: Since his discovery at the Gospel Music Workshop of America in 1993, Pastor CHARLES WOOLFORK has been a part of the landscape of the Gospel music scene. Having shared the stage and pulpit with some of the most dynamic names in the industry, it's his time to become a distinct fixture for the new direction of Gospel for years to come! Woolfork has to his credit 6 national music releases and is currently working on the latest titled “Triumph & Tragedy” due out in 2008 on his own independent label "Eternity Musiq Group".