Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
GMF was sad to learn of the passing of Ora Watkins-Jones, perhaps best known as a lead vocalist for the Southwest Michigan State Choir of the Church of God in Christ, under the direction of Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. Her family certainly is in our thoughts and prayers during this emotional time.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Anita Fairley (back) and Jennifer “Jaye” Boykin were members of the group Ladies of De’Voted. (Photo from Jaye Boykin’s Facebook profile)
Ladies of De’Voted as well as their supporters recently bade farewell to group members Anita Mechelle Fairley and Jennifer “Jaye” Boykin. Fairley and Boykin passed away just five days apart on December 5th and December 10th, at the ages of 51 and 46, respectively. Boykin transitioned one day short of her 47th birthday.
Ladies of De’Voted is a female quartet-styled group based in Sanford, NC. Among their well-known songs are “All Over Me” and “Move in This Place,” both featured on their CD titled, Grace (2016). “As for Me” from their project titled, Joshua 24:15 (2018) was a frequently requested song on The Gospel Music Fever Radio Show. Boykin was the group’s primary lead singer.
In 2015, the prominence of Ladies of De’Voted was propelled by their appearance at WIDU’s Carolina’s Best competition, where they emerged as winners in the quartet category. Their popularity continued to soar after a video posted by Angela Breedlove in 2018 went viral on social media. The video features Ladies of De’Voted singing “All Over Me” and currently has well over one million views.
GMF extends heartfelt condolences to the Fairley and Boykin families as well as to Ladies of De’Voted during this emotionally difficult time.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Troy Douglas Clark, a behind-the-scenes music industry veteran who worked as both a talent manager and background vocalist, died of liver failure on November 25, 2020, at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, CA. Two of Clark’s longtime industry friends, recording executive Neily Dickerson and singer Earnest Pugh, have announced a virtual concert celebrating Clark’s life. Dr. Judith Christie McAllister and Pugh will host the virtual Facebook Live concert Friday, December 11, 2020, at 8 PM ET/ 5 PM PT on the @SetAPartandChosen1 page.
The concert will feature gospel stars such as Yolanda Adams, John P. Kee, B. Slade, Kurt Carr, Chrystal Rucker, Nikki Potts, Charles Butler & Trinity, Nikki Potts, Chaz Shepherd, Shamika Bereal, Toya Adams, and more. There will also be appearances from music executives Vicki Mack-Lataillade, Neily Dickerson and Phil Thornton.
There will be a public wake on Thursday, December 17 at 3-5 PM PT at Arnold Family Funeral Services in the Hillside Chapel, 2561 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001. The family requests that viewers adhere to CDC guidelines by wearing masks.
Clark, 53, was a former R&B/Gospel singer who spent the bulk of his career behind-the-scenes of the music industry. In the 1990s, he worked as an A&R Director for GospoCentric Records where he worked with Stephanie Mills, Kirk Franklin, and Kurt Carr, among others. In 2002, he launched Clark Management where his roster of artists included Earnest Pugh, Octavia Pace, B. Slade, Charles Butler & Trinity, among others. “Troy will be greatly missed by countless souls that he impacted with his warm heart, smile, humor and remarkable talent,” says Pugh.
Clark is survived by his mother, Sandra Clark; his sisters Traci Clark and Tamitra “TuTu” Clark; best friend, Everett Jackson, and several extended family members. His father, Dexter Clark, preceded him in death.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Congratulations to nominees for the 63rd GRAMMY Awards, announced today, November 24. Nominees for the Gospel/CCM categories are below.
Best Gospel Performance/Song
WONDERFUL IS YOUR NAME Melvin Crispell III
RELEASE (LIVE) Ricky Dillard Featuring Tiff Joy; David Frazier, songwriter
COME TOGETHER Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins Presents: The Good News; Lashawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, Lecrae Moore & Jazz Nixon, songwriters
WON’T LET GO Travis Greene; Travis Greene, songwriter
MOVIN’ ON Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music; Darryl L. Howell, Jonathan Caleb McReynolds, Kortney Jamaal Pollard & Terrell Demetrius Wilson, songwriters
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
THE BLESSING (LIVE) Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship; Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe Carnes & Steven Furtick, songwriters
SUNDAY MORNING Lecrae Featuring Kirk Franklin; Denisia Andrews, Jones Terrence Antonio, Saint Bodhi, Brittany Coney, Kirk Franklin, Lasanna Harris, Shama Joseph, Stuart Lowery, Lecrae Moore & Nathanael Saint-Fleur, songwriters
HOLY WATER We The Kingdom; Andrew Bergthold, Ed Cash, Franni Cash, Martin Cash & Scott Cash, songwriters
FAMOUS FOR (I BELIEVE) Tauren Wells Featuring Jenn Johnson; Chuck Butler, Krissy Nordhoff, Jordan Sapp, Alexis Slifer & Tauren Wells, songwriters
THERE WAS JESUS Zach Williams & Dolly Parton; Casey Beathard, Jonathan Smith & Zach Williams, songwriters
Best Gospel Album
2ECOND WIND: READY Anthony Brown & group therAPy
MY TRIBUTE Myron Butler
CHOIRMASTER Ricky Dillard
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PJ PJ Morton
KIERRA Kierra Sheard
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
RUN TO THE FATHER Cody Carnes
ALL OF MY BEST FRIENDS Hillsong Young & Free
HOLY WATER We The Kingdom
CITIZEN OF HEAVEN Tauren Wells
JESUS IS KING Kanye West
Best Roots Gospel Album
BEAUTIFUL DAY Mark Bishop
20/20 The Crabb Family
WHAT CHRISTMAS REALLY MEANS The Erwins
CELEBRATING FISK! (THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM) Fisk Jubilee Singers
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Check out the list of 2021 nominees in all 83 categories here. The GRAMMYs are set to air Sunday, January 31, on CBS.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Carl Lashaun Anthony (second from right) is pictured with George Dean and the Gospel Four.
GMF sends condolences to the family of Carl Lashaun Anthony, member of George Dean and the Gospel Four. Anthony transitioned November 14, 2020, in Byhalia, MS. Anthony was both a guitarist and singer with the Memphis-based group. His voice is recognizable on such tunes as “Give Him My Heart,” “Going Home Another Way,” and “Blessing Line.” In 2016, he announced the availability of his first solo EP, Family Prayer.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Rance Allen Group photo from a BET taping in 2016. Left to right: Chris Byrd, Steve Allen, Rance Allen, and Tom Allen. Photo by Marcus G. Bennett.
Bishop Rance Allen, of the Grammy® Award nominated inspirational soul and gospel trio, The Rance Allen Group, has passed away at the age of 71.
“While recovering from a medical procedure at Heartland ProMedica [in Sylvania, OH], Bishop Rance Allen passed away around 3 AM this morning,” said Allen’s wife of 49 years, Ellen Allen, and his manager, Toby Jackson, in a joint statement. “I wasn’t expecting to hear this news this morning,” said Tyscot Records President, Bryant Scott, who was nearly speechless upon hearing of the singer’s death. “This is a great loss to us personally but also to the church community at large.”
The Rance Allen Group’s progressive brand of Gospel and Allen’s signature grunts and squalls have inspired a generation of gospel artists ranging from Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond to John P. Kee and Bryan Andrew Wilson. In the 1970s, they pioneered a fusion of R&B rhythms with spiritually charged message music on hits such as “Ain’t No Need of Crying,” “I Belong to You” and their cover of The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” as “Just My Salvation.” The retro-soul vibe carried over into the group’s hits of the last two decades such as “You That I Trust,” “Miracle Worker,” and “Something About the Name Jesus,” which has clocked over 175 million streams. It’s a brand that won them fans beyond the Gospel world such as American Idol’s Randy Jackson, and Pop rockers Huey Lewis & The News. In a 2019 Rolling Stone interview, Lewis cited “Ain’t No Need of Crying” as one of his all-time Top 5 favorite soul songs alongside tracks by Ray Charles and others.
Rance Allen was born November 19, 1948 in Monroe, MI. One of twelve children, he began singing and preaching as Little Rance Allen at the age of five. “We were raised in a family where you went to church every single night,” he once said. “To keep our interest, my grandmother Emma Pearl went to a pawn shop and bought instruments, drums, guitars and amplifiers.” Using records by the Rev. James Cleveland and Ray Charles as his guides, he learned to play the piano before picking up the guitar with Chuck Berry as an influence. His grandparents served as his agents, but he once told writer Lee Hildebrand, “I didn’t have a life like most kids had. I wasn’t allowed to go out and play baseball with the guys and do the things a kid does.”
Circa 1967, Rance, with himself on guitar, started the Rance Allen Singers with his older brother Tom on drums and younger brother Steve on bass. They recorded their first song “Let’s Get Together and Love” – a psychedelic song with Allen’s stratospheric high notes and a direct message about Jesus Christ sacrificing his life on the Cross so that mankind could love one another – for the local Reflect label. Then, in 1971 they won a prize of $500 at a Detroit talent contest where legendary Stax Records promotion man Dave Clark was in the audience. Clark liked what he heard and took the renamed Rance Allen Group into the studio and recorded an album’s worth of material that was purchased by Stax Records.
Stax President Al Bell loved the trio’s music so much that he started The Gospel Truth subsidiary specifically to promote it. Their first single was “Just My Salvation,” a 1971 gospel cover of The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination.” Soon, they were appearing on bills with the likes of The Dramatics and Barry White and taking their R&B-infused gospel to an un-churched audience. Their following was built off of hits such as “I Got to Be Myself,” “Ain’t No Need in Crying” and “That Will Be Good Enough for Me.”
In 1975, they moved to Capitol Records where they recorded a couple of albums before returning to Stax in 1979 after the company was purchased by Fantasy Records. During this period, the group enjoyed its biggest Stax-era radio hit, “I Belong to You,” which reached the Billboard R&B Singles Top 30 chart. From there, they moved to Myrrh Records where they recorded two albums, including, I Give Myself to You, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart in 1985.
It was during the 1980s that Rance Allen really began to focus on evangelism. Church of God in Christ (COGIC) leader, Bishop G.E. Patterson, began to mentor him. Under his guidance, Allen founded the New Bethel Church of God COGIC in Toledo, OH in July 1985 and he was elevated to Bishop within the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in 2011. Aside from preaching at his own church, Allen spent a lot of time on the road evangelizing with Bishop Patterson. Allen didn’t record again until former Stax chief, Al Bell, launched Bellmark Records in 1991. The Rance Allen Group rolled out the album, Phenomenon. It hit #1 on the Billboard gospel albums sales chart with the radio hit “Miracle Worker,” and earned them a performance slot on “The Arsenio Hall Show.”
A decade later, they signed with Tyscot Records and entered a new phase of their career with the Deitrick Haddon-produced set, All the Way, in 2002. However, it was 2004’s The Live Experience that has become the biggest selling album of the group’s entire career. It featured Kirk Franklin on “Something About the Name Jesus” which has amassed over 175 million streams alone. The album also featured appearances from Fred Hammond on “Miracle Worker” and LaShun Pace on “I Can’t help Myself.” In the years since, the group has scored radio hits with “Do Your Will,” “You That I Trust” with Paul Porter, “Closest Friend” and “A Lil Louder (Clap Your Hands).”
In 2018, rap icon Snoop Dogg featured Rance Allen on his Top 10 Billboard Gospel Digital Songs Sales chart hit, “Blessing Me Again.” It won a BET Award for Best Gospel/Inspirational Song in 2019. At the time of his death, there were plans in the works for Allen to record a new gospel album with contributions from PJ Morton, Charlie Wilson and Kirk Franklin before the COVID19 pandemic put the project on hold. The Rance Allen Group’s most recent studio recording, “I’m So Glad It’s Christmas (Tyscot),” was released on all digital music platforms on October 30, 2020.
Allen is survived by his wife, Ellen Marie Allen, and his brothers, Steve and Tom, and other extended family members.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Tasha Cobbs Leonard performs for the 2020 Dove Awards. (Photo by Don Claussen/Trap The Light Photography for Dove Awards)
Winners for the 51st GMA Dove Awards were announced this past Thursday, October 29, during the show’s pre-telecast and Friday, October 30, during the main show on TBN. The events included pre-taped artist performances and stories but forwent a live audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kudos to all the winners. Among them were Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Gospel Artist of the Year), The Clark Sisters (Traditional Gospel Album of the Year), Kierra Sheard (Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year), and Kirk Franklin (Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year).
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Praise & Worship recording artist, Benita Jones (formerly Benita Washington), has a testimony to share. Last week, the car Jones (pictured) and her manager, Jarita Jackson, were riding in was broadsided by a teenager. The impact was so strong that the car literally flipped over and was totaled.
“Benita recently wanted to start learning the piano,” Jackson says. “We were on our way back from going to a music store to buy a keyboard and the car was T-boned. We literally crawled out of the car and we were helped by some bystanders. The miracle is that no one involved was badly injured –not even the other driver. We had some bumps and bruises. We went to the hospital to get checked out, but God was merciful and everyone will be fine. ”
This past summer, Jones released her first album in a decade, The Entreating (Tyscot / Integrity), a live concert session. The pulsating, high-energy gospel radio single, “Good God,” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Gospel Digital Song Sales chart earlier this year. Jones is now entering the autumn season with a new soul-stirring gospel radio single, “Still Everything.” Fans can listen to the full project at this link: https://benita.lnk.to/TheEntreating
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
“Take Your Knee Off My Neck” is one of the most direct and impassioned calls to action for social and racial justice that Pastor Shirley Caesar has issued in song. That speaks volumes for a gospel legend whose nearly seven decades of recording stretch across many of our nation’s darkest days of bigotry, segregation, and injustice.
In the riveting single co-written with Michael Mathis, Pastor Caesar speaks frankly about George Floyd’s May 2020 “lynching in broad daylight,” during which Minneapolis police officers held him in place with a knee to his neck until he lost consciousness. Floyd’s death was followed by days of demonstrations around the country. The track opens with crowd chants of “I can’t breathe!” – the last words of too many who have died in officer-involved encounters. Caesar minces no words addressing this and related acts of police brutality.
“Take your knee off my neck!”
“Enough is enough!”
“Stop killing our sons and daughters!”
“Leave us alone!”
She speaks the names of several other victims as well: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland. The roll call of Black lives taken senselessly never ceases to stir deep emotions for me, and this context is no different. “You’re gonna reap what you’ve sowed,” Caesar warns the evildoers.
The straightforward message of “Take Your Knee Off My Neck” is driven by the song’s pulsating rhythm section. It’s an auditory evocation of trifold symbolism. Caesar’s finger is on the pulse of the times, singing pointedly about defenseless hearts that have stopped beating at the hands of their cold-hearted murderers.
Despite the circumstances that make “Take Your Knee Off My Neck” a necessary and urgent call to action, Caesar doesn’t confront the oppressors without lifting up the oppressed. “Beautiful Black people,” she sings, “hold your head up high. Don’t be ashamed of who you are. Black lives matter!”
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
Condolences from the gospel community have been abundant in the days since the transition of Delores Washington-Green on Wednesday, September 2, 2020. Washington-Green had been recovering from a recent stroke, according to an August social media post from her son Leonidas. The classically trained soprano was a member of the legendary Caravans as well as the James Herndon Singers.
Rev. James Herndon, himself a member of the Caravans from 1959 to 1967 as pianist, singer, and writer of several of their popular songs including “I Won’t Be Back No More (Sweeping Through the City),” remembers how her approach to gospel singing proved to be a fine complement to the gritty gospel fervor that made the Caravans a tour de force.
The Caravans: (seated) James Herndon; (second row) Albertina Walker and Shirley Caesar; (third row) Josephine Howard, Cassietta George, and Delores Washington.
“Delores was a remarkable talent. She was a trained soprano. She had been taught by Leonard Bernstein’s sister. Really, she added the beauty to the [Caravans’] background. She was what really made it pretty. Even though she didn’t do a lot of leading, she was still an integral part of the group because you just expected to hear her voice when you heard the Caravans.”
When Herndon departed the Caravans and started the James Herndon Singers in 1967, his friend “Dee” was right there along with Josephine Howard, also an alumna of the famed Caravans. He notes that Washington-Green’s 1968 recording of “Oh Lord Have Mercy” became a signature piece for the James Herndon Singers. “That was a big song for Delores. That got to be our anchor for a while.”
She and Herndon also teamed up to record Dynamic Gospel Duets: James and ‘Dee’ for Savoy Records, “and everybody was shocked because she’s a soprano singer and I’m, at best, maybe just a baritone. The range between us was so different, people were amazed that we were able to do that. But we had a closeness of spirit and heart.”
GMF joins the gospel community in extending sympathy to the Green family in this time of bereavement.
Delores Washington-Green passed Wednesday, September 2, 2020. In recent weeks, she had been in the hospital “due to a stroke,” according to an August Facebook post from her son, Leonidas.
Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.
