Author: Libra Boyd

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.

Kee to be inducted into NC Music Hall of Fame – Oct. 17, 2013

John P. Kee is one of eight artists being inducted into the NC Music Hall of Fame this Thursday, October 17, 2013, at 7:15 PM.  The award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, musician, choir director, and pastor was born in Durham, “outside the county line,” and presently shepherds New Life City of Praise in Charlotte.
Inductions into the hall of fame are held annually to honor and
commemorate North Carolinians who have made significant contributions to American
music.
The induction ceremony will take place at the GEM Theatre in Kannapolis.  Tickets to the event can be purchased at the NC Music Hall of Fame Museum or online at northcarolinamusichalloffame.org.

Congratulations to Pastor Kee from GMF!

Crouch okay after having been rushed to hospital

Let’s keep Pastor Andraé Crouch in our prayers.

Gospel icon Andraé Crouch rushed to hospital after falling ill

Musician Joey Sellars needs your prayers, contributions for heart transplant

Joey Sellars is a trooper.  He has continued to serve others through his gift of music as much as his health has permitted over the past several months, and now you have a chance to be a blessing to him.  The longtime NC/VA area musician is in need of your prayers and financial support toward a heart transplant.

Contributions can be made online at www.helphopelive.org (search for “Joey Sellars”).  The site also provides information if you wish to mail a check or pay by phone.

Additionally, the following benefit musicals are currently scheduled:

October 19, 2013
6 PM
Springdale AME Church
5554 S NC Hwy 62
Burlington, NC 27215
Free Admission – Please Bring Monetary Gifts of Love
Guests: Tony & The Magnificent Voices, New Creation, John Thorpe & Truth, Chosen Disciples

November 9, 2013
4 PM
Hamer Baptist Church
4425 NC 62
Blanch, NC 27212
Free Admission – Please Bring Monetary Gifts of Love
Guests: The Original Stars of Faith (Durham), One Accord, One Way, The Heavenly Stars

Your prayers and support are much needed and greatly appreciated.

Official Video – “Joy Comes in the Morning” – Sybrina Fulton f. T-D.O.G.G.

A couple of months ago, GMF informed you that Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, had released an inspirational single in collaboration with T-D.O.G.G. (see “Trayvon Martin’s mom releases new single featuring gospel’s T-D.O.G.G.”).  Here’s the official music video.


Minister Charles Brown of the Fantastic Violinaires passes

Minister Charles Brown, lead and background singer of the Fantastic Violinaires, has died. 


Brown joined Robert Blair and the Fantastic Violinaires in 1969. He was formerly a member of the Pilgrim Jubilees.  According to his bio, shortly after joining the Violinaires he introduced the song “Separation Line,” which the group subsequently recorded.


GMF extends condolences to Brown’s family, friends, the Violinaires, and the quartet community.


According to a message from the Violinaires, arrangements are as follows:

Wake
Friday, October 18, 2013
7-9 PM
Dobbs Sterling United Methodist Church
3272 Brown Mill Road
Atlanta, GA 30354


Homegoing Service
Saturday, October 19, 2013
12 Noon
United House of Prayer for All People
2719 3rd Avenue SW
Atlanta, GA 30315

2014 Rhythm of Gospel nominees announced

Nominees have been announced for the 2014 Rhythm of Gospel Awards. Online voting begins November 1, 2013 and continues through March 1, 2014.  See the complete list of nominees here.


Congratulations to all from GMF! 

PBS to air “Jubilee Showcase” anniversary special – Oct. 10

Sid Ordower

By Bill Carpenter

For the first time in almost three decades, fans of Jubilee Showcase,
a groundbreaking gospel music television program that aired from 1963 to
1984 on WLS Channel 7 in Chicago, will be able to see highlights of
the venerable show as it celebrates its 50th anniversary during a Public
Broadcasting System (PBS) Pledge special.  Veteran entertainer Clifton
Davis will host
the pledge break program on WTTW, the Chicago PBS affiliate, on October 10, 2013 at 9 PM CST. The special will also air nationally on PBS stations throughout the United States beginning in December 2013.

The hour-long broadcast
will present historic footage of The Staple Singers, The Soul Stirrers,
and The Caravans among others, from the television show that opened each Sunday morning
with this announcement: “Hello, I’m Sid Ordower and welcome to Jubilee Showcase, the program presenting songs truly American:
gospel, spiritual and jubilee songs–the great inspirational music of
the past and present.”  Dorothy Norwood, who
was once a member of The Caravans and appeared on the program during its 20 year run, will make a cameo during the pledge break to reflect
on the show and its cultural significance at the time.

Sid Ordower launched Jubilee Showcase in 1963
from an auto dealership on 47th Street. As a white man active in
the civil rights movement, Ordower became acquainted with gospel music
because so many political activities took place in churches where he
came in contact with gospel performers. He became a fan of the genre and
created the television show as a mainstream showcase for the artists.

At
its height, Jubilee Showcase boasted over 250,000 weekly viewers and
presented some of the biggest names in gospel. Many Chicagoans fondly remember watching
Jubilee Showcase on Sunday mornings as “church before church.” Log on at www.jubileeshowcase.com for news and updates.

S&D places 2nd in Verizon's HSTS regionals, Gentle Giant Music Ministries advances (video)

Congratulations to the Salvation and Deliverance Church Choir of Tarboro, NC, runners-up at Verizon’s How Sweet the Sound Baltimore tour!  The choir’s second place finish comes with an $8,000 prize. Check out the performance below.

Gentle Giant Music Ministries of Hyattsville, MD placed first in last night’s competition and will compete for the grand prize in the Los Angeles finale.  Congratulations to Gentle Giant Music Ministries!


History: Complete Early Recordings – The Yancey Family Singers

The Yancey Family Singers
History: Complete Early Recordings
Yancey Family Ministries (2013)
www.yanceyfamilyministries.org

Yancey Family Singers cover art

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

The Yancey family is to the North Carolina city of Oxford what the Winans are to Detroit.  Full of singing, writing, and musical talent, the 11-sibling family has shared their brand of traditional gospel throughout the region for decades; it’s a legacy passed on to them by their parents, Melcina and the late Willie G. Yancey.  Their longtime supporters probably own the first vinyl records released under the name The Yancey Family Singers.  For younger ones like me—who own the more recent CDs and mp3s by those who’ve become solo artists in their own right—it’s a real treat to be able to step back in time via History: Complete Early Recordings, a 30-track double-disc compilation of the family’s early LPs and 45s.  The Yanceys are grateful to collector John Glassburner who supplied them with several of the hard-to-find original recordings that they were not able to easily access.

The CD set features music from two of their 1970’s albums, God Brought Us From A Mighty Long Way and Mind Your Own Business as well as several singles.  The set also includes two early 70’s tracks from The Yancey Glorietts, younger siblings of The Yancey Family Singers.  The presentation of the early performances is as initially recorded, and there doesn’t appear to have been any remixing or remastering (which may explain the volume adjustments you’ll need to make and the clipping you’ll hear on just a few of the tracks).  Among the standouts is “God Brought Us From A Mighty Long Way,” a retrospective musical narrative through which Willie N. Yancey recalls the family’s humble beginnings—when there were only four siblings and their father worked for a meager wage (60¢/hour), while Mother Yancey handmade their clothes to help make ends meet. Yet, “we were thankful…He brought us from a mighty long way.”

The compilation boasts its share of homespun quartet selections, including the punchy “Jesus Never Let Me Down” and sauntering “He Loves Me”—both of which hint at stylings of the Williams Brothers and Jackson Southernaires.  One might even think the Keynotes’ Paul Beasley showed up for a vocal workout, but it’s actually the keen falsetto of Willard Yancey on “Jesus Don’t Leave Me.”  Another tune, “Poor Man Cry,” ambles into country music territory and still another, “Pray for the Nation,” wallows in bluegrass as it tugs on our social consciousness.

The folksy “God’s and Satan’s War” puts sister Susie out front, while “I Had A Dream” and “You And God” are respectively plaintive and cautionary, capturing the piping vocals of a preteen Larry Yancey on the former and a barely teen Gloretta McNeil née Yancey on the latter.  Along with a pair of “mother” songs, the remaining numbers are quintessential Yancey gems that bespeak Dorothy Norwood’s endorsement of the singing family as the “best kept secret of Granville County.”  Of course, in the minds of all the Yanceys’ longtime friends, fans, and followers far and near, the secret has long been out.

Favorites
“God Brought Us From A Mighty Long Way” – “He Loves Me”- “I Had A Dream”

Fever Meter
SMOKIN’ (4 of 5 Stars)

Salvation & Deliverance Church Choir hopes to land a spot in Verizon’s HSTS finals

Salvation & Deliverance Church Choir won the finals in 2011.
Click here for update.

Salvation and Deliverance Church Choir of Tarboro is one of six choirs participating in Verizon’s How Sweet the Sound Baltimore tour in hopes of landing a spot in the gospel music competition’s grand finale.

The tour stops in Baltimore, MD, on October 2, at 7:30 PM, where an audience will join co-hosts Donald Lawrence and Yolanda Adams with judges Tamela Mann, Bishop Hezekiah Walker, VaShawn Mitchell and Byron Cage to see who will advance to the finals in Los Angeles.  The competing choirs also have a chance to win a recording contract and up to $50,000 in cash and prizes.
Salvation and Deliverance Church Choir–Verizon’s How Sweet the Sound 2011 national winners–will be
competing with Powerfied
(Salisbury, MD), Greater Morning Star Bishop’s Choir (Suitland, MD), Gentle
Giant Music Ministries (Hyattsville, MD), Beth-El Temple Celebration Choir (Baltimore, MD), and Total Prayze Chorale (Denton, MD).
Because I believe NC is home to some of the best gospel music makers on this side of Heaven, I’m behind Salvation and Deliverance 100 percent!