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Bobby Jones, Dottie Rambo get stars on Music City Walk of Fame in Nashville

Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Jones, who is among seven new inductees into Nashville’s Music City Walk of Fame.  The ceremony took place Sunday.  Jones is celebrated for his longstanding contributions to the advancement and preservation of gospel music.  He is perhaps most widely recognized as the host of BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel, which has been on TV for more than 30 years.
Fellow gospel singer and writer Dottie Rambo was also honored posthumously with a star.  Rambo is known for her 2,500-plus compositions including “We Shall Behold Him,” “He Looked Beyond My Fault,” and “I Go to the Rock.”
The stars laud persons who have made significant creative contributions in the city of Nashville.
Jones and Rambo join more than 50 past inductees, including Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix.

Salvation and Deliverance Church Choir wins Verizon's "How Sweet the Sound"

Salvation and Deliverance Church Choir took top honors this weekend at Verizon’s “How Sweet the Sound” national choir competition.

The finale was held Friday, October 28, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.  Nine regional choir winners competed and were critiqued by three of gospel’s heavyweights: Pastor Marvin Sapp, Pastor Shirley Caesar, and Israel Houghton.

Salvation and Deliverance Church Choir of Tarboro, NC performed its version of The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah and walked away with cash and prizes totaling $40,000 along with a chance to sing at the Stellar Awards and the 2012 Super Bowl Gospel Celebration.

The Gospel Music Channel will air the Road to Finale special on Thanksgiving weekend, highlighting the stories of the church choirs who advanced to the final round.

BET’s Black Girls Rock honors Shirley Caesar

There’s just no stopping Pastor Shirley Caesar.  On the heels of a series of events celebrating her birthday (which was October 13), the “First Lady of Gospel” is among this year’s honorees on BET’s Black Girls Rock.  The show’s first airing is Sunday, November 6.

Louis Dicks of the Blind Boys remembered by family, friends, quartet community

Sandy Foster, Jr. (left) of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and Rev. Frank Thompson of the Fantastic Violinaires pay their respects.

Mourners filled the sanctuary of Durham’s New Metropolitan Church Monday, October 24, to celebrate the life of Louis Dicks, longtime member of the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. 
The host of mourners included members from both the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and Alabama, the Fantastic Violinaires, and the Swan Silvertones.
Rev. Frank Thompson of the Fantastic Violinaires was among those who offered tributes with a prayer of comfort and a moving verse of “Father, I Stretch My Hands To Thee.”  Pastor Patricia Reams delivered the eulogy.
Dicks died last Monday, October 17. 

GMF thanks RuBena Cooper-Woods for contributing to this piece.

Related Story:
Blind Boys’ famed lead, Louis Dicks, passes from labor to reward

"Don't You Give Up" – Christopher Terrell & The New Journey Project

“Don’t You Give Up”
Christopher Terrell & The New Journey Project
From the upcoming CD, It’s Cool to Love God  (November 4, 2011)
http://www.christopherterrellnewjourneyproject.com/

Christopher Terrell is no stranger to the music scene.  You’ve heard his music on Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls soundtrack (“Struggle No More”), and he’s collaborated with a number of producers and artists from the R&B and hip hop industries.

Just a few years ago, Terrell formed The New Journey Project, and on Friday, November 4, the ensemble will release a brand new CD, It’s Cool to Love God.  He describes the project as “neither traditional nor contemporary gospel,” but versatile with something that he hopes will appeal to everyone.  Take a listen to the current single, “Don’t You Give Up” for yourself.  Its message is clear: hold on, be strong, don’t give up, and God will see you through.

Blind Boys’ famed lead, Louis Dicks, passes from labor to reward

Dicks (standing, far left)

GMF thanks RuBena Cooper-Woods for informing us of the passing of Louis Dicks, longtime lead singer with both the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and the Five Blind Boys of Alabama.  Dicks died Monday in Durham, NC, where he resided more than 20 years.

The well-known tenor (who, incidentally, was not blind) joined the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi in the mid 1950’s and traveled with the group for several decades.  When Clarence Fountain left the Five Blind Boys of Alabama for a few years in the late 1960’s, Dicks came aboard as the Alabama group’s featured lead for a time. 

In addition to the acclaim he embraced as a member of both legendary aggregations, Dicks wowed crowds throughout NC with his own uniquely named group, World’s Greatest Gospel Singers.

Visitation will be Monday, October 24, at 11am, with the homegoing service following at noon.  Services will be at New Metropolitan Faith Winners Baptist Church, 1509 Riddle Road, Durham, NC.

We extend our condolences to the family and friends.  Another phenomenal singer has joined the Heavenly choir.

Help Is On The Way – New Creation

New Creation
Help Is On The Way
Woods Productions (2011)
[email protected]

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

While their debut 12-track project is entitled Help Is On The Way, RuBena Cooper-Woods, Tonya Woods, Karen Foust, and Devon Torain churn out their numbers knowing intuitively that their Help has arrived!

For New Creation, music is as much legacy as it is ministry.  As the pedigree goes, group members are the products of three popular NC based singing aggregations: the Cooper Four, the Faithful Travelers, and the Torain Family.

Accordingly, Help Is On The Way is loaded with tasty, homegrown gospel tunes, starting in high gear with “Praise Him,” written by vocalist/keyboardist Tonya Woods.  RuBena Cooper-Woods handles the lead on the brisk call to celebration.  New Creation then forges ahead with a mix of slow as well as velocious original songs and hymn arrangements.

Throughout the album, Cooper-Woods and Woods exchange lead chores as well as the writer’s hat on most of the pieces.  Easily among the project’s highlights are its tangy, pew-burning title track blazed by Cooper-Woods, followed by the slow yet simmering “God Specializes,” which is very appropriately suited to Woods’ velvety vocal texture.  “I Made It” is another one with plenty of spice, and Cooper-Woods seizes every available second of this hammering groove to celebrate all that she has overcome and to acknowledge that “it was You, Lord, that brought me through!”  Along with arrangement help from her brothers Thurman, Eric, and Derrick (New Creation’s producer, lead and bass guitarists, respectively), Woods shines again on a pop-soul flavored version of “Heir of the Kingdom,” from which she crafts an anthem for all who are in line to inherit.  Her stylings hint to India.Arie and the background vocals are light, lively, and crisp–a refreshing departure from the quartet vibe that powers the rest of the project.

Pastor George Crews, III also makes a pair of appearances on album–first, offering a passionate prayer and exhortation in “Everything You Need” (penned by Thurman Woods, Sr.) and later, crooning a remake of the Temptations’ “Christmas Everyday” to round out the project, declaring that Jesus “make[s] it Christmas, even in the fall.”

With Thurman “Peanut” Woods at the helm of production on this all-around delicious debut, the only suggestion I’d make is that a couple of the songs’ reprises be reserved for live performances.  Re-cranking a number tends to be most effective when the audience perceives it to be spontaneous rather than expected.

A CD launch like this makes one thing certain though: Help is just one of the many wonderful things on the way for New Creation.

Favorites
“Help is on the Way” – “God Specializes” – “Heir of the Kingdom”

Fever Meter
SMOKIN’ (4 of 5 Stars)

BeBe and CeCe Winans get Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Congratulations to BeBe and CeCe Winans, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today.  They are now among the very short list of gospel artists (James Cleveland, Andrae Crouch, and Mahalia Jackson) who have been honored similarly.

BeBe and CeCe have consistently charted with their music, including hits “Addictive Love” and their cover of the Staples Singers’ “I’ll Take You There.”  They have enjoyed massive mainstream success–gold and platinum albums and a host of Grammy, Dove, Soul Train, Stellar, and NAACP Image Awards–throughout their decades-long career as a duo.