Work the works: the role of African-American women in the development of contemporary gospel.

"I must work the works of Him who sent me while it's day, for when the night is come the time for work will be done away. Would you be willing to work for Jesus any time and every day? He'll reward you when He comes to take His bride away."

--Danniebelle Hall, "Work the Works"

The popularity of black gospel music has expanded beyond the grassroots network of churches and small concert venues that powered the genre to new heights in the 1950s and early 1960s. Today, gospel has earned a distinct place on mainstream black radio, and gospel videos have moved from being shown on Sunday mornings between 11 A.M. and noon and are now played in rotation with Missy Elliott, Tupac Shakur, and Mariah Carey on BET and VH1. Recent marketing strategies that include concert tours, music videos, e-mail listservs, downloadable ring tones, concert DVDs, and movies have placed the genre's profits well above other forms of popular music. At the center of this popularity is a creative community of singers, composers, producers, instrumentalists, and independent and major records companies that have drawn from myriad musical styles and production methods.

More important is gospel's meteoric evolution to a form that today is emblematic of the social, economic, and musical beliefs of the urban identities and theological perspectives that developed in the generations that followed the civil rights movement. The term contemporary gospel, much like its counterpart traditional gospel, has served as an umbrella term that represents the stylistic characteristics and production methods that have defined gospel music from circa 1968 forward. Turn on gospel radio today or download the newest gospel single, and you will hear a complex arrangement of sampled bass lines, explosive rhythms, and intricate vocal interactions that are more reflective of the sound identities that each performer, production team, and record company has created than one singular sound. With the growing influence that R&B, jazz, Western art music, and hip-hop have had on contemporary gospel, producers such as Donald Lawrence, Kevin Bond, Kurt Carr, and J. Moss have become as notable if not as popular as the performers.

While the criticism against "secular-sounding" gospel music has grown, and fears that the church has "lost" gospel to the world are nurtured in many traditional circles, the influence of the music--and its accompanying images of dancing choirs, glamorized and highly coiffed purveyors in the newest and hippest fashions--on younger and secular audiences has not lessened.

Central to understanding the history and development of contemporary gospel is the role gender that has played in its basic practice and conceptualization. While black men have continued to hold important roles as composers, producers, instrumentalists, and CEOs in gospel music, women have shaped the performance aesthetic of the genre. It was, after all, the creative textural interpretation and vocal dexterity of female vocalists that gave Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, and Andrae Crouch their signature sounds. Today, artists such as Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Shirley Caesar, and the Clark Sisters have defined and in some cases redefined the sound and image of contemporary gospel and placed it in the realm of mainstream popularity that continues in the vein of singers Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Clara Ward, who spread gospel beyond the boundaries of black churches and popularized it on concert stages and in nightclubs during the 1940s and 1950s.

Framing the present discussion around the post-civil rights generations (1969-present), specific performers, and the performance approaches each has introduced or popularized, I consider the contributions of African-American women to the development of contemporary gospel music. (1) In an effort to bring clearer understanding to the ever-evolving concept of "contemporary," this discussion extends beyond the work of previous scholars, which has focused on the contemporary gospel sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s. For this purpose, I examine the years 1969 through 2005 as three stylistic periods: (1) 1969-1985; (2) 1985-1994; and (3) 1994-2005. These years are, of course, approximations, representing dramatic stylistic shifts in gospel music and building on previous scholars' definition of contemporary gospel. (2)

The First Era (1969-1985)

It is a commonly held notion among scholars, critics, and performers that the transition to the contemporary gospel era began in 1969 with the recording of a revamped version of the Baptist hymn "Oh Happy Day" by the Northern California State Youth Choir. (3) What began as a fundraising initiative for the regional choir soon became a hit on radio stations in the Bay Area and a musical landmark. The initial goal was to make five hundred copies for the group to sell on the streets. But when a disc jockey at KSAN in the Bay Area began playing "Oh Happy Day" during his midday show, it became one of the most requested songs. The recording earned a listing on Billboard's pop charts, reaching the top five, and in time sold an unprecedented one million copies.

The visionary who had conceived of the fund-raising idea and who had crafted the sound of the song was pianist Edwin Hawkins. He and his younger brother Walter had become staples in the Bay Area's gospel scene. But neither had predicted that their grassroots effort would propel them to overnight stardom and a five-thousand-dollar recording contract. The song opens with electric bass and piano establishing the simple, but rhythmic vamp that returns several times throughout the performance. Then a husky, alto voice enters with the first lines of text, "Oh, happy day." The choir's subsequent response and the building antiphony between lead, choir, and instruments, which climaxes at the bridge, "He taught me how to watch, fight, and pray," foreshadows the younger generation's reconceptualization of gospel. The song rose to number four on Billboard's pop charts and number two in England (Harris 1999).

Gospel's crossover to mainstream audiences, which had begun years earlier with Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward's appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival, gained momentum with "Oh Happy Day." While the preceding generation of gospel performers had created a number of stylistic approaches that in time had come to define the sound of 1960s soul music, especially the music of Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Sam Cooke, "Oh Happy Day" reflected the complete opposite. Hawkins's arrangement was a combination of Sly Stone, James Brown, and the saintly voices and rhythms of his Pentecostal upbringing. But the revolutionary nature of the Northern California State Youth Choir was not simply in the sound but also in the group's attire, which included bell-bottoms and Afros. The group's members, female and male, exchanged the clean-cut pompadours and press and curls of the previous generation for that which was defining the younger mainstream black culture and the Black Power movement's "black is beautiful" rhetoric.

Despite criticism from traditionally minded church folks, "Oh Happy Day" proved to be only the beginning of a stronger, more audible marriage of the secular and the sacred, delineating a new style of gospel. Although many such performances concentrated on the funk-inspired bass line and instrumentation, the soul-inspired vocals were the biggest draw. One of the first voices of contemporary gospel was not Edwin Hawkins, although he is often thought to have been the architect of the sound, but Dorothy Combs Morrison, the soloist on "Oh Happy Day." Her earthy vocals were more in the vein of Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin than Mahalia Jackson, and her exclamations of "Good God, my Lord," spoke more to the rich emotional energy of soul music than the sanctified shouts of the previous artists.

"Oh Happy Day" inspired a number of debates concerning the direction in which gospel was going. Despite often spirited conversations about too much of the "world" showing up in the music, the record resonated strongly with younger audiences, who in the wake of the Black Power movement had become more disapproving of what many deemed outdated theological perspectives and practices. Edwin Hawkins's success birthed a number of new voices in gospel music, most notably, his brother Walter and peer Andrae Crouch. Coming from similar Holiness/Pentecostal backgrounds, these two composers expanded the concept of gospel hymns beyond those written by Charles Tindley, Lucie Campbell, Thomas Dorsey, and others.

Crouch, in particular, went beyond the funk influences that Edwin Hawkins had introduced and infused rock elements into his gospel compositions. Many mainstream black churches rejected the contemporary gospel sound, but Crouch and Walter Hawkins managed to cultivate a black church audience. Both attracted black and white sacred and secular audiences, and Crouch even found acceptance in white rock and jazz circles. According to gospel scholar Horace Boyer (1985, 128), Crouch attracted a large following in part because he created a "split-compositional" personality. Crouch's compositions included "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" and "Soon and Very Soon," modernized hymns that served as extensions of the works of previous schools of gospel songwriters, with lyrics that preach transcendence over everyday problems and issues through faith in God. But he also wrote contemporary compositions, such as "I Got the Best," that reflected the fusion of disco, rock, and gospel. Crouch served as composer, pianist, and oftentimes, lead vocalist, employing a number of musicians and singers who helped bring to life his complex and sometimes controversial compositions. His most notable group was called The Disciples, founded in 1965, which aided in Crouch's global gospel takeover during the 1970s. One of the prominent female voices of the group was pianist and composer Danniebelle Hall.

Born in 1938 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Hall established a formidable career as a singer, pianist, and composer. Critics often compared her to Roberta Flack because of the intimate way in which she sang and accompanied herself, but in the gospel community, she had few peers. She learned to play the piano at age three and as an adolescent formed the group The Jones Sisters with her two younger sisters. She came to national attention in 1969 when she formed The Danniebelles. The group toured internationally during the early 1970s and eventually recorded an album. The Danniebelles achieved international fame when they toured with the World Crusade Ministries, but the group disbanded a few years later, and Hall joined Andrae Crouch and The Disciples. Danniebelle was the featured soloist on a number of Crouch's classic hits, including "Take Me Back" and "Soon and Very Soon."

Although her stint with The Disciples brought her to more prominence, it was HaWs solo work that made her a favorite of gospel performers and audiences. She composed or arranged most of the music found on the nine albums she would produce over the next twenty years. Her music contributed considerably to the Sunday morning repertoire of black and white churches. Songs like "Ordinary People" and her arrangement of Dottie Rambo's "I Go to the Rock" from a 1977 live album remain gospel standards. Her repertoire ranged from blues-tinged traditional songs to pop-influenced tunes. Hall was also admired in gospel circles for her musical settings of biblical passages. Her 1975 album This Moment features several such works. She remained active in gospel music, mentoring younger artists and performing until 1995. Stricken with breast cancer and complications from diabetes, Hall stopped performing and concentrated on recovery. Despite all efforts, Hall died in 2000.

After Dorothy Combs Morrison left the Northern California State Youth Choir shortly after the success of "Oh Happy Day" to pursue a solo career, Edwin Hawkins found other voices to fill the void. Renamed the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the group began using Lynnette Hawkins, Edwin's sister, as a soloist, in addition to a young soprano named Tramaine Davis. Despite his efforts, Edwin never re-created the success he had had with "Oh Happy Day." His brother, Walter, however, would become one of the most important gospel composers of the late twentieth century. His songs were modern hymns, or as Boyer (1985) suggests, "gospel ballads," with memorable melodies and lyrics of praise and supplication that focus on the everyday experiences of Christians. Walter's importance as a songwriter was solidified with songs such as "Be Grateful," "Goin' Up Yonder," and "Jesus Christ Is the Way." His compositions, popular with audiences, have also found their way into church services across the country. He found a muse in Tramaine Davis, and over the next twenty years, the two collaborated on and produced some of gospel's most notable and memorable songs.

Tramaine Davis (b. 1951) developed musically in the gospel music community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Her mother, the late Lois Davis, was a gospel singer, and her grandfather, the Bishop E. E. Cleveland, was pastor at the Ephesians Church of God in Christ, where Tramaine reportedly began singing at age four. She was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson and often cites a 1961 concert of the famed singer as a major source of early inspiration. On that night at the Oakland Auditorium, "Mahalia wore this glorious, white choir robe, and she put everything into each word she'd sing," she recalled. "When she got down on her knees to sing 'The Lord's Prayer,' we were all crying. I just can't tell you how beautiful and inspirational it truly was" (Roos 1997). In addition to Jackson, Davis also cited Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and the Staple Singers as influences.

While a member of the gospel group The Heavenly Tones, ten-year-old Davis recorded her first single, "He's All Right." Two years later, the group came to the attention of the Rev. James Cleveland, who produced their next recording. When the Heavenly Tones accepted an offer to tour with Sly and the Family Stone in 1965, Davis remained behind, deciding that finishing her education was more important. She later joined Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, with whom she sang for eleven months. In 1969, shortly after her high school graduation, she joined the Edwin Hawkins Singers (then the Northern California State Youth Choir) and participated in the historic recording of "Oh Happy Day." In 1970, she traveled all over the world with the group and became close friends with Walter Hawkins, who served as the group's pianist. Hawkins and Davis developed a close relationship and were married in 1970.

In 1973, Walter Hawkins, following in his brother's steps, entered the ministry and started the Love Center Church in Oakland, California. Davis (now Hawkins) became one of the leading vocalists at the church, where the congregation was treated to her husband's newest compositions each week. In 1975, with an eighteen-hundred-dollar loan from his mother-in-law, Walter and Tramaine Hawkins returned to her home church, Ephesians, where they recorded the live album Love Alive with the Love Center Choir. The album spent several months on Billboard's Top 40 gospel chart and yielded the single "Goin' Up Yonder." The album also became a mainstay on Billboard's Gospel Top 40 for three consecutive years, and it was one of the decade's biggest-selling gospel albums ("Veteran Gospel Singer" 1998). "Goin Up Yonder," remains one of Tramaine Hawkins's signature songs and a Sunday morning standard in both black and white churches. The Love Alive album was followed by Jesus Christ Is the Way (1977) and Love Alive II (1978), which sold more than three hundred thousand copies.

Tramaine Hawkins's elastic mezzo-soprano voice, coupled with Walter's strong writing, galvanized the gospel music industry throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her clear voice was unlike that of any vocalist who had preceded her. While many gospel performers used vibrato and other guttural effects to create a signature sound, Hawkins used hardly any vibrato. She also could move without much effort from the warm tones of her lower register to the brilliant notes of the high. Like Ward, Jackson, and many of the great gospel women, Hawkins's interpretation of the lyrics and her ability to elevate the simplest phrase to a higher level drew audiences to her performances. Her phrasing was such that with a small melisma or unique combination of notes, she could highlight words that the listener may have ignored. For example, in her performance of the gospel ballad "Changed," from the album Love Alive, accompanied by Hammond B3, piano, drums, and a small ensemble of solo voices and a larger choir, Hawkins begins subtly with the text, "a change, a change has come over me." Each phrase is separated by the small ensemble's completion of the original statement in close harmonies, reminiscent of more traditional gospel groups. The emotional energy increases with each verse and reaches a crescendo when Hawkins gets to the chorus that begins, "He changed my life complete. And now I sit at my Savior's feet." As she begins to interpolate the text and melody, the background voices push the emotional level further with the response of "changed." As the antiphony continues, the dynamics, level of improvisation, and text interpolation grow, and the audience and choir begin to clap. The climax occurs as she proclaims, "I'm not what I want to be, I'm not what I used to be."

In the early 1980s, Tramaine Hawkins launched a solo career with a lucrative recording contract with Light Records, but she wanted to take her music in a different direction than her previous work on the Love Alive albums. Her 1980 solo debut, Tramaine Hawkins, stayed on Billboard's Gospel Top 10 throughout the year and into 1981. But despite a series of successful recordings with Light, Hawkins and the company had different expectations for her music and parted amicably. She sought out record companies that would embrace her evolving musical personality and message. Although she had served primarily as a purveyor of her husband's compositions, Hawkins believed that they were still not reaching a segment of the population that she felt desperately needed to be reached. She recounts the experience as follows:

   I did some seeking out of record companies. I leaned toward going
   some place where my desire to make gospel music that could reach
   the masses could be realized. I don't like the term "crossover,"
   it paints a picture that you're leaving something to do another
   kind of music. No matter what I sing, or what the accompaniment
   is, I always sing about the Lord, about what I believe, about
   what I live for. I'd gone to a number of record companies because
   I had a desire to try and create gospel music that could reach
   young people but, more often than not, they didn't include any
   young people. The record labels just assumed that the secular
   audience didn't want what we were offering--that it wouldn't
   appeal to them. ("Tramaine Hawkins" 1989)

In 1984, Hawkins signed with A&M Records, which brought her the mainstream exposure she desired. However, in 1985, her successful standing with gospel audiences was compromised when A&M released the single "Fall Down." This dance-friendly single intensified the debate regarding the sacredness of contemporary gospel. Immediately, the gospel community split over the issues of its appropriateness as the record climbed its way to the top of Billboard's dance music chart and was featured regularly in dance clubs. Some critics argued that the song was "just too secular" to be considered gospel and blamed A&M's marketing strategy for the reaction it received from some within the gospel community. Others felt that the song took gospel to audiences who would not have otherwise readily embraced it.

Hawkins found herself in a precarious situation and has often recounted the instance as being one of the most painful moments in her life. "With the right moves and care," she recalled, "they [A&M] could have had the best of both worlds. Instead they targeted it for the dance clubs with no interest in embracing the gospel market. They loved the song's beat, but they didn't even consider things--like the lyrics--from a spiritual side. So it never got the exposure it deserved" (Roos 1997). In the months following the single's initial release, Hawkins felt that she had been abandoned by most within the gospel community, which only a decade earlier had heralded her as the heir to Mahalia Jackson's throne. "There were few, if any, other artists who were mixing an inspirational message with a dance beat," she recalled. "It felt like I was totally alone" ("Tramaine Hawkins" 1989). But in time, the combination of dance rhythms, infectious melodies, and inspirational lyrics would become the formula for contemporary gospel.

Although their marriage dissolved in the late 1980s, Tramaine and Walter Hawkins still worked together well into the early twenty-first century.

In the tradition of the Caravans, the Sallie Martin Singers, and the Barrett Sisters, the Detroit-born Clark Sisters also contributed to the shifting sound of gospel music. Reared in the city that had given birth to a strong jazz and blues scene and the musical dynasty of Motown, sisters Jacky, Denise, Elbernita ("Twinkie"), Dorinda, and Karen came to prominence during the Midnight Musicales at the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) conventions. Their mother, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, molded the young women musically and spiritually and helped them become one of contemporary gospel's most influential groups.

By the 1970s, Mattie Moss Clark had already earned a place of distinction in gospel music circles. In similar fashion to Lucie Campbell and Thomas Dorsey in the 1920s, she had redefined gospel through denominational musical circles. Born in 1928, Clark was raised in the Methodist Church and began piano lessons at age six. She attended Selma University for one year before relocating to Detroit to live with a sister. Within a year of her arrival, she discovered COGIC, joined the church, and became director of the choir at Bailey Temple COGIC (Boyer 1985, 126). Her compositional and musical abilities led to her appointment as the music director of the Southwest Jurisdiction of COGIC. She later became the international president of the denomination's music department. In this role, she directly mentored a number of talented singers and musicians, including Walter Hawkins, Rance Allen, and Vanessa Bell Armstrong. "She was tough," recalls gospel singer LaShun Pace-Rhodes. "Once as a girl, she called me up to do a solo. I was so nervous and shy, I couldn't get the words out. After a few minutes, she took the mike, handed it to my sister, and told me to sit down. The next time I was up to do a solo, I sang that song" ("In the Spirit" 1994, 52).

Clark became a dominant force behind the choir movement in the COGIC denomination and is credited with introducing three-part harmony to the gospel arrangement. In 1958, she became the first person to record a gospel choir, and in her lifetime, she penned more than seven hundred songs, including "Climbing Up the Mountain," Salvation Is Free," and "Foot Stomping." Frequently asked to train choirs, soloists, and musicians, she founded the Detroit-based Clark Conservatory of Music in 1979. The conservatory, which is still functioning, offers vocal and instrumental lessons, as well as music theory. Despite Clark's twenty albums and numerous accolades, perhaps her greatest contribution and lasting legacy to gospel was her work grooming The Clark Sisters. From an early age, Clark instructed her daughters not only musically but also in the proper way in which to conduct themselves on and off stage. "Mama would wake us up in the middle of the night and tell us, 'I've got a song! Come on and help me sing it'" recalls Dorinda. "She'd be taping it on an old reel-to-reel recorder and she was serious about it. She'd say 'Girl, wake up now. Here's your part and you better get it right.' That's the reason our harmonies are so close, because of all that singing in the middle of the night. And because we're sisters, of course" ("Clark Kin's" 1990; Clark-Cole).

By the late 1960s, the sisters were appearing at area churches and the COGIC annual convention. In 1973, the group recorded its first album, Jesus Has a Lot to Give, on a local label owned by their uncle, Bill Moss. The record had some regional success but went virtually unnoticed nationally. The following year, the recording Mattie Moss Clark Presents the Clark Sisters also created much interest in the Detroit area. The two albums produced the classic songs "Something Worth Living For," "If You Can't Take It," and the group's signature song, "Hallelujah," which they frequently performed at the COGIC Midnight Musicals. In 1976, the group came to national prominence when they signed to the Sound of Gospel label, founded by fellow Detroiter Thomas Whitfield. Clark subsequently turned the creative and musical control of the group over to Elbernita, commonly known as "Twinkie" and also known as the "Queen of the Hammond B-3." Twinkie's songwriting and playing abilities came to define the group's sound. The combination of innovative instrumental vamps and vocal harmonies propelled the group to national success.

Between 1976 and 1977, the group released four albums on the Sound of Gospel label, but widespread acclaim in both sacred and secular circles did not come until 1981, when the group released Is My Living in Vain? The live album remained on Billboard's gospel charts for over a year and peaked at number one in October 1981. It produced hits such as "Pure Gold," "Expect Your Miracle," and the title song, "Is My Living in Vain?" which was so popular that it was covered years later by the R&B girl group Xscape. The Clark Sisters' follow-up recording, You Brought the Sunshine, was equally as popular. In 1981, the title tune became the first contemporary gospel song to be played on mainstream radio. (4) According to Dorinda Clark-Cole, Frankie Crocker, a disc jockey on WBLS in New York, "heard the song and put it on the turntable and people just kept calling in. We got a lot of flak from the church because people felt we shouldn't reach that audience. They felt we were church girls and should have stayed in church" (Collins and Harris 2002).

The Clark Sisters provided a blueprint for both sacred and secular vocalists with their intricate harmonies, swinging leads, melismatic melodies, and infectious accompaniment. (5) Today, a range of artists, from Mariah Carey to Faith Evans, have credited members of the group, especially Karen Clark (Sheard), with inspiring their style and sound. While the 1980s proved to be a decade of success for the Clark Sisters, the next decade would bring significant changes but continued success.

Second Phase (1985-1994)

When Tramaine Hawkins released "Fall Down" in 1985, she had no idea that she was aiding contemporary gospel in its transition from the funk- and soul-influenced styles of the previous era to a more dance-oriented and hip-hop-inflected sound that would define the late 1980s and early 1990s gospel sound. The eight-minute song featured techno-influenced beats and used a number of production techniques that at the time were associated with the post-disco dance culture. Hawkins's gospel-laced vocals remained unaffected by the song's accompaniment, but the infectious nature of the beat was unlike anything previously heard on gospel or secular radio. While the gospel music of Walter Hawkins and Andrae Crouch had alluded to funk, jazz, and rock, "Fall Down" was essentially soul and techno, funk, and disco blended with gospel lyrics. Although some within the gospel music industry accused Tramaine Hawkins of further obscuring the already-blurred lines between the sacred and the secular, she stated that her "primary thought ... was to get gospel music mainstreamed and have that kind of music being played on secular stations that you could hear around the clock, not only at 6 o'clock in the morning, where gospel usually is in this country" (Willman 1986, 5).

Tramaine Hawkins's successful crossover hit was followed with the album The Search Is Over. Working extensively with producer Robert Byron Wright, Hawkins perfected gospel's new crossover, dance-oriented sound. The second single, "In the Morning Time," not only appealed to black secular audiences but also found a home on white Christian radio stations. The criticism leveled at Hawkins was extensive but limited to traditional gospel circles. Despite the criticism, she viewed "Fall Down" and "In the Morning Time" as the embodiment of her desire to create music that would appeal to diverse audiences. They also were not the end of Hawkins's experimentation. In 1992, she collaborated with West Coast rapper MC Hammer, singing lead on his revamped version of "Do Not Pass Me By," from his Too Legit to Quit album.

After a short hiatus, Hawkins signed in 1994 with Columbia Records and released the album To a Higher Place. The label called the album its most significant debut by a gospel artist since Mahalia Jackson was signed in 1954. The album's sound was semiclassical with pop overtones. A full orchestra accompanied Hawkins on a number of tracks, and she explored the limits of digital technology when she sang "I Found the Answer" with Mahalia Jackson, who recorded the song in 1959. It marked the first time in gospel that such a feat was attempted. Hawkins explains how the recording came to be:

   It was quite amazing to put that piece together. My manager and I
   spent a long time looking for a song of Mahalia's that was
   conducive to us singing as a duet, ... one with the proper tempo
   and melody. "I Found the Answer" was just the right one. Then we
   had to avoid the strong temptation to try and update it, because
   to mess with her extraordinary, magical voice would be a tragedy.
   So we stayed as true as we possibly could to the spirit and timbre
   of the original. During the actual recording, everything just
   clicked, and I felt something down in the pit of my stomach. Let me
   tell you, we all got goose bumps. It was such a spiritual
   experience. (Roos 1997)

Throughout the 1990s, Hawkins continued to produce noteworthy recordings. Today, she is affectionately known as "Mother" because she more than any other artist served as the midwife to the contemporary gospel movement. Artists such as The Winans and their siblings Benjamin (BeBe) and Priscilla (CeCe) took this marriage of secular and sacred, gospel and dance music, even further.

CeCe Winans emerged on the Detroit music scene in the 1970s when she participated in the family's annual Christmas concerts. Although not considered a standout talent at the time, she would prove to be one of the central voices of the second and third periods of the contemporary gospel movement. She and brother BeBe came to national prominence in 1981 when they joined the PTL Singers, which was associated with the megaministry of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. During her three-year experience with the television ministry, the teenaged CeCe developed as a singer. She and BeBe became the highlight of the weekly television show with their rendition of "Lord Lift Us Up." The highly requested song became the basis of their first album, Lord Lift Us Up, which was recorded independently with PTL Ministries in 1984 (Winans 1999). CeCe left PTL soon afterward and returned to Detroit to marry Alvin Love.

Months after the birth of her first child, she and BeBe signed with Sparrow Records and recorded the single "I.O.U. Me." Defined by synthesized beats and accompaniment, the song features ambiguous lyrics that make no reference to God but discuss a deep love between two entities. With lyrics that state, "When I saw you / I knew it was me you came to find / By the smile that was on your face," listeners were hard pressed to believe that it was a gospel song and not an R&B love song. But it garnered considerable attention and proved to be one of the many popular songs on their debut album, Introducing BeBe and CeCe Winans (1987). CeCe earned a Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance Female for her performance on "For Always," and "I.O.U. Me" became a hit with R&B audiences.

A year later, the duo released Heaven, which became the first gospel record to reach the Top 10 on Billboard's "Hot R&B" chart since 1972, when Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace achieved the same distinction (Dyson 1992). The album, which featured then pop superstar Whitney Houston on "Hold Up the Light," received wide acclaim. BeBe and CeCe received Grammy Awards for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, as well as an NAACP Image Award, six Stellar Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and four Dove Awards. Their 1991 release Different Lifestyles was the first gospel album to reach number 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. It was also number I on the gospel charts, rated platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and awarded a Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.

Despite these accolades, many critics and traditionally minded church folk took issue with the duo's sound, with their booming bass lines and synthesized riffs, which the critics felt catered to the tastes of secular listeners. They interpreted the duo's use of ambiguous pronouns not as blatant references to divinity but as a dilution of the Gospel, bringing into question the duo's real motives. As a Chicago-based disc jockey argued: "[T]he horns and the synthesizers override the message, and because of the instrumentation the message is vague and void. It gets lost in the beat and you end up having a shindig on Sunday morning. Whereas traditional gospel talks about the love of God, contemporary gospel music wants to make love to God" (Dyson 1992). CeCe Winans (1999, 172) wrote in her autobiography that when the duo started singing, they anticipated the enthusiastic support of the church.

   We thought the church would be happy that we were spreading the
   gospel message with a sound with which youth could identify, but we
   were wrong. We were accused of selling out gospel, of not being
   Christian enough, of not loving God, and of just being after the
   money. Those were really hard. Some of our worst criticism has
   come from those in the church. All we have ever wanted to do was
   to sing songs that were in our hearts, songs that ministered to and
   encouraged people, and songs that glorified the power and presence
   of the Lord.

While the debate as to whether contemporary gospel was too jazzy or secular to be called gospel raged within music circles, BeBe and CeCe continued to experiment with the newest innovations in production and music videos. The popularity of their music with secular audiences spawned the term inspirational to denote what some viewed as a new sub-genre of contemporary gospel, one that crossed over to secular audiences with a message of hope but without scriptural and divinity references. The duo toured throughout the early 1990s and appeared on a range of television shows, from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to Sesame Street. But they, as well as their siblings who made up The Winans, were criticized continually for their musical experimentation.

Vickie Winans, sister-in-law of BeBe and CeCe, also contributed to the development of contemporary gospel and experienced the full wrath of traditional gospel circles. Born Vickie Bowman in Detroit, Winans began singing gospel in the church choir at age eight. She came to national prominence while hosting Singsation, a syndicated gospel television show. In 1977, she met Marvin Winans, then a member of the Testimonial Singers (later known as The Winans) at a church concert. Within six months, the two were married (Davis 1992).

Vickie Winans became more involved in the gospel music industry in the early 1980s, when she sang with BeBe and CeCe Winans in a group called Winans II. Vickie launched her solo career in 1985 with the album Be Encouraged. At first, some thought that she was relying on the Winans name, but her signature song from the album, "We Shall Behold Him," changed those opinions. "[It] was the very first song that really got me out, helped me stand on my own two feet," she recalls (Davis 1992).

With subsequent albums, Total Victory (1989), The Lady (1991), and Vickie Winans (1994), she established herself as one of the powerhouse female vocalists in gospel. But all of her success would be tarnished when in 1994, she performed at the Tenth Annual Gospel Music Stellar Awards. Winans took to the stage with modern dancers to accompany her then-current single, "Don't Throw Your Life Away," from the album The Lady. While the inclusion of the dancers was intended to be an artistic addition to her vocalizations, the gospel community interpreted it quite differently. For some, this was the proverbial "last straw" in the steady move to further secularize gospel. Winans recalled later that the moment she walked offstage, she knew she had committed the biggest mistake of her career:

   I remember CeCe coming over to me and saying something to the
   effect of, Oh, Lord, they're going to put us all out of the
   church.... After it aired I started hearing everybody calling
   what I'd done a shame before God and that people were offended.
   They say that controversy sells. Well, mine didn't. Not only was
   I hurt, but after hearing so much flac, I went in the studio and
   recorded a tape-apologizing. I made 1,500 copies and sent them to
   radio stations. I was criticized for asking people to forgive me.
   (Collins 2000, 26)

Despite the controversy, Winans recouped her career and became one of the busiest gospel performers throughout the 1990s. As the decade progressed, it became increasingly clear that the developments in style, sound, and production used by Tramaine Hawkins, BeBe and CeCe Winans, and Vickie Winans were only the beginning of a new period of experimentation in gospel. Indeed, contemporary gospel in the second half of the 1990s would prove to be much more controversial with the gospel community and popular with secular audiences.

Third Phase (ca. 1995-2005)

By 1994, it was evident that gospel music's influence was growing. It was registered as the sixth most popular form of music, beating out jazz and classical, and by 1995, it had reported revenues that amounted to $381 million (Rhea 1998, 94). A number of factors contributed to such growth, including advances in the production quality of the music, more favorable demographic and sales research, more upscale marketing and packaging of the artists and their albums, and better record distribution. With the success of artists such as BeBe and CeCe Winans, Kirk Franklin and the Family, and Yolanda Adams, production budgets for gospel albums increased from the average of forty thousand dollars to well over one hundred thousand. As a duo, BeBe and CeCe Winans helped redefine gospel music in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their adaptation of slick production approaches, associated mainly with secular music, and collaborations with a host of secular artists including Luther Vandross, MC Hammer, Whitney Houston, and Mavis Staples, helped make their albums some of the biggest selling gospel albums in the history of the genre. With the successful recordings of Kirk Franklin in 1995 (Whatcha Looking 4) and 1997 ("God's Property"), gospel's revenues increased even more. Gospel not only came to a more prominent place on secular mainstream radio, but gospel videos found their way into rotation on BET and MTV.

Although contemporary gospel was becoming decidedly male and more hip-hop-influenced, female performers still maintain a dominant place in the genre. A newly revamped version of the Clark Sisters, consisting of Karen, Dorinda, and Jackie, released the much-acclaimed album Miracles, which took on a very different sound from their previous work. Vickie Winans, who had suffered emotionally and professionally from the fallout over her controversial Stellar Awards performance, remade herself with the album Live in Detroit and overnight became the newly crowned "Queen of Traditional Gospel."

CeCe and BeBe Winans decided to split temporarily to pursue other musical interests. The release of CeCe's first solo album, Alone in His Presence, in 1995 presented listeners with a side of the singer not heard on the previous recordings. It featured a blend of contemporary Christian songs and traditional hymns arranged in a number of different ways, including "Blessed Assurance" as a big band tune. The album earned a Grammy for the Best Soul/Gospel Album, and CeCe Winans became the first African-American woman to win a Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year (Gillespie 1997).

The following year, CeCe Winans joined the cast of the popular off-Broadway musical Born to Sing, Mama, I Want to Sing, Part 3 and recorded the highly acclaimed single "Count on Me" with Whitney Houston for the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. Winans's popularity soared, and she became one of the most visible and marketable gospel performers of the year. She sold her CD on QVC's shopping network, pitched Crest toothpaste, had her own television show called CeCe's Place on the Odyssey network, and was featured in print ads and television commercials for Revlon products.

CeCe Winans has continued to be as successful with her subsequent albums, including Everlasting Love (1998), which moved away from the more traditional gospel sound of the previous album to feature a more hip-hop and R&B feel. The transition in sound was deliberate, Winans citing that she "wanted to get a message out to the world and that is about God's everlasting love and when you want to do that, you kind of want to package it in a way that can be played on any (radio) format" (Banez 1998, 5).

In 1999, CeCe Winans formed CW Wellspring Entertainment, which features the Wellspring Gospel recording label as well as management, consulting, and marketing services. She released her first album on the imprint the same year (Alabaster Box), which was certified gold. Winans has continued to be one of the biggest and best-known names in gospel music, appearing in corporate ads (K-Mart) and at the White House on numerous occasions. Her success in gospel and secular circles has been equaled only by another equally exciting and innovative performer--Yolanda Adams.

Yolanda Adams's voice and face have become two of the prominent representations of contemporary gospel since the unprecedented success of her 1999 recording Mountain High ... Valley Low. Still, her road to stardom was full of the same criticism about "selling out" gospel that her predecessors experienced. Adams was born in 1961 in Houston, Texas, and developed her voice while singing in the choir at the Berean Baptist Church. Following a successful career as a fashion model as a teen, Adams attended the University of Houston and Texas Southern University. After earning a degree in radio communications and journalism, Adams then obtained a teaching certificate. For years, she taught elementary school while singing in the Southeast Inspirational Choir on weekends.

Singing with that group brought Adams to the attention of composer and producer Thomas Whitfield. The defining moment of her career came during the summer of 1986, giving her the opportunity to record her first album (Foster 1996). In 1987, the album, Just as I Am, was released on Sound of Gospel Records. In 1990, she signed with the Tribute (now Verity) label and released Through the Storm (1991) and Save the World (1993). Both were highly acclaimed and featured an eclectic blend of songs that drew on her affinity for jazz and R&B. Adams's adaptation of jazz riffs and vocalizations, especially on Save the World, can be attributed to the musical relationship she had with gospel jazz artist and vice president of Tribute Records, Ben Tankard. With each album, both her popularity and her vocal prowess and image grew. Each record cover became glossier and more focused on highlighting Adams's beauty. In addition, her sound began to move farther away from traditional gospel to a blend of R&B-laced accompaniments and gospel vocals.

While she remained a favorite among gospel audiences, garnering a string of awards from Stellar Awards to Grammy nominations, Adams had yet in the early 1990s to reach the wider audience she was targeting. That changed when she performed at the White House Christmas Celebration for President Clinton and released More Than a Melody (1995). With this album, Adams's sound became what many categorized as R&B gospel. The criticism began mounting, and some claimed that Adams was creating music that was not gospel at all. While songs such as "The Battle Is Not Yours" from the album Save the World and "Even Me" from the album Through the Storm attracted the traditional black church listener, "Sailing on the Sea of Your Love" and "Open Arms" from the album Mountain High ... Valley Low found a place on secular radio, and the video for "Open Arms" played on BET. But Adams was determined not to be pigeon-holed by critics and listeners. "I do traditional; I do contemporary; I do urban contemporary; I do it all," she stated in 1995:

   I don't keep anybody from hearing the word of God. What I
   have been able to do through the power of God is choose songs
   that minister to everybody. Albertina Walker told me that they
   had critics back in their day. People were telling them that
   they were singing the blues when they were singing 'Precious
   Lord.' ... So we are not concerned about the critics always
   talking about what gospel is or isn't. As long as it's called
   in the name of God-Jesus, you can't tell me that isn't
   gospel. (Butler 1995, 1B)

Her album Songs from the Heart continued to push the musical envelope, consisting of songs that ranged from the traditionally minded "Is Your All on the Altar" to the R&B ballad "Still I Rise" to "Never Alone," which featured Adams scatting a la Ella Fitzgerald.

In the mid-1990s, Adams carried on her crusade to make music that would reach all audiences. She toured with Kirk Franklin, enrolled in Howard University and earned a masters' degree in theology, expanded her ministry to include preaching, and got married. In 1997, Sylvia Rhone, president and CEO of Elektra Records, attended Adams's performance at New York's Beacon Theater and decided to sign Adams to Elektra. Adams became the first gospel artist signed to the secular label and in 2000 was the label's top-selling urban artist of the year (Robertson 2002).

Adams's first release on the Elektra label, Mountain High ... Valley Low, went platinum. The album achieved unprecedented commercial success, galvanized by the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis song "Open My Heart." The song, with its message of hope and full submission to God, featured a sound that blended well with the secular ballads of Mary J. Blige, Patti Labelle, and Luther Vandross, and crossover radio embraced it. Elektra's larger production budgets and strong marketing had seemingly overnight propelled Adams to a higher stratum of commercial success.

Adams was not the only woman at the end of the twentieth century to experience the success of what has been deemed "crossover gospel." Following the successful solo recordings of sister Twinkie Clark, the remaining Clark sisters released their own solo recordings. Karen Clark-Sheard was the first, with the highly acclaimed Finally Karen. Released in 1997, it sold more than three hundred thousand units and was nominated for a Grammy Award and nine Stellar Awards. After a five-year hiatus, Clark-Sheard returned in 2002 with her Elektra debut, 2nd Chance, which featured R&B-influenced ballads and hip-hop-laced tracks with production from Donald Lawrence and Missy Elliott. Dorinda Clark-Cole, considered the "jazziest" of the sisters because of her vocal stylings, followed with a self-titled release on Gospocentric in 2002. Groups like Mary Mary, Trin-i-tee 5:7, and Virtue have taken the Clark Sisters's formula of powerful vocals, stellar production, and glamorous stage presence to the next level and have found success with traditional, contemporary, secular, and younger audiences.

In the past thirty-plus years, gospel music has grown to a multimillion dollar industry. At the heart of the genre's growing popularity is a collective of female performers who have created a sound and message that appeal to larger and more diverse audiences. While debates still continue as to what is acceptably called gospel and what is not, gospel artists like Yolanda Adams, Karen Clark-Sheard, and CeCe Winans continue to push the musical boundaries. Their recent albums have debuted to much acclaim, and subsequent live performances have packed secular venues. While many credit male producers, songwriters, and musicians as being the architects of the contemporary gospel movement, history has shown that it has been their female counterparts who have served as its most seminal voices.

DISCOGRAPHY 

Adams, Yolanda. Just as I am. Sound of Gospel 3006 (1987). Compact disc.

--. More than a melody. Verity 43025 (1995). Compact disc.

--. Mountain high ... valley low. Elektra 62439 (1999). Compact disc.

--. Save the world. Verity 43026 (1993). Compact disc.

--. Songs from the heart. Verity 43123 (1998). Compact disc.

--. Through the storm. Verity 43027 (1991). Compact disc. The Clark Sisters. Is my living in vain? Sound of Gospel 22145 (1981). Compact disc. Jesus has a lot to give. Bilbo (1973).

--. Mattie Moss Clark presents the Clark sisters. Bilbo (1974).

--. Miracles. Sparrow Records/EMD 51368 (1994). Compact disc.

--. You brought the sunshine Sound of Gospel 3000. Compact disc. Clark-Cole, Dorinda. Dorinda Clark-Cole. Gospocentric 70033 (2002). Compact disc. Clark-Sheard, Karen. Finally Karen. Island 524397 (1997). Compact disc.

--. 2nd chance. Elektra 62767 (2002). Compact disc.

Crouch, Andrae, and the Disciples. Soon and very soon. This is another day. Compendia 4875 (1976).

--. Take me back. Light Records E1-60051 (1975).

Edwin Hawkins Singers. Oh happy day. The best of the Edwin Hawkins singers. Buddah Records BDS 69012 (1976).

Franklin, Kirk. God's property. Nu nation project. B-Rite Music 70007 (1997).

Franklin, Kirk, and the Family. Whatcha looking 4. Gospocentric 70012 (1996).

Hall, Danniebelle. I go to the rock. Danniebelle live in Sweden with Choralerna. Sparrow SPR1019 (1978).

--. Ordinary people. Let me have a dream. Sparrow SPR-1016 (1977).

--. This moment. Light LS5675 (1975).

--. Work the works. Danniebelle. Light LS5638 (1974).

Hammer, MC. Do not pass me by. Too legit to quit. Capital C2-98151 (1991). Compact disc.

Hawkins, Tramaine. Fall down. (1985).

--. The search is over. A&M Records 75021-5110-2 (1983).

--. To a higher place. Sony 57876 (1994). Compact disc.

--. Tramaine Hawkins. Light Records A&M Records 75021-5110-2 (1983). Hawkins, Walter. Jesus Christ is the way. Light Records 4861 (1977).

--. Love alive. Platinum Ent. 161012 (1975).

--. Love alive II. Platinum Ent. 161011 (1978).

Houston, Whitney, and CeCe Winans. Count on me. Waiting to exhale soundtrack. Arista 18796 (1995).

Northern California State Youth Choir. Oh happy day. Let us go into the house of the Lord. Century Records 31016 (1969).

Winans, BeBe, and CeCe Winans. Different lifestyles. Capitol 92078 (1991). Compact disc.

--. Heaven. Capitol 90959 (1988). Compact disc.

--. Introducing BeBe and CeCe Winans. Capitol C2-46883 (1987).

--. I.O.U. me. Introducing BeBe and CeCe Winans. Capitol C2-46883 (1987).

--. Lord lift us up. PTL Ministries. PTL QQQ (1985).

Winans, CeCe. Alabaster box. Sparrow Records 51711 (1999). Compact disc.

--. Alone in his presence. Sparrow Records 51441 (1995). Compact disc.

--. Everlasting love. PMG/Atlantic 92793 (1998).

Winans, Vickie. Be encouraged. Light 72001 (1985).

--. The lady. MCA 10394. (1992).

--. Live in Detroit. CGI Records 1279 (1997).

--. Total victory. Light 72020 (1989).

--. Vickie Winans. Intersound 9127 (1994).

REFERENCES

Banez, Cherry. 1998. The gospel truth. Philadelphia Tribune May 29: 5.

Boyer, Horace Clarence. 1985. A comparative analysis of traditional and contemporary gospel music. In More than dancing: Essays on Afro-American music and musicians, edited by Irene V. Jackson, 127-146. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

--. 1979. Contemporary gospel music. Black Perspective in Music 7, no. 1 (Spring): 5-58.

--. 1995. Mattie Moss Clark. In How sweet the sound: The golden age of gospel, 125-127. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Butler, Tim. 1995. Her mission is "More than a melody." Tri-State Defender September 6: 1B.

Clark kin's super gospel. 1990. Washington Post February 2: N21.

Clark-Cole, Dorinda. NuthinButGospel, http://nuthinbutgospel.com (accessed on August 26, 2005).

Collins, Lisa. 2000. A new wave of artists gets to church on time. Billboard January 29: 26.

Collins, Lisa, and Ron Harris. 2002. Move on up a little higher: Black women and gospel. American Legacy Woman 16-24.

Davis, Samuel. 1992. Meet Vickie Winans. Philadelphia Tribune March 24: 10-C.

Dyson, Michael Eric. 1992. Mixed blessing: Gospel music's popularity vexes devotees New York Times January 5: 1H.

Foster, Pamela. 1996. Yolanda Adams live. Tennessee Tribune October 23: 4.

Gillespie, Fern. 1997. Without compromise: CeCe Winans' musical ministry. About ... Time January 31: 8.

Harris, Hamil R. 1999. "Oh happy day" still shines--25 years after first hit, Hawkins family goes on tour. Washington Post August 4: M12. In the spirit. 1994. Billboard October 15: 52.

Maultsby, Portia K. 1992. The impact of gospel music on the secular music industry. In We'll understand it better by and by: Pioneering African American gospel composers, edited by Bernice Johnson Reagon, 19-33. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Morgan, Joe. Tribute and retrospective: The Clark sisters--a focus on glory. Gospelflava.com. http://www.gospelflava.com/articles/clarksisterstribute.html (accessed on August 26, 2005).

Neal, Mark Anthony. 2002. Soul babies: Black popular culture and the post-soul aesthetic. New York: Routledge Books.

Rhea, Shawn. 1998. Gospel rises again. Black Enterprise July: 94.

Robertson, Gil. 2002. The Robertson treatment: Messages of inspiration--Yolanda Adams is contemporary gospel music's proud ambassador. Sacramento Observer February 27: E2.

Roos, John. 1997. Gospel according to Tramaine. Los Angeles Times August 30: F-2.

Tramaine Hawkins: "I never felt I left gospel." 1989. Tri-State Defender July 5: 15.

Veteran gospel singer Walter Hawkins celebrates 25 years of love. 1998. Sentinel July 29: B6.

Willman, Chris. 1986. Tramaine brings the gospel to the dance floor. Los Angeles Times April 5: 5-8.

Winans, CeCe. 1999. On a positive note. New York: Pocket Books.

(1.) Scholars Mark Anthony Neal and Nelson George use the term post-soul to describe the cultural, political, and social experiences of African Americans since the end of the civil rights and Black Power movements (see Neal 2002).

(2.) Horace Clarence Boyer (1985, 1979) has contributed some of the first and landmark works on this subject. For more information on his definition and contextualization of contemporary gospel (see also Maultsby (1992).

(3.) "Oh Happy Day" was one of several songs recorded on the album Let Us Go into the House of the Lord. Selections from the album are featured on a number of recordings, including The Best of the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

(4.) Contemporary gospel was the acceptable moniker for the new R&B, jazz-influenced gospel by the early 1980s. Such terminology was not used when "Oh Happy Day" appeared in 1969.

(5.) Denise Clark left the group to launch her own ministry in the mid-1980s (see Morgan "Tribute and Retrospective").

TAMMY L. KERNODLE is Associate Professor of Musicology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her scholarship has concentrated mainly on African-American music and the contributions of women to the field of music. She has worked extensively on the life and music of jazz pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams and is currently working on a biography of jazz pianist Hazel Scott.