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Posts tagged as “gospel music”

MUSIC MONDAY: “Ain’t That Good News” – a Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Ain’t That Good News” – a Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 24, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. As this past Saturday was what would have been Sam Cooke’s 91st birthday, and since Marlon West crafted such a lovely tribute playlist to the “King of Soul” in honor of his 90th last year, I thought it fitting to share it once again in case anyone missed it:

What I’d like to add this time around —  you can read Marlon’s words about Cooke and his indelible contributions to music and the genre of Soul here — is a couple of great podcasts I heard about Cooke’s musical journey in the past year.

The first is the “Don’t Know Much About History” episode of Chris Molanphy‘s Hit Parade podcast, which covers the chart history and influence of Sam Cooke’s singing and songwriting on American popular music:

The second is an in-depth look at “You Send Me” as one of the pivotal songs in the long term development and metamorphosis of the genre called Rock music (which has its roots in jazz, blues, R&B, country and soul) in Andrew Hickey‘s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs:

There may be even more in depth looks at Cooke and his music in the podcast verse, but these are two that I’ve heard and can assure you are worth your time.

Also worth your time is the 1995 biography You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke by Daniel J. Wolff.

The two documentaries available on Amazon Prime, I gotta admit, not as much. Worth it if you want to know more about the parts of Cooke’s life and his untimely death that sometimes overshadow his contributions to music. I’ve watched them both, and the archival footage of Cooke’s performances in Legend makes it the superior choice.

Lastly, as one of the inaugural members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, it should be no surprise that Cooke’s music has been sampled and covered for decades by artists as diverse as Beyoncé, The Game, Amy Winehouse, Terence Trent D’Arby, Bruce Springsteen and Beenie Man. To check out the entire list, go here: https://www.whosampled.com/Sam-Cooke/

I hope you enjoy all the Sam Cooke options available, and that you, as Marlon says, stay safe, sane and kind!

(paid links)

MUSIC MONDAY: “A Change is Gonna Come” – A Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “A Change is Gonna Come” – A Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 25, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Last week marked the 90th anniversary of the birth of Sam Cooke, one of the most famous gospel and pop singers in American music history.

Along with Ray Charles, he was one of the earliest artists to span both musical genres. By the end of his short life, he heralded the advent of Soul.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:0Q33lNpk7gYNJqXXSvaaQN”]

Cooke’s magical voice animated a long string of hits that came to a sudden end, when he was shot and killed in a motel manager’s office in 1964. The brotha was 33.

As the lead singer of the gospel group, The Soul Stirrers, and a solo artist he was a writer and singer of great impact. Today folks still speculate about his violent and senseless death.

Certainly director Regina King and writer Kemp Power’s One Night in Miami will introduce a new generation to Cooke though the beautiful performance of Leslie Odom Jr. Please enjoy this collection of Sam Cooke’s finest offerings.

As always, stay sane, safe, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
Happy 60th Birthday, Karen Clark-Sheard!

Happy 60th Birthday, Karen Clark-Sheard!

By goodblacknews on November 15, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

Today, Good Black News celebrates the milestone 60th birthday of gospel music icon Karen Clark-Sheard, famous as the youngest member of the legendary Clark Sisters, as well as for her dynamic solo recordings.

Amidst the craziness of the coronavirus pandemic, lockdowns and quarantines, 2020 has nevertheless been a milestone year for Karen and her sisters, as they issued the acclaimed The Return in March, their first group release in over a decade.

Following the album drop was the April broadcast of The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel, a Lifetime movie about their lives that was seen by millions of people across numerous airings in its first few weeks, becoming Lifetime’s highest original rated movie in 4 years – and one of the top cable telecasts of the year across all cable channels.

We wrote about the movie and the history of The Clark Sisters, at that time: (https://goodblacknews.org/2020/04/11/bringing-the-sunshine-gbn-offers-clark-sisters-playlist-to-celebrate-lifetime-biopic-airing-tonight-listen/).

After 25 years recording with her sisters (since she was just an early teenager) as the group’s dedicated soprano, a break in the sisters’ group activities allowed Karen to release her debut solo album, appropriately titled Finally Karen in 1998.

She stepped out solo in a big way – on a major label (Island Records), with multiple producers and a guest appearance from Faith Evans.  The results – a gospel bestseller that was nominated for a Grammy and won a Lady of Soul Award.

The album also included a duet with her daughter, Kierra ‘Kiki’ Sheard, ultimately kicking off the successful recording career for yet another generation of the Clark gospel dynasty (The Clark Sisters themselves are the daughters of gospel choir pioneer Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.)

Not long after the release and promotion of her first album, Clark-Sheard was hit with a major health crisis, when complications from a minor operation put her in a coma for multiple weeks.

Bringing The Sunshine: GBN Offers Clark Sisters Playlist to Celebrate Lifetime Biopic Airing Tonight (LISTEN)

Bringing The Sunshine: GBN Offers Clark Sisters Playlist to Celebrate Lifetime Biopic Airing Tonight (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 11, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

Of course, it would take a superstar group of powerful Black women to sell and make a movie about The Clark Sisters, the pioneering Detroit siblings who are now in their fifth decade of rocking the gospel music world.

Tonight’s “The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel” (airing on Lifetime at 8PM) comes from executive producers Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott, co-executive producer Holly Davis Carter, writer Camille Tucker and director Christine Swanson.

I had my own Clark Sisters experience while working as an executive at TV One back in 2007-08, where The Clark Sisters were the subjects of one of the very first episodes of network’s successful biography series “UnSung,” a show I developed and initially oversaw.

At the time, I generally knew enough about The Clark Sisters to recognize their breakthroughs in transforming the gospel music sound – and I felt that the world had not generally afforded them enough credit for that. But I didn’t know much else about their personal story and ended up fascinated by the conflicts and struggle, and of course, all the music.  It’s not a surprise to me that producer Carter said she’s been trying to make this movie for 15 years – it is a worthy story to tell.

In honor of this movie accomplishment, Good Black News offers a career-spanning Spotify playlist below to allow you to keep enjoying the patented Clark Sister Sound all weekend long.

The Clark Sisters Playlist was crafted to include most of the key hits from The Clark Sisters – as well as highlights from the solo careers of Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Twinkie Clark, and even from next generation Clark family gospel superstar Kierra Sheard (who plays her mom Karen in the movie). For good measure, there’s also a rare solo track from Jacky Clark-Chisholm (a duet with movie exec producer Blige), and a coda from Dr. Mattie Moss Clark herself.

Jacky, Denise, Elbernita (Twinkie), Dorinda, and Karen were the five daughters of Mattie Moss Clark, a pioneering gospel music figure herself, who while raising her daughters also served as a minister of music for the Church of God In Christ, first at the local level in Michigan, but eventually at the national level.

Stevie Wonder Announces New Gospel Album

By goodblacknews on June 30, 2013

Stevie WonderAccording to Rolling Stone, soul star Stevie Wonder is working on a new album called Gospel Inspired By Lula. During an interview with the magazine, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said his upcoming gospel album is a tribute of his late mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, who is credited as a co-writer on many of his classic hits including “I Was Made to Love Her” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.”
“I promised her I would do it,” he said. “She always wanted me to do it before she passed away, the untimely passing away. We’ve been working on some songs and some ideas.”
Although the project will include traditional tunes, Wonder said he want the music to cross religious lines.

"Bountiful's" Cicely Tyson Moves Broadway Audiences to Sing Along to "Blessed Assurance"

By goodblacknews on May 30, 2013

Not long after the curtain rises on the second act of “The Trip to Bountiful,” the Broadway revival of the Horton Foote play at the Stephen Sondheim Theater, something unusual happens. Cicely Tyson, as Mrs. Carrie Watts, sits on a bus station bench in a small Texas town. She is on the run from her abusive daughter-in-law and henpecked son in Houston, desperate to see the family farm in Bountiful once more before she dies.

Audience members join in as Ms. Tyson sings “Blessed Assurance.”  Overcome with emotion, she begins singing an old Protestant hymn, “Blessed Assurance.”

From the first note, there’s a palpable stirring among many of the black patrons in the audience, which the play, with its mostly black cast, draws in large numbers. When Ms. Tyson jumps to her feet, spreads her arms and picks up the volume, they start singing along. On some nights it’s a muted accompaniment. On other nights, and especially at Sunday matinees, it’s a full-throated chorus that rocks the theater.

Spelman Twins Kristie and Kirstie Bronner Make History As School’s First Co-Valedictorians

By goodblacknews on May 9, 2013
Twins
Kristie (pictured left) and Kirstie Bronner (pictured) are identical twins with identical grade point averages, so why shouldn’t they share the honor of being Spelman College‘s first-ever sister co-valedictorians, reports WSB-TV.
The road to one of this country’s leading historically Black colleges was not a walk in the park for the girls; they worked hard to maintain their high grade point averages in high school.  According to Kirstie Bonner, who spoke with WSB-TV, “Before we came to college, we prayed that we would keep 4.0′s all the way through, but I don’t think we ever really expected it.”
But apparently there is strength in numbers, and as sisters who have traveled along the same path, sharing the same educational goals for success, the young women seemed to fuel each other, as evidenced by their noteworthy standing at Spelman, “You can have strength together,” Kristie points out.
When the young women arrived at the Atlanta college, they said they really pushed themselves to the limit to maintain excellent grades, even making themselves physically ill.  Eventually, both Kirstie and Kristie learned from their mistakes, self-corrected, and managed their college workload in a way that would not negatively affect their health.

Labelmates Shirley Caesar, Bishop Paul S. Morton and James Fortune & FIYA Score Big On Gospel Charts

By goodblacknews on May 5, 2013

eoneLight Records artists James Fortune & FIYA, Shirley Caesar, and Bishop Paul S. Morton’s hit singles continue to inspire and be embraced by fans all over the country, with their stronghold on the latest Gospel charts in the Top 5 at #3, #4, and #5 respectively.  Uplifting and bringing encouragement to fans with the awesome strength and power of faith, the rousing and contemplative tracks continue to have a lasting impact, collectively spending over 90 weeks on the Gospel chart thus far between the three artists.  With award-winning melodies and dynamic Gospel, the empowering messages from James Fortune & FIYA’s Hold On (#3), Shirley Caesar’s God Will Make A Way (#4), and Bishop Paul S. Morton’s Your Best Days Yet (#5) remain a big hit with listeners, with their Top 5 impact on the latest Gospel radio chart (for May 11, 2013).

R.I.P. Cleotha Staples of the Staples Singers

By goodblacknews on February 26, 2013

 
APphoto_Obit-Cleotha Staples
Cleotha ”Cleedi” Staples (pictured), the eldest member of the famed soul/gospel group, The Staple Singers, passed away on Feb. 21 of causes related to Alzheimer’s disease. The performer had battled the disease for over a decade, according to Philly.com.  She was 78.  Cleotha was born in Drew, Miss., on April 11, 1934 to Roebuck “Pops” Staples and his wife Oceola. She was soon followed by siblings Pervis, Yvonne, Mavis and Cynthia.
After relocating to Chicago in search of better employment opportunities, Cleotha’s father managed to work a few manual labor jobs while Oceola toiled at a hotel stint overnight. Pops began to teach his children gospel songs in order to keep them entertained during the evenings while their mother worked. Pops’ sister Katie enjoyed her brother and his family’s singing so much that she invited them to sing at her church one Sunday morning in 1948. Congregants loved what they heard and begged for three encores.  This event marked the beginning of the Staples family’s professional singing career.
The Staple Singers “Respect Yourself” On Soul Train: 
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X-UPmTAWMg&w=420&h=315]