The Evolution of Gospel

Last updated
The Evolution of Gospel
The Evolution of Gospel.jpg
Studio album by
Released1991
RecordedSeptember 1989–January 1991
Genre Gospel, new jack swing [1]
Length62:19
Label Perspective, A&M
Producer Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Sounds of Blackness chronology
The Evolution of Gospel
(1991)
The Night Before Christmas: A Musical Fantasy
(1992)
Singles from The Evolution of Gospel
  1. "Optimistic"
    Released: 1991
  2. "The Pressure Pt. 1"
    Released: 1991
  3. "Testify"
    Released: 1992
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Calgary Herald B [2]

The Evolution of Gospel is the debut studio album by Sounds of Blackness, released in 1991. [3] In 1992, the album received the Grammy Award for "Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album".

Contents

Track listing

#TitleLengthComposer(s)Producer(s)Lead Vocalist(s)
1"Chains"1:02Gary HinesGary HinesCarrie Harrington
2"Optimistic"5:19Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis Ann Bennett-Nesby, Carrie Harrington, Coré Cotton, Patricia Lacy, Jamecia Bennett
3"Ah Been Workin' "0:42Gary HinesGary HinesDorothy J. Townes
4"The Pressure Pt. 1"6:04Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry LewisGary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry LewisAnn Bennett-Nesby
5"Testify"4:58Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry LewisGary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry LewisAnn Bennett-Nesby, Andre Shepard
6"Gonna Be Free One Day"0:37Gary HinesGary HinesOtis Montgomery
7"Stand"4:25 Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart Gary HinesAnn Bennett-Nesby, Prof. T
8"The Pressure Pt. 2"5:42Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry LewisGary Hines, Jimmy Jam, Terry LewisAnn Bennett-Nesby
9"Your Wish is My Command"5:01Tim Wortham, Gary Hines, Tony HaynesGary HinesAnn Bennett-Nesby
10"Hallelujah Lord!"1:44Carrie Harrington, Gary HinesGary Hines
11"We Give You Thanks"6:16Gary HinesGary HinesAnn Bennett-Nesby
12"He Holds the Future"5:01Gary HinesGary HinesAnn Bennett-Nesby, Carrie Harrington, Prof. T
13"What Shall I Call Him?"4:04Gary HinesGary HinesAnn Bennett-Nesby, Patricia Lacy, Elizabeth J. Turner
14"Better Watch Your Behavior"1:54Gary HinesGary Hines
15"Please Take My Hand"4:37Gary HinesGary HinesAnn Bennett-Nesby
16"I'll Fly Away"3:49 Albert E. Brumley Gary HinesShirley Marie Graham
17"Harambee (Swahili for 'Let Us All Pull Together')"1:04Gary HinesGary Hines

Chart positions

Album

YearChartPeak
1991The Billboard 200#176
1991Top Gospel Albums#12
1991Top R&B Albums#4

Singles

"Optimistic"

YearChartPeak
1991Dance Music/Club Play Singles#17
1991Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales#17
1991Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks#3

"The Pressure Pt. 1"

YearChartPeak
1991Dance Music/Club Play Singles#1
1991Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales#3
1991Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks#17

"Testify"

YearChartPeak
1992Dance Music/Club Play Singles#7
1992Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales#14
1992Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks#12

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Oak Ridge Boys</span> American country and gospel vocal quartet

The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in 1943 as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel group until the mid-1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated on country music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Caesar</span> American gospel singer (born 1938)

Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams, nee Caesar,, known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer. Her career began in 1951, when she signed to Federal Records at the age of 12. Throughout her seven decade career, Caesar has often been referred to as the "First Lady of Gospel Music", and "The Queen of Gospel Music". She has won eleven Grammy Awards, fifteen Dove Awards, and fourteen Stellar Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CeCe Winans</span> American gospel singer (born 1964)

Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, is an American gospel singer, the best-selling and most awarded female gospel singer of all time. She has garnerned 15 Grammy Awards, the most for any female gospel singer; 31 GMA Dove Awards, 17 Stellar Awards, 7 NAACP Image Awards, 1 Billboard Music Award along with many other awards and honors to her credit including being one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Music City Walk of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cleveland</span> American musician (1931–1991)

James Edward Cleveland was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Known as the "King of Gospel," Cleveland was a driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound by incorporating traditional black gospel, soul, pop, and jazz in arrangements for mass choirs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yolanda Adams</span> American gospel music singer

Yolanda Yvette Adams is an American gospel singer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She is one of the best-selling gospel artists of all time, having sold over 10 million albums worldwide. In addition to achieving multi-platinum status, she has won four Grammy Awards, four Dove Awards, five BET Awards, six NAACP Image Awards, six Soul Train Music Awards, two BMI Awards and sixteen Stellar Awards. She is the first Gospel artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song. She is also the first Gospel artist to be awarded an American Music Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perspective Records</span> American record label

Perspective Records is an American record label, launched in 1991 by the producing team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, through a joint venture with A&M Records—which Jam & Lewis had had a prosperous working relationship with throughout the 1980s, with several of its major acts including Janet Jackson, The Human League, and label founder Herb Alpert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stand! (song)</span> 1969 single by Sly and the Family Stone

"Stand!" is a 1969 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone Issued as a single that year by Epic Records, it reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the Hot Soul Songs charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BeBe & CeCe Winans</span> American gospel music duo

BeBe & CeCe Winans are an American gospel/R&B music brother and sister duo. BeBe and CeCe Winans are the seventh and eighth of the Winans family's ten children, most of whom have had gospel music careers. Together, they have received several awards, including three Grammys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oleta Adams</span> American singer and pianist (born 1953)

Oleta Angela Adams is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. She found limited success during the early 1980s, before gaining fame via her contributions to Tears for Fears' international chart-topping album The Seeds of Love (1989). Her albums Circle of One (1991) and Evolution (1993) were top 10 hits in the UK; the former yielded a Grammy-nominated cover of Brenda Russell's "Get Here", which was a top 5 hit in both the UK and the U.S. Adams has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, as well as two Soul Train Music Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Belle</span> American singer-songwriter

Regina Belle is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles "Baby Come to Me" (1989) and "Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle is most notable for two hit duets, both with Peabo Bryson: "Without You", the love theme from the comedy film Leonard Part 6, recorded in 1987; and "A Whole New World", the main theme of the Disney's animated feature film Aladdin, recorded in 1992, with which Belle and Bryson won a Grammy Award. The theme song "Far Longer than Forever" from the animated movie The Swan Princess, performed with Jeffrey Osborne, was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1995 for Best Original Song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Mass Choir</span> Musical artist

The Mississippi Mass Choir is an American gospel choir based in Jackson, Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optimistic (Sounds of Blackness song)</span> 1991 single by Sounds of Blackness

"Optimistic" is a song by American vocal and instrumental ensemble Sounds of Blackness, recorded for their debut studio album The Evolution of Gospel (1991). It was written and produced by Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and features vocals from Ann Bennett-Nesby, Carrie Harrington, Coré Cotton, Patricia Lacy, and Jamecia Bennett. The urban contemporary gospel song was released as the group's debut single and reached the top three on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart. A remake by August Greene featuring Brandy was released in 2018. Jadakiss also recorded a version of the song, titling it "Keep Ya Head Up". The song was included on his first album, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye.

<i>The Gospel Collection</i> 2003 studio album by George Jones

The Gospel Collection is the 58th studio album by American country music singer George Jones, released on April 4, 2003 on the Bandit Records label, and the first single, "I Know A Man Who Can" was released through Rick Hendrix Company.

Virtue is an American gospel music group. The group currently consists of Ebony Holland, Karima Kibble and Heather Martin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Hawkins</span> American gospel singer (1949–2010)

Walter Lee Hawkins was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. An influential figure in urban contemporary gospel music, his career spanned more than four decades. He was consecrated to the bishopric in 2000.

Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched primarily to African-Americans. Christian hip hop can be considered a subtype of this genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Dillard</span> American musician

Ricky Rydell Dillard is an American gospel musician. He started his music career, in 1987, as a Chicago house musician. His first Christian music album was Promise, by Muscle Shoals Records. His next album, A Holy Ghost Take-Over, was released in 1993 by Malaco Records. The subsequent album, Hallelujah, was released by them in 1995. Crystal Spring Records released, 1996's Work It Out, 2000's No Limit, and Unplugged in 2004. With EMI Gospel, he released, 7th Episode, that came out in 2007. He released, Keep Living, with Light Records in 2011. His next release, Amazing, came out in 2014 with Entertainment One Music.

Alescia Nicole Knowles-Smith, who goes by the stage name Lisa Knowles-Smith, is an American gospel musician. She started her music career, in 1996. They returned with the release of, Experience the Evolution, that was released independently and topped Billboard's Top Gospel Albums Chart. The second album, The Evolution Continues, released in 2014 by One Voice Media. This album would chart on two Billboard charts the Gospel Albums chart, and the Independent Albums chart.

Cedric Renard Hailey, known professionally as K-Ci, is an American singer, songwriter and member of K-Ci & JoJo and Jodeci.

References

  1. 1 2 Birchmeier, Jason. Review: The Evolution of Gospel. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2009-12-11.
  2. Obee, Dave (1991-06-02). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald .
  3. Beckford, Robert (2023). Decolonizing Contemporary Gospel Music Through Praxis. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 88.