The Chicago Mass Choir was founded in 1988 by James C. Chambers, who organized the famed Ecclesiastes Community Choir 17 years earlier. The first Chicago Mass Choir album, Right Now If You Believe, followed in 1991, with the group winning Best New Artist honors at the Gospel Music Excellence awards; in 1992, "I Can Go to the Rock" -- from their... [+] Read More

The Chicago Mass Choir was founded in 1988 by James C. Chambers, who organized the famed Ecclesiastes Community Choir 17 years earlier. The first Chicago Mass Choir album, Right Now If You Believe, followed in 1991, with the group winning Best New Artist honors at the Gospel Music Excellence awards; in 1992, "I Can Go to the Rock" -- from their second LP Call Him Up -- was named Song of the Year. Subsequent Chicago Mass Choir recordings include 1994's Please Don't Leave Me, 1996's Hold On, Don't Give Up and 1998's Keep Your Mind on Jesus. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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No talent who came out of Woodstock and who continued actively performing more than a quarter century later remained as closely associated with the 1960s and "flower power" than Melanie. Born Melanie Safka in Astoria, Queens, in 1947, she made her first public appearance at age four on a radio show, later studying at the New York Academy of Fine... [+] Read More

No talent who came out of Woodstock and who continued actively performing more than a quarter century later remained as closely associated with the 1960s and "flower power" than Melanie. Born Melanie Safka in Astoria, Queens, in 1947, she made her first public appearance at age four on a radio show, later studying at the New York Academy of Fine Arts. After mounting a singing career while in college, she later sang in clubs in Greenwich Village, and was signed to a publishing contract in 1967. She recorded her first single, "Beautiful People," for Columbia Records that same year. Her relationship with the record company was short-lived, however, and after one more single she left the label.

In 1969, she chanced to meet producer Peter Schekeryk, and after a hastily arranged audition, he took charge of her career. Her first album, Born to Be, was recorded and released by Buddah later that same year. On August 16, Melanie took the stage at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival in Bethel, New York; her song "Birthday of the Sun" was later released on the Woodstock 2 album, and 20 years later it was released on video as part of Woodstock: The Lost Performances, alongside the work of Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the Who.

Soon afterward, she cut her second album, Affectionately, which did slightly better than her first; however, her commercial breakthrough came 11 months after Woodstock, when she released the song "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," recorded with the Edwin Hawkins Singers. The song, written as a tribute to the audience at Woodstock and displaying the feel of a gospel hymn, rose to number six on the U.S. charts, while the accompanying LP, entitled Candles in the Rain, reached the Top 20.

After 1970's Leftover Wine, a live album recorded at a Carnegie Hall concert, she issued a plaintive version of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday." In January of 1971, Melanie's own version of "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma," a recent smash for the New Seekers, got to number 39 in Britain, where she emerged as a major star. In March, however, her new release, The Good Book, peaked on the U.S. charts at just number 80, despite the presence of several impressive tracks, among them a hauntingly beautiful cover of Phil Ochs' prophetic, doom-laden self-eulogy, "Chords of Fame."

At around this time, Melanie rebelled against her contract with Buddah, which required her to supply albums more or less on demand -- she'd had four LPs released in half as many years, and wanted more control over her work and career. With help from Schekeryk, whom she had married, she organized her own label, Neighborhood Records, during the summer of 1971. Her first subsequent single, "Brand New Key" hit number one on the U.S. charts while on its way to becoming a million seller; thanks to its not-so-subtle sexual undertones, the song became a kind of "in" dirty joke in some circles, and was even censored on some radio stations, but it also made Melanie one of the top-selling artists of the year 1971.

The accompanying album, Gather Me, was the best produced long-player she had ever released, and reached a chart position of number 15, earning a gold record in the process. This huge success prompted Buddah to release Garden in the City, consisting of previously unreleased outtakes. At the same time that 1971's Gather Me spawned the single "Ring the Living Bell," Buddah decided to capitalize more directly on Melanie's catalog and released "The Nickel Song"; the presence of two singles in release simultaneously from two different labels and distributors -- each competing for radio play and listener dollars -- damaged both releases, and they effectively canceled each other out.

Garden in the City rose to number 19, but her next new album on Neighborhood, Stoneground Words, only got to number 70 late in 1972. In June of 1973, her double-concert album, At Carnegie Hall, recorded the previous year, didn't even make the Top 100. By this time, Melanie had withdrawn from the stage, and was devoting her time to more personal and domestic concerns, having the first of three children in as many years. She re-emerged in 1974 for a short series of concerts, but her new album of that period, Madrugada, barely made it on to the charts, and her subsequent two LPs, As I See It Now and Sunset and Other Beginnings, released in 1975, barely sold. Neighborhood Records was later closed down.

A year later, Photograph was released to lackluster sales on Atlantic; the follow-up, Phonogenic, also failed to chart, and her last album for the next five years, Ballroom Streets, appeared on the Tomato label in 1977. In 1982, Melanie cut a comeback album, Arabesque, for RCA; a year later, her single "Every Breath of the Way" scraped the middle of the British charts and led to a series of concerts in England. Neighborhood was soon reactivated just long enough for Melanie to release one last album, Seventh Wave.

At the end of the 1980s, she re-emerged once again with her theme music for the popular television series Beauty and the Beast. By that time, Woodstock nostalgia was beginning to be stoked by the media and concert promoters, and Melanie appeared at one of the 20th anniversary events. She continued to periodically perform at clubs in the United States and larger festivals in Europe, where her association with the 1960s made her a major draw, and every so often released an album of new songs or re-recordings of her classic numbers. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide [-] Hide

One of the premier religious harmony groups, the Gaither Vocal Band was formed by contemporary gospel legend Bill Gaither in the early '90s with Mark Lowry, Jonathan Pierce and Guy Penrod. The group has recorded for Star Song, Benson and Chordant, receiving many Dove awards and several Grammy nominations. The Gaither Vocal Band has released two... [+] Read More

One of the premier religious harmony groups, the Gaither Vocal Band was formed by contemporary gospel legend Bill Gaither in the early '90s with Mark Lowry, Jonathan Pierce and Guy Penrod. The group has recorded for Star Song, Benson and Chordant, receiving many Dove awards and several Grammy nominations. The Gaither Vocal Band has released two volumes of Southern Classics and 20 Inspirational Favorites, as well as the live recording Back Home in Indiana and 1999's God Is Good. By this time, David Phelps had joined the group, and I Do Believe was issued in fall 2000. Lowry left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Russ Taff. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

With a style reminiscent of Aretha Franklin, soulful Vanessa Bell Armstrong has been belting out R&B-flavored contemporary gospel since the '80s. A native of Detroit and mother of five, she got her start working with Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. She has since gone on to work in both gospel and secular music. She did the theme song for the television... [+] Read More

With a style reminiscent of Aretha Franklin, soulful Vanessa Bell Armstrong has been belting out R&B-flavored contemporary gospel since the '80s. A native of Detroit and mother of five, she got her start working with Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. She has since gone on to work in both gospel and secular music. She did the theme song for the television series Amen, where her links to Rev. Al Green (and ultimately to Rev. Claude Jeter) were evident. She's recorded urban contemporary ballads and lyrically neutral material for Jive, and done gospel for Muscle Shoals Sound Gospel and Onyx, subsidiaries of Malaco. Albums include the slickly produced Something on the Inside (1993) and The Secret Is Out (1995). Three years later, she released her first live album, Desire of My Heart: Live; a best-of collection appeared in 1999. ~ Bil Carpenter and Ron Wynn, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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The vocal sextet's debut release was critically acclaimed, capturing Grammy Awards in both the jazz and gospel categories. In a diverse selection of songs, Take 6 merges an a cappella sound with gospel and big-band jazz arrangements. Of the ten songs recorded, six are from the public domain, two are group collaborations, and the remaining two... [+] Read More

The vocal sextet's debut release was critically acclaimed, capturing Grammy Awards in both the jazz and gospel categories. In a diverse selection of songs, Take 6 merges an a cappella sound with gospel and big-band jazz arrangements. Of the ten songs recorded, six are from the public domain, two are group collaborations, and the remaining two are from outside sources. Their harmonies and melodies are consistent throughout this outstanding collection of songs. In addition to being the lead vocalists on most of the tracks, Claude McKnight and Mark Kibble also produced the album, along with tenor Mervyn Warren. Moreover, the other three members also exert their vocal versatility by singing lead on at least one selection each. ~ Craig Lytle, All Music Guide [-] Hide

This release compiles selections of the gospel performances that Rev. James Cleveland cut for Hob Records between 1958 and 1967. Cleveland is backed up on most songs by either the Voices of the Tabernacle or the Gospel Chimes, and both Detroit vocal groups add much life and sincerity to the tunes -- particularly the Voices, whose large-choir... [+] Read More

This release compiles selections of the gospel performances that Rev. James Cleveland cut for Hob Records between 1958 and 1967. Cleveland is backed up on most songs by either the Voices of the Tabernacle or the Gospel Chimes, and both Detroit vocal groups add much life and sincerity to the tunes -- particularly the Voices, whose large-choir praises round out the songs with an impressive depth. Album standouts are the tunes "It Is Well (With My Soul)" with Rev. Charles Craig, Jr. and "Love of God" with the Voices of the Tabernacle. Cleveland powerfully leads these soul gospel tunes through energetic renditions, and a terrific shoutin' organ adds its musical "amens" throughout. All come together to give the listener a dose of a decently powerful church service. ~ Joslyn Layne, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Beautiful People: The Greatest Hits of Melanie gets the nod over the 1990 Rhino compilation The Best of Melanie as the best compilation of the singer's work. Containing 19 tracks where the earlier album contained 18, it could hardly be longer and fit on one CD. The songs have been mastered from their original master tapes for the first time by... [+] Read More

Beautiful People: The Greatest Hits of Melanie gets the nod over the 1990 Rhino compilation The Best of Melanie as the best compilation of the singer's work. Containing 19 tracks where the earlier album contained 18, it could hardly be longer and fit on one CD. The songs have been mastered from their original master tapes for the first time by Robert Fripp (!) and David Singleton, so the sound quality is the best yet. The set contains the original LP version of Melanie's Top Ten hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," running just over seven minutes, as opposed to the nearly four-minute single edit. Also featured are two recent songs, "Summer of Love II" and "I Will Get Over." That's all on the credit side. On the debit side, it is not in chronological order and the selection leaves off several of Melanie's singles chart entries, notably "Bitter Bad," which made the Top 40 (and is included in the Rhino compilation). Nevertheless, this must be counted as the best Melanie compilation yet, featuring her number-one hit "Brand New Key," as well as standards like "Beautiful People" and "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma?." ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Verity's The Best of Vanessa Bell Armstrong collects 14 highlights from the recordings she made for Zomba Records, after she left Benson/Onyx. Musically, these songs are very close to urban contemporary, which means this is hardly traditional gospel. That, of course, won't matter to Armstrong's fans, since they already know that she's one of the... [+] Read More

Verity's The Best of Vanessa Bell Armstrong collects 14 highlights from the recordings she made for Zomba Records, after she left Benson/Onyx. Musically, these songs are very close to urban contemporary, which means this is hardly traditional gospel. That, of course, won't matter to Armstrong's fans, since they already know that she's one of the leading lights of contemporary gospel, and this collection shows why. At times, the material doesn't quite match the standards of her earlier records, but the collection is still a good portrait of Armstrong at the peak of her powers and popularity, featuring such CCM classics as "Pressing On," "You Bring Out the Best in Me," "You Can't Take My Faith Away," "Father I Stretch," "Good News Blues," and "The Secret Is Out." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide