The Gospel Blog » Fred Hammond

Review: “Love God. Love People.” by Israel Houghton

Cliff — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:55:08 +0000

Many of us love artists and musicians, because they create a sound that really identifies with us. For the most part, we expect them to deliver that sound (or something similar) in every project they release.

I think quality artists have an inherent nature to want to evolve and do something different. When I listened to Israel Houghton’s new CD, Love God. Love People., I definitely heard something different. For those of you that thought The Power of One CD was just a phase, I can assure you that this is not the case. It was a turn in a different and new direction.

This project was recorded in the legendary Abbey Road Studios in England. This is the same studio where The Beattles recorded some of their music.

Love God. Love People. features 12 tracks that are each unique in their own special way. The song Love God. Love People. is a cry out to us all to make a difference and help change the world through love.

One of my favorite songs on the entire CD is Yahweh (The Lifter). If you have been an Israel Houghton fan over the last couple of years, you will find that this song has a very familiar sound. If you enjoy songs like You Are Good and Again I Say Rejoice, then you will love Yahweh (The Lifter).

As I reported in previous posts, a couple of guest artists lend their voices to tracks on this album. In Mercies, Kirk Franklin brings the energy and excitement that I have come to expect from him.

When you listen Surprises you will hear a duet with Israel Houghton and Fred Hammond that doesn’t disappoint. I really like how their voices blended together on this track.

There was time when you could by an Israel Houghton CD and immediately have 4 or 5 songs that your worship team could sing. It seems like those days are coming to an end. Don’t get me wrong. You will find a couple of songs on this CD that you will want your worship team to sing. I just don’t think there are as many of those types of songs when compared to previous Israel Houghton CDs.

There is a clear musical difference between Israel Hougthon as a solo artist and Israel and New Breed. Whether this is intentional or unintentional, Israel Houghton is giving praise and worship a new sound.

Despite that, I still think that Love God. Love People. is high quality music! You can grab your copy on Amazon.com or iTunes.

Have your head songs from the Love God. Love People CD.? If so what did you think about them?

Take 6 to appear on new Israel Houghton CD

Cliff — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:13 +0000

There has been a lot of buzz about Israel Houghton’s new CD Love People, Love God. Even though the CD isn’t supposed to be released until August, we keep hearing more information about about it.

I already told you in previous posts that Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond will be making appearances. You can now add Take 6 to that list.

We haven’t been hearing a lot from this group multi-award winning group lately. It will be good to hear their unique sound on new music.

What do you think about the Israel Houghton/Take 6 collaboration?

Gospel legend Walter Hawkins passes

Cliff — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:47:34 +0000

Multi-award winning Gospel legend and pastor Walter Hawkins died this past Sunday. He was 61. After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, he passed away at his home in Ripon, California.

The term legend gets thrown around far too often. When referring to Walter Hawkins, using the term legend would be an understatement.

I’m not sure anything I could say would do justice to the contribution he made to Gospel music and to the kingdom of God. Bishop Hawkins was an amazing singer and songwriter. He blazed a trail for many of the artist we have come to love today.

Here are some of the sentiments members of the Gospel community expressed on Twitter:

“Gonna miss my dear friend and mentor Bishop Walter Hawkins…one of the greatest singer/songwriters gospel will ever experience”
-Donald Lawrence

“Praying for the Hawkins family in the loss of the legendary Bishop Walter Hawkins. An innovator, icon and the songwriters songwriter…”
-Israel Houghton

“Walter Hawking opened up the way for all us Contemporary Artist. He had the ability to be contemporary and still have the Gospel signature.”
-Fred Hammond

“Heart is Heavy! He not only changed the fabric, He revolutionized polyphonic harmonies! R.I.P. Bishop W! U Challenged All Those That Dared!”
-John P. Kee

“My heart is so heavy…Bishop Walter Hawkins Gave us More than just Songs I hope he’s dancing with the Angels right now..may he Rest In Peace”
-Mary Mary

“Truly the most musically inspiring figure in my life…Bishop Walter Hawkins. Certainly heavens choir has a major upgrade tonight. Thanks WH”
-Greg O’Quin

“R.I.P. To a gospel icon and trailblazer Bishop Walter Hawkins! My heart is deeply saddened! u will be missed!”
-Dave Hollister

“Every door I’ve ever walked through was because God used Walter Hawkins as a key to unlock it. Gospel music lost a pioneer today. rest well.”
-Kirk Franklin

Bishop Hawkins will be greatly missed. Please keep the Hawkins family and Love Center Church in your prayers.

My take on Gospel at the 2010 BET Awards

Cliff — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:36:24 +0000

The BET Awards aired last night and the Gospel music community was well represented.

It wasn’t announced on air, but Marvin Sapp won the award for Best Gospel Artist. Nominees in the category included Tamela Mann, Vicki Winans, The Annointed Pace Sisters and Kirk Franklin presents Artists United (Are You Listening).

I must admit that I am a little disappointed, because I’m probably one of the few people that watches awards shows to actually see people receive awards. I know that most people watch for the performances.

Alicia Keys performed a medley featuring a number of the songs that she made popular. The big shock came is when she started singing If I Ain’t Got You and Kim Burrell came out and joined her on stage. Kim gave us what I call the Christian version of this song by replacing the word “baby” with “Jesus”.

In true Kim Burrell fashion, she delivered an outstanding vocal performance. The crowd definitely responded positively to Kim’s presence.

The main Gospel music moment came when Kirk Franklin performed Are You Listening: A Song 4 Haiti. Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell and Karen Clark-Sheard joined him on stage to perform the song.

I would argue that during this song, five of the top 20 singers in the theater were all on stage together. I thought their performance was great. Karen Clark-Sheard was absolutely amazing with the ad-libs. Even Prince seemed to love by her singing.

If you missed the performance you can view it below.

Did you see the BET Awards? Post a comment and share your opinion.

Fred Hammond to appear on Israel Houghton’s next CD

Cliff — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:43:29 +0000

According to the Israel and New Breed facebook page, Fred Hammond will be making an appearance on Israel Houghton’s next album.

Here are Israel’s words:
“Ok guys!!!! Mixing Fred Hammonds vocal and bass right now on my new record. A song called Surprises. So incredible , a dream come true. This whole record is going to be so special. Thanks be to God.”

In a previous post, I told you that Kirk Franklin will also be making appearance on this CD. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to buy and listen to this CD. I have a feeling that it will be amazing.

What do you think? Post a comment and share your thoughts.

Fred Hammond on Finding Inspiration

Cliff — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:15:54 +0000

Where do you draw your inspiration? How do you stay motivated and enthusiastic? What do you do when “plan A” doesn’t work?

Yesterday on Twitter, Fred Hammond shared his thoughts and feelings about inspiration. He talked about the times in his life where he had to draw inspiration from others.

Since it is really easy to miss things on Twitter. I thought I would share Fred’s comments. Check out his words below:

“When my inspiration flatlines I look for someone who’s mak’n it Happen. it’s like a defibrillator to my creative chest. PRESS IT! CLEAR!!!”

“From traveling and playing Bass for the Winans at age19 to March 15th 2010 I’ve had to push that button and say this over&over again CLEAR!”

“There’s a word for this train of thought, CLEAR=RE-INVENT..”

“When you have an idea and it dies on the birthing table, CLEAR!! Find inspiration from someone or something else. Come up with another one.”

“When you feel like no 1 will help you Get your Idea off the Ground, CLEAR!! find away to do it yourself ..”

“our pride that jacks us up, we despies small beginnings, hate delayed gratification, we want the big right now!”

“We want the Smorgesbord but frown at the 2 fish and 5 loaves. CLEAR!! That thinking will always keep you Jacked!”

“Linear thinking can keep you in a box.. connect the dots of successful things & other ideas and apply them to what you’re doing. CLEAR!!”

“Comparing yourself to People for the sake of saying how much better you are, is a sure sign you’ll never reach your full potiential. CLEAR!!”

“Comparing yourself to others Because you see things in them that can help you improve you, Now that’s str8 Defrib, CLEAR!! You own yo way!”

“I tell this story all the time. In the beginning stages of Commissioned I studied Keith Staten, he had such a great command of his Craft.”

“I put the bass around my neck and sang my part when it came up but I noticed Keith was much more effective then I was. So I studied him.”

“What if I would’ve let Envy Pride or Jelousy take hold of my thinking, there would be no me today, CLEAR!! what a concept.”

“Once again CLEAR!! is a concept I’ve adapted for times when my Creativity has flatined.A defibrillator 4 my Creative Heart. Push the Button”

“If you look at your ideas as the bomb but it’s not working for anyone else, 9 times outta 10 it’s not the Bomb. CLEAR!! change your thinking”

“Don’t think linear, look at popular trends, inventions Top 5 things that are the best in the world, ask God to give you the Code of tht DNA.”

“Example: Twitter is a witty invention, why is it so sucsefull? What can you take from this Twit concept and apply to your business or idea?”

“Churches that only study other churches will only go so far.You must look @ fortune 500 corps,and Captins of industry to be more effective.”

“Saw Tylers play last night, traffic was 5 miles long to get in. CLEAR!! By now you must admit, He’s doing something right. What’s the DNA?”

“The IPAD is coming out.. CLEAR!! what’s the DNA?”

“Computers, Can’t live without’m, CLEAR!! what’s the DNA? how can you apply this success to the song your writing? Or Salon your Oppening?”

“The Passion of the Christ!!! Avatar!!! Star wars and Trec! NFL, NBA, WWF, American idol, Microsoft, Apple, aol, yahoo, the WWW, CLEAR!!”

“It’s simple.. It’s all about People. CLEAR!! as in I’m done.”

I really appreciate it when someone that has made it takes some time to share the things that they have learned. It would be really easy for him or anyone else to keep certain things to themselves. I hope someone will benefit by reading what Fred wrote. I know I will. Thanks for the comments Fred!

You can follow Fred Hammond on Twitter (@RealFredHammond). Please follow me too (@TheGospelBlog)!

What do you think about what he wrote? Where do you draw inspiration?

Reflections on BET’s Celebration of Gospel 10

Cliff — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:08:14 +0000

I can’t believe that Celebration of Gospel has been on the air for 10 years. Over that time BET has given us a prime time view of some of Gospel music’s finest artists. So, last night, I sat and watched the broadcast with great anticipation. Here are some of my thoughts on the show.

The Music
Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that there was a time when Celebration of Gospel was used as a showcase to display artists that have released recorded music at least within the last two years. It didn’t seem like that was the case this year. I think the BET producers got together and said “who do we want on the show this year”.

They have every right to include whomever they want on the show. I wonder if they attempted to book artists like Israel Houghton, J. Moss and Smokie Norful. All of these artists released albums within the last year. Instead, they decided to go with Rance Allen, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia who all sung older songs.

The Best Moment of the Night
Generally BET does tributes very well. They honored Steve Harvey since he has been the only host is the history of the show. This was an extremely touching moment. What was really great was how Steve seemed to be really blessed by the words and music from Donnie McClurkin and Marvin Sapp. Seeing Steve get blessed in that way made the whole night worth if for me.

A Few Surprises
We really didn’t hear a lot from Steve Harvey throughout the night. I’m sure some of that was due to the tribute. Editing could also be a factor. Overall, it seemed that his role as the host was slightly diminished compared to previous years.

I was a little surprised to see Tye Tribbett there. Usually when an artist experiences challenges in their personal life they stay away from public appearances for a while. I understand that we all handle things differently. Let’s continue to keep him and his family in our prayers.

On another note…by all accounts, Celebration of Gospel 10 was the last time we will ever see Greater Annointing minister. It has been widely reported that Tye has decided to break the group up.

Where Was God
A lot of people that I am connected to on Twitter and Facebook were disappointed about the editing job that BET did. By many accounts, there were many time where you could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the theatre. However, we never saw those moments. This caused one of my friends to make the following statement, “Where was God? Did I miss Him? I think He showed up for a few minutes then left, came back, left and then left for good!”

The Bottom Line
Over the last couple of years BET has been getting a lot of criticism for their programming, but Celebration of Gospel is one of the shows that the network does very well for the most part. Donald Lawrence, Fred Hammond and Tye Tribbett all gave very good performances. I walked away from the broadcast feeling encouraged and uplifted.

Did you see Celebration of Gospel? What did you think about it? What was your favorite performance?

Fred Hammond’s Take on the Gospel Music Industry

Cliff — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:52:06 +0000

A couple of days ago, Fred Hammond (@RealFredHammond) made some very insightful and interesting comments about Gospel music artists and the state of the Gospel music industry on Twitter. I found his comments to be extremely thought provoking and necessary.

Depending on how many people you follow, it is pretty easy to miss posts on Twitter. Below you can read Fred’s comments in their entirety in case you missed them.

“The Gospel Music industry Lables. Artist, and Radio, have to raise the Bar for the fans.. The investment must be made.”

“The Gospel industry is the 90′s and we’re in 2010. The ppl who are fans of Gospel Music and Support it need it to be more exciting and Hot.”

“Or they’ll walk away.”

“There are some artist that believe it’s the message or the philosophy that has to change, I dissagree. Our change is Business.”

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I see the issue.. I was thinking about doing a Gospel music Summit for the industry but I realized”

“After talking to my Counter parts it would be a waist of Time. I’m praying about doing something with and for the next Generation of”

“Artist but it will be hard without the leadership of the Vets or Generals.”

“Gospel artist.. We must give the people more then a good Hokamshe / telamoshonda for them to keep supporting, they want more.”

“GOSPEL ARTIST TALK LESS AND SING MORE!!! if you say GOD gave you those songs then they will do what they were Birthed to do.. U don’t have”

“To Preach between every lyric. Trust the music.. The industry has not given us all the tool we need BLACK GOSPEL MUSiC, we have to do more.”

“There’s so much more to this. We must be effective in the the earth .. Marvin Sapps joint was a perfect example that if u give the ppl”

“What they need they will support it.”

“People are Crying well it’s a recession,, a recession means that people spend money carefully, and on what they want.”

“The things that are affective in there life. Things that give them statisfaction. What ever gets them through the times in they’re life.”

“I’m not Claiming to be The Savior of the industry , I’m just trying to tell what I see. .. We must be more effective.”

“If Anyones Words were effective on this earth it was Christ Jesus, but He knew that He must meet Ppls needs in order for them to hear Him.”

“His Miracles paved the way for him to be able to Say ” The kingdom of God is like”. It was the WOW of that day.”

“He didn’t just Preach He was Effective.”

“I mean if He could’ve just taught from the Synagog and wouldn’t that been ok? But it was His WOW that made ppl listen. HIS WOW !!!”

“WHAT IS THE GOSPEL MUSIC INDUSTRY’s WOW!! and please don’t say the CD. even though it still sells.”

“ARTIST HERES A TIP.. GOSPEL MUSIC IS A PARTICIPATION EVENT. MAJORITY OF PPL WHO BUY ABD SUPPORT ARE NOT TRYING TO JUST SIT AND LISTEN”

“TO US PERFORM AND WRIFF ALL OVER THE PLACE, THEY WANT TO SING WITH US NOT JUST WATCH US PERFORM.”

“When I left commissioned I thought it was over for me. I love cool music and we were cool. But GOD!! told me to let ppl song with me.”

“When they sing they believe when they believe the Praise when they Praise HE COMES DOWN AND HANGS WITH US.”

“Thus from kool music to GLORY TO GLORY TO GLORY TO GLORY TO GLORY TO GLORY TO GOD.. And BLESSED BLESSED BLESSED How repetetive is that.”

“But those songs were born in 1994 I better not try and leave without doing them.”

“Or songs that have great messages and Melodies like Back to Eden, or I trust, or like I said Never woulda made it.”

“New artist !! Simplify your Melodies.. Make your Hooks Singable, if an 8 year old or A 72 year old mother can sing it while she’s cook’n”

“You got a hit”

“If A single mother who’s been up against stress and strife or brother going through can sing with you u got a hit.”

“I know the Words I wrote today won’t be for everyone.. But He that has the ear, Will hear and the seed will Grow”

“The one who rejects it the seed will Die and you can’t say you don’t know”

“Don’t Get me wrong it’s not just Artist fault but no one is gonna give us a shot then we must find away to make it work.”

“When I listen to the quality of production of Gospel music Be it contemp, hip hop or traditional I here Music that is 2nd to none.”

“But it’s more then that.”

“Like I said your trying to sell something to ppl that will only buy what they want. It’s a recession. But watch Philly and Dallas tomorrow”

“It will be sold out.”

“Ppl buy what they want to buy.”

“Here’s the Deal . We as a industry must be STRATEGIC…”

“New artist you must think this way, Business as well as Spiritual, why should someone give you $10 to $15 of there hard earned money?”

“With everyday expences kids food cost of living mortgages and housing market in the toilet car notes cut in pay cell phone competition”

“Cell bills, touition, insurances, hair and personal upkeep, gas, car upkeep, clothing , vacations, going out , dating , weddings,”

“Jewlery, shoes, movies, DVD rental, Bootleg stuff, and the list goes on, why should they give us $15, cause we talented?”

“Gospel is about serving ppl, not about watching us show how great we can riff. They need something from us.”

“We must ask ourselves what do ppl want and need want from Us, Gospel music ministries? Find out what they want and need and give it 2 them.”

“Don’t give them what you want them to have.”

“I don’t know who this was all for , but it was for someone, and the Revelation witll be the key to your Destiny.”

There you have it. When a leader and pioneer in any industry speaks out, it is in your best interest to pay attention. Please let me know what you think about Fred Hammond’s comments. Do you think he’s being unreasonable? What do you think an artist should use as his or her “WOW”?

The Gospel Blog » Fred Hammond

Review: “Love God. Love People.” by Israel Houghton

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