Gospel star Edwin Hawkins, known for 'Oh Happy Day,' dies
Edwin Hawkins, the gospel star best known for the crossover hit "Oh
Happy Day" and as a major force for contemporary inspirational music,
died Monday at age 74. Hawkins died at his home in Pleasanton, California. He
had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, publicist Bill Carpenter told
The Associated Press.
Along with Andrae Crouch, James Cleveland and a handful
of others, Hawkins was credited as a founder of modern gospel music.
Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke and numerous other singers had become
mainstream stars by adapting gospel sounds to pop lyrics. Hawkins stood
out for enjoying commercial success while still performing music that
openly celebrated religious faith.
Their first album, "Let Us Go into the House of the Lord," came out
in 1968 and was intended for local audiences. But radio stations in the
San Francisco Bay Area began playing one of the album's eight tracks,
"Oh Happy Day," an 18th century hymn arranged by Hawkins in
call-and-response style.
"Oh Happy Day," featuring the vocals of Dorothy Combs
Morrison, was released as a single credited to the Edwin Hawkins Singers
and became a million-seller in 1969, showing there was a large market
for gospel songs and for inspirational music during the turbulent era of
the late 1960s.
"My father was not a committed Christian at that time but was what
you'd call a good man," he said. "And, of course, we heard from him some
R&B music but also a lot of country and western when we were
younger kids."
In 1970, the Hawkins singers backed Melanie on her top
10 hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" and won a Grammy for best soul
gospel performance for "Oh Happy Day."
Meanwhile, George Harrison would cite "Oh Happy Day" as
inspiration for his hit "My Sweet Lord," and Glen Campbell reached the
adult contemporary charts with his own version of the Hawkins
performance. Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis and numerous others also would
record it.
Hawkins went on to make dozens of records and won four Grammys in
all, including for the songs "Every Man Wants to Be Free" and
"Wonderful!" In 2007, he was voted into the Christian Music Hall of
Fame. He also toured on occasion with younger brother Walter Hawkins, a
Grammy winner who died in 2010.
Edwin Hawkins is survived by his siblings Carol, Feddie, Daniel and Lynette.
Comments
Post a Comment