Andraé Crouch

International Dictionary of Black Composers

Music List
Publications
Composer Essay
Selected Works
References

Born in Los Angeles, Calif., July 1, 1942.

Education: San Fernando, Calif., public school system through high school; San Fernando, Calif., attended Valley Junior College; Los Angeles, Calif., attended Life Bible College.

Composing and Performing Career: Began playing for church services when he was 11; formed COGICS (Church of God in Christ Singers); formed the Disciples, 1965; first major commercial success with the Disciples, Take the Message Everywhere, 1969.

Honors/Awards: Numerous awards from the music and recording industries, including Grammy Awards in 1975, 1978, 1979, 1995; Berklee College of Music, Boston, honorary doctorate, 1997.

   Music List

Collections

Andraé. Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1972.

Andraé Crouch. Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1971.

Andraé Crouch and the Disciples Keep On Singin’. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1971.

Andraé Crouch Choral Series. Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, n.d.

The Andraé Crouch Songbook: 40 Favorite Andraé Crouch Songs. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1976.

The Best of Andraé: Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1975.

Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1982.

Just Andraé: Arrangements for Youth Choirs. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1973.

No Time to Lose. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1984.

Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1979.

Soulfully. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1972.

Take Me Back. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1975.

This Is Andraé Crouch. Vol. 1. Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1969.

Songs

[The following list of titles includes only works that were composed by the subject of the entry; it is not a list of recordings that were made by the subject. Although the composer may have made recordings of his own works, the list is not restricted to those recordings but in many cases includes performances by other artists of the composer’s work. The list is made up of publication and discographical data, in cases where such information is available. Although no effort has been made to include documentation of the earliest recording of the works listed, the date of the earliest recording that is readily available has been given. —Ed.]

“All I Can Say (I Really Love You).” In Take Me Back. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records LS 5784; Light Records LS-5637-LP.

“All That I Have.” Recorded, 1991: CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“All the Way.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“Along Came Jesus.” In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records LS-5546.

“Always Remember.” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863; Pinebrook PB-2128.

“Believe in His Holy Name.” Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“Bless His Holy Name (Psalm 103).” 1973. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1978. In Just Andraé, The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records 7-115-74062-3; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.” Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1966. In This Is Andraé Crouch. Arranger, Dick Bolks. Recorded: SMI SMIC-30AS.

“Bringing Back the Sunshine.” Recorded, 1991: CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records LS-5763; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“The Broken Vessel.” Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1968. In This Is Andraé Crouch. Arranger, Dwight Elrich.

“Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus.” Recorded: Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759; Light Records 51416 1052 2; SMI SMIC-30AS.

“(The) Choice.” Co-composers, Gregory (Blaine) Eckler, James Felix. Recorded, 1982: A&M 161053; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“Come On Back My Child.” In Just Andraé. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“Come On, Come On.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Don’t Give Up.” Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“Don’t Let This Moment Pass You By.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Dreamin’.” Recorded, 1991: CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 7-115-74062-3; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Everlasting Joy.” Co-composer, Sandra E. Crouch. Northridge, Calif.: Sanabella Music, n.d.

“Everybody’s Got to Know.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: Light Records LS 5784; Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“Everything Changed.” In Soulfully, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Light Records E1-60071; Light Records 51418 1038 4; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“Everywhere.” In Andraé.

“Finally.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: Arrival 3089-2; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“Gathering.” N.p.: Crouch Music, n.d.

“Give It All Back to Me.” Recorded, 1994: Qwest Records 9 45432-2; Star Song G2724382008521.

“God Loves the Country People.” In Just Andraé. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“Got Me Some Angels.” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863; K-Tel International 251-2.

“Hallelujah Gospel Theme.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Hallelujah I Am Free.” Pacific City, Ore.: Manna Music, n.d.

“Handwriting on the Wall.” Co-composers, Patrick Henderson, Marvin Winans. Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“He Included Me.” New York: SIMCO, 1967. Arranger, Kenneth Morris.

“He Never Sleeps.” In Andraé.

“He Proved His Love to Me.” In Soulfully. Recorded: Light Records LS-5581.

“He Washed My Sins Away.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“He’s Coming to Take Me Away.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“He’s Gone, He’s Back.” Co-composers, James Horner, Sandra E. Crouch.

“He’s Waiting.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Co-composers, Alfred and Linda McCrary. Recorded: Light Records LS 5784; Light Records 60170.

“Heaven (One of These Days I’m Going There).” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, n.d.

“Heaven Belongs to You.” Co-composer, Sandra E. Crouch.

“His Truth Still Marches On.” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863.

“Hollywood Scene.” Co-composer, David Z. Williams. Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“How Sweet It Is to Know the Lord.” In This Is Andraé Crouch.

“I Can’t Keep It to Myself.” Recorded: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“I Come That You Might Have Life.” In Soulfully, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Light Records E1-60071; Light Records LS-5678; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“I Didn’t Think It Could Be (Somebody Told Me).” In Andraé, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: SMI SMIC-30AS; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1052 2.

“I Don’t Know Why (Jesus Loved Me).” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1972. In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1052 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“I Find No Fault in Him.” Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1966. In This Is Andraé Crouch.

“I Just Love My Jesus.” In Andraé.

“I Just Want to Know You.” Recorded: Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records 51416 1055 2; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“I Love Him Because He First Loved Me.” In This Is Andraé Crouch.

“I Love Walkin’ with You.” Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“I Must Go Away.” In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records LS-5546.

“I Shall Never Let Go His Hand.” In This Is Andraé Crouch.

“I Surrender All.” Co-composer, W. S. Weeden. Recorded: Arrival 620-2; Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“I’ll Be Good to You, Baby (A Message to the Silent Victims).” Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“I’ll Be Thinking of You.” Recorded, 1993: Light Records 51416 1055 2; Light Records 7-115-74060-7; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“I’ll Never Forget.” In This Is Andraé Crouch. Recorded: Light Records LS-5504-LP.

“I’ll Still Love You.” In Take Me Back. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1010 4; CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“I’m Coming Home, Lord.” In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Accord 4N-7177; Light Records E1-60071; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“I’m Gonna Keep On Singing.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1971. In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Light Records 7-115-74060-7; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“I’m in Love.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“I’ve Got Confidence.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1969. In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records 7-115-74060-7; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“I’ve Got It.” In Andraé.

“I’ve Got the Best.” Recorded, 1993: Arrival 3089-2; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“I’ve Got Jesus.” Recorded: Accord 4N-7177.

“If Heaven Never Was Promised to Me.” In Just Andraé, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Light Records E1-60071; Light Records LS-5748; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“If I Was a Tree (The Highest Praise).” Recorded: Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“It Ain’t No New Thing.” In Take Me Back. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“It Will Never Lose Its Power.” Los Angeles: Frazier-Cleveland, 1962. Arranger, Thurston G. Frazier.

“It Won’t Be Long.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1972. In Soulfully, The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records 7-115-74060-7; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1052 2.

“It’s Gonna Rain.” Recorded: Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“It’s Not Just a Story.” In Just Andraé. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598; Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759.

“Jesus (Every Hour He’ll Give You Power).” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1971. In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Light Records E1-60071; Light Records LS-5748; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“Jesus, Come Lay Your Hand on Me (Luke 7:36–50).” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863.

“Jesus I’ll Never Forget.” Co-composer, James Cleveland. New York: Screen Gems-EMI, 1963.

“Jesus Is Lord.” Co-composer, Patrick Henderson. Recorded, 1993: Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1; Arrival 3089-2.

“Jesus Is the Answer.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1973. In The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Co-composer, Sandra E. Crouch. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1145 2; Light Records 51416 1052 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Just Like He Said He Would.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1974. In The Best of Andraé, Take Me Back, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 51416 1145 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Leave the Devil Alone.” In Soulfully. Recorded: Light Records LS-5581.

“Let’s Worship Him.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Co-composers, Abraham Lopez Laboriel and Lyn M. Laboriel. Recorded: Arrival 3089-2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1; Light Records 51416 1037 2.

“Let the Same Spirit.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d. Recorded, 1993: Light Records 51416-1054-2.

“Life.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Livin’ This Kind of Life.” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863.

“Lookin’ for You.” Recorded, 1993: Arrival 3089-2; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“Lord, Don’t Lift Your Spirit from Me.” In This Is Andraé Crouch.

“Lord Is My Light.” Co-composer, Michael Omartian. Recorded, 1994: Qwest Records 9 45432-2.

“Lord, You’ve Been Good to Me.” In Just Andraé. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“Lullaby of the Deceived (II Timothy 3:13).” In Just Andraé. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“Masquerade.” Co-composers, Victoria Hill McCall, James Everette Lawrence, and Martin Marshall McCall.

“Maybe God Is Tryin’ to Tell You Somethin’.” Los Angeles: Warner Chappell, n.d. Co-composers, David Francis Del Sesto, Quincy D. Jones, William D. Maxwell. Recorded, 1986: Qwest Records 25356-1.

“My Peace I Leave with You.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“My Tribute (To God Be the Glory).” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1971. In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1177 2; CGI Records 51426 1125 2 or Light Records 51416 1125 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“No Time to Lose (I Wanna Be Ready).” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863.

“Nobody.” Co-composer, Lon Christian Smith. Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Nobody But You.” Co-composer, Jessy D. Dixon. Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Oh, I Need Him.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1969. In Soulfully, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Light Records E1-60071; Light Records LS-5678; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“Oh, It Is Jesus (Luke 8:43–48).” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863; Pinebrook PB-2128.

“Oh Saviour.” In Take Me Back. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“One Way.” In Andraé.

“Perfect Peace.” In Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Arrival 3089-2; Light Records 51416 1036 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Please Come Back.” Recorded: Light Records 51416 1055 2; Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“Polynesian Praise Song (I Love You).” In Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“Praise God, Praise God.” Recorded: Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“Praises.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1975. In The Best of Andraé, Take Me Back, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 51416 1055 2; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“Quiet Times.” In Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Arrival 3089-2; Light Records 51416 1055 2; Light Records 7-115-74062-3;

“Revive Us Again.” Co-composers, William P. Mackey, John J. Husband. Recorded: Arrival 30132; Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“Right Now.” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Arrival 421-2; Light Records LS 5863.

“Running for Jesus.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Satisfied.” In Soulfully, The Best of Andraé, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: Arrival 620-2; Light Records E1-60071; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“Save the People.” Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“Say a Little Prayer.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Say So.” Recorded, 1994: Qwest Records 9 45432-2; Warner Alliance 9 45771-2; Warner Brothers WBC-4180.

“Somebody Somewhere Is Prayin’ (Just for You).” In No Time to Lose. Recorded: Light Records LS 5863.

“Someday I’ll See His Face.” In This Is Andraé Crouch.

“Soon and Very Soon (We Are Going to See the King).” 1976. In Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1090 2; Light Records 7-115-74060-7; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“A Strong Foundation.” Co-composer, Stevie Wonder.

“Sweet Communion.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 60170; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“Sweet Love of Jesus.” In Take Me Back. Recorded: Light Records 7-115-74059-3; Light Records 7-115-74060-7; CGI Records 51416 1135 2.

“Take a Little Time.” In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, The Best of Andraé, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records 51416 1036 2; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Take Me Back.” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1973. In The Best of Andraé, Take Me Back, and The Andraé Crouch Songbook. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Tell Them.” 1975. Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1975. In The Best of Andraé, Take Me Back, The Andraé Crouch Songbook, and Songs of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 51416 1036 2; Light Records 51416 1038 2.

“Thank You Lord.” Downers Grove, Ill.: Lexicon Music, n.d.

“That’s What It’s All About.” Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“That’s Why I Needed You.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: Arrival 3089-2; CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“There Is a Name.” In Andraé.

“There Is Power in the Blood.” Co-composer, Lewis E. Jones. Recorded: Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“There’s No Hatred.“ Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“They Shall Be Mine.” In Take Me Back. Recorded: Light Records 51416 1055 2; Light Records 7-115-74060-7; CGI Records 51416 1135 2.

“This Is Another Day.” Recorded, 1982: Light Records 51416 1037 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1; Light Records 51416 1036 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Through It All.” 1971. Burbank, Calif.: Manna Music, 1971. In Andraé. Arranger, Dwight Elrich or Robert J. Hughes. Recorded: Light Records 7-115-74060-7; Light Records 51416 1038 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“Touch Me.” Recorded, 1991: Arrival 3089-2; CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“Try Me One More Time.” In Soulfully. Recorded: Light Records LS-5581.

“Until Jesus Comes.” N.p.: Crouch Music, n.d.

“Waiting for the Son.” Recorded, 1996: Warner Bros. BSK 3513.

“We Are Not Ashamed.” In Finally: Songs of Andraé Crouch. Recorded: Arrival 3089-2; CGI Records 51416 1010 4; Light Records 7-115-74062-3.

“We Expect You.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“We Love It Here.” Recorded, 1994: Qwest Records 9 45432-2.

“We Need to Hear from You.” Recorded, 1991: CGI Records 51416 1010 4.

“Well Done.” Recorded: Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“What Does Jesus Mean to You?” In Just Andraé. Co-composer, William Thedford. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“What Makes a Man Turn His Back on God.” In Andraé.

“What Ya Gonna Do?” Newbury Park, Calif.: Lexicon Music, 1971. In Andraé Crouch and the Disciples. Recorded: Light Records LS-5546.

“Why.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“Wonderful Counsellor.” Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“You Ain’t Living.” In Just Andraé. Recorded: Light Records LS 5598.

“You Can Depend on Me.” In Take Me Back. Recorded: CGI Records 51416 1125 2 or Light Records 51426 1125 2; CGI Records 51416 1135 2; Light Records 7-115-74063-1.

“You Can Make It.” Co-composer, Lenny Macaluso. Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

“You Don’t Have to Jump No Pews (I’ve Been Born Again).” Recorded: Light Records 51416 1036 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2; Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759.

“You Don’t Know What You Are Missin’.” In Soulfully. Recorded: Light Records LS-5581; Light Records 51416 1052 2; Light Records 51416 1156 2.

“You Gave to Me.” Recorded, 1982: Light Records LSX 5717; Light Records SPCN 7-115-710759; Light Records 51416 1036 2.

“You’re the Only One.” Co-composer, Keith Gordon Green. Brentwood, Tenn.: Birdwing Music, n.d.

   Publications

About Crouch

Books and Monographs

Hartley, Al. On the Road with Andraé Crouch. Spire Christian Comics. Old Tappan, N.J.: F. H. Revell, 1977.

Mainse, David. The Andraé Crouch Story. Springfield, Mo.: Turning Point, 1976.

Dissertations

Booth, John David. “The Music of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples.” Master’s thesis, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1974.

Jenkins, Keith Bernard. “The Rhetoric of Gospel Song: A Content Analysis of the Lyrics of Andrae Crouch.” Ph.D. diss., Florida State University, 1990.

Articles

Butler, D. W. “Gospel: The First Word in American Music.” ASCAP in Action (Fall 1980): 40–43.

Doerschuk, Bob. “Backstage with Andraé Crouch.” Contemporary Keyboard 5 (August 1979): 6+.

“Gospeler Crouch Ignores Critics with New Sounds.” Billboard 87 (April 5, 1975): 31.

Salvo, P. “Andraé Crouch, New King of Pop Gospel.” Sepia Magazine 25, no. 12 (1976): 50.

“Soul Sauce.” Billboard 88 (November 13, 1976): 52.

“Spirit.” People Weekly 44, no. 17 (1995): 103.

“WB Tries to Break Crouch Via Regular Commercial Avenues.” Variety 304 (October 21, 1981): 89.

Wix, K. “Making a Joyful Noise.” Cash Box 52 (July 8, 1989): 6–8.

By Crouch

   Through It All: A Biography, with Nina Ball. Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1974.

Andraé Crouch belongs to a vital tradition of gospel song composers that spans the entire 20th century and whose ranks include Rev. Charles Albert Tindley, Lucie Eddie Campbell, Thomas A. Dorsey, and Rev. William Brewster. Crouch synthesized key elements of the popular secular styles of his day with the conventions and forms of gospel music, creating a style that was appealing to a wide audience. Exerting extensive influence on subsequent gospel trends, Crouch is among the most important innovators of the contemporary gospel music style. In the 1960s and 1970s, along with fellow Californians Edwin Hawkins and the Hawkins Family Singers and James Cleveland, Crouch helped to establish Los Angeles (where he was born in 1942) and San Francisco as important centers for black gospel music. Moreover, Crouch’s affiliation with the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), a primarily black pentecostal denomination, has helped to perpetuate his gospel-music innovation within its many churches. Crouch’s early work can be viewed as the church’s answer to the Motown Sound: self-consciously assimilationist yet true to its roots in black vernacular culture. Young, white Christians of the Jesus Movement formed an important part of Crouch’s audience. Crouch aggressively sought to reach listeners beyond the traditional audience base of black gospel music not only with his compositional style but also with polished recordings that sometimes included jazz sidemen, non-traditional performance venues, and a successful mix of evangelical zeal and promotional expertise.

Like other musicians in the gospel tradition, Crouch began his apprenticeship in the Christ Memorial COGIC of Pacoima, California, a pentecostal church pastored by his father, the Rev. Benjamin Crouch. According to his parents, Crouch’s earliest musical experiences included singing in a trio at Sunday School with his elder brother Benjamin and his twin sister Sandra. At age nine, he began to play piano by learning the melodies of hymns, such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” He developed rapidly and by age 11 was playing for his father’s worship services. Later, he formed a group called the COGICS, an acronym for the denomination in which the group was based. Although Crouch was educated formally in the San Fernando, California, public schools and at Valley Junior College and Life Bible College in Los Angeles, the musical activities in his father’s church appear to have provided his most important artistic outlets. These experiences provided a solid foundation for Crouch’s later activities, within which his compositional talents would flourish. In fact, Crouch once credited his father for his broad, flexible attitude toward gospel composition by heeding his father’s musical counsel: “If you have to hymn it, hymn it. If you have to rock it, rock it. If you have to funk it, funk it.” Crouch’s compositional output certainly spans these musical practices; his output attracted a racially diverse audience “through a ‘split-compositional’ personality,” says gospel scholar Horace Boyer, that shifted between and blended traditional and contemporary gospel styles. Thus, Crouch’s blend of light rock, soul, and pop, combined with the influence of traditional hymns and anthems, found a diverse religious audience.

Crouch’s split-compositional personality was clearly evident early in his career. In 1965, he formed Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, the recording and touring activities of which provided Crouch with his primary compositional vehicle. Over the years, the group has included in its ranks Sherman Andrus, Billy Thedford, Sandra Crouch, Tramaine Davis Hawkins, and Danniebelle Hall. This ensemble’s first recording, the album Take the Message Everywhere (Light Records LS-5504-LP), features the mixture of original compositions, arrangements, and performance practices that would mark the “Crouch sound“: arrangements of the Negro spiritual “Wade in the Water,” Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” and the hymn “No, Not One!,” as well as several of his own compositions, including “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power,” a piece that would later be canonized in standard denominational hymnals. Each of the selections on Take the Message Everywhere demonstrates not only how Crouch had absorbed a broad slate of musical forms (including hymns, anthems, pop-rock, and light soul) but also how the boundaries separating the activities of composition, arranging, and performance practice blur in the gospel tradition. “I’ll Never Forget,” one of the original compositions on the album, features Crouch’s groundbreaking synthesis of diverse musical elements. The song’s simple harmonic language, its “shuffle-beat” in compound meter, its lyric content, and Crouch’s use of standard gospel instrumentation—organ, piano, tambourine, bass, and drums—are all reminiscent of hymns and of traditional gospel music. What places the work in the “contemporary” realm, however, is Crouch’s use of jazz harmonies and the inclusion of a harp in the instrumentation. Other works on the album use a wide range of techniques and instruments atypical of traditional gospel, including pop-rock beats, understated unison vocal lines that also feature elements of doo-wop, and scoring for instruments that range from vibraphone to symphony orchestra. Crouch continued to mix idioms over the next three decades, and his efforts were met with much popular success: Andraé Crouch and the Disciples appeared on television broadcasts such as the Tonight Show, performed at the Hollywood Bowl, and toured before appreciative audiences throughout the United States and abroad.

After a ten-year hiatus from recording, during which he concentrated on his family, church, and producing projects for others, Crouch released Mercy on the Qwest label in 1994. The project won Crouch his sixteenth Grammy the next year and demonstrated his continuing experimentation with eclectic idioms with his use of rhythms of African and other “world” musics.

   Selected Works

Four works from the late 1960s and early 1970s present clear examples not only of Crouch’s distinctive compositional voice but also the musical and stylistic parameters of contemporary gospel music. These pieces—“The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power,” “Through It All,” “Bless His Holy Name,” and “My Tribute”—like the hymns that inspired them, are verse-chorus structures (AB) or some variation thereof; thus, each is a suitable frameworks for spontaneous improvisation.

“The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” (1966), for example, published when Crouch was still a teenager, comprises a 32-bar form: 16 bars for the verses and 16 for the chorus (or refrain). A typical performance (usually congregational) would feature the two verses first and then repeated choruses (AABB), although the printed score does not make this designation. Crouch’s original recording of the piece, however, presents the AABB form, and congregations have followed that outline.

“Through It All” (1971) is also a 32-bar piece, containing three 16-bar verses and a chorus of the same length. Convention dictates that performers follow the AABABB form featured on Crouch’s recording and not the basic verse-chorus structure represented in the printed score.

“Bless His Holy Name” and “My Tribute,” however, depart from the 32-bar pattern. “Bless His Holy Name” (1973), is a 16-bar song that divides evenly into two eight-bar sections of a simple chorus that may be repeated continuously:


“My Tribute” (1971) is a ballad with three sections—a chorus with two musically different verses (ABC)—which still lends itself to repetition and improvisation, especially in the eight-bar refrain (chorus). The harmonies of these pieces contain little chromaticism or elaborate chords. Instrumentalists on the recordings, however, take liberties with the scores, adding a richer harmonic language, improvisatory fills, highly expressive accompanying passages, extended cadences, modulations, and special codas, or “tags,” to heighten their emotional content.

Crouch’s instrumentation itself represents an important development in gospel music. He employed a variety of instruments (e.g., organ, acoustic and electric guitars, vibraphone, tambourine, electric bass, drums, electric keyboards, synthesizers, strings, and horns) to achieve a unique sound that shifts between the traditional gospel style represented in “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” and the more pop-oriented style of “My Tribute” and “Through It All.”

In the same way, the melodic aspect of Crouch’s printed scores provides only a sketch for what typically happens during a performance. The melodies, for example, are written in a straightforward fashion that only hints at the syncopation and vocal fills that performers routinely add. The melodies proceed, for the most part, in stepwise motion with occasional skips, such as the sequential passage in the chorus of “My Tribute.” Vocal ranges are narrow, rarely spanning more than an octave and usually falling within the range of a fifth. Although all of these songs are routinely performed as congregational hymns, the original recordings (with the exception of “Bless the Lord”) feature solo vocal lines on the verses and vocal ensembles singing in three- and four-part harmony on the choruses. The background vocals are usually sung in a toned-down but full-throated gospel style. By way of contrast, the vocal solos on “My Tribute,” “Through It All,” and “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” are presented in a staid, almost crooned style, though with some improvisatory elements that depart from the score.

The primary rhythmic interest of these pieces lies mostly in the performative aspects of the recordings. The written scores are in simple meter with the exception of “The Blood,” which is in 3/4 time. As with other parameters of these compositions, the original recording—not the score—has held greater influence in determining how these pieces have been performed. The shuffling subdivision of the beat in “The Blood,” for example, while intermittently present in the bass line of the written piano part, is usually played throughout the entire piece in performance, as the recording illustrates.

Finally, Crouch’s lyrics are quite traditional, avoiding direct reference to specific political situations or social commentary. His lyrics represent personal reflections or testimonies of the benefits of Christian living (e.g., “Through It All” and “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”) or worship and adoration (e.g., “My Tribute” and “Bless His Holy Name”). These attributes, together with what contemporary audiences perceive as important innovations in compositional and performance practice, explain the enthusiastic reception of Crouch’s music into the American church’s canon of best-loved compositions. They also confirm Crouch’s position as one of the most important sacred song writers of his generation.

   References

Boyer, Horace Clarence. “A Comparative Analysis of Traditional and Contemporary Gospel Music.” In More Than Dancing, edited by Irene V. Jackson, 127–146. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1985.

Broughton, Viv. Black Gospel: An Illustrated History of the Gospel Sound. London: Penguin Books, 1989.

Cleveland, J. Jefferson, and Verolga Nix, eds. Songs of Zion. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1981.

Crowe, Jerry. “Meet Pastor Crouch.” Los Angeles Times (September 21, 1995): sect. F, 1–2.

Doerschuk, Bob. “Backstage with Andrae Crouch.” Contemporary Keyboard 5 (August 1979): 6+.

Heilbut, Anthony. The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971. Reprint, Garden City, N.Y.: Limelight Editions, 1987.

Monroe, Steve. “Mercy.” American Visions 9, no. 4 (August/September 1994): 48.

 

Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr.