Andraé Crouch (July 1, 1942 – January 8, 2015) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer and pastor. Referred to as “the father of modern gospel music” by contemporary Christian and gospel music professionals, Crouch was known for his compositions “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”, “My Tribute (To God Be the Glory)” and “Soon and Very Soon”. While attending Valley Junior College in the San Fernando Valley to become a teacher, he formed gospel music group The Disciples in 1965 with fellow musicians Perry Morgan, Reuben Fernandez, and Bili Thedford. The group became a frequent attraction at “Monday Night Sing” concerts in southern California put on by Audrey Mieir, a Christian minister and music composer who frequently sponsored new Christian music groups. (More from Wikipedia)
Andraé Crouch was first a member of the Church of God in Christ Singers (COGICS), which he founded in 1960; one of their members was Billy Preston. Crouch formed a group called the Disciples in 1965, and they released their first album in 1968, Take the Message Everywhere. Crouch helped revitalize black gospel music and directly brought several successful gospel singers to the label where he recorded, Light Records, including BeBe and CeCe Winans.
In February 1972, one of the members of Andraé Crouch and the Disciples, Sherman Andrus broke the “color barrier” in gospel music when he was brought in as the first African-American lead singer of a “mainstream” gospel group, the Imperials. Adopting the famous slogan of Star Trek, Andrus joked that he would “boldly go where no black man had gone before.”
(July 2014)
