COGIC, VICKIE WINANS-Be Encouraged LP The Clark Sisters era 1987 NM

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COGIC, VICKIE WINANS-Be Encouraged LP The Clark Sisters era 1987 NM. Condition is "Excellent". Shipped with USPS Media Mail.

Artist Biography

by Charlotte Dillon

Award-winning singer Vickie Winans (born Viviane Bowman) began her career when she was a kid, performing with family. Born the seventh child of a still-growing family, Winans was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her entire family was a musical one, and deeply religious as well. She was only about eight years old when she began singing at the family church, astounding the audience with her vocal ability. She's shared success with the famous Winans family, for she married Marvin Winans and eventually joined forces with the gospel group. Vickie's first solo album, released in 1985, carries a track that became her signature song, "We Shall Behold Him." The debut full-length offering also earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, a Stellar Award for Album of the Year, and an Excellence Award for Best Female Contemporary Artist. It was a foretelling of what was to come.

Through the latter half of the '80s into the next decade, Winans recorded several award-winning albums, and they regularly reached the Top Ten of Billboard's gospel chart. The material ranged from deeply gospel to contemporary Christian and often mixed the approaches. Her most popular songs from the period include "Daddy Can't Sing," "First Trumpet Sound," "The Diet Medley," "Boyfriends," "Its Yo Thang," "Give It One More Try," "Sweeter Than the Honeycomb," and "Little Timmy." When she wasn't in the recording studio, she spent much of her time performing and often worked 200 nights each year. She also made numerous television appearances on shows like Oprah, the Grammy Awards, Arsenio Hall, Queen Latifah, and The Pat Sajak Show and starred in Broadway musicals like Don't Get God Started.

Bringing It All Together

Winans remained active during the 2000s and 2010s, a period during which she recorded for CGI, Verity, and her own label, Destiny Joy. Bringing It All Together (featuring collaborations with her son Mario Winans; 2003), Woman to Woman: Songs of Life (2006), and the Grammy-nominated How I Got Over (2009) all topped the gospel chart. Winans also put together a handful of comedic releases.

Before Mary Mary, before Kirk Franklin, before Commissioned and Fred Hammond, there were Marvin, Carvin, Michael and Ronald Winans. By any account, the most important group of the last 30 years in pushing the crossover of Gospel into both Soul and Pop radio, the Winans are now considered to be Gospel royalty. But it wasn't always like that. When the group first released their Introducing the Winans album in 1981, many eyebrows were raised in the Gospel community about what was perceived as the secularization of Gospel music.

Years earlier, when Gospel singers such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin moved to secular music, they found themselves in an uncomfortable balancing act as they transitioned the Gospel sound to earthly themes. But the Winans flipped it around: they were actually singing praise using a very nontraditional style of music. There was no wailing organ or backup choir, but instead there were pulsating R&B rhythms and vocals that sounded a lot like what the O'Jays or Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes may have been doing at the time. However, the message was pure Gospel, and rather than diluting the power of the message, the Winans were helping create a new genre to reach young listeners that is now called Contemporary Gospel, a musical style that has continued to grow and spread to this day with popular crossover artists such as Smokie Norful, Yolanda Adams and Tonex.

Born and raised in Detroit in a large and musical family, the four Winans brothers were singing fixtures in the local community when they were introduced to Gospel legend Andre Crouch, who signed them to the Light Records label and produced their debut album. Featuring the breathtaking, nearly-a cappella hit, "The Question Is" (which became the group's signature song), the album shot to the upper end of the Gospel charts and even received some play on secular R&B radio. If, as Ray Charles said when he switched from Gospel singing to secular music, the difference between Gospel and Soul was that, in the latter, you just substituted a woman for God in the lyrics, then the Winans proved the opposite true 25 years later. They were taking modern Soul music arrangements and putting God back into the lyrics. And with great harmonies, solid material and Marvin Winans' ferocious lead vocals, the Winans were creating a sound that had even non-believers dancing and singing praise.

Introducing the Winans was followed by Long Time Coming, an even more popular album. Their third album (and last for Light Records), Tomorrow, went to number 3 on the Gospel charts and the title track became one of the top Gospel songs of the year. The group left Light in 1985 to sign with Quincy Jones' fledgling Qwest label, with the hopes of increasing their crossover audience. It worked, as Let My People Go hit the R&B charts and topped the Gospel charts, fueled by the great duet with Vanessa Bell Armstrong, "Choose Ye." The Winans continued their rise in 1987 with Decisions, which featured their first duets with secular stars, singing "Ain't No Need to Worry" with the newly hot Anita Baker (which became the group's first crossover hit) and "Love Has No Color" with Michael McDonald. Decisions became their first album to also hit the pop charts.

They hit their commercial peak three years later with Return, an excellent album that featured two Teddy Riley gems, "A Friend" and "It's Time," both of which became top 10 Soul hits. It was a great introduction of this group to the "new jack" generation. They followed it up in 1993 with All Out, a less successful album that included nice collaborations with R. Kelly ("That Extra Mile") and Kenny Loggins ("Love Will Never Die"), but was not as strong or focused as its predecessor. Outside activities of group members, including Marvin's role as pastor of Detroit's Perfecting Church, made it increasingly difficult for the group to tour and record. They joined together again in 1995 for Heart and Soul, a conscious step back to more of a Gospel sound, before going their separate ways.

It would be a mistake to look purely at their discography in measuring the importance of the Winans. In addition to helping open the door that stood between Gospel radio and Soul radio (which later artists such as Kirk Franklin would bust open), they also bridged the less talked about black/white gap between Gospel and Contemporary Christian Music genres, a bridge that sister CeCe would later walk over. Through their collaborations, they also provided an outlet for secular artists such as McDonald, Baker, Riley and Loggins to express their faith. Finally, on a more personal level, they created the foundation for what would become the undoubted #1 family of Gospel, with siblings BeBe and CeCe (together and separately), Angie & Debbie, and Daniel, as well as parents Mom & Pops Winans, kids Winans Phase 2 and wife Vicki all becoming significant Gospel artists.

The Winans group came together with the entire Winans family in 2002 for a national tour of the U.S., treating fans to hours of hits and family Gospel and a chance to see perhaps the greatest Gospel/Soul group together one last time. Sadly, brother Ronald died in 2005 after a long battle with a heart ailment. The remaining members reunited briefly for the Gospel concert at Super Bowl 40 in Detroit, but generally have worked separately in their continued ministry and music. And they continue to cast a long and glorious shadow over the world of Gospel more than three decades after their arrival

The Winans were pioneers in the field of contemporary gospel, updating the sound and style of traditional Black gospel vocal groups for the urban contemporary age. While they weren't the first group to do so, they were probably the most important factor in popularizing the style, paving the way for countless urban-style gospel groups to follow -- including numerous other members of their own, confusingly large family tree. The Winans were composed of brothers Marvin, Carvin, Ronald, and Michael, all of whom were born in Detroit and raised in a strict, loving Christian environment. Their parents later recorded together as Mom & Pop Winans, and their other family spinoff acts included Daniel, Vickie, brother and sister BeBe & CeCe, and Angie & Debbie; plus, their own sons went on to form the third-generation group Winans Phase 2. All of that came later, though. The four brothers, like the rest of their siblings, grew up singing in gospel choirs, and decided to form a professional quartet in their twenties. A mutual friend introduced them to Andraé Crouch, a major force in the contemporization of gospel music, and Crouch signed the Winans to his Light label.

Introducing the Winans

The Winans released their debut album, Introducing the Winans, in 1981, which was produced by Crouch and featured the now-classic cuts "The Question Is" and "Restoration." The 1983 follow-up, Long Time Comin', started to break the group to a wider audience, reaching the Top Ten on the gospel album charts; it also produced another staple of their repertoire in the ballad "Long Time Comin' (Holdin' On)." The title track of their third album, Tomorrow (which also made the gospel Top Ten), won the group its first Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group in 1985. In the wake of that success, the Winans moved over to famed producer Quincy Jones' Qwest label. Their label debut, Let My People Go, topped the gospel albums chart in 1986, and featured their first high-profile duet -- with Vanessa Bell Armstrong on "Choose Ye." Meanwhile, the title track won another Grammy, and the group received the first of three consecutive Dove Awards as Best Contemporary Gospel Group. Released in 1987, Decision was another number one hit on the gospel charts, and produced the Winans' first big crossover hit in the Anita Baker duet "Ain't No Need to Worry." The single made the Top 20 on the R&B charts and won a third straight Grammy.

Return

Following this run as one of the most popular gospel groups in America, the Winans slowed their pace a little. Aside from the 1988 concert album Live at Carnegie Hall, the group didn't release any new music until 1990's Return. Return was another big crossover success, going gold and just missing the Top Ten on the R&B album charts. It featured a duet with Stevie Wonder on "Everyday the Same," and the Teddy Riley-produced "It's Time" was a major hit with secular audiences, reaching the R&B Top Five. Riley also worked on "A Friend," which became a fan favorite, and saxman Kenny G appeared on another single, "When You Cry." Released in 1993, All Out upped the ante for high-profile guest appearances, featuring Wayman Tisdale (on the single "Payday"), R. Kelly, Lalah Hathaway, Ricky Van Shelton, and Kenny Loggins. Despite winning a Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Album, All Out didn't sell as well with secular audiences as its immediate predecessors. Perhaps as a result, the Winans didn't court crossover success as ardently on its follow-up, 1995's Heart & Soul, which returned them to the Top Five on the gospel album charts. After Heart & Soul, the Winans took a break from performing to concentrate on individual interests and ministries. They did return in 2000 with the holiday album Christmas: Our Gifts to You. In 2002, Rhino Records released the 16-track retrospective The Very Best of the Winans, and the entire Winans family -- not just the group itself -- hit the road in support, marking the first time in a decade that all the family members had performed together.