One of those songs, “Oh Happy Day” exploded in popularity after it was released as a single in 1969. The album which was recorded at Ephesian Church of God in Christ, included eight songs. The Choir led by Hawkins and Watson, produced a Rhythm and Blues infused gospel album on the Pavilion label titled, Let Us Go into the House of the Lord (1968). Ultimately the Northern California State Youth Choir, a community gospel choir formed in May 1968 and which included 47 young men and women in their late teens and early twenties, was recruited to this project. After weeks of discussions and research, the two musicians invited the best choirs in the San Francisco Bay Area to meet with them. In 2007, Hawkins was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and attended the formal awards show in 2009.In 1967, Edwin Reuben Hawkins, who was born on August 19, 1943, in Oakland, California and had been playing the piano at the age of five and accompanying the Hawkins family gospel group since he was seven, joined his church pianist and soprano, Betty Watson of the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley, California, to consider the possibility of creating a powerful chorale ensemble to promote gospel music. This list is incomplete you can help by expanding it.ġ968: Let Us Go into the House of the Lordġ969: Oh Happy Day (Buddah Records re-issue of previous 1968 LP)ġ970: Live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdamġ970: Candles in the Rain with Melanie Safkaġ971: Try the Real Thing with Melanie Safkaġ973: I’d Like To Teach the World To Singġ975: Edwin Hawkins Presents the Matthews Sistersġ981: Edwin Hawkins Live With The Oakland Symphony Orchestraġ982: Edwin Hawkins Live With The Oakland Symphony Orchestra & The Love Center Choir Volume IIġ983: Edwin Hawkins presents The Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choirġ984: Angels Will Be Singing with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choirġ985: Have Mercy with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choirġ987: Give Us Peace with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass Choirġ988: That Name with the Music and Arts Seminar Mass ChoirĪltogether Hawkins has won four Grammy Awards:ġ970: Best Soul Gospel Performance – “Oh Happy Day”, performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers ġ971: Best Soul Gospel Performance – “Every Man Wants to Be Free”, performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers ġ978: Best Soul Gospel Performance, Contemporary – “Wonderful!” ġ993: Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album – choir director on Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar Mass Choir – Recorded Live in Los Angeles, performed by the Music & Arts Seminar Mass Choir
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In the 1992 movie Leap of Faith, Hawkins was the choir master for the gospel songs.
Their second Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts was the 1970 Melanie single “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” on which the label listed the performers as Melanie with The Edwin Hawkins Singers. Hawkins’ arrangement of the song was eventually covered by The Four Seasons on their 1970 album Half & Half. It then became an international success, selling more than 7 million copies worldwide, and Hawkins was awarded his first Grammy for it. It crossed over to the pop charts making U.S. Featuring the lead vocal of Dorothy Combs Morrison, the subsequently released single (on the newly created Pavilion label distributed by Buddah) rocketed to sales of over a million copies within two months. When radio stations of the San Francisco Bay area started playing “Oh Happy Day”, it became very popular. (The soloists in the album were Elaine Kelly, Margarette Branch, Dorothy Combs Morrison, Tramaine Davis, Reuben Franklin, Donald Cashmere, Betty Watson, and Ruth Lyons.) “Oh Happy Day” was just one of the eight songs on the album. This ensemble recorded its first album Let Us Go into the House of the Lord at the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley, California privately (on the Century 70 custom label), hoping to sell 500 copies. Together with Betty Watson, he was the co-founder of the Northern California State Youth Choir of the Church of God in Christ, which included almost fifty members.
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, producerĪssociated acts Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Andrae CrouchĪt the age of seven Hawkins was already the keyboardist to accompany the family’s gospel choir.
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