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Mercy! - gospel singer Andrae Crouch's first sound recording since 1984
American Visions, August-Sept, 1994 by Steve Monroe
The idea for Mercy," the title song of gospel artist Andrae Crouch's first album in almost 10 years, was born many years ago when Crouch was playing around with his drum machine. The words "Mercy, have mercy on us," just came to the Grammy-winning musician, composer and producer. When he played a tape of the song for his friend and associate Quincy Jones, he says, Jones told him, "Man, that's great. Can you imagine what a tour called |Mercy' would be like? ... This whole world needs some mercy."
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Crouch is seeking to bring the message of gospel music back to the true word of God. "Our music is great, but a lot of the words ain't saying nothing," says Crouch, who is critical of the increasingly commercial sound in gospel music, including Christian rap music. "I feel today that our music is trying to be so sophisticated that we're losing the power of God's word. Today in gospel music you think of the people in the music, the personalities, but we have lost the word of God.
"My father used to tell time: What you say ain't gonna change nobody's life, but what God says will." So I keep the word of God in my music."
Although the message is consistent, Crouch's approach to his music has evolved. On Mercy, (Qwest/ Warner Bros.), he enhances his uniquely uplifting)lifting gospel songs with a world music flavor. In the title song, for instance, there's a mix of reggae and African rhythms. "Africa is the cradle of civilization, where history began," explains Crouch. This song celebrates God's mercy down through the ages." He brings such talents as his twin sister, vocalist Sandra Crouch, keyboard great Joe Sample and vocalist Tata Vega to Mercy.
After a prolific period in the 1970s and 80s that won Crouch six Grammies - the last one in 1984 for No Time to Lose (Crouch Music Corp./Light) - he felt it was time to re-establish his priorities. "I had been traveling. so much, I just decided it was time I got off the road at least part of the time and devoted some time to my family and to my church," he says. "During that time, recording seemed secondary.
"You have a lot of people in the church who are taught how to be saved, but not how to grow. You can't just leave those people once they've been saved; you have to be a disciple to them. You have to continue to teach them and help them when they have problems. ... It's bad to see somebody in a bad situation, but it's worse not to say or do anything about it."
In addition to playing an active role in the church during his hiatus from recording, Crouch produced albums and wrote son for other performers, including Michael Jackson. He also continued to perform, and the awards didn't stop coming to him: Last year he received McDonald's Gospelfest Golden Circle Lifetime Achievement Award, and this year he won an award from the international Association of African-American Music.
Always, through his music and through his personable, evangelical ministry of living, Crouch has been an inspiration to many people - including such young artists as Mark Kibble of the gospel group Take 6. "He's been a major influence on me," Kibble says. "He literally taught us how to sing lead vocals." Commenting on Croucli's return to recording, Kibble adds, "He's like Sampson - he's knocked down so many doors for gospel music, he can't help but come back strong. And he'll be knocking the walls down again."
COPYRIGHT 1994 Heritage Information Holdings, Inc.
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