James Cleveland

American gospel pianist, trombonist, and choral director

• Born: December 5, 1931
• Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
• Died: February 9, 1991
• Place of death: Culver City, California

A leading star in gospel music for four decades, Cleveland was known for his gruff voice, dynamic showmanship, and innovative work directing gospel choirs. The Gospel Music Workshop of America, founded by Cleveland, became the most significant force in shaping choral music in modern gospel.

Member of Angelic Choir; the Charles Fold Singers; the Southern California Community Choir; the Cleveland Singers; Voices of the Tabernacle

The Life

James Cleveland was born to Benjamin and Rosie Lee Cleveland. Benjamin worked for the Works Progress Administration. Young James attended Pilgrim Baptist Church with his family, and his exceptional singing talent was quickly noticed. Thomas A. Dorsey, who is considered the father of gospel music, was the choir director at Pilgrim Baptist Church and mentored James as well as writing a composition for him. The famous gospel music pianist and composer Roberta Martin played keyboards for the choir and helped develop James’s skills on the piano. She also published Cleveland’s first composition, “I Want to See Jesus.” As a young man, Cleveland moved to Philadelphia, where he helped form the gospel group the Gospelaires. During the 1950’s he lived in Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, and Chicago; served as music minister and assistant pastor in several churches; sang in various gospel groups; and established his reputation as a singer, pianist, and arranger.

In the 1960’s, Cleveland was ordained and moved to Los Angeles to pastor the New Greater Harvest Baptist Church. In 1968, he organized the Gospel Workshop of America to teach, improve, and spread gospel music. In 1970, he founded the Cornerstone Baptist Church, featuring an internationally known choir. He had a daughter, LaShone.

Cleveland was awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity Bible College. After his death in 1991, allegations of financial and other improprieties were leveled against him, some by his foster son, Christopher Harris. However, his legacy as the father of modern gospel choir music has continued to grow.

The Music

For the Reverend Cleveland, his life as a church minister and his work as a gospel singer were entwined. He developed his singing talent as a boy under the tutelage of the famous gospel musicians Thomas A. Dorsey and Roberta Martin. As a young adult, he served as music minister and choir leader in various churches, founding his first group in 1959. Much of his early prominence as a singer came from his performances with the legendary gospel group the Caravans. In 1963, he formed the James Cleveland Singers. During his adult career, he took as his mission the forging of gospel choirs into a modern musical force, capable of assimilating the more sophisticated influences and harmonies of jazz, blues, soul, and even classical music.

“The Love of God.” While at the Prayer Tabernacle in Detroit, Michigan, Cleveland helped form the Voices of the Tabernacle choir. In 1959, he recorded his first solo hit, “The Love of God” with this group. After a light piano introduction, Cleveland’s entry is dramatic. He croons variations of the refrain “Love of God” with his trademark bullfrog timbre. The choir sighs, moans, and swells in the background. Cleveland’s singing combines preaching, pop balladry, and soulful glissandi.

“Peace Be Still.” In the early 1960’s, Cleveland recorded three long-playing (LP) albums for the Savoy label with the Angelic Choir, featuring Billy Preston at the organ. Volume I, recorded in 1962 and titled This Sunday in Person, was apparently the first live gospel session to be recorded. The second volume, 1962’s James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir, featured Cleveland’s hit recording of the gospel standard “How Great Thou Art.” The third volume, Peace Be Still, recorded live and released in 1963, was the first gospel LP to sell move than fifty thousand albums; by 2008, it had more than one million. It featured Cleveland’s greatest hit, “Peace Be Still,” derived from a little-known eighteenth century madrigal. The recording features Cleveland’s trademark arrangement: a large choir, rhythms heavily influenced by blues and jazz, and swaying organ and percussion accompaniment. Cleveland’s rough-hewn vocals alternate theatrically with the smooth-sounding, swelling choir. Perhaps most notable about the recording is the rousing chorus that assumes prominence in the second half of the performance, as the choir rhythmically and intricately chants “Peace Be Still.” Cleveland performed with the Southern California Community Choir, which he formed when he founded the Cornerstone Baptist Church. The Southern California Community Choir sang behind him on his two Grammy Award LP albums Live at Carnegie Hall and In the Ghetto.

“I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.” Cleveland’s version of the gospel standard “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired,” available on the album of the same name, illustrates his complex interplay of lead voice and choir. Cleveland’s gruff lead contrasts starkly with the harmonic chants of the choir. Cleveland pauses to exhort, to preach, and to allow the choral rhythms to emerge. He delivers ecstatic variations on the sung word “believe.” Likewise, the choir’s varied arrangements of the refrain “I believe he brought me this far” exemplify the sophistication and elegance of Cleveland’s choral compositions.

Musical Legacy

Cleveland became the leading modern exponent of the gospel choir. As a choral director, he was innovative as well as instructive, influencing many generations of singers. He performed with most of the leading gospel choirs, including the Voices of the Tabernacle, the Angelic Gospel Choir, and the Southern California Community Choir. The concerts of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, which he founded, featured choirs of as many as three thousand singers. He brought influences from contemporary secular and popular music into the traditional gospel choir. Whereas previous arrangements in gospel were often spontaneous, basic, and emotional, Cleveland arranged choral music with complex rhythms, varied tempi, and sophisticated harmonies. His annual Gospel Singers Workshop Convention spread gospel to thousands of singers and other musicians. Cleveland himself wrote more than four hundred songs and released more than one hundred albums of gospel music, winning four Grammy Awards.

For his contributions to gospel music, vocals, composition, and performance, Cleveland has been called the Crown Prince of Gospel. He was an exciting vocalist—with a hoarse, gritty quality to his voice, in striking contrast to the sweet-toned, imploring choir that accompanied him. The “foghorn” quality of his vocals has been likened to that of Louis Armstrong, and his preaching lyrics were heartfelt and gripping. Cleveland also sang with or accompanied such gospel stars as Clara Ward and had a strong influence on Aretha Franklin.

Principal Recordings

albums (solo): This Sunday in Person, 1962 (with the Angelic Choir); James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir, 1962 (with the Angelic Choir); Peace Be Still, 1963 (with the Angelic Choir); I Stood on the Banks of the Jordan, 1964 (with the Angelic Choir); Lord, Let Me Be an Instrument, 1966 (with the Charles Fold Singers); I Told Jesus to Change My Name, 1974 (with the Southern California Community Choir); In the Ghetto, 1974 (with the Southern California Community Choir); Trust in God, 1975 (with the Gospel Girls); James Cleveland and the Charles Fold Singers, Vol. II, 1977; James Cleveland and Ruth Schofield Edition, 1978; James Cleveland and the Charles Fold Singers, Vol. III: Is There Any Hope for Tomorrow, 1978; James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir, 1978; Reunion, 1979 (with Alberta Walker); The Promise, 1980 (with the Philadelphia Mass Choir); A Praying Spirit, 1982 (with the Cornerstone Choir); Twentieth Anniversary Album, 1982 (with the World’s Greatest Choirs); Amazing Grace, 1990 (with the Southern California Community Choir); For the Prize, 1990 (with the Houston Mass Choir); Give Me My Flowers, 1990 (with the Angelic Choir); Hallelujah ’Tis Done, 1990 (with Cassietta George); Having Church, 1990 (with the Southern California Community Choir); His Name Is Wonderful, 1990 (with the Angelic Choir); I Don’t Feel Noways Tired, 1990 (with the Salem Inspirational Choir); I Know He Can, 1990 (with Alberta Walker); James Cleveland Sings with the Great Gospel Star Parade, 1990; This Too Will Pass, 1990 (with the Charles Fold Singers); James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir, 1991; Merry Christmas, 1991 (with the Angelic Choir).

albums (with the Cleveland Singers): In the Beginning, 1978; At the Cross, 1990; Especially for You, 1990; God’s Promises, 1990; His Eye Is Sparrow, 1990; I Love to Tell, 1990; I’m Giving My Love, 1990; Inspired, 1990; Lord Help Me to Hold Out, 1990; Love of God, 1990; The One and Only, 1990; Pilgrim of Sorrow, 1990; Praise 88, 1990; Rev. James Cleveland and the Cleveland Singers, 1990; Sun Will Shine Afterwards, 1990; To the Glory of God, 1990; Tomorrow, 1990; Touch Me, 1990; Where Is Your Faith, 1990; Down Memory Lane, 1991; Out on a Hill, 1991; Songs My MotherTaught Me, 1991; Victory Shall Be Mine, 1991.

Bibliography

Boyer, Horace Clarence. How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel. Washington, D.C.: Elliott and Clark, 1995. A conversational history of gospel music told biographically and geographically by a gospel musician and scholar.

Broughton, Viv. Too Close to Heaven: The Illustrated History of Gospel Music. London: Midnight Books, 1996. An updated history of gospel music that served as the basis for a British television documentary.

Carpenter, Bil. Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia. New York: Hal Leonard Books, 2007. Based on more than one hundred interviews, this comprehensive reference work reveals both the highlights and the low points in gospel music history.

Cusic, Don. The Sound of Light: A History of Gospel Music. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1990. Relates the story of gospel music in the broader context of religious musical history and contemporary musical forms.

Darden, Robert. People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music. New York: Continuum International, 2005. Roots gospel in spirituals, holiness churches, and blues evangelists such as the remarkable Blind Willie Johnson (“Dark was the Night…Cold Was the Ground”).