started coming to our concerts and when we
played Detroit, Marvin Winans came to the
show expecting a segregated hall. He arrived
and went up to the balcony to sit where he
thought he was supposed to, but instead,
found the balcony occupied by both blacks
and whites. This was in the mid-1970s! What
Marvin found was an integrated audience and
band, which shocked him. He had never seen
anything like that before. Marvin said that it was
one of the most liberating moments of his life.
He said, “I don’t know anyone besides Andraé
that broke down those barriers.”
You can watch a wonderful live medley (with Bill
Maxwell on drums) below.
12/75 in Hawaii. My brother Beau is on the left, Don, Andraé, and myself. We picked and ate starfruit from the trees!
Consider these remembrances
and observations:
were mainly black, but as the 70’s pressed on, and
all of sudden many, many white people were memories, admiration and love for you, Andraé,
with
the
deepest
respect,
fondest
showing up. On an early European tour crowds I write this article.
"Musically Andraé Crouch was a child prodigy, a were mostly black, but then just a year later we Thank you.
creative innovator and a cultural bridge builder. returned, and the crowds were all white! This He was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music happened a lot across America as well. I saw all Hall of Fame in 1998, acknowledging his global of these things over a ten- year period.”
Steve “Bugs” Giglio,
impact and his commitment to spreading the
Road and Stage Manager
gospel through music."
Jackie Patillo, President of GMA
Andraé’s songs migrated from the black church
“Traveling in Andraé’s bus named ‘Ruby’ was into the white church, something no pop music
an eye opener for me. I grew up in Orange movement or record label had ever done
County, CA, during the 60’s. But in the early before. Andraé penetrated the church at large
70’s I began touring the US with a mixed- by helping to bridge the racial divide. He left
race group and crew. We encountered both this world four years ago, passing into glory.
good and bad in people that we came across. His impact will forever be felt and his status as
I remember Andraé on stage for three hours a great songwriter has been elevated to that of
and the power of the Holy Spirit was non-stop. a great hymnwriter.
All race, color, and the color of a person’s skin
was forgotten about. Crowds in the beginning
38
In acknowledgement of Black History Month,
February 2019
It Won’t Be Long!
Alex MacDougall
Former member of Daniel Amos (DA), the Larry
Norman Band, and the Richie Furay Band. He’s
also toured and recorded with Andrae Crouch, Bob
Bennett, Phil Keaggy, and hundreds of others. He’s
serves as an Adjunct Professor, teaching in Music
Business at Dallas Baptist University and Trevecca
Nazarene University’s National Praise and Worship
Institute, in Nashville, TN. Contact Alex for lecture,
teaching, and conference workshops via.
[email protected]
Subscribe for Free...