Fred Hammond

Fred Hammond

TAKIN' IT TO THE STREET
Fred Hammond Brings the Gospel to Today's R&B
Looking for the best contemporary gospel music of the past 15 years? Just follow Fred Hammond. The vocalist, writer, producer, and bass player has put his stamp on gospel music since his Detroit church-choir days. A stint as the Winans' bassist brought him to the attention of gospel fans in the '80s, but it wasn't until he helped redefine the genre as a member of Commissioned that Hammond's music and ministry really took off. His unique approach to urban praise & worship garnered him awards, record sales, and production gigs with everyone from Kirk Franklin to Quincy Jones to the Motor City Mass Choir. By the early '90s Hammond was flying solo, bringing his R&B-drenched sound and message of God's glory to audiences nationwide -- and captured on the award-winning PAGES OF LIFE, CHAPTERS 1 & 2. In 2000, Hammond pushed his crackerjack choir, Radical for Christ, to new heights on PURPOSE BY DESIGN -- a great gospel set and one of the best R&B records of the year. The energetic song leader talked to Barnes & Noble.com's Karl Hagstrom Miller about his favorite artists, his favorite choir, and the new chapter of gospel history called praise & worship.

Barnes & Noble.com: How did you first get into gospel music?

Fred Hammond: Well, my mother would play for different churches. That was her extra job. She was a nurse. Then she would play for churches on the weekends and week nights. She would teach them how to have better choirs and such. So she would bring records home. As she was learning them, I would listen. When she put them away, I would put them on and listen to them again. Then I would hear them in church and go "Wow, I recognize this song." That's when it started to come into play.

Barnes & Noble.com: What albums were big revelations for you when you heard them?

Fred Hammond: Stuff like the Hawkins Family. A lot of the gospel really started revelations in my life: the Winans and the Clark Sisters. When the Winans went with Andre Crouch, that was a turning point in my life. I had known them as the Testimonials, and their albums were very local sounding -- not as professional. Then when they got with Andre, it was like, "My goodness." It just blew my mind. It opened up my mind to a whole new thing. Then it was attainable. All of a sudden it was reachable: "You mean all we have to do is get a producer, and we can sound like that as well?"

Barnes & Noble.com: How did you get hooked up with them?

Fred Hammond: We all went to school together. When they got really famous I kind of inquired to be closer to them -- to get in with the band and play. I was just very persistent. I kept asking, "Can I audition? Can I audition?" The leader, Marvin, at the time said, "No, we're going to stick with what we got," or "We're going to go with this other guy." And they had never really heard me play, so I ended up getting with Be Be and Daniel, because they had a Winans Part II at that time. We were going to play on the same concert, and when I came in and played bass, they were like, "Wow! Where did you get this guy from?" And then the rest was history.

Barnes & Noble.com: How does your solo work differ from your role with Commissioned?

Fred Hammond: Well, this one is all me, so I have to bring it each night. I kind of enjoy that. And I have a very good supporting cast. Radical for Christ, they're my own. I've trained them how to be and what to do, so they stick right on my hip. Then they keep me grounded. They allow me to be kind of loose, because they're so tight. They stay tight -- I get loose.

Barnes & Noble.com: One of my favorite cuts from PURPOSE BY DESIGN is your live take on Sam Cooke's "Jesus Be a Fence." How did you choose that tune for the record?

Fred Hammond: Actually, we did it on another record of old standard hymns with Carlton Pearson. They asked me to pick a song, and it was like, "Well, we really don't have time to do this, but we are going to do it because we like Pastor Pearson." What can we do quick? I said, "What do you have on your list of stuff to do?" He named down, and when he got to "Jesus Be a Fence," I said, "Woah. Let me do that." I knew that one.

Barnes & Noble.com: How does that tune go down live?

Fred Hammond: That's a monster! Before the album was out, people knew that song. It's a church staple: It's like you know it, but you don't know it. So when you hear it, you're like "Wow." We didn't want to funk it up; we didn't want to contemporize it; we didn't want to do any of those things. We just wanted to keep it in its natural state. We feel like our contemporary songs are contemporary. Our traditional songs need to be just that. We need to hold true to that genre.

Barnes & Noble.com: What music have you been listening to lately?

Fred Hammond: There's a new artist called Kim Burell. I listen to her. Mary Mary is a brand new artist that just hit the scene. I listen to a lot of Mint Condition -- I like that band type of thing. Let me see, I am not a really big rap fan. You know, I listen to it, but sometimes you just can't because of the lyrical content. But Heavy D seems to be a pretty solid rapper with no profanity or whatnot. He's in the disc changer. I try to listen to whoever is current just to try to stay up a little bit. I also still got some old Babyface and Stevie Wonder -- Stevie's anthology, FULFILLINGNESS' FIRST FINALE, TALKING BOOK, a lot of that older stuff.

Barnes & Noble.com: How do you balance your spiritual message with the secular music world?

Fred Hammond: I have learned to be true to what I do. I don't worry about offending or not offending. The music I do is uplifting to God, so it will uplift man. I am not one of those John the Baptist type ministers who stands out there and rings out "Repent! Repent! You're going to die! You're on your way to hell!" I can leave that to some other people. My message talks about the goodness of God -- talks about His grace, His mercy. A lot of things people want to know about God is there: He is not willing to strike you down, kill you because you made a mistake. He is long suffering. He is a good God. So when I sing about that, a lot of people can just relate.

Barnes & Noble.com: How would you describe the urban praise and worship genre?

Fred Hammond: Gospel music is based out of what my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother did. If you start going back past my grandmother, you are getting into eras when they were actually slaves. They were not free people. They sang songs based on economic struggle. During my mom's era, the songs that were written were like, "just hold on until tomorrow. I know that there's a better day coming." One of the big ones was "I turned it over to the Lord, and He worked it out." The baby needs a pair of shoes; I got a light bill due; the telephone's disconnected. A lot of stuff people in urban neighborhoods were facing were the big gospel hits: "Lord, help me to hold out"; "Til My Change Comes."

Now praise and worship is "Lord, you are an awesome God, and I look at who You are and nothing is impossible. I am you're son -- I am your child -- and therefore nothing is impossible for me." Now we take our faith out of other people's hands, and we can now say, "We trust God; we don't trust man." You know the big speech: "The white man is trying to keep you down." You can say that, but if you serve a holy God -- if you serve a God who has all things, there is nothing too hard for Him -- then that excuse has to go away. You have to be able to say, "You know what? I'm going to do well. Whoever is my boss, I'm going to do well." And now the glass becomes half full instead of half empty. You start to look at ways that you can be blessed. That's why I sing a song, "We're blessed in the city/We're blessed in the field/We're blessed when we come and when we go." That is positive confession about what we believe God has done for us. Every bill seems to be red, but I'm blessed -- I'm still here. I know my basket is going to be full. And as you start to speak these words of faith, they start to actually happen for you.

Barnes & Noble.com: How did touring with Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams influence you musically?

Fred Hammond: I got a chance to see how great people worked with people on stage. I got a chance to see what they were able to do to move the crowd. When you are out with people like that you are always learning. Kirk taught me how to relate to people, to relate to common people who are there, who are hurting. That's what I cherish. Yolanda taught me how to go ahead and sing with all your might and heart. Just go for it. Worship God in your singing, and don't give up: Sing, sing, sing.

Karl Hagstrom Miller