FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!
A PHILADELPHIA GOSPEL LEGEND: Gabriel
Hardeman Gospel Singer/Composer Dies at 68
Singer-songwriter, Gabriel S. Hardeman, best-known for co-writing
R&B star Stephanie Mills’ 1987 #1 hit “I Feel Good All Over” and Teddy
Pendergrass’ “Truly Blessed”, died Saturday, June 16 in the Philadelphia area
from complications of Interstitial Fibrosis. He was 68 years old. He was
diagnosed with the illness in May 2000, but with medication functioned well
until 2005 when he started intermittently using a portable oxygen tank. His
condition improved after a 2009 single lung transplant at the University of
Pennsylvania Hospital but he recently began contacting friends to say that his
prognosis was grim and to say goodbye.
Born December13, 1943 in College Park, GA where his father was an
African Methodist Episcopal pastor, he kicked off his music career by singing
and playing piano at his dad’s church. His parents moved the family up north for
better financial opportunities when he was still a youth. They settled in
Harrisburg, PA before finally moving to Philadelphia where Hardeman graduated
from William Penn High School.
After graduation, he briefly joined the R&B band, the El
Dantes, before going off to West Virginia State College as a physical education
major. Upon graduation, he worked as a physical education teacher and it’s
during that period that The Gabriel Hardeman Delegation was born. “There was a
talent show, and I wanted to get some kids together and do some gospel music,”
he told Rashod Ollison at Philadelphia Inquirer in 2001. “`Oh Happy Day’ was hot
then. I had about 40 kids and the next thing you know, word got around and we
had like, 80 kids in the choir.”
They started performing throughout the year but he’d lose his best
singers as they graduated from high school, so he decided to create an
independent group and named it The Delegation in 1973. “We were doing then what
folks like Kirk Franklin are doing now,” he told the Inquirer. “We would go into
these conservative churches, and they would tell us we were doing the devil’s
music.” The group signed to Savoy Records where they recorded hit albums such as
the self-titled LP that featured the radio hit “Feels Like Fire” and earned a
Grammy Award nomination.
Hardeman became disenchanted with the politics of the gospel world
and retired from recording for a while. However, he and his wife, Annette
Hardeman (from the disco era trio, First Choice, best known for “Dr. Love”)
began to write songs together. They wrote Stephanie Mills’ #1 R&B hit “I
Feel Good All Over,” Mikki Howard’s #2 R&B smash “Love Under New Management”
and a “This is the Last Time” and “Truly Blessed” for Teddy Pendergrass. They
also did backing vocal sessions for R&B acts such as Patti Labelle, Phil
Perry and Phyllis Hyman.
Eventually, the industry demand for them to write more salacious
R&B music conflicted with their faith and they devoted themselves to writing
and producing gospel music. Aside from writing for gospel acts such as Edwin
Hawkins and the Wilmington-Chester Mass Choir, Hardeman recorded his own albums
for the Messiah and Birthright labels before making a comeback with the Stellar
Award nominated, “To the Chief Musician”, CD in 2001. Hardeman returned to
Atlanta in 2003 to take care of his elderly parents and he became a pastor in
the Belleview Circuit AME Churches in the city. He returned to Philadelphia in
2008 to take advantage of the better medical facilities in the
city.
He is survived by his wife, Annette Hardeman, and their son,
Michael. R.I.P!
.ndianapolis Public Schools students participate in anti-bullying programs from kindergarten
No comments:
Post a Comment