Pagina 3 van 14

1985

Het is zeker dat begin dit jaar Alliance bestaat uit:

1e tenor: Claude McKnight
1e tenor: Mark Kibble
2e tenor: Mervyn Warren
2e tenor: Keith Paschal (nieuw!)
bariton: Jerry Hutchinson
bas: Eric Greene

Officiële lezing: “In 1985 studeren de 2e tenor, bariton en bas af en verlaten de groep".
Jerry gaat terug naar New York en wordt studiomuzikant. Hoe het met de anderen afloopt weet ik niet.

Alleen de tweede en derde stem (dus Mark en Merv) zijn overgebleven; alle andere stemmen zijn weg; ook de eerste tenorstem is vacant.

Hoewel Mark dit jaar afgestudeerd is, blijft hij zich inzetten voor Alliance.
Volgens de video ‘All Access' komt eerst David erbij als 2e tenor.
Daarop belt Mark een bariton die hij kent: Cedric Dent. Cedric kwam dit jaar in Alabama wonen - hij doet vanaf najaar 1985 een Master aan de universiteit van Alabama. Mark licht toe:

We heard about Ced in Detroit by his work. He had a group called the Dent Family Trio that did harmony like us with only three voices. We heard them and were blown away! So when we had an opening we sought him out. And he agreed.

Tenslotte de nieuwe bas: Alvin Chea. Alvin had de groep al eens gehoord op een Alliance/Special Blend concert in Oakland en was zéér onder de indruk geweest.
Zelf had hij een vriendengroepje opgericht (Sacred Destiny, met Bobby Pena (lead), Donovan Grice (2e tenor), Chuck Hackett (3e tenor), Javier Romero (bariton), en hijzelf bas). Maar dit sloeg alles!
Op een goed moment besluit hij een jaartje (...ééntje...) te gaan studeren aan het Oakwood College. Omdat Alliance nog steeds op zoek is naar een goede bas, en ene Alvin goed bleek te lezen, zoekt Mervyn hem op en vraagt hem om mee te doen. Alvin daarover:

Actually, the back story is that he tried to track me down for a couple of weeks before I'd even talk to him. It's not that I was being deep. I was scared of him. I thought he was trying to kick my butt. It all began when he started dating a girl that I'd hung out with for a couple of weeks when I first got down there. Well, a month into the school year, I'd faded off the scene and he and this girl were wrong and strong. I thought he found out that I had been dating her and was trying to set me straight. I was avoiding him like the plague. By the time he finally tracked me down, he had a little attitude.
“Man...I've been trying to get a hold of you for a couple of weeks now..."
“Oh really...wha-what...about?"
“I want you to try out for this group."
“Oh yeah...I heard that you were conducting a choir, A-Classic is it?"
“Naw man...I mean yeah it'd be nice for you to sing in that group too, if you have the time. But, I'm talking about Alliance."
“What! Are you kidding? Of course I'd love to try out for that group."
“Cool."

Alvin bereidt zich zéér goed voor op de auditie en wordt dan ook aangenomen. Over de eerste repetitie (de auditie) met de groep vertelt hij:

My first group rehearsal happened in September of '85. I'll never forget it. I had been invited to join by Merv and he said that they usually got together on Friday nights.
Rewind to the living room where five dining room chairs were set up in semicircular fashion. There was a little brown spinet piano and a piano bench which sat empty. I took the end seat next to Dave and waited nervously while Cedric and Merv chatted. About ten minutes later, Mark arrived and took the seat at the piano bench. This was strange. Because, like lots of people, I just assumed that Merv was the main arranger. It turned out that Merv arranged for A Special Blend; but the sound of Alliance, which later became Take 6, belonged to Mark.

Mark and Merv were innovators and just had an innate feel for how things should be done. When we recorded, though we were a cappella, they insisted on putting down guide and click tracks, which instantly set us apart. And, when we used instruments, they could realistically program drums and arrange masterfully.

They too had a sense of their self-worth by having both a manager and a performance fee. Keep in mind these guys were still in their teens.

1986

Alliance bestaat nog steeds uit 5 mensen:

tenor: Mervyn Warren
tenor: Mark Kibble
tenor: David Thomas
bariton: Cedric Dent
bas: Alvin Chea

Alvin in een bassline:

Folks were shuttled in and out of that first tenor spot like nothing. In the dorm late at night, I'd hear of a guy getting called up for an audition with the much-feared Alliance. The next day, you'd see him in the cafeteria completely dejected chewing on a veggie dog. But, for those first few months, the group that would one day be known as Take 6 was but a Take 5. We pushed on rehearsing week after week. And though there was nothing on the horizon save more rehearsals, I loved this cool new sound. Inevitably, after rehearsal, I'd see Mark and Merv shaking their heads... “Man, it just isn't there. Has anybody tracked down Claude yet?" This went on for months. Occasionally we'd hear something about Amway and Claude in Florida, but nothing confirmed. It was like spotting Elvis. I'm thinking, “Who IS this dude?"

Mark would teach the five of us our parts then would leave to sell paint at Sears. In fact, I really have to give Mark his props for holding us together through those thin years. He'd graduated the year before and had passed on several “grown-up" job offers in order to keep our dream alive. He taught his arrangements to those he could track down. In those early days, even Dave was hard to find - and he lived down the street.
Finally, one Friday night as we were setting up chairs for rehearsal, in walked a visibly relieved Mark. “Fellas, we found Claude. I sent him a tape and he promised to listen to it. And, oh yeah, he'll be here for Alumni weekend." Did you hear that? Claude is coming. They found Claude and he's coming back (pass it down). That night we rehearsed with a renewed vigor. Soon there would be six chi-chi-chilly Jordans.

Sure enough, when Oakwood's Alumni Weekend came, Claude showed up and killed it! It was great because his tone was the signature sound of Alliance. He had an amazingly smooth mellifluous voice with the charisma to boot. He was tall, dark and handsome. And when he sang, oh did the ladies swoon. Still do! What more could you want?

Ze zijn eindelijk weer met zijn zessen.

1e tenor: Claude McKnight
1e tenor: Mark Kibble
2e tenor: Mervyn Warren
2e tenor: David Thomas
bariton: Cedric Dent
bas: Alvin Chea

De groepnaam Alliance moet ook veranderd worden omdat die naam al gebruikt wordt door een andere groep.
Na het doornemen van ongeveer vijftig namen wordt het Take 6.
Alvin: “None of us really liked the name; it was the name that we all hated the least."

Het eerste Take 6 optreden vindt plaats in het Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville.

1987

Omdat de optredens buiten de school frequenter worden, besluit de groep de grote stap te nemen om een manager in te huren. Deze personal manager, Gail Hamilton van Choice Management, woont en werkt in Nashville. Zij organiseert in juni voor Take 6 (en A Special Blend) een showcase voor 30 gospel record company representatives (producers) in de Koinonia Christian Bookstore & Coffeehouse, een Christelijke boekwinkel in Nashville.
Hiervoor heeft de groep ongeveer een jaar gerepeteerd: omdat ze nog op school zitten, oefenen ze in de weekends (vrijdag tot zondag, zo'n 30 à 40 uur per weekend).

Maar het blijkt niet zo goed te gaan die dag, en er zijn ook maar 10 mensen komen opdagen.
Onder hen is echter een niet-uitgenodigde gast: Jim Ed Norman, de Nashville representative van Warner Brothers.

Cedric vertelt:

This guy showed up, and he told us the most incredible story about how he learned about TAKE 6. He said someone [Michael Martin Murphy, -red.] gave him an unlabeled cassette tape that had only a portion of one of our songs. He said the little bit of this performance on the tape floored him, and he wanted to find out more about this group. He kept this tape with him for about a year. When he heard about our showcase, he thought he would go to find out if, by chance, it was the same group. Sure enough, we sang the full version of the song he had on his tape. He immediately walked up to us after the concert and said that he would love to talk to us about a recording contract. Two days after the showcase, we had a record deal with Warner Bros.

This was a wonderful affirmation from the Lord that He was guiding our careers and opening these kinds of doors. When God does something, He always does it in such a way that is so supernatural and so miraculous that those involved can't take credit for it.

De demo die Jim hoorde was een stukje van de song ‘David and Goliath', gemaakt door Doug Jansen Smith:

Doug has helped many aspiring artists meet their goals. His record for 8 hours of continuous work on a 8 second vocal part, created the demo that he used to entice Jim Ed Norman into signing multi-Grammy Gospel/Jazz artists Take 6.

(bron: https://www.soundcell.com/producers.htm)

Uiteindelijk tekent Jim de groep bij Warner/Reprise Nashville, officieel als Take 6 dus, en regelt een aparte distribution deal met Reunion Records om het album in de Christelijke boek- en platenwinkels te krijgen.

Claude vertelt dat ze allemaal naar Nashville verhuisden (hij breekt er zelfs zijn studie voor af volgens de bio van Brian McKnight ):
“After that successful show [de showcase, red.], we literally were in the studio 20 days later, and subsequently moved to Nashville as a group during that process... it was CRAZY, and quick, but it was necessary for us to be together at that point."

Alvin:

At the very early days on Warner Bros., they didn't know what to do with us. They loved our sound but were unsure of just how to get us to entertain. A&R decided to bring in a Choreographer. Being the country division of the label, they hired someone straight out of a Branson review to work with us.
They videotaped our rehearsals on a Nashville soundstage. Song-by-song they began staging our early a cappella jams. 5-6-7-8 and *step* “Get away Jooordan..." And touch and pivot and to the side...GOOD! We rehearsed until we were heard “step and back" in our sleep. Mark, being saturated with musical talent, was not given much in the way of dance. Actually he was given none. According to Claude, Mark once single handedly sprained his ankle on a solo breakaway lay-up. I didn't see it, but I could believe it. Anyway, we finished the rehearsals and took the tapes to then-President Jim Ed Norman's house to celebrate our arrival. Jim Ed popped the tape in and we watched ourselves in action. Now remember, we are young, immature, and self-conscious. We hadn't seen each other because we were concentrating on getting our own moves right. So, as the tapes played there was a general snicker. Dude, does my voice sound like that? Now, as one particular song ended, we were supposed to strike this Vegas pose. We saw it end and chuckled at the pose. Until Dave yelled, “Wait did you see Mark?!...ha ha ha?" Stop, rewind, play...Mark had fallen behind in one of the steps and tried to catch up on the very last move. And, somehow he went from move 5 to 8 in a half-second. We ROARED! Stop, rewind, play...We hollered! Stop, rewind, play...We CRIED! It took him a long time to live that one down.

Op youtube staat een filmpje uit deze tijd. Bij het nummer If We Ever staat de tekst:
“This was recorded at the Rosewood Music Festival the summer of 1987, Nashville, Tennessee by 3ABN. The group known as Alliance had just signed or was negociating with Warner Brothers."
David Rose , een producer van dit festival, vertelt hierover:
“Rosewood Music Festival took place on the front lawn of my estate. The event was broadcast live in part and taped for later national television broadcasts. I did stage design, talent auditions and selection, brochure design, promotions, sponsor recruitment, program director."

Joel Kibble (de broer van Mark) en Peter Campbell starten dit jaar op Pine Forge Academy een groep die Take 6-achtige songs heeft: Special Music. Blijkbaar bestaat de groep niet lang, want Peter zegt op een youtube-pagina: “2 years later at Oakwood College we revived the group, at the Oakwood Alumni Weekend Friday Night Concert 1989."

Samenstelling van de groep:

1e tenor: David Caldwell
2e tenor: Reggie Reid
3e tenor (en lead): Joey Kibble
4e tenor: Arthur Hicks
bariton: Wayne Bucknor
bas: Peter Campbell

Take 6: biografie

Artikelindex

1985

1986

1987