[msb-alumni] Rance Allen, 71, Frontman Of Gospel Group That Broke New Ground in the Genre, Dies on October 31, 2020
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2020 17:42:48 -0500
BlankI didn't realize these guys were from Monroe, Mich.
Steve
Rance Allen, 71, Frontman Of Gospel Group That Broke New Ground in the Genre.
By Neil
Genzlinger.
The Rance Allen Group was at the forefront of contemporary gospel, fusing
traditional music
with pop, rhythm and blues, jazz, even disco.
"Whatever we feel like doing, we do that very thing," Bishop Rance Allen told
an audience at
Sounds of Brazil in New York in 1986. "But we do it to the glory of God."
It was a summary of the music he and his brothers had been serving up for
almost 20 years as
the Rance Allen Group -- gospel, to be sure, but blended with other influences
that, when
the group began, made it a pioneer of today's contemporary gospel sound.
"The Rance Allen Group's repertory mixes traditionalist gospel -- hymnlike
songs that build
to fervent, shouting climaxes -- with more modern kinds of funk," Jon Pareles
wrote in The
New York Times, reviewing that 1986 performance, "from chugging soul music to
pop-jazz to
thumb-popping disco rhythms."
There was, for instance, "Just My Salvation," which reworked the tune and
lyrics of the
Temptations' 1971 hit "Just My Imagination."
There was "There's Gonna Be a Showdown," an up-tempo number off the group's
1972 album,
"Truth Is Where It's At" -- the song was a riff on a secular hit of the same
name by Archie
Bell and the Drells.
And yes, that was Mr. Allen (solo for a change) performing "When He Returns" on
the 2003
tribute album "Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan."
"I sing basically what I feel," Mr. Allen told The Chicago Sun-Times in 1996.
"The minute I
think I'm traditionalizing my approach to music, the Lord will take me way out
there again."
Mr. Allen died on Oct. 31 at the Heartland at ProMedica care center near his
home in Toledo,
Ohio. He was 71. His brother Steve, who with their brother Thomas constituted
the Rance
Allen Group, confirmed his death. The cause was not specified, though Mr. Allen
had had
health problems recently.
Rance Allen was born on Nov. 19, 1948, in Monroe, Mich., to Thomas and Emma
Pearl (McKinney)
Allen. He grew up in Monroe, graduating from high school there, and attended
Monroe County
Community College for a time.
But he was already feeling the dual pull of ministry and music.
"It was preaching first," he told the newspaper The Commercial Appeal of
Memphis in 2011,
describing how he would sometimes proclaim from the pulpit at his grandfather's
church as a
child, "then singing, then picking up the instruments. I was maybe 9 or 10
years old when I
picked up the piano. From there it went to guitar and drums and everything else
I could get
my hands on."
He fronted a family band that included Steve on bass and Tom on drums, with
another brother,
Esau, sometimes joining in.
Monroe is not far from Detroit, and Mr. Allen had dreams of being signed by a
certain record
company of note there.
"We tried to go to Motown," he said, "but Motown didn't do gospel at all."
When the group won a talent show in Detroit in 1971, Dave Clark, a promoter for
Stax records
of Memphis, was in the audience. He was impressed.
Stax, too, didn't do gospel, but it took a leap of faith and created an
imprint, Gospel
Truth Records.
"When you've got a record company that will say, "We believe so much in this
artist that we
will create a label for them" -- "well, I'm forever grateful for that," Mr.
Allen told The
Commercial Appeal.
In addition to 'Truth Is Where It's At,' the group released another album in
1972, titled
simply 'The Rance Allen Group.
Many more followed over the next 40-plus years. Three were nominated for Grammy
Awards.
In April 2015, Mr. Allen was among the artists who performed for President
Barack Obama and
family at the White House in a tribute to gospel music.
Mr. Allen did not neglect his other calling. He was ordained an elder in 1978
and served six
and a half years as associate pastor of Holiness Temple Church of God in Christ
in Monroe.
In 1985, he became pastor of New Bethel Church in Toledo, where he served for
the next 35
years. At his death he was prelate of the Michigan Northwest Harvest
Ecclesiastical
Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ.
Mr. Allen married Ellen Marie Groves in 1970. She survives him, as do his five
brothers,
Thomas, Steve, Esau, Manuel Lito Mendez and Andre Mendez; and six sisters,
Anita Rocker,
Judy Rocker, Annie Ford, Linda Mendez, Cecilia Chapman and Teresa Mendez.
In addition to its albums, the Rance Allen Group was known for its celebratory,
energetic
live performances, which Mr. Allen said were influenced by his grandmother.
"She wanted us to learn how to entertain," he recalled. "She'd say: "If people
don't see
you're enjoying your stuff, they're not going to enjoy you. Entertain, perform,
make folks
laugh, make 'em cry. You got to be able to work the area of emotion. We always
took that
advice to heart."
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