Passing It On
Darius Brooks learned gospel music from the best—the Thompson Community Singers. Now he's got a major-label debut, and he's passing his knowledge and experience on to younger artists.
by LaTonya Taylor | posted 10/25/2004
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Over the last 20-plus years, Darius Brooks has gained national prominence as one of the key figures in gospel music, Chicago style. As part of the leadership of the renowned Thompson Community Singers, he wrote some of the genre's best-loved songs—including hits like "Safe In His Arms," "My Mind's Made Up" and "Over and Over." Brooks has also worked with artists like Stevie Wonder, Kim Burrell, George Duke and Shirley Caesar, among many others. He spoke to Christian Music Today about the Tommies' legacy, his philosophy of excellence, mentoring young artists and his major-label debut, Your Will.
You got your start in gospel music as an 18-year-old, working with the late Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers—one of the historically high-impact choirs in gospel music. What was that like?
Darius Brooks You know, I don't think I really knew who I was with when I started with Milton Brunson! I was so young, so excited—and I worked with him for 18 years. I taught the choir, trained, wrote, produced and played the piano. Milton Brunson had the name, and I did all of the work (laughs)! But it was cool, because I loved it, and it was his season. I determined to learn from him until my season came. And when you love what you do, you don't think of a single day as work.
The Tommies launched a lot of careers—yours, Percy Bady's and Smokie Norful's, among many others. Can you describe their impact on gospel music?
Brooks The Thompson Community Singers set the precedent for artists like Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee.
First, the music and lyrics brought the good news, and everybody loved that. And the way we produced, sang and performed was very close to an R&B-type of production, and that set a precedent. Sometimes Christians aren't excellent at what we do, but we expect God to bless it just because of our passion and emotion. Unfortunately, God doesn't operate that way. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers approached our music from a more "worldly" point of view: Be good at what you do. Don't just depend on God to bless your sound if it isn't right. Get it right. That's what we did. And when we came out with our first album and people heard the kick and the snare and the bass and the keyboard sounding as one, and then the vocals on top of that, and the lead singer, and then the production, they thought, These people are the bomb!
God blessed that excellence he had given us. We performed with major artists like Glen Campbell, we sang with Steve Camp, Amy Grant. The Tommies were all over the place. And we had commercial success. We sold 250,000, 300,000 albums, year after year. In those ways, we set a precedent for the artists that followed.
You wrote many of the hit songs that became the Tommies' trademarks—and many well-loved gospel classics that are sung everywhere. What's the philosophy behind your songwriting process?
Brooks You want a hit? Every hit song you hear, whether secular or gospel, comes from a true experience put to a melody. From Eric Clapton to Elton John to Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, all you have to do is listen—those are real experiences put to melody, from love songs to hurt. Up-tempo songs are the same way. Beats are joy, and passionate songs have great melodies. Love songs, always ballads.
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