Revolutionary: Hawkins and his choir paved the way for contemporary gospel music.

"It's amazing that God would take a simple little song like that and do what He's done with it," says Edwin Hawkins, the man behind one of gospel music's best-loved hits.

Hawkins first encountered the old-time Baptist hymn as a child listening to the Davis Sisters. He later rearranged the song and taught it to the Northern California State Youth Choir, a community choir of teens and young adults he founded with friend Betty Watson.

In 1968, they recorded Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord at Berkeley's Ephesian Church of God in Christ, hoping to sell 500 copies of the lp. "Oh Happy Day" was just one of the eight songs on the album. "'Oh Happy Day' was not our favorite song to perform," Hawkins recalls, chuckling softly. "It just happened to be one of the songs we sang."

The album received some gospel radio play, but its popularity soared in 1969 after a San Francisco DJ played "Oh Happy Day." Within weeks, the song was playing across the country, and more than 900,000 copies of the single had sold. "Oh Happy Day" became a major crossover hit, reaching No. 4 on the U.S. pop singles chart. The newly christened Edwin Hawkins Singers were invited to perform on shows like American Bandstand, and at churches, festivals, and clubs.

With its gently rolling soul groove, the song revolutionized the sound of gospel music, paving the way for the contemporary movement that followed.

Though beloved now, the song was controversial at the time. A group of local pastors petitioned to have it pulled from rock radio, and many Christians criticized the choir for performing in mainstream venues.

"We thought, Why would we just spend our lives singing to each other?" Hawkins says. "Those that don't know Jesus are the ones we should be singing to and telling about Jesus Christ."

Today, Hawkins trains choirs and musicians through his annual Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar. When he travels to Europe or Japan, he's often surprised to find groups of singers who love "Oh Happy Day."

"I think that it's not just the song, but the gospel itself that transcends racial and language barriers, all of that," he says.

LaTonya Taylor blogs about gospel music at www.gospelgal.com.

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