Written by: Tom Sawyer

Those who know me – really know me – should have known this was coming.  If I’m ever going to write something about a music artist that I like, someone that can really move me, it has got to be about Fred Hammond.  I will make every attempt to remain calm and hide my excitement, but if you are one of Fred Hammond’s fans you know that he is quite simply the truth!

Many people who’ve followed Fred (just saying Fred is enough for his fans) over the years may think the beginning of his career started in 1985 with the gospel group Commissioned.  What many may not know is Fred is one of the best bass guitar players in gospel (my opinion although I know there is always someone better) and his career actually began as a bass player for the legendary Winans.  Fortunately, his destiny was to become more.

Fred was an original member of Commissioned and participated on 10 of the group’s 12 albums.  During this time, (I think) history was made in addition to spreading the gospel through song.  Classics like “Running Back to You” (Fred sang lead), “Love isn’t Love”, “Victory” and “‘Tis So Sweet” may not have the newest studio wizardry, but they still minister to the heart like they did the day they were released.  Commissioned has been nominated for 6 Stellar and 4 Grammy awards including two nominations for the reunion album released in 2002.  To sum it up, Commissioned was bad (bad meaning good)!  A new Commissioned album wouldn’t hurt my feelings one bit, but I’m sure that is easier said than done.

Fred’s first solo album was “I Am Persuaded” released in 1991, the same year Commissioned released the “Number 7″ album.  The rest, as they say, is history – history that is still being written.

For me, Fred has a knack for making three kinds of songs.  First he makes songs that are just great songs to listen to whenever.  Songs that come to mind are “L.O.U.D. L.O.U.D.” (Free To Worship),  “We’re Blessed” (Inner Court) and “When The Spirit Of The Lord” (The Spirit Of David).  Those songs just make you nod your head and sing along.

The second type of song I like from Fred are the remakes.  Yes, you know what I’m talking about!  Fred does a great job making the old classics new again with songs like “Jesus Is All” (Pages Of Life Chapter 1), “Jesus Be A Fence” (somebody help me with the album name) and “This Is The Day” (Free To Worship).  There is nothing wrong with wrapping an old, still relevant, message in a new package and Fred knows how to do it and make it work.

The third type of song Fred is genius at making is that song you lean on when you need stability.  When your boss has you upset before you even get to work and things are a little rough on the home front you need something to go along with your daily scripture reading.  When the bills are getting a little heavy and the school just called to tell you your child is at it again a good song to go along with fasting and praying is a necessity.  If none of those things have ever happened to you, and you seem to be leading a charmed life, you may still need a nudge in the right direction from time to time.  Fred makes those songs.  You may have your own favorites because this is a personal thing, but I will just name a few that come to mind.  “No Weapon” (The Spirit Of David) is a song that I used as a tool at one point years ago.  I can almost remember the exact spot on my drive to work where I would start this song!  “I Will Find A Way” (Something Bout Love) is a song that is saying through whatever, I will find a way to lift up my hands, I will find a way to worship…I will find a way to give you praise, I will find a way to love you more.  Powerful.  Your mileage may vary, but songs like these can help you make it through.

I would like to note something interesting about the album, The Spirit of David – I think my sister Karen told me this years ago.  Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but I think every one of the songs on that album is based on a scripture.  When I first thought about it that wouldn’t be so difficult, but there is more to it than just putting the Lord’s prayer to music (I’m not criticizing that or saying it was easy).  It would be pretty hard to write an album full of songs based on scriptures when many artists write (relevant) songs based on what they are going through or what is going on around them.  This just goes to show what kind of song writer Fred is.

I think it is noteworthy to say that Fred hasn’t become as popular as other gospel artists although he is respected by the industry – he has won 6 Dove awards, 4 Stellar awards and one Grammy.  With Fred is it more about the message than the performance and when I say that I’m not taking anything away from artists.  He just may not do as well on an awards show as some, but his body of work speaks for itself.

In conclusion, we are due!  Free To Worship, the album, came out in 2006 so it would seem like it is about time for Fred to come out with a new album.  He does have a website called fHAMMOND Family Entertainment which includes video footage of something called the Warehouse among other things.  I thought this was something free at first, but it asked me for credit card information when I tried to create an account, but it didn’t tell me how much it would cost me.  Hmmmmm, I’ll wait on that one.  If anyone out there knows how much this costs, leave a comment and let us know.  Until a new project is released, we have more than enough music from Fred to make it through.

Tags: gospel, music

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