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ABOUT THE BOOK: 

The church hymn “Uncloudy Day” speaks of Heaven as a cloudless day where no storm clouds rise. Yet, many of the musical performers who have sung so passionately about that celestial place over the years, experienced hell on earth in their personal lives. This book Uncloudy Days concisely chronicles the lives – happy or sad -- of over 650 gospel artists and personalities, the infamous and the forgotten, dating from 1900 to the present, in encyclopedia form. The author conducted interviews with over 100 of them and many of these stories are told here for the very first time. From Philip Bailey’s gospel record label pressing him to make gospel music that sounded like his pop hit “Easy Lover” and a gospel artist who went to prison for murdering her husband to the circus-like exploitation of Gloria Spencer – billed as the world’s largest gospel singer at 615 pounds – their stories are all here in the same place for the first time. The book also includes a glossary of gospel terms, gospel trivia questions, a listing of the best-selling gospel recordings of all time, gospel songs that crossed over to the Billboard R&B chart and gospel Grammy, Dove and Stellar award winners. It is America’s first true black gospel music encyclopedia and a welcome exploration into the practitioners of the musical idiom that has held such a profound influence on early rock n roll and soul music. It is of interest to history buffs, black studies enthusiasts, as well as, devout and eclectic music lovers alike.

An avid record collector and history buff, Bil Carpenter holds a B. A. in history from the American University in Washington, D.C.  Over the last decade, he has worked both as a music journalist and a record label publicist.  He was a contributing editor to the first edition of the All Music Guide and has written hundreds of articles for publications such as People, The Washington Post, Goldmine, Upscale, Black Radio Exclusive, CCM, Charisma and Living Blues.  He has also written liner-note essays for various CD compilations for Sony Legacy, Warner Bros., and EMI Records.  In addition, he has handled publicity campaigns for such diverse subjects as Aaliyah, various members of the Winans gospel dynasty, the Clark Sisters, Edwin Hawkins, T. D. Jakes, the Stapel Singers, Kirk Franklin and Coretta Scott King's 30th anniversary march on Washington.  Carpenter's songs have been recorded by Grammy nominees David "Pop" Winans and Candi Staton, among others.  He lives in Washington, DC., where he runs Capital Entertainment, a public relations company. 

 

 

 

The first black gospel music encyclopedia with candid profiles of over 600 artists from Thomas Dorsey to Kirk Franklin, 90 black and white photos, gospel music trivia, a listing of gospel gold and platinum recordings; and gospel winners of the Stellar, Grammy and Dove Awards

 “As far as gospel reference books go, this is undoubtedly The Bible.” ~ Record Collector Magazine, Charles Waring
 
“Carpenter brings the idiom's rich and fascinating history vividly to life.” ~ Mojo Magazine
 
“Sure to please avid gospel music lovers” ~ Christian Retailing magazine, Dewayne Hamby
 
“An invaluable and long overdue gem.” ~ Billboard magazine, Gordon Ely
 
"I love this book.  Coconut and I were fighting over it and I told him to go out and get his own!  It is an absolute must-have!" ~ Vickie Winans

 

"History at it's BEST!  I recommend this book to every music lover, school, college, university and library worldwide!" ~ Blackgospelpromo.com, Veda Brown
 
“The book is great...highlighting the good, the bad and the controversial aspects of their lives.” ~ Marcia Dixon of the London Voice
 
“An essential companion for anyone serious about the genre.” ~ Gospel Flava, Stan North
 
“I love Bil and I am glad to see that he has taken time out to educate us all about the greatest genre of music – gospel music.”  ~ CeCe Winans
 
"This is awesome. I'm loving it.  You out did yourself."  ~ Daphne James, "Queen James Entertainment Syndicated Radio/Gospel EUR"
 
"Containing over 100 artist interviews, Uncloudy Days reveals fascinating stories." ~ The Christian Post

 

 “That book is so great that I was reading it as I was driving yesterday and almost had an accident! I had my eyes so glued to the book and forgot about the road."  ~ Gregory Abdur-Rasheed, KUVO  89.3 FM in Denver, CO

"If they’ve sung a gospel tune, chances are Carpenter has included them in the encyclopedia. There’s 650 entries written in an informative yet pleasingly informal tone on everyone from Mahalia Jackson …to left field entries such as MC Hammer.” ~ Chris Jordan, Gannett News Service