Take 6

Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings contemporary R&B style, integrating jazz influences with spiritual or inspirational lyrics. They have ten Grammy wins (in several categories in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, and 2002), as well as ten Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two NAACP Image Award nominations. They have collaborated with other artists such as Ray Charles, Nnenna Freelon, Gordon Goodwin, Don Henley, Whitney Houston, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, k.d. lang, Queen Latifah, Brian McKnight, Luis Miguel, Marcus Miller, Joe Sample, Ben Tankard, CeCe Winans, and Stevie Wonder.

Group biography

Oakwood College years

In 1980, Claude McKnight (older brother of R&B musician Brian McKnight) formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estates Quartet, at Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), a Seventh-day Adventist university in Huntsville, Alabama, where he was a freshman. He auditioned fellow students for the hobby group. The Gentlemen were rehearsing in a campus bathroom (later said to be in Moran Hall), getting ready for a performance, when Mark Kibble heard them singing. He joined the harmonizing, adding a fifth part, and ended up singing with them onstage that very night. Mark later invited Mervyn Warren to join the group. The group performed under the moniker Alliance.

Take 6 (album)

Take 6, released in 1988 on Reprise Records, is the debut album by American contemporary Gospel music group Take 6. The album won the group their first two Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo, Group, Choir, or Chorus. It also earned the group their first three Dove Awards for Group of the Year, Contemporary Black Gospel Album of the Year, and Contemporary Black Gospel Song of the Year.

The album Take 6 is often mistakenly thought to be named do be doo wop bop, because that phrase appears on the album cover under the letters of the group's name. The album's legal title is Take 6, and the cover's designer, Kav DeLuxe, has stated the phrase "do be doo wop bop" was included simply as a "design element."

Background

In 1987 Take 6 held an exclusive performance for gospel record company executives. Yet, many refrained from attending, unsure how to market such a musical group. Fortunately, an uninvited representative of Warner Bros, showed up who was impressed with a tape he’d received of the group. "When I first played their tape," Jim Ed Norman said, "I heard the most enchanting, wonderful sound in music coming from the human voice that I had heard in the longest time."

6 Nimmt!

6 Nimmt! / Take 5! is a counting card game designed by Wolfgang Kramer in 1994 and published by Amigo Spiele. The French version is distributed by Gigamic. This game allows 2–10 players who start with ten randomly numbered cards. These are played in simultaneous turns onto four card stacks with the goal of limiting the number of points (in the form of Bulls' Heads distributed among the cards) you're forced to take. Each player attempts to play their cards without laying their 6th card on a stack, as this results in a penalty of collecting all cards in the stack. Each card indicates penalty points with the number of bull heads on top of the card. After any player reaches 66 points the player with the least penalty points wins.

The game is sometimes called 6 who loses!, Take 6!, Category 5, or the original German name. The game can take from 2 to 10 players. The game's suggested minimum age is 10 years, and lasts on average about 45 minutes. The game consists of multiple rounds (typically 3–4) with cumulative scoring, each taking 10–15 minutes. It is possible to just play a single round as self-contained game.

Silver Bells

"Silver Bells" is a popular Christmas song, composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.

"Silver Bells" was first performed by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid, filmed in July–August 1950 and released in March 1951. The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, released by Decca Records in October 1950. After the Crosby and Richards recording became popular, Hope and Maxwell were called back in late 1950 to refilm a more elaborate production of the song.

History

"Silver Bells" started out as the questionable "Tinkle Bells." Said Ray Evans, "We never thought that tinkle had a double meaning until Jay went home and his first wife said, 'Are you out of your mind? Do you know what the word tinkle is?'" The word is slang for urination.

This song's inspiration has conflicting reports. Several periodicals and interviews cite the writer Jay Livingston stating that the song's inspiration came from the bells used by Santa Clauses and Salvation Army people on New York City street corners. However, an interview with co-writer Ray Evans to NPR said that the song was inspired by a bell that sat on Ray and Jay's shared office desk.

Silver Bells (film)

Silver Bells is a 2005 made-for-television film starring Anne Heche and Tate Donovan. It was produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions for their made-for-television film series and was based on the novel of the same name by Luanne Rice.

Plot summary

Every year, widower Christy Byrne (Tate Donovan) has traveled from Nova Scotia with his children to sell their homegrown Christmas trees in New York City. His son Danny (Michael Mitchell) is not into the family business, but instead has a true passion for photography. One year in New York City, Danny gets into an argument with Christy and runs away, leaving Christy and his daughter Bridget (Courtney Jines) to return home without him. The next year, the two return to New York City to sell the trees while Christy goes out every night looking for Danny.

Catherine (Anne Heche) lives in the same New York neighborhood and hasn't celebrated Christmas since the year her husband died. Every year Christy has tried to sell her a tree, but Catherine politely refuses. Neither of them realize that their lives are connected by Danny. While Christy is back in Nova Scotia with Bridget, Catherine pays Danny for photographs that he takes and puts them in the newspaper. When Christy comes back the following year, Catherine does not tell him that she knows where Danny is because Danny made her promise not to. Catherine does tell Christy afterwards when Danny injures himself by falling off the roof of the Belvedere Castle and into a frozen pond. In the hospital, Christy tells Danny that he is allowing him to stay in New York City to become a photographer.