Mervyn Warren - Early Musical Career

Early Musical Career

At age 5, Warren began playing the piano by ear, after being taught to play a few songs by his mother. For many years thereafter, he immersed himself at the piano—learning to play various styles by ear and creating new arrangements of existing pieces. As early as age 7, Warren was accompanying vocalists at the piano, for their performances at school or church. He soon became sought-after as an accompanist in the community and continued to do so, frequently, throughout college and graduate school.

At age 10, Warren became the regular accompanist for a vocal group, composed of five of his female classmates, and they performed regularly at school and community events. Within weeks of becoming their accompanist, Warren began creating original arrangements for the group.

At age 12, a classmate asked Warren if he had ever considered composing an original song. Warren in fact had never previously considered doing so; he had always created arrangements of preexisting songs. But at the mere suggestion, he began composing original songs and lyrics, which he taught to the aforementioned vocal group and which they began to perform publicly.

Warren had an innate inclination toward jazz and complex harmony, which was evident in both his original songs and arrangements of existing songs. This inclination was met with disdain by some of the more conservative, Christian members of the Oakwood community, resulting in an ongoing struggle between figures of authority and Warren, as he attempted to express his musical ideas. At the age of 13, Warren expanded the five-voice, female vocal group to a nine-voice, mixed vocal group. This group, now called The Symbolic Sounds, sang Warren's arrangements and compositions exclusively, and remained popular in the school and community through 1981.

Warren's first, professional recording session was for a new version of "The Lord's Prayer," set to an original melody, which Warren co-wrote with his friend Eric Todd. It was recorded by Blessed Peace a popular gospel choir at Oakwood University and was recorded at Sound Cell Recording Studio in Huntsville, Alabama. Warren created the vocal arrangement, played keyboards, and assisted Todd with the overall production. During that session, studio-owner Doug Jansen Smith took note of Warren's abilities. Soon thereafter, Warren became a regular session-performer at Sound Cell, contributing arrangements, playing keyboards, and singing on various radio and TV jingles, as well as pop, rock, country, and contemporary Christian recordings.

Many of those sessions included Warren's friend Mark Kibble, also an accomplished arranger, pianist, and vocalist (and future member of Take 6). As early as age 13, Warren and Kibble, who were born five weeks apart, had performed concerts together, singing solos and duets, while taking turns providing accompaniment at the piano. One of the duets began with Warren singing and Kibble at the piano; then, halfway through the song, Warren would leave the stage and take over at the piano, seamlessly, at which point Kibble would take the stage to sing.

In 1980, while both juniors in high school, Warren and Kibble joined a preexisting, male, a cappella vocal quartet at Oakwood University, and the resulting sextet became known as Alliance. Alliance became known for its highly unique and complex vocal arrangements, primarily of well-known negro spirituals, but of some newer songs, as well. Most of Alliance's dazzling arrangements were created by Mark Kibble, but later, Warren contributed a few, as well. Alliance was very popular and performed not only on the campus of Oakwood University, but in various cities across the United States. In 1983, Alliance recorded an album at Sound Cell Recording Studio, entitled Something Within for Legacy Records, a custom label founded by Henry Mosley, then-professor at Oakwood University. Mosley also served as the group's manager. Later, an unmarked, cassette copy of Something Within was given by recording artist Michael Martin Murphy to Jim Ed Norman at Warner Bros. Records in Nashville. Norman loved the recording but neither he nor Murphy knew the identity of the performers. In 1987, Norman finally discovered the group's identity and promptly signed Alliance to a recording contract with Reprise Records, a division of Warner Bros. Records. Upon discovering that a rock music band had already recorded under the name "Alliance," the vocal group Alliance was renamed Take 6, released the album Take 6, and went on to earn worldwide acclaim.

In 1981, Warren enrolled at Oakwood University and joined the highly regarded touring choir The Aeolians, under the direction of Professor Alma Blackmon. Warren remained a member of The Aeolians throughout his 4-year matriculation, later becoming the ensemble's stage director, assistant conductor, and alternate accompanist. With The Aeolians, Warren toured extensively throughout the United States, Bermuda, The Bahamas, The Virgin Islands, England, Scotland, and Wales.

In 1985, Warren composed an upbeat choral piece, entitled "I Ain't Got Long To Be Here" in the style of a negro spiritual. Blackmon allowed Warren to teach the piece to The Aeolians, and it became part of their standard repertoire. Whenever they performed it, Blackmon introduced Warren, who would then conduct the piece. "I Ain't Got Long To Be Here" is believed to be the first student composition ever to have been performed by The Aeolians.

Blackmon was a pivotal figure in Warren's musical development. With her he studied music theory, piano performance, and techniques of choral conducting. By coincidence, as a teenager Warren lived in his parents' home, directly across the street from the home of Blackmon and her daughter Brenda, now Brenda Wood. As of 2010, Wood is an NBC news anchor at WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.