Artist Description | Ricky Dillard & New G

Since the age of three, R… Read Full Bio ↴Artist Description | Ricky Dillard & New G

Since the age of three, Ricky Dillard watched church choirs. His Grandma used to stand Little Ricky on top of his baby potty and he would direct and sing. At five years old, he began directing the junior choir at St. Bethel Baptist Church. In 1981, he formed the first gospel choir at Bloom High School. “There were so many church kids there and they liked to sing,” he says. “So, I started a group called Ricky Dillard and Company and we sang at school. One of my teachers, Don Bondurant, said, ‘you should start a gospel choir’ and I did.” In spite of his love for performing, Dillard thought his future lay in radio announcing. He attended Columbia College for a couple of years, but dropped it because “The curriculum bored me and I was really tired of school anyway.” He took a job as a front desk clerk at a Holiday Inn and later worked as a file clerk while performing in a professional back-up group called Love, Salvation & Devotion (LSD) on the weekends.

In 1984, Dillard joined the late Milton Brunson’s Thompson Community Singers. At the same time, he started hanging out with renowned club DJ Frankie Knuckles and began recording dance and hip-hop records. Aside from a half dozen-guest appearances on various dance tracks, Dillard recorded his own album “Let The Music Use You” which was released in Europe and was imported into the United States. In spite of his growing success in the club market, Dillard says, “My heart was in the gospel. I always wanted to do gospel. The other stuff was just an opportunity to record. I wanted to bring a more contemporary style into gospel for choirs.” It’s those contemporary innovations in gospel that have caught Kirk Franklin and the Winans explaining their motivations to the more sanctified members of the church at times. “I don’t criticize because I believe all music was created to praise God and all we’re doing is taking back what the devil stole from us and using it to please God.”

Dillard says God led him to found the New Generation Chorale in 1988. The next year they won the McDonald’s Chicagoland Choir competition. One day he met producer Butch McGee in a parking lot. McGee had heard of him and signed Dillard’s group on their reputation alone. New G’s first album The Promise was released in 1990 and won them a Grammy® nomination and a GMWA Excellence award in 1991. The next year the choir was featured in Steve Martin’s movie “Leap of Faith.” By the time their second live album A Holy Ghost Take Over debuted in 1993, Dillard was a consultant on Whoopie Goldberg’s “Sister Act II” movie and the choir had appeared on a PBS Television Special “Going Home To Gospel” featuring Patti La Belle and Albertina Walker. In 1994, New G won their first Stellar Award for contemporary choir of the year and recorded all the background vocals for Gospel Queen Albertina Walker’s Stellar Award winning album He Keeps On Blessing Me. “It was a delight to work with the Queen,” Dillard laughs just thinking of the experience. “She keeps me laughing.” In 1995, New G’s third album “Hallelujah” was released and the choir had its first club hit. They collaborated with Frankie Knuckles and Adeva on Walkin’ from their Welcome to the Real World album. The Virgin Records single became a Top 20 hit on Billboard magazine’s club chart.

By 1996, New G had moved to Detroit-based Crystal Rose Records. Their debut Worked It Out sold 30,000 pre-orders out of the box. New G had their biggest promotional push yet. The album premiered at Dillard’s alma mater before 1,500 screaming students. They capped the push off with a listening party/concert at the Cubby Bear nightclub and a Record Town appearance that rang up almost $10,000 in one day sales. The album quickly jumped to the Billboard gospel top ten and stayed on the chart for months. Then, in 2000 the group leaped back on the charts with the scorcher No Limit CD. The single The Holy Place, a classic choir vocal with a subtle hip-hop rhythm, buoyed the sales. Beginning back in 1997, the group made their first tour of Europe where they were particularly successful in Germany. “I was surprised that we were so embraced,” Dillard says. “But years before I told the choir that we were going to be international and God made that happen for us.” Aside from international acclaim, the group has opened for Patti LaBelle and Bonnie Raitt among others. In 2004, the group released top seller, Unplugged… The Way Church Used To Be, an album that revisited traditional church choir anthems and incorporated the “Ricky Dillard Sound”.

Now in a new stage in his life, Ricky decided to take more control of career. In 2006, he parted ways with Crystal Rose Records and started his own label, Animated Entertainment Inc. With backing from Alliant Music Group and EMI Gospel, this company is ready to soar. The first project from the label is the new Ricky Dillard & New G project entitled The 7th Episode: “Live in Toronto”. This historical project will definitely delight the ears of many as it truly defines a new level of ministry for Ricky & his aggregation.

(http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/music_artist_more/dillard_ricky_new_g/)

Take Me Back
Ricky Dillard & New G Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

[verse:]
Take, take me back
To the place where i first believed you.

Take, take me back
To the place where i first received you.

[chorus:]

One thing have i desire
To dwell in the house of the lord forever.

[verse]

[chorus]

[bridge:]

[all:] i won't forget
[altos:] what he done for me, i won't.

[all:] i won't forget
[sopranos:] how he set me free, i won't.

[all:] i won't forget
[tenors:] picked me up, changed my life, i won't.

[all:] i won't forget.

[chorus]

[vamp 1:]
Take me back,
I won't forget.

[chorus]

[vamp 1]

[vamp 2:]
Take me back.

[vamp 3:]
I won't forget.

[chorus]

[ending:]
Take me back.

Overall Meaning

The song "Take Me Back" by Ricky Dillard feat. New G's is a gospel song that speaks to the desire of wanting to go back to the place where one's faith in God was first ignited. The song is divided into three parts: verses, chorus and bridge. The verses express the desire to go back to where the singer first believed and received God into their lives. They want to relive those experiences and regain the passion that they had when they first encountered God. The chorus expresses the singer's yearning to dwell in the house of the lord forever, emphasizing the deep longing for a relationship with God. The bridge is a reminder that the singer will never forget what God has done for them. God has picked them up, changed their life and set them free.

The song captures the essence of the gospel message, which is a call to repentance and faith. It speaks to the deep longing of the human heart for a relationship with God, and the joy that comes from being in His presence. The repetition of the phrase "take me back" underscores this longing, while the powerful vocals of the New G's convey the emotion of the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Take, take me back
Bring me back to the place where I first believed and received you

To the place where i first believed you.
I want to go back to where I first truly believed in you and your power

One thing have i desire
The one thing I desire in life is to dwell in the house of the Lord forever

To dwell in the house of the lord forever.
I want to reside in the presence of God for all eternity

i won't forget
I will never forget the amazing things He has done for me

what he done for me, i won't.
I will always remember the ways in which God has blessed and helped me

how he set me free, i won't.
I will never forget how the Lord freed me from my sins and sorrows

picked me up, changed my life, i won't.
I will always remember how God lifted me up and transformed my life

Take me back, I won't forget.
I want to go back to where I first found God and I will always remember what He has done for me

Take me back.
Bring me back to where I first found and believed in God

Writer(s): Ricky Dillard

Contributed by Isabella L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.