 Many of the most prominent soul artists, such as Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett and Al Green, had roots in the church and gospel music and brought with them much of the vocal styles of artists such as Clara Ward and Julius Cheeks.The underlying virtues of soul/R&B music taken from gospel, is the direct emotional delivery, truth to a spirit and the feeling within a song transmitted to the listener.During the 1970s, artists like Edwin Hawkins with the 1969 hit "Oh Happy Day", and Andraé Crouch's hit "Take me Back" were big inspirations on gospel music and crossover successes.