Small beginnings are never as small as they appear, like in the life of Charles Jerkins. His path, which starts in rural Newtonville, New Jersey, is embedded with experiences that are foretelling and forth-telling of the commitment that he lives with: To be an instrument of love, healing, and realization of dreams.
Talking to Charles, it is not very hard to get a vivid picture of the young boy that he once was, as he still carries an innocence and optimism that is untainted by the rigors of life. Growing up with 13 siblings, he is the son of a hard-working puck-wood cutter, and spent much of his childhood helping with the family business. To make extra money, his father and brothers dug and built wells for people in their neighboring communities. When he wasn’t helping with work, he recalls singing as early as age 8, mainly at the church where his older brother Fred was the pastor.
“We were recording before we even understood what recording was,“ says Charles of when he and one of his brothers would record vocals on a tape recorder, and then add guitar and other tracks by replaying them simultaneously while recording them into a third recorder. The first song that he remembers writing was at age 10--a song named ‘There Was A Child’, which he wrote while his brother played the guitar. Like most kids around him, he knew every Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 song there was, and could sing them all. His sister Ann also sang, and watching her helped him learned a few tricks vocally.
While living in Detroit, he attended the church of Staxx-Watts music icon Rance Allen, where he formed many relationships that, to this day, are an important part of his life and work. His life was always filled with people who influenced him, and that he influenced, to create beautiful and uplifting music. Pop Winans, patriarch of the legendary Winans gospel family, was his barber! Most of Charles’ siblings sang or played music. His nephew, Rodney, went on to become one of the most successful modern music producers in the world, producing chart-topping hits for Destiny’s Child, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, and most notably, Michael Jackson. His sons are great producers and musicians in their own right and have had recording contracts as artists.
So what more can be said about what Charles Jerkins purpose is on this earth? He’s obviously not a newcomer to the music industry, having released a project in 1994 under his contract with J&M Records, owned by his nephew Freddie Jerkins III. That album also featured production by his nephew Rodney, who is better known to the world as “Darkchild”. But his newest project further confirms who Charles is and why he does what he does.
The self-written 2010 album, Do It For Christ, which includes production from Bubby Fann, Daryl Camper, Mike Stokes, Robert Temple, and John Mohurn, is an expression of Charles’ experience with life, family, and most importantly, faith. To Charles, ‘faith’ is more than just a religious buzz-word, and actually a whole way of life. His faith has yielded many other things that are not typically contemplated or talked about, such as healing, and the love of God. At a time when he hadn’t committed to living a peaceful and God-fearing lifestyle, he was driving in his car angry, and wanting to take revenge on someone who had significantly brought harm to him, when a John P. Kee song came on that touched his heart in a very calming way. He changed his mind and chose to react to the situation out of love and forgiveness, but he never forgot the power that the song carried to influence his decision, and most likely save the direction of his life. Charles believes that his primary purpose in life is to show God’s love to those he encounters, even if it is just through his songs, the same way the direction of his own life was changed.