THE CLARA WARD SINGERS
Somebody Bigger Than You & I (Peacock)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

---

Clara Ward took considerable heat from the gospel music community for taking her music into some less than sanctified surroundings and adopting the props and appearance of pop, but her powerful voice and strong ensembles could make the stage of a nightclub or studio of a TV station as holy a place as any church sanctuary could hope to be. If the lord she sought to magnify could consort with tax collectors and whores, well, who could rightly condemn her for taking her inspired sounds straight into the dens of the unsaved.

Not me, not at all. Not when she could put together music like the ten tracks collected on this Peacock compilation. The material is largely drawn from traditional spirituals, but she takes each song and makes it her own with punch and passion and her pulsing piano, backed by the legendary group that was a proving ground for the talents of singers like Marion Williams, Sarah Vaughn and Della Reese.

You may not spend much time browsing the gospel racks, but motivate yourself over there next time you're out shopping for CDs and I promise this music will move you.

Track List: I Got Shoes * Packing Up * God Leads Us Alone * How Great Thou Art * Peace In The Valley * Swing Low, Sweet Chariot * When The Saints Go Marching In * My Heavenly Father Watches Over Me * Somebody Bigger Than You & I * Joshua Fit The Battle

© 1999 - Shaun Dale