Albertina Walker
Encyclopedia
Albertina Walker was an American gospel
singer.
, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia
. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County and four born in Chicago. Albertina began singing in the youth choir at the West Point Baptist Church at an early age, and joined several Gospel groups thereafter, including The Pete Williams Singers and the Robert Anderson Singers. Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson
, her friend and confidante. Mahalia Jackson took her on the road when she was just a teenager. "Mahalia used to kid me. She'd say, 'Girl, you need to go sing by yourself.' " recalled Walker in a 2010 Washington Post Interview. Albertina Walker did just that. In 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans
. She was popularly referred to as the "Queen of Gospel Music", initially by such notables as the late Reverend James Cleveland
and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., for her outstanding achievements within the genre
after the death of Mahalia Jackson in 1972.
, enlisting fellow singers from The Robert Anderson Singers (Ora Lee Hopkins, Elyse Yancey and Nellie Grace Daniels). The Caravans' membership has included: James Cleveland
, Bessie Griffin
, Shirley Caesar
, Dorothy Norwood
, Inez Andrews
, Loleatta Holloway
, Cassietta George
, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname "Star Maker". Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960s, performing as a solo artist.
In the mid 1970s, Walker signed with Savoy Records
then Benson Records
, Word Records
, A&M Records
, and other record companies, recording a series of solo projects, many of them with big church choirs including The Evangelical Choir, The Cathedral of Love Choir, The Metro Mass choir, and her own church choir, The West Point Choir. Albertina recorded her first solo project Put a Little Love in Your Heart in 1975. She also recorded several projects together with Reverend James Cleveland. To date, she has recorded over 60 albums, including gold selling hits "Please Be Patient With Me", "I Can Go to God in Prayer", "The Best Is Yet to Come", "Impossible Dream", and "Joy Will Come". Walker sang for United States presidents George W. Bush
and Bill Clinton
, and South Africa's president, Nelson Mandela
.
In 1995, Walker joined Thelma Houston
, CeCe Peniston
, Phoebe Snow
and Lois Walden to record a gospel album in common, Good News in Hard Times, as the quintet called The Sisters of Glory
.
Walker recorded a reunion album with her group The Caravans entitled Paved the Way, which was released by Malaco Records
on September 5, 2006. Performers included Walker, Dorothy Norwood
, Inez Andrews
, and Delores Washington. The album was dubbed by Billboard magazine as one of the most memorable releases of 2006 and entered the Billboard charts in the top ten and remained in the top forty for sixteen weeks. Paved the Way was nominated for a Grammy, Dove, Soul Train Music Award and two Stellar Awards.
for the Best Traditional Gospel Album (Songs of The Church); 10 Grammy Award nominations; 5 Gold Records; 3 Stellar Awards
; 3 Dove Awards; several Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Awards; an induction into the 2001 Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2005, the Grammys
honored her contributions to the Gospel music industry. She was also the recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship
. President George Bush honored Albertina Walker for her contribution to Gospel music May 31, 2002.
. The City of Chicago paid tribute to Albertina by renaming 35th and Cottage Grove "Albertina Walker and The Caravans Drive". Albertina was also conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by the Chicago Theological Seminary
, an institution of the University of Chicago
.
Walker co-founded the Gospel Music Workshop of America
along with James Cleveland
. Albertina also lent her support to many charitable organizations such as United Negro College Fund
, American Cancer Society
, National Council of Negro Women
, Nation of Islam
's Million Family March
, One Voice
"A Fight Against AIDS", NAACP and Operation Push. In 1988 Albertina Walker founded The Albertina Walker Scholarship Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts. Her foundation offers financial assistance to college students in the form of scholarships to further their education in the field of music.
which doctors deemed a success, and she checked out of a Chicago hospital in late September.
According to her publicist, the Gospel legend died on October 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m. in her hometown of Chicago.
, Good Morning America
and The Tavis Smiley Show
among others. Albertina Walker was a frequent guest on the nationally syndicated BET
and Word
television networks, Bobby Jones Gospel, Testify and Singsation.
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer.
Early years
Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, GeorgiaHouston County, Georgia
Houston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on May 15, 1821, as one of five huge counties, later reduced in the formation of Bibb, Crawford, Pike, Macon and Peach counties. As of the 2000 census, the population is 110,765...
, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia
Bibb County, Georgia
Bibb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 153,887. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 154,709...
. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County and four born in Chicago. Albertina began singing in the youth choir at the West Point Baptist Church at an early age, and joined several Gospel groups thereafter, including The Pete Williams Singers and the Robert Anderson Singers. Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
, her friend and confidante. Mahalia Jackson took her on the road when she was just a teenager. "Mahalia used to kid me. She'd say, 'Girl, you need to go sing by yourself.' " recalled Walker in a 2010 Washington Post Interview. Albertina Walker did just that. In 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans
The Caravans
The Caravans is a Jubilee Gospel group that was started by Albertina Walker . The group reached its peak popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, launching the careers of a number of artists, including: Delores Washington, Albertina Walker, Bessie Griffin, Cassietta George, Dorothy Norwood, Inez...
. She was popularly referred to as the "Queen of Gospel Music", initially by such notables as the late Reverend James Cleveland
James Cleveland
The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., for her outstanding achievements within the genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
after the death of Mahalia Jackson in 1972.
Musical career
In the early 1950s Walker founded her own Gospel music group The CaravansThe Caravans
The Caravans is a Jubilee Gospel group that was started by Albertina Walker . The group reached its peak popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, launching the careers of a number of artists, including: Delores Washington, Albertina Walker, Bessie Griffin, Cassietta George, Dorothy Norwood, Inez...
, enlisting fellow singers from The Robert Anderson Singers (Ora Lee Hopkins, Elyse Yancey and Nellie Grace Daniels). The Caravans' membership has included: James Cleveland
James Cleveland
The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
, Bessie Griffin
Bessie Griffin
Bessie Griffin was an African American gospel singer.Born Arlette B. Broil in New Orleans, Louisiana, she was steeped in church music as a child...
, Shirley Caesar
Shirley Caesar
Shirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...
, Dorothy Norwood
Dorothy Norwood
Dorothy Norwood is an American gospel singer. She began touring with her family at the age of eight, and in 1956, began singing with Mahalia Jackson. In the early 1960s she was a member of ]The Caravans, and in 1964, she embarked on a solo career, recording her first album, Johnny and Jesus...
, Inez Andrews
Inez Andrews
Inez Andrews is an American gospel singer and recording artist.-Biography:In 1957, Andrews became a member of the gospel group The Caravans; she auditioned for Albertina Walker and Dorothy Norwood, and they sent for her in Chicago...
, Loleatta Holloway
Loleatta Holloway
Loleatta Holloway was an American singer, mainly known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation", both of which have been sampled extensively.-Biography:...
, Cassietta George
Cassietta George
Cassietta George was an American gospel vocalist, and composer. George was a member of The Caravans, the most popular touring gospel group from the late '50s to the mid-'60s...
, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname "Star Maker". Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960s, performing as a solo artist.
In the mid 1970s, Walker signed with Savoy Records
Savoy Records
Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part in popularizing bebop.Savoy Records is an American record label specializing in jazz, R&B and gospel. Starting in the mid 1940s, Savoy played an important part...
then Benson Records
Benson Records
Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson & John T. Benson, beginning as the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records and would come to house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, RiverSong, StarSong and Home Sweet Home...
, Word Records
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
, A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, and other record companies, recording a series of solo projects, many of them with big church choirs including The Evangelical Choir, The Cathedral of Love Choir, The Metro Mass choir, and her own church choir, The West Point Choir. Albertina recorded her first solo project Put a Little Love in Your Heart in 1975. She also recorded several projects together with Reverend James Cleveland. To date, she has recorded over 60 albums, including gold selling hits "Please Be Patient With Me", "I Can Go to God in Prayer", "The Best Is Yet to Come", "Impossible Dream", and "Joy Will Come". Walker sang for United States presidents George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and South Africa's president, Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
.
In 1995, Walker joined Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston
Thelma Houston is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She scored a number-one hit in 1976 with her cover version of the song "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.-Early life & career:Houston is the daughter of a cotton picking mother...
, CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston
CeCe Peniston is an African American recording artist and former beauty queen. At the beginning of the nineties, she was considered to be one of the most successful dance club artists in the history of the U.S...
, Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
and Lois Walden to record a gospel album in common, Good News in Hard Times, as the quintet called The Sisters of Glory
Sisters of Glory
The Sisters of Glory was a US gospel band that included Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow, Lois Walden, and Albertina Walker.After performing for the Pope John Paul II in Rome at the Vatican, the quintet released their only album entitled Good News in Hard Times, which scored at number...
.
Walker recorded a reunion album with her group The Caravans entitled Paved the Way, which was released by Malaco Records
Malaco Records
Malaco Records is an independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi. Malaco is and has been the home of various major soul, blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, ZZ Hill, Denise LaSalle, Benny Latimore, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton, Shirley Brown, Marvin Sease, and the...
on September 5, 2006. Performers included Walker, Dorothy Norwood
Dorothy Norwood
Dorothy Norwood is an American gospel singer. She began touring with her family at the age of eight, and in 1956, began singing with Mahalia Jackson. In the early 1960s she was a member of ]The Caravans, and in 1964, she embarked on a solo career, recording her first album, Johnny and Jesus...
, Inez Andrews
Inez Andrews
Inez Andrews is an American gospel singer and recording artist.-Biography:In 1957, Andrews became a member of the gospel group The Caravans; she auditioned for Albertina Walker and Dorothy Norwood, and they sent for her in Chicago...
, and Delores Washington. The album was dubbed by Billboard magazine as one of the most memorable releases of 2006 and entered the Billboard charts in the top ten and remained in the top forty for sixteen weeks. Paved the Way was nominated for a Grammy, Dove, Soul Train Music Award and two Stellar Awards.
Awards
Albertina earned many awards and honors over her six decades of music ministry. Among them, a 1995 Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for the Best Traditional Gospel Album (Songs of The Church); 10 Grammy Award nominations; 5 Gold Records; 3 Stellar Awards
Stellar Awards
The Stellar Awards is the first Gospel Music Awards show in the country, honoring Gospel Music Artists, writers, and industry professionals for their contributions to the Gospel Music Industry. The Stellar Awards ranks high in status as the only Gospel Music television awards program syndicated in...
; 3 Dove Awards; several Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Awards; an induction into the 2001 Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2005, the Grammys
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
honored her contributions to the Gospel music industry. She was also the recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship
National Heritage Fellowship
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts...
. President George Bush honored Albertina Walker for her contribution to Gospel music May 31, 2002.
Influences
Ms. Walker is featured in the book entitled Who's Who in Black America as well as other volumes related to the Golden Age of Gospel Music. She received several keys to various cities and was honored at the Chicago Gospel Festival where a bench bearing her name was placed in downtown Chicago's Grant ParkGrant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
. The City of Chicago paid tribute to Albertina by renaming 35th and Cottage Grove "Albertina Walker and The Caravans Drive". Albertina was also conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by the Chicago Theological Seminary
Chicago Theological Seminary
The Chicago Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ. It prepares women and men for leadership in the church and society through Master of Divinity , Master of Arts in Religious Studies , Master of Sacred Theology , Doctor of Ministry , and Doctor of Philosophy programs...
, an institution of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Walker co-founded the Gospel Music Workshop of America
Gospel Music Workshop of America
Gospel Music Workshop of America is an international music convention founded by Rev. James Cleveland along with Albertina Walker in 1967.-GMWA membership:...
along with James Cleveland
James Cleveland
The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
. Albertina also lent her support to many charitable organizations such as United Negro College Fund
United Negro College Fund
The United Negro College Fund is an American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for 39 private historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson , Mary...
, American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
, National Council of Negro Women
National Council of Negro Women
The National Council of Negro Women is a non-profit organization with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African American women, their families and communities. NCNW fulfills this mission through research, advocacy, national and community based services and...
, Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
's Million Family March
Million Family March
The Million Family March was a rally in Washington D.C to celebrate family unity and racial and religious harmony; as well as to address other issues, including abortion, capital punishment, health care, education, welfare and Social Security reform, substance abuse prevention, and overhaul of the...
, One Voice
One Voice
One Voice is the sixth studio album by singer and songwriter Barry Manilow. The album was recorded at United Western Studios and Allen Zentz Recording in Hollywood. The album was a signature of a minor decline in Manilow's success. It reached double platinum, not triple platinum, as his past six...
"A Fight Against AIDS", NAACP and Operation Push. In 1988 Albertina Walker founded The Albertina Walker Scholarship Foundation for the Creative and Performing Arts. Her foundation offers financial assistance to college students in the form of scholarships to further their education in the field of music.
Death
On her 81st birthday, Walker was admitted to a local Chicago Hospital and placed on a ventilator. For some time she had been battling emphysema. In early September, rumors of Walker’s passing had spread so wildly that she posted a message on her Facebook page stating: “I’m still here no matter what you might have heard.” At the time, she was in ICU dealing with respiratory problems–a condition she battled for years, and kept her on ventilator for the last few years of her life. On Tuesday, September 7, Walker had a tracheostomyTracheotomy
Among the oldest described surgical procedures, tracheotomy consists of making an incision on the anterior aspect of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea...
which doctors deemed a success, and she checked out of a Chicago hospital in late September.
According to her publicist, the Gospel legend died on October 8, 2010 at 4:30 a.m. in her hometown of Chicago.
Notable singles
- "I'm Still Here"
- "Please Be Patient with Me"
- "I Can Go to God in Prayer"
- "I Got a Feeling (Everything Will Be Alright)"
- "The Best Is Yet to Come"
- "Impossible Dream"
- "Joy Will Come"
- "God Is Our Creator"
- "Work on Me"
- "In Shady Green Pastures"
- "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around"
- "When God Dips His Pin of Love in My Heart"
- "If I Perish"
- "Ain't Got Tired Yet"
- "Since I Met Jesus"
- "Lord Keep Me Day by Day"
- "Mary Don't You WeepMary Don't You Weep"Mary Don't You Weep" is a Negro spiritual that originates from before the American Civil War – thus it is what scholars call a "slave song," "a label that describes their origins among the enslaved," and it contains "coded messages of hope and resistance." It is...
" Albertina Walker - "Remember Me"
- "I Know the Lord Will Make a Way"
- "I'm Willing"
- "Show Some Sign"
- "I Won't Be Back"
- "Make It In"
Film and other appearances
- Leap of FaithLeap of Faith (film)Leap of Faith is a 1992 American dramedy film, directed by Richard Pearce and starring Steve Martin, Liam Neeson and Debra Winger. The film is about Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent Christian faith healer who uses his revival meetings, in Rustwater, Kansas, to bilk believers out of their money.-Plot...
– starring Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer.... - Going Home to Gospel with Patti Labelle
- The Gospel Truth – Off Broadway play
- The Evolution of Gospel.
- The Gospel Legends
Television appearances
Walker appeared on The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
and The Tavis Smiley Show
The Tavis Smiley Show
The Tavis Smiley Show is an American public broadcasting radio talk show. A television show, simply titled Tavis Smiley, is a late night television program on Public Broadcasting Service . Both shows feature Tavis Smiley as host....
among others. Albertina Walker was a frequent guest on the nationally syndicated BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
and Word
Word Network
The Word Network is a religious network in the United States. It caters to all people including many African American ministries, gospel music and family programming. The Word Network was founded in February 2000 by Franklin Z. Adell. While television station WADL in Mt...
television networks, Bobby Jones Gospel, Testify and Singsation.
Further reading
- Heilbut, TonyAnthony HeilbutAnthony Heilbut , is an American writer, and record producer of gospel music. He is noted for his biography of Thomas Mann, and has also won a Grammy Award.-Life:He has a doctorate in English from Harvard University....
, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times Limelight Editions, 1997, ISBN 0-87910-034-6. - Horace Clarence Boyer, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel Elliott and Clark, 1995, ISBN 0-252-06877-7.