Before we had a t.v. in our home in rural Opelousas, Louisiana we listened to Bill "Hossman" Allen on WLAC Nashville, Tennessee. Every Sunday night the 50,000 Watt CBS affiliate signal reached most of the Eastern and Midwestern United States. African American listeners in the Deep South were the intended audience of the program. It was on Bill Allen's Sunday evening broadcast that I first heard the names Thomas A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, Sallie Martin, Kenneth Morris, Rosetta Tharpe, and Albertina Walker. Albertina was singing with the Williams Singers and touring with Willie Webb and The Robert Anderson Singers. In 1951 at age twenty two Albertina organized the CARAVANS. The rest is an amazing part of Gospel Music history.
Of course, we remember Albertina Walker through songs like "Please Be Patient With Me", "Lord Keep Me Day By Day", "Joy Will Come", "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", and "I Can Go To God In Prayer", all recorded in the 1970s.
Albertina Walker’s music ministry inspiried several generations of Americans, and her voice reached a worldwide audience. She loved gospel music and worked for it’s preservation. In 1988 she created The Albertina Walker Scholarship Foundation, a scholarship that provides financial assistance to college students who have completed at least one year of music study.
She is already missed, but her voice and performances are clicks away on YouTube. We can also preserve her legacy by purchasing her music.
No comments:
Post a Comment