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The Clark Sisters

DuranDuran

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Daughters of gospel musician and choral director Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, The Clark Sisters consist of Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark, Jacky Clark Chisholm, Dorinda Clark-Cole, and Karen Clark Sheard. A fifth sister, Denise Clark Bradford, performed with the group originally but left in 1982 to become a minister and start a family.​

The following year, Dr. Mattie Moss Clark Presents The Clark Sisters was released, and people around Detroit began to take notice of the group. The Clark Sisters signed to Sound of Gospel Records in 1974. Under this association, the group released albums such as Unworthy, Count It All Joy, and He Gave Me Nothing to Lose. It was not until the early 1980s that The Clark Sisters began to become the phenomenon that they are now. Their popularity soared with the release of the live recording Is My Living In Vain. The album topped the Billboard gospel charts for more than a year and yielded now famous songs such as the title track and "Expect Your Miracle."​

Renowned for their unique vocal stylings, The Clark Sisters have been dubbed as "The Clark Sound." The sisters are also well known for each distinctive sound that they contribute. Jacky (alto/tenor) is known for her soft, deeper vocals. Dorinda (alto), the "jazzy" sister, inputs scats and riffs. Karen (soprano) is known for her riffs, runs and very high vocal range, and has also been known to implement an "echo" in her live performances. Twinkie (alto/tenor/soprano) is credited with being the "heart of the Clark Sisters." Early in the group's development, Twinkie was the chief songwriter, music and vocal arranger, producer and also possessing a wide vocal range from soprano to contralto.
Having sold millions of albums and credited as the largest selling female gospel group of all time, they are definitely a group to check out.​

The group has recorded over 12 albums and have contributed collectively and individually to countless other projects including the Grammy Award winning "Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration".​

Discography​

The Clark Sisters​

1973 Jesus Has A Lot To Give
1974 Dr. Mattie Moss Clark presents The Clark Sisters
1976 Unworthy
1978 Count It All Joy
1978 New Dimensions of Christmas Carols
1979 He Gave Me Nothing To Lose (But All To Gain)
1980 Is My Living In Vain
1981 You Brought The Sunshine
1982 Sincerely
1986 Heart and Soul
1988 Conqueror
1989 Bringing It Back Home
1994 Miracle
2007 Live - One Last Time
2008 Encore
2009 Clark Family Christmas​

Twinkie Clark​

1979 Praise Belongs To God
1981 Ye Shall Receive Power
1992 Comin' Home
1996 Presents The Florida A&M University Gospel Choir
1996 The Masterpiece
2002 Live In Charlotte
2004 Live in Detroit – Home Once Again
2006 Praise & Worship​

Karen Clark-Sheard​

1997 Finally Karen
2002 Second Chance
2003 The Heavens are Telling
2006 It’s Not Over – Live From Detroit
2010 All In One​

Dorinda Clark-Cole​

2002 Dorinda Clark Cole
2005 The Rose of Gospel
2008 Take It Back​

Jacky Clark-Chisholm​

2005 Expectancy​
 
Unsung 1 & 2

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Unsung 3 & 4

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Unsung 5 - 7

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Is My Living In Vain

Here's a video from the early 1980's when they were a quintet.
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I LOVE them but I just love gospel music period. They have been doing there thing for a while now and not even missing a bit.
 
mjscarousal said:
I LOVE them but I just love gospel music period. They have been doing there thing for a while now and not even missing a bit.
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I can't say I've listened to much gospel, but when I was little I used to hear stuff like James Cleveland & Mahalia Jackson & the Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace record (actually it was an 8-track, lol). My grandmother had one of Al Green's gospel albums. She also had one of those sermon records by Aretha's father C.L. Franklin. I heard it so much when I was a kid, I memorized all 4 sermons (it was a 2 record set). I haven't heard it in years, so I probably forgot it though. I used to watch this local show called Hallelujah Train, it was sort of a gospel version of Soul Train, but without dancers. It mostly had Soul Stirrers or Blind Boys doo wop style groups. I don't really care for the more modern DC Talk style gospel or Christian rock & rap. And I still haven't figured out what exactly Kirk Franklin does, lol.
 
Not a Christian, but I do listen to gospel and love the sound and soulfulness.
Love The Clark Sisters. Karen Clark-Sheard is my favorite. I don't even say she is my favorite gospel singer. I mention her name as one of my all-time favorite singers. Anyone else dig her "new" song (not that new, I know) called Prayed Up? Just as the group came up with more popular sound to go with the church lyrics, that song, you will love it even if you're not into gospel at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPJe_NnD0ig
My 2nd favorite is Dorinda Clark-Cole. Not as strong of a singer as Karen, but she is full of energy and fun.


For the group performance, this is one of my favorites. Endow Me live at a church. That song is just magic! Check out their harmony. Solid, solid vocalists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkkTWq8XevM
 
DuranDuran said:
I can't say I've listened to much gospel, but when I was little I used to hear stuff like James Cleveland & Mahalia Jackson & the Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace record (actually it was an 8-track, lol). My grandmother had one of Al Green's gospel albums. She also had one of those sermon records by Aretha's father C.L. Franklin. I heard it so much when I was a kid, I memorized all 4 sermons (it was a 2 record set). I haven't heard it in years, so I probably forgot it though. I used to watch this local show called Hallelujah Train, it was sort of a gospel version of Soul Train, but without dancers. It mostly had Soul Stirrers or Blind Boys doo wop style groups. I don't really care for the more modern DC Talk style gospel or Christian rock & rap. And I still haven't figured out what exactly Kirk Franklin does, lol.
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lol..... to be honest I exactly just got into gospel a couple years back and thats only because I do liturgical dance so Ive been listening to alot more gospel and I really love it, its great for the soul lol but I definitly agree the older traditional gospel music is alot better because it focuses more on just praising God and not all this trying to entertain the listener with catchy beats EVEN though there are some good modern gospel singers but REAL gospel is not about that.

lol Kirk Franklin mostly directs and allegedly produces the music. He raps as well but he is mostly involved with the coordinating. He also allegedly writes as well but not to sure about all that. He is kinda like Tye Tribbit they direct the choir and just talk all over the music lol I exactly love some of there music. But the best gospel is of the past. The Clark Sisters are great.
 
Kirk doesn't sound like he's rapping to me, it just sounds like he talking over the other singers. It doesn't sound like he belongs, it's like a radio DJ who talks over the songs while they're playing, lol.
 
DuranDuran said:
Kirk doesn't sound like he's rapping to me, it just sounds like he talking over the other singers. It doesn't sound like he belongs, it's like a radio DJ who talks over the songs while they're playing, lol.
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lol Yes I know what you mean and half of the time he doesnt belong he just wants to put his stamp on the song but there ARE some gospel songs where Kirk is exactly rapping.
 
Here's Karen's daughter Kierra Sheard.
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DuranDuran, do you remember when Kierra performed Endow Me with Lil' Mo, Coko, Fantasia? I watched the performance many times, but have no clue it was before or after 2008? Do you know?? She looked a lot more heavy then. The clip you posted just above, if the Endow Me performance was before 2008, she's lost a lot of weight. Congrats to her. More than anything, it should be good for her health.

The Unsung can be a good introduction if you're just beginning to be interested in the group. I'd watched that before, but last night I watched again through the links you provided here. I find myself smiling when Dorinda, Karen, Twinkie were talking about how curious they were of "the outside life" (outside church). They were always this group of fiercely devout Christian women with incredible talent and I never thought of anything else about them. But watching those bits, it makes me feel closer to them. Makes them more human.
 
helena22 said:
DuranDuran, do you remember when Kierra performed Endow Me with Lil' Mo, Coko, Fantasia? I watched the performance many times, but have no clue it was before or after 2008? Do you know?? She looked a lot more heavy then. The clip you posted just above, if the Endow Me performance was before 2008, she's lost a lot of weight. Congrats to her. More than anything, it should be good for her health.
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I haven't seen that performance, so I don't know when it took place. If she was bigger, then it was before the clip above. Kierra started exercising and lost weight.
 
I looked it up and it said the Endow Me performance you're talking about was from a show called 'Celebration of Gospel' which was filmed in 2007.
 
DuranDuran said:
I haven't seen that performance, so I don't know when it took place. If she was bigger, then it was before the clip above. Kierra started exercising and lost weight.
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DuranDuran said:
I looked it up and it said the Endow Me performance you're talking about was from a show called 'Celebration of Gospel' which was filmed in 2007.
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Thanks for the search. Their version sounds poor compared to the original, but their passion made up for the minuses.
 
DuranDuran said:
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One of my favorite songs by her:yes: Get up and dance, people!
......Sometimes I wonder if this song caught hate from some church people or got props becuz it's none other than Karen Clark-Sheard? When you watch the Unsung documentary, you learn that You Brought the Sunshine took a lot of flack for sounding too secular. So, what about this one? Def. way more secular with the Latin style and everything.

Here's another favorite of mine: Secret Place

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helena22 said:
One of my favorite songs by her:yes: Get up and dance, people!
......Sometimes I wonder if this song caught hate from some church people or got props becuz it's none other than Karen Clark-Sheard? When you watch the Unsung documentary, you learn that You Brought the Sunshine took a lot of flack for sounding too secular. So, what about this one? Def. way more secular with the Latin style and everything.
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The Rance Allen Group made R&B, rock, and funk based gospel in the 1970s & 80s and so did Andre Crouch and other groups. When Al Green quit singing secular in the 1980's, his gospel music was still R&B based. Today, Al sings secular music while still a pastor of a church. Little Richard is also a pastor and still sings his old music. I wonder what the church think about that. Church people complained about Ray Charles in the 1950s for making secular music that was done in a gospel style. I don't understand that the Clark sisters' mother was forced to stop performing with them because they appeared on the Grammys. I can see the not singing in Studio 54, though. But I don't think that is as a big of an issue today than it was back in the You Brought The Sunshine days. Like with other genres, the traditional gospel style is not that popular today with the younger listeners and so acts like Mary Mary and Yolanda Adams are what's in. Technically, I think the church is supposed to get people over for Christ, not just preach to the converted. So I guess the religious acts today have to reach people in a language they understand, which is not Mahalia Jackson or Thomas Dorsey. Even Mahalia sometimes sang in a blues or jazz style.
 
Here's some songs by mother Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.
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