The Best of the Caravans

Caravans, The

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Check Your Pulse If You Don't Feel the Spirit Here

Every musical style has kingmakers, those keen-eared scouts who spot talent and trends way ahead of everybody else. In gospel, one of the most important is Albertina Walker, singer and leader of the long-lived Chicago-based singing group the Caravans. Founded in 1952, the group cranked out hits and led huge revivals through the mid-'60s. Its torrid close-knit harmonies were one draw, but just as important were the peerless soloists Walker showcased—Bessie Griffin, Dorothy Norwood, Cassietta George, Inez Andrews, Shirley Caesar, and others, many of whom had successful solo careers after leaving the group. Walker also developed some of gospel's great songwriting instrumentalists, including James Herndon and James Cleveland.

The Caravans recorded over 150 albums. For a while in the late '50s—the period covered by this anthology—the group was a fixture on religious radio, performing originals and reworking classic gospel songs. "I Won't Be Back," the fast-moving opening track, shows the basic Caravans strategy: The soloist is Shirley Caesar, and as she launches into what soon becomes scalding testimony, the others snap out response lines with the precision of master drummers. Their repartee happens at breakneck speed and feels too freewheeling to have been prearranged: The women are following the call of that higher power, and by the end, their intensity spurs Caesar to abandon all restraint and shout.

The Caravan singers were experts at this type of head-spinning exchange. Of special note is Inez Andrews, whose unshakable contralto powers a slow, restrained reading of "Mary Don't You Weep" and the resolute "I'm Not Tired Yet." Hearing her deliver line after intense line, you might begin to wonder whether this faith of hers has miracle properties. Less sanctified souls would be spent after singing just one of those intense choruses.

Genre: Gospel
Released: 1977, Savoy
Key Tracks: "I Won't Be Back," "Mary Don't You Weep," "I'm Not Tired Yet."
Catalog Choice: Freedom
Next Stop: Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers: Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers
Book Page: 143

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