Artist:Albertina Walker
Song:I Can Go to God in Prayer
Album:The Best of Albertina Walker
Albertina Walker was known as The Queen of Gospel Music. She was a founder of the legendary gospel group The Caravans. And after they split up in 1977, Albertina recorded usually with a choir as on this recording. What she and a lot of gospel artists did was guest appearances with church choirs. She was born Aug. 29, 1929 in Chicago. Her parents were from Georgia. Albertina was one of nine children. She grew up singing in the youth choir at West Point Baptist Church and she was in the gospel groups The Pete Williams Singers, The Willie Webb Singers and The Robert Anderson Singers. Albertina was close friends with gospel music legend Mahalia Jackson. Albertina toured with Mahalia as a teen. Mahalia told her "Girl, you need to go sing by yourself." So she formed The Caravans in 1951. The Caravans were an offshoot of The Robert Andrews Singers. Albertina is the only one who remained from that period. She brought in other singers, most notably Shirley Caesar and Dorothy Norwood. When The Caravans disbanded in 1977, Albertina signed with Savoy Records. Though she recorded some studio albums, Albertina frequently recorded live with a choir. I Can Go to God in Prayer is from the 1981 album I Can Go to God in Prayer with The Evangelical Choir of the Lighthouse Baptist Church. This choir only recorded a couple of albums in the early 80s. This budget comp is a good intro to Albertina's music. Albertina reunited The Caravans for a 2006 album. Albertina appeared in the 1992 film Leap of Faith. She continued to tour and occasionally record until her death on Oct. 8, 2010 at age 81. Here's Albertina Walker performing I Can Go to God in Prayer in the 1990 TV Special Going Home to Gospel. Patti LaBelle hosted this show and Ricky Dillard was the choir director.
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