A Mighty Storm
By Lisa Collins, senior music editor, gmclife.com
To do anything for 50 years is noteworthy. In the music industry, it's phenomenal, particularly when you're still in demand with a loyal following.
But it's par for the course for the Mighty Clouds of Joy, whose career highs have included performing at the White House for President Jimmy Carter, singing at a civil rights rally at the request of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., opening at Radio City Music Hall with Marvin Gaye, as well as dates with the likes of Aretha Franklin, James Brown and the Rolling Stones.
Dubbed "the Temptations of Gospel," the group has completed a lot of firsts, particularly in the quartert world. The Mighty Clouds of Joy was the first quartet to incorporate choreographed moves into its act and the first to appear on Soul Train. It is the only quartet to have backed Paul Simon during a month-long stint at New York's famed Madison Square Garden and is among the few quartets to have performed at Carnegie Hall.
Yet the joy of simply still being around is enough to please organizer and lead singer Joe Ligon.
"There are so many groups who've lost all their members. There are two original Mighty Clouds still singing."
For all their accomplishments, the three-time GRAMMY-winning group members – Ligon, Richard Wallace, Ron Staples and Johnny Valentine – are hardly content to rest on their laurels. On January 26 the group released At the Revival, its 18th album, and will spend the better part of the year performing it and other classic hits including "Mighty High" and "Amazing Grace."
The latest effort pairs them with renowned R&B producers, Raphael Saadiq – who has worked with Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J. Blige, and John Legend – and Devante Swing (Al Green, Jodeci and Usher), who've both been longtime admirers of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees.
"Rafael grew up listening to the Clouds and even played on stage with us once in Oakland and asked if he could work with us," says Ligon. "We were honored."
Despite the decidedly modern choice when it came to producers, the 10-track album is not a departure from the Clouds' time-honored four-part harmonies. In fact, says Ligon, "Raphael didn't want the music to overshadow our trademark sound, so this album doesn't have all the horns and strings we've grown accustomed to. They wanted some of the original raw sound come through like the first records he heard from us when he was a little boy."
It is a strategy that has paid off. From the title track, a toe-tappin', two-step traditional piece that is a cornerstone of the disc, to "Jesus Kind of Man," a soulful cut with a distinctive bass groove and the doo wop-styled "Hard Times," the CD is striking a chord with hard-core gospel audiences.
Other highlights include "Just Love Somebody," a song which Mike Cook – who was with the Clouds for nearly 20 years – recorded Sam Cooke-style in 2008 before he passed away. A tribute to Cook, a live-to-tape version of the gospel classic "Walk Around Heaven," features the late singer on lead.
An anniversary concert is slated for June in Los Angeles, the city where two of the original group members met in junior high.
"It was when we came out of high school that we made our first record," recalls Ligon, whose father was also an influential gospel singer. "We went on the road in 1961 and the rest is a whole lot of music history. I hope that there will be many more years, because this group has been important. The Mighty Clouds of Joy have become a household name.”
Ligon continues to find success based on his noteriety as leader. He is set to launch a radio show in 40 markets on the Rejoice Musical Soulfood network sometime this year, and is negotiating his own clothing line with J.C. Penney.
"I always knew we were different," Ligon states. "I've seen many groups come and go, so I give God all the glory, because to me, we didn't sing any better than anyone else, but we had a distinctive sound."
"I hope people realize, 'Here's a group that's still here after 50 years. Here's a group that is dedicated – a group that believes that there is a God. Here's a group that loves what they are doing that has caused a lot of people to give their lives to Jesus.'"
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About the Writer
Lisa Collins, a Los Angeles native and resident, is a syndicated columnist, writer, publisher and former Billboard Magazine columnist. Her career in gospel began in 1988 with her creation of "Inside Gospel," a daily/weekly syndicated radio series that provided news, profiles and product updates relative to the gospel music community. For the next eight years, she would also serve as executive producer of the show that was broadcast in more than 100 markets nationwide. Collins has also served as a segment producer for BET and authored well over 300 articles on a variety of issues for a number of national publications from Essence to Upscale. Her background in the field of entertainment reporting is extensive, featuring cover stories and interviews with the likes of Richard Pryor, Michael Jackson and Prince.
