Legendary gospel story-teller Dorothy Norward is at her very best on the compelling story-song, “Walk Through the Valley.”
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Welcome to Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments. I’m Robert Darden.
The incomparable Dorothy Norwood is one of the last superstars of gospel’s golden age. As I record this in July 2021, she’s still going strong in her mid-80s. Dorothy made some incredible recordings for the Caravans and Gospel Chimes, but she is best known for nearly 50 years of great music as a solo artist or with a variety of stellar choirs.
And what Norwood does better than just about anybody else is tell stories in her gospel songs, sometimes they’re spoken, sometimes they’re shouted and sometimes they’re sung – and they’re always stunning. Some of her best include “Johnny and Jesus,” “The Boy and His Kite,” “The Denied Mother” and “The Old Lady’s Hand.”
But if I had to pick a favorite, it’d be “Walk in the Valley” from her album with the Combined Choirs of Atlanta, Georgia. Over the course of this 7 and half minute live track, she tells the story of an old man who didn’t get to participate in the March for Freedom in Washington D.C. but found his own way to support the civil rights movement. It’s a master class in story-telling: Dorothy sings, cajoles, preaches, whispers and weaves an unforgettable narrative about a nameless man who would NOT be denied ... through God’s help.
MUSIC: “Walk Through the Valley,” by Dorothy Norward and the Combined Choirs of Atlanta, Georgia, He Will Never Let God My Hand, LP, Side 2, Track 1
I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU, the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project at Baylor University Libraries and is funded by generous support from the Prichard Foundation.
