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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "I Can Go to God in Prayer" by Albertina Walker

Nothing says gospel more than Albertina Walker singing her heart out in front a powerful gospel choir!

With the passing of Mahalia Jackson in January 1972, the mantle of gospel’s greatest singer fell easily on the shoulders of Albertina Walker. From her earliest days with the Clara Ward Singers, and through the Caravans, Tina has always been a star – with gold records, Grammys, even appearances in major motion pictures.

Why? Because she could always bring that holy ghost gospel fervor. Listen to her lead vocals on this live version of “I Can Go to God in Prayer” with the Evangelical Choir of the Lighthouse Baptist Church of Chicago from 1981... this is gospel royalty at the peak of her powers!     

Albertina Walker and the Evangelical Choir of the Lighthouse Baptist Church of Chicago, I Can Go to God in Prayer LP, “I Can Go to God in Prayer,” Side 1, Track 1

I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU and the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries.

Robert F. Darden is the author of two dozen books, most recently: Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume II: Black Sacred Music from Sit-In to Resurrection City (Penn State University Press, 2016); Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume I: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement(Penn State University Press, 2014); Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor(Abingdon Press, 2008), Reluctant Prophets and Clueless Disciples: Understanding the Bible by Telling Its Stories(Abingdon Press, 2006); and People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music(Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2004).