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BLACKGOSPEL.COM, in collaboration with EMI GOSPEL, closed out another CD giveaway contest to highlight several of Gospel music’s longstanding fans of Traditional Gospel music best performed by the legends of Quartet Gospel – The Mighty Clouds Of Joy. Ten enthusiastic contestants shared their stories and their love for The Clouds and were rewarded a copy of the new CD release, In The House Of The Lord (In Stores Now).
Our contestants are a collection of individuals who have found inspiration and memorable experiences with the music popularized by The Mighty Clouds Of Joy. Even after 45 years, The Clouds continue to find a wide range of admirers who still enjoy a sound in Gospel music that has survived the test of time. The testimonies below are a testament to the enduring power of down home, old school sacred music that’s nothing more than church music and nothing less than divine.
Dominique Helena Wannette Woods (Gainesville, Georgia)
My name is Dominique Woods and I am 15 years old. I was raised in the church and used to always go to my grandparents' churches. They went to the 'old-timey' churches, where they played the foot-stompin', hand-clappin', knee-pattin', tambourine playin', Holy Ghost shoutin', and, sometimes, base poppin', music. I've always listened to Traditional Gospel music.
Even when we were not at church, my dad always played gospel CD’s, mainly quartets. That's why, today, I am crazy over quartet singing gospel groups. One of the main groups he would play, were the Mighty Clouds of Joy, which is one of my favorite male gospel singing groups. I have been listening to their music all of my life. Their music and Traditional Gospel music in general, gets me excited and happy.
Patricia Ann McNeal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
I'm 54 years old and when I was in my teens, during the sixties, just listening to the Mighty Clouds of Joy inspired me. At the time I really didn't know what I was feeling, but I knew it was something that touched me deep down. My mother had every Mighty Clouds of Joy single from 'Will the Circle be Unbroken’ to ‘None But The Righteous’ to ‘Glory Glory’, just to name a few. Every song had a message and such anointing. I would spend hours just singing these songs because this would be my means of escaping from the things I was going through at the time.
I went to church every Sunday, Wednesday and whenever my mother said we were going, but I felt like something was still missing. Traditional Gospel music to me, would go directly to the soul...stirring up things. It was as if the singers felt what you were feeling but encouraged you at the same time. I was raised listening to Traditional Gospel music and I raised my children Traditional Gospel music as well. It makes me so happy to see so many young people who know and love The Mighty Clouds of Joy. May God continue to bless you - The Mighty Clouds of Joy - because you have truly blessed me for many years.
Zoia Martin (Cape Girardeau, Missouri)
I have been a fan of (The Mighty Clouds Of Joy) for some time. Theirr style of traditional gospel music has blessed me in many ways. Let me validate that statement for you. Their music has given me Hope- when there seems to be trials around every corner. Peace, when my world gets turned upside down. That's when I remember the songs "Walk around Heaven" because this is not my home. Encouragement, when all my friends and love ones don't understand me. Faith, when I think of the song "Use Me Lord". I will always sing "Jesus Made a Way" for He has truly made a Way for Me.
Linda Gatewood (Pine Bluff, Arkansas)
Praise God, I am entering this contest because my family and I have always been BIG on the Clouds. My dad song with a quartet group here in Pine Bluff. known as the Truetone Singers and they had a style so much like the Clouds!!!
The Clouds have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I'm 40+ now. They always have such a smooth, suave harmony and a way to make you have church even if you're at home! I've worn out several of their CD's and would love to add this one to my collection.
Gwen Cooley (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Hello and my name is Gwendolyn Cooley from Erie, PA the daughter of W.D. Cooley, Jr. who sings gospel and has had several quartet groups of his own. Most would know him with the Natural Tones. My father promoted gospel music in this city of Erie for over 45 years. He hasn’t retired but does a lot of solo singing,
I have been a fan of the Mighty Clouds of Joy ever since my dad brought them to Erie. Big John sings with this beautiful voice that made him the envy of women for he could sing so high and melodious and had many men trying to copy his style.
I don't know if Mr. Joe remembers my dad or us here in Erie, PA but the Clouds were something, here in Erie along with Rev. Jeeter of the Swans and Cleve and Clay with the Jubilees. I know that the Clouds were a part of my early years due to my father promoting gospel when it was not in fashion. We would host the concerts in the local high schools and dinner was provided by my mother and other women.
I can say that the Clouds have maintained while others fell to the wayside. I know it has to do with their success over the years, the awards, their fans. People growing up on the Clouds knew what you got from them…a dynamic, uplifting, soul pouring music ministry that made you want more. I know the young men in the group now may not remember the early Clouds but thanks to them, for keeping music ministry alive and stepping up to be a part of tradition.
The Clouds just have a style all their own. Some don't understand that you make a JOYFUL noise to the Lord but the Clouds truly do. The suits that they wore, what can you say. They didn't mind breaking a sweat and getting ugly to lift the Lord’s name up. I am happy to know that after 46 years, they are still going strong and blessing all who have the opportunity to hear them sing those beautiful and soul stirring songs as only the Clouds can.
No, I don't know if Joe (Mr. LaGun) will see this but thank you for making this middle age woman happy to know that I can say to my grandchildren when that time comes I remember when and your grandfather brought them to Erie when I was just your age and can show them those all pictures (autographed). Thank you for continuing to sing praises, for God is a Good God. Who knows…when you are in the surrounding area, maybe I will bring my dad to see the Clouds of today.
May God continue to use Joe and the Clouds to reach the masses. Always keep God #1, not the fame or the riches, for he will add it all to you if you believe.
Chelsea Lewis (Phoenix, Arizona)
I was saved at 13 and did not really walk with the Lord until these past five years. From 13 to 30, I walked after what I saw in my household. But my Aunt Gloria and other members of my family who would share the goodness of the Lord with me always shared their music. Now with this walk with the Lord, I now understand the power of worship & Gospel music. I enjoy all types of Gospel music but the old time music brings me to a place where I can truly worship in spirit and in truth. The Mighty Clouds of Joy have been such a pivotal group in Gospel and I believe they will be around for a lifetime because the things we do for the Lord are those things that have eternal value.
Sarah Holder (Salinas, California)
The Mighty Clouds of Joy has been one of our family's favorites from the time I was a small child. I am now almost a half century old and there are two songs that still ring in my mind whenever I hear the name - The Mighty Clouds of Joy. They are Will The Circle Be Unbroken and I've Been In The Storm. My family stayed in the country and my father and mother used to make sure that whenever the Mighty Clouds of Joy were in town (to us that meant within 60 miles) we were sure to go. We would work in the fields, get off early, and head to the concert. After the concert, the men and the women would talk about it for days at work. Both of my parents have gone on to be with the Lord. But the way my family raised me to use Gospel music for the soothing of the soul and to depend upon the Master will never leave me. It has actually made me a better person, who is working out my own soul salvation! I love the Lord with all my heart and soul.
My brother was a teen at the time and even though he did his thing as a teen, he would also have those 8-track tapes of the Mighty Clouds of Joy. It really made me feel good to be riding in the car with my brother, while listening to the songs of the Mighty Clouds of Joy telling a story. Today, as I go through life as an adult with my family, I can now relate to the words of the song; especially "I've Been in the Storm". I now know how to actually call upon the name of the Lord, while in the storm, and hold on to the faith that is clinging to the hand of hope in knowing that there is sunshine behind the dark clouds that appear while the storm is raging. I have tears in my eyes as I write this piece, but "Lord give me a little more time to pray".
I have asked the Lord that when I get in the eye of those terrible raging storms and can't see my way to pray, (sometimes the storms can get pretty rough) to put me on somebody's mind so they will pray for me. As of this day, the Lord has answered my prayers. People that I have not heard from in weeks and sometimes months, will just call me and say, "I was thinking about you and decided to call". What a mighty God we serve. Thanks to God and to the Mighty Clouds of Joy for a lesson well learned and for the wonderful music that God has blessed them to sing and record.
Latitia Stiener (Montgomery, Alabama)
I have been a long standing fan of the Mighty Clouds of Joy since I was a baby. I am now 31 years old. I have been listening to Gospel music since I was little child. My grandmother, who died in May of 1994, used to play your music to all of us while we cleaned the house or cooked in the kitchen. I know I don't seem that old but I was raised by the elders in my community, so I was raised in the church and all I knew through the years was Gospel music and the Mighty Clouds of Joy.
Terry Martin (Bedford, Ohio)
I was getting ready to order your new CD from my CD club and I saw this contest and said as long as I've been buying your music, I have invested enough stock to try to get me a free CD. I love everything The Mighty Clouds Of Joy have written, sung, and produced. I have been a long standing fan of the Mighty Clouds of Joy Since I was 8 years old. I've been to three of their concerts. I am now 45. You've been around for over 44 years.
I use to try to skip Sunday school when I was 12 years old, and my Mother was a Sunday school teacher, and if we faked like we were sick, my Momma would put on that Mighty Clouds of Joy song None But The Righteous and Amazing Grace and she would play it over and over and over (you know how they would play that one good tune they like while they clean the house all day long), and she would make us sit down at the dining room table and have home Sunday school for 2 hours. (It made want to go to the short version next Sunday), but as I listen to her sing the words to your songs, It made me think about eternity, death, breathing and getting old, and getting serious with my Christian walk. It scared me.
I started witnessing to the young people in church at a very early age about honoring their mothers and fathers and to stop telling untrue stories. I thought I was an old person in a young child's body because I listen to the old school Gospel Quartet groups. My dad was a musician, my mother sang and my brothers and sisters were all talented in singing and playing instruments.
Your music and words I grew up with just made me so happy in Jesus. As a young adult, every time I got on the phone in the wee hours of the early morning with my mom, she would have on some Mighty Clouds Of Joy in the background (old school traditional style). We would get on the phone, make some coffee and I would hear my mom's happy voice shoutin’, “Now what's happinin baby girl! I’m still here, give me my flowers, I love ya” (We still do this today…praise God) and I would then put on my song Power Of The Holy Ghost. I'd call other folks up, waking them out of their sleep. I can't wait to express this good feeling I'm experiencing. I would ask them 'Are you Happy in Jesus', and they'd say 'yes I am', then I'd say, 'I can’t tell…you'd better show it like you know it. You'd better make some noise up in there up in there!”
I'd quote some of the lyrics from your songs like ' Nobody can turn me around', 'Ain’t got long to be here', 'How I found the Lord', 'Lord, hold my Hand', 'I get a blessing everyday', 'Use me Lord', and 'Gory Hallelujah'! Mighty Clouds of Joy have come a long way! And I’ve traveled a long way with them.
As I got into the 1970's and 80's, the Traditional Gospel Sounds started changing to Contemporary music and I would say to myself, “They just don't make good Gospel music anymore.” So I stayed with the best of the best Gospel groups I grew up with. And I continue to this day to buy the latest of the Mighty Clouds of Joy music because I like the original Quartet supreme sounding harmony that just made you get up and stomp your feet, clap your hands and praise God all around the house and in the car. They make me cry to Jesus sometimes. And sometimes they made me just shout out loud to the Lord and get silly with crazy praise.
Sometimes, the songs just made me pull over and cry because there were times when I fell by the wayside and I'd hear the words to 'My times not over, He Chose me', and ‘Mama prayed us through', your music just encouraged my faith in God and I kept on holding on, pressing my way, never letting go, no matter how hard I fell. I snapped back. God kept me through it all, teaching me, molding me, preparing me for the great things He has blessed me with today. Appreciation!
I am a long standing 36 years of my life fan of the The Mighty Clouds of Joy, three-time Grammy winner, who came a mighty mighty long way over 44 years...the creativity, the talent and the originality is what kept me loyal.
Now I sing with an all girls a cappella group and we do an excellent version of your 'Amazing Grace' and 'Hold On'…heartfelt and genuine Gospel music. Mighty Clouds of Joy...Your next CD should be dubbed 'I'm Still Here'! What a milestone…ooh Glory Hallelujah! You're just blessed like that!
Deborah Roach (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
I've been a longstanding fan of Traditional Gospel music and the Mighty Clouds of Joy since I was a teenager, back in the late 60’s. While I was not brought up in a Christian home, we listened to Gospel music every Sunday, all day long. My mother loved Gospel music and took me with her to see the Mighty Clouds of Joy and others like the Swan Silvertones, The Williams Brothers, The Sensational Nightingales, The Soul Stirrers, etc. My love for this music stems from the fact that while I was not a Christian, it stirred my soul to seek out God. It took me until my mid-20’s to make a commitment to God, but since doing so I have never left Him.
When I am down, this music picks me up. There have been times in my life when I was going through some painful experiences and their songs such as ‘Jesus Cares’ gave me new hope and encouragement. The Mighty Clouds are pioneers; they're the group that implemented stylish clothing and added various instruments to their performances to enhance the worship experience.
They’re truly a class act. I have had the privilege of seeing them in several different cities along the East coast and I must say that they make it well worth the trip. Truly, the Clouds need to be applauded for the hope they bring to so many through their God given talents and the inspirations that is ingrained in each of their songs which makes them "Untouchable".
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