Mighty Clouds Of Joy

The Mighty Clouds of Joy formed in 1955, and started recording in 1960, and have been going strong ever since, through "triumphs and tragedies, successes and near failures," becoming living legends in the process of serving Jesus Christ through their unique musical gifts, which have been showcased in their years of singing Gospel music, taking the genre "to places it seldom, if ever had been."

The original Mighty Clouds of Joy members were made up of members from three different Los Angeles Gospel groups. Today, the current membership is made up of two of the original group, Joe Ligon and Richard Wallace, plus Johnny Valentine, Ron Staples, and Michael Cook, who have all been singing together for some time. All members of The Mighty Clouds of Joy have similar backgrounds, beliefs, and attitudes concerning their faith and their musical efforts. "We all had similar backgrounds -- we were all raised in the church, and we all had a like mind about the kind of music we wanted to do. And we've remained dedicated to each other and the quality of the music all these years." - Joe Ligon.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, their music has transcended and endured many musical trends, popular with our society. "We're a versatile group, and we've done many styles of music over the years, but our roots are in the traditional style," comments Joe Ligon. Another one of the well-loved characteristics of their music which added to and expanded their message is Joe Ligon's singing style, which was inspired by a radio preacher, Reverend C.L. Franklin, who had "this preaching kind of thing in his style. I did this preaching kind of thing in his style to go along with our singing. That was different from what anybody else was doing, and it became our trademark," Joe Ligon explains.

They were the first Gospel group to add bass, drums, and keyboards to the traditional solo electrical guitar, commonly used by Gospel music. They also were the first to add a full rhythm section. In the 1970's, they had great success in adapting Gospel music sound in the popular disco dance genre. They were the first Gospel group to be invited onto the secular show, 'Soul Train,' where they performed their hit, "Mighty High" They continued to evolve in their presentation of their own unique style of Gospel music.

This changing, unique Gospel style music which they evolved, pioneered, and created, was first called at one point, "funkified" Gospel, and has been gradually accepted as a standard part of Gospel music. Though their style of Gospel music was at first criticized by tradional Gospel music lovers, The Mighty Clouds of Joy found that their unique kind of innovative Gospel music reached out to a wider and wider audience, taking The Mighty Clouds of Joy and their Gospel message to performances in such places as Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the Astro Dome, on nearly every major T.V. show in America, including "The Grammy Awards"

Over their years together, they have earned 10 Grammy Award nominations, of which they won three. Joe Ligon and Richard Wallace, were recently presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Gospel Superfest in Jacksonville, Florida. "They are some of the most incredible artists of all time. Real soul stirring gospel artists," comments actor/singer Clifton Davis, host of this year's Gospel Superfest television show.

The Mighty Clouds of Joy's new album, I Want to Thank You, is a project that they helped to produce for the first time, offering a delightful, exciting range of Gospel music, something for everyone, reaching a large audience to share their love, hope, and faith in Jesus Christ in a most uplifting, encouraging, personal way. Performed in their well-developed, unique gospel quartet style, along with the strong inspiring, gifted, soul-stirring vocals of Joe Ligon and friends, the sound is sometimes soulful, sometimes exuberant, but always perfect to express the feeling / mood of the song. They inspire their audience with both traditional style Gospel songs, which transform the listener "into a roof-raising church service, and contemporary Gospel songs, with elements of R&B thrown in, with fresh, high-spirited pulsating rhythms."

In creating this wonderful CD, I Want to Thank You, The Mighty Clouds of Joy enlisted the help of some major composers / producers in today’s contemporary Gospel / R& B / music ranks. Fred Hammond, Steven Ford, J. Moss, and Paul Allen of P.A.J.A.M., Sanchez Harley are all on board, along with William Becton, who all contibuted in a variety of songs, working with Joe Ligon, Ron Staples, Eddie Alford, Johnny Valentine, and Alphonzo McCain to provide the kind of music that The Mighty Clouds of Joy can reach an audience that enjoys not only traditional Gospel, but the more contemporary Gospel sound as well.

Whether traditional or contemporary, all these songs have a very strong Gospel message, offering both a great introduction to Gospel music for those new to the genre and also a most gratifying listening experience for avid Gospel music lovers, as their music is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is exciting and inspiring for their expanding audience.

courtesy christianmusic.com

De Bishop