Though
largely unrecognized during her own lifetime, singer and composer Sister Wynona
Carr was among the truly pioneering artists of gospel's golden era; while her
music - sophisticated and sensual, distinguished by lyrics of rare metaphorical
depth and a progressive sound drawing heavily on jazz and blues - was simply
too radical for 434i86e contemporary listeners, in hindsight she stands as one of the
great innovators of her day. Born in
While touring with the Wilson Jubilee Singers, an offshoot of
Cleveland's renowned Wings Over Jordan Choir, Carr caught the attention
of the Pilgrim Travelers' J.W. Alexander, who was so impressed by her talents
that he funded her first demo recording and sent it to Specialty Records
founder Art Rupe. The label
quickly snapped her up, and in early 1949 Carr traveled to
Carr's next studio date followed in Philadelphia later in 1949; a revolutionary
session, it yielded "I'm a Pilgrim Traveler," a reworking of the
blues standard "St. James Infirmary," as well as "I Heard the
News (Jesus Is Coming Again)," which updated the 1948 Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris hit "Good Rockin'
Tonight." Other material, like the Carr original
"Our Father," suggested a strong jazz influence; however, while all
of the tracks recorded during the session promised to push the singer into new
stylistic directions, Rupe apparently felt the
songs were all too daring, and none of them were released. Carr's next return
to the studio, in 1950, was far more traditional, and included a new rendition
of "Our Father," recorded as a duet with Brother Joe May; it too went unreleased, although
the song was later covered as a May solo side as well as in a version by the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi.
Despite all of the frustration and setbacks, Carr forged on; she toured
relentlessly, but did not go back into the studio until mid-1952. With
"The Ball Game," a vividly metaphorical tale of a showdown between
Jesus and Satan, she finally scored a major gospel hit, yet her career
continued to flounder; another two years passed prior to her next Specialty
session, recorded in Detroit (where she was serving as choir director at the
New Bethel Baptist Church under Rev. C.L. Franklin). Although she recorded rarely,
Carr nevertheless remained a highly prolific songwriter, composing poetic,
topical material often inspired by headlines of the day; she cut dozens of
demos for Specialty, and ironically enough earned more money from sales of her
sheet music than from her actual recordings.
After successfully touring white nightclubs in 1954 with Sister Rosetta Tharpe and
Marie Knight, Carr finally broke her ties with
gospel to pursue a career singing R&B; in 1957, she scored with the hit
ballad "Should I Ever Love Again," but again fate was against her; at
the same time the record was rising on the chart, she was stricken with
tuberculosis, and spent the next two years on the sidelines, convalescing at
her parents' home. A number of booking agencies sought Carr out, but she was
simply too ill to perform; her career never recovered from the loss of
momentum, and after leaving Specialty in 1959 she briefly signed to Reprise
before spending the remainder of the 1960s performing on the Cleveland
supper-club circuit. As the 1970s dawned, Carr went into seclusion; her health
continued to decline, and she died on
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