Inez Andrews, whose soaring, wide-ranging voice — from contralto croon to soul-wrenching wail — made her a pillar of gospel music, died on Wednesday at her home in Chicago. She was 83.
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The Caravans: from left, Dorothy Norwood, Johnnie Erin Davis, Sarah McKissick, Albertina Walker and Inez Andrews.
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The cause was cancer, said her son Richard Gibbs.
“She was the last great female vocalist of gospel’s golden age,” said Anthony Heilbut, author of “The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times” (1971), a history of that era, from the mid-1940s to the early ’60s. Ms. Andrews was known as the “High Priestess,” Mr. Heilbut said, ranking among the likes of Mahalia Jackson, Marion Williams, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Clara Ward.
Ms. Andrews came to national attention in 1958 with the Caravans, the Chicago gospel group led by Albertina Walker that also nurtured such stars as Shirley Caesar, theRev. James Cleveland and Bessie Griffin. That year she was the lead singer for what became two of the Caravans’ biggest hits.
One was “I’m Not Tired Yet,” an up-tempo shout song in which she belted out, “I’ve been running for Jesus a long time/No, I’m not tired yet.”
The other was “Mary Don’t You Weep” — a rearrangement, by her, of the old spiritual into a rip-roaring sermonette. It was the Caravans’ first big hit and helped make them one of the nation’s most popular gospel groups. Ms. Andrews was the lead singer on other hits like “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand,” “He Won’t Deny Me” and her own composition, “I’m Willing to Wait.”
“Nothing ever worked for the Caravans until Inez started whistling” — hitting the high notes — Ms. Walker often said.
In 1972 Aretha Franklin recorded what became the biggest-selling gospel album of her career, “Amazing Grace.” Its biggest hit was a reprise of Ms. Andrew’s version of “Mary Don’t You Weep.”
Ms. Andrews began her career with two groups in Birmingham, Ala., her hometown: Carter’s Choral Ensemble and the Original Gospel Harmonettes. By the mid-1950s, the Harmonettes were one of the nation’s top gospel groups, with Ms. Andrews the understudy for the group’s lead singer, Dorothy Love Coates. It was Ms. Coates who recommended Ms. Andrews to the Caravans.
In 1962 Ms. Andrews left the Caravans to start her own group, Inez Andrews and the Andrewettes. They toured the country performing songs like “It’s in My Heart” and her composition “(Lord I Wonder) What Will Tomorrow Bring?” But by 1967 she was touring as a soloist, and in 1973 she recorded her biggest hit, “Lord Don’t Move the Mountain.”
“Lord don’t move the mountain/Give me the strength to climb,” she sang.
During her long career Ms. Andrews recorded for many labels, among them Savoy, Jewel and Spirit Feel, and often performed at reunion concerts with the Caravans. In 2002 she was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
From a seductive, bluesy sound — often singing behind the beat — Ms. Andrews could burst into an impassioned, raspy cry.
“Even in songs of rejoicing, her voice has a somber undertone,” Jon Pareles wrote in The New York Times in 1990, “and when she takes on supplicating songs like the midtempo ‘Lord I’ve Tried’ or the glacial minor-key blues of ‘Stand by Me’ — both of which rise, verse by verse, to a near-scream — Ms. Andrews can sound desperate, on the verge of hysteria. Hers is a gospel of terror, and of the relief faith provides.”
Faith came out of hardship for Inez McConico, who was born in Birmingham on April 14, 1929, to Theodore and Pauline McConico. Her mother died when she was 2. Her father, a coal miner, was often out of work during the Depression.
Inez was a teenager when she married Robert Andrews. By the time they divorced, when she was 18, she was the mother of two daughters. Working at menial jobs, including cleaning the steps of the Birmingham courthouse, she earned $18 a week. Still, she sang at church and came to the attention of the Harmonettes.
Ms. Andrews’s second husband, Richard Gibbs Sr., died in 1964; her third husband, Wendell Edinburg, died in 2006.
Besides her son Richard, who is now Ms. Franklin’s pianist, she is survived by three other sons, Casey, Mark and Wendell Edinburg Jr.; three daughters, Legretta Moultry, Gail Perkins and Suzanne Edinburg; 17 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
“For Ms. Andrews, the message had to be about God,” The Chicago Tribune said in 1994.
In one her best-known solos, “Just for Me,” which she wrote and recorded in 1983, she sang, “Just for me, just for me/When you start out blessing, Lord, have one just for me.”
Bishop Inez Andrews (April 14, 1929 – December 19, 2012) was an American gospel singer and recording artist.[1]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Biography
In 1957, Andrews became a member of the gospel group The Caravans; she auditioned for Albertina Walker (Queen Of Gospel Music) and Dorothy Norwood, and they sent for her in Chicago. She resided there, and used Chicago as a base for her performing career.
Along with Albertina Walker, Dorothy Norwood, James Cleveland, Shirley Caesar, Cassietta George, Josephine Howard, Eddie Williams, James Herndon, and Delores Washington, she became one of the major stars of gospel's golden age. The Caravans produced songs such as "Lord Keep Me Day By Day", "Remember Me" "I Won't Be Back" and several other hits in which Andrews was lead vocalist, including "Mary Don't You Weep", "I'm Not Tired Yet", "Make It In", "He Won't Deny Me" and "I'm Willing".
She released a reunion album with The Caravans, Albertina Walker, Dorothy Norwood, and original soprano Delores Washington, entitled Paved the Way.
[edit]Solo career
After a stellar career with the Caravans, she left the group in 1962 and had huge success with her crossover hit, "Lord Don't Move the Mountain". Andrews recorded on many labels since the 1950s and has many albums and hit songs to her credit, some of which she composed herself.
[edit]Personal life
Andrews was a dedicated Christian and family person and raised seven children during her career in gospel music. She died on December 19, 2012 at the age of 83.[2]
[edit]Honors and awards
In 2002 Andrews was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame.
[edit]Discography
[edit]Studio albums
- 1963 - The Need Of Prayer
- 1972 - Lord Don't Move That Mountain
- 1975 - This Is Not The First Time I've Been Last
- 1979 - Chapter 5
- 1981 - I Made A Step
- 1982 - My Testimony
- 1984 - Lord Lift Us Up
- 1986 - Jehovah Is His Name
- 1987 - The Two Sides Of Inez Andrews
- 1988 - If Jesus Came To Your Town Today
- 198? - Close To Thee
- 1990 - A Sinner's Prayer
- 1990 - Lord Lift Us Up
- 1990 - My Testimony
- 1990 - I Made A Step In The Right Direction
- 1990 - Inez Andrews
- 1991 - Raise Up A Nation
- 1991 - Shine On Me
[edit]Live album
- 1974 - Live At The Munich Gospel Festival
[edit]Compilation albums
- 1999 - Headline News
- 2005 - Most Requested Songs
[edit]Singles
- 1972 - I'm Free / Lord Don't Move The Mountain
- 1975 - Help Me / God's Humble Servant
- 1980 - I'm Free / Lord Don't Move The Mountain (re-release)
- 19?? - Close To Thee
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