Oh Happy Day

(Monterey)

First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2004, Volume 11, #7

Written by John Metzger

In 1981, five gospel greats — Shirley Caesar, The Reverend James Cleveland, Walter Hawkins and the Hawkins Family, Mighty Clouds of Joy, and The Clark Sisters — united at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, California to deliver what turned out to be a rousing, uplifting evening of music. The event was filmed and eventually released in theaters nationwide as Gospel, where it received tremendous critical acclaim. The final product, however, had been pared down from its original length, and the latest installment Oh Happy Day assembles the missing pieces into an hour-long set of rapturous bliss. Most notable are the soul stirring renditions of I’ve Been in the Storm too Long and We’re Blessed by Mighty Clouds of Joy, although Shirley Caesar and The Reverend James Cleveland respectively offer their own moving slices of spiritual transcendence on Miracle Worker and God Has Smiled on Me. While Oh Happy Day isn’t likely to convert new fans, it does make a worthy, if lesser, companion piece for those who found the original movie to be exhilarating.

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Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2004 The Music Box