The Clark Sisters - Encore: The Best of the Clark Sisters

By Peggy Oliver

Dexterity Sounds/Rhino Custom Products

Just about six months after Jacky Clark Chisholm, Twinkie, Dorinda Clark Cole, and Karen Clark Sheard returned for an emphatic live reunion recording, Live - One Last Time, it made sense to release the now out-of-print recordings that pierced the contemporary gospel landscape and the urban market.  Encore: The Best of the Clark Sisters recaptures their glorious heyday in the mid eighties to early nineties within both group and solo ministries spanning over three decades.  All these selections were culminated from the Word Records urban gospel imprint – Rejoice - once a label home to other influential artists including Richard Smallwood.  In addition, there are several interview segments where Jacky and Karen explain how certain songs were vocally and musically arranged, their humbleness in moving from the independent music ranks to major label status, and their ultimate purpose in serving Christ.  The Clark Sisters’ training, both musically and spiritually, is truly in the blood.  Their mother – the late Dr. Mattie Moss Clark - a well-respected choir director and mentor for many gospelteers, taught the ladies in maintaining the highest integrity in both their personal walk and professional lives.

 

Those who are long-time fans fondly remember the scripturally sound and Christ centered lyrics throughout their career, mostly from principal songwriter Twinkie, sweetened with the undeniable harmonies, phrasing, inflections and expressive solos.  For the newer generations of fans, much of Encore’s material is still timeless in the gospel community. 

There’s A Balm In Gilead and More Than A Conqueror, both with mild funk overtones, shed some scriptural light.  The balm referenced on the first song was a very popular healing medicine in biblical times: “Medicine used in the bible days to ease the sick and take the pain away” (Genesis 37:25, Jeremiah 46:11), while Conqueror is about pressing for the eternal prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)