Biography
Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark earned the designation Godmother of Contemporary Gospel through her work as singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, organist, and pianist, even though her name never reached everyday familiarity; the incisive yet inviting productions she supplied to her enduring family gospel outfit the Clark Sisters helped define the texture of present-day R&B and soul. Born November 15, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan, she received her earliest piano instruction from her mother, gospel innovator Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, while still an infant and could perform complete pieces on the instrument by age four. She moved to the organ near age nine and made her first recorded appearance at twelve as organist on the Southwest Michigan State Choir album A Closer Walk with Thee, remaining her mother’s regular organist until Dr. Clark’s death in 1994.
Although Clark composed and produced several albums for Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, her most recognized writing and production credits belong to the Clark Sisters, the storied sibling group that also featured Karen, Dorinda, and Jacky Clark. After completing classical studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and absorbing jazz, reggae, R&B, and later hip-hop, disco, and ragtime, she forged arrangements that merged these influences into a forward-looking hybrid, moving gospel decisively into contemporary territory. Beginning to write material in her teens during the 1970s, she employed distinctive vocal-style organ runs and flourishes that lent the songs both substance and dimension, operating within the Clark Sisters much as Brian Wilson did with the Beach Boys by shaping expansive sonic statements through the group.
The Clark Sisters reached secular audiences and packed dancefloors with the 1981 hit single “You Brought the Sunshine,” delivering a gospel sound unlike anything previously heard. Clark’s singular and consistently arresting organ work contributed heavily to that breakthrough, securing her the title Queen of the Hammond B-3 in gospel circles and beyond. She departed the Clark Sisters in 1989 to concentrate on her own ministry, yet she kept supplying production, songwriting, and organ contributions to assorted projects while issuing solo albums such as Praise Belongs to God (1979), Ye Shall Receive Power (1981), Comin’ Home (1982), Masterpiece (1996), Live in Charlotte (2002), and Home Once Again: Live in Detroit (2004). Remaining active more than a decade into the twenty-first century, she released With Humility in 2011 and Live & Unplugged in 2013.
Although Clark composed and produced several albums for Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, her most recognized writing and production credits belong to the Clark Sisters, the storied sibling group that also featured Karen, Dorinda, and Jacky Clark. After completing classical studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and absorbing jazz, reggae, R&B, and later hip-hop, disco, and ragtime, she forged arrangements that merged these influences into a forward-looking hybrid, moving gospel decisively into contemporary territory. Beginning to write material in her teens during the 1970s, she employed distinctive vocal-style organ runs and flourishes that lent the songs both substance and dimension, operating within the Clark Sisters much as Brian Wilson did with the Beach Boys by shaping expansive sonic statements through the group.
The Clark Sisters reached secular audiences and packed dancefloors with the 1981 hit single “You Brought the Sunshine,” delivering a gospel sound unlike anything previously heard. Clark’s singular and consistently arresting organ work contributed heavily to that breakthrough, securing her the title Queen of the Hammond B-3 in gospel circles and beyond. She departed the Clark Sisters in 1989 to concentrate on her own ministry, yet she kept supplying production, songwriting, and organ contributions to assorted projects while issuing solo albums such as Praise Belongs to God (1979), Ye Shall Receive Power (1981), Comin’ Home (1982), Masterpiece (1996), Live in Charlotte (2002), and Home Once Again: Live in Detroit (2004). Remaining active more than a decade into the twenty-first century, she released With Humility in 2011 and Live & Unplugged in 2013.
Albums
