The singing evangelist

Shirley Ceasar celebrates 40 years of gospel greatness with a concert in Raleigh

After nearly five decades in the gospel business, it's a difficult question. So Shirley Caesar takes a few moments before coming up with a three-part answer:

The first time she heard her name called at the Grammy Awards.

The day Nelson Mandela said her songs got him through tough times in prison.

The tear-filled prayer session with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

These are the memories that stand out for Caesar from the years since she sold her biology textbook to buy a $9 bus ticket and start her singing career in earnest. It has been a remarkable career, one that transformed itself to include a vibrant ministry, 11 Grammy Awards and a place in Oprah Winfrey's "Legends" ball.

She's about to enjoy another special moment. It has been 40 years since the release of Caesar's first solo album, and to mark the occasion, she will appear Saturday in concert at Mount Calvary Word of Faith church in Raleigh, where she ministers with her husband. The concert will cap her annual weeklong church conference, in which visiting preachers minister at the North Raleigh Hilton. All seats for the concert are free, and the performance will be recorded for release on CD and DVD.

Caesar, 68, recently sat down for a lengthy interview in her North Raleigh home. The talk began with the beginning -- her birth at home in Durham -- and ended with a trip to the entertainment center, where her Grammys are displayed above the living-room television. In between, she talked about traveling, family, church and her theory about why God has chosen her to reach so many people.

"He looks at faithfulness. It's possible that he saw my faithfulness," she says. "Even during my times of discouragement, I've tried to be faithful."

A fateful start

The 10th of 13 children, Caesar was born into a musical family. Her father, who died when she was young, led a gospel group, the Just Come Four Quartet. Later, she performed with her siblings.

She got her break in August 1958, after the Caravans, a gospel group, came to Raleigh for an afternoon performance. One of their members was sick, and Caesar tried to get a message to the group that she could sing the missing parts.

It didn't make it. So she followed the group to Kinston, where they were preforming that evening.

This time the message got through, and she was invited on stage. Before the end of the week, the group had asked her mother if Shirley and her powerful alto could join them on the road. Caesar, whose lack of money had forced her to quit classes at what is now N.C. Central University, sold her biology textbook so she could buy the bus ticket.

This time in the Caravans helped establish her in the gospel community. The Rev. Marvin Winans, who grew up in the famous Detroit gospel family, remembers those early songs well.

"As a little kid growing up in a house where all you could play was gospel music, the Caravans were quite the stars," says Winans, who will be the keynote speaker for this evening's event at the North Raleigh Hilton.

She left the Caravans in 1966 to start a solo career. Caesar titled her first album, "I'll Go," and, she says, "I've been going ever since."

A source of inspiration

Caesar accumulated a number of gospel hits in the ensuing years, including "No Charge," "Hold My Mule" and "Don't Drive Your Mama Away." Famous for her song intros that resemble mini sermons, Caesar likes to call herself a "singing evangelist."

Busy with her career, she put off marriage until her wedding in 1984 to Harold Ivory Williams, the senior bishop of Mount Calvary Holy Churches of America.

About the same time, she received a bachelor's degree from Shaw University and served on the Durham City Council. And she kept making records.

Other than a couple of weeks during high school when she helped out at a local store, Caesar's only real jobs have been singing and preaching. Today, she and her husband are the co-pastors at Mount Calvary Word of Faith church in Raleigh, which counts about 400 faithful members.

A member of the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Caesar bridges the gap between gospel pioneers and contemporaries, says David Gough, the hall's president.

"She's a big part of both," he says. "We all look up to her for being that source of inspiration and stick-to-it-iveness."

Winans admires the fact that Caesar has managed to stay relevant to gospel audiences for so many decades. On her most recent album, "I Know the Truth," Caesar rapped on the title track.

"It's almost unreal, the power of her voice and the popularity she continues to attain," he says. "There's no telling where you'll see Shirley."