Tony Cummings reports on the late, great singer/songwriter SISTER WYNONA CARR

As he did on her gospel recordings, Art tried a little bit of everything to come up with a hit. As he told Wynona, ". . .be awfully patient. . . It may take a while to establish you in this new field, or, if we find a hit tune, it could happen overnight."

On at least one session, she was backed by the local Los Angeles vocal group, the Turks. The guys can be heard on the Platters-like "Hurt me". Wynona's uptempo sides ranged from the Ruth Brown/LaVern Baker-ish Atlantic-styled "Jump Jack Jump" to the novelty rocker "Nursery Rhyme Rock". Her own material shows a remarkable range - she wrote "Nursery" - and her ballads reveal a very good structural sense, both lyrically and melody-wise, from the gospelish "Now That I'm Free" to the minor-toned "Please Mr Jailer" (a song which would show up 30 years later in the movie Cry Baby).

In 1957 Wynona's New Orleans-flavoured "Should I Ever Love Again" made number 15 in Billboard's R&B chart. In the midst of her greatest success, Carr was diagnosed with tuberculosis and retired to her parents' home in Cleveland for what would be a two-year recovery. Clubs wanted her to perform, but she couldn't and her career suffered irreparable damage. By the time Carr bounced back to health in 1959 she was basically a new artist who had to start all over again. Sonny Bono (of Sonny And Cher fame), who was Little Richard's chauffeur at the time, produced the rousing "I'm Mad At You" in 1959 but it failed to find an audience.

As Billy Vera wrote in his sleevenote for the 1993 Ace compilation 'Jump Jack Jump!' things were winding down at Specialty. "[By 1959] Rupe had lost interest in the music business; at his peak he never would have allowed the release of many of those later Specialty records. In fairness, even a cursory listening to Atlantic records of the late '50s shows that even Wexler/Ertegun et al were cutting watered-down R&B for the masses. No matter, Wynona left as Specialty was winding down operations, playing club dates and the occasional important gig, such as the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas, until 1961, when she signed with Reprise."

The Frank Sinatra-owned label was hot in the easy listening field, releasing records by black crooners like Al Hibbler, Sammy Davis Jr and former Platters lead singer Tony Williams. Sinatra always went first class and Wynona's album was no exception with classy Neal Hefti arrangements, but her mix of faith-inspired ("Down By The Riverside") and pop songs ("I Gotta Stand Tall") still could not find a mainstream audience. In his Gospel Encyclopedia Bil Carpenter summarised the final decades of Wynona's life. "She performed at venues around Cleveland throughout the 1960s but as she moved into her 40s she realised all her chances had been spent. At that time, if a female singer didn't make her mark before the age of 40, it was unlikely that she ever would because the industry (especially in the pop field) would write you off. Carr had no intentions of going back to gospel, so she quit the business and spent her remaining years in a depressive state of mind, passing away on 12th May 1976."

Wynona died largely forgotten though since then the popularity of her classics like "Operator" and "Ball Game" and two Ace/Specialty compilations have reminded a record collecting cognoscenti at least what a towering talent she was. Bil Carpenter wrote, "In hindsight it's easy to see why Carr was not successful as a gospel artist. Most gospel artists didn't emphasise their beauty and she was a beautiful woman who dressed the part. Most gospel artists wrecked churches by holding elongated notes and impassioned squalling. Carr's sensual alto with its subtle rasp was more akin to Pearl Bailey than to the average gospel singer. She sang with much passion, but it was the earthy, swinging passion of the juke joint rather than the humble, backwoods swagger of most church folks. They could not relate to her vocal delivery and they scratched their collective heads over the lyrical content of her well thought out songs. Gospel thrived on clichés and simple lyrics about the Christian faith. 'Ball Game' aside, the church world rejected the romping 'Dragnet For Jesus' and even the clever '15 Rounds With Jesus'. The song '15 Rounds With Jesus' showed Carr boxing Satan to defend God's honor. 'I'm gonna win this fight for Jesus and I'm going 15 rounds,' she sang. 'I only have one worry, I know that he won't fight fair, but with my God to guide me, I can whip him anywhere.'"

Maybe Wynona's difficult life, with its lack of the big hit record and her losing battle with depression, was inevitable in that God never instructed us to fight FOR him but IN him. Now that's a lesson for us all.