walking upstream…
Tramaine Hawkins
photo: pianoplaya1983 (english wikipedia) · public domain ↗Tramaine Hawkins
Tramaine Hawkins is an American gospel singer who first gained national attention as teenage lead soprano on the Edwin Hawkins Singers' crossover hit "Oh Happy Day" (1969), then built a Grammy-winning solo career fusing traditional black-church vocal runs with contemporary soul and dance production. Raised in her grandfather Bishop E.E. Cleveland's Bay Area COGIC church, she became one of contemporary gospel's defining vocalists of the 1980s.
the sound in question
1985
Fall Down (Spirit of Love)Tramaine Hawkins
walk the tributaries ↓
Mahalia Jackson1950s · Gospel / Spiritual
Mahalia Jackson, gospel's defining voice, was named directly alongside the Caravans and the Staple Singers as one of Hawkins' formative influences.
listen: upstream & heresource: Encyclopedia.com — Tramaine Hawkins biography, names the Caravans, Staple Singers, and Mahalia Jackson as influences ↗
1947
Move On Up a Little HigherMahalia Jackson
1985
Fall Down (Spirit of Love)Tramaine Hawkins
listen forA held note swelling from a near-whisper to a full shout without losing pitch control — Jackson's "Move On Up a Little Higher" is the template; Hawkins works the same dynamic swell into a dance groove on "Fall Down (Spirit of Love)."
The Caravans1950s-60s · Gospel
Encyclopedia sources list Hawkins' own influences as the Caravans, the Staple Singers, and Mahalia Jackson — the Caravans' Chicago "gospel supergroup" sound (Inez Andrews, Albertina Walker) modeled the driving, call-and-response vocal drama Hawkins built her own runs on.
listen: upstream & heresource: Encyclopedia.com — Tramaine Hawkins biography, names the Caravans, Staple Singers, and Mahalia Jackson as influences ↗
1958
Mary Don't You WeepThe Caravans
1985
ChangedTramaine Hawkins
listen forA lead vocal pushed higher and higher by the group testifying behind her — compare the rising intensity of the Caravans' "Mary Don't You Weep" to the build in Hawkins' "Changed."
The Staple Singers1970s · Gospel / Soul / R&B
The Staple Singers' warm, blues-inflected gospel-soul crossover — Pops Staples' guitar and the family's close harmonies — is part of the same gospel lineage Hawkins named as formative alongside the Caravans and Mahalia Jackson.
listen: upstream & here
1956
Uncloudy DayThe Staple Singers
1986
In the Morning TimeTramaine Hawkins
listen forUnhurried, bluesy phrasing sitting under a hymn melody — Hawkins' "In the Morning Time" carries the same relaxed gospel-soul pocket as the Staples' early Vee-Jay sides.