E-Mail This Article to a Friend Singing for King The Barrett Sisters make another "Joyful Noise" BY TED DROZDOWSKI

DeLois Campbell once sang for the Reverend Martin Luther King, when the great civil-rights leader and peacemaker was visiting Chicago. "Mahalia Jackson, who was a friend of mine and of Dr. King, brought me to the rally to sing with her, and she asked me to sing lead on ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord.’ "

This Sunday at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre, DeLois will sing for Dr. King again when the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center honors him with its annual "Joyful Noise" celebration of his life. Mrs. Campbell is better known by her maiden name, Barrett, and for being the lead voice of the Barrett Sisters, the gospel singing group she and her sisters Billie and Rodessa began more than a half-century ago. Through the ensuing decades and more than 10 albums’ worth of recordings, they’ve raised their voices in the service of the Lord — first at the Morning Star Baptist Church on the South Side of Chicago and eventually on stages and in churches and revival meetings across the globe.

Nonetheless, this is the first time the group — whose members are all approaching age 70 — will have appeared in the Boston area, singing their old-style praise music to piano-and-drums accompaniment on a bill that will also include local gospel artists the Union Baptist Church Choir, Just 4 Praize, the Reverend Clarence Powell, and Confirmation. Although the Barretts’ albums — including their most recent release, Best of the Barrett Sisters (MCA) — often feature contemporary arrangements with hot tempos and synthesizers, their live appearances, DeLois explains, are another matter. "We like to sing just the way we did when we were starting out under the direction of our aunt, who ran our church’s choir."

Through the years, DeLois in particular has been a star of the gospel world. She was a featured vocalist with the Roberta Martin Singers, and she became a friend of not only Mahalia Jackson, the queen of American spiritual singing, but also Thomas A. Dorsey, the composer and former bluesman who wrote "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," "Peace in the Valley," and dozens of other classic spirituals after he got the Word, earning the title "the Father of Gospel Music" along the way. Dorsey was a prime example of the substantial give-and-take between African-American secular and sacred music — after all, this was a man who began his career with the double entendre blues tune "It’s Tight like That." "I always liked blues when I was growing up, but my parents would never let me sing it," says DeLois. "They thought it wasn’t right for a young lady to sing that low-down music. We had a very religious household." Nonetheless, when filmmaker George T. Nierenberg decided to tell the story of gospel music with his 1982 documentary Say Amen, Somebody, he drafted both Dorsey and the Barretts.

DeLois says that "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" and "If I Can Help Somebody" will be among the selections the Barrett Sisters will perform at Sanders: "Those were two of Dr. King’s favorites." This is the 17th year that the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center has honored King with a "Joyful Noise" celebration, but this time the CMAC will also honor the Barrett Sisters with a "Hat Party & Reception" the night before the concert. The event’s name addresses the tradition by which African-Americans — especially women — dress to the nines for church, often topping their stylish outfits with hats that seem to come from a high-couture version of The Jetsons.

"When I was growing up and for many years after, the church was the place you dressed for in your finest clothes," says DeLois. She laughs when I suggest that at some churches, Sunday morning seems like a competition, or at least a fashion show. Then she says, "Maybe some people just wanna look their best for God."

The Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center’s "Joyful Noise" takes place this Sunday, January 18, at 5:30 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street in Harvard Square. Tickets are $25 and $30; call (617) 496-2222. For information about the Hat Party, call (617) 547-1400 extension 10, or visit www.cmacusa.org.