Song of the Day 8/4: B.J. Thomas, “Mighty Clouds of Joy”

If white churches had music like this at their services I’d go more often.

After his run as a pop singer, B.J. Thomas had a long career in gospel music. This Cynthia Weil/Barry Mann song sounds like a link between the two, but Thomas recorded it in 1971, while he was still a secular singer, and though it reached No. 34 on the Hot 100, it wasn’t included on the Christian music chart, where Thomas first appeared in 1977.

Al Green also recorded the tune, but at a much slower tempo and with more vocal pyrotechnics at the end.