>> Stephen Winick: So, we are
here in the Coolidge Auditorium
of the Library of Congress.
And we're here with Cora Harvey
Armstrong and her family.
Cora is a wonderful, I'm sorry,
I wonderful gospel singer,
pianist, band leader, and
choir director, and preacher,
and many other things.
And so we are going
to talk to her
about her career and her life.
And we have her two sisters at
her three nieces here as well.
So, why don't you teach say
your name for the record?
>> Clara Harvey Jackson:
Starting with me?
Clara Jackson.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And I'm Cora Armstrong.
>> Virginia Harvey Young:
I'm Virginia B.B. Young.
>> Clarissa Jackson:
Clarissa Jackson.
>> Kimberley Young:
Kimberley Young.
>> Ruth Young: Ruth Young.
>> Stephen Winick: Well,
welcome to all of you,
and we're really
glad to have you here
at the Library of Congress.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Thank you.
>> And you gave us a magnificent
concert earlier today,
which should also be on video on
the Library of Congress website.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yay!
Yay!
>> Stephen Winick: So,
let's talk a little bit
about your family starting out.
I know that, that you
have a grandfather
who has been important to your
songwriting and your career.
So, tell me a little
bit about that.
And any of you can
speak about that.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Okay,
well, when we were little girls,
before we started
school, we gave papa,
which was Reverend
Watson Harvey,
that was our dad's daddy,
we gave him a talent show
out in the front yard.
And we were able
to sing in harmony.
And so when ma got home,
he asked her, did you know
that these children can sing.
And so we did it all for mama,
because we did the talent show
for daddy, I mean for
papa, so, you know,
and that's how it
all got started,
standing out in the yard,
standing out there
giving papa a talent show.
>> Stephen Winick: Wonderful.
And who was he?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
He was our grandfather.
Yeah, he was our dad's daddy.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick:
So, wonderful.
And so that sort
of got you started.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yeah.
And then as people heard, you
know, you know, when your,
our mother sang, and so
she sang at funerals,
she sang in the choir at
church and all of that.
So, she would get
invitations to go sing
at the neighboring churches.
And so some kind of way, she
started taking us with her.
And then people started
hearing that we could sing.
And then so people started
inviting the Harvey sisters
to come and sing something.
I will make you fishers of men.
So, you know, and it
just grew from that.
>> Stephen Winick: So, how
old were you at that time?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Oh, we were young,
because we hadn't
started first grade.
I was not in first
grade, because we were all
at home with papa, right?
>> Virginia Harvey Young:
Yeah, that would make us,
I guess, three, four, or five.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yeah,
and so not long after that is
when I started taking
piano lessons
with Ms. Elsie Green,
Elsie Holmes Ranier.
And I was about five
or six years old.
And ma was the one playing.
And we were singing.
A lot of times we did it,
you know, with no music.
But then when we
started singing with her,
she was the one playing.
And then as I grew and
got a little bit better,
a little bit better,
then I started playing.
And so it kind of like just
grew and grew and grew.
>> Stephen Winick: And that
became the Harvey family group
that we've heard about?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: And did you
play mostly in your own church,
or did you go to other
places as well to play?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Well, I was, let's see,
I was playing at
the home church.
But, I mean, they sang in the
choirs, and ma was singing
in the choir, daddy was singing
in the choir too
about that time.
And so as a group, unless
they had something special,
we didn't really too much
sing as a group at the church.
A lot of people would invite
us to come to other places,
and we did most of our
singing at other churches.
We did a homecoming one year.
We did a concert one year.
And our Aunt Mary
Hill was our narrator.
And ma and the three of us did
this concert for the church.
But that was after
we were teenagers.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: So, you,
you talked about you were
starting piano lessons.
How did that get started?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Hated it.
Hated it. Hated it.
Hated it so bad because
everybody else was
outside playing.
And every day, 30 minutes,
ma made me practice every day
the Lord says I got to sit up at
that piano and practice.
I didn't want to.
But it looked like for my
whole life, it just looked
like all I could do
was a C scale, C scale,
C scale, back and forth.
And so I really hated it.
But Miss Elsie was
really a stickler.
She's still alive.
She lives in Baltimore.
She was a stickler about reading
and playing what you see.
Because I could hear what
it was supposed to sound
like after I played
it once or twice.
So, I would just try to
imitate what I was doing.
And she insisted, no, no,
you have to play it
the way you see it.
And I'm glad for it now.
Back then, I wasn't all
that happy about it.
I'm going to tell you, I used
to be so angry with music.
You know how you watch TV
shows and the credits come up?
Anything that had
music cord in there,
and I would make pretend
I was shooting them.
I kid you not.
I did. I hated it that much.
And these two, these two started
out taking piano lessons too.
>> Virginia Harvey Young: But it
was mama's dream that all three
of us would be able
to play piano.
And so mama would go work so
she'd have the extra money
to pay for three sets
of music lessons.
So, mama would work
all Saturdays.
And daddy's responsibility was
to take us to music lesson.
And this one Saturday,
me and Cal Lou [phonetic]
started crying
because we didn't want to go.
>> Clara Harvey Jackson:
Because we hadn't practiced.
>> Virginia Harvey Young: And
daddy didn't want to hear it.
And so that Saturday,
daddy let us stay home.
And that was the beginning of
our not taking lessons anymore.
But for some reason,
I don't know why,
Cora had to go that Saturday.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
I cried too,
and they wouldn't let me stay.
>> Ruth Young: Which
I think is crazy,
because Mema [phonetic] made
me and Kim take piano lessons,
but we took piano lessons
from Reverend Brown.
And we still had that
red van at the time
that didn't have no air in it.
And I remember her
taking us down there,
and I used to hate
going down there too
because Reverend Brown was hard
on you, and I hadn't practiced,
and we was in the van, and
I was telling Mema, "Mema,
don't make me go in there.
Don't make me go in there.
I don't want to play the piano.
I don't want to play the piano."
And finally she let
us stop taking it.
We took, what, maybe two,
two, maybe three lessons,
and she just was like,
"all right, I'm not going
to make you all do it."
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And Reverend Brown
that she's talking about,
he's still alive too.
His name is Reverend
Robert D. Brown.
He was my third piano teacher.
Yeah, Miss Elsie was my first.
A lady by the name Mrs.
Phillips [inaudible] who's gone
to heaven, she was my second.
And Reverend Brown was my third.
And Reverend Brown had
a little red stick,
teeny little red stick.
>> Ruth Young: He still had it.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yes,
and if something wasn't quite
right the way you were looking
at, the way you were playing,
and what you were seeing,
Reverend Brown would tap your
fingers with this red stick.
Man, I'm going to
tell you, many days,
I wanted to tell him
a couple of things.
>> Stephen Winick: That's an
old fashioned piano teacher.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
>> Stephen Winick yeah, so,
but, I mean, so, you didn't want
to go to these lessons, but
now you're glad you did, right?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
You don't know how glad I am
that the Lord and I know it was
just all God because he knew
that something was in me.
But you just don't know
what I had to go through.
My life has been a
real spiral downward.
And these two tried their best,
along with mom and daddy to try
to get me to hear from
heaven and come to my senses.
But I had men on my mind.
And one in particular who
the Lord took him home
that I thought, I don't know
what I thought about him,
but he was a help
to get me downward.
And I'm so grateful that
all of that I learned,
through all of those
relationships,
through all of that
hardship, I told somebody,
it's in the valley
where you grow.
And so there's nowhere
to go but up.
And all of that has
made me who I am now.
All of that.
And it couldn't have
happened any other way.
>> Stephen Winick: Right.
So, you alluded in the concert
to that a little bit too,
that there was some drinking
and some drugs involved in that.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Oh, man.
And going to every, every
Sunday, I'm at church,
because at home church, I'm the
musician at the home church.
Every Sunday, I'm there.
I'm at Virginia State
the rest of the week.
Every Sunday, I am in the church
because I needed
the church check.
No matter how small it
was, I used that check
to support my habit and
to keep fellows interested
because I had a little
bit of money.
And that's the truth.
I remember one Sunday, everybody
is quiet, and I feel like,
is something going on,
but I just don't know
what's happening.
When I open my eyes,
Reverend Smith,
Reverend A.B. Smith is standing
up in the pulpit looking at me.
The choir is sitting there,
everybody is looking at me,
ready for the invitational hymn.
I'm dead asleep.
Had no clue what was going on.
But it was just don't you
all take none of this up.
It just, that kind of lifestyle
that I had chosen could
have been dead years ago.
I had one husband
that really was trying
to kill me for a season.
And the Lord kept me alive and
got me out of that relationship.
And I'm so thankful
for all of it
because it helped
make me who I am now.
And so, you know,
it's been a struggle.
It's been hard.
But it helps me in writing music
because I know some things.
I know what God is able to do.
It helps us as we
minister, all of us,
because these girls right here,
they're growing and
learning too.
But they're still, you know,
in the beginning processes.
You know, they're
like, you know,
20 some years younger than us.
But it's just the fact
that what you've got to go
through helps mold
you into whoever it is
that God is going
to use to minister.
We couldn't have sung like
that today if we hadn't lived
through some of these things
that we've lived through.
>> Virginia Harvey Young:
Can I say something?
>> Stephen Winick: Sure.
>> Virginia Harvey
Young: Because, see,
me and Cal Lou [phonetic]
had this offer too
because during the time
that Cora was dating
and later married
her first husband,
we would have engagements
to sing,
and we would be standing there
with mama waiting for Cora,
and either Cora wouldn't
show up,
or either she would leave early.
Well, I couldn't play
the piano because I quit.
Cal Lou [phonetic] couldn't
play the piano because she quit.
Mama thought she
could play the piano.
But really she couldn't.
And people would be
expecting the Harvey family.
And Cora was a big
portion of it.
And we would just have
to do what we would
just have to make do.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
>> Ruth Young: Because that
made us who we are too.
[ Laughter ]
>> Stephen Winick: But I think
the joy that you all have
as a family, and being
together on stage and also here
in this interview, just comes
out from all of these
experiences.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, and see,
we live in the same
neighborhood.
Kim and Ruthie just
recently, last year,
I think, moved to Richmond.
But all the rest of us,
we live right in Newton.
I live with B.B. and her
husband, and Clara lives right
across the yard with her family
over there with Riz [phonetic].
Yeah, we're all right
there together.
>> Stephen Winick: And that's
where you grew up, right?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Right there.
>> Stephen Winick: So,
where is that in Virginia?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: It's
in the eastern, the northern end
of King and Queen County.
King and Queen is about 75 miles
long, but only 10 miles wide.
Yeah. It's amazing.
So, we live in the north end.
And we went to school at Lawson
Elementary in the north end.
The high school sits right
dead middle of the county.
And it's so both
ends come together
to go to the high school.
That's where we went
to high school.
Yeah. But we were right there in
King and Queen, right in Newton.
>> Stephen Winick: Right.
So, you mentioned
Virginia State.
Talk about your association
with the university.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Oh, my goodness gracious.
I got there in '74, and
I was a real good student
for two semesters, because
I didn't know anybody,
I was scared to death,
and mama said,
"you are not going
to be a mortician."
You are going to school
to be a schoolteacher.
I didn't want to do that, but
she said, "oh, yes, you will."
And so I got there, first
two semesters, I'm great.
My third semester,
which is my second year,
I heard the gospel choir.
At that time, Larry
Bland, a great musician,
was directing the
choir at that time.
And I joined the choir,
singing in the alto section.
And Larry found out I
could sing and play.
And so I got to sing a
lot of solos and stuff.
And then finally, he
decides to retire.
I'm, you know, here I am,
I'm put right into place
with the next director.
And I enjoyed that so
much, traveling all
over the place with the choir.
Of course, my grade point
average dropped to, you know,
zero because I wasn't
going to class.
I had changed my
major by that time
from elementary education
to music education.
Man, I just blew it.
But I was directing
the gospel choir.
And back then, it was just all
God, they let me stay on campus
with free room and board
until about I had left
in about '80 or '81.
Because the students
in the gospel choir
got a half hour credit.
They didn't have
to pay me a salary.
Just let me stay there and eat.
And I'm just directing
the choir.
Had to go to Florida to
a conference to sing.
They couldn't insure me on
the bus, so they paid for me
to get a Greyhound to ride
from Petersburg to Florida.
Oh, man, that was an experience.
And when I got there, and when
I got, I had to wait for them,
almost a day for them
to drive the other bus.
And I'm sitting in the lobby
because there's no
place for me to stay.
And, you know, an
experience like that,
my mom and dad never knew some
of the stuff that I was doing.
But they thought
I was at school.
I'm in Florida.
But, you know, it all
taught me something.
And I never did finish
my music degree.
But I'm thankful that two years
ago, I got a master's degree
from the School of Theology
at Virginia Union University.
>> Stephen Winick: All
right, congratulations.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Thank you, sir.
That was all but
I'm so glad for it.
>> Stephen Winick: All
right, so, one other thing
that you do is you write
and compose a lot of songs.
How did you begin
as a songwriter?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
You know,
I don't exactly remember
how that came.
But it just, I found that
I could write poetry.
Our granddaddy, the same
papa that we sang for out
in the yard, he was
a great poet.
And one of our cousins
who was here today,
she's got this huge
book of papa's poems
that he has written
over the years.
And I can write poetry too.
Well, I just started
doing it at Virginia State
because we did an album
called Every Day With Jesus,
and I wrote most of
the music on the album.
So, you know, it just
kind of like came to me.
I actually, God has blessed me
so much, I can, I have been,
I've had the opportunity more
than one time to go to sing
for a pastor's anniversary
or something.
And I can look at the program
and read the pastor's
history or whatever.
And the Holy Spirit will give
me lyrics to write, you know,
right there, so it's time to
sing, I'm singing this song
about the pastor,
or whoever it is.
You know, he just blesses
me to do that kind of thing.
And I'm just so grateful
for that.
Just for me, that's one
of my favorite songs
because of the fact that God
uses scripture, because a lot
of my songs now are
scripture, scripturally based.
But, and I've written
a love song
because my third husband
really was my friend,
and I loved him dearly,
and we worked together
for me to sing at a wedding.
And the night of the wedding
rehearsal, Anthony was so sweet
to me because we were
staying in this dump,
but he was just being so sweet.
This song came, and it said,
I thank God for giving me you.
And I wrote that that night
in this dump and sang it
at the wedding the next morning.
And every now and then, I
still get the opportunity
to sing it even though he's
gone down, you know, well, but,
you know, I do, somebody
else is coming.
The right one is going to
be coming after a while.
Yes.
>> Stephen Winick: All right,
so, you mentioned that,
you know, that lyrics
will come to you.
What about the music, where
does the is it similar?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Just kind of sitting, well,
it just kind of comes,
just kind of comes.
And I'm not exactly sure how.
I know it's God, but
it just kind of comes.
It doesn't, you know,
I don't think about it.
It just kind of comes.
I remember one day I was
sitting at the high school.
B.B. is a schoolteacher.
And she was a I used to
substitute at the high school,
and they had this
one choir class.
Not really a choir class.
It was the class where they
held all the problem children.
And they said, you know,
you help them learn to sing.
Do something with them.
And I said something about
Jesus in the classroom.
And this boy speaks
up and he said, "hey,
you can't say Jesus in here."
I said, "go report me .
I want to go home."
You know, terrible day,
right, terrible day.
At the end of school,
all of them are gone,
I'm sitting at the old piano
in the choir room, I'm crying,
I'm mad at God, I have
lost everything I had,
because after Anthony,
I lost everything.
I'm substituting
in a school system.
I don't want to be a teacher.
I'm hating all of this.
And he was taking
all my stuff from me.
I try to do the best
I can for you.
You don't love me.
You just treat me like this.
Sitting at that piano,
a song comes
that says, I am here for you.
Troubled thoughts, soul
unrested, burning down,
is your patience tested,
seem like every day
there's nothing new,
so tired of working, but you
can't go home, can't even talk
on the telephone, but Jesus
whispers, I am here for you.
Man, man, man, man.
Just phenomenal how he
just gives me stuff.
And last year, I got the
opportunity to sing that song
at the Hampton Ministers'
Conference down in Hampton.
And the Holy Spirit
moved in that place.
And I need to tell you.
Because everybody is
going through something.
But then to hear that even
though all the stuff you've got
to go through, that Jesus
whispers and tells you,
I'm right here for you.
Ah, just makes you feel good
on the inside, you know?
>> Stephen Winick:
Beautiful song.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: It is.
It is. It is.
It really is.
And I'm thankful for it.
Because he could have
given it to anybody.
He gave it to me.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: On one
of the nastiest days of my life.
I wanted to smack that boy.
But you can't do that.
>> Stephen Winick: So, speaking
of hard days and hard times,
you've alluded in other
interviews that I've read
to your father's death being
kind of a turning point.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Oh, man, yes, 1999.
When the Lord took
daddy, daddy was mama,
mama would fuss at
the drop of a hat.
You always knew that if
you did something wrong,
she was going to get you.
She chased Cal Lou
[phonetic] one time,
and Cal Lou [phonetic], but,
you know, she was the fusser,
and she was the one that
was like the disciplinarian.
Daddy was totally different.
He was the comical
one in the family.
And he, he was my he helped me.
He didn't fuss at me.
I would know that
he was displeased.
But he would do what
he could to help me.
When the Lord took him home,
and ma and I were standing there
with him at the hospital,
and we saw him leave us,
I just didn't know what to do.
And during the time leading
up to his funeral service,
I was sitting, I had a
home then and I was sitting
in the bathroom by the mirror,
and I prayed, and I asked God,
look, I don't know what to do.
And I started crying.
And I know that you
are somewhere.
Help me. He started
changing my life that day.
He started changing
my life that day.
And I can't tell you that
everything was perfect.
But he just did things
in such a way
where I wasn't handling
things the way that I used to.
I still had issues
with, you know, fellows,
because I liked fellows, but,
but, you know, it was different,
it was different, and
I really accepted Jesus
as my Lord and savior for real.
I mean, because, I mean,
you called his name,
you sing his songs, you know,
that's not a real relationship.
We have a real relationship now.
And I know that I'm saved.
And I'm thankful that
even as he took daddy,
he gave me his spirit and he
gave me himself to replace
and to make that spot in
my heart filled with him.
And I know, I know that daddy
and ma are just so proud of us.
I know they are.
And I know that they watched
us today from their cloud,
their cloud of witnesses, and
I know they're cheering us on.
And I'm so thankful for it.
Things that I wish I could
apologize to them for,
for putting them through, like
telling Cal Lou [phonetic]
and B.B. that I'm so sorry for
some of the stuff that I did.
I wish I could, you know, have
the opportunity to tell them.
I know I kept them up late lots
of nights and I cost them a lot
of money, and I cost them
a lot of time and health,
but I know that they understand
now, I know they forgive me.
Yeah. That changed my life.
That changed my life for real.
>> Stephen Winick: And
what about the sisters?
Do you have anything
to add to the story?
>> Virginia Harvey Young: We are
very boring compared to Cora.
But, you know, but also, we
felt like we had to be good,
we had to be good,
because I can remember,
and this didn't just
start either,
I can remember coming home with
a report card in grade school,
and I would have As and Bs,
you know, and I would be trying
to show mom my report card.
Well, we all had to line
up, even though we weren't
in the same school,
and, of course,
Cal Lou [phonetic] had hers, Cal
Lou's [phonetic] was wonderful,
and then Cora had hers.
And then, of course,
mama would look at Cora,
and Cora's had something
that wasn't right in conduct,
or she had a D or
F in something,
and it was like mama
would forget all
about our report card, and
she would just lay into Cora.
[ Laughter ]
And I guess that's
why being kids,
me and Cal Lou [phonetic]
became best buddies.
Yeah, we became best friends.
And so, and then Cora would
kind of be doing her thing.
But we kind of stuck
together kind of tight
because Cora always had
something, something going on.
And we did too.
But we got a test to
fly under the radar.
[ Laughter ]
>> Clara Harvey Jackson:
No, not me,
because I was the quiet child.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: This
is the quiet child one, yes.
She got married first.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, it's
lovely that you are all here
on stage, though,
now performing too.
That's a whole other
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Oh, it's wonderful.
It's wonderful because it's
like we've been together
all of our lives.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick:
So, let's talk.
You had alluded to some
trips around the world.
I mean, Japan, for example.
What was that like, and
how did that come about?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Oh, my goodness gracious.
I was a part of Gospel Music
Workshop of America for a while.
And I met a guy by the
name of Ronnie Rucker
who was the director of the
Gospel Music Workshop of Japan.
He was he came to
the United States
and brought a Japanese
choir with him.
And he just, you know,
we just hit it off.
And he had a conference that was
going to be coming up in Japan,
asked me if I would be
interested in coming.
I said, "man, yeah."
And the first year I
went was in Kobe, Japan.
And I taught a week's
class of piano.
And it was so amazing to me
because the students
videotapes my hands.
The very next day,
they could come back
and do just what
I did yesterday.
I mean, it was phenomenal.
And then at the end of the
week, we did this concert
where I was the guest
soloist choir
of over 600 Japanese
people on this huge stage.
And they sing English.
They sing gospel music in
English, even though some
of them don't understand
what they're saying.
It was phenomenal.
And it was so funny
because everywhere we went,
because I'm a big black woman,
and at that time, I had hair,
and I had a big gray
Afro, bigger than yours,
and I had this big,
so I'm walking around,
and all of these people about
this height all around me full
of love, the most
loving people I ever met
in my whole life,
and it was wonderful.
Everywhere we went, it
was always, you know,
and the Lord gave me a chance
just to love on people.
So, that was wonderful.
The very next year, he invited
me back, and we were in Tokyo.
And that was even bigger.
And so it was just wonderful.
I haven't been back
since that time.
But it was just so wonderful.
Now, this guy by the name
of [inaudible] is
how I got to Italy.
He lives in the Hampton
Rhodes area.
He traveled there
for years and years
and years every year
around Christmastime.
And one year, he invited
me to come and go and sing
with his group as a
guest soloist in Italy.
And we traveled to
different cities every day.
And I had never done anything
like that before, you know,
on a constant basis
like that, days.
And we stayed two weeks.
But it was wonderful.
And they called me
Mama Cora in Italy.
They called me Mama Cora.
And we would every day, we
were in a different city.
Cold as ice there,
but it was wonderful.
Big auditoriums.
I mean, just beautiful places.
And then I went with him I
think for about five years.
And then one year, he asked
us to go together with him.
And that was really good
because I was used to being
with these birds, you know?
And so we had a really
good time.
B.B. didn't enjoy it as much
I think it's Clara and I did,
you know, because B.B.
was always wondering
about what the children
are doing, you know,
we're calling home and all that.
Clara was more, they're
all right,
I don't need to call them.
But it was so fun.
And on YouTube is some of the
concerts that we actually did
in some of the cities in Italy.
Yeah. And so we went
to Italy, we went to,
we went to a part of,
it was three different countries
we went to, one of these
that we were in, and I can't
remember now the names.
But it was just so great to see
other people, other cultures.
And they just love.
And every show we ended
with Oh, Happy Day.
And everybody is on
their feet and dancing.
In Venice, Venice, scariest
thing I ever did was trying
to get in the little boat
with ice on the steps.
Here's this big black woman
trying to get down these steps
and get in this boat
that's way down there.
And, honey, I froze.
I froze. And I couldn't move.
And what, our drummer at that
time was Ricky Richardson.
Ricky got, I know the
Holy Spirit moved him,
and Ricky some kind of way
moved me so that when I fell
into that boat, I fell
into a man's arms.
And I took, I cried
and cried and cried.
But then when we got to the
other side, it was much easier.
That was the place where
we sang Oh, Happy Day.
The floor started
changing color lights,
and everybody got to dancing.
Oh, it was so cool.
It was so cool.
It was so cool.
Now, some experiences.
I almost fell off
the stage one time.
And Earl cut me from the back.
Both his hands up on my
butt trying to keep me
from hitting the floor.
I mean, stuff that
just happens, you know?
But it was just,
you've just got to laugh
and keep moving forward,
you know?
Not be so, you know, stuck
in, you know, because,
I mean, life is hard enough.
So, just enjoy yourself,
you know?
And I think that that's
what we try to get
across when we're singing
and onstage and stuff.
We, yeah, we don't get to
practice like we want to,
you know, all of us
got separate lives,
and we get the opportunity
to practice a little bit.
But even if you make
a mistake, so what?
You've got an audience
of one up here.
And he doesn't care
about any of that.
And the folks that are here,
some of them don't care
about the mistakes.
They just feel good.
This man told me one time,
there's been a play written
about my life called
Living in the Light,
and then I portrayed
Mayor Jackson a few times.
This man came and
told me, he said,
"lady, I tingle, I tingle."
And I knew what that was.
I knew that was the Holy Spirit.
But he didn't know.
He said, "lady, I
tingle, I tingle."
And I said, "yeah, baby."
[ Laughter ]
>> Stephen Winick: So, with
Earl Bynum's group, he actually,
they recorded some
of your songs, right?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, uh huh.
>> Stephen Winick: And were you
in did you record with them?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, yeah.
There was a song
I wrote on his CD.
Their church has a CD.
And there's a song that I
wrote called Keep on Believing.
I wrote that song for a
nursing class at a school
in Richmond called the Adult
Career Development Center.
And these kids, inner city
kids, they were trying
to get licenses to be nurses.
And I sang for their graduation.
And God gave me this song to
tell them to keep on believing
in yourself and your dream.
Keep on believing because
you're closer than you seem.
Just keep pushing forward.
Keep taking a step
because you know
that God is not through
with you yet.
Keep on believing in
yourself and your dream.
And that really has been a
blessing to a lot of people
from what I understand.
And that was back during
the time when I weighed 409.
Yeah, I was a real big girl,
and I was really sick that night
because I thought
I was going to die.
And Earl's pastor prayed
for me and laid hands on me.
And I did not die that night.
And I was able to stand
and sing that song.
And God blessed me
to not, you know,
I've had some challenges
with health.
But he is walking me through it.
And I'm just going
to keep on walking
until he heals everything
that's wrong.
>> Stephen Winick: All right.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, and I'm going
to write some music about it.
>> Stephen Winick: Sounds good.
And you've also recorded
your own album.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yeah,
Greater is He, Greater is He.
That's the first CD that we've
done that has most of I mean,
my music, all that
I've written on it,
because I did Amazing
Grace on there
and Precious Lord, Take my Hand.
But the rest of them are
songs that I've written.
And I'm so thankful.
That's what I was hoping
to have here today,
but don't have any yet.
>> Stephen Winick: But
how did it come about?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Bill
McGee, who's a good friend
of mine from Virginia State,
he has a studio in his home.
And he said that he knew,
he said the Lord told him
that he was supposed to help me,
that he was supposed to help me.
And so we didn't exactly
know what that meant.
And then I told Bill
that I had this notebook
with all of these songs in it.
And he said, well,
let's see what we do.
And that's how that CD came,
just doing one song, one song.
And he lives in Richmond.
So, we had to get, you know,
everybody there, you know,
at different times and stuff and
one, and Kevin was my drummer
at that time, just
getting people there
to do it bits by piece.
And it was, every CD
that I've ever done,
each one has gotten
a little bit better.
Because I don't know very
much about recording.
But I know when I hear
something that's right.
And so I'm thankful
for Greater is He
because Greater is He
is the best CD I think
that we've done thus far.
But there is still yet
something else that's missing.
And I know that this next CD,
whoever it is that's supposed
to help me with this next one,
that's the one that's going
to really because the
songs are all good songs,
and they minister to people,
which is the most
important thing
that somebody gets the
message and gets some help.
But you can't just it's
to get it out nationally
and to get it on the air.
People are looking for
something specific.
And I know it when I hear it.
But I haven't been able
to get it in my music yet.
But I believe that the Lord is,
that something is close to me
that is going to open up
the doors that he is going
to catapult us to a place
that we have no idea what
it is, but it's coming.
And my age, our ages
doesn't have anything
because I'm 63, 62, 61.
>> Clara Harvey Jackson: How
you know we want you to tell?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
It's too late now.
>> Stephen Winick: Too late.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: And
so, you know, we're not babies.
But God is not concerned
about our ages.
He just wants us to be obedient.
And so that's what I believe,
he's getting ready
to do something else.
>> Stephen Winick: All
right, we'll see it.
And I'm looking forward to it.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
I am too.
>> Stephen Winick: Now,
another thing, you know,
talking about ages,
you've incorporated not
only one other generation,
but now two other
generations into your band.
So, let's hear a little from
the nieces, and how did you get,
get recruited, let's
say, into Cora's group?
>> Ruth Young: Well,
puppy was first.
Well, I'll see, Riz
[phonetic] was first.
We call her puppy.
But puppy was first,
so I'll let you start.
>> Clarissa Jackson:
They made me do it.
Well, actually, my
debut started, I was,
it was kind of like
how they started.
And I remember Cora wanted me
to, papa, their dad wanted me
to sing Jesus, Lover of my Soul.
That was my very first solo.
And I was five.
And I remember that day
because I was crying so bad,
because I was already
until I had to get
up there and actually do it.
And she told me, if she
would get me a Barbie doll,
I was straight then.
But, no, I started,
I was little as well.
But then when I became
a teenager,
it was like I just,
it just came.
I left before.
Actually, I left
two or three times.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, she quit us a few times.
>> Clarissa Jackson: I did.
But I'm back now.
But, yeah, I started
off young as well.
And it's just
>> Stephen Winick:
You sang a lovely solo
in the concert today as well.
>> Clarissa Jackson:
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
>> Ruth Young: So
then I came next.
Mom used to travel a lot.
She would sing.
And we would stay home with dad.
And dad's babysitting was,
you know, let us watch TV,
get on his nerves
for maybe 10 minutes,
and then everybody got
to go to their room.
So, he would always
send us all to our room.
And our rooms were
next to each other.
But me and Kim shared a room,
and then our two
brothers shared a room.
And so we would meet in the
hallway, you know, playing,
talking, singing, or whatever,
but we never did a whole lot of,
you know, talent shows
or anything like that.
So, I didn't start
singing until I was older.
I want to say, what, maybe like,
maybe like two or
three years ago.
And it just kind of happened.
I kind of got older, and I
was still living with mom,
and me and mom was attached
at the hip for a long time.
We still kind of are.
And she used to call me stick.
And so I used to just go
and carry and, you know,
just make sure everybody
was straight, grab shoes.
And then eventually, I just
kind of started singing.
And it just kept
going from there.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And then this one.
>> Kimberley Young: I
am the newest member.
>> Ruth Young: Actually,
no, Kim.
>> Kimberley Young: But,
yeah, I sung with them,
I want to say two
other occasions.
I sung once, left, and then
I sung again, and I left.
And I was like, okay, I
knew I wanted to sing,
because I love singing
with them, I really do,
I love being with my family.
But I was just being
pulled in other directions.
So, I had [inaudible] maybe.
Maybe. But I had decided
that when the time was right,
I would do it, but I
would commit to it.
And about, I think about a year
ago, right, about a year ago,
I decided that, okay, I'm ready
to commit to it, I'm going to be
at practice, I'm going to
do whatever we've got to do,
and I've been here ever since.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And it's been phenomenal
to have them.
>> Stephen Winick: It
was a wonderful sound.
Yeah. Families always have
that special something,
you know, in their sound.
>> Clarissa Jackson:
Until we fight.
>> Ruth Young: Well,
this is the diva.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, because, see,
Riz [phonetic] has a
sense of style that none
of the rest of us have.
>> Clarissa Jackson: I didn't
like what we wore today.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And so she doesn't
like certain kinds
of [inaudible].
So, everything has got, you
know, you've got to hear her.
I don't like this.
I'm not going to wear it.
I'm not going to wear it.
And then, you know, I just
want to, you know, shake her.
But, you know, all of that
is a part of this thing.
>> Clarissa Jackson: But
when it's time for us
to do what we need
to do, we do it.
I'll just fuss later.
>> Stephen Winick: So,
someone is going to talk
about your young drummer, right?
>> Clarissa Jackson:
Oh, that's my son.
Yeah. Actually, Davin,
he taught himself how
to play when he was two.
>> Stephen Winick: Wow.
>> Clarissa Jackson:
Yeah, he used to,
because when we were growing up,
mama would have music
playing all over the house.
And so when I was growing up,
I would do the same
thing with my son.
And Davin would go in
the kitchen and get pots
and pans while I'm washing the
dishes, and started playing.
And I wouldn't met with him
because he had good rhythm.
But even when he was six months
old, very young [inaudible]
and I didn't believe
mama at first.
She was like, "that
baby got rhythm."
And I was like, "no,
he doesn't."
And so one time, music
playing all over the house,
and Davin was in his little
bouncer, and sure enough,
he was bouncing to
the beat of the song.
Even, I mean, fast songs, slower
songs, he had rhythm then.
And I was like, mama,
it was just no way.
I had to see it for myself.
So, yeah, he taught himself how
to play drums when he was two.
And then my brother was
playing for us at one time too.
But now he's being he's
in other directions,
so now Davin is in
that position.
And, actually, Davin
does his own music.
He makes his own beats.
And he does really well.
So, I'm really proud of him.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
He's a junior in high school.
>> Clarissa Jackson: Yes,
he is, he's a junior.
Help me, Jesus.
>> Stephen Winick:
Well, he was fantastic.
>> Clarissa Jackson: Thank you.
>> Stephen Winick: And when
I saw him coming out, I said,
you know, to have a drummer
this young, he must be good.
They wouldn't
>> Clarissa Jackson:
He was drumming
with us even younger than that.
Yeah. He was, you know, he was
doing, right, much of that.
>> Clara Harvey Jackson: Yeah,
we had gone to a concert
once, and he couldn't walk.
He was standing in
his mother's lap.
She was holding him.
And he's clapping, they're,
you know, performing on stage,
and he's clapping on
time with the beat.
And people around us are saying,
he's clapping, he's on time.
It was amazing.
He was given that early.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah, well,
that's, that's fantastic.
So, you mentioned some, some
drama experience, some plays,
some without you and
some that you've been in.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: Yeah,
Tom Width down at Swift Creek
Middle Playhouse, I didn't,
I never thought I
was an actress.
I've been a singer all my life.
And they were trying to do
this play called Mahalia.
And I was in this
contest on Channel 8 TV,
and the guy that was
the music director
at the playhouse heard me
on the contest, told Tom,
"you need to get in contact.
This woman, this woman is
kind of like Mahalia Jackson."
And had hair.
And Tom called me.
And ma said, "Cora, I don't
think you ought to try that."
Daddy said, "go ahead
and give it a shot."
I went over there and
auditioned and got the part.
And I played Mahalia some
22 songs in that one play.
>> Stephen Winick: Wow.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And it just took off.
And it just went, you know,
and they extended the run,
they brought it back
a second time.
And then Tom is, you
know, becoming my friend,
talking to me and stuff
about different things.
I told him different things
about my life as
time progressed.
We said, "we have to
write about that."
And so he interviews ma, he
interviews Cal Lou [phonetic]
and B.B., and he writes this
play called Living in the Light
about my life, with the
bad husbands and all.
And I had written music.
It was phenomenal.
It was and ma was in it,
and y'all were in it,
telling my life story.
Because, you know, I have a
couple of babies in heaven
and told that whole thing.
I had Crohn's disease.
And so I'm an ileostomy,
told all about that,
because I'm not ashamed
of any of that.
You know, people need to
know that you don't have
to be ashamed of your life,
you know, things that happen,
and your physical, you know,
you've got to just live.
And so, then after Tom,
that just did really good.
I mean, it was just like God's
favor was on all of this.
And then he, years
later, Tom calls again.
Mama has gone to heaven.
I think we ought to
write one more play.
Those Harvey girls.
And he writes this play about
us and how it was the day
that we came home
from mama's funeral.
And we sitting on the
porch telling stories.
He found three little girls
to be us when we were little.
And then he found three
teenagers, which at that time,
Riz [phonetic] was, you know,
Riz [phonetic] really
wasn't a teenager,
but they made her look like one.
And so they were our
teenage us, and us sitting
on the porch telling this story.
And so, I mean, and we were
able to sing old songs.
And, man, it was so fun.
At the end of the play,
we're standing there,
we're standing there together,
and on the wall they
put up mama's picture.
Made me cry every night.
But, I mean, it's been
wonderful, wonderful.
I'm so thankful for all
of those opportunities.
And now people in
Richmond refer to me
as Virginia's Mahalia Jackson
because they say I sing
with the power like she had.
I don't, you know,
profess to do that.
I just do what God gives me.
I'm thankful for it.
>> Stephen Winick: All right,
so, another thing about passing
to the next generation is
that you've been involved
in some apprenticeship programs.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Yeah, I had, I had,
that was fun, that was fun.
And it was so fun because
Samantha Willis is her name,
she actually is a pianist and
a singer at her home church.
And so she is not a kid.
She's got a husband
and two kids.
And she sings.
Her grandmother taught her.
And her grandmother used to sing
with this group called
The Echoes.
It was the grandmother, her
sisters, and her daughters.
Ma was friends with Miss Ella,
which was the grandmother,
and sang with us.
So, our two family groups used
to go, you know, do a, you know,
go across and sing places.
And Samantha is the next
generation after that.
So, you know, it
worked out so well
that she and I got the chance.
And so Samantha shows a lot.
But it was a fetch things that
I could kind of like, you know,
you know, suggest or whatever.
Because you know how it
is with women musicians.
I don't know if you know or not.
Women musicians can be, I
don't think they're as bad
as men musicians, but
they can be kind of bad.
You know, what makes
you think that you know?
She wasn't like that, you know?
She would take whatever
I, you know,
whatever suggestions
I made or whatever,
and then she helped
me with some things.
And we actually sang together at
the, what are the, James Monroe,
some place up in
Charlottesville,
up on the mountain
last Saturday.
And she and I did
songs separately,
and we did some songs together,
and we each had a keyboard.
And I played for her on some,
and then we played
together on some.
So, it was, it was
really good, you know?
And it was so touching for me
because we were at
the end of this.
And she came to me and she
hugged me and kissed me
and she told me thank
you for everything
that I had poured into her.
It just made my heart just
feel so good, you know,
that she appreciated our time
that we had spent together.
She's a sweetheart.
Yeah.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, I guess
one last thing, and this is more
or less for everybody, did
you ever think that you'd play
at the Library of Congress?
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong: No.
No. I'm going to
tell you really,
I know of one other group
that has that I know of,
and that was the late Maggie
Ingram & The Ingramettes.
>> Stephen Winick: Yeah.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
And when I heard about them
that they were going to do it,
I was so excited for Almeda,
because Almeda is my friend.
And I was so excited for them.
And I was like, wow,
Lord, look what, I mean,
that's a real big opportunity.
And I was like, wow.
But, you know, you
try not to say, wow,
I wish I could do that, because,
I mean, you kind of come
in on somebody else's stuff.
But I was like, wow,
and when I got the call
that we had been chosen, I'm
trying to hold it together
on the telephone, right?
But I'm screaming on the inside
because I don't really
understand the whole detail
of it, but all I knew was your
music is cataloged somewhere,
and you kind of become a part
of history some kind of way.
And, oh, you just
don't know how much
that makes me I'm
just so appreciative.
And I know we all are to
have had this opportunity
to come up here and do this.
And our family that came today,
when they heard about it,
it was like, you're doing what?
You know, and it's
just phenomenal.
And I'm just so grateful for
whoever chose us to be here
to be able to do this today,
because, I mean, we just,
you know, down to earth
country people, you know?
Just love the Lord and
just singing, you know,
praising as best we can.
And to be invited to do
something like this, oh.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, we
were delighted to have you.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Thank you.
>> Stephen Winick:
And we are delighted
to have done this interview.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Me too.
Me too.
>> Stephen Winick:
So, we just want
to say thank you to all of you.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Thank you.
>> Virginia Harvey
Young: You're welcome.
>> Cora Harvey Armstrong:
Thank you.