Without the reality of Easter —the death, the burial and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church would simply have no reason to exist.

There have been many glorious Easter songs written over the decades, songs written to strengthen our faith and quicken our spirits to the meaning of Christ's sacrifice for us. In 2004, we first pulled some of them together, and it generated intense interest. Now, in 2011, we're bringing this very popular feature back!

From the spirituals ("Were You There", "He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word") to the classic "I Know It Was The Blood" sung by Rev. James Cleveland and the Voices of Tabernacle, from Andrae Crouch's "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" to contemporary songs such as Marvin Winans' "Worthy Is The Lamb Slain" from Introducing Perfected Praise, TriCity Singers "These Nails" from Finale and Youthful Praise's "He Lives", to hip hop gems such as The Cross Movement's " Blood Spilla" and "What Do You See", there is a wealth of material.

Here are some to consider:

• Rev. James Moore takes the old hymn "The Old Rugged Cross" to incredible places on his Live in Detroit album, moving to the ad libs on "Cherish The Cross" helped by keyboards from Rudolph Stanfield, and vocal support from Frank Williams.
  
  
• The Clark Sisters bring it home on Conquerors with "For The Love Of The People", and Twinkie Clark's writing is hard to forget on "He Was Hung Up For My Hang Ups", recorded by the COGIC International Mass Choir in 1975, with another version just reissued by Sound of Gospel in 2006 on their slate of new Mattie Moss Clark CD reissues (this version done by the Michigan State Community Choir).
  
  
• "Lamb Of God", written by Twila Paris was ably covered by Donnie McClurkin's New York Restoration Mass Choir on their Savoy release, Thank You Jesus, and was split into two consecutive tracks, with lead vocals from Olivia McClurkin. Then in 2006, Take 6 covered the same song on their Feels Good album, in their own inimitable a cappella way.
• "Calvary" Take your pick of several songs with this name. Richard Smallwood recently presented one on his Persuaded, Live in DC album. Natalie Wilson & SOP, Kim Burrell and others have other versions too. Smallwood also offered "The Resurrection", with his Richard Smallwood Singers some time ago on a Benson compilation. Although we haven't seen it in a good while but it is certifiably an Easter classic.
  
  
• "The Blood will Never Lose Its Power" from Andrae Crouch can't be missed. Crouch wrote the songbook for the praise and worship movement of the 60's and 70's with songs like "Jesus Is The Answer" and "Bless The Lord" among others.
  
  
• "He Decided To Die", sung by Donald Vails and the Choraleers, was written by Margaret Doureaux, and can be found on the Savoy/ Malaco compilation He Is Risen compilation from the late 1990s. This CD is the epitome of Good Friday. Rev. James Cleveland also recorded this song.
  
  
• "Oh Happy Day". Yes, the Edwin Hawkins Singers' hit makes the list, but not their version. The one that takes precedence here is the one found on Aretha Franklin's One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism double-album (featuring Mavis Staples). Aretha shows her creativity as a master story teller as she recounts the story of Jesus from the garden of Gethsemane to Calvary to the resurrection. (Aretha first showed us she could give Dorothy Norwood and Shirley Caesar a run for their money as storytellers when she covered the story of Lazarus "walking like a natural man" in her version of "Mary Don't You Weep" from her 1972 Amazing Grace album.
  
  
• "Isaiah 53", "He Got Up" and "Jesus I Love You" were songs featured on Edwin Hawkins' first Music and Arts Seminar recording. They continue to be sung regularly by choirs today. "Jesus I Love You" became an instantly recognizable standard for Tramaine Hawkins.
  
  
• "He Got Up" from the The Voices of Binghhampton was our first introduction to Ted and Sheri and also Kevin Davidson.