Thomas A. Dorsey: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = [[Villa Rica, Georgia]], U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|1|23|1899|7|1}}

| genre = {{hlist|[[Gospel music|Gospel]]|[[Blues]]}}

| years_active = 1924–1984

| label =

| website =

| current_members =

'''Thomas Andrew Dorsey''' (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and [[Evangelism|Christian evangelist]] influential in the development of early [[blues]] and 20th-century [[gospel music]]. He penned 3,000 songs, a third of them gospel, including "[[Take My Hand, Precious Lord]]" and "[[Peace in the Valley]]". Recordings of these sold millions of copies in both gospel and secular markets in the 20th century.<ref name="wapo obit">"Thomas Dorsey, Father of Gospel Music, Dies at 93", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', (January 25, 1993), p. D6.</ref>

 

 

After a spiritual awakening, Dorsey began concentrating on writing and arranging religious music. Aside from the lyrics, he saw no real distinction between blues and church music, and viewed songs as a supplement to spoken word preaching. Dorsey served as the music director at Chicago's [[Pilgrim Baptist Church]] for 50 years, introducing musical improvisation and encouraging personal elements of participation such as clapping, stomping, and shouting in churches when these were widely condemned as unrefined and common. In 1932, he co-founded the [[National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses]], an organization dedicated to training musicians and singers from all over the U.S. that remains active. The first generation of gospel singers in the 20th century worked or trained with Dorsey: [[Sallie Martin]], [[Mahalia Jackson]], [[Roberta Martin]], and [[James Cleveland]], among others.

Thomas A. Dorsey was born in [[Villa Rica, Georgia]], the first of three children to Thomas Madison Dorsey, a minister and farmer, and Etta Plant Spencer. The Dorseys [[Sharecropping|sharecropped]] on a small farm, while the elder Dorsey, a graduate of Atlanta Bible College (now [[Morehouse College]]), traveled to nearby churches to preach. He also taught black children at a [[one-room school]]house where his son accompanied him and listened to lessons.<ref name="harris 3-25">Harris pp. 3–25.</ref>{{efn|Accounts of how many children the Dorseys had depend on the source. (Harris, p. 24. states three, Marovich, p. 71 states five)}}

 

 

The Dorseys moved to Atlanta to find better opportunities when Thomas was eight years old. The adjustment for the entire family was difficult, culminating in Thomas being isolated, held back at school, and eventually dropping out after the fourth grade when he was twelve years old.<ref name="harris 26-46">Harris, pp. 26–46.</ref>

 

==Blues career (1919–1925)==

 

Dorsey seemed ambivalent about writing church music until 1921 when he was inspired by W. M. Nix's rendition of "I Do, Don't You?"{{efn|Originally published by [[Edwin Othello Excell]]}} after hearing him perform at the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.|National Baptist Convention]]. Nix elongated some notes to emphasize specific syllables and words and sped up others. Dorsey found appeal in the freedom and potential that came with improvising within established hymns, allowing singers and musicians to infuse more emotion – particularly joy and elation – into their performances to move congregations. Upon hearing Nix sing, Dorsey was overcome, later recalling that his "heart was inspired to become a great singer and worker in the Kingdom of the Lord–and impress people just as this great singer did that Sunday morning".<ref>Harris p. 68.</ref> The experience prompted him to copyright his first religious song in 1922, "If I Don't Get There", a composition in the style of [[Charles Albert Tindley|Charles Tindley]], whom Dorsey idolized. Sacred music could not sustain him financially, however, so he continued to work in blues.<ref name="harris47-66"/><ref>Heilbut, p. 23.</ref>

 

==Transition to gospel music (1926–1930)==

 

{{quote box

As the blues grew in popularity in the 1920s, black churches condemned it widely for being associated with [[sin]] and hedonism. Music performed in established black churches in Chicago and throughout the U.S. came from [[hymnal]]s and was performed as written, usually as a way to showcase the musical abilities of the choirs rather than as a vehicle to deliver a specific spiritual message. Many churches sought prestige in their musical offerings, which were often ornate and sophisticated liturgical compositions by [[Classical period (music)|classical European composers]], such as [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]]'s ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' (1742) and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Exsultate, jubilate|Alleluia]]'' (1773). Personal expressions such as clapping, stomping, and improvising with lyrics, rhythm, and melody were actively discouraged as being unrefined and degrading to the music and the singer.<ref name="harris 91-116"/><ref>Marovich, pp. 17–20.</ref>

 

 

Unsure if gospel music could sustain him, Dorsey was nonetheless pleased to discover that he made an impression at the National Baptist Convention in 1930 when, unknown to him, [[Willie Mae Ford Smith]] sang "If You See My Savior" during a morning meeting. She was asked to sing it twice more; the response was so enthusiastic that Dorsey sold 4,000 print copies of his song.<ref name="haris151-179">Harris pp. 151–179.</ref> In between recording sessions with Tampa Red, and inspired by the compliments he received, he formed a choir at [[Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church (Chicago)|Ebenezer Baptist Church]] at the request of the pastor, Reverend James Smith, who had an affinity for Negro spirituals and indigenous singing styles. Dorsey and Ebenezer's music director [[Theodore Frye]] trained the new chorus to deliver his songs with a gospel blues sound: lively, joyous theatrical performances with embellished and elongated notes accentuated with rhythmic clapping and shouts. At their debut, Frye strutted up and down the aisles and sang back and forth with the chorus, and at one point Dorsey jumped up from the piano stool in excitement and stood as he played. When the pastor at [[Pilgrim Baptist Church|Pilgrim Baptist]], Chicago's second largest black church, saw the way it moved the congregation, he hired Dorsey as music director, allowing him to dedicate all his time to gospel music.<ref name="harris180-208">Harris, pp. 180–208.</ref>

To accomplish this, Dorsey traveled beyond the U.S., through Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East. He recalled visiting [[Damascus, Syria]], where he was approached in a bathroom by a man who recognized his name. A tour group of 150 demanded he sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" right there. Obliging, Dorsey began, but the multinational group took over: "And they knew it in Damascus, too. Folk was wipin' their eyes, and some cryin' and bawlin' on, and I told ‘em, 'What is this happenin' here? I'll never get out of this place alive.'"<ref name="oneal"/>

 

 

==Legacy==

While presiding over rehearsals, Dorsey was strict and businesslike. He demanded that members attend practice regularly and that they should live their lives by the same standards promoted in their songs. For women, that included not wearing make-up.<ref>Marovich, pp 90–95.</ref> Choruses were stocked primarily with women, often untrained singers with whom Dorsey worked personally, encouraging many women who had little to no participation in church before to become active. Similarly, the NCGCC in 1933 is described by Dorsey biographer Michael W. Harris as "a women's movement" as nine of the thirteen presiding officer positions were held by women.<ref>Harris, p. 266–269.</ref>{{efn|NCGCC annual meetings were also attended by members of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) and the National Association of Negro Musicians; the NCGCC sent letters that urged senators to vote for an anti-lynching bill in 1937.(Norton, Kay, "‘'es, [Gospel] Is Real': Half a Century with Chicago's Martin and Morris Company", ''Journal of the Society for American Music'', (2017), Volume 11, Number 4, pp. 420–451.)}}

 

 

Encountering a "golden age" between 1940 and 1960, gospel music introduced recordings and radio broadcasts featuring singers who had all been trained by Dorsey or one of his protégées. As Dorsey is remembered as the father of gospel music, other honorifics came from his choirs: Sallie Martin, considered the mother of gospel (although Willie Mae Ford Smith, also a Dorsey associate, has also been called this), Mahalia Jackson, the queen of gospel, and [[James Cleveland]], often named the king of gospel.<ref>Marovich, pp 1–2.</ref> In 1936, members of Dorsey's junior choir became the [[Roberta Martin Singers]], a successful recording group which set the standard for gospel ensembles, both for groups and individual [[Voice type|voice roles]] within vocal groups.<ref>Reagon, pp. 26–27.</ref> In Dorsey's wake, R&B artists [[Dinah Washington]], who was a member of the Sallie Martin Singers, [[Sam Cooke]], originally in the gospel band [[the Soul Stirrers]], [[Ray Charles]], [[Little Richard]], [[James Brown]], and [[the Coasters]] recorded both R&B and gospel songs, moving effortlessly between the two, as Dorsey did, and bringing elements of gospel to mainstream audiences.<ref name="lornell"/><ref>Ferris, pp. 108–109.</ref><ref>White, Armond, "[https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/soul-man/ Soul Man]" ''The Nation'', (July 31, 2003). Retrieved August 2020.</ref>

** ''[[Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey]]'' by Various Artists (1973), added 2002<ref>Heilbut, Anthony "[https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/ThomasDorseyPreciousLord.pdf "Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey"] PDF: Library of Congress, Retrieved August 2020.</ref>

* [[Blues Hall of Fame]]: Performer, inducted 2018<ref>[https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/georgia-tom-dorsey/ "Georgia Tom Dorsey"] Blues Hall of Fame website. Retrieved August 2020.</ref>

** "Future Blues" by [[Willie Brown (musician)|Willie Brown]]: Classic of Blues Recording–Single or Album Track, inducted 2020/2021 (based on "Last Minute Blues", written by Dorsey, recorded by Ma Rainey)<ref>[https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/future-blues-willie-brown-paramount-1930/ "'Future Blues' – Willie Brown (Paramount 1930)"] Blues Hall of Fame website. Retrieved August 2020.</ref>

 

[[Category:1899 births]]

[[Category:1993 deaths]]

[[Category:American blues pianists]]

[[Category:American male pianists]]

[[Category:Gospel music composers]]

[[Category:People from Villa Rica, Georgia]]

[[Category:Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)]]

[[Category:Southern gospel performers]]