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{{Short description|Gospel musician and composer (1899–1993)}}
{{about|the pianist, and composer of jazz
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name = Thomas A.
| image = Thomas A Dorsey.jpg
| caption = Thomas Dorsey during his "Georgia Tom" blues period, late
| image_size =
| background =
| birth_name = Thomas Andrew Dorsey
| alias = {{hlist|Georgia Tom}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1899|7|1}}
| birth_place = [[Villa Rica, Georgia]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|
| death_place =
| instrument =
| genre = {{hlist|[[Gospel music|Gospel]]|[[Blues]]}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Musician|Composer|Evangelist}}
| years_active = 1924–1984
| label =
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| website =
| current_members =
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}}
'''
Born in rural Georgia, Dorsey grew up in a religious family but gained most of his musical experience playing blues at [[Juke joint|barrelhouses]] and parties in [[Atlanta]]. He moved to
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.
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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)}}
Religion and music were at the center of the Dorseys' lives, and young Thomas was exposed to a variety of musical styles in his early childhood. While often living hand-to-mouth, the Dorseys were able to own an
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>
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==Blues career (1919–1925)==
Seeking a greater challenge, Dorsey relocated to
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>
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==Transition to gospel music (1926–1930)==
Rainey enjoyed enormous popularity touring with a hectic schedule, but beginning in 1926 Dorsey was plagued by a two-year
{{quote box
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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"/>
When he gave interviews later in his life, he never condemned blues music or his experiences in that period. He remained in contact with his friends and fellow blues musicians, saying, "I'm not ashamed of my blues. It's all the same talent. A beat is a beat whatever it is."<ref>Heilbut, p. 34.</ref><ref name="oneal"/> Dorsey began to slow down in the 1970s, eventually showing symptoms of [[Alzheimer's disease]]. He retired from Pilgrim Baptist Church and the NCGCC soon after, though he continued to participate and perform when he was able. He and the NCGCC were featured in the critically acclaimed documentary ''[[Say Amen, Somebody]]'' in 1982. The 1981 meeting featured in the film was the last convention he was able to attend. Dorsey died of Alzheimer's
==Legacy==
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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.)}}
Due to Dorsey's influence, the definition of gospel music shifted away from sacred song compositions to religious music that causes a physical release of pain and suffering, particularly in black churches. He infused joy and optimism in his written music as he directed his choirs to do perform with uplifting fervor as they sang. The cathartic nature of gospel music became integral to the black experience in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]], when hundreds of thousands of black Southerners moved to Northern cities like
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>
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* [[Anthony Heilbut|Heilbut, Anthony]], ''The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times'', Proscenium Publishers (1997). {{ISBN|0-87910-034-6}}
* Marovich, Robert M., ''A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music'', University of Illinois Press, (2005) {{ISBN|978-0-252-03910-2}}
* [[Bernice Johnson Reagon|Reagon, Bernice Johnson]], ''If You Don't Go, Don't
==Further reading==
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[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:African-American songwriters]]
[[Category:American blues pianists]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:American gospel singers]]
[[Category:American male pianists]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Country blues musicians]]
[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the United States]]
[[Category:Deaths from dementia in Illinois]]
[[Category:Gennett Records artists]]
[[Category:Gospel blues musicians]]
[[Category:Gospel music composers]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)]]▼
▲[[Category:American gospel singers]]
[[Category:People from Villa Rica, Georgia]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Southern gospel performers]]
▲[[Category:American evangelicals]]
▲[[Category:African-American songwriters]]
▲[[Category:20th-century African-American male singers]]
▲[[Category:American male songwriters]]
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