[Dixielandjazz] Tom Dorsey & Precious Lord

[D and R Hardie]

Brian
  I have been off list for a couple of weeks on holiday. Its great to 
see you back.
Dan Hardie
On Tuesday, July 15, 2003, at 11:47  PM, TBW504 at aol.com wrote:

> Some details missed by B Haesler regarding Tom Dorsey:
> DORSEY, Thomas Andrew aka "Georgia Tom"     Piano; guitar; vocals
> 1899, Jul 1: Villa Rica, Carroll County, GA         1993, Jan 23
> Son of a revivalist Baptist minister (Thomas Madison Dorsey) and Etta 
> Dorsey,
> his church organist mother. The family moved to Georgia for a time 
> after Tom
> was born, but returned to Villa Rica in 1903. Studied music formally 
> in his
> teens. His first composition was a spiritual, "If I Don't Get There". 
> Despite
> his background he began his career in secular music performing as 
> "Barrelhouse
> Tommy" in Atlanta. Later, worked in clubs in Chicago, then accompanied 
> Ma
> Rainey's Wild Cats Jazz Band on tour, marrying Rainey's wardrobe 
> mistress, Nettie
> Harper. Notably, he was one of the first artists to recognise the 
> importance of
> copyrighting compositions: his 1928 bawdy hit "Tight Like That" was a 
> money
> spinner for him. Recorded with many blues artists but eventually felt 
> the call
> of religion in 1932 when his wife and son died in childbirth: shortly
> afterwards he wrote "Take My Hand, Precious Lord". He was to become 
> the most important
> composer and publisher of gospel music. Discovered Mahalia Jackson and 
> Clara
> Ward. Among his more than 1,000 songs are "Peace in the Valley", "Take 
> My
> Hand, Precious Lord" , "If You See My Saviour" and "In the Sweet Bye 
> and Bye" as
> well as a great number of blues from his secular days. Interestingly, 
> he is
> quoted in later years as saying, "I'm a good church man, but I don't 
> put the
> blues away." ( Quoted in Blues and Evil by J. M. Spencer, University 
> of Tennessee
> Press, 1993) In 1975 he sang at the Newport Jazz Festival. His 
> compositions
> have proved continually popular with jazz musicians.
> Brian Wood
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