The Rise of Gospel Blues: The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church

353 Pages·1994·17.39 MB·English

by  Michael W. Harris

The Rise of Gospel Blues
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The Rise of Gospel Blues
The Music of
Thomas Andrew Dorsey
in the Urban Church
MICHAEL W. HARRIS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York Oxford
Oxford University Press
Oxford New York Toronto
Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo
Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town
Melbourne Auckland Madrid
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © 1992 by Michael W. Harris
First published in 1992 by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1994
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harris, Michael W. The Rise of Gospel Blues: The Music of
Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church / Michael W. Harris.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-506376-7
ISBN 0-19-509057-8 (pbk.)
1. Gospel music—History and criticism.
2. Dorsey, Thomas Andrew. I. Title.
ML3187.H37 1992 782.25—dc20
91-8987
2468 109753 1
Printed in the United States of America
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Andrew Dorsey have
graciously provided the author access to and
permission to use documents and photographs
from the Thomas Andrew Dorsey Papers.
Hold Me, Please Don't Let Me Go (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1929 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
If You See My Savior (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1929 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
Trusting in My Jesus (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1929 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
Someday, Somewhere (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1929 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
Treasures in Heaven (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1931 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
Right Now (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1931 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
Take My Hand Precious Lord, (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1938 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
How About you (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1931 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
If Don't Get There (Thomas A. Dorsey).
© 1931 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
Jesus, My Comforter.
© 1931 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
You Can't Go Through This World By Yourself.
© 1933 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
I've Got Heaven In My View.
© 1933 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
I'm Just a Sinner Saved By Grace.
© 1937 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
God Is Good to Me.
© 1933 UNICHAPPELL MUSIC INC. All Rights Reserved.
Used By Permission.
To Ernest and Magnolia Kirk
my foster parents
Acknowledgments
I benefited from the aid and advice of numerous persons during the research
and writing of the manuscript. First among these was Mr. Dorsey, who gave
unselfishly of his time and memories during many hours of interviewing.
The story he told has implications far beyond the scope of his biography. He
made the point again and again that he considered his biography secondary
to the need to have the history of the gospel movement written. His wife,
Kathryn, and daughter, Doris, opened the Dorsey home to me as one of the
family.
I owe the same thanks to the other interviewees—family, friends, associ-
ates, and admirers of Mr. Dorsey. They freely gave me the background and
corroborative information that I needed to gain perspective on the gospel
blues movement. Wherever I found them, from Villa Rica, Georgia, to
Memphis, Tennessee, to New York, to Chicago's South Side, they welcomed
me and my electronic gear with unreserved hospitality. I have lumped them
together here only because of the need to conserve space. Each deserved more
time and study than I could give with only Dorsey on my agenda.
I benefited as considerably from several institutions. Dr. Donald F. Joyce,
curator of the Vivian G. Harsh Collection of Afro-American History and
Literature at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library of the Chicago Public
Library, was of significant help in making available the Illinois Writers Pro-
ject papers and related primary materials on black Chicago. I am as deeply
grateful for the access granted to me by the Georgia State Archives and
Atlanta Historical Society to rare turn-of-the-century sources.
My research and traveling expenses were supported in large part by
generous grants from the Southern Fellowships Fund, the Find for The-
ological Education, and the Warren and the Wesley Weyman Funds at Harvard
University. A Smithsonian Institution Research Fellowship and a Rocke-
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
feller Humanities Fellowship allowed me to devote the 1979-80 and 1985-
86 academic years, respectively, to full-time work on this project.
A number of persons read the dissertation, the manuscript, or both
and offered timely advice. I have special thanks for Marcus Thompson,
Elizabeth Nordbeck, Pamela Plender, and Janet Piez; each read various parts
of the dissertation and helped with editing and proofreading chores. Each
of the members of my dissertation committee contributed in a unique way
to my understanding and approach to this research. Professor Louise
Vosgerchian, with her inimitable pragmatic approach to music analysis, will
always stand out in my mind for her admonition that no matter how pro-
found I find any of my discoveries, I must always ask myself, "So what?"
Professor Preston Williams, himself raised in the old-line religious tradition,
gave timely advice on maintaining a balance in the presentation of all view-
points. Though he specializes in liturgical music that precedes gospel blues
by a millennium, Professor David Hughes, a medievalist, brought depth,
breadth, and, not in the least, encouragement through his considerable in-
sight into music and religion. I owe the greatest amount of gratitude to
Professor William R. Hutchison, the chairman of my committee. He was a
wellspring of advice in working out the conceptual framework of this study.
For whatever I am as a scholar, I owe to his patience, understanding, and
firm guidance.
At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, R. Baxter Miller, Diane Mor-
row, and Rosalind Hackett read and offered major suggestions for several of
the revised chapters. Denise Dipuccio patiently edited the early drafts, often
coaxing many insights out of the most obdurate of my prose. Research
assistants Ellen MacRae and Donna Payne painstakingly typed and edited
the transcripts. Chancellor Jack Reese awarded me a timely research grant to
conduct much of the Georgia State Archives investigation.
In its final stages, the manuscript benefited from the critical readings of
several seminars at Temple University and at Wesleyan University. Also at
Wesleyan, Denise Jefferson helped with editing and research, and Robert
Lancefield edited and typeset the music examples. William Holshauser be-
came the most dependable undergraduate research assistant one could de-
sire, checking footnotes, editing text, and proofing the music examples.
Members of my family—especially Josephine, Charie, Irwin, Domini-
quie, and Clara—gave unselfishly and untiringly of whatever they could to
encourage me to "stick with it."
I have reserved the most heartfelt thanks to those who helped shape this
study. One of the foremost of these was Arnold Rampersad, who carefully
read drafts and corrected many would-be errors as this project evolved from
the dissertation into the present book. Gertrude (B.) Palmer read the final
draft with both an African Americanist's and copyeditor's eyes; I have her to
thank for finding and fixing the inconsistencies and unevenness of seven
years of rewrites and additions.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I will be forever grateful to Oxford's Sheldon Meyer for his support in
publishing the Dorsey story. His assistants, Stephanie Sakson-Ford, a most
patient and thorough copyeditor, and Karen Wolney, a consummate nego-
tiator, have my deepest appreciation. Scott Lenz's editorial assistance is so
skillful and thoughtful that I think of it as an art. For the aid her painstaking
compilation of the index will provide each reader, Linda Solow Blotner has
my special thanks.
For all the help, explicit and implicit, one acknowledges in completing a
major project, the responsibility for its failure as opposed to success ulti-
mately falls back on that person. To the extent that I should recognize the
wisdom in this statement, I claim all errors in the book. To the extent that I
know that I must pay tribute to whom it is due, I disclaim any notion that I
could have completed this study without each person's contribution.
Middletown, Conn. M. W. H.
May 1991
Author's Note to Paperback Edition
On Saturday, 23 January, 1993, Thomas Andrew Dorsey died at his home
in Chicago at the age of 93. The causes of his death were related to his
long-term suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Iowa City, Iowa
January, 1994
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