Thursday, August 2, 2018

Another Tom


Most of us are familiar with the big band sounds of Tommy Dorsey, but at about the same time Tommy was performing, there was another Dorsey making his mark.  Thomas Dorsey was the son of a Baptist minister in Villa Rica, GA.  His father taught him to play piano, and Thomas first launched a jazz career under the Paramount label.  In 1932, he lost his wife, Nettie, during childbirth and wrote one of his most well-known songs, Precious Lord, Take My Hand, which served as a cornerstone to a new career in gospel music.  That song has been covered by artists from Elvis Presley to Beyonce, but this performance by Mahalia Jackson is my favorite.  Thomas is now known to be the father of gospel music.

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