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The Rise of Gospel Blues : The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church
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The Rise of Gospel Blues : The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church Paperback - 1994

by Harris, Michael W

  • Used

Working through the blues and gospel movement, Harris reconstructs the rise of gospel blues within the context of early twentieth century African American cultural history. (Music)

Description

Oxford University Press, Incorporated. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Used - Good
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Details

  • Title The Rise of Gospel Blues : The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church
  • Author Harris, Michael W
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Condition Used - Good
  • Pages 352
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, Incorporated, New York
  • Date 1994-06-23
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Annotated, Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Table of Contents
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 18175564-75
  • ISBN 9780195090574 / 0195090578
  • Weight 0.98 lbs (0.44 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.52 x 5.5 x 0.91 in (21.64 x 13.97 x 2.31 cm)
  • Themes
    • Demographic Orientation: Urban
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
    • Religious Orientation: Christian
    • Theometrics: Academic
  • Library of Congress subjects Gospel music - History and criticism, Dorsey, Thomas Andrew
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 9100008987
  • Dewey Decimal Code 782.25

From the publisher

Most observers believe that gospel music has been sung in African-American churches since their organization in the late 1800s. Yet nothing could be further from the truth, as Michael W. Harris's history of gospel blues reveals. Tracing the rise of gospel blues as seen through the career of its founding figure, Thomas Andrew Dorsey, Harris tells the story of the most prominent person in the advent of gospel blues.
Also known as "Georgia Tom," Dorsey had considerable success in the 1920s as a pianist, composer, and arranger for prominent blues singes including Ma Rainey. In the 1930s he became involved in Chicago's African-American, old-line Protestant churches, where his background in the blues greatly influenced his composing and singing. Following much controversy during the 1930s and the eventual overwhelming response that Dorsey's new form of music received, the gospel blues became a major force in African-American churches and religion. His more than 400 gospel songs and recent Grammy Award indicate that he is still today the most prolific composer/publisher in the movement. Delving into the life of the central figure of gospel blues, Harris illuminates not only the evolution of this popular musical form, but also the thought and social forces that forged the culture in which this music was shaped.

First line

Daniel Alexander Payne, the sixth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, was so disturbed by the presence and behavior of "Praying and Singing Bands" that he devoted over four pages of his Recollections to criticizing these groups as the "strange delusion that many ignorant but well-meaning people labor under": About this time I attended a "bush meeting," where I went to please the pastor whose circuit I was visiting.

From the rear cover

Most observers believe that gospel music has been sung in African American churches since their organization in the late 1800s. Yet nothing could be further from the truth, as Michael W. Harris's history reveals. Working through the blues and gospel movement. Harris reconstructs the rise of gospel blues within the context of early twentieth century African American cultural history.

After a nervous breakdown and a subsequent religious conversion in 1928. Dorsey began to write gospel songs with blues accompaniments. His introduction of these "goals" into Chicago's Afro-Baptist churches during the 1930s stirred clashes between recently arrived southern migrants who felt comforted by the new spirituals and old-line members who dismissed the songs as sacrilegious echoes of the slave past. After years of writing and publishing hudnreds of "songs with a message"-- such as "Take My Hand", "Precious Lord", and "There Will Be Peace in the Valley"-- and training gospel singers such as Mahalia Jackson, Dorsey had earned the title of "father" of gospel blues by the early 1940s. Delving into the life of the most prominent person in the advent of the gospel song movement. Harris illuminates not only the evolution of this popular musical form, but also the thought and social forces that forged the culture in which this music was shaped.

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About the author

Michael W. Harris is Associate Professor of History and African-American World Studies at the University of Iowa.

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