Thomas A. Dorsey was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, on July 1, 1899. It was a long time ago and young Thomas was going to witness (see) a brand new century! Villa Rica is a town about 45 minutes driving west (toward Alabama) of Georgia’s busy capital, Atlanta. Well, Thomas became a great musician after he moved, at age 17, from Atlanta to Chicago. Tom’s mother was a church organist and his father was a preacher. They didn’t move with Tom to Chicago. Young Thomas started out playing his sweet African-American music on the piano in many different places. Usually these places were clubs and restaurants. Places like those. Tom had his good days and bad days like everyone, but he never forgot the God he grew up with; the God his dad preached about and the one his mother played for. The idea of playing and writing music himself to honor God kept occurring to Thomas.
In Chicago Thomas got different jobs, including some jobs directing church choirs. The biggest job to come along, however, was the one he got at Pilgrim Baptist Church. It was one of Chicago’s biggest churches! In 1932 Thomas’ wife, Nettie, died while having their baby boy. The baby also died, sadly, the next day. Thomas felt lost and terrible. He didn’t want to play the piano or sing anymore. But one day, he finally wrote a new song. It was called “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” his most famous song. Later, Thomas worked with women singers like Mahalia Jackson, Della Reese, and Clara Ward. All of them had talent and would become famous.
One African-American songwriter, Charles Tindley, influenced Thomas a lot. He was older than Thomas and wrote songs way before Thomas did. One of Mr. Tindley’s beautiful, tender songs is called “Stand By Me”. It has been sung by many singers, including Elvis Presley.
Things were not always smooth for Thomas. Some pastors and other church people didn’t like the “Dorsey Sound,” as his music was called. But he and Mr. Tindley didn’t go away. Their music and words didn’t either. Their legacy (their style and what they left written and recorded) is still continued by many young Gospel artists today. Maybe you will have an opportunity to listen to some of their songs soon. Thank you for reading my article.
