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The Father of Gospel Blues
By Jack Earl
Little nine year old Tommie and his family moved to
Atlanta, Georgia from the small town of Villa Rica, Georgia
in 1908. Tommy was demoted a grade in school and
teased by the other children. He felt alienated from his
school and also the black Baptist church where his daddy
was the pastor and mamma was the pianist.
He spent the afternoons and evenings watching the
vaudeville performances where he saw such well known
blues artists as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. At age
eleven he dropped out of school and took a job at the
theater selling soda pop.
He was determined to become famous like Ma Rainey so
he learned to play the piano and teaching himself to read
music.
At age seventeen Tom moved to Chicago and became
quite successful as a blues piano player and singer in the
backroom bars during the prohibition era. He took the
professional name of Georgia Tom.
Tom struggled with his conscience over playing the
"world's music." His mother was always admonishing him
that he should devote himself to composing and playing
for the Lord. His struggle became so intense that he had
a nervous breakdown and had to take two years off and
move back to Atlanta to recover.
Sufficiently rested and recovered, Georgia Tom returned
to Chicago and began to play for Ma Rainey and her jazz
band. However, it was only a matter of time before he
once again had a nervous breakdown and had to stop
singing in the the bars of Chicago.
He soon determined to devote his music totally to the
Lord. He began composing and singing gospel music
using the blues style of music.
To his disappointment, many of the main stream churches
refused to allow him to return because his music sounded
too much like the world's music. So he returned to the
Chicago bars to earn enough money to survive.
Tom married and was expecting his first child within a
year. He continued to play both in churches and bars. It
was while he was in St. Louis preparing for a concert in a
church that he received a telegram informing him that his
wife had died during childbirth. He returned to Chicago in
time to hold his newborn son but the child died within a
few hours.
It was at that moment that he took the vow to devote
his music totally to the Lord seriously. It was also during
his grief that he composed these words:
Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, help me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Thru the storm, thru the night,
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.
Thomas Dorsey went on to compose nearly 1000 songs,
all gospel with a blues style. He died in 1993 at the age
of 96. He had earned the title of "The Father of Gospel
Blues."
About the Author
Jack Earl has taught thousands to play simple melodies on a harmonice from his web site.
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