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The Rise of Gospel Blues: The Music of Thomas Andrew Dorsey in the Urban Church
In the early 1930s an exciting new musical form arose in Chicago known as the gospel blues. The principal figure in the creation of this distinctive music was a blues pianist named Thomas A. Dorsey, who had considerable success in the 1920s as a pianist, composer, and arranger for such
prominent blues singers as Ma Rainey. In the 1930s, Dorsey became increasingly involved in the African-American churches in Chicago. His background in the blues was an important influence on his composing and singing of church music. At first the "respectable" Chicago churches rejected this new
form, not only because of Dorsey's blues playing and singing, but more because of the excitement in the church congregation that this new gospel blues produced. However, by the end of the 1930s, the power of the music had made gospel blues a major force in African-American churches and religion.
Through the voices of such singers as Mahalia Jackson, gospel blues helped shape the development of American popular music. In this book, Harris looks at the story of the rise of gospel blues as seen through the career of its founding figure. Harris also places it in the broader contexts of
African-American religion and the large urban migration of African-Americans after World War I.
prominent blues singers as Ma Rainey. In the 1930s, Dorsey became increasingly involved in the African-American churches in Chicago. His background in the blues was an important influence on his composing and singing of church music. At first the "respectable" Chicago churches rejected this new
form, not only because of Dorsey's blues playing and singing, but more because of the excitement in the church congregation that this new gospel blues produced. However, by the end of the 1930s, the power of the music had made gospel blues a major force in African-American churches and religion.
Through the voices of such singers as Mahalia Jackson, gospel blues helped shape the development of American popular music. In this book, Harris looks at the story of the rise of gospel blues as seen through the career of its founding figure. Harris also places it in the broader contexts of
African-American religion and the large urban migration of African-Americans after World War I.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 1992
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November 29, 2021
While Harris did a stupendous amount of research into his subject that must be met with respect by the reader, the final product is an endlessly repetitious drag that will only interest college level music theory students studying how Dorsey came up with some diminished chords that got him thrown out of churches and whatnot. As a biography of Dorsey this book doesn't even attempt that or even a comprehensive study of his compositions. It focuses intensely on his early years and development into a gospel blues composer and stops just as soon as he meets Sallie Martin and Mahalia Jackson and the popularity of the form picks up. It seems like the whole purpose of this book was to zero in on what exactly made Dorsey write music the way he did early on, and unfortunately that is just too narrow a topic for me to be happy to read 300 pages of when there's other points of interest surrounding Dorsey's life and art.
Displaying 1 of 1 review