The Rise of Gospel Blues

Thomas A. Dorsey, also known as 'Georgia Tom', had considerable success in the 1920's as a pianist, composer, and arranger for prominent blues singers including Ma Rainey. In the late 1930s, Dorsey became involved in African-American old-line Protestant churches, where his background in the blues gr [...]
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Thomas A. Dorsey, also known as 'Georgia Tom', had considerable success in the 1920's as a pianist, composer, and arranger for prominent blues singers including Ma Rainey. In the late 1930s, Dorsey became involved in African-American old-line Protestant churches, where his background in the blues greatly influenced his composing and singing. At first these 'respectable' Chicago churches rejected this new form, partially because of the unseemly reputation blues performance had, but more because of the excitement that gospel blues produced in the church congregation. A controversy developed between two conflicting visions; one segment idealized an institution that nurtured a distinct African-American religion and culture, the other saw the church as a means by which African Americans would assimilate into American Christianity and the dominant Anglo-American culture. However, by the end of the 1930s the former group prevailed by the power of the music. From that time on, gospel blues became a major force in African-American churches and religion.