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 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.