George Taliaferro was  the first African-American drafted by the National Football League and was the first African-American quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. As the leading rusher and an All-American at Indiana University, Taliaferro led his team to their only undefeated Big Ten Conference championship. Taliaferro was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981 and was picked by the Chicago Bears in the 13th round of the  1949 NFL Draft, but instead opted to play with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-American Football Conference. He played with the Dons in 1949, then moved to the NFL, where he played with the New York Yanks 1950-51, Dallas Texans 1952, Baltimore Colts 1953-54, and Philadelphia Eagles 1955. He went to the Pro Bowl in 1951, 1952, and 1953. Taliaferro is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

“Duck Behind God, When The Crazy Starts Flying”

D (Dodge) U (underdeveloped) C (consciousness) K (kindly) – Iyanla Vanzant

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Louis Armstrong Biography

byname Satchmo (truncation of “Satchel Mouth”)

( 1901 – 1971 )

James Cleveland

The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland (December 5, 1931 – February 9, 1991) was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs. He is known as the King of Gospel music.^[1]

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Chicago, he began singing as a boy soprano at Pilgrim Baptist Church, where Thomas A. Dorsey was minister of music and Roberta Martin was pianist for the choir. He strained his vocal cords as a teenager while part of a local gospel group, leaving the distinctive gravelly voice that was his hallmark in his later years. The change in his voice led him to focus on his skills as a pianist and later as a composer and arranger. For his pioneering accomplishments and contributions, he is regarded by many to be one of the greatest gospel singers to ever live.^[2]

Musical career

Work with The Gospelaires

In 1950, Cleveland joined the Gospelaires, a trio led by Norsalus McKissick and Bessie Folk, who were associated with Martin. Martin hired him as a composer and arranger after the group disbanded. His arrangements of songs such as “(Give Me That) Old Time Religion” and “It’s Me O Lord” transformed them, giving a rocking lilt and insistent drive to old standards.

The Caravans

Cleveland subsequently went to work for Albertina Walker, popularly referred to as the “Queen of Gospel”^[3] and the Caravans as a composer, arranger, pianist and occasional singer/narrator. In November 1954, Albertina Walker provided him the opportunity to do his very first recording. By staying out of the studio for a while, she convinced States Records to allow him to record with her group. He continued to record with The Caravans until States closed down in 1957.^[4] He left and returned to the Caravans a number of times to join other groups, such as the Gospel All-Stars and the Gospel Chimes, where he mixed pop ballad influences with traditional shouting. In 1959 he recorded a version of Ray Charles‘ hit “Hallelujah I Love Her So” as a solo artist.

James Cleveland Records with The Angelic Choir

James Cleveland signed with “Savoy Records”in 1962 and recorded albums with The Angelic Choir, of Nutley, New Jersey under the direction of Rev. Lawrence Roberts. Two “live” albums were recorded Vol.1 and Vol.2, one of which included the song “How Great Thou Art” which was an organ solo narrated by Rev. Cleveland as a(“young boy”)named Billy Preston played. Then in 1963 he recorded his critically acclaimed Gospel Million Seller album “Peace Be Still”.

Before these albums were recorded, no other gospel artist had recorded using this type of live format. Each album to include his albums “Stood On The Banks Of Jordan” in 1964 and “Give Me My Flowers” 1965 gave the listener the feeling that they were listening in and experiencing a church service- with James Cleveland ministering in song and word just to them. This style has been mimmicked over and over again to this day.

The Love of God

He became known by more than just the professionals within gospel music with his version of the Soul Stirrers‘ song, “The Love of God”, backed by the Voices of Tabernacle from Detroit. Rev. Cleveland migrated to Los Angeles,Ca., as Minister of Music at Grace Memorial Church of God in Christ. In Los Angeles Cleveland attained even greater popularity working with keyboardist Billy Preston and the Angelic Choir of Nutley, New Jersey; his recording of “Peace Be Still” (in 1963), an obscure 18th century madrigal, sold hundreds of thousands of copies thanks to Cleveland’s comforting growl and emotional command, his popularity grew to great acclaim, causing him once again to return to the road, this time with the newly organized James Cleveland Singers, Odessa McCastle,Georgia White,and Eugene Bryant, along with Billy Preston. In 1964 Rev. Cleveland re-organized The James Cleveland Singers again this time the group was made up of – Odessa McCastle, Roger Roberts and Gene Viale. In 1965 Rev. Cleveland added Clyde Brown and Charles Barnett to his group which by then was traveling extensively throughout the United States and Abroad into the late 60′s,performing in all major venues,this collaboration brought memorable recordings such as “Heaven That Will Be Good Enough For Me”"Two Wings” “The Lord Is Blessing Me Right Now” and many others. From the 70′s until 1990 Rev. Cleveland would bring together a number of artists to back him on appearances and records. He would also continue to appear and record with some of the greatest Gospel Choirs of that time.

Gospel Workshop of America

Cleveland capitalized on his success by founding his own choir, the Southern California Community Choir, as well as a church,[Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church],that went from a handful of congregants(10)to thousands of members during his life. His influence stretched even further: like Dorsey before him, he taught others how to achieve the modern gospel sound through his annual Gospel Singers Workshop Convention, put on by the Gospel Music Workshop of America (“GMWA”), an organization that Cleveland founded,and now which has over 30,000 members in 150 chapters. The GMWA has produced, among others, John P. Kee.

Musical style

The style he pioneered — large disciplined organizations who used complex arrangements and unusual time signatures to turn their massive vocal power to achieve the propulsive rhythms, intricate harmonies and individual virtuosity of the greatest groups of gospel’s Golden Age — was still the wellspring for the mass choirs of that era.^[5][6]

Death and controversy

Cleveland died in 1991 in Culver City, California.^[7] Though his death has often been euphemistically labeled as having been as a result of heart failure, there has been an enduring question as to whether or not Cleveland actually succumbed to AIDS-related complications. Cleveland is interred at the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.^{[8][9][10][11]} and meanwhile neither of the aforementioned controversial issues is widely wished to be brought up for discussion within the gospel music community.^[12]

Awards

• Grammy Award won for Best Gospel Album by a Choir or Chorus 1990:
  The Southern California Community Choir: Having Church
• Grammy Award won for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional 1980:
  James Cleveland & The Charles Fold Singers: Lord, Let Me Be an Instrument
• Grammy Award won for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional 1977:
  James Cleveland: James Cleveland Live at Carnegie Hall
• Grammy Award won for Best Soul Gospel Performance 1974:
  James Cleveland & The Southern California Community Choir: In the Ghetto

References

Other References

• James Cleveland. (1983). Gospel. [DVD]. Golden Door Productions. 
• “Grammy Award Wins by James Cleveland”. Grammy.com. http://grammy.org/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx?title=&winner=james%20cleveland&year=0&genreID=0&hp=1. 
• Viale, Gene D. I Remember Gospel And I Keep On Singing. AuthorHouse. ISBN 987-

Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson (pronounced /məˈheɪljə/ mə-HAIL-yə; October 26, 1911^[1] – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice,^[2] she was referred to as “The Queen of Gospel”.^[1][3][4] Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world, and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist; entertainer Harry Belafonte called her “the single most powerful black woman in the United States”.^[5] She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career, and her 45 rpm records included a dozen “golds”—million-sellers.

[edit] Early life

Born as Mahala Jackson and nicknamed “Halie”, Jackson grew up in the Black Pearl section of the Carrollton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. The three-room dwelling on Pitt Street housed thirteen people and a dog. This included Little Mahala (named after her aunt, Mahala Clark-Paul whom the family called Aunt Duke), her brother Roosevelt Hunter, whom they called Peter, and her mother Charity Clark, who worked as both a maid and a laundress. Several aunts and cousins lived in the house as well. Aunt Mahala was given the nickname “Duke” after proving herself the undisputed “boss” of the family. The extended family (the Clarks) consisted of her mother’s siblings – Isabell, Mahala, Boston, Porterfield, Hannah, Alice, Rhoda, Bessie, their children, grandchildren and patriarch Rev. Paul Clark, a former slave. Mahalia’s father, John A. Jackson, Sr. was a stevedore (dockworker) and a barber who later became a Baptist minister. He fathered four other children besides Mahalia – Wilmon (older) and then Yvonne, Pearl and Johnny, Jr. (by his marriage shortly after Halie’s birth). Her father’s sister, Jeanette Jackson-Burnett, and husband, Josie, were vaudeville entertainers.

When she was born Halie suffered from genu varum, or “bowed legs.” The doctors wanted to perform surgery by breaking Halie’s legs, but one of the resident aunts opposed it. So Halie’s mother would rub her legs down with greasy dishwater. The condition never stopped young Halie from performing her dance steps for the white woman her mother and Aunt Bell cleaned house for.

Mahalia was five when her mother, Charity, died, leaving her family to decide who would raise Halie and her brother. Aunt Duke assumed this responsibility, and the children were forced to work from sunup to sundown. Aunt Duke would always inspect the house using the “white glove” method. If the house was not cleaned properly, Halie was beaten. If one of the other relatives was unable to do their chores, or clean at their job, Halie or one of her cousins was expected to perform that particular task. School was hardly an option. Halie loved to sing and church is where she loved to sing the most. Halie’s Aunt Bell told her that one day she would sing in front of royalty, a prediction that would eventually come true. Mahalia Jackson began her singing career at the local Mount Mariah Baptist Church. She was baptized in Mississippi by Mt. Moriah’s pastor, the Rev. E. D. Lawrence, then went back to the church to “receive the right hand of fellowship.”

[edit] Career

[edit] 1920s – 1940s

In 1927, at the age of sixteen, Jackson moved from the south to Chicago, Illinois, in the midst of the Great Migration. After her first Sunday church service, where she had given an impromptu performance of her favorite song, “Hand Me Down My Silver Trumpet, Gabriel”, she was invited to join the Greater Salem Baptist Church Choir. She began touring the city’s churches and surrounding areas with the Johnson Gospel Singers, one of the earliest professional gospel groups.^[6] In 1929 Jackson met the composer Thomas A. Dorsey, known as the Father of Gospel Music. He gave her musical advice, and in the mid-1930s they began a fourteen-year association of touring, with Jackson singing Dorsey’s songs in church programs and at conventions. His “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” became her signature song.^[7]

In 1936 Jackson married Isaac Lanes Grey Hockenhull (“Ike”), a graduate of Fisk University and Tuskegee Institute, who was 10 years her senior. Mahalia refused to sing secular music, a pledge she would keep throughout her professional life. She was frequently offered money to do so and she divorced Isaac in 1941 because of his unrelenting pressure on her to sing secular music and his addiction to gambling on racehorses.

In 1931, Jackson recorded “You Better Run, Run, Run”. Not much is known about this recording, and is impossible to find. Biographer Laurraine Goreau cites that it was also around this time she added ‘i’ to her name, changing it from Mahala to Mahalia, pronounced /məˈheɪliə/. At age 26, Mahalia’s second set of records were recorded on May 21, 1937 under the Decca Coral label,^[8] accompanied by Estelle Allen (piano), in order; “God’s Gonna Separate The Wheat From The Tares,” “My Lord,” “Keep Me Everyday,” and “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away.” Financially, these were not successful, and Decca let her go.

In 1947 she signed up with the Apollo label, and in 1948 recorded the William Herbert Brewster song “Move On Up A Little Higher”, a recording so popular that stores could not stock enough copies of it to meet demand, selling an astonishing eight million copies.^[9] (The song was later honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998).^[10] The success of this record rocketed Jackson to fame in the U.S. and soon after in Europe. During this time she toured as a concert artist, appearing more frequently in concert halls and less often in churches. As a consequences of this change in her venues, her arrangements expanded from piano and organ to orchestral accompaniments.

Other recordings received wide praise, including: “Let the Power of the Holy Ghost Fall on Me” (1949), which won the French Academy‘s Grand Prix du Disque; and “Silent Night, Holy Night”, which became one of the best-selling singles in the history of Norway. When Jackson sang “Silent Night” on Denmark‘s national radio, more than twenty thousand requests for copies poured in.^[11] Other recordings on the Apollo label included “He Knows My Heart” (1946), “Amazing Grace” (1947), “Tired” (1947), “I Can Put My Trust in Jesus” (1949), “Walk with Me” (1949), “Let the Power of the Holy Ghost Fall on Me” (1949), “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (1950), “The Lord’s Prayer” (1950), “How I Got Over” (1951), “His Eye is on the Sparrow” (1951), “I Believe” (1953), “Didn’t It Rain” (1953), “Hands of God” (1953), and “Nobody Knows” (1954).^[12]

[edit] 1950s – 1970s

In 1950 she became the first gospel singer to perform at New York‘s Carnegie Hall when Joe Bostic produced the “Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festival”. She started touring Europe in 1952 and was hailed by critics as the “world’s greatest gospel singer”. In Paris she was called the Angel of Peace, and throughout the continent she sang to capacity audiences. The tour, however, had to be cut short due to exhaustion. Jackson began a radio series on CBS and signed to Columbia Records in 1954. Down Beat music magazine stated on November 17, 1954: “It is generally agreed that the greatest spiritual singer now alive is Mahalia Jackson.”^[13] Her debut album for Columbia was The World’s Greatest Gospel Singer, recorded in 1954, followed by a Christmas Album called Sweet Little Jesus Boy, and Bless This House in 1956.

With her mainstream success, Jackson was criticized by some gospel purists who felt she had watered down her sound for popular accessibility. Jackson had many notable accomplishments during this period, including her performance of many songs in the 1958 film, St. Louis Blues, and singing “Trouble of the World” in 1959′s Imitation of Life; recording with Percy Faith. When Mahalia Jackson recorded with Percy Faith in the Power and the Glory album, the Orchestra arched their bows to honor her in solemn recognition of her great voice. She was the main attraction in the first gospel music showcase at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957, which was organized by Joe Bostic and recorded by the VOICE OF AMERICA, and performed again in 1958 (Newport 1958). She was also present at the opening night of Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music in December 1957.^[14] In 1961 she sang at U.S. President John F. Kennedy‘s inauguration. She recorded her second Christmas album Silent Night (Songs for Christmas) in 1962. By this time, she had also become a familiar face to British television viewers as a result of short films of her performing that were occasionally shown. Historian Noel Serrano stated; “God touched the vocal chords of this Great Woman and placed a special elixir to sing for His honor and Glory!”^{[citation needed]}

At the March on Washington in 1963, she sang in front of 250,000 people “How I Got Over” and “I’ve Been ‘Buked, and I’ve Been Scorned”. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech there. She also sang “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” at his funeral after he was assassinated in 1968. Jackson sang to crowds at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and was accompanied by “wonderboy preacher” Al Sharpton.^[15] She toured Europe again in 1961 (Recorded Live in Europe 1961), 1963–1964, 1967, 1968 and 1969. In 1970, she performed for Liberian President William Tubman.

Her last album was What The World Needs Now (1969). She ended her career in 1971 with a concert in Germany, and when she returned, made one of her final television appearances on The Flip Wilson Show. Jackson devoted much of her time and energy to helping others. She established the Mahalia Jackson Scholarship Foundation for young people who wanted to attend college. For her efforts in helping international understanding, she received the Silver Dove Award. Chicago remained her home until the end. She opened a beauty parlor and a florist shop with her earnings, while also investing in real estate ($100,000 a year at her peak).^[16]

[edit] Death

Mahalia Jackson died in Chicago on January 27, 1972 of heart failure and diabetes complications. Two cities paid tribute, Chicago and New Orleans. Beginning in Chicago, outside the Greater Salem Baptist Church, 50,000 people filed silently past her mahogany, glass-topped coffin in final tribute to the queen of gospel song.^[17] The next day, as many as could — 6,000 or more — filled every seat and stood along the walls of the city’s public concert hall, the Arie Crown Theater of McCormick Place, for a two-hour funeral service. Mahalia’s pastor, the Rev. Leon Jenkins, Mayor Richard J. Daley, Mrs. Coretta Scott King eulogized Mahalia during the Chicago funeral as “a friend – proud, black and beautiful”. Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald paid their respects. Dr. Joseph H. Jackson, president of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., delivered the eulogy at Chicago funeral. Aretha Franklin closed the Chicago rites with a moving rendition of “Precious Lord, Take My Hand“.

Three days later, a thousand miles away, the scene repeated itself: again the long lines, again the silent tribute, again the thousands filling the great hall of the Rivergate Convention Center in downtown New Orleans this time. Mayor Moon Landrieu and Louisiana Governor John J. McKeithen joined gospel singer Bessie Griffin; Dick Gregory praised ‘Mahalia’s “moral force” as main reason for her success”, and Lou Rawls sang “Just a Closer Walk With Thee“. The funeral cortège of 24 limousines drove slowly past her childhood place of worship, Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, where her recordings played through loudspeakers. It made its way to Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana where Jackson was entombed.^[18] Despite the inscription of Jackson’s birth year on her headstone as 1912, she was actually born in 1911. Among Mahalia’s surviving relatives is her great-nephew, Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger.

Jackson’s estate was reported at “more than a million dollars”. Some reporters estimated that record royalties, TV and movie residuals, and various investments made it worth more. The bulk of the estate was left to a number of relatives — many of whom cared for Mahalia during her early years. Among principal heirs were relatives including her half-brother John Jackson and aunt Hannah Robinson. Neither ex-husband, Isaac Hockenhull (1936–1941) or Sigmund Galloway (1964–1967), was noted in her will.^[19]

[edit] Legacy and honors

Mahalia Jackson’s music was never played widely on any but traditional gospel and traditional Christian radio stations. Her music was heard for decades on Family Radio. Her good friend Martin Luther King Jr said, “A voice like hers comes along once in a millennium.” She was a close friend of Doris Akers, one of the most prolific gospel composers of the 20th century. In 1958, they co-wrote the hit, “Lord, Don’t Move The Mountain”. Mahalia also sang many of Akers’ own compositions such as, “God Is So Good To Me”, “God Spoke To Me One Day”, “Trouble”, “Lead On, Lord Jesus”, and “He’s A Light Unto My Pathway”, helping Doris to secure her position as the leading female Gospel composer of that time. In addition to sharing her singing talent with the world, she mentored the extraordinarily gifted Aretha Franklin. Mahalia was also good friends with Dorothy Norwood and fellow Chicago-based gospel singer Albertina Walker. She also discovered a young Della Reese. On the twentieth anniversary of her passing, Smithsonian Folkways Recording commemorated Jackson with the album I Sing Because I’m Happy, which includes interviews about her childhood conducted by Jules Scherwin.

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences created the Gospel Music or Other Religious Recording category for Jackson making her the first Gospel Music Artist to win the prestigious Grammy Award.

In December 2008, she was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

A prominent namesake in her native New Orleans is the Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts, which was remodeled and reopened on January 17, 2009, with a gala ceremony featuring Placido Domingo, Patricia Clarkson, and the New Orleans Opera directed by Robert Dyall.^[20]

[edit] Selective awards and honors

[edit] Grammy Award history

[edit] Grammy Hall of Fame

Mahalia Jackson was posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor artists whose recordings are at least twenty-five years old and have “qualitative or historical significance.”^[24]

[edit] Honors

[edit] Well-known songs

• “What Child Is This”
• “How I Got Over“
• “Trouble of the World“
• “Silent Night”
• “Go Tell It on the Mountain“
• “Amazing Grace“, (Apollo 194, 1947)
• “Move On Up A Little Higher”, (Apollo 164, 1947)
• “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” (performed this song at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s funeral)
• “Remember Me“
• “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho“
• “Holding My Saviour’s Hands“
• “Roll Jordan, Roll“
• “The Upper Room“
• “We Shall Overcome“
• “I’m on My Way to Canaan“
• “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
• “His Eye is on the Sparrow”
• “What a Friend We Have in Jesus“
• “Didn’t it Rain”
• “Wait Till My Change Comes”, (Apollo 110, 1946)
• “He Knows My Heart”, (Apollo 145, 1946)

[edit] In popular culture

• She appears in the 1960 film, Jazz on a Summer’s Day – an artistic documentary filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. She sings three gospel numbers at the end of the film, including “The Lord’s Prayer.”
• In the 1958 movie St. Louis Blues, she played the character Bessie May and sang on the church choir.
• In the movie An American Crime, the song “Tell The World About This” is played on the first day of court.
• In the movie Jungle Fever, the character played by Ossie Davis tries to distract himself from his son Gator’s (Samuel L. Jackson) crack cocaine addiction by listening to Mahalia Jackson albums by the hour.
• In the 1959 film Imitation of Life, Mahalia Jackson portrays the choir soloist, singing “Trouble of the World” at Annie’s funeral. She has no speaking lines, but her singing performance highlights the climactic scene.
• In the 1964 Film The Best Man, Mahalia plays herself, singing at a Democratic Covention in a two-minute clip.
• In the The Boondocks episode “Return of the King”, a still-living Martin Luther King, Jr. laments over losing his iTunes password when he tried to download Mahalia Jackson’s catalog.
• In the 1970 musical documentary Elvis: That’s the Way It Is, Elvis Presley jokes about replacing his female backing group the Sweet Inspirations with The Supremes, “and Mahalia Jackson singing lead with them”.
• She is referenced in the Denis Leary song “Elvis & I” when Leary sings “He says what the hell is Lisa Marie thinking with Michael Jackson crap, she should have married Jane or LaToya or Tito or even Mahalia Jackson”.
• In the 1994 “Wake Up Show Anthem” for the Los Angeles radio station 92.3FM The Beat, the rapper Ras Kass mentioned Jackson in his freestyle verse: “Come equip, your losing your paraphernalia/I’m a hip hop Apostle singing the Gospel like Mahalia Jackson”.
• She was an early influence on Northern Irish singer Van Morrison, whose song “Summertime in England” (from 1980s Common One) refers to her by name: “The voice of Mahalia Jackson came through the ether.”
• In the Donna Summer song, “Dinner with Gershwin”, she wants to ‘sing hymns with Mahalia’.
• Duke Ellington, with whom she occasionally recorded, paid tribute to her on his New Orleans Suite album with the song, “Portrait of Mahalia Jackson”.
• When an interviewer asked Lester Young whether Mahalia is comparable to legendary blues vocalist Bessie Smith, he found it difficult to answer on account of the believed tension between the gospel and blues form of music.

Henry Lewis (Conductor)

Born: October 16, 1932 – Los Angeles, California, USA
Died: 1996

The black American conductor, Henry Lewis, began studying piano at the age of five and later learned to play the clarinet as well as several string instruments. After six years as a double-bassist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, he played (double-bass) with and conducted (in Germany and the Netherlands) the Seventh Army Symphony while serving in the United States Armed Forces (1955-1956). After returning to the USA, he founded the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In 1963 he travelled with it in Europe under the auspices of the State Department. He gained national recognition in 1961 when he was appointed assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, a post he held until 1965.

During a music career that spanned nearly five decades, Henry Lewis gained wide respect as a conductor, instrumentalist, and pioneer in the classical music world. In 1968 he became the first black to head a major American orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and in 1972 he debuted at the New York Metropolitan Opera, conducting Puccini’s La Boheme.

After serving as a guest conductor of major symphony orchestras in the USA and abroad, Henry Lewis moved to Newark, New Jersey, where in 1968 he became conductor and music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, a small community ensemble. He transformed the ensemble into a nationally recognized orchestra that annually performed more than a hundred concerts, including outreach programs for local communities. From 1960 to 1979 he was married to famed opera singer Marilyn Horne, who considered him her ‘teacher and right hand’. After retiring from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in 1976, he conducted opera and orchestra guest engagements. From 1989 to 1991 he was chief conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Hilversum. He continued to tour as a guest conductor until his death from a heart attack at the age of 63.

Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians (1997); Africana Website (by Roanne Edwards)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2001)

he family began appearing in Chicago-area churches in 1948, and signed their first professional contract in 1952.^[1] During their early career they recorded in an acoustic gospel-folk style with various labels: United Records, Vee-Jay Records, Checker Records, Riverside Records, and then Epic Records in 1965. While the family surname is “Staples”, the group used the singular form for its name, resulting in the group’s name being “The Staple Singers”.

It was on Epic that the Staple Singers began moving into mainstream pop markets, with “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)” and “For What It’s Worth” (Stephen Stills) in 1967. In 1968, the Staple Singers signed to Stax Records and released two albums with Steve Cropper and Booker T & the MG’s — Soul Folk in Action and We’ll Get Over. By 1970, Al Bell had become producer, and with Engineer Terry Manning, the family began recording at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, and Memphis’ Ardent Studios, moving in a more funk and soul direction.

The first Stax hit was “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)”. Their 1971 recording of “Respect Yourself“, written by Luther Ingram and Mack Rice, peaked at number 2 on the R&B charts and was a number 12 pop hit as well. The song’s theme of self-empowerment had universal appeal, released in the period immediately following the intense American civil rights movement of the 1960s. In 1972, the group had a huge No. 1 hit in the United States with “I’ll Take You There“. It topped both pop and R&B charts. “If You’re Ready (Come Go With Me)” would become another big hit, reaching number 9 pop and number 1 on the R&B chart in 1973.

Then, after Stax’s bankruptcy in 1975, they signed to Curtis Mayfield‘s label, Curtom Records, and released “Let’s Do It Again“, produced by Mayfield; the song became their second No. 1 pop hit in the US. In 1976, they collaborated with The Band on the song “The Weight” for their film The Last Waltz. However, they were not able to regain their momentum, releasing only occasional minor hits. Their 1984 album Turning Point featured their final Top 40 hit, a cover of Talking Heads‘ “Slippery People” (which also reached the Top 5 on the Dance chart). In 1994, they again performed the song “The Weight” with Country music artist Marty Stuart for MCA Nashville‘s Rhythm, Country and Blues compilation, somewhat re-establishing an audience. The song “Respect Yourself” was used by Spike Lee in the soundtrack to his movie Crooklyn, made in 1994.

In 1999, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pops Staples died of complications from a concussion suffered in December 2000. In 2005, the group was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Mavis Staples has continued to carry on the family tradition and continues to add her vocal talents to both the projects of other artists and her own solo ventures.

As formulated by Dorsey, gospel music combines Christian praise with the rhythms of jazz and the blues. His conception also deviates from what had been, to that time, standard hymnal practice by referring explicitly to the self, and the self’s relation to faith and God, rather than the individual subsumed into the group via belief.

Dorsey was the music director at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago from 1932 until the late 1970s. His best known composition, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord“, was performed by Mahalia Jackson and was a favorite of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and “Peace in the Valley“, which was a hit for Red Foley in 1951 and has been performed by dozens of other artists, including Queen of Gospel Albertina Walker, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.

In 2002, the Library of Congress honored his album Precious Lord: New Recordings of the Great Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey (1973), by adding it to the United States National Recording Registry.