- Collection:
- Laurraine Goreau Interviews and Recordings
- Title:
- LG104 Interviews: Brother John Sellers; Joe Bostic
- Contributor to Resource:
- Goreau, Laurraine
Sellers, John, 1924-1999 - Publisher:
- New Orleans, La. : Tulane University Digital Library
- Date of Original:
- 1972-12-22
- Subject:
- Ed Sullivan show (Television program)
Music trade
Gospel music--Accompaniments
Race relations
Black people--Social conditions
Christianity - Location:
- Europe, 48.69096, 9.14062
United States, Illinois, Cook County, Chicago, 41.85003, -87.65005
United States, Louisiana, Orleans Parish, New Orleans, 29.95465, -90.07507
United States, New York, New York County, Harlem, 40.80789, -73.94542 - Medium:
- sound recordings
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Side 1: Interview with Brother John Sellers on 1972-12-22 at his New York City apartment. Side 2: Continued interview with Brother John Sellers. Interview with Joe Bostic in his New York City apartment on 1972-12-22, continued on Tape ID: LG072. Abstract for Sellers and Bostic: [00:00–01:01:46] On LG104Goreau_Side1, this December 22, 1972 interview features Brother John Sellers speaking from his New York City apartment, clarifying many dates, people, and places from Jackson's early career. Sellers first describes meeting Jackson at 8 years old – 00:18. He speaks about her first trip to Europe in 1952, clarifying some dates and accompanying players – 01:48. He explains that he was the first to record "Move On Up a Little Higher" – 11:30, and goes on to describe how Jackson came to record it, as she used it for practice while she was recording at Decca Records. They then speak about the first people to record Jackson in Chicago, including Ink Williams – 12:50, and her role in the Johnson Singers – 16:10. He describes how Thomas Dorsey first called Jackson "the Empress of gospel singers," and the beginnings of their relationship – 25:29. He continues with mention of various people and places in her early career through the 1930s and 1940s, including her marriage to Ike Hockenhull – 30:06, her various health issues – 43:26, and a recounting of an incident where Minters Galloway struck her, and his belief that Polly Fletcher stole from the SCLC coffers Jackson held at her house – 48:57. [00:00–27:40] LG104Goreau_Side2 concludes Sellers' interview. He speaks about learning how to cook from watching Jackson, and recalls recipes, home remedies, and hoodoo practices culled from New Orleans. In addition to sharing posters and anecdotes from her early days in Chicago, the interview features Goreau getting clarification on Jackson's fallout with Polly Fletcher – 12:54, and the end of her relationship with Mildred Falls – 19:37. [28:00–01:01:50] On LG104Goreau_Side2, interviewed on December 22, 1972 in New York, Joe Bostic speaks about meeting Jackson and producing her performance at Carnegie Hall. In addition to speaking about Jackson's recording sessions and his plans for concerts at Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden, he also describes the racism and discrimination that Black performers faced in the 1950s, sharing how musicians like Jackson, Hazel Scott, and Duke Ellington were seen as "entertainers but not artists" – 30:21. He goes on to speak about other artists he worked with in Harlem, the "intensity of [Jackson's] spiritual conviction," and the television appearances that resulted from her appearance at Carnegie Hall, including her appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show – 50:30. Continued on Tape ID: LG072.
This recording was digitized in 2020 as part of a Recordings at Risk grant funded project administered by CLIR, "Tell the real story of me": Mahalia Jackson and Black Gospel Quartets in the South.
specialcollections@tulane.edu
LG104 Interviews: Brother John Sellers; Joe Bostic, Laurraine Goreau collection, HJA-059, Tulane University Special Collections, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. - Metadata URL:
- https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:122856
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to portions of this collection has been transferred to Tulane University Special Collections. Tulane University can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or owner’s heir for permission to publish where Tulane University Special Collections does not hold the copyright. For permission to publish collections material to which TUSC holds intellectual property rights, please contact Research Services at specialcollections@tulane.edu.
- Extent:
- 1 cassette (2 hr., 3 min., 37 sec.)
- Contributing Institution:
- Amistad Research Center
- Rights:
-
