- Collection:
- Laurraine Goreau Interviews and Recordings
- Title:
- LG079 Interviews: Hannah Robinson; Cecile Taylor; Thomas A. Dorsey
- Creator:
- Goreau, Laurraine
Robinson, Hannah
Dorsey, Thomas Andrew
Taylor, Cecile - Date of Original:
- 1973-04-05
1973-04-07 - Subject:
- Music trade
Gospel music
Gospel Singers
Spirituals (Songs)
Blues (Music)
Church music - People:
- Martin, Sallie, 1895-1988
Robinson, Hannah
Taylor, Cecile
Dorsey, Thomas Andrew
Jackson, Mahalia, 1911-1972 - Location:
- United States, 39.76, -98.5
- Medium:
- interviews
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Side 1: Interview with Hannah Robinson in Chicago, Illinois on 1973-04-05, conducted by telephone. Interview with Cecile Taylor on 1973-04-06, conducted by telephone. Side 2: Interview with Thomas A. Dorsey in Chicago, Illinois on 1973-04-07, conducted by telephone. Abstract for Dorsey: [00:00 – 57:12] The LG079Goreau_Side2 recording features an April 7, 1973, phone interview with Thomas A. Dorsey. He discusses how he initially met Mahalia Jackson around 1928 or 1929 when she was with her first professional group, the Johnson Gospel Singers – 01:30. He talks about selling his own sheet music, mentioning "I started that business. All of 'em copied that," referring to the fact that he founded the first Black-owned publishing company for spirituals and gospel music – 07:20. He continues to speak about his relationship with and respect of Jackson, as well as his business acumen in music publishing and arranging, which began with him working in the blues genre with Ma Rainey. He talks more about the music business and how, early in his gospel career, there wasn't much money to be made and that when traveling to perform at churches, "you got what you could" money-wise – 28:40. He discusses singer Sallie Martin, mentioning that he "started (Martin) out" – 33:20. He also declares that he "coined the word 'gospel songs,'" since the music previously was referred to as spirituals or evangelistic songs – 35:55. He recalls winding down his career working with blues singers in 1925, remembering that there was no real market for spiritual music, but "wanted to make a market for gospel songs" and described his process – 38:45.
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.
For further information, please contact Tulane University Special Collections at specialcollections@tulane.edu. - Metadata URL:
- https://tulane.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/delivery/01TUL_INST:Tulane/12436766040006326
- 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.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- LG079 Interviews: Hannah Robinson; Cecile Taylor; Thomas A. Dorsey, Laurraine Goreau collection, HJA-059, Tulane University Special Collections, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA.
- Extent:
- 1 hr., 2 min., 1 sec.
57 min., 12 sec. - Original Collection:
- Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz, Tulane University Special Collections
Laurraine Goreau collection, HJA-059 - Contributing Institution:
- Tulane University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
