NEWS STORY: First group of gospel greats for Hall of Fame unveiled

c. 1997 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Legendary singer Shirley Caesar and prolific composer Thomas Dorsey are among 16 individuals and groups to be inducted Friday (Oct. 10) into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, a new organization to honor significant contributions to the gospel music genre.”We felt if they could have a Rock and […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Legendary singer Shirley Caesar and prolific composer Thomas Dorsey are among 16 individuals and groups to be inducted Friday (Oct. 10) into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, a new organization to honor significant contributions to the gospel music genre.”We felt if they could have a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we needed one for gospel music,”said Sherry DuPree, a member of the board of directors.”We felt that many of our people never receive any type of recognition that will last after they are older or after they’re deceased.” About 300 people are expected to attend a dinner in Detroit celebrating the heritage of black gospel music, organizers said. Artists or their representatives will accept trophies marking the occasion.

The honorees include luminaries from the black gospel world such as Dorsey, who died in 1993. Dorsey, considered the father of gospel music was a prolific writer _ he composed more than 500 gospel tunes _ and is best known for”Precious Lord, Take My Hand,”which he wrote in 1932 after his wife’s death. It remains a staple in the repertoire of many singers.


Another honoree, the late Rosetta Tharpe was one of the first gospel singers to sell a million records _ and to cross over from religious to secular audiences. In the late 1930s, she recorded a Dorsey song called”Hide Me in Thy Bosom”that was re-released in a more lively”street”version called”Rock Me.”Some fans were angered by her effort to reach the secular world and declared”she wasn’t Christian anymore,”DuPree said.

Another of those being honored, the late Mahalia Jackson, had several hits selling more than a million copies. Jackson’s first million-selling recording was”Move on Up a Little Higher”in 1947. Later, in 1961, Jackson, known as the queen of gospel music, gained wide fame when she performed at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy Jr.

Caesar has won nine Grammy awards, including one for her album,”Put Your Hand in the Hands of the Man from Galilee,”recorded in the early 1970s. In addition to her singing career, Caesar is pastor of the 800-member Mount Calvary Word of Faith Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

Additional musicians will be inducted once a year, said DuPree, author of”African-American Good News (Gospel) Music.” With the new popularity of black and white contemporary Christian artists such as Kirk Franklin and Steven Curtis Chapman, DuPree said there has been less interest in the traditional gospel artists.”They have been forgotten,”she said.”We’re hoping this will open the door to bring them back to the front.” Although some of the artists are not household names, DuPree said their performance style has influenced contemporary religious and secular artists.”Some of the guitar playing and the drum beat are very much in vogue now with the contemporary music,”DuPree said.

The hall of fame was conceived by David Gough, president of DoRohn Records, an independent gospel record label in Detroit.”This is his way of trying to keep gospel alive,”said Ruth Tyler, a spokeswoman for Gough.

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Tyler said Gough hopes to open a museum in the summer of 1998 in downtown Detroit that will house materials about the inductees.

In 1995, the hall of fame’s board members started meeting, setting guidelines for potential inductees and gathering items for the museum. They have been working to build interest in the black gospel legends by featuring different artists on their web site (http://www.gmhf.org/).


In addition to hoping to foster education about gospel music, organizers chose the Midwestern location to make the museum accessible.”We wanted to have it where people could get to it from all over the country,”DuPree said.

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Other first-round inductees include: the Rev. James Cleveland of Chicago, founder of the Gospel Music Workshop of America; the late Rev. Charles Nicks & the Young Adult Choir of St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit; the late Mattie Moss Clark of Detroit; Albertina Walker of Chicago; Dorothy Norwood of New Jersey; the late Clara Ward of Chicago; the Fairfield Four of Tennessee; Dorothy Love Coats of Alabama; the Caravans of Chicago; Martha Jean (the Queen) Steinberg, a Detroit gospel radio personality; Dan Underwood, a Detroit gospel music promoter; and Edward Smith, a Detroit gospel event coordinator.

Eds: For more information about the Gospel Hall of Fame and Museum, call 313-592-0017.

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