Mahalia Jackson - Life, Well-known songs, In popular culture, Further reading

Gospel singer, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Raised in the Baptist Church, she secretly listened to the blues recordings of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Moving to Chicago (1927), she joined a Baptist choir, and then became a member of the Johnson Gospel Singers (1928), singing and acting in ‘religious plays’ while touring with the group for some years. By the mid-1930s she had joined Thomas A Dorsey and would tour with his gospel group until the late-1940s. Although she had recorded four sides for Decca in the late-1930s, none gained any notice. It was her 1947 recording of ‘Move Up a Little Higher’ that sold a million copies and soon gained her the ‘queen of gospel’ crown. She appeared on radio and television and commenced touring in Europe (1952). Invited to sing at an inaugural party for President John F Kennedy, at the 1963 March on Washington, and at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr, she also appeared in several films, but refused to sing in nightclubs or to sing secular songs (although she recorded Duke Ellington's ‘Come Sunday’ in 1958). She is credited with having inspired a whole new generation of gospel singers and making gospel become appreciated throughout the world.

Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1912 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely regarded as the best in the history of the genre.

Life

Jackson grew up in the "Black Pearl" section of the Carrollton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, and began singing in a Baptist church.

The Johnson Brothers broke up in the mid-1930s, and Jackson began her solo career, recording for Decca in 1937. The result, "God's Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares", was only a moderate success, but Jackson became a popular concert draw. Jackson rocketed to fame in the U.S. and soon after in Europe.

Jackson's career in the late 1950s and early 1960s continued to rise when she recorded with Percy Faith, and performed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the inauguration of John F.

In the mid-1960s, Jackson and country commediene Minnie Pearl were convinced by Nashville entrepreneur John Jay Hooker to lend their names to chains of fried chicken resturants to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken aimed at their respective predominantly black and white entertainment audiences. The venture collapsed amid claims of accounting irregularities, stock-price fixing, and other fraud, but a long U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation showed that neither Jackson nor Pearl had any involvement in, or knowledge of, the wrongdoing. One "Mahalia Jackson's Fried Chicken" outlet still remains in Nashville as of 2006 and enjoys considerable success and local fame in the vicinity of the Tennessee State University campus.

Jackson died in Chicago on January 27, 1972, of heart failure and diabetes at the age of 60.

Well-known songs

Trouble of the World Silent Night Go Tell It on the Mountain Amazing Grace Take My Hand, Precious Lord 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

In popular culture

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.

Further reading

Tony Heilbut, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times Limelight Editions, 1997, ISBN 0-87910-034-6.