By the 1940's, gospel music changed massively. An explosion of talent developed. Also, gospel back then was a genre that expanded worldwide, and it was used by churches among all denominations. Many black gospel artists and artists of any color toured and became full time musicians. Some wanted to promote solely a gospel message, and other artists appealed to a more secular audience. Mahalia Jackson rose up in prominence too. Also, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was another gospel pioneer. She sold millions of records. She can move the audience with her singing and guitar playing. In fact, Tharpe was one of the founding pioneers of rock and roll music. Blues and jazz are the origins of rock itself to be honest. Thomas Dorsey was a famous producer who worked once with blues artists. He played the piano, and later he worked with gospel artists like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, etc. There was the evolution from mostly singing quartets to new groups in the 1940's like the Pilgrim Travelers, Soul Stirrers, Swan Silvertones, Dixie Hummingbirds, Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, Sensational Nightingales, etc. This music used more ad libs, more stylistic freedom, and other styles. By this time, Mahalia Jackson had used her contralto voice to develop gospel ballads. She had joyful songs too. Her first hit was "Move on Up a Little Higher" which was written by W. Herbert Brewster. Mahalia Jackson was the granddaughter of slaves. She was born and raised poor in the Southern city of New Orleans. She found her home in the church sing songs that delivered God's word via music. When she was a teenager, she moved into Chicago. She joined the Johnson Singers, an early gospel group. She was heavily influenced by blues singer Bessie Smith. By 1946, she appeared at the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem. In attendance was Art Freeman, a music scout for Apollo Records, a company catering to black artists and audiences concentrating mostly on jazz and blues. Apollo's chief executive Bess Berman was looking to broaden their representation to other genres, including gospel. Berman signed Jackson to a four-record session, allowing Mahalia Jackson to pick the songs. Her first release on Apollo, "Wait 'Til My Change Comes" backed with "I'm Going to Tell God All About it One of These Days" did not sell well. Neither did her second, "I Want to Rest" with "He Knows My Heart."
Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of "Move On Up a Little Higher," selling two million copies and hitting the number two spot on Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music. Mahalia Jackson's recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. She regularly appeared on television and radio, and performed for many presidents and heads of state, etc. Crowds listened to her. She was the soloist of the National Baptist Convention. She campaigned for Harry Truman being invited to the White House for the first time. She performed at the Apollo Theater and the Village Vanguard. She was the first gospel singer to perform at Carnegie Hall where Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington (who are classical artists) performed at for years. The gospel group of the Jubalaires had gospel rap back in the 1940's too. Since the 1940's was in the midst of World War II, there were patriotic gospel songs like the song of We Are Americans, Praise the Lord (sung by Bertha Houston and the congregation). It was recorded by Willis James in 1943. The Four Brothers had the song of Death comes a-knocking. The Middle Georgia Four had the song of Lead me to that Rock from 1943.
By the 1950's, gospel music continued to be a worldwide genre. A newer generation of artists existed like Bessie Griffin, Clara Ward, Albertina Walker, The Caranvans, The Davis Sisters, and Dorothy Love Coates. Some artists sang in groups, and other artists were soloists. The Ward Singers used theatrics and daring group dynamics. Men and women quartet groups were commonplace. Albertina Walker lived form 1929 to 2010. She was a gospel singer, songwriter, actress, and humanitarian. Walker was born in Chicago, and her parents were from Georgia. Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson, her friend and confidante, whom Jackson took on the road when Albertina was just a teenager. "Mahalia used to kid me. She'd say, 'Girl, you need to go sing by yourself,'" recalled Walker in a 2010 Washington Post interview. Albertina Walker did just that. In 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans. She was popularly referred to as the "Queen of Gospel Music", initially by such notables as the late Reverend James Cleveland and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr, for her outstanding achievements within the genre after the death of Mahalia Jackson in 1972. The Caravans in the 1950's dominated the gospel scene. There were singers like Ora Lee Hopkins, Elyse Yancey, and Nellie Grace Daniels. The Caravans' membership has included: Bessie Griffin, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Loleatta Holloway, James Cleveland, John McNeil, Cassietta George, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname "Star Maker." Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960's, performing as a solo artist. Mahala Jackson had her first television appearance on the Toast of the Town show with Ed Sullivan in 1952. She toured Europe too. Her appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London made her the first gospel singer to perform there since the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1872, and she pre-sold 20,000 copies of "Silent Night" in Copenhagen.
She appeared at the 1956 Democratic National Convention, silencing a rowdy hall of attendees with "I See God." Miller, who was in attendance, was awed by it, noting "there wasn't a dry eye in the house when she got through." Jackson broke into films playing a missionary in St. Louis Blues (1958), and a funeral singer in Imitation of Life (1959). As demand for her rose, she traveled extensively, performing 200 dates a year for ten years. Mahalia Jackson and her entourage of singers and accompanists toured deeper into the South, encountering difficulty finding safe, clean places to sleep, eat, and buy gas due to Jim Crow laws. Sometimes they had to sleep in Jackson's car, a Cadillac she had purchased to make long trips more comfortable. These indignities inspired Mahalia Jackson to further promote civil rights causes.
Mahalia Jackson was a well known civil rights who fought racism. She wanted ushers to allow white and black people to sit together. She told them that they were all Christian brothers and sisters. Mahalia Jackson met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Albernathy at the 1956 National Baptist Convention. Both young ministers were fighting segregation. Both men were of the South. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used his leadership skills, his firm convictions, and his outstanding oratory ability in order to fight for social change (like ending Jim Crow apartheid, fighting poverty, promoting workers' rights, and ending imperialism). Mahalia Jackson sang in support of civil rights causes without charge. She raised money to buy a church an organ, robes for choirs, and sponsoring missionaries. She raised money for the United Negro College Fund and sang at the Prayer Pilgrimage Breakfast in 1957. She later stated she felt God had especially prepared King "with the education and the warmth of spirit to do His work." She sang in support of the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott. Mahalia Jackson supported black sharecroppers in Tennessee facing eviction for voting. Mahalia Jackson were at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 and 1958. She visited the Holy Land where she knelt and prayed at Calvary.
Mahalia Jackson supported Dr. King and JFK. She campaigned for John F. Kennedy too. Her clout and loyalty to Kennedy earned her an invitation to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" at his inaugural ball in 1961. Months later, she helped raise $50,000 for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC was a major religious, civil rights organization headed by Dr. King and other dedicated human beings. Jackson lent her support to King and other ministers in 1963 after their successful campaign to end segregation in Birmingham by holding a fundraising rally to pay for protesters' bail. By this time she was a personal friend of King and his wife Coretta Scott King, often hosting them when they visited Chicago, and spending Thanksgiving with their family in Atlanta. King considered Jackson's house a place that he could truly relax. Mahalia Jackson was at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to sing, "I've Been 'Buked and I've Been Scorned" on King's request, then "How I Got Over". Jackson is credited as the woman who inspired King's "I Have a Dream" speech. "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" she shouted, just before he began the most famous segment of the speech. Three months later, while rehearsing for an appearance on Danny Kaye's television show, Jackson was inconsolable upon learning that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated, believing that he died fighting for the rights of black Americans. By the 1960's, gospel music was heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement from singers, preachers, ushers, and various religious organizations. Mahalia Jackson toured Europe again in 1964. She sent LBJ a telegram to protect the marchers in Selma, Alabama in response to Bloody Sunday back in 1965. When not on tour, she concentrated her efforts on building two philanthropies: the Mahalia Jackson Foundation which eventually paid tuition for 50 college students, and the culmination of a dream she had for ten years: a nondenominational temple for young people in Chicago to learn gospel music. As she organized two large benefit concerts for these causes, and she was once more heartbroken upon learning of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She attended the funeral in Atlanta where she gave one of her most memorable performances of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord." With this, Jackson retired from political work and personal endorsements. In 1967, the song of "Oh Happy Day" was recorded by the Northern California State Youth Choir (later being the Edwin Hawkins Singers). This one song changed the era of gospel music in general. The song created the modern day era of contemporary gospel music. Many of the groups, soloists, and composers in that movements were diverse.
Mahalia Jackson formed restaurants, visited the Caribbean, and visited Liberia in West Africa. On July 10, 1970, Jackson appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in Festival Field in Newport, RI as part of "A Beautiful Night: Salute to Satch," a star-studded celebration of jazz legend Louis Armstrong's birthday. Mahalia Jackson continued to travel worldwide. In 1971, she was on shows led by Johnny Cash and Flip Wilson. She toured Japan. The U.S. State Department sponsored a visit to India, where she played Kolkata, New Delhi, Madras, and Mumbai, all of them sold out within two hours. In New Delhi, she had an unexpected audience with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who declared, "I will never hear a greater voice; I will never know a greater person." She passed away in Chicago on January 1972 after she recovered from surgery. She had health issues for years. Many people were shocked at Mahalia Jackson's passing. Her funeral service existed at Greater Salem Baptist Church in Chicago where she was still a member. Fifty thousand people paid their respects, many of them lining up in the snow the night before, and her peers in gospel singing performed in her memory the next morning. The day after, Mayor Richard Daley and other politicians and celebrities gave their eulogies at the Arie Crown Theater with 6,000 in attendance. Her body was returned to New Orleans where she lay in state at Rivergate Auditorium under a military and police guard, and 60,000 people viewed her casket. On the way to Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana, the funeral procession passed Mount Moriah Baptist Church, where her music was played over loudspeakers. Mahalia Jackson was a legend for humanity.
Rest in Power Sister Mahalia Jackson.
Mahalia Jackson had an unique gospel singing style. She was influenced by many genres of music. She was mostly untrained. With an energetic voice, Mahalia Jackson can go from contralto to soprano and switched up quickly. The Pentecostal gospel music influenced her as Pentecostal sounds were much more revolutionary than typical Baptist sounds. Mahalia Jackson inspired a whole generation of gospel artists from Albertina Walker to Aretha Franklin, Like always, in my view, Mahalia Jackson was the greatest vocalist in history. She could sing high and low. Her messages about spirituality were powerful. She fought against the evil of Jim Crow apartheid. After Mahalia Jackson's passing, gospel music was in a transitional period form 1972 to 1997. There were many gospel artists who continued with old school sounds, and other gospel artists wanted to use more R&B influences to establish their music. Artists like Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, the Winans, the Clark Sisters, Mattie Moss Clark developed composing, arranging, singing, and recording for large choirs for years. Gospel was a global genre with more movements to spread, and it would never be the same again.
One of my late ancestors was my late 2nd cousin Bishop Herman L. Sessoms. We share the same ancestor of my late 2nd great grandfather Adam D. (b. 1862). He lived from October 19, 1933 to June 12, 2019 being 85 years old. Bishop Herman L. Sessoms' parents were Mary Clara Roberson Sessoms (1910-2000) and Thomas Jefferson Sessoms (1907-1961). Mary Clara Roberson Sessoms' parentswere James Gus Henry Roberson (1883-1951) and Ada (Ettie) D. (1890-1960). Ada D.'s parents are Adam D. (b. 1862) and Georganna Tillery D. (1868-1954). Bishop Herman L. Sessoms married Willie Mae Mooring (1938-2001) on November 8, 1954 at Edgecombe, North Carolina. They divorced during the 1960. Bishop Herman L. Sessoms married Daisy Baree Roberson on May 21, 1960 at Greenville, Virginia. They divorced on March 4, 1974 at Martin, North Carolina. He married Darlene L. Tisdale on July 6, 1985 at Hampton, Virginia. They divorced on March 21, 1988 at Virginia. Later, his final wife was Winne Black (b. 1933) being married on April 8, 1989 at Hampton, Virginia. Bishop Herman Lee Sessoms worked in the Waterworks Department for the City of Newport News, retiring after 30 years of service. Lee became a member of Ivy Baptist Church where he served on the Usher Board for many years. As a Deacon at Friendship Baptist Church, loved the Word of God and gospel ministries. He was ordained to preach in 1996 by the late Rev. Willie J. Hilton. He was the founder and pastor of the New Shiloh Christian Church. He was ordained as Bishop in November 2003. Years ago, he transitioned to the ministry of Family Light Baptist Church under the leadership of Elder Donnette Mills where he continued to labor in the ministry and preach the Word.
His siblings are Thomas Clinton Sessoms Jr. (1929-2006), Rev. Arthur Marion Sessoms (1930-2016), Clara Elizabeth Sessoms (b. 1935), Rev. Augusta Sessoms (1938-2006), and Pete Sessoms. Rev. Herman L. Sessoms' daughters are: Shirley Louise Mooring Newsome (b. 1953. Her husband is David Lenzy Newsome), Mary Ann Sessoms Chance (b. 1956. Her husband is Bille James Chance. Their children are my 3rd cousins whose names are Billie James Chance Jr. born in 1988, Anatasha Chemon Chance Judd born in 1990, and Tabitha Chance Bell), Sylvia Anita Sessoms (1957-2010. Her children are Derold Lee Sessoms being born in 1976, Ranita Dishawn Sessoms being born in 1993, and Robert Shaun Sessoms), Delores Ann Sessoms Green (b. 1961. She is married to William C. Green II who was born in 1962. Their daughter is Jasmine Nicole Green who was born in 1988), Felecia Elaine Sessoms (b. 1962. She married James Hinton), and baby Sessoms (b. 1964-1964). Bishop Herman L. Sessoms' stepdaughters are: Angela Lief Batchelor Holloman (b. 1954. Her parents are William Franklin Black and Winnie Black. She married Larry Edward Diggs. Her previous husbands are Len E. Holloman III and Robert L. Mitchell), and Diane Black (b. 1959. Her parents are William Franklin Black and Winnie Black. She married Thomas Earl Dunn who was born in 1956). Bishop Herman L. Sessoms' sons are: Johnny Ray Sessoms (1955-1955), Alvin Cordel Sessoms (b. 1965) and his step son Jerry Harrell (he married Linda Harrell). My distant cousins are everywhere in the United States of America.
By Timothy
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