NOT MOTOWN HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mahalia Jackson October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972 was an American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice,she was referred to as The Queen of Gospel. Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as the single most powerful black woman in the United States. She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career, and her 45 rpm records included a dozen golds—million-sellers. I sing Gods music because it makes me feel free, Jackson once said about her choice of gospel, adding, It gives me hope. With the blues, when you finish, you still have the blues Born as Mahala Jackson and nicknamed Halie, Jackson grew up in the Black Pearl section of the Carrollton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. The three-room dwelling on Pitt Street housed thirteen people and a dog. This included Little Mahala (named after her aunt, Mahala Clark-Paul whom the family called Aunt Duke); her brother Roosevelt Hunter, whom they called Peter; and her mother Charity Clark, who worked as both a maid and a laundress. Several aunts and cousins lived in the house as well. Aunt Mahala was given the nickname Duke after proving herself the undisputed boss of the family. The extended family (the Clarks) consisted of her mothers siblings: Isabell, Mahala, Boston, Porterfield, Hannah, Alice, Rhoda, Bessie, their children, grandchildren, and patriarch Rev. Paul Clark, a former slave. Mahalias father, John A. Jackson, Sr. was a stevedore (dockworker) and a barber who later became a Baptist minister. He fathered four other children besides Mahalia: Wilmon (older) and then Yvonne, Pearl, and Johnny, Jr. (by his marriage shortly after Halies birth). Her fathers sister, Jeanette Jackson-Burnett, and husband, Josie, were vaudeville entertainers. At birth, Jackson suffered from genu varum, or bowed legs. The doctors wanted to perform surgery by breaking her legs, but one of the resident aunts opposed it. Jacksons mother would rub her legs down with greasy dishwater. The condition never stopped young Jackson from performing her dance steps for the white woman for whom her mother and Aunt Bell cleaned house. Jackson was five when her mother Charity died, leaving her family to decide who would raise Halie and her brother. Aunt Duke assumed this responsibility, and the children were forced to work from sunup to sundown. Aunt Duke would always inspect the house using the white glove method. If the house was not cleaned properly, Jackson was beaten. If one of the other relatives could not do their chores or clean at their job, Jackson or one of her cousins was expected to perform that particular task. School was hardly an option. Jackson loved to sing and church is where she loved to sing the most. Her Aunt Bell told her one day she would sing in front of royalty, a prediction that would eventually come true. Jackson began her singing career at the local Mount Mariah Baptist Church. She was baptized in the Mississippi River by Mt. Mariahs pastor, the Rev. E.D. Lawrence, then went back to the church to receive the right hand of fellowship. Jackson died in Chicago on January 27, 1972, of heart failure and diabetes complications. Two cities paid tribute: Chicago and New Orleans. Beginning in Chicago, outside the Greater Salem Baptist Church, 50,000 people filed silently past her mahogany, glass-topped coffin in final tribute to the queen of gospel song.The next day, as many people who could—6,000 or more—filled every seat and stood along the walls of the citys public concert hall, the Arie Crown Theater of McCormick Place, for a two-hour funeral service. Mahalias pastor, the Rev. Leon Jenkins, Mayor Richard J. Daley, and Mrs. Coretta Scott King eulogized Mahalia during the Chicago funeral as a friend – proud, black and beautiful. Sammy Davis, Jr., and Ella Fitzgerald paid their respects. Dr. Joseph H. Jackson, president of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., delivered the eulogy at the Chicago funeral. Aretha Franklin closed the Chicago rites with a moving rendition of Precious Lord, Take My Hand. Three days later, a thousand miles away, the scene repeated itself: again the long lines, again the silent tribute, again the thousands filling the great hall of the Rivergate Convention Center in downtown New Orleans this time. Mayor Moon Landrieu and Louisiana Governor John J. McKeithen joined gospel singer Bessie Griffin. Dick Gregory praised Mahalias moral force as the main reason for her success. Lou Rawls sang Just a Closer Walk With Thee. The funeral cortège of 24 limousines drove slowly past her childhood place of worship, Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, where her recordings played through loudspeakers. The procession made its way to Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana, where Jackson was entombed. Despite the inscription of Jacksons birth year on her headstone as 1912, she was actually born in 1911. Among Mahalias surviving relatives is her great-nephew, NBA basketball player Danny Granger. Jacksons estate was reported at more than four million dollars. Some reporters estimated record royalties, television and movie residuals, and various investments made it worth more. The bulk of the estate was left to a number of relatives, many of whom cared for Mahalia during her early years. Among principal heirs were relatives including her half-brother, John Jackson, and aunt, Hannah Robinson. Neither of her ex-husbands, Isaac Hockenhull (1936–1941) and Sigmund Galloway (1964–1967), were mentioned in her will. Mahalia Jacksons music was played widely on gospel and Christian radio stations, such as Family Radio. Her good friend Martin Luther King, Jr., said, A voice like this one comes not once in a century, but once in a millennium. She was a close friend of Doris Akers, one of the most prolific gospel composers of the 20th century. In 1958, they co-wrote the hit Lord, Dont Move the Mountain. Mahalia also sang many of Akers own compositions such as God Is So Good to Me, God Spoke to Me One Day, Trouble, Lead On, Lord Jesus and Hes a Light Unto My Pathway, helping Akers to secure her position as the leading female Gospel composer of that time. In addition to her singing career, she mentored the legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin. Mahalia was also good friends with Dorothy Norwood and fellow Chicago-based gospel singer Albertina Walker. She also discovered a young Della Reese. On the twentieth anniversary of her death, Smithsonian Folkways Recording commemorated Jackson with the album I Sing Because Im Happy, which includes interviews about her childhood conducted by Jules Scherwin. American Idol winner and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Fantasia Barrino has been cast to play Mahalia Jackson in a biographical film about her life. The movie will be based on the 1993 book Got to Tell It: Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel. The film is said to be directed by Euzhan Palcy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences created the Gospel Music or Other Religious Recording category for Jackson, making her the first gospel music artist to win the prestigious Grammy Award. In December 2008, she was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. A prominent namesake in her native New Orleans is the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, which was remodeled and reopened on January 17, 2009, with a gala ceremony featuring Plácido Domingo, Patricia Clarkson and the New Orleans Opera directed by Robert Lyall.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 12:08:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015