Precious Lord-Trivia

[snugsnug]

Precious Lord
Claim: In response to the death of his wife and child, Tommy Dorsey
wrote
the song "Precious Lord."

Status: Multiple:

* Famous big band leader Tommy Dorsey wrote the song "Precious Lord":
False.
* Account describes the writing of "Precious Lord" by gospel great
Thomas Andrew Dorsey: True.


Back in 1932 I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife,
Nettie
and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago's Southside. One hot
August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the
featured
soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn't want to go. Nettie was in
the
last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were
expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered
downstairs to
our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of
Chicago on
Route 66.

However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving,
had
forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found
Nettie
sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly
telling
me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb
Nettie, I
shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my
music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me
to
sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up
with a
Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the
yellow
sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED. People were happily singing
and
clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed
to a
phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was "Nettie is
dead. Nettie is dead."

When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I
swung
between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie
and
our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For
days I
closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't
want to
serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to
that
jazz world I once knew so well.

But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad
days, I
thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept
telling me
to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more
attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie
when she
died. From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him.

But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially a
friend,
Professor Fry, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following
Saturday
evening he took me up to Malone's Poro College, a neighborhood music
school.
It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows.
I
sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys.

Something happened to me then I felt at peace. I feel as though I could
reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I'd never
heard or played before, and the words into my head-they just seemed to
fall
into place:

Precious Lord, take my hand,
lead me on, let me stand!
I am tired, I am weak,
I am worn, Through the storm,
through the night lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.

The Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I
learned
that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God,
this
is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring
power. And
so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes
when
He will take me and gently lead me home.
-Tommy Dorsey

Did you know that Tommy Dorsey wrote this song? I sure didn't. What a
wonderful story of how God CAN heal the brokenhearted.

P.S. Beautiful, isn't it?



Tommy Dorsey, the acclaimed trombonist and dance-band leader, was born
on 19
November 1905. After working for other bands, he and his brother Jimmy
formed their own ensemble in 1920. The brothers had a falling out in
1935
and parted ways, Jimmy staying with The Dorsey Brother Orchestra but
renaming it 'Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra,' and Tommy taking over
what was
left of another band to form his own group. In 1939 Tommy Dorsey hired
Frank
Sinatra away from rival bandleader Harry James. (While the various
Dorsey
bands recorded numerous songs that went to #1 on the charts of their
day, a
great many are unknown to music listeners of the modern era. Arguably,
Sinatra's "I'll Never Smile Again" is one of the exceptions.) In 1953
Tommy
Dorsey broke up his own band and returned to his brother's, the pair
eventually renaming that ensemble the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.
Sedated by
sleeping pills following a heavy meal, Dorsey accidentally choked to
death
at the age of 51 on 26 November 1956.

Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, on 1 July 1899.
He was
a blues bandleader for singers including Ma Rainey, but after becoming
a
Christian he turned to writing gospel music, reportedly after
undergoing a
spiritual experience while hearing the hymn "I Do, Don't You?" at a
Baptist
convention. Across the course of his lifetime he penned more than a
thousand
gospel hymns, including "Say Amen," "Somebody," "Take My Hand" and
"Peace in
the Valley." He died in Chicago on 23 January 1993 of complications
arising
from Alzheimer's disease.

It is to be expected folks would confuse two musicians of the same name
who
were present on the music scene at approximately the same time. Beyond
the
difference in their genres of music, here's another way to tell the
them
apart: Tommy Dorsey the jazz musician of many popular hits was
Caucasian,
while Tommy A. Dorsey of gospel fame was African-American.