The story behind the song ‘Precious Lord, Take My Hand’

By David Winship Thomas A. Dorsey was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, west of Atlanta, in 1899, one of three children. His parents were educated, his father a graduate of Atlanta Bible College, now Morehouse College, and was a farmer, a preacher, and a teacher. His mother played organ for church services at Mt. Prospect Baptist Church. His uncle was a musician who played country blues. Dorsey moved to Chicago at age 20 and found employment playing piano in vaudeville shows and bars, including one of Al Capone’s speakeasies. He also studied music at the College of Composition and Arranging. Dorsey played the blues circuit, performing as “Georgia Tom” with the likes of Tampa Red and as a member of Ma Rainey’s band. The first composition he copyrighted, perhaps the first copyrighted blues song, was “If you don’t believe I’m leaving, You can count the days I’m gone.” During his first years in Chicago, his companion musician was often Tampa Red with whom he formed “The Hokum Boys,” which had a blues recording career from 1928-32. Hokum was an emerging form of blues associated with barrelhouse piano playing, primarily in bars. It used creative metaphor to put the blue in...