Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson (1962)

Mahalia Jackson (born October 26, 1911 in New Orleans , Louisiana , † January 27, 1972 in Evergreen Park , Illinois ) was an American gospel singer .

Life

Mahalia Jackson grew up in New Orleans, where she first sang in a Baptist church . She remained a member of this church throughout her life. In 1928 she moved to Chicago to perform with the Johnson Brothers, one of the first professional gospel groups.

After the Johnson Brothers disbanded in the mid-1930s, Jackson recorded God’s Gonna Separate The Wheat From The Tares on Decca Records in 1937 , My Lord , Keep Me Everyday and God Shall Wipe All Tears Away . Recordings were moderately successful, but Jackson became a popular concert singer.

She took a break from recording until 1946 when she signed a contract with Apollo Records and released several singles, which were also badly selling at the time. Move on up a Little Higher (1948) was then a huge success, however, the stores were barely able to meet the strong demand. She became famous both in the US and soon after in Europe. I Can Put My Trust in Jesus (1952) won a French Academy award, while Silent Night became the best-selling single in Norway.

Jackson received a radio series on CBS and signed a deal with Columbia Records in 1954 . In the years 1952, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1971 they made extensive tours around the world. In 1967 she appeared on German television in a Eurovision program to mark the start of color television with other international stars. She has also appeared in films such as St. Louis Blues , Imitation of Life and The Best Man .

Mahalia Jackson's career continued to be successful in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She made recordings with Duke Ellington ( Black, Brown and Beige ) and Percy Faith, and performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 and 1958 , which was recorded and broadcast by the Voice of America . In the final scene of Douglas Sirk's film As long as there are people, she sang Trouble of the world . Jackson also sang when John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, with Martin Luther King's “ March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom ” and later also with King's funeral.

In the late 1960s, Jackson lost strength and popularity. She ended her career abroad in 1971 with a concert in Munich.

Mahalia Jackson died in early 1972 at the age of 60 after several heart attacks . Her grave is in the Providence Memorial Park in Metairie , Louisiana .

Columbia Records / CBS albums from 1954 (selection)

• Abide With Me Harmony . CBS S 52747 (theme song Abide with me )
• Amazing Grace Encore Star Series . CBS P 14358
• A Mighty Fortress . Col. Rec. CS 9659
• Black, Brown And Beige with Duke Ellington . Columbia Records CL 1162 / CS 8015
• Bless This House . CL 899 / CS 8761 (electron. Stereo)
• Christmas With Mahalia . Col. Rec. CS 9727
• Come On Children, Let's Sing . Col. Rec. CL 1428 / CS 8225
• Everytime I feel the spirit . Col. Rec. CL 1643 / CS 8443
• Garden of Prayer . Col. Rec. CL 2546 / CS 9346
• Great Gettin "" Up Morning . Col. Rec. CL 1343 / CS 8153
• Great Songs Of Love And Faith . Col. Rec. CL 1824 / CS 8624
• Greatest hits . Col. Rec. CL 2004 / CS 8804
• How I Got Over . Col. Rec. KC 34073
• I believe . Col. Rec. CL 1549 / CS 8349
• I Sing Because I'm Happy . Folkways Records Volume 1 and 2 FTS 31101/31102
• In Concert, Easter Sunday 1967 . LP: Col. Rec. CL 2690 / CS 9490; CD: Col. Legacy 503018 2
• In memoriam . CBS S 66501 (5LPs - Sampler)
• Let's pray together . Col. Rec. CL 2130 / CS 8930
• Lord Don't Move The Mountain . Harmony KH 31111 (reissue of Make A Joyful Noise)
• Mahalia . Col. Rec. CL 2452 / CS 9252
• Mahalia And Friends At Christmastime . Col. Special Products 11804
• Mahalia Jackson Sings The Best Loved Hymns Of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Col. Rec. CS 9686
• Mahalia Sings The Gospel Right Out Of The Church . Col. Rec. CS 9813
• Mahalia - The World's Greatest Gospel Singer . Sony Music Spec.Products MJR-1/2 P 21741 (2LPs sampler)
• Make A Joyful Noise Unto The Lord . Col. Rec. CL 1936 / CS 8736
• My Faith . Col. Rec. CL 2605 / CS 9405
• Newport 1958 . Columbia Records CL 1244 / CS 8071
• Recorded Live In Europe / Tell The World . Col. Rec. CL 1726 / CS 8526
• Sings America's Favorite Hymns . Col. Rec. CG 30741 (2 LPs - sampler)
• Silent Night, Songs For Christmas . Col. Rec. CL 1903 / CS 8703 (DE: gold, CH: × 3Triple platinum )
• Sunrise, sunset . Harmony H 30019 / CBS S 52829 (sampler)
• Sweet Little Jesus Boy Columbia Records . CL 702 / C 10984 (electron.stereo)
• The Best Of Mahalia Jackson . HRB / Col. Spec. Prod. P3-14028 (3LPs - Sampler)
• The Great Mahalia Jackson . Col. Rec. CG 31379 (2LPs - sampler)
• The Life I Sing About Caedmon . TC 1413
• The Power And The Glory . Col. Rec. CL 1473 / CS 8264
• The World's Greatest Gospel Singer . Columbia Records CL 644 / CS 8759 (electron.stereo)
• What The World Needs Now . Col.Rec. CS 9950
• You'll Never Walk Alone Columbia Records . CL 2552 (10-inch LP)
• You'll Never Walk Alone . Harmony HS 11279 / CBS S 52606 (sampler)

Well-known songs and interpretations

Abide With Me Amazing grace Bless This House Come On Children Let's Sing Christmas Comes To Us All One A Year Down by the riverside Didn't it rain? Elijah skirt Go Tell It on the Mountain God Put A Rainbow In The Sky Great gettin 'up morning Holding My Saviors Hands How great thou kind How I Got Over I found The Answer In The Upper Room Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho Just As I Am Let The Church Roll On

Lord, don't move the mountain Movin on up a little higher Oh happy day O Little Town of Bethlehem Remember me? Roll Jordan, Roll Silent Night, Holy Night Somebody Bigger Than You and I Summertime / Sometime I Feel Like a Motherless Child Tell The World About This In the Upper Room There is a balm in Gilead To Me tt's Wonderful Trouble Of The World We Shall Overcome What Child Is This When the Saints Go Marching In Nobody but you, lord

literature

• Lotte Bormuth : My song for God. The life of Mahalia Jackson . Francke Verlag, Marburg 1999, ISBN 978-3-86122-423-5 .
• Mark Burford: Mahalia Jackson meets the wise men. Defining Jazz at the Music Inn . In: The musical quarterly , Volume 97 (2014), Issue 3, pp. 429-487, ISSN  0027-4631 .
• Gerhard Kayser: Mahalia Jackson. A portrait (Jazz Library; Vol. 11). Pegasus-Verlag, Wetzlar 1962.
• Theo Lehmann: "Gospels are my life". Mahalia Jackson . Aussaat-Verlag, Wuppertal 1981, ISBN 3-7615-4810-9 .
• Evan M. Wylie: Movin 'on up . Hawthorn Books, New York 1966.
  • German: Mahalia Jackson tells. The story of her life . Flamberg Verlag, Zurich 1969.
• Singing - songs in Bethlehem . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1952 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Mahalia Jackson  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Mahalia Jackson in the catalog of the German National Library
• Mahalia Jackson at Discogs (English)
• Biography of the Institute for Women's Biography Research Hanover / Boston
• Image of the tomb

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mahalia Jackson: Mein Leben , Zurich 1969, pp. 7, 25 f., 40 f.
2. ↑ Tomb of Mahalia Jackson. knerger.de
3. ↑ Awards for music sales: DE CH