Frogtoon Music

The Essential Mahalia Jackson (Album) by Mahalia Jackson

Artist Biography For Mahalia Jackson

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 God's 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." Jackson Grew Up In The "Black Pearl" Section Of The Carrollton Neighbourhood Of Uptown New Orleans Louisiana And Began Singing In A Baptist Church. In 1927 She Moved To Chicago Illinois Where She Sang With The Johnson Brothers One Of The Earliest Professional Gospel Groups. The Johnson Brothers Broke Up In The Mid-1930s And Jackson Began Her Solo Career Recording For Decca In 1937. The Result "God's Gonna Separate The Wheat From The Tares" Was Only A Moderate Success But Jackson Became A Popular Concert Draw. She Didn't Record Again Untill 1946 When She Signed With Apollo Records Releasing Several Singles That Are Now Highly Regarded Though Sales Were Sluggish At The Time. "Move On Up A Little Higher" 1948 Became A Huge Success However And Stores Could Not Stock Enough Of It To Meet Demand. Jackson Rocketed To Fame In The U.S. And Soon Afterwards In Europe. "I Can Put My Trust In Jesus" Won A Prize From The French Academy And "Silent Night" Was One Of The Best-Selling Singles In The History Of Norway. She Began A Radio Series On CBS And Signed To Columbia Records In 1954. With Her Mainstream Success Came An Inevitable Backlash From Gospel Purists Who Felt She Had Watered Down Her Sound For Popular Accessibility. Jackson's Career In The Late 1950s And Early 1960s Continued To Rise When She Recorded With Percy Faith And Performed At The 1958 Newport Jazz Festival And The Inauguration Of John F. Kennedy. She Also Sang At The Funeral Of Her Friend Martin Luther King Jr. The Late 1960s Saw A Downturn In Her Popular Success. She Ended Her Career With A Concert In Germany In 1971 When She Returned She Made One Of Her Final Television Appearances On The Flip Wilson Show. Jackson Died In Chicago On 27th January 1972 Of Heart Failure And Diabetes At The Age Of Sixty. She Was Buried In Providence Memorial Park In Metairie Louisiana. She Was Posthumously Inducted Into The Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall Of Fame In 1978.

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: The Essential Mahalia Jackson


Mahalia Jackson Rewrote The Rules For Singing Gospel In The Late '40s By Bringing Blues Phrasing And Other Secular Elements Into Sacred Song And With Her Powerful Alto She Sang With An Immediacy And Conviction That Are Still Startling When They Break Out Of The Speakers Some 30 Years After Her Death. This Two-Disc Set Collects Tracks From Jackson's Long Stay At Columbia Records As Well As A Few Tracks From Her Previous Label Apollo Records Where She Recorded From 1947 Until Signing With Columbia In 1954. What Makes This Set Feel Like More Than A Greatest-Hits Collection Is The Inspired Sequencing Which Doesn't Move Chronologically But Instead Is Paced Like A Concert Helped By The Placement Of Key Live Tracks Including Several From Her Historic Appearance At The 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Highlights Are Almost Too Many To Mention But Her Elegant Version Of "Come Sunday" With Duke Ellington & His Orchestra Is Majestic In Scope And Her Interpretations Of A Pair Of Thomas A. Dorsey Compositions "It Didn't Cost Very Much" And "I'm Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song" Are Definitive. The Funky "Let The Church Roll On " Featuring Some Wonderful Stop-Start Stuttering Piano Work From Mildred Falls Rocks The House As Does The Rousing Jazzy Version Of "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho" That Is Included Here. A Beautiful And Heartbreaking Reading Of "I've Been Buked" From Columbia's Tape Archives Is Another Obvious High Point. No One Could Worry Over A Note Like Mahalia Jackson. The Essential Mahalia Jackson Makes A Marvelous Introduction To The Colombia Records Era Of This Powerful And Soulful Singer And Coupled With The Earlier Three-Disc Apollo Sessions Paints A Complete Picture Of An American Treasure.