*Gospel music uplifts and inspires helping to brighten the dim lights of trouble and despair.
“Precious Lord, lead me on, let me stand. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.” Lyrics from the classic gospel song “Precious Lord” written by famed gospel musician Thomas Dorsey after his beloved wife Nettie died during childbirth and their infant son passed away two days later.
Dorsey, known as “the father of black gospel music” is among the artists featured in the acclaimed music documentary “Say Amen, Somebody.”
The film was first shown in theatres in 1983 and now re-released showing through September 26 at New York City’s Film at Lincoln Center.
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The idea for the collection of celebrated gospel greats came from esteemed director George Nierenberg who says he was looking for a project after he had completed a film on black jazz tap dancing.
“I was with the musician Ry Cooder and I asked him if he had any ideas. This was his exact words, ‘You ought to look into gospel music. Those cats are really neat.’” He took that advice from Cooder, known for his slide guitar work, to heart.
“So I started going to church. And naturally, I was overwhelmed by my experience.” A moment recaptured by Nierenberg to EURweb.com associate, Tene’ Croom.
“Say Amen Somebody” is rich with “earth-shaking performances” by legendary gospel singers including Dorsey, Willie Mae Ford Smith, the O’Neal Twins, Zella Jackson Price, and Delois Barrett Campbell and the Barrett Sisters.
“You got to have that gospel music to get to the soul,” Jackson Price told Croom.
Jackson Price has been singing gospel music since she was six-years-old and provided keen observations about whether certain age groups such as seniors or baby boomers would find it more compelling than others. The beloved 79-year-old gospel music pioneer says millennials and the Gen X crowd will also be toe-tapping because traditional gospel music transcends generations.
“Kirk Franklin and all those young artists are relating to this new gospel music. But they’re really getting it from traditional music. ‘Amazing Grace’ might change for a style but his grace is still amazing,” Jackson Price said.
While this documentary prominently features 20th-century gospel music, it also explores the family relationships of the gospel performers and features moving discussions about changes in society and the rights of women.
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Redd Foxx and Jackson Price share more than St. Louis, Missouri as their hometown. She grew up seeing the comic actor when he would often visit members of her family. One person in her family really caught his eye.
“He loved my Aunt Louise (Leezy). My grandmother had a mission like a church during the Depression. Redd Foxx came to the church for soup and to date Leezy. He was like an uncle to me.”
She says years later he would show his affection for her family by sometimes using their names for characters on his hit 1970’s TV series “Sanford and Son.”
“My mother’s name is Alberta. He said in one of the episodes at the end (of the show) that he had a friend coming to see him named Alberta,” she said with a chuckle.
While Foxx won awards for his racy comedy on the big and small screen, she saw a spiritual side of the superstar, who died in 1991 after suffering a heart attack on the set of his sitcom “The Royal Family.” In 1946, very early in his career, a 23-year-old Foxx recorded a risqué blues record, “Fine Jelly Blues.” However, Price says the bawdy comedian liked gospel music. She observed when she was a child that Foxx, who rose to stardom following his raunchy standup comedy routines and albums, “loved Jesus and he loved the church. He was related to the church and it was in his soul.”
She believes “Say Amen, Somebody” that’s filled to the rafters with amazing gospel music will reach you and rock you like that feel-good food you always like to eat.
“Gospel music is something that reaches the soul and reaches life. Like the song ‘The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow.’ It gets in your soul believing that he (Lord) will make a way somehow. And when Thomas Dorsey sang ‘Precious Lord.’ He didn’t know what to call the Lord. So he called him precious. There is no name greater than precious.”
Nierenberg likens the film to a Broadway show with broad appeal beyond the scores of people who already enjoy gospel music.
“It’s a story about people. They sing gospel music. But, in its essence, it’s about the humanity of those people. You enter into their lives in a very real authentic way. You experience them in family life and family conversations. You’re inside of it. The music comes out of that experience. When something happens, suddenly people sing. The singing relates to what you’ve just seen,” Nierenberg explains.
The nationwide release of “Say Amen, Somebody” will start September 13 in Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis, among other cities. For more information – www.milestonefilms.com.
Tené Croom
@TcTene
[email protected]
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