Claim:   The story of a jazz             musician named Tommy who went through a personal tragedy that led to             his writing the song “Precious Lord Take My Hand.”             He was Tommy Dorsey, the great trombonist and band leader.    
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Thomas A. Dorsey
text: faith and God, rather than the individual subsumed into the group by belief. Dorsey was born in Villa Rica, Georgia. He was the music director at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois, from 1932 until the late 1970s. His best-known composition, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", was performed by Mahalia Jackson and was a favorite of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Another composition, "Peace in the Valley", was a hit for Red Foley in 1951 and has been performed by dozens of other artists, including Albertina Walker (the "Queen of Gospel"), Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Dorsey died in

title: Thomas A. Dorsey
text: 1932. Two days later the child, a son, also died. In his grief, Dorsey wrote his most famous song, one of the most famous of all gospel songs, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand." Unhappy with the treatment received at the hands of established publishers, Dorsey founded the first black gospel music publishing company, Dorsey House of Music. He also founded a gospel choir and was a founder and the first president of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses. He influenced not only African-American music but also music by white artists. "Precious Lord" was recorded by Albertina Walker, Elvis

title: Villa Rica historical markers
text: is known as "the father of gospel music". Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom. As formulated by Dorsey, gospel music combines Christian praise with the rhythms of jazz and the blues. Dorsey was the music director at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago from 1932 until the late 1970s. His best-known composition, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", was performed by Mahalia Jackson and was a favorite of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, and "Peace in the Valley", which was a hit for Red Foley in 1951 and has been performed by dozens

title: Music of Chicago
text: music genre. Its origin and rise in popularity is mainly due to the "godfather of Gospel music", Thomas A. Dorsey. Dorsey began his career as a blues pianist, but later began composing religious music to the rhythms of jazz and blues, later calling it "Gospel". His most popular song, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand", was a favorite of Martin Luther King, Jr., and was sung by Mahalia Jackson by his request at his funeral. Many other artists have recorded their own renditions of "Precious Lord", including another Chicago Gospel artist, Albertina Walker. Dorsey influenced other Chicago Gospel artists such as

title: Villa Rica historical markers
text: gospel-blues song after his wife and newborn son died unexpectedly on August 26 and 27, 1932. That song, Take My Hand, Precious Lord has been translated into 32 languages. Aretha Franklin recorded Take My Hand, Precious Lord in 1956, the same year Tennessee Governor Frank Clement recited it. It became the anthem of Fannie Lou Hamer's Mississippi Summer. Dorsey's friend, Mahalia Jackson, sang it at Martin Luther King, Jr's funeral. Elvis Presley's recording of Dorsey's second-most-popular gospel song, Peace in the Valley, sold millions of copies. For a while, any new gospel-blues song, regardless of who wrote it, was called

title: Take My Hand, Precious Lord
text: Take My Hand, Precious Lord "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (a.k.a. "Precious Lord, Take My Hand") is a gospel song. The lyrics were written by the Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey, who also adapted the melody. The melody is credited to Dorsey, drawn extensively from the 1844 hymn tune, "Maitland". "Maitland" is often attributed to American composer George N. Allen (1812–1877), but the earliest known source (Plymouth Collection, 1855) shows that Allen was the author/adapter of the text "Must Jesus bear the cross alone," not the composer of the tune, and the tune itself was printed without attribution for many years.

title: Take My Hand, Precious Lord
text: "Maitland" is also sometimes attributed to "The Oberlin Social and Sabbath School Hymn Book", which Allen edited, but this collection does not contain music. This tune originally appeared in hymnals and tune books as "Cross and Crown"; the name "Maitland" appears as early as 1868. Dorsey said that he had heard Blind Connie Williams sing his version of this song with "Precious Lord" and used it as inspiration. Dorsey wrote "Precious Lord" in response to his inconsolable bereavement at the death of his wife, Nettie Harper, in childbirth, and his infant son in August 1932. (Mr. Dorsey can be seen

title: Tina Louise Thomas
text: her local and state contests. Thomas's winning performance featured her rendition of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", written in 1932 by Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey and arranged by Paul Mann, to a standing ovation. Rev. Dorsey, the "father of black gospel music," went on to write an article in "Christian Life" magazine "Jesus Took My Hand" (describing the experiences he went through prior to writing the song) where he mentioned her. He wrote, "And, it was the song that helped Tina Thomas, Miss Pennsylvania, win the Miss America talent competition." Early in her pageant days Thomas was sought after to

title: Gospel music
text: the song "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"), who had spent the 1920s writing and performing secular blues music under the name "Georgia Tom", turned to gospel music, establishing a publishing house. He had experienced many trials in his life,including the death of his pregnant wife. Thomas gained biblical knowledge from his father, who was a Baptist minister, and was taught to play piano by his mother. He started working with blues musicians when the family moved to Atlanta. It has been said that 1930 was the year when modern gospel music began, because the National Baptist Convention first publicly endorsed

title: Tommy Dorsey
text: Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely popular and highly successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus One", "Song of

title: Take My Hand, Precious Lord
text: which Ledisi portrays Mahalia Jackson. It was also performed by Beyoncé at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on February 8, 2015. Dave Grohl recited the lyrics of the song at a remembrance service for his friend, Lemmy from Motorhead, in January 2016. Many notable musicians have recorded "Take My Hand, Precious Lord". It was recorded by Mahalia Jackson on Tuesday March 27, 1956, on the album "Bless This House" (Columbia Records CL 899) with The Fall-Jones Ensemble: Mildred Falls (piano), Ralph Jones (organ). Jim Reeves' version of the song may be one of the best known of all. It was

title: Take My Hand, Precious Lord
text: released as the 'B' side of his hit single "This World is Not My Home" in 1965. "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2007. It was also included in the list of "Songs of the Century", by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2012, Mahalia Jackson's recording of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Take My Hand, Precious Lord "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (a.k.a. "Precious Lord, Take My Hand") is a gospel song. The

title: Take My Hand, Precious Lord
text: telling this story in the 1981 gospel music documentary "Say Amen, Somebody".) The earliest known recording was made on February 16, 1937, by the Heavenly Gospel Singers (Bluebird B6846). "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" is published in more than 40 languages. It was Martin Luther King Jr.'s favorite song, and he often invited gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to sing it at civil rights rallies to inspire crowds; at his request she sang it at his funeral in April 1968. King's last words before his assassination was a request to play it at a mass he was due to attend that

title: Thomas A. Dorsey
text: he accompanied the Pace Jubilee Singers. As Georgia Tom, he teamed up with Tampa Red (Hudson Whittaker), with whom he recorded the raunchy 1928 hit record "It's Tight Like That", a sensation, eventually selling seven million copies. In all, he is credited with more than 400 blues and jazz songs. Dorsey began recording gospel music along with blues in the mid-1920s. These recordings led to his performance at the National Baptist Convention in 1930, and he became the bandleader of two churches in the early 1930s. His first wife, Nettie, who had been Rainey's wardrobe mistress, died in childbirth in

title: Jimmy Dorsey
text: Jimmy Dorsey James Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He was known as "JD". He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and "It's The Dreamer In Me". His other major recordings were "Tailspin", "John Silver", "So Many Times", "Amapola", "Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)", "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances Langford, "Grand Central Getaway", and "So Rare". Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a coal miner

title: Jimmy Dorsey
text: established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance." Jimmy Dorsey James Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He was known as "JD". He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and "It's The Dreamer In Me". His other major recordings were "Tailspin", "John Silver", "So Many Times", "Amapola", "Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)", "Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances

title: Thomas A. Dorsey
text: the Caravans and Little Joey McClork. Dorsey wrote "Peace in the Valley" for Mahalia Jackson in 1937, which also became a gospel standard. He was the first African American elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and also the first in the Gospel Music Association's Living Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was inducted as a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame, in Richmond, Indiana. His papers are preserved at Fisk University. Dorsey's works have proliferated beyond performance, into the hymnals of virtually all American churches and of English-speaking churches worldwide. Elvis Presley's rendition of "Peace

title: James Baldwin
text: singing "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" "a cappella" was played at his funeral. When Baldwin was 15, his high-school running buddy, Emile Capouya, skipped school one day and, in Greenwich Village, met Beauford Delaney, a painter. Capouya gave Baldwin Delaney's address and suggested paying him a visit. Baldwin, who worked at the time after school in a sweatshop on nearby Canal Street, visited Delaney at 181 Greene Street. Delaney became a mentor to Baldwin and under his influence Baldwin came to believe a black person could be an artist. While working odd jobs, Baldwin wrote short stories, essays, and book

title: Thomas A. Dorsey
text: Chicago, aged 93. The Library of Congress added his album "" (1973) to the United States National Recording Registry in 2002. Dorsey's father was a minister and his mother a piano teacher. He learned to play blues piano as a young man. After studying music formally in Chicago, he became an agent for Paramount Records. In 1924, he put together a band for Ma Rainey called the Wild Cats Jazz Band. He started out playing at rent parties under the names Barrelhouse Tom and Texas Tommy, but was also best known as Georgia Tom. For a short time around 1926,

title: Tommy Dorsey
text: admired a vocalist, musician or arranger, he would think nothing of taking over their contracts and careers. Dorsey had a reputation for being a perfectionist. He was volatile and known to hire and fire and sometimes rehire musicians based on his mood. The new band was popular almost from the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island", the first of four hits in 1935. After his 1935 recording, however, Dorsey's manager dropped the "hot jazz" that Dorsey had mixed with his own lyrical style and instead had Dorsey play pop and vocal tunes. Dorsey would keep his