Sallie Martin
Source: NCGCC
Born in Pittfield, Georgia, on 20 November 1895, gospel vocalist, Sallie Martin, [1, 2], was the contemporary of Thomas A. Dorsey, generally recognized as "father" of Black gospel. Martin would likewise become popularly known as the "mother" of Black gospel. Raised a Baptist but becoming Pentecostal as a young woman, she began her career in 1927 in Chicago singing in Holiness churches. Some period afterward she was hired by Dorsey as a singer in his trio and manager. She assisted Dorsey in the founding of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses in 1933. He had organized an earlier union for choral singers the year before.
Leaving Dorsey in 1940, Martin founded Martin and Morris Music, a publishing house, with Kenneth Morris that year. She also formed the Martin and Morris Singers that year, 'On the Jericho Road' that group's first release. Also recorded in 1940 were 'Must Be Jesus Love Divine' and 'I'm Walking with My Jesus', released much later in 1945. No tracks by the Martin and Morris Singers are represented at YouTube. But a CD released in 2014, 'Just A Little Talk With Jesus', contains 25 issues by Cora and Sallie Martin released between 1940 and 1952.
Martin is said to have formed Martin and Martin in 1940 with Roberta Martin. The two didn't go far together though, Sallie putting together the Sallie Martin Singers that year and Roberta moving onward to form the Roberta Martin Singers. The Sallie Martin Singers are thought to have first entered the studio in 1947. That April they recorded 'Even Me, Even Me' and 'Just a Few Days to Labor' for release in 1948. Also recorded on that date were 'Four and Twenty Elders', and 'Jesus Steps Right In', released in February 1950. 'You Know, Lord' and 'He's a Friend of Mine' were possibly issued in 1950 as well.
Cora Martin, Brother Joe May and Dinah Washington (as Ruth Jones) each spent some time with the Sallie Martin Singers. Martin performed with the group regularly until the mid fifties, backing off after that due the rigors of touring. The Singers continued without her for decades to come but for occasional appearances.
Martin died in June of 1988. She was elected into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 1991.
'God's Got a Crown' Arizona Dranes Recorded 3 July 1928 Chicago
Matrix 8W400981 Issued in 1976 on Library of Congress LBC-1 & Herwin H210 (below)
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Sources & References for Sallie Martin:
Catalogs:
Compilations:
Herwin 210 (1976)
Library of Congress LBC-1 1976:
Sessionographies:
Further Reading:
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