1899–1993

Introduction

portrait

Born: Ju­ly 1, 1899, Vil­la Ri­ca, Geor­gia.

Died: Ja­nu­ary 23, 1993, Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois.

Buried: Oak Woods Ce­me­te­ry, Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois.

Pseudonyms

Biography

Tom was the son of Bap­tist min­is­ter Tho­mas M. Dorsey and Et­ta Spen­cer. He mar­ried twice, to Net­tie Mae Harp­er (1925) and Kath­ryn Mose­ley.

He pro­vid­ed mu­sic for per­form­ers such as Tam­pa Red, Ma Rai­ney, and Bes­sie Smith, writ­ing some 200 songs in his life­time.

Lyrics

  1. Dear Friends and Kind­red
  2. Each Day the Sun Comes Out to Shine
  3. God Be with You
  4. How Ma­ny Times Have I Wound­ed His Heart?
  5. How Well Do I Re­mem­ber
  6. I Am Tired and So We­ary
  7. I Don’t Know Why
  8. I Was Lost in Sin and Sor­row
  9. I Was Stand­ing by the Bed­side of a Neigh­bor
  10. If I Don’t Get There
  11. I’ll Tell of the Sav­ior
  12. I’m So Tired and So Wea­ry
  13. It’s My De­sire to Do Some Good Thing
  14. Let My Sin­ful Days Be Left Be­hind
  15. Like a Ship That’s Tossed and Driv­en
  16. Lord Will Make A Way, The
  17. My Way Gets Bright­er
  18. Oft Time We Have Too Ma­ny Tro­ubles
  19. Old Ship Of Zi­on
  20. Peace in the Val­ley
  21. Precious Lord, Take My Hand
  22. Search Me, Lord
  23. There’ll Be Peace in the Val­ley
  24. There’s a Day That Is Com­ing
  25. There’s a God Some­where
  26. Well, I’m So Tired and So Wea­ry
  27. When I’ve Done the Best I Can
  28. When My Way Grows Drear
  29. You Know When I’m Right, Lord

Sources