Martha Bass
Encyclopedia
Martha Bass was an American
gospel
singer.
After migrating to St. Louis
as a young girl, she joined the Pleasant Green Baptist Church, where she was a promising gospel vocalist. She came under the authoritative and watchful tutelage of Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith
, the head of the Soloists Beareau in gospel composer Thomas A. Dorsey
's National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses and the founder of the St. Louis Chapter of the organization, and it was there that she developed into a "house wrecker" as they are called in gospel.
With Mother Ford's teaching and a wealth of church singing experience under her belt, she left St. Louis in the early 1950s to travel with the great Clara Ward Singers, but left after one year. Only one recording, "Wasn't it a Pity How They Punished my Lord", remains of her time with the Clara Ward Singers.
In the 1960s her album, "I'm So Grateful", established her as a gospel singer of the first rank. When her daughter Fontella returned to her gospel roots, she cut several tracks with her and her son, the gospel singer David Peaston
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
singer.
After migrating to St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
as a young girl, she joined the Pleasant Green Baptist Church, where she was a promising gospel vocalist. She came under the authoritative and watchful tutelage of Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith
Willie Mae Ford Smith
Willie Mae Ford , also known as Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith, was an American gospel singer.-Early years:Born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee as a child...
, the head of the Soloists Beareau in gospel composer Thomas A. Dorsey
Thomas A. Dorsey
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was known as "the father of black gospel music" and was at one time so closely associated with the field that songs written in the new style were sometimes known as "dorseys." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.As formulated by Dorsey,...
's National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses and the founder of the St. Louis Chapter of the organization, and it was there that she developed into a "house wrecker" as they are called in gospel.
With Mother Ford's teaching and a wealth of church singing experience under her belt, she left St. Louis in the early 1950s to travel with the great Clara Ward Singers, but left after one year. Only one recording, "Wasn't it a Pity How They Punished my Lord", remains of her time with the Clara Ward Singers.
In the 1960s her album, "I'm So Grateful", established her as a gospel singer of the first rank. When her daughter Fontella returned to her gospel roots, she cut several tracks with her and her son, the gospel singer David Peaston
David Peaston
David Peaston is an American R&B/gospel singer who in 1990 won a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist...
.