420:, known as the Father of Gospel Music, through her work as the pianist for the youth choir. With Dorsey's help, she and Theodore Frye organized the Martin-Frye Quartet, a youth group consisting of Eugene Smith, Norsalus McKissick, Robert Anderson, James Lawrence, Willie Webb and Romance Watson, in 1933. Martin renamed the group the Roberta Martin Singers in 1936 and added Bessie Folk, Myrtle Scott and Delois Barrett Campbell to the group in the 1940s. The group set the standard for the gospel choir and mixed group, and had an extremely successful recording career, featuring such hits as "Only A Look," and "Grace."
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Her group disbanded upon her death in 1969, but the surviving members continued to perform as a group in reunion concerts into the 21st century. Many of the members later had solo careers, such as Delois
Barrett and Gloria Griffin, who was the composer of the classic gospel song "God Specializes",
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During her lifetime, she had composed about seventy songs, arranged and published 280 gospel songs, and reached and inspired thousands of listeners selling sheet music. Her compositions include "He Knows Just How Much We Can Bear," and "God Is Still on the Throne" (1959), "Let It Be" (1950), and
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Martin complemented her group's performance with her piano accompaniment, which often dictated the rhythm and pace of the song or commented on it by responding to or accenting a singer's performance. Martin's piano style reflected the influence of
Holiness artists such as
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on the
Hammond organ. Her droning introductory chord and unique "passes" using the bass pedals set the tone for a meditative experience and became a recognized trademark of a "Roberta Martin gospel song".
665:, Italy, in 1963. She helped develop a distinctive gospel-piano style which had a special sound that integrated, for the first time, men and women into the gospel chorus during the mid-1940s.
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The theme song of the
Roberta Martin Singers is "Only A Look." It was always sung at the opening of their concerts, at their annual Anniversary Program in Chicago, and was recorded on the
412:. Although a high school teacher inspired her to dream of becoming a concert pianist, her future course was changed after accompanying the Young People's Choir at
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issued a 32 cent commemorative stamp honoring Martin's influence. The stamp was one of four honoring gospel women. The other women honored were
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composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group,
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Roberta briefly retired from music in the 1960s due in part to her battle with cancer, but came back to record her final album
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label with Bessie Folk with Delois
Barrett as lead soloists and later on the Savoy label with Delois Barrett as lead vocalist.
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Only a Look: A Historical Look at the Career of Mrs. Roberta Martin and the
Roberta Martin Gospel Singers of Chicago, Illinois
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that she incorporated in 1939, and would eventually publish outstanding compositions by gospel artists ranging from
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on
January 18, 1969, at the age of 61, at Mercy Hospital, Chicago. Her funeral attracted over 50,000 mourners.
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Most of these songs were published by
Roberta Martin Studio of Music, a publishing house in
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The
Roberta Martin Singers sang at Gian-Carlo Menotti's Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in
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The other musical signature of the
Roberta Martin Singers was the accompaniment of
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We'll Understand It Better By And By: Pioneering African-American Gospel Composers
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made famous by the Roberta Martin Singers in concerts and recordings.
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African Americans and the Bible: Sacred Texts and Social Structures
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Woke Me Up This Morning: Black Gospel Singers and the Gospel Life
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658:"Just Jesus and Me" (1966). Martin earned six Gold records.
282:(February 12, 1907 – January 18, 1969) was an American
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People Get Ready!: A New History of Black Gospel Music
704:, University Press of Mississippi (1997), page xiv;
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Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America
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919:How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel
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408:with her family in 1917, where she studied
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905:The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times
638:Learn how and when to remove this message
534:Praise God (from whom all blessings flow)
497:Learn how and when to remove this message
388:Learn how and when to remove this message
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
404:, on February 12, 1907, Martin moved to
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786:Greer, Ronald L. (September 17, 2015).
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813:Notable Black American Women: Book 2
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877:"32c Roberta Martin single"
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668:On July 15, 1998, the
148:Background information
18:Roberta Martin Singers
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966:Savoy Records artists
961:Singers from Arkansas
682:Sister Rosetta Tharpe
280:Roberta Evelyn Martin
158:Roberta Evelyn Martin
720:Wimbush, Vincent L.
572:improve this article
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881:postalmuseum.si.edu
526:"Little" Lucy Smith
855:Southern, Eileen.
790:. WestBow Press.
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981:1969 deaths
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294:Early years
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950:Categories
898:References
886:2024-03-11
678:Clara Ward
598:newspapers
348:newspapers
231:Instrument
169:1907-02-12
154:Birth name
77:newspapers
688:Footnotes
628:June 2023
487:June 2023
458:does not
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400:Born in
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663:Spoleto
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