"Precious Lord, Take My Hand" and the Tragedy Behind It

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 817 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, Thomas A. Dorsey helped bridge blues and church music, but his most famous hymn came from tragedy. In 1932, after losing his wife and child, he sat at the piano and wrote “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” The song would go on to become one of the most recognized gospel hymns.

For our Story of a Song series, our own Lee Habeeb shares the story of this iconic gospel standard.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:02.3	Guaranteed Human.
0:04.6	Precious Lord, take my hand.
0:12.8	Lead me on.
0:15.9	Let me stand.
0:19.4	I am tired. I am tired.
0:22.9	I am weak.
0:25.2	This is our American stories, and up next.
0:29.5	If a funeral is taking place in a black church in America, there's a strong probability.
0:34.7	The gospel song, Take My Hand, precious Lord, will be a part of the service.
0:40.2	The song was written by Thomas Dorsey,
0:42.7	who was born in a small town, 40 miles west of Atlanta,
0:46.6	one of seven brothers and sisters.
0:49.0	Dorsey grew up in and around the church.
0:51.7	His dad was a Baptist preacher,
0:53.8	his mother, the church organist.
0:56.4	In his late teens,
0:57.4	Dorsey left his gospel roots
0:59.0	to try his hand at the blues,
1:01.3	working first in clubs in and around Atlanta
1:03.6	and then landing in Chicago's south side.
1:06.9	Lord, Lord.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.