Marie Knight
| Marie Knight | |
|---|---|
Knight in Rejoice and Shout
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marie Roach |
| Born |
June 1, 1920 Sanford, Florida, U.S. or Attapulgus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | August 30, 2009 (aged 89) Harlem, New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Gospel, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | c. 1945–2009 |
| Labels | Various, including Decca, Okeh |
Marie Knight (June 1, 1920 – August 30, 2009) was an American gospel and R&B singer.
She was born Marie Roach in 1920, though she claimed to have been born in 1925. Sources differ as to her place of birth – either Attapulgus, Georgia, or Sanford, Florida – but she grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was a construction worker and the family were members of the Church of God in Christ. She first toured as a singer in 1939 with Frances Robinson, an evangelist. She married preacher Albert Knight in 1941 but the union ended in divorce. While she was touring with Sister Rosetta in the 1940s, her two children died in a fire at her mother’s house in New Jersey.
In 1946, she made her first recordings, for Signature Records, as a member of The Sunset Four.(aka.The Sunset Jubilee Singers) Shortly afterwards, Sister Rosetta Tharpe saw her singing at the Golden Gate Auditorium in Harlem, on a bill with Mahalia Jackson, and invited Knight to join her on tour. Tharpe recognized "something special" in Marie's contralto voice.
She continued to record and perform with Tharpe through the 1940s, sometimes acting out the parts of "the Saint and the Sinner", with Tharpe as the saint and Knight as the sinner. Among their successes were the songs "Beams of Heaven", "Didn't it Rain", and "Up Above My Head", recorded for Decca Records. "Up Above My Head", credited jointly to both singers, reached No. 6 on the US R&B chart at the end of 1948, and Knight's solo version of "Gospel Train" reached No. 9 on the R&B chart in 1949.
She left Tharpe to go solo around 1951, and put together a backing group, The Millionaires (Thomasina Stewart, Eleonore King and Roberta Jones), with whom she recorded the 1956 album Songs of the Gospel. She began recording secular R&B music in the late 1950s, for various labels including Decca, Mercury, and Okeh. Her duet with Rex Garvin, credited as Marie & Rex, "I Can't Sit Down" released on the Carlton label, reached No. 94 on the pop chart in 1959. In the late 1950s she also toured Britain as a guest of Humphrey Lyttelton.
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