671 Arizona Dranes (1889/91?-1963) “Lamb's Blood Has Washed Me Clean” & “My Soul's a Witness for the Lord” 1926

“What little is known about her suggests Arizona Dranes was a remarkably strong individual. In many ways, she was one of American society’s most disadvantaged members: a blind black female of modest if not poor background from the Deep South who grew up during the height of the Jim Crow era...her options in life were very limited. The Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths of the State of Texas prominently featured musical instruction as a major component in the education of the blind...Active in Pentecostal circles, her musical talent was recognized and she was given an opportunity to record. Although her recording career was brief, it was extremely influential, and, in many ways, she laid the groundwork for what would become known as gospel music a few years later when Thomas A. Dorsey, a Baptist, combined blues and black sacred music to become recognized as ‘the father of gospel music’” (Timothy Dodge, The School of Arizona Dranes: Gospel Music Pioneer, 2013). 

Arizona Dranes “Lamb's Blood Has Washed Me Clean”

Arizona Dranes “My Soul's a Witness for the Lord”