Rev. Willie Lee Morganfield -- Obit
Jef Jaisun
can possibly convey what it was like to walk up on his porch in Clarksdale,
ring the bell, then look down and realize I was standing on a welcome mat
that read "Morganfield."
Jef
http://www.nothinbutdablues.com/BluesNews/2003/Page97.html#Morganfield
The Rev. Willie Lee Morganfield (Muddy's Cousin), "Link between gospel and
blues," dies
By: Rebecca Hood-Adams, Lifestyle Editor
October 20, 2003
Although he sold gold records, his treasure lay elsewhere. "I don't want to
be known as a singer that can preach," said the Rev. Willie Lee Morganfield
in Woke Me Up This Morning: Black Gospel Singers and The Gospel Life by
Alan Young. "I want to be known as a preacher that can sing. 'Cause
preaching is first. It takes priority.
"But singing can soften the heart, and while the heart is soft, you can
inject the gospel in. So they combine. They work together - like bacon and
eggs." Rev. Morganfield, 76, died of heart failure Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003,
at Baptist Memorial Hospital East in Memphis. The body can be viewed at
Century Funeral Home from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Friday. The wake will be held
at Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 831 Garfield St., where
Morganfield had served as pastor since 1975.
The funeral service will be held at noon on Saturday with the Rev. J.L.
Payne of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis officiating.
Services will be held at the Church of God in Christ State Headquarters at
376 Sunflower Ave. The burial site has not yet been determined.
Born in Stovall on July 11, 1927, Rev. Morganfield was one of 14 children
raised in a family steeped in both religion and music. He was the cousin of
blues legend Muddy Waters, and his father Lewis Morganfield pastored in
Memphis - where the family moved in 1945 - for 43 years.
"Daddy wanted to stay on the gospel track," says daughter Delories Williams
of Hattiesburg. "Other people tried to get him to sing rock and roll or
rhythm and blues, but he was determined to stay with gospel because of his
relationship with God. He felt like that was his purpose. He wanted to live
for God and not the money." After World War II, Morganfield sang with the
New Orleans Chosen Five before traveling with the Soproco Singers. He was
an original member of the Kings of Harmony, based in Baltimore and New
York. In 1951, Morganfield moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to work for a
construction company. There he led a group that embraced two of his
brothers: the Delta Friendly Four.
"Then I came to Memphis in 1959," Morganfield recalled in interviews. "I
wrote What Is This and recorded it on Nov. 27, 1959." It was a mega-hit, as
were the follow-ups: Serving The Lord and Lord, Thank You, Sir. He also
sang with Early Wright's Four Star Quartet and the Clarksdale-based
Glorybound Singers. Despite the popularity of his gospel recordings, it was
the power of his sermons that earned Morganfield an international
reputation. Several of those sermons are preserved on CDs: The Bible and
The All-Powerful Name. In 1996, he recorded Bell Grove Baptist Church
Choir, followed by the critically acclaimed Love In Action.
"He was a living link between gospel and blues," says Shelley Ritter,
director of the Delta Blues Museum, "and will be profoundly missed. "He was
a great example of the oral tradition, and the power of his voice equalled
the power of his message."
On June 27, 1960, Morganfield married the former Jane Anne Sturdevant of
Metcalfe. While living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1970, the man who'd been
baptized as an 8-year-old in a Coahoma County lake was called to the
ministry. In 1972, the Morganfield family, which would include four
children, moved to Fairmont, W. Va., where he pastored Morning Star Baptist
Church until 1975. "Then the Lord told me to come to Clarksdale,"
Morganfield told interviewers. "I didn't know what was going to happen
there, but I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I came."
He traded a large congregation with "everything at my disposal - insurance,
a parsonage" - for Bell Grove, a church so small, it was then only meeting
once a month. Now more than 700 claim it as their home congregation.
"Besides his family, that church was his life," says Williams. "He was very
kind and giving. He could never turn away anyone in need."
"Even if he didn't have it to give," adds daughter Cassandra Morganfield,
"he couldn't sleep at night until he made a way. He made such a difference
in so many people's lives."
Known in the community as "Rev. Morganfield Jr.," Cassandra enjoyed a
special bond with her father, for whom she played piano while serving as
minister of music at Bell Grove. "Everybody called us 'twins,'" she says.
"We were so close. He was there whenever I needed anything, and I was there
for him." As deep as their relationship was, it was Morganfield's bond with
his wife that touched his daughter most deeply. "When Momma got down in the
wheelchair, he was there for her through her whole illness." And it is as a
family man that son Reginald Morganfield of Memphis remembers his father.
"He was a such a good father," he says, "always providing for us, making
sure our needs were met. But he was also a great friend. It was my
privilege to be there with him and see him pass."
"He had such a peace look on his face," says daughter Cassandra. "That last
day was such a good one. He'd been visiting with his sisters, having a good
time talking to us. Before that, he'd been so worried about the church,
fretting that he should be back in the pulpit. But I kept trying to tell
him that he'd earned his rest."
Morganfield is survived by his wife, Jane Morganfield of Clarksdale; one
son, Reginald Morganfield of Memphis; three daughters, Cassandra
Morganfield of Clarksdale, Delories Williams of Hattiesburg, and Theresa
Morganfield of Fort Worth, Texas; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild.
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c. n.
Morganfield....anyone know?
chuck
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