shall Stearns, the Inn?s creator. Stearns knew Mahalia's recordings from Apollo Records very well and invited the two to spend the weekend in the jazz ?think tank?. Mahalia strongly believed that every man and woman needed something to believe in, something they could look up to. For Mahalia, it was the gospel that she believed in and it was the gospel that uplifted her. She saw nothing wrong with selling the gospel in the market place as long as it was pure and untainted. (4) Beginning in the mid-1930?s vocal ministers and board members of black churches opposed, resented and were horrified of the decent of gospel songs into wide popularity. Mahalia did what came natural to her and gained great fame through her unique style. Although she broke every rule of concert singing from breathing in the middle of a word and garbling words together, her full throated feelings and expressions made up the difference! While at the Music Inn, Hammond sought out Mahalia and wished to talk to her about her recording future. Representing Columbia, he reminded Mahalia that her current contract with Bess Berman was under shaky conditions, considering that Bess was under financial stress. Columbia offered Mahalia more money then Bess in the future. In 1952, the agreement between Mahalia and Bess began to shatter. At this point, Mahalia picked up the phone and called Mitch Miller, the contract negotiator for Columbia and asked that he send her a ...
