Reverend A. W. Nix

Reverend A. W. Nix (1876 – 1943) was an American preacher who recorded 54 sermons and gospel songs in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Although much of Nix's personal life is obscured, he is best remembered for his commercially successful sermon, "The Black Diamond Express to Hell". After his disappearance from the public view in 1940, Nix's recordings were reintroduced when he was credited as a major influence on Thomas A. Dorsey, the "father of gospel music". Accordingly, nearly all of his sermons have been reissued on compilation albums.

Biography

Very little is known about Nix's early life, other than that he was born in Birmingham, Alabama sometime in 1876. It has been suggested he originally worked as a coal miner and pianist, before becoming a preacher just prior to the First World War.^[1] He has been described as a plainspoken speaker, but one who demonstrated his knowledge of formal study by incorporating historical figures into his sermons, most notably "The Marchless King".^[2] In the 1920s, Nix signed with Vocalion Records, as record companies discovered the market in the black community for recordings by preachers. In Nix's recording period, which was between the late 1920s and early 1930s, he completed 54 (three unissued) sermons that, for the most part, featured him as the lead vocalist. The only other preacher to best Nix's numbers during this time was Reverend J. M. Gates of Atlanta, Georgia, who recorded over 200 sermons.^[3]

Nix's recording techniques and sermon focal points closely resembled Gates' approach. In 1927, Gates recorded two sermons, "Hell Bound Express Train" and "Death's Black Train Is Coming", which are thought to influence Reverend Nix's best-known work, "The Black Diamond Express to Hell". Six total recordings under the same title were recorded by Nix as a continuation of the previous, and, like Gates, he begins to include congregation members who have their own speaking roles.^[1][4] "The Black Diamond Express to Hell" chronicles various stops made by a train with "sin the engineer, pleasure the headlight, and the Devil the conductor".^[5] In a more extensive description, writer Martha Simmons explains how "Nix names various stops that a train takes on its way to hell. Stops include Liars Avenue, Drunkardville, and Gambling Tower. Before each stop, Nix intones and thunders the phrase, 'Next station!'. At each stop, he gives the characteristics of the types of people likely to board the Black Diamond Express – gossipers, liars, gamblers, and more".^[1]

With the success of "The Black Diamond Express to Hell", the Reverend established the precedent for the recorded sermon series, a method which became successful for several other preachers of the era.^[6] By 1940, Nix had disappeared from public attention and he died in 1943. Several compilation albums feature his sermons, with "The Black Diamond Express to Hell" being found on The Gospel Book, Gospel: Negro Spirituals, Rough Trade Shops, and Goodbye, Babylon, among others. In the mid-1990s, Document Records released an album which focuses solely on the Reverend's work called Rev. A. W. Nix: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1927–1928).^[7]

The Reverend's homilectic preaching, expressive articulation, and soulful singing has continued to influence others of the practice. Thomas A. Dorsey credited Nix's rendition of "I Do, Don't You?" with spurring his religious conversion at the National Baptist Convention in Chicago, in 1921. As Dorsey recalled: "my heart was inspired to become a great singer and worker in the Kingdom of the Lord -- and impress people just as the great singer [Nix] did that Sunday morning".^[6]

References