Theodore Frye was a Chicago choir director and baritone whose partnership with Thomas A. Dorsey helped gospel music find its first pulpit, co-founding a pioneering gospel choir at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the early 1930s. He was present at the creation of "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" — reputedly suggesting 'Precious' over 'Blessed' — later formed the Martin-Frye Quartet with Roberta Martin, and helped launch Mahalia Jackson's career, making him one of gospel's essential organizers even without a hit recording of his own. He co-founded two of gospel's key trade conventions before his death in 1963.