Subject: TABLE OF CONTENTS From: wysiwyg Date: 07 Sep 01 - 08:56 PM This is a PermaThread™, intended to serve as a starting point to resources collected at Mudcat and elsewhere online. Feel free to post messages in this thread, but note that we reserve the right to edit or delete any messages here so that this thread will serve as a permament reference. This thread is edited by Susan Oldberg Hinton (W y s i w y G !), with Jeri's technical help as needed. TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTORY MATERIALINTRODUCTION AND WELCOME RESOURCES KEY RESOURCES AT MUDCAT ABOUT SPIRITUALS ESSAYS INTRODUCTION JUST STUFF Q & A ABOUT THIS PERMATHREAD |
Subject: INTRODUCTION From: wysiwyg Date: 07 Sep 01 - 10:31 PM WELCOME, INTRODUCTION, PROJECT CREDITS, & LANGUAGE USAGE 28 January, 2007 Welcome to the Mudcat's African-American Spirituals PermaThread™! I'm very proud of the work Mudcat does to bring this body of work together, and I am pleased that it has been a ready resource for those who perform and extend this music in our own time. This thread brings together a body of posted material that was collected over a period of time, and then much later it was decided to index it by its genre... making the study of this folk corpus acessible, here, as it is not accessible anywhere else in the world. These posts represent the work of a dedicated international team of contributors including about a dozen Mudcatters of a diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints about the spirituals. The team members are credited and thanked not only in this thread but also in the threads where they researched, transcribed, and posted many of the indexed songs. Because it was my task to organize the work they did, creating a standardized format, it was also my task to post it. But I hope no one ever forgets that this is the work of our Mudcat community, not strictly my work.
~Susan Hinton
PROJECT CREDITS Dicho mined and posted spirituals from online sources. What a gift, to be able to hear them and to easily find the lyrics, epsecially the hundreds that Dicho combed out of the Lomax field notes and recordings! Masato added information about variants and recordings as he spotted them. Earl went through a batch of old Mudcat threads using some Supersearches I worked up for him, looking for more Posted Spirituals. Members Q and Azizi are frequent contributors to threads about spirituals, as well as this thread. Azizi has posted links to online videos of a number of spirituals in performance, in threads you will find in the index.
This project includes historical materials that may contain presently-offensive language or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record. |
Subject: KEY RESOURCES AT MUDCAT ABOUT SPIRITUALS From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Sep 01 - 02:53 PM KEY RESOURCES AT MUDCAT ABOUT SPIRITUALS 1 February, 2007 The thread list below needs to be re-organized a bit. ~SH~ CLICK HERE for a post summarizing an international mail list's discussion. CLICK HERE for African Runaway Slave Ballads. CLICK HERE for African American Secular Folk Songs. CLICK HERE to join the ongoing discussion of the folk process as it relates to spirituals. CLICK HERE for Spirituals: Melody, Modes-- That SOUND. CLICK HERE for Gospel & Spiritual Video Thread. CLICK HERE for Black Gospel - Roots, Styles, Examples. CLICK HERE for Favorite Negro Spirituals. In the 19th Century, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were among the first to bring "Negro Spirituals" to the general public in the U.S.. - Joe Offer CLICK HERE for Fisk Jubilee Singers CLICK HERE for USA Jubilee - Fisk Jubilee Singers. CLICK HERE for Gospel Origin-- Civil Rights & Labor Songs. CLICK HERE for Spirituals in Contemporary Performance. CLICK HERE for Hymns/gospel songs in jams. CLICK HERE for Secular Songs From Spirituals. CLICK HERE for Blues Related to Spirituals. CLICK HERE for Gary Davis Songs. CLICK HERE for Your Favorite Gospel Blues. CLICK HERE for Afro-American Hymnal information. CLICK HERE for African American Spirituals Bibliography (just starting a re-organization process there). CLICK HERE for Links on Spirituals. CLICK HERE to meet the late Joe Carter in an interview that includes songs, persectives, and how he remembers learning spirituals through family memories. |
Subject: LINKS TO OFFSITE STUDY RESOURCES From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Sep 01 - 02:53 PM The links below were originally posted in THIS THREAD. Please feel free to post additional links, right here in the permathread.
LINKS TO OFFSITE STUDY RESOURCES
1. CLICK HERE
2. CLICK HERE
3. CLICK HERE
4. CLICK HERE
5. CLICK HERE
6. CLICK HERE
7. CLICK HERE
8. CLICK HERE
9. CLICK HERE
10. CLICK HERE
11. CLICK HERE
12. CLICK HERE
13. CLICK HERE
14. CLICK HERE
15. CLICK HERE
16. CLICK HERE
17. CLICK HERE
18. CLICK HERE
19. CLICK HERE
20. CLICK HERE
21. CLICK HERE, or HERE
22. CLICK HERE
23. CLICK HERE
24. CLICK HERE
Included:
24a. CLICK HERE
24b. CLICK HERE
25. CLICK HERE
26. CLICK HERE
28. CLICK HERE
29. CLICK HERE
30. CLICK HERE
31. CLICK HERE
32. CLICK HERE
33. CLICK HERE
34. CLICK HERE
35. CLICK HERE
36. CLICK HERE
TO ADD: Cocojams
These Mudcat threads have been checked inside for additional titles/indexing. |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Sep 01 - 02:53 PM WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL? According to the New Harvard Dictionary of Music, Belknap Press, 1986: Spiritual. A religious folk song of the US.
Related types were cultivated by both whites and blacks throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, and scholars have differed on the relationship between the two repertories. Among whites, the term referred especially to songs used in revival meetings as early as the late 18th century, as distinct from metrical psalms and traditional hymns. These white spirituals were gathered in shape-note publications.
For an ongoing Mudcat discussion on this topic, CLICK HERE for History of Spirituals. |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Sep 01 - 04:01 PM THREADS FULL OF SONGS 28 January, 2007
Threads with lists of songs: |
Subject: INTRO TO INDEX From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Sep 01 - 04:01 PM INDEX OF "SPIRITUALS" POSTED, BY TITLEThis index includes songs created by African Americans during the slavery era in the USA, and especially the music of religious content which also may have been used as "code language" among the slaves.The index is a work always-in-progress. You will find more suggestions on index contents in the latter portion of this thread, where people's posts about songs to include sit until I can edit them into the index. Please join the discussions in the threads below! A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, ZABOUT THE INDEX 28 January, 2007 When I began posting spirituals here at Mudcat, from my collections, I was amazed to learn that there are so many that are not posted anywhere else online, even at sites specializing in spirituals. It was hard to find them here by searching, so I began this index, and others have stepped in to help build and maintain it. The goal of this index is to make it easier to search for information about individual songs from the widely-defined "Negro Spirituals" tradition. This means that even when there is doubt as to the "authentic" nature of a specific song, the song will be listed in this index. In other words, being listed here does not mean that diligent scholarship has ensured that any specific song is a "spiritual" in whatever sense any one individual might mean the term... it means, "Here is a place where we can look up titles we know or run across, and see what others have said, and add what we know-- or ask questions." The scholarship will be in the THREADS, not in this index... the index is merely a means of facilitating our continued study. If you spot a link that needs to be fixed— please PM me so I can fix my text file as well as ask Jeri to fix it here. Oh behalf of lovers of Spirituals everywhere, my thanks to all who are helping. You know who you are! ~Susan Hinton motormice@hotmail.com |
Subject: INDEX, A - D From: wysiwyg Date: 09 Sep 01 - 10:06 AM A Adam In The Garden Pinning Leaves Ain't Going to Grieve My God No More Ain' Go'n' to Study War No Mo' Ain't Got Time To Die Ain't Gwine Grieve My God No More Ain't No Heaven On De County Road Ain't No More Cane Ain't That Good News Ain't That Good News All De Friend I Had Is Dead And Gone All My Sins Been Taken Away (Mary Wore Three Silver Chains) All My Trials All My Trials All My Trials All The Pretty Little Horses Amelia's Song Amen An' I Cry And I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray Angel Rolled The Stone Away, The Angels Standin' In The Water Anyhow Away Beyond The Sea B Baa-Baa, Black Sheep Babylon's Fallin' Balm In Gilead Battle Of Jericho Battle-Ax Before This Time Another Year Behold That Star Been In The Storm So Long Black Sheep Black Sheep And Ponies Black Sheep Lullaby Black Sheep, Where You Left You' Lamb? Blessed Be The Name Blind Man, The Blow, Gabriel, Blow Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel Born Again Bound For Canaan Bound To Go Bow Low, Mary Bright Angels Bright Sparkles In De Churchyard By And By C Carry Me, Bury Me Certainly Lord "Chariot" spirituals Chatter With The Angels Children Go Where I Send Thee Chillun [Children] Did You Hear When Jesus Rose? Chilly Water Christ Is Comin' On The Cloud Clear The Line Before You Call Climbin' High Mountains Climbing Jacob's Ladder Climbing Up The Hill Of Mount Zion Clim'n' Up De Hills Come By Here (Kumbayah) Come On An' Bow Down Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray D Daddy Run Away Danville Chariot Dat Great Day Death Come Creeping Death Don't Have No Mercy Death Gwine-Ter Lay His Cold Icy Hands On Me Death Is Going To Lay His Cold Icy Hands On Me Death, Oh Death Deep River, Or Steal Away? Compares These Two Songs Deep River Dem Bones/Dry Bones Dem Bones Spiritual Or Minstrelsy? Dem Golden Slippers Dere's A Man Going Round Taking Names Dere's No Hiding Place Down Dere Dese Bones Gwine Rise Again Did You Hear When Jesus Rose? Didn't It Rain! Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel Dives & Lazarus Do Lord Do Lord, Oh Do Lord Do Lord Remember Me Done Found My Lost Sheep Done Made My Vow To The Lord Don't Feel Like I'se Anyways Tired Don't Ye View Dat Ship Don't You Let Nobody Turn You Around Don't You See? Don't You Weep Over Me Down By The River Down By The Riverside Down By The Riverside Down By The Riverside Down In De Lonesome Valley Down On Me Drinkin' Of The Wine Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee Drinkin' Wine Dry Bones A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: INDEX, E - H From: wysiwyg Date: 09 Sep 01 - 11:41 AM E Eagle's Wings Ef Ye Want To See Jesus Elijah Rock Every Hour In The Day Everybody Ought To Pray Sometime Everytime I Feel The Spirit Ezekiel Saw The Wheel Ezekiel F Farther Along Father Abraham (sitting down side of the Holy Lamb) Few More Beatings, A Fight Wid Ole Satan Fire on the Mountain Follow The Drinking Gourd Free Grace G Gambler, Where Was You? Get Away Jordan Gideon's Band Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus Give-a Way Jordan Give Me A Little Time To Pray Glory Glory, Hallelujah Glory Manger ('Round The) Go Chain The Lion Down Go Down In The Lonely Valley Go Down Moses Go Down, Death Go Down Death Go In The Wilderness Go Tell It On The Mountain Go Tell It On The Mountain God Don't Never Change God Gave Noah The Rainbow Sign God's Gonna Set This World On Fire God's Gonna Trouble The Waters Goin' Home Goin' Shout All Over God's Heav'n Goin' To Outshine The Sun Going Home Going Over Jordan Going to Study War No More Gonna Sit Down On The Banks Of The River Good Lord, When I Die Good News! Good News, De Chariot's Comin' Good Old Way, The Gospel Train, De (Not Git On Board) Got A Letter Graveyard, The Great Camp-Meetin' In De Promised Land, A (O Walk Together Children) Great Day Great Day Great Day (Sinner Will Be Runnin' On That) Green Green Rocky Road Green Sally Up Field Song Guide My Feet Guide My Feet, While I Run This Race Gwine To Ride Up In The Chariot Gwine-A Study War No Mo'! H Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail! Hallelujah, We'll Jine The Union Band Hammer Ring Hammering Hammering Judgement Hand Me Down Hard Times In Ol' Virginia Hard Trials He Knows He Said If You Love Me Feed My Sheep He That Believe Have An Everlasting Home He's Got The Whole World In His Hands He's Got The Whole World In His Hands Hear De Angels Singing Heaven Bell A-Ring Heav'n, Heav'n/All God's Children Got... Hell Down Yonder Help For The Needy HIDE Spirituals Hide-A-Me Holy Bright Number Honey In The Rock Honey In The Rock, More Versions How Do You Do, Everybody How I Got Over How'd You Know Your Name Been Written Down? Hypocrite And The Concubine A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: INDEX, I - K From: wysiwyg Date: 13 Sep 01 - 04:21 PM I I Ain't Going To Die No More I Ain't Goin' to Study War No More I Ain't Gonna Lay My Religion Down I Am A-Trouble In De Mind I Am The True Vine I Been In De Storm So Long I Believe I'll Go Back Home I Can't Stay Away I Can't Stay Behind I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray I Doan' Want Fu' T' Stay Hyeah No Longah I Don't Do Nobody Nothin' I Don't Feel No-Ways Tired I Don't Feel Weary I Don't Want to Ride in No Golden Chariot I Don't Want To Stay Here No Longer I Feel Good I Got A Hiding Place I Got A Home In That Rock I Got A Home I Got Ta Move I Got To Stand There By Myself I Heard From Heaven Today I Heard the Angels Singing I Know The Lord's Laid His Hands On Me I Lef' My Home A-Prayin' (On My Way) I Never Heard A Man I Never Intend To Die In Egypt Land I Thank God I'm Free At Last I Want Jesus To Walk With Me I Want To Die Easy I Want To Go To Heaven I Want To Moan Right On That Shore I Was There When He Walked In Galilee I Went Down In The Valley I Will Do My Last Singing In This Land I Wish I Had Died In Egypt Land I Wonder Where My Mother Gone I Won't Be Back I, John If He Changed Mah Name If We Ever Needed The Lord Before If You Love Me Feed My Sheep If You Want To See Jesus I'll Answer To My Name I'll Be Singing All The Time I'll Hear De Trumpet I'll Hear That Trumpet Sound I'll Hear The Trumpet Sound I'm A Going To Join The Band I'm A Pilgrim I'm a-Going To Do All I Can I'm a-Rolling I'm Glad I'm In That Number I'm Going Home I'm Going Home On The Morning Train I'm Goin' Lay Down My Life For My Lord I'm Going Away I'm Gonna Build On That Shore Black Gospel I'm Gonna Walk Around In Jerdan (Tell The News) I'm Gwine Home On The Morning Train I'm His Child I'm Just a-Going Over Home I'm Lookin' For That Man That Don't Know Jesus I'm Packin' Up I'm So Glad I Got My 'Ligion In Time I'm So Glad Jesus Lifted Me I'm So Glad Troubles Don't Last Always I'm Troubled In Mind In My Time Of Dyin' In-a That Morning In The Morning Inchin' Along Is Massa Gwine Sell Us Tomorrow Is There Anybody Here Who Loves My Jesus? Is Your Lamps Gone Out? Israelites Shoutin' In Heaven It Soon Be Done It's Cool Down Here At The River Jordan It's Me/Standin' In The Need Of Prayer J Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder Jesus' Blood Done Made Me Whole Jesus Goin' Make My Dyin' Bed Jesus Goin' Make Up My Dyin' Bed Jesus, He Knows Jesus Lifted Me Jesus Walk Around Your Bedside Jine 'Em Job, Job Job, Oh Job John (Done) Saw Dat Numbuh John (Done) Saw That Number John Saw (De Holy Number) John Saw De Hundred And Forty-Four Thousand John the Revelator Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel Jordan Deep And Jordan Wide (I'm Gwine Home On The Morning Train) Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho Journey Home Jubilee K Keep Your Hands On That Plow Keep A-Runnin' From The Fire Gospel Keep Inchin' Along Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning Kingdom Coming Kumbaya Kumbaya Kumbaya Kumbayah Kumbaya
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: INDEX, L - N From: katlaughing Date: 16 Sep 01 - 02:43 AM L Lamps Trimmed And Burning Lay This Body Down Lazarus Let God's Saints Come In Little Black Train Let Hit Shine Let The Church Roll On Let Us Break Bread Together Let Your Light Shine On Me Lights In The Valley White Gospel 'Ligion So Sweet Listen To The Lambs All-A Crying Little Black Train Little Black Train is a-Comin' Long Summer Day Long Way To Travel Long Way To Travel Lord, I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray Lord, I Don't Want to Die in the Storm Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Cryin' Lord, I Want To Be A Christian Lord I Won't Stop Praying Lord, I'm Gonna Tell The News Lord, Remember Me Lord, Show Me The Way Lord You've Been Good To Me Love Come Twinklin' Down Love Comes A-Trickling Down Low Down Chariot Low Down Chariot and Let Me Ride Lullaby (Pretty Little Ponies) Lyin' In De Arms Uv De Lord M Many T'ousand Gone Mary And Martha Mary Had A Baby Mary Had A Baby Mary Had A Baby Mary Wept And Martha Moaned <Mary Wept And Martha Mourned Mary Wore Three Links Of Chain Master Of The Sheepfold Meeting Is Over Michael Row The Boat Ashore Michael, Row The Boat Ashore Mighty Lak' A Rose Mighty Rider Mona (You Shall Be Free) Mo'nin' Dove, De More Room There Mo(u)rning Dove Morning Train 'Most Done Ling'rin' Here Most Done Trabellin' Mother, Is Massa Gwine Sell Us? Motherless Child Sees A Hard Time Motherless Children Motherless Children Mourning Dove My God Is So High My God Is So High My God Is So High My God Is So High My Lord What A Morning My Lord What A Mourning My Lord, What A Mornin' My Mother Will Be Runnin' In Dat Great Day My Soul Is A Witness For My Lord My Soul's Been Anchored In The Lord My Trouble Is Hard N Neve'a Man Speak Like This Man Never Heard A Man Speak Like This Man New Buryin' Ground New-Born Baby, De Nicodemus the Slave No Hiding Place Down There No Hiding Place Down There No Hiding Place No Man Can Hinder Me (Ride On, King Jesus) No More Auction Block (Many t'ousand Gone) Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, Lord! Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen Nobody Knows Who I Am Nobody's Fault But Mine Norah, Hist The Windah Now Let Me Fly Now We Take This Feeble Body A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: INDEX, O - R From: wysiwyg Date: 25 Sep 01 - 07:59 PM O O By And By/Going To Lay Down This Heavy Load O Day O Mary Don't You Weep O Mary, Where Is Your Baby? O! Look-a Death O, Wasn't Dat A Wide River? O What You Goin' to Do? O What You Gonna Do Oh Freedom Oh Freedom! Sweet Freedom! Oh Glory, How Happy I Am Oh Mary Don't You Weep Oh, Mona Oh Monah (Mourner) Oh Sinner Man Oh, Give Way Jordan Oh, Give Way, Jordan Oh, Lord I Want Two Wings To Veil My Face Oh Mary - Oh Marthy Oh Mother, Don't You Weep Oh, Peter Go Ring Dem Bells Oh, Po' Little Jesus Oh, The Rocks And The Mountains Oh, What A Wonderful Child! Old Ark's A-Moverin' Old Ship Of Zion Ole Ark's Er Movin' On Ma Journey Now One More River One More River and That Wide River is Jordan One Morning Soon Our Bondage It Shall End By And By P Pateroller Song, The Pharoah Pharoah's Army Pilgrim Song, The (Wayfaring Stranger) Po' Child Po' Little Jesus Po' Mona (Mourner) Poor Lazarus Poor Little Jesus (Hail, Lord) Poor Man Lazarus Poor Pilgrim Poor Sinner Fare You Well Praise And Thanks! Preacher Standin' In De Pulpit Prepare Me One Body Pretty Little Ponies Prodigal Son, The Prodigal Son, The Prodigal Son (Dock Boggs Version) Prodigal Son (Josh White Version) Prodigal Son (Rolling Stones Version) Purple Day Put John On The Island Q R Religion So Sweet Ride On King Jesus (No Man Can Hinder Me) Ride The Chariot Ride the Chariot Ring Them Charming Bells Rise Up, Shepherd And Follow Rise Up Shepherd and Follow Rock-a my Soul Rock My Soul Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham Rock O' Jubilee Rock O' My Soul Rockin' Roll, Jordan, Roll Roll the Old Chariot Along Round About The Mountain 'Round The Glory Manger Rounded Up In Glory Run Home, Children Run, ======, Run Various versions and discussion Run, Jimmie, Run Run Mary Run (You Got A Right) Run Run Run Run While the Sun is Shining A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: INDEX, S - T From: wysiwyg Date: 11 Feb 02 - 01:10 AM S Saltin' Bread Social Song Same Train (Standin' At The Station) Samson And Delilah Samson Scandalize My Name Seek and Ye Shall Find She Rock'd Him In A Weary Land Shine On Me Ship Of Zion, The Shortnin' Bread Social Song Shout Monah (Mourner) Shout Monah (Mourner), You Shall Be Free Since I Laid My Burden Down Sing Aho If I Had The Wings Of A Dove Sinner Man Sinner Man Sinner Will Be Runnin' On That Great Day Sinner You'd Better Get Ready Sis Mary Wore Three Links Of Chain Sitting Down By The Side Of The Lamb Slavery Chain (Done Broke At Last) So Hoe, Boys, So Hoe Social Band, The Somebody's Buried In The Graveyard Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child Soon I Will Be Done/Troubles Of The World Stand Still Jordan Stand The Storm Standin At The Station Standin' On Jesus Stars Begin To Fall Steal Away And Pray Steal Away To My Father's Kingdom Steal Away To My Father's Kingdom Steal Away Stoop Down And Drink Stop And Take A Ride Streets Of Glory Study War No More Sun Didn't Shine Out On Be-Yonder Mountain Sweet Honey In The Rock Sweet Little Jesus Boy Swing Down Chariot Swing Down, Chariot Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Swing That Chariot T Tell All The World, John Tell 'Em I'm Gone Tell The News Spirituals Tell The News That's No Way To Get Along There Is A Balm In Gilead There Is A Balm In Gilead There Is A Hand Writing On The Wall There's A Man Going Round Taking Names There's A Man Goin' Round Takin' Names These Bones Going to Rise Again This Heart O' Mine This Little Light O' Mine This Train Three Links of Chain Three old black crows sat on a tree (first line) Till I Die Time Has Made A Change Tone The Bell Easy Trouble Is Hard Trouble of the World Tryin' To Cross The Red Sea Trying To Get Home Tryin' To Make Heaven My Home Turtledove Done Drooped His Wings Twelve Gates To The City Twelve Gates To The City Two Wings A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: INDEX, U - Z From: wysiwyg Date: 11 Feb 02 - 10:34 AM U V Valley Of Dry Bones Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy, The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy, The Virgin Mary Had A Little Baby, The W Wade In The Water Waitin' On You Wake Nicodemus Wasn't That A Mighty Day Wasn't That A Number Watch And Pray We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder We Are Free We Shall Walk Through The Valley Weary Traveler We'll March Around Jerusalem We'll Roll The Chariot Along We'll Understand It Better By And By Weep, O Mary, Bow Low, Martha Welcome Table Were You There Were You There Whar Shall I Be? What A Wonderful Child! What Ya Gonna Name Your Baby Boy? What You Gonna Do What You Gonna Do When This World's On Fire? When I Die When I Die When I'm Gone When My Blood Runs Chiller And Cold When The Battle's Over When The Chariot Comes When The Gates Swing Open When The Good Lord Sets You Free When The Good Lord Sets You Free When The Love Comes Twinkle-Lin' Down When The Saints Go Marching In When The Train Comes Along When The Trumpet Sounds Where Shall I Be? Who Built The Ark (Brother No-ee) Who Shall Be Able To Stand In Dat Great Day Whole Heap a Little Horses Why'n't You Shout Like You Know You Bound For Glory? Will You March Down Winter'll Soon Be Over, De Wish I Was (I'se) In Heaven Sitting Down With My Mind Stayed On Freedom Woke Up This Mornin Woke Up This Mornin' Won't That Be A Time Working On A Building X Y Yo' Low Down Ways Yonder Comes Sister Mary You Better Run (To The City of Refuge) You Can't Hide You Got A Right You Gotta Move When The Spirit Says Move You Gots To Move You Hear The Lambs A-Crying You Hear The Lambs A-Crying You May Bury Me In The East You Mus' Come In By An' Thro' De Lamb You Shall Be Free You Shall Be Free You Shall Be Free You Shall Be Free, Mourner Z A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 30 Mar 02 - 11:04 AM HEAR THEM ONLINE! 28 January, 2007
To hear a number of spirituals captured in field recordings: This index leads to 131 songs collected in 1939 by John and Ruby Lomax and archived online at the American Memory section of the Library of Congress. They are labeled as Spirituals, although many are probably better classified as "gospel" unless additional scholarship can link the song more clearly to the Spirituals tradition. From the index, click on a song title and the page with the basic data and a clickable link to play the song appears. Works fine with Real Audio, and most also can be saved as MP3 or WAV files. Above edited by WYSIWYG 4/24/05
HERE you can hear a number of early black gospel pieces, many based on spirituals. Now we can start tying them together in the threads for the spirituals on which they are based, as Jerry Rasmussen has done for a few of them so far.... ~Susan
Sit down and hear the singers at the Fort Valley State College Folk Festival, and you will hear a whole bunch of great stuff courtesy of the American Memory project. (Save those sound files, pals!) Included are what I suspect are authentically-sung spirituals, as well as gospel quartets and other gospel styles that flowed from them and, in many songs, may be based on specific spirituals. Someone who knows more than I do about our more well-known blues artists, and their gospel pieces, might find some interesting clues as to when certain blues-gospel standards were actually created and how they spread. I'm hearing several things I thought only one guy ever did........ So which came first, the chicken or the egg, and just where did the black gospel quartets get the idea to take spirituals and regularize the harmonies, anyhow? Was it a collision of spirituals and barbershop? It sure sounds like it! ~Susan Yet to come, other links including Kennedy Center Millenium Stage audio/video archived performances, a corrected Dovesong link once the Dovesong Library is back online. Also to add-- links to Amazon spirituals search with description or artist list of suggested singers' work to review for clips; VAA, PNC clips, Fisk; links to gospel/spirituals video thread, Joe's Lomax thread. ~SH~ |
Subject: Q & A ABOUT THE PERMATHREAD From: wysiwyg Date: 11 Apr 02 - 12:47 PM 30 January, 2007 These posts were moved here from downthread. ~SH~ Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: IanC Date: 02 Aug 02 - 10:56 AM I've just made a significant update to the Basic Folk Library on my website *** here *** (this is the original for the Basic Folk Library permaThread). I've overhauled the Genres / Spirituals section though, without guidance from any of you, I've had to do my best to put together a set of books which seem to be reasonably useful. If anyone has any time to look and suggest one or two more, then please post suggestions to the PermaThread. The possibility of changing the category name(s) had been suggested, but no-one seems too inclined to give me a lead on this. If you have any suggestions, could you post to the thread or PM me.
Thanks Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: Kaleea - PM Date: 25 Apr 05 - 05:34 AM Thanks for the songs! Some of my earliest memories are of singing Spirituals, & sometimes I can no longer remember the lyrics, or maybe even part of the melody. In my childhood, it just so happened that I was around people of lots of different flavors (as I put it when I was a little girl) who knew lots of different songs. I absorbed the songs as though I were a sponge. The Spirituals often expressed being different, or apart from other folks. I understood that as a child. I didn't know many folks who sang those Spirituals, & that also made me feel different, yet the Spirituals helped me feel better--that there was somebody out there somewhere who understood my feelings. 30 January, 2007 Kaleea-- Thanks so much for sharing that personal experience, and so eloquently! If you'd like to start a thread on that topic, I bet it would get some neat responses. ~SH~ Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: GUEST,Will Greene - PM Date: 16 Jan 07 - 10:32 AM Only a thought and as I don't have many in day I will share this one. Would it not be simpler to compile a list of these threads and then PM them all to the Permathread co-ordinator instead of posting each one in the Music section? WG Will Greene-- it's a GREAT question! The answer is no, and for practical reasons-- I have editing ability in maintaining this one thread that allows me to open it up in HTML and move/copy posts from anywhere in this thread up into the index or other organizing sections. When I get an idea of how much material Azizi or others have to offer, I can see, all in one place, what I have to work with and what's the best way to organize it. If you can help in that effort, please email me (if you are not joining Mudcat) at motormice@hotmail.com. There's also the "hit by a bus" factor-- putting the info in PMs would mean no one but me could work on it, even if I got hit by a bus tomorrow and someone else picked up this project. It's a team effort-- I do some of the work but not all-- so it needs to be done in the open and not made a personal matter. ~SH~ |
Subject: INTRODUCTION TO ESSAYS From: wysiwyg Date: 06 Oct 03 - 11:09 AM The essays in the following posts are the opinions of their authors, only. Discussion is welcome! (Links to open threads where discussion can continue are yet to be added. It's fine to start a new thread, too.) ~Susan |
Subject: SPIRITUALS: ORIGINS From: wysiwyg Date: 10 Nov 03 - 10:05 AM SPIRITUALS: ORIGINS From The Negro Spirtuals For more than a century a controversy has raged concerning the origin of the spirituals originally sung by African-Americans in the South and about their relationship to the religious songs of whites. Where did the spirituals of African-Americans come from? What is their relationship, if any, to the music of West Africa and to that of Europe? Do the spirituals of African-Americans exhibit to a high degree or to a low degree cultural traits derived from West Africa? Or are these spirituals primarily borrowings from the culture of the white man? It was at first assumed that Black spirituals represented, in essence, the spontaneous out- burst and expression of the anguish experienced by human beings in bondage, that is, of African- American slaves. An early writer on the topic, James Weldon Johnson, wrote: "Aframerican folk art, an art by Africa out of America, Negro creative genius working under the spur and backlash of American conditions, is unlike anything else in America or elsewhere, nor could it have been possible in any other place or in any other times." (James Weldon Johnson papers, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.) |
Subject: From: wysiwyg Date: 10 Nov 03 - 10:08 AM "ORIGINS" CONSIDERATIONS AND TITLING COMPLICATIONS By Susan Hinton Originally posted in: Subject: RE: Origins: So High From: WYSIWYG 07 Sep 03 - 09:24 AM "Origins" Considerations There are several factors that complicate tracing anything back to possible origins as a spiritual. First, in written form, we have only a very few of the many that existed. These songs were known to spring up spontaneously on every plantation, and only a relatively few were transcribed at the time. But they lived on in memory, growing up and out into other documented songs, after slave times were well over. Therefore, finding documentation of any specific song at any specific time or place cannot tell us when or where the song actually originated. Second, the attribution "Traditional" for those spirituals we have today in a copy-righted form often means, "It was originally a Negro spiritual learned orally or found in an abscure text now legally in the public domain; but we cleaned it up, restyled it, and arranged it; now we claim artistic credit and all future royalties for it as of such and such date." Therefore, finding published works of the past attributed in that fashion do not establish origin. Third, when a song enters the documented (published or recorded) gospel tradition by way of an early black gospel recording, it may have been based on a spiritual's melody and complete, fragmented, or recombined spirituals' texts... and people composing later gospel music also often relied heavily on melodies and commonly-used verses from spirituals. We can hear this in early field recordings predating known "gospel" performances, when a song attributed to a later author or composer turns out to have been known much earlier. Fourth, in everyday usage under slavery as well as in concerts and gospel music in the period following, melodies and texts were reused, incorporated in many songs. Therefore, it's anyone's guess exactly which "original" songs or parts of songs were combined in this way. Another Way to Think About "Origins"? In my opinion, as I've studied spirituals and gospel music for use in songleading, what can be understood is the particular stylistic stamp each performer puts on a piece by their arrangement and delivery. In my sound collection, for instance, I can compare many versions of one song. The recording dates point to three or four distinct "grandmothers" to all of the later versions, with each later version obviously imitative of one of those grandmother versions. When we're talking about music, we can't just look at the text and documentation--- we have to look at the feel of the song, especially in gospel, and especially in early black gospel which by its nature is expressive of a spiritual, religious sensibility. So for the spirituals, "origin" may mean a narrow set of song evolutions particular to whatever song is in question. Theological Elements In my view, the "origins" question for gospel music of any kind has to include its Biblical underpinnings. For instance, the gospel song "So High" (AKA "You Must Come in at the Door") is said to be based on a spiritual. The text is about entering heaven by the strait (narrow way). In Scripture, Jesus describes being the sheepfold gate and the shepherd guarding the door to the sheepfold. In Bible times, some shepherds would sleep across the opening to the sheep pen, keeping the sheep in and predators out by making themselves the gate. There was no need to build a gate. In those days, if there were sheep in the fold, there would be a shepherd present. Some of the spirituals can be linked to a single Bible passage. More of them tended to be very elegant compilations and integrations of several Biblical images and concepts. These songs used just a few evocative words to cover quite a lot of the reading or preaching the slaves had been exposed to, as well as whatever reflections people had experienced from what they had heard. We can think of spirituals as the icons or stained glass of their time-- using paperless artistic media to deliver and preserve information and guidance among people who might be assumed not to read the written word. Titling Complications Titling of spirituals is arbitrary, and most of them have several "known" titles. Original spirituals were often used as worksongs, with as many verses added each time as workers could dream up. Topics could be shifted and combined in odd ways, and the "title" under which any day's version was documented could have been any recurring line or topical theme. Even when a spiritual was sung in a strictly religious setting, there would usually have been two contrasting or complementary themes running through it. One would be in the verse(s) and one in the refrain. Sometimes there were three distinct themes-- one in the call part of the verse, one in the response part, and one in the refrain. A title could emerge from any of these, and a lot of songs are known variously by more than one title. Finally, the dialect of the titling-- in an effort to be historically faithful to the dialect of whoever a collector got a version from, a title will not necessarily be in today's English. Given these considerations, "You Must Come in at the Door" could also be: "Must Come in at the Door" For all of these reasons, a text search in researching any spiritual is problematic. It's a good idea to glance through all index entries to pick up on variant titling possibilities.
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Subject: 100 MOST POPULAR SPIRITUALS From: wysiwyg Date: 10 Nov 03 - 10:10 AM THE 100 MOST POPULAR SPIRITUALS According to one site A Little Talk With Jesus Makes It Right All God's Children Got Wings All I Do, the Church Keep A Grumbling By and By (When the Morning Comes) Calvary Can't You Live Humble? Chilly Water Come Here, Lord! Deep River Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel? Didn't Old Pharaoh Get Lost? Done Found My Lost Sheep Don't Be Weary Traveler Every Time I Feel the Spirit Ezekiel Saw the Wheel Give Me That Old Time Religion Get on Board, Little Children Give Me Jesus Give Me Your Hand Go Down Moses God's Going to Trouble the Waters Great Camp Meeting in the Promised Land Great Day Going to Sing All Along the Way Hail, Mary, Don't You Weep Hallelujah! Heaven Bound Soldier Humble Yourself, the Bell Done Rung Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray Feel Like My Time Ain't Long Got a Home in the Rock Know the Lord's Laid His Hands on Me Long to See That Day I'm Going to Heaven Anyhow I'm Going to Glory I'm Troubled in Mind In That Great Getting Up Morning It's Me. O Lord I Want to Be Ready I Want to Die Easy When I Die Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho Jubilee Keep Inching Along Keep Me From Sinking Down Listen to the Lambs Little David Play on Your Harp Look How They Done My Lord Lord, I Want to Be a Christian in a My Heart Mary and Martha Just Gone Home Mary Had a Baby. Yes Lord! My Lord Delivered Daniel My Lord's a Writing All the Time My Lord Says He's Going to Rain Down Fire My Lord, What a Morning My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord My Way Is Cloudy Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen O, Brother, Don't Get Weary O, Gambler, Git Up Off of Your Knees O, Rocks, Don't fall on Me O, Wasn't That a Wide River? O, My Good Lord, Show Me the Way O, Yes, O, Yes, Wait Until I Git on My Robe Old Ship of Zion Over the Crossing Over My Head Peter, Go Ring Them Bells Poor Mourner's Got a Home at Last Ride On, Moses Rise, Mourner, Rise Rise Up Shepherd and Follow Roll the Old Chariot Along Roll, Jordan, Roll Run, Mary, Run Singing with a Sword in My Hand Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass Somebody's Knocking at Your Door Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child Stand Still Jordan Steal Away Jesus Swing Low Sweet Chariot There's A Meeting Here Tonight To See God's Bleeding Lamb Until I Reach a My Home Up on the Mountain Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John Walk, Mary. Down the Land Walk Together Children We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder Weary Traveler Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? What You Going to Do When the Lamp Burns Down? When I Fall on My Knees Where Shall I Be When the First Trumpet Sounds? Who That a Coming Over Yonder? Who Will Be a Witness for My Lord? You Go, I Go With You You Got a Right You May Bury Me in the East |
Subject: 'NEGRO,' 'BLACK,' or 'AFRICAN-AMERICAN' SPIRITUALS From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Feb 04 - 12:42 PM 'NEGRO,' 'BLACK,' or 'AFRICAN-AMERICAN' SPIRITUALS? Names By Which Spirituals Have Been Called By WYSIWYG and Q Internationally, the term most scholars and students of the genre use for this body of music is 'Negro Spirituals.' This places the genre in time, and distinguishes it from 'White Spirituals.' Older usage in print is "negro," and at the time it was used, it was considered a significant mark of respect and manners compared to other words in use in the culture of the time. Today, when using the term 'Negro Spirituals,' it's an important mark of respect to capitalize the N. No disrespect is intended by this designation, although I realize that many African Americans today find the older terms, which were thought to be desirable in their own time, difficult. Other names this music has been known by include: Slave songs ~Susan From Q to WYSIWYG 6 May 2005 Song of the Contrabands "O Let My People Go" (or "Go Down Moses") is called 'the song of the contrabands.' This name (contrabands) was applied to the freedmen and escaped slaves who fought with Union troops, many in the Port Royal area, taken early by Union troops (1861). The first sheet music of "O Let My People Go" was published in 1861 as "The Song of the 'Contrabands'" the chaplain of the Contrabands, L. C. Lockwood, in an arrangement by Thomas Baker. Other Contraband songs were published by Lucy McKim in the sheet music folio "Songs of the Freedmen of Port Royal," including "Roll Jordan Roll" and "Poor Rosy, Poor Gal." Also see McKim (Garrison), "Songs of the Port Royal 'Contrabands'". ~Q |
Subject: SPIRITUALS: PERFORMANCE From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Feb 04 - 04:58 PM SPIRITUALS: PERFORMANCE From The Negro Spirtuals: Performance Spirituals form a vital part of the great musical heritage of African-Americans. As an art form, they incorporate elements from history, literature, religion, drama, and music. A great variety of ethnic and cultural elements also went into their making. Perhaps the element of performance should be regarded as the single most important factor in spirituals. It is the performance that shapes the song, that determines its rhythm, melody, texture, tempo, text, and, finally, its effect upon listeners. This is largely due to the importance of improvision in the African tradition. The song as written down represented only one performance in which the main stable elements were the meter, the refrain texts, and the basic outlines of the melody. All else could change from performance to performance: syncopations and dotted rhythms could be introduced at different places; embellishments and pitch alterations could be added to or eliminated from the melody; the "basers" could join the singing or drop out of it at varying time intervals, and they could provide different harmonizing tones for the melody. Even the general form of the piece might be changed by the repetition of refrain lines or chorusus. In regard to all these matters, William Francis Allen wrote of encouragement to the users of his pioneer collection of Negro spirituals. Slave Songs in the United States, first published in 1867: We have aimed to give all the characteristic variations [for the songs] which have come into our hands, whether as single notes or whole lines, or even longer passages; and of words as well as tunes. . . . It may sometimes be a little difficult . . . to determine precisely the relationship between all these things] ... However much latitude the reader may take in all such matters, he will hardly take more than the negroes themselves do. . . . The rests [in the notated songs], by the way, do not indicate a cessation in the music, but only in part of the singers. They overlap in singing, as already described, in such a degree that at no time is there any complete pause. Adding to all this complexity in the performance of spirituals was the practice of audience participation—indeed, in the strict sense of the term there was no audience. There were only singers and nonsingers. The whites who came to listen might sit quietly, showing their appreciation of a performance by facial expression and by applause at appropriate times, but the African-Americans actively participated in the performance, not only by clapping and tapping, but also by constantly interjecting spoken or chanted words in order to reinforce the meaning of the text. Some short phrases commonly interjected include "Yes, Lord," "O Lord," and "I say now." The nature of these interpolations depended upon the occasion. One reporter has recorded that on one occasion the men watching a shout gave encouragement by yelling, "Wake 'em, brother!" and "Stand up to 'em, brother!" The voice quality cultivated by the early singers of spirituals was high-pitched and of great intensity. Without exception, contemporary accounts refer to the "far-sounding harmony," "vigorous chorus," and the "great billows of sound" produced by the Blacks' singing. For example, when Afro-Americans gathered for corn-shucking jubilees, as many as 300 or more would participate in some places; they would sing as they marched along the roads, their "rich, deep voices swelling out" on the refrains. Even the singing of two Afro-Americans as they walked through a forest "would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate with their wild songs." When the Blacks sang psalms and hymns during their religious services, they sang "loud and slow." With regard to the individual voice, there are few contemporary references except those noting some slave's unusually wide range. One observer does remark. however, that the voices of the slaves on her plantation seemed "oftener tenor than any other quality." A number of other reporters have commented upon the free use of falsetto among the slaves, particularly in the field hollers. The first important collection of African-American spirituals, which included 136 examples, was compiled in 1867 by William Francis Alien, Charles Picard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison. Slave Songs in the United States, as their volume is entitled, was reprinted by Oak Publications in 1965. Another very famous collection and arrangement of spirituals was made by James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson. Their volume, The Book of American Negro Spirituals, was issued by the Viking Press in 1925 and 1926. It was reissued in iViking Compass edition in 1969. Other important collections with notes or arrangements include: Seventy Negro Spirituals (William Arms Fisher); American Negro Songs and Spirituals (Monroe N, Work); Dett Collection of Negro Spiritual (R. Nathaniel Dett): The Story of the Jubilee Singers (J. B. T. Marsh): Cabin and Plantation Songs (Hampton Institute collection): and Old Songs Hymnal (Harry T. Burleigh). Unfortunately, many spirituals were never written down, and thus have passed from memory in the course of time. Others, however, survive in many versions with variants in tunes and texts. The library of Congress, in Washington, D.C., has assembled a collection of more than 6,000 spirituals and variants in its music division.
Spirituals Performance Discussions and here: Spirituals in Contemporary Performance. |
Subject: NOTES TO SELF-- HTML AND STYLE SAMPLES From: wysiwyg Date: 29 Jan 07 - 10:30 AM SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE SAMPLE INDENTING SAMPLE
This is actually starting in the leftmost position.
This is the second item in our list
Mr. Dobbolina, Mr. Bob Dobbolina. Mr. Dobbolina, Mr. Bob Dobbolina. Mr. Dobbolina, Mr. Bob Dobbolina. Mr. Dobbolina, Mr. Bob Dobbolina. Mr. Dobbolina, Mr. Bob Dobbolina. Mr. Dobbolina, Mr. Bob Dobbolina. Duh, UNDERSCORE! The index below is a work always-in-progress. You will find more suggestions on index contents in the latter portion of this thread, where people's posts about songs to include in the index sit until I can edit them into the index. ~SH~
This thread is part of the African-American Spirituals Permathread project at Mudcat. It's not a permathread itself, but I may lift some posts from this thread into that permathread, and edit/credit them there unless you specify otherwise. ~SH~
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Subject: NOTES TO SELF - THINGS TO ADD TO SECTIONS From: wysiwyg Date: 29 Jan 07 - 02:08 PM Paul Robeson group of threads listed here: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=98457 LEJ post here: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=98509 (combine with Scoville post from other thread)
GOSPEL TREE, CHART OF GOSPEL DEVELOPMENT, & ARTICLE: |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: katlaughing Date: 30 Jan 07 - 03:52 PM WOW, Susan!! You have done a lot of work and this Permathread looks GRRRREEAATTT! Congratulations and thanks to you and all contributors. kat Thanks! I do have a bit of work left to do, but it is already easier to navigate around in here, and that makes my maintenance work even faster. ~SH~ |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: Azizi Date: 01 Feb 07 - 05:06 PM Online Resource: The Black Gospel Blog [which describes itself as] "The definitive blog for black gospel, jubilee, and spiritual artists and recordings -- past and present, indie and major label". blackgospel.blogspot.com ** If there is discussion on this blog, I haven't been able to find it, but the essays I've read by the blogger-Bob Marovich Location: Chicago, Illinois, US seem interesting. As an example, here's an excerpt of an article on "TBGB Reviews Old Time Camp Meeting Songs - Volume III " old-time-camp-meeting: Old Time Camp Meeting Songs – Volume III Rev. Timothy Flemming, Sr. God's Strength Records 2007 Buoyed by the success of Volumes I and II, the prolific Rev. Timothy Flemming, Sr. has released yet a third volume of Old Time Camp Meeting Songs. Recorded live at the Macon City Auditorium in Macon, Georgia, Old Time Camp Meeting Songs - Volume III reminds us that there was a soul-stirring sound in the church long before gospel music took hold. Rev. Flemming takes the listener way, way, way back, leading old fashioned, largely unaccompanied call-and-response congregational hymn and spiritual singing. Think Alan Lomax's Library of Congress field recordings, but in stereo. The recording is also reminiscent of Dr. C.J. Johnson's classic "Old Time Prayer Meeting" LPs for Savoy. Dr. Johnson's albums were recorded in the 1960s, but the content was rooted in the 1860s. In particular, Rev. Flemming's version of "Old Ship of Zion" brings to mind Rev. C.L. Franklin's popular 1950s 2-part single of the spiritual for J-V-B and Chess. As with Rev. Franklin's recording, Rev. Flemmons preaches and leads the congregation in a tsunami wave of sound punctuated by participants losing themselves in the Spirit"... |
Subject: Add: Lyr: I'm On My Way To Canaan Land From: Azizi Date: 03 Feb 07 - 11:03 AM See this post: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=62684&messages=8#1956555 Q posted the lyrics to the Civil Rights song "We're On Our Way To Freedom Land" {"We're On Our Way To Selma Land"}. Given that the words to the religious song is the same as the civil rights song except for "canaan land" or "the promised land", couldn't it be listed in the alphabetized listing on this AA Spirituals Permathread? As is the case with other songs, this song may have come from a White camp time meeting song, but a number of websites, including https://www.oldtownschool.org/resources/songnotes/songnotes_I.html seem to consider it an African American spiritual.
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Subject: Add: Lyr: Bound For Canaan From: Azizi Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:36 PM X Bound For Canaan See comments about the difference between the songs "Bound For Canaan", I'm {We're} On My {Our} Way To Canaan Land", and "Canaan's Land" [the last song is in the DT] Note to self-- check the thread for possible titles to include, or not. And check whether to add DT link to index, or not? |
Subject: Add: Lyr I'm So Glad (Trouble Don't Last Always} 2 From: Azizi Date: 03 Feb 07 - 11:36 PM I'm So Glad (Trouble Don't Last Always) |
Subject: Add: Lyr: Huddy Oh {in de mornin when I rise}? From: Azizi Date: 04 Feb 07 - 11:18 AM Note to self-- go see. ??? See comments and lyrics on THIS
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Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 Feb 07 - 04:23 PM X Poor Pilgrim
POOR PILGRIM
Note to self-- check if posted here, make link to here
song5.htm
X CLICK (Hymn stories thread) Thanks, Q. That amount of detail doesn't end up in the index as you know, but it DOES help me know which ones to definitely add, which ones may be questionable, and on what basis I can decide what the heck to do with 'em. ~SH~ |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 Feb 07 - 07:36 PM I'M JUST A-GOING OVER HOME (Wayfaring Stranger var.) http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=23495 Taylor and Echols, 1883 GOING OVER JORDAN, 1858, John Beaver in "The Christian Songster," seems to be the earliest publication of these Pilgrim-Wayfarer hymns. See notes by Burke and full text of the Beaver lyrics in thread 23495, linked above.
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Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 06 Feb 07 - 09:40 PM ================ Where you see a black X next to things in your posts, that's just my way of identifying the ones I've copied up here for insertion, so I know what I can safely delete, later.
Note to self--
CLICK (Hymn stories thread)
==============
X Ain't Going to Grieve My God No More
X Ain't Gwine Grieve My God No More
X Anyhow
X I'm Gwine to Heaven When I Die
X Is There Anybody Here Who Loves My Jesus?
X Kumbaya
X Kumbaya
X Kumbaya
X Kumbayah
X Kumbaya
X Run Mary Run (You Got A Right)
X (duplicate) Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
X (duplicate) You Got A Right |
Subject: Add: Video Link: Oh Mary don't you weep From: Azizi Date: 07 Feb 07 - 12:23 PM OH MARY DON'T YOU WEEP {Take 6-Acappella} http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7873&messages=40 |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Feb 07 - 02:32 PM I've edited in the new easily-indexed posts you've all made over the last week or so-- think I got 'em all. I always appreciate when the folks that posted the notifications here go look at the fixed-up index and see if I missed or screwed up anything-- my old eyes miss my own mistakes too easily these days. I'll do the checking the others require when I can. Any info anyone can add here will shorten that process. Thanks, all! ~Susan |
Subject: Add: Lyr: Soon And Very Soon #2 From: Azizi Date: 08 Feb 07 - 03:08 PM To check. ~SH~
Soon And Very Soon |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: Azizi Date: 08 Feb 07 - 06:24 PM If that last post was for me, you're welcome. And a big thank you, Susan, for all the work that you have done and continue to do on this Permathread!!! |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 08 Feb 07 - 09:56 PM Yes, Azizi, it was for you. You're welcome. I really like doing it, and the longer I do it the more I like having accidentally gone from the start NOT having to decide which songs go in, and which don't. I had a nice phone conversation tonight about the titling conventions I apply, and how things get in or don't get in, and I realized what a good set of guidelines govern this particular thread. No credit to me-- more credit to Q. We have such different views (in matters large and small) that I'm always instinctively asking myself what Q would think, if I have a decision to make. It's been a good balance. I guess I should edit it into the thread intro somewheree, how little judgment I feel is mine to exercise in that, and how much depends on the judgment of whoever contributes a piece here for inclusion. If someone feels a song is a spiritual, it is included, period! Cuz chances are, if one person thought so, another person may think so too and come here looking for it. After that the threads on indiivdual songs are the best place to hash out those issues. And Azizi, you contribute much in that regard, as well as the purely practical helps you've provided over the last several weeks. ~Susan |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 10 Feb 07 - 12:26 PM As of this morning, in ongoing thread maintenance, a number of posts have been deleted. I have a saved copy of this series of deletions, if there are any questions. I left standing those that I'm still working on. One thing I am working on is a short section describing how the permathread is managed. ~Susan |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 18 Feb 07 - 10:05 AM Draft text that may be included somewhere in this thread, maybe about how the thread is managed, or maybe about whether songs indexed are, definitively, spirituals. From a PM. The best we can say about most songs that might be spirituals is that they might be spirituals. The whole genre is one of speculation, because of the several conditions in place at the time. And because part of the point of the genre was inprovisation, new songs could and did flow out of them at any point in time. (Image of squeezing what we think is an orange and finding a river of colors and flavors that never stops flowing.) Sorry I can't be more definitive! The more I study them and sing them, the less a "definitive" approach seems possible or healthy! :~) I like the messiness of it! :~) |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 20 Feb 07 - 09:39 AM TO EDIT LATER ~S~ http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=99210&messages=11
20 Feb 07 - 08:02 AM (#1973524) |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: SouthernCelt Date: 23 Mar 07 - 01:27 PM I've just posted lyrics to the spiritual "Live A-Humble" in this thread SC |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 18 Sep 07 - 09:29 AM See How much Folk Music is there? threadid=104631 for a discussion that touches upon spirituals. |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 18 Sep 07 - 03:21 PM Excerpts from the transcript of the Joe Carter interview referenced upthread: Ms. Tippett: The civil rights movement rediscovered the spiritual and put it on the larger American cultural map. When Joe Carter was 15, he formed a folk duo with a Jewish friend. And through him, Joe began to recover the spiritual music of his own people. Mr. Carter: David told me, 'Joe, your people have wonderful music.' And this was the first time I'd ever heard someone say that. And so he wanted to come to my church to hear the music. So he came to Union Baptist Church on a Sunday morning and heard Bach. He said, 'Joe, that ain't it.' Ms. Tippett: From then on, Joe Carter began, he says, to search for the spiritual. I wanted to hear what he's learned about the meaning of this music and its power across time and cultures. He tells me that there are an estimated 5,000 spirituals in existence. They were originally called "sorrow songs." And many of them were composed spontaneously. Mr. Carter: As a teenager, I met a woman by the name of Jessie Anthony who was, I think she was over 80 when I met her. And somehow, she was coming to our church. And we young people would go to her house to collect her, to bring her to church and so on. Well, here was an African-American woman whose parents were slaves in Virginia. And she sang the spirituals. And she'd heard me sing in church, so she just sort of took me under her wing. And she was going to teach me these songs. And she had a suitcase full of stories that she'd collected over the years of the spirituals. And she would tell me, she'd say, 'Child, when they sang this song, this is what they were talking about, you know? A lot of people don't know this.' And she had stories for every song. Ms. Tippett: OK, tell me a story. Mr. Carter: One of the stories I seem to remember that she told, it was about — Emancipation Day had come. And there was a group of former slaves now on an island off the coast of South Carolina. And my parents were from South Carolina, all my family. And they were waiting for the emissary of the government to arrive in his little boat to tell them that they had received the deeds to their land. Because the government had promised them not only freedom, but 40 acres and a mule. And so this was going to be a great, wonderful day. And the former slaves had gathered together on the island waiting with bated breath. And finally, they saw the boat of the officer approaching. And they could tell, even from the distance, that his face was not happy and his countenance was somewhat sad. And they said there was a groan that just came from the crowd. And one of the older women from the crowd just stood up and began to make up a song on the spot. She sang, (singing) "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Glory, hallelujah." And then she spoke, looking to the people around her, she said, (singing) "Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down. Oh, yes, Lord. Sometimes, I'm almost leveled to the ground. Oh, yes, Lord. Oh, nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Glory, hallelujah." She looked at the people standing by, and she said, (singing) "Although you see me going along so." And they answered, (singing) "Oh, yes, Lord. I've got my trials here below." And they answered, (singing) "Oh, yes, Lord. Oh, nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen. Glory, hallelujah." Ms. Tippett: And sorrow songs, is that what the spirituals were called… Mr. Carter: Yeah, that's what we're told. ... Ms. Tippett: Dignity. I mean, that’s the word that keeps coming up. Mr. Carter: And that’s — yeah, yeah, yeah. And by the way, this woman that I told you about, Jessie Anthony, she was the most dignified soul I’d ever met. The last time I saw her, she was, I think, 88 years old. Her parents were born slaves. And she began to sing the spirituals. She began — she sang at Boston Public Library, she sang at Harvard, demonstrating the music. And she said, 'Joe?' I said, 'Yes, Ms. Anthony.' She said, 'I want you to go into my bedroom and look under my bed and tell me what you see there.' And so I went into her bed. I said, 'You got a suitcase.' She said, 'Yes, I do, child.' I said, 'What’s in the suitcase?' And she smiled. She beamed at me. She said, 'In that suitcase, I’ve got my going home clothes. Ooh, I’ve got a beautiful dress in there. Jesus is coming for me any day, don’t you know, child?' And she just started laughing. I’ll never forget that image. Here was someone who’d gone through all of the changes in culture and society, and now was living in an elder apartment complex in Boston, all of her children in Washington, D.C., and everything. And she was still singing her songs. And she was holding her head up high every place she went. You know, she was the kind of person who just commanded your respect. And when the young people — whenever we go to her house, she would [tell] us the stories, all these songs and everything. And then, she would always end singing one little song. [to pianist] Give me a C, Tom. And she’d sing, 'Children, if you don’t remember anything I’ve told you, if you don’t remember any songs that I’ve sung for you, I want you to remember this one.'
(singing) Be ready when he comes. "Now, Joe, you be ready." You know, "You be ready, child." Ms. Tippett: Joe Carter was a teacher, performer, and traveling humanitarian. He died at the age of 57 of leukemia on June 26th, 2006. |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 23 Sep 07 - 08:28 PM Robert Sims on growing up hearing spirituals: Robert Sims - In the Spirit, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPZ698LmVGQ This video clip also includes Sims' thoughts on codes, and they portray his ability to act the spirituals while singing them. ~S~ |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 14 Nov 07 - 03:29 PM Gullah! Hour-long Real Player perfromance from the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage of the HALLELUJAH SINGERS Marlena Smalls formed the Hallelujah Singers in 1990 to tell the story of the Gullah (AKA Geechee) culture through song and story. Since their creation the Hallelujah Singers have appeared in the motion picture "Forrest Gump" (with Marlena as Bubba's Mom), on Good Morning America, the Today Show, and around the world for many thousands of fans as well as heads of state. A vocal group from Beaufort, (BYOO-fert) S. Carolina (in the Low Country) founded 10 years ago by Marlena Smalls, the Hallelujah Singers seek to preserve through music the Gullah heritage, rooted in West African traditions and language, and brought by the slaves to the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah language is Creole blend of West African and European dialects, developed in the isolated plantations of the coastal South. Most of the Gullah vocabulary is of English origin, but grammar and pronunciation come from a number of West African languages, such as Ewe, Madinka, Igbo, Twi and Yoruba. The slaves' knowledge of rice cultivation, a crop that had been grown in the West African region since 1500, made them desirable to the plantation owners of the South Carolina Low Country where rice had become a staple crop. The plantation owners, seeking the comforts of their city homes, often left the day-to-day operation of the plantations to the overseer or foreman, causing these isolated plantations to be much less influenced by Euro-American culture and allowing them to retain their "African-ness." It is these circumstances that resulted in the preservation of the Gullah culture. Smalls developed and refined a series of concerts to define the Gullah culture and the "Sea Island sound." Her goal was to preserve the melodies and storytelling technique of the South Carolina Sea Islands. Interwoven with music and narration, the singers present miniature dramatizations of some of the unique personages, rituals, and ceremonies that played an important part in shaping the Gullah culture. Among the Hallelujah Singer's repertoire are traditional plantation songs dating back to the 1600s. ~S~ |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: Tweed Date: 14 Nov 07 - 05:44 PM Ship of Zion according to Daniel Slick Ballinger at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis this past May. Enjoy your chicken skin. ;~) Tweed Thanks, Tweed, that WAS fun! I re-posted your link in the Ship of Zion thread linked up above in the index. ~SH~ |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 25 Nov 07 - 03:34 PM Another Jena (not the one in current US news): Jena Jubilee Singers http://www.jena-jubilee-singers.de/cms/frontend/portal.php A German group (spirituals are very popular in "serious" Eurpoean circles) Includes sound samples Rough Babel Fish Translation from part of their webpage:
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Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 22 May 08 - 07:03 PM Rough draft for a workshop. My humble opinions only. ~S~ === In keeping with our Diocesan commitment to a "Green" convention this year, this is a paperless workshop. Except for the items you can see on display, there are no bibliographies, no songbooks, no hymnals, and no choral arrangements. Just leave me your email address to get a copy of the links to all of the resources, or a recorded CD copy of today's workshop. I'll be starting with a few comments, and then we'll get to the songs themselves. I consider myself not an expert on spirituals, but a fascinated student. Our workshop today features several of my own heroes in passing on the spirituals tradition that flowed out of slavery, and that still flows on in our time today. The opportunity to lead music for an informal Saturday evening service came my away about 10 years ago. The parish decreed that my husband would add a service, but they forgot to line up music for it. I was mortified (and a bit irritated) when our Lord told me that the music I'd been playing at home all that year was to SHARE, and that I was the musician He'd picked out. I was just voracious for all types of music for what became an unusually informal Saturday Night Service. I'm an acoustic musician, not a pianist..... The congregation that gathered for that service had not had good experiences with Sunday morning formality. My quest for songs led me through so many genres! One of them was spirituals. It's a deep well, and once you start drawing from it you can stay in that depth for a long, long time. As I planned this workshop, what's come to mind over and over again has been the way spirituals are a wonderful form of "praying without ceasing."
Spirituals, like few other forms of praise music as we know it today, tend to stick in the head, take root, and grow from our own thoughts and feelings. This was intrinsic to their original creation, and they were further molded by the "folk process" into the essential and unforgettable tunes and verses that have come down to us in our time. Whatever the cause for their creation, it's our Lord's grace that has preserved them as they have popped out of individuals' memories and into the stream of culture that we can dip into now. THE SONGS AND THE SINGERS: (to come) CLOSING: JOE CARTER'S REMARKS (It's our shared heritage) |
Subject: RE: African-American Spirituals Permathread From: wysiwyg Date: 27 Nov 08 - 06:11 PM http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=116541 Subject: Lyr Add: How yo' do believer how yo' do today From: Q - PM Date: 27 Nov 08 - 06:08 PM Also: For information on Penn Center and Penn School Historic District, the center of Gullah culture: Penn Center http://www.penncenter.com/ See thread 64333 for secular and other versions. How do you do http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=64333 |
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