Galveston Flood origins?

Subject: Galveston Flood origins?
From:
Date: 17 Feb 99 - 12:39 AM

I picked up a song by this title on a tape of an old Tom Rush album, but without the jacket I have no info on who wrote it. Mudcat's DT contains a very similar song called Mighty Day and attributes that version to the the Chad Mitchell Trio, but has no info on a writer either. Could somebody help with either the info or a push along the right road? thanx ddw

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: Rockaday Johnny
Date: 17 Feb 99 - 10:16 AM

Tom Rush learned his version from Eric Von Schmidt (Eric's Version is on an old Folkways lp) He learned it from a Library of Congress Recording by "Sin Killer" Griffin who recorded it with a bunch of sermons and prayers on 4/34 he called it "Wasn't that a Mighty Storm" I believe this has been reissued on Document (The Austrian Blues reissue label) on one of the Library of Congress collections but I don't know which one! --BTW Rush has rerecorded it with Nanci Griffith on her new cd

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: rich r
Date: 18 Feb 99 - 12:20 AM

Bob Gibson recorded the song on his "Carnegie Concert" album and actually copyrighted his "new words and music adaptation"in 1960. He also freely admitted that he learned the heart of the song from an old jazz recording. Would be interesting to know if Gibson had heard the Griffin recording.

rich r

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: ddw in windsor, ont
Date: 18 Feb 99 - 12:21 AM

thanx, Rockaday... super response... I owe you one -- ddw

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: ddw again
Date: 18 Feb 99 - 12:31 AM

thanx to you, too, rich. you were filing while I was putting in my note to Rockaday. Somehow I think Gibson would have been a little hardpressed to label what RJ is describing as an old jazz recording -- which begs the question of whether there are other recordings of the tune floating somewhere.....ddw

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Feb 99 - 09:48 AM

Bob Gibson did seem (to me) to be doing a whole different song on this same topic.

Art

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: karen k
Date: 19 Feb 99 - 08:48 PM

This song is led by Joe Hickerson on the Folk-Legacy recording, 'Five Days Singing' Volume II, FSI-42, 1971.

In the booklet Joe writes: Galveston, Texas, was devastated by a hurricane in 1900, and an unknown Negro folk composer refashioned a spiritual to commemorate the awesome destruction. The ballad has had some circulation in the folksong revival through Sin-Killer Griffin's rendition on the Library of Congress LP AFS L10, Negro Religious Songs and Services, which was in turn interpreted on recordings by Eric Von Schmidt and Tom Rush. And does anyone remember the 'Mighty Day' version on Bob Gibson's first Riverside LP?

I learned the tune and most of the verses which I sing from Janet Wilkinson Hunter in 1961. While an undergraduate at the University of Michigan in the late 1950's, Janet had recorded and learned this and several other exciting songs from an elderly Negro woman who had been raised in Texas.

The 18 verses and chorus are in the DT, thank goodness.

karen k

Subject: RE: Galveston Flood origins?
From: ddw
Date: 23 Dec 99 - 12:00 AM

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