Origins: In the Presence of Jehovah

Subject: Origins: In the Presence of Jehovah
From: Haruo
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 01:59 AM

I'm trying to figure out the probable actual copyright status of the song "In the Presence of Jehovah". Essentially the same text and tune are in the African American Heritage Hymnal (GIA, 2001, #167) labeled

Text: African-American traditional
Tune: African-American traditional; arr.. by Walter Owens, Jr., © 2000 GIA Publications, Inc.

and in the just-published Baptist Hymnal (LifeWay, 2008, #75) labeled

WORDS: Geron Davis and Becky Davis
MUSIC: Geron Davis and Becky Davis
©Copyright 1985 Meadowgreen Music Company/Songchannel Music Company (All rights admin. by EMI CMG Publishing)/(ASCAP).
All rights reseved. Used by permission.

My question is whether there is any evidence of the existence of this song (or something close enough to it that identity might at least be suggested) in the African American spiritual tradition prior to the publication of the Davis song. Did GIA, in other words, prematurely induct this song into the folk corpus, or did the Davises assert copyright in text and tune where they really only created an arrangement?

Leland = Haruo

Subject: RE: Origins: In the Presence of Jehovah
From: Newport Boy
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 01:29 PM

Geron Davis is very specific in an article here.

Quote:

The next morning we left on a weekend tour with the chorale (a smaller group of singers from the choir). During the weekend, as we spent time with our new family, we sensed God knitting our hearts together. As we shared time in the late night hours, a melody and lyric began to grow in my heart. On the bus ride home, something incredible happened. One by one, people began sharing testimonies. A prayer meeting broke out. Tears flowed. In the middle of all this, I started singing my new lyric:

In the presence of Jehovah,
God Almighty, Prince of Peace:
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King.

As the group began to sing, His sweet presence filled the bus and saturated all of us. It was powerful. Sometime later, God anointed Becky to write the first verse and we cowrote the second verse. That was over 18 years ago, and God has been using us ever since.

I will never forget that the birth of this particular tune was the Heavenly Father reminding a scared kid that He was still on the throne. That lesson and those lyrics have reminded us many times that every answer to every question can always be found in the presence of the King.

�Geron Davis, Brentwood, Tennessee


Phil

Subject: RE: Origins: In the Presence of Jehovah
From: Haruo
Date: 10 Sep 08 - 02:39 PM

Thanks, Phil. I'm inclined to believe Mr. Davis on this one (though how Becky is involved is not clear to me, maybe just a community-property copyright). But I'm a bit surprised an outfit that is as dependent for income on royalties from its own copyrighted materials as GIA would take the "well, I don't know who wrote it so rather than try to find out I'll just call it 'traditional'" route... Still open to evidence of this lyric and/or tune preexisting the recounted act of the Spirit...

Haruo