Lyr ADD: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy

Subject: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: Brad
Date: 26 Sep 98 - 02:14 AM

I'd like the source and any additional lyrics to this one:

The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
And they named him the name of Jesus

He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom,
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom,
Oh yes, believers,
Oh yes, believers,
Oh, yes, believers,
He come from the glorious kingdom

Thanks
Brad http://www.camasnet.com/~asondahl/bradindex.html

Subject: Lyr Add: THE VIRGIN MARY HAD A BABY BOY (Trinidad)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Sep 98 - 03:44 AM

The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
Trinidadian Traditional

The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
The virgin Mary had a baby boy,
And they say that his name was Jesus

He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom,
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom,
Oh yes, believer!
Oh yes, believer!
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom

The angels sang when the baby born
The angels sang when the baby born
The angels sang when the baby born
And proclaim him the Savior Jesus
Chorus

The wise men went where the baby born,
The wise men went where the baby born,
The wise men went where the baby born,
And they say that his name was Jesus
Chorus

(the soloist could improvise further verses, e.g., "The shepherds came when the baby born," "They left their gifts where the baby born," etc.)

From the Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols
Source: The Edric Connor Collection of West Indian Spirituals (1945)
Connor explains: ‘This, the only West Indian Negro carol I found, was taught me by James Bryce, whose parents and grandparents were in Trinidad before the abolition of slavery in 1834. I met Bryce in 1942, when he was ninety-four years of age, but he was still working, in rags, on a grapefruit plantation for one shilling, eightpence a day. He died September 13, 1943.’ The music of the verse is in a calypso idiom, but the refrain, which may predate it, has powerful echoes of Africa and has been harmonized accordingly.

Subject: Tune Add: THE VIRGIN MARY HAD A BABY BOY
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Sep 98 - 04:12 AM

MIDI file: VIRGIN~1.MID

Timebase: 192

Name: The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
Text: By Trinidadian Traditional
Key: G
TimeSig: 4/4 24 8
Start
0000 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 62 110 0336 0 62 000 0144 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 72 110 0160 0 72 000 0032 1 72 110 0160 0 72 000 0032 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 74 110 0094 0 74 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 74 110 0094 0 74 000 0002 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0144 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 74 110 0160 0 74 000 0032 1 74 110 0094 0 74 000 0002 1 77 110 0160 0 77 000 0032 1 76 110 0094 0 76 000 0002 1 77 110 0094 0 77 000 0002 1 74 110 0094 0 74 000 0002 1 76 110 0160 0 76 000 0032 1 76 110 0094 0 76 000 0002 1 72 110 0256 0 72 000 0032 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 74 110 0126 0 74 000 0002 1 71 110 0126 0 71 000 0002 1 67 110 0126 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0528 0 67 000 0240 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 69 110 0336 0 69 000 0240 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0224 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 69 110 0336 0 69 000 0240 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0416 1 76 110 0336 0 76 000 0048 1 74 110 0256 0 74 000 0032 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 74 110 0352 0 74 000 0224 1 76 110 0336 0 76 000 0048 1 74 110 0256 0 74 000 0032 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 74 110 0286 0 74 000 0098 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 69 110 0336 0 69 000 0240 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy
M:4/4
Q:1/4=120
K:G
DG2G2GGA|GFAD5|Dc2c2ccd|cBdG5|Bd2d=f2e=f|
de2ec3c|cd5/4B3/2G5/4A2D|-DG2G5|-G3DD2EF|
-FG4A3|-A3BB2B2|AG2G2A2G|-G3DD2EF|-FG4A3|
-A3BB2B2|AG2G2A2G|-G5e3|-ed3cB2d|-d5e3|-ed3cB2d|
-d3DD2EF|-FG4A3|-A3BB2B2|AG2G2A2G|-G3/4||

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: Brad
Date: 26 Sep 98 - 01:56 PM

Thanks, any idea who popularized it? I heard it in the early 60's, but where I don't know

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: BBJ
Date: 26 Sep 98 - 08:38 PM

I recall a Chad Mitchell Trio version, although you could hardly call any of their work "popular" except with a very small audience.

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: Roger Himler
Date: 27 Sep 98 - 12:22 AM

Brad,

I am certain The Kingston Trio did this song. They at least made it popular with me.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: rich r
Date: 27 Sep 98 - 12:21 PM

Both the Weavers and Harry Belafonte recorded the song although I don't recall if the Weavers version was before or after the "sabbatical" as they often referred to the blacklisting period. I also have an erxtended play "45" (Columbia B-9231) called "Calypso Christmas" performed by the DePaur Chorus. I contains 4 songs including a rather up temp arrangement of "De Virgin Mary Had Baby Boy". There is no year on it, but I presume it is sometime in the 1950's (can't just say 50's, Y2K you know). I am sure the recording was made to take advantage of the surge of interest in calypso at the time.

rich r

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Nov 98 - 12:58 AM

Note that there are several songs with similar titles. The one in the database is "The Virgin Mary Had One Son," which was very popular with folksingers of the 60's. I suppose this one here is the calypso-style Christmas song that won the most popularity in the U.S.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: MOE
Date: 18 Dec 98 - 10:27 PM

The version I remember was way cool because of the verse "some call him Budha I think I'll call him Jesus mmm Pretty Little Jesus Glory Be To the New Born King" and so on to Include Everybody. Thats the Version of the song I'm Interested In. Moe

Subject: RE: The Virgin Mary had a baby boy
From: John Hindsill
Date: 19 Dec 98 - 10:37 AM

Moe--I have a recording of the song similar to your snippet (no reference to Buddha, though). It is a duet by Marilyn Child & Glenn Yarbrough-yes, that GY!-on Elektra 143. Title "Mary Had a Baby". This goes back to 1958.

Subject: ADD Version: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy
From: Artful Codger
Date: 26 Nov 05 - 12:35 AM

Here's the version sung by Harry Belafonte. It has a couple verses not included above.

VIRGIN MARY HAD A BABY BOY

The Virgin Mary had a baby boy [3x]
And they gave him the name of Jesus.

        Chorus:
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.
Oh yes, believer, oh yes, believer,
He come from the glory,
He come from the glorious kingdom.

The wise men went where the baby born [3x]
And they said that his name was Jesus.

The saw the star over Bethlehem,
That glorious star over Bethlehem,
They trailed that star over Bethlehem
Till they came to the crib of Jesus.

They found a manger in Bethlehem,
A lowly manger in Bethlehem,
And in that manger in Bethlehem
They worshipped the child named Jesus.

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Nov 23 - 06:32 AM

The song Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy was only discovered in the 1950s in to music i do not know who wrote it I think the first recording of this song was made in 1956 by Harry Belafonte on the B side of Mary's Boy Child but I may not be certain at that the words go back to 1867. I remember singing this song twice when i was growing up. One time was back in 1988 when I when I went to junior choir and later in 1998 when I went to London to study music at Redhill college for the blind I made a Christmas album. I have still got it to this day it fechers me and the rest of the singers. If you folks have any info on this Trinidad song and who wrote the song we know today I would like to hear from you. From Joe

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 28 Nov 23 - 08:36 AM

To answer an earlier question - the version by The Weavers featured Erik Darling, so I assume that would put it after their blacklisting.

Jay

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy
From: GerryM
Date: 28 Nov 23 - 04:19 PM

The Chad Mitchell Trio recording was called "The Virgin Mary", and was on the "Reflecting" album on the Mercury label, SR 60891 / MG 20891. I don't see a date on the album, but as it has "In the Summer of His Years" about the Kennedy assassination, and "Barry's Boys" about the Goldwater campaign, I reckon it's early-to-mid 1964.