Singing

I grew up on Southern Gospel quartet music. This was my attempt to sing all parts. I’ve never been a quartet before.

It was great fun to do, though I do think the group needed more practice.

The song was written before the American Civil War. The author’s identity long lost. People confined by slavery have few options. There is no one to go to but God and nothing you can do but pray.

When we are confined by circumstances, we can follow the lead of author. Every time we feel the Spirit moving in our hearts, we can pray.

This version of I’ll Fly Away began with jazz pianist Mark Davidson’s tribute to his Mother. Mark did an album of songs his Mom would have liked.

I loved it so much, I asked if I could do a sing-along version. He kindly consented.

The song was written by a white boy in the South while out picking cotton. Albert Brumley wrote it in 1929, published it in 1932. It became a standard in many hymnals and has been wide recorded.

I’ve never picked cotton but I know the feeling of wanting to leaving my trouble and fly away. On some days, heaven sounds like the only place I want to be.

The Battle Hymn of the Republic is best know for its opening line “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.” The music was appropriated from an older song (John Brown’s Body) but the lyrics were written by Julia Ward Howe in 1951.

Published first in the Atlantic Monthly, the song is a rousing hymn. It links the American Civil War with the judgment of God, blurring the line between patriotism and theology.

My version was an attempt to put the song in the context of the Salvation Army street bands of the 1800s. A little tinny but with lots of gusto, this anthem was widely used. It marks an important use of Gospel music as patriotic rhetoric.

The lyrics to Adeste Fideles (Oh Come, All Ye Faithful) were first published in 1751. Although it isn’t clear which of several people wrote the words, the English translation was by an English Catholic priest (Frederick Oakeley) in 1841. The tune is similarly difficult to pin down. I’ll pick John Francis Wade but you’re welcome to choose your own.

This version is a great juxtaposition of pure country picking and my more Pavarottian vocals. Enjoy.

 

This is a seasonal classic written by a Jewish songwriter (Irving Berlin) for a Catholic crooner (Bing Crosby). Written in Los Angeles in 1940, it was first performed on the radio by Bing on Christmas Day 1941. It is the best selling single of all time.

I start with the California prelude because I live in Southern California. Here we don’t have white Christmases. We have to dream about them.