Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series about The Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Part II presents information about "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and provides the standard lyrics for this Spiritual.
This post also showcases a 1909 sound file of The Fisk Jubilee Singers' rendition of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". Additional examples of this song are also showcased in this post for comparison purposes.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/online-excerpts-about-early-history-of.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents several online excerpts about the early history of The Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Part III showcases a 1909 sound file of The Fisk Jubilee Singers' rendition of "O Lord, I've Done What You Told Me To Do" riot". Additional examples of this song are also showcased in this post for comparison purposes. Two versions of lyrics for this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the original Fisk Jubilee Singers for their musical legacy, and thanks to all those who are featured in YouTube examples that are embedded in this post. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these YouTube examples.
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Visit YouTube to view contemporary videos of this choral group that is part of Fisk University, a private historically Black university in Nashville, Tennessee.
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INFORMATION ABOUT "SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Low,_Sweet_Chariot
""Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African American* Spiritual. The earliest known recording was in 1909, by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University.
In 2002, the Library of Congress honored the song as one of 50 recordings chosen that year to be added to the National Recording Registry. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
History
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" may have been written by Wallis Willis, a Choctaw freedman in the old Indian Territory in what is now Choctaw County, near the County seat of Hugo, Oklahoma sometime after 1865. He may have been[weasel words] inspired[citation needed] by the Red River, which reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah's being taken to heaven by a chariot (2 Kings 2:11). Some sources[1][2] claim that this song and "Steal Away"[3] (also sung by Willis) had lyrics that referred to the Underground Railroad, the freedom movement that helped black people escape from Southern slavery to the North and Canada.
Alexander Reid, a minister at the Old Spencer Academy, a Choctaw boarding school, heard Willis singing these two songs and transcribed the words and melodies. He sent the music to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Jubilee Singers popularized the songs during a tour of the United States and Europe.
The song enjoyed a resurgence during the 1960s Civil Rights struggle and the folk revival; it was performed by a number of artists. Perhaps the most famous performance during this period was that by Joan Baez during the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival.
Oklahoma State Senator Judy Eason McIntyre from Tulsa proposed a bill nominating "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as the Oklahoma State official gospel song in 2011. The bill was co-sponsored by the Oklahoma State Black Congressional Caucus. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed the bill into law on May 5, 2011, at a ceremony at the Oklahoma Cowboy Hall of Fame; making the song the official Oklahoma State Gospel Song.[citation needed]
Traditional lyrics
Chorus:
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
(Coming for to carry me home)
A band of angels coming after me
(Coming for to carry me home)
Chorus:
If you get there before I do
(Coming for to carry me home)
Tell all of my friends, that I'm coming there too
(Coming for to carry me home)
Chorus (3×)"...
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*The Wikipedia page for this song [on November 6, 2018] refer to this song as an "American negro spiritual". I've changed that referent to "African American spiritual" because African American is the formal referent that has been most often used (since at least the early 1970s)most often for the population that was referred to as "American Negroes". Also, spelling "Negro" with a small "n" is generally considered (by African Americans and many others) to be highly offensive.
Also note that this is the only African American Spiritual that I know of which has an identified probable composer. To my knowledge, composers for all the other African American Spirituals are given as "unknown".
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Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Swing_Low,_Sweet_Chariot for a discussion of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
A commenter posting to that page notes that 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' "refers to 2 Kings 2:1. (Prophet Elijah being taken up to heaven by a chariot)."
Also, commenters on that page discuss the custom of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" being sung by attendees of United Kingdom rugby games.
A pancocojams post about this custom will be published ASAP and its link will be added here.
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EXCERPT ABOUT THE FISK JUBILEE SINGERS' RECORDING OF "SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT"
From https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Swing%20Low%20article.pdf "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”—The Fisk University
Jubilee Quartet (1909)"
Added to the National Registry: 2002
Essay by Toni P. Anderson (guest post)
"In December 1909, the Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, a male foursome carrying on the legacy of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers of the 1870s, entered the Victor Studios in Camden, New Jersey, to record 12 songs chosen from their concert repertory. Ten of the songs would
eventually be released on five different discs. Among the titles was “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” one of the best-known and beloved Negro spirituals now firmly established in the canon of American folksong. In just one or two takes per title, the Victor recording captured the
quartet’s rich blend and sophisticated performance style. These were the first recordings of the artistic, concert versions of spirituals associated with Fisk University and its accomplished musicians.
The unaccompanied recording of the quartet showcased the talent of four Fiskites: John Wesley Work II (1st tenor), James Andrew Myers (2nd tenor), Alfred Garfield King (1st bass), and Noah Ryder (2nd bass). By the time of the 1909 recording session, Fisk University had earned a
reputation as being the “music conservatory” for aspiring black artists, primarily due to the immense fame of the original Fisk Jubilee Singers, who toured in the interest of the university from 1871-1878. Known for their precise, tight harmony, emotional pathos, and refined stage deportment, the Jubilee Singers, under the direction of George L. White and Ella Sheppard, presented a cultivated version of the spiritual to audiences throughout America and Europe."
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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: Swing Low Sweet Chariot - Fisk Jubilee Singers (1909)
Nathaniel Jordon, Published on Dec 22, 2012
Swing Low Sweet Chariots earliest known recording is of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1909. The song is at least 103 years old, but it is still known by most people. Note- the huge church-like building you see as the third picture is the home of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
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Example #2: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (1958)- The Caravans
JayEm86, Published on May 21, 2008
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", originally from the "Mary Don't You Weep" LP, with Albertina Walker and Shirley Caesar providing lead vocals. This is Shirley Caesar's first recording session with the Caravans, beginning a career that would launch her, as well as fellow Caravans Inez Andrews, Albertina Walker, and Delores Washington into some of the most successful and influential solo gospel artists of the past 50 years (1958-2008).
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Example #3: Dixie Hummingbirds ---Swing Low Sweet Chariot
nipsipone, Published on Jun 19, 2009
From A New York City Concert ---1991 ----Acapella--
Ira Tucker (lead vocals), William Bright (vocals), Carlton Lewis, III (vocals), Cornell Mcknight (bass vocals), Torrey Nettles (drums/vocals), Willie Coleman (bass guitar & vocals) and Lyndon Baines Jones (guitar & vocals).
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Notice that the Dixie Hummingbirds include part of the Gospel song "Swing Down, Chariot" (And Let Me Ride") in their rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/09/five-examples-of-swing-down-sweet.html for a pancocojams post on the song "Swing Down, Chariot".
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Example #4: PAUL ROBESON SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT
sarastrone, Published on Oct 28, 2010
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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.
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