The New Jerusalem Baptist Church Choir - Topic. Nov 22, 2019
Provided to YouTube by Malaco Records
Composer: K. Morris [Kenneth Morris]
Music Publisher:
Martin & Morris Music, INC.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a 2008 YouTube video of The Bolton Brothers singing a rendition of the Gospel song "Jesus Is Real To Me".
This post also includes information about the Bolton Brothers and selected comments from that video's discussion thread.
The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Beatrice Brown for composing "Jesus Is Real To Me". Thanks to The Boton Brothers for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, thanks to Bobby Jones and all those who were associated with The Bobby Jones Gospel television series for featuring The Bolton Brothers and other Gospel singers. Thanks also to thepropheticdave for publishing this video on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/jesus-is-real-to-me-1952-gospel.html for the pancocojams post entitled " "Jesus Is Real To Me" - 1952 Gospel Recording By Brother Joe May & The Sallie Martin Singers (with lyrics)".
The standard lyrics for the song "Jesus Is Real To Me" is given in that post along with the information that the composer/lyricist of that 1952 African American Gospel song was Beatrice Brown.
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/john-p-kee-new-life-community-choir.html for a pancocojams post entitled "John P. Kee & New Life Community Choir - "Jesus Is Real" (African American Gospel video, information, and lyrics)"
And click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/04/three-examples-of-african-american.html for a pancocojams post whose title is "Three Examples Of African American Gospel Songs Whose Titles Have The Words "God Is Real" / "Jesus Is Real" ".
INFORMATION ABOUT THE GOSPEL SONG "YES, GOD IS REAL"
From https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-yes-god-is-real
"History of Hymns: "Yes, God Is Real"
..."One of the most prominent forces in African-American gospel music in the 20th century was the team of Sallie Martin (1896-1988) and Kenneth Morris (1917-1988).
Martin worked with Thomas A. Dorsey, composer of the classic, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” (UM Hymnal, No. 474), bringing not only her performance skills to his trio, but also business acumen to his music store where she increased the sale of his songs and made his business more profitable.
Morris was a native of New York City, where he studied at Manhattan School of Music. Though his roots were in the church, he formed the Kenneth Morris Band, a jazz band that played that played at hotels, lounges and restaurants. At a series of performances in 1934 at the Chicago World’s Fair, he contracted tuberculosis.
Morris remained in Chicago to restore his health, taking a job as a music transcriber. It was here that he met leaders in the gospel music community including Lillian Bowls and Charles Pace.
Morris was hired as a choir director by the Rev. Clarence H. Cobb, pastor of the First Church of Deliverance. From this venue, Morris became a practicing church musician and a pioneer in black gospel music who was credited for introducing the Hammond Organ to the gospel sound. Martin sang in his choir.
Cobb persuaded Morris and Martin to go into business together. Though she had much natural musical ability, Martin had no formal training. Morris furthered her singing career by writing and arranging songs for her.
In 1940, the two joined forces to form the publishing company Martin and Morris Music, Inc. That same year, Martin founded the Sallie Martin Singers.
According to the American History Archives Center, Martin and Morris “were co-owners of the nation’s oldest and continuously-running Black Gospel music publishing company” (1940-c. 1988). Martin traveled most of the time with her singing group, promoting the songs published by the company. Morris resided in Chicago working as an arranger and composer, and with his wife, Necie, handled the day-to-day business of the company.
According to scholar Horace Clarence Boyer, the Martin and Morris Company was particularly important for black gospel music during the peak years of 1945-1965, because this was one of the few companies that would publish the music of other African-American composers. Through the company, the music of many gospel music greats was circulated around the United States and beyond.
Among Morris’ musical models were Dorsey and Methodist Charles A. Tindley. Like them, he wrote both text and music. “Yes, God is real” is dated in 1944, almost two decades before the height of the civil rights movement. According to Boyer, “African American church congregations know this song so well that they need neither the score nor the text to sing it.”
A possible reference to segregation appears in the first stanza: “there are some places I can’t go.” In spite of the difficulties of life, the singer’s relationship with God is no less valid. The refrain validates the reality of God’s presence “deep within” because God has cleansed the singer through his blood and has thus been “made . . . whole.”
The second stanza acknowledges God’s presence in the face of persecution and abandonment. The final stanza rephrases some of the ideas of earlier ones, stressing again “God’s holy power” in ones life.
Though coming from an African-American context, the message of the song extends to others. Boyer notes that this is Morris’ “most commercially successful composition. It has been translated into twenty-four languages and is sung all over the world.” Among the many recordings of this song available today, one will find renditions not only by Mahalia Jackson, but also Pat Boone and Johnny Cash.
“Yes, God is real” expresses the surety of faith of many Christians.
*© 1944 Martin and Morris; administered by Unichappell Music, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission."
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LYRICS- "YES, GOD IS REAL"
[This song is given under the title "There Are Some Things I May Not Know (Yes, God Is Real)"
1 There are some things I may not know,
There are some places I can't go,
But I am sure of this one thing
That God is real for I can feel Him deep within.
Refrain:
Yes, God is real, real in my soul,
Yes, God is real for He has washed and made me whole;
His love for me is like pure gold,
Yes, God is real for I can feel Him in my soul.
2 Some folks may doubt, some folks may scorn,
All can desert and leave me alone,
But as for me I'll take God's part
For God is real and I can feel Him in my heart. [Refrain]
3 I cannot tell just how you felt
When Jesus took your sins away,
But since that day, yes, since that hour
God has been real for I can feel His holy pow'r. [Refrain]
Source: The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal: official hymnal of the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church #53
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