Five Examples of the Gospel Song "Beams Of Heaven"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents examples of the Gospel song "Beams Of Heaven". Information about Charles Albert Tindley, the composer of this song are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for religious and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

INFORMATION ABOUT CHARLES ALBERT TINDLEY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Albert_Tindley
"Rev. Dr. Charles Albert Tindley (July 7, 1851 – July 26, 1933) was an American Methodist minister and gospel music composer.
Often referred to as "The Prince of Preachers", he educated himself, became a minister and founded one of the largest Methodist congregations serving the African-American community on the East Coast of the United States.

Tindley's father was a slave, but his mother was free. Tindley himself was thus considered to be free, but even so he grew up among slaves. After the Civil War, he moved to Philadelphia, where he found employment as a hod carrier. He and his wife Daisy attended the Bainbridge St. Methodist Episcopal Church. Charles later became the sexton, a job with no salary. [1]

Never able to go to school, Tindley learned independently and by asking people to tutor him. He enlisted the help of a Philadelphia synagogue on North Broad St. to learn Hebrew and learned Greek by taking a correspondence course through the Boston Theological School....

Tindley was a noted songwriter and composer of gospel hymns and is recognized as one of the founding fathers of American gospel music. Five of his hymns appear in the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal. His composition "I'll Overcome Someday"[8] is credited by some observers to be the basis for the U.S. Civil Rights anthem "We Shall Overcome,". The song "We Shall Overcome" was composed by artists at the Highlander Folk School in 1947: Tindley's song had been brought to the school in the 1930s by tobacco workers from Charleston, South Carolina. Zilphia Horton, cultural worker and educator, taught the song at the school, where others, such as Pete Seeger and Guy Carawan, heard it. They altered Tindley's refrain "I'll Overcome Someday" to "We Shall Overcome" and the song was slowed down to be sung as a march hymn."...
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Click http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/beams_of_heaven.htm for the lyrics to "Beams Of Heaven".

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FEATURED VIDEOS
(These videos are presented in chronological order based on the date of their YouTube posting, with the oldest dated videos posted first.)

Example #1: Aretha Franklin - Beams of Heaven - Audio from Gospel Fest



arethafan2006, Uploaded on Jun 30, 2007

Aretha Franklin - Beams of Heaven - Audio from Gospel Fest in 2005

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Example #2: Beams of Heaven Antioch Baptist Church Englewood


matthew5and9, Uploaded on Feb 17, 2008
Song of praise as done by the Antioch Baptist Church of Englewood of Chicago. Under the direction of Nathan Schaffer, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church

Beams of Heaven, as I go thru this wilderness, here below. Guide my feet in peaceful way, turn my midnight into day. I do not know, how long twill be, nor what the future holds for me, but this I know...if Jesus leads me, I shall get home, get home someday.

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Example #3: Beams of Heaven" (Live)- Clara Ward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40sdw7gdCPA

Rowoches, Uploaded on Sep 7, 2008

Recorded at Clara's very last concert, in November of 1972.

Freddie Daniels- Organ
John Edmonds- Piano
-snip-
embedding disabled by request

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Example #4: Morgan State "Beams of Heaven"



chj333, Uploaded on Dec 21, 2008

This is the Morgan State Choir under direction of the late Dr. Nathan Carter singing "Beams of Heaven" in 1990. Ernest Saunders also sings on part of the song.

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Example #5: Oleta Adams Beams Of Heaven



familyforgod, Published on Oct 18, 2012

A beautiful and original voice.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Rev. Charles Albert Tindley for his musical legacy. Thanks also to the vocalists and musicians who are featured in these videos. My thanks also to the producers of and publishers of these sound files and videos.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.