Three African American Gospelized Renditions Of The Hymn "Child Of The King" (My Father Is Rich In Houses And Lands)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases the original tune for the 1877 Christian hymn "Child Of The King". That song's Anglo-American writer was Harriet E. Buell and music composer was John B. Sumner. This song is also referred to as "My Father Is Rich In Houses And Lands". That title might be used to differentiate it from other Christian songs that are titled "Child Of The King".

This post also showcases three African American gospelized* renditions of the 1877 Christian hymn "Child Of The King". Lyrics for that song are included in this post.

*What I mean by "African American gospelized" is to perform a hymn or some other song that isn't an African American Gospel song in one of the styles that are generally considered a form of African American Gospel music.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Harriet Buell and John B. Sumner for composing "A Child of the King". Thanks also to all those who are featured in these featured examples and all those who are quoted in this post. Additional thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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LYRICS - CHILD OF THE KING
(Harriet E. Buell)

My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

Refrain:
I’m a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I’m a child of the King.

My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is pleading our pardon on high,
That we may be His, when He comes by and by.

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.

A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.

Source: http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/A_Child_of_the_King/

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
With the exception of Example #1, these examples are given in chronological order based on their publishing date on YouTube, with the oldest example given next.

Example #1: My Father is rich in houses and lands



normel sanita Published on Jul 23, 2013

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Example #2: Florida Mass Choir - Child of the King



gospelmusiclover542 Uploaded on Jul 25, 2010

1988 Gainesville, Florida. "Let the Holy Ghost Lead You" cassette.

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Example #3: Marvin Yancy - I'm A Child Of The King (Vinyl 1973)



Gospel Explosion Uploaded on Sep 25, 2011

The Best of Marvin Yancy
I'm A Child Of The King
©1985 Nashboro Records
©1978 Gospel Roots
©1973 Stax Records
-snip-
Selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread:
rubyredbass,2011
"OMG! I haven't heard this song since I was a child growing up in the early 1980's."

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inemmaus1, 2013
"Yes I remember my mother's choir marching in to this when I was just a lil boy :-)"

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Example #4: Marvin Williams sings "I'm a Child of the King."



Marvin Williams, Published on Jul 2, 2013
-snip-
Mary Scot, 2013
Now that's What I call singing reminds of the way they use to sing in the Baptist Church back home. 

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