Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information, lyrics, and musical examples of the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child" that was composed in 1956 by Jester Hairston.
The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Jester Hairston for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. In addition, thanks to the publishers of those videos on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPOSER OF THIS SONG
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jester_Hairston
"Jester Joseph Hairston (July 9, 1901 – January 18, 2000) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor. He was regarded as a leading expert on Negro spirituals and choral music.[1][2] His notable compositions include "Amen," a gospel-tinged theme from the film Lilies of the Field and a 1963 hit for The Impressions, and the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child".
Early life
Hairston was born in Belews Creek, a rural community on the border of Stokes, Forsyth, Rockingham and Guilford counties in North Carolina. His grandparents had been slaves. At an early age he and his family moved to Homestead, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh, where he graduated from high school in 1920. Hairston, who gave up studies at Massachusetts Agricultural College in the 1920s, went on to graduate from Tufts University in 1928 and studied music at the Juilliard School. Hairston pledged Kappa Alpha Psi (Chi Chapter) in 1925. He worked as a choir conductor in the early stages of his career. His work with choirs on Broadway eventually led to his singing and acting in plays, films, radio programs, and television shows.…
Hairston wrote the song "Mary's Boy Child" in 1956. He also arranged the song "Amen", which he dubbed for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field (1963), and arranged traditional Negro spirituals. Most of Hairston's film work was in the field of composing, arranging, and choral conducting. Hairston also acted in over 20 films, mostly in small roles, some of which were uncredited. Among the films he appeared in were bit parts in some of the early Tarzan movies, St. Louis Blues (1958), The Alamo (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and Being John Malkovich (1999).”...
-snip-
Jester Hairston's arrangement of "Amen" was popularized in the movie "Lilies Of The Field". Sidney Poitier is shown singing that song in the final scene of that movie, but the voice is actually Jester Hairston's. A video of that scene is included in this pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/12/amen-gospel-holiday-song-information.html.
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LYRICS: MARY'S BOY CHILD
(Jester Hairston)
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
Long time ago in Bethlehem, so the Holy Bible said,
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.
Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.
While shepherds watch their flocks by night,
they see a bright new shining star,
they hear a choir sing a song, the music seemed to come from afar.
Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
For a moment the world was aglow, all the bells rang out
there were tears of joy and laughter, people shouted
"let everyone know, there is hope for all to find peace".
Now Joseph and his wife, Mary, came to Bethlehem that night,
they found no place to bear her child, not a single room was in sight.
And then they found a little nook in a stable all forlorn,
and in a manger cold and dark, Mary's little boy was born.
Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today,
And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.
Mary's boy child Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day.
Oh a moment still worth was a glow, all the bells rang out
there were tears of joy and laughter, people shouted
"let everyone know, there is hope for all to find peace".
Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/boneym/marysboychildohmylord.html
That page also includes the lyrics to "Oh My Lord" as sung by Boney M
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FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: Mary's Boy Child / Oh My Lord - Boney M
Ben Wilder Uploaded on Mar 12, 2008
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Example #2: 1956 HITS ARCHIVE: Mary's Boy Child - Harry Belafonte (full-length LP version)
MusicProf78, Published on May 30, 2014
Mary's Boy Child (Lorin-Jester Hairston) by Harry Belafonte, orchestra conducted by William Lorin (CD audio source)
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