Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents some information about the civil rights march across the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Montgomery, Alabama. That occasion is now known as "Bloody Sunday".
This post also showcases a version of the lyrics for the 1960s African American civil rights song "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round." Examples of sound files and videos of this song are also included in this post.
In addition, this post showcases various YouTube examples of "Don't Let Nobody Turn You 'Round, the African American Spiritual which was the inspiration for the similarly titled civil rights song.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and aesthetic purposes.
Thanks to the unknown composers of the Spiritual from which this civil rights song was adapted. Thanks also to the person who first adapted this song for use as a Civil Rights song. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples, all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of these videos & sound files on YouTube.
Click http://civilrightssongs.blogspot.com/ for a blog that I started. That blog lists and provides videos of a number of American civil rights songs.
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Some of the content of this post was published on pancocojams in 2012. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/06/aint-gonna-let-nobody-turn-me-round.html for that post which also includes a few visitor comments.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This pancocojams post is published in honor and remembrance of the 55th anniversary of the march across the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Montgomery, Alabama. That occasion is known as "Bloody Sunday".
Here's some information and comments about that march:
Excerpt #1:
From https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm
"The Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights ended three weeks--and three events--that represented the political and emotional peak of the modern civil rights movement. On "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. They got only as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge six blocks away, where state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma. Two days later on March 9, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a "symbolic" march to the bridge. Then civil rights leaders sought court protection for a third, full-scale march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery. Federal District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., weighed the right of mobility against the right to march and ruled in favor of the demonstrators. "The law is clear that the right to petition one's government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups...," said Judge Johnson, "and these rights may be exercised by marching, even along public highways." On Sunday, March 21, about 3,200 marchers set out for Montgomery, walking 12 miles a day and sleeping in fields. By the time they reached the capitol on Thursday, March 25, they were 25,000-strong. Less than five months after the last of the three marches, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965--the best possible redress of grievances."...
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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/selma-notebook-john-lewis-will-meet-marchers-pettus-bridge/FA6ZEAMJSNFELMYBJKYTSDBY7Y/
..."U.S. Rep. John Lewis joined throngs of people commemorating the 55th anniversary of the march across the Edmond Pettus Bridge Sunday.
Voting rights activists, including Lewis, were beaten by law enforcement on March 7, 1965, when they crossed the bridge as part of a voting rights march to Montgomery, Ala.
Each year, Lewis and other civil rights leaders, plus throngs of others, have re-enacted the march. This year, his participation was in doubt because he is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.
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Lewis greeted marchers, including former Georgia candidate for Gov. Stacey Abrams and Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., at the apex of the bridge.
“I’m inspired to come back to this bridge and to see so many people who are gathered here today,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "...
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LYRICS: AIN'T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN ME ROUND
(Unknown composers)
Aint gonna let nobody
turn me 'round
turn me 'round
Aint gonna let nobody
turn me round
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
marchin into freedom land
Aint gonna let (add the name a prominent segregationist)
turn me 'round
turn me 'round
Aint gonna let (repeat name)
turn me 'round
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
marchin into freedom land
Aint gonna let no jailhouse
turn me 'round
turn me 'round
Aint gonna let no jailhouse
turn me 'round
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
marchin into freedom land
Aint gonna let no policeman
turn me 'round
turn me 'round
Aint gonna let no policeman
turn me round
I'm gonna keep on walkin'
keep on talkin
marchin into freedom land
-snip-
These lyrics are from my memory of this song being sung in the mid 1960s (in Atlantic City, New Jersey).
The African American Civil Rights song "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" is based on an African American Spiritual or Gospel song with the same title. In the Gospel song, the line "marchin in to freedom land" is sung "walkin into Glory land" or "walkin into heaven land".
Like other civil rights songs (and Spirituals/Gospel songs), the words to this song aren't fixed. However, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" was sung in unison which means that those singing it knew in advance which verses were to be sung, and in which order the verses were sung. In contrast, the earlier Gospel song was probably sung using a call & response pattern.
Click http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/aintgonnaletnobodyturnmearound.php for other verses for this song.
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS & SOUND FILES OF SPIRITUAL/GOSPEL VERSIONS OF "DON'T LET NOBODY TURN YOU 'ROUND
Video #1: The Fairfield Four circa 1980s..."Don't You Let Nobody Turn You 'Round"
Uploaded by Docjive on Oct 29, 2010
"In the early 1980s after a thirty-year hiatus, the Fairfield Four with a powerhouse line-up once again began performing. This period clip features the legendary Rev. Sam McCrary leading his classic "Don't You Let Nobody Turn You 'Round." The original release was on the Bullet label circa 1947/48. B.B. King called McCrary a primary vocal influence. The Fairfield Four left to right: Willie "Preacher" Richardson, Rev. McCrary, Wilson "Lit" Waters, James S. Hill, and Isaac Freeman."
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Notice the knee patting and foot stomping motions that one of the singers does for accompaniment. This body movement is found in a number of early Gospel and non-religious songs and is evidence of the survival of 19th century "pattin Juba".
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Video #2: Albertina Walker with Olando Draper & Associates Choir - "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Round"
Uploaded by ADRIAN WILLIAMS on Jan 17, 2009
-snip-
I'm not sure about the recording date for this video, but I think it was in the 1990s or the early 2000s.
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS OF CIVIL RIGHTS VERSIONS OF "AIN'T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN ME 'ROUND
(These videos are given in no particular order.)
Video #1: Sweet Honey In The Rock - "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around"
Sweet Honey In The Rock, Published on Apr 24, 2014
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Video #2: Joan Baez - "Marching Up To Freedom Land"
Posted by Baez971 ; August 04, 2006
"Joan baez singing acapella"
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Video #3: The Roots - "Aint Gonna Let Nobody"
Uploaded by djlightbolt on Oct 1, 2010
From "Soundtrk 4 a Revolution"
-snip-
This contemporary rendition of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me "Round" is a jazzed up, funkier version of that Civil Rights song. This video includes documentary clips of 1960s Civil Rights marches. Those marches were also called "demonstrations".
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Video #4: The Freedom Singers "Ain't Gonna Let No Body Turn Me 'Round" | In Performance at the White House
Yaroooh! for Kids | News - Magazine , Published on Jan 14, 2014
The Freedom Singers perform "(Ain't Gonna let Nobody) Turn me Around" at the White House Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.
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This video was added on Feb. 11, 2017 as the previously embedded video of the Freedom Singers performing this song is no longer available.
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Video #5: Joyful Noise - Ain't Gonna Let Nobody
Uploaded by LadyKej on Jan 20, 2009
"This is Joyful Noise, a gospel acapella group in the DC Metro area. They sang at a popular restaurant in DC (Busboys and Poets) to celebrate MLK Day and the upcoming inauguration. The performance included singing of traditional Negro Spirituals, spoken word performances and saxophone solos."
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