The REAL Composer Of The African American Christmas Song "Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child"

malacomg, Nov 7, 2018

Lyrics:

Jesus, Jesus oh what a wonderful child
Jesus, Jesus so holy, meek, and mild
New life and hope to he brings

Listen to the angels sing glory, glory glory to the new born king
Jesus, Jesus oh what a wonderful child
Jesus, Jesus so holy, meek, and mild
New life and hope to he brings
Listen to the angels sing glory, glory glory to the new born king

He was herald by the angels, born in a lonely manger
Virgin Mary was chosen as his mother
And Joseph as his earthly father
The wise men traveled from afar, they were guided by the shining star
Just to see King Jesus where he lay, in a manger filled with hay

Jesus, Jesus, oh what a wonderful child
Jesus, Jesus, so holy, meek and mild
New life, new hope, to all He brings
Listen to the angels sing
Glory, glory, glory to the newborn King

****
Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a sound file of the African American Christmas song "Glory to the New Born King"  whose title is usually given as "Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child". 

This post also presents a long excerpt of an entire 2021 Hymnology Archive article about the 1950s African American female Gospel quartet, The Angelic Gospel Singers, and one of their members Margaret Wells Allison, who composed "Glory To The Newborn King", but is rarely credited for that composition. Instead, "Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child" is almost always mislabeled as "traditional".  

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Margaret Wells Allison for composing "Glory to the New Born King" (also known as "Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child".  Thanks to the Angelic Gospel Singers for their musical legacy and thanks to Chris Fenner with C. Michael Hawn whose article is extensively quoted in this post. I strongly encourage everyone interested in this subject to read their entire article.
Thanks also to malacomg for publishing this sound file on YouTube.

Happy Holidays!
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-angelic-gospel-singers-glory-to-new.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "Seven Examples Of The African American Christmas Song "Jesus, Oh What A Wonderful Child" (composed by Margaret Wells Allison)"

****   
ARTICLE EXCERPT- "GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING; JESUS JESUS OH WHAT A WONDERFUL CHILD" by Chris Fenner with C. Michael Hawn for Hymnology Archive and The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology

https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/jesus-oh-what-a-wonderful-child

" I. First Recording and Publication

"Philadelphia musician Margaret Wells Allison (1921–2008) started her gospel career at a young age by accompanying a group called the Spiritual Echoes, but just a few years later, she had a vision for a group of her own. She recruited Ella Mae Norris and Lucille Shird from the Spiritual Echoes, added her sister Josephine Wells McDowell, and formally launched a new quartet, The Angelic Gospel Singers, in 1944. Initially, they sang for churches and revivals and conventions, then entered the recording industry when they signed with Gotham Records in Philadelphia, where they worked with musician and executive Harry “Doc” Bagby (1919–1970). Over the course of five years, from 1949 to 1954, the group recorded 50 tracks on 78-rpm records (25 2-sided discs). Gospel historian Viv Broughton described their success:

[...]
 
One of their most enduring songs has been “Glory, glory, to the newborn King,” recorded in 1950 as Gotham G-675, with the B-side “Jesus Christ is born.” The song began with its memorable chorus, “Jesus, Jesus, oh what a wonderful child,” sung together by the group, then they continued together into the verse, “He was herald by the angels; yes, born in a lowly manger,” returned to the chorus, followed that with an instrumental chorus (piano and organ), then returned again to the group chorus. This original recording featured the quartet accompanied by a gently swinging piano and electric organ; Margaret Allison was the pianist, while Doc Bagby probably served as the organist, uncredited.

[...]

Based on what limited information is available, a couple of possibilities account for why the song was initially credited to Bagby but later to Allison. With Bagby being in a position of authority over a relatively young group, inexperienced in the legalities of the recording industry, Bagby was able to leverage his involvement in the musical arrangement into a full credit without acknowledging Allison, or she simply sold the rights in a deal she could not have fully appreciated at the time. Additionally, if Bagby was responsible for having the song scored, he might have felt ownership over the final product. Whatever happened between them, by 1968 Allison clearly did not feel Bagby deserved any credit, and his name was omitted from any further recordings (Bagby died in 1970). One curious exception was made when the song was printed in Sing! A New Creation: Leader’s Edition (Grand Rapids: Faith Alive, 2002). In that instance, the text was credited to Bagby, the music to Allison. Allison’s granddaughter Monica Allison explained what the situation was like from her grandmother’s perspective:

 'At the time of that writing, Nana said that she didn’t know about owning masters or as she put it, “any of that legal stuff,” she was focused on the music. Once she was signed, the process of getting credit was explained to her. She told me that she and the Dixie Hummingbirds would perform that together and collaborated on the arrangement. What people don’t know about her is that my grandmother played by ear, she never learned how to write music. A song would come to her, and she would keep playing until she found the sound she wanted.[5]'

At some point, Allison became a member of BMI, and 131 of her songs are registered there, including “Glory to the newborn King.

III. Additional Recordings by Others

In the meantime, the song had exploded across the gospel choir community, although rarely with proper credit. Horace Boyer once remarked, “Although not apparent from its early modest success, ‘Glory to the newborn King’ (1950) became as popular in gospel music circles as ‘White Christmas’ in the popular music world.”[6] Yet unlike “White Christmas,” the apparent lack of a published score after 1951 meant the song circulated aurally, taught by rote, such that the name of the composer was lost in transmission. This problem has also been exacerbated by the song being known popularly by the first line of the chorus rather than the last, leading to difficulties in tracing its lineage.

[...]
IV. Publication in Hymnals
{...]

V. Possible Precursors

If the song has any antecedents in traditional expressions within the African American community, it would be via the spiritual “Mary, what ya’ goin’ to name that pretty little baby” with its refrain “Glory be to your newborn King,” published as early as 1903,[10] or “Oh, who do you call the wonderful counselor? . . . Glory hallelujah to the newborn King,” published as early as 1949.[11] These expressions might have been known to Margaret Allison and/or Harry Bagby, but they should not be confused with what was effectively a brand new song as it was recorded in 1950. The longstanding practice of calling the song “Traditional” is unfortunate and ought to be abandoned in light of the song’s documented history and its registry with the Library of Congress."
-snip-
This article includes photographs, a partial music sheet for this song, and more, as well as footnotes.  Here are two of those footnotes with their song's titles given "as is":

10. Jeannette Robinson Murphy, “The true negro music and its decline,” Independent 55 (23 July 1903), 1723–1730: HathiTrust

11. Hall Johnson, “Glory hallelujah to de new born King,” Thirty Spirituals (NY: G. Schirmer, 1949), pp. 80–82.

****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.