Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides a list of Gospel songs that were sung by The Fisk Jubilee Singers. These songs along with their lyrics and musical scores were published in an 1880 book edited by J. B. T. Marsh, The Story of the Jubilee Singers with Their Songs. (publisher Houghton Mifflin). Several other editions of this book were published in the USA and UK.
This list of 133 African American Gospel songs is from a ais from the Mudcat folk music forum discussion thread that was started in 2010 by Q (Frank Staplin) entitled "Jubilee Songs, Fisk Jubilee Singers.
The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composers of these Gospel songs and thanks to J. B. T. Marsh for editing a book about this subject. Thanks also to all those commenters from Mudcat folk music form who compiled this list and shared lyrics of these songs and comments about these songs on that online folk music forum.
-snip-
I'm aware that there are African American Gospel songs that have the same title, but have different lyrics and/or different tunes.
However, I believe that pancocojams visitors may be interested in reading this list and identifying which songs on this list they are familiar with and other people may be familiar with.
The lyrics for some of the Gospel songs that were included in that 1880 book are included in that Mudcat discussion thread.
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A LIST OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GOSPEL SONGS THAT WERE SUNG BY THE FISK JUBILEE SINGERS
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=129086
Subject: Jubilee Songs, Fisk Jubilee Singers
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Apr 10 - 05:22 PM
"Jubilee Songs
1. A great Camp-meeting in the promised land
2. A Happy New Year
3. A little more faith in Jesus
4. Anchor in the Lord
5. Angels Waiting at the door
6. Been a listening
7. Benediction
8. Bright sparkles in the Churchyard
9. Children, you'll be called on
10. Children, we all shall be free
11. Chilly Water
12. Come, all of God's children
13. Come down, angels
14. Come, let us all go down
15. Deep River
16. Did not old Pharoah get lost?
17. Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel
18. Don't you grieve after me
19. Down by the River
20. Farewell, my brother
21. From every grave-yard
22. Gabriel's Trumpet's going to blow
23. Getting ready to die
24. Gideon's Band
25. Give me Jesus
26. Go down Moses
27. Go, chain the lion down
28. Good-bye, Brothers
29. Good news, the chariot's coming
30. Good old Chariot
31. Grace
32. Gwine to ride up in the Chariot
33. Hail! Hail!
34. Hard trials
35. He arose
36. He rose from the dead
37. He's the Lily of the Valley
38. I am going to die no more
39. I ain't got weary yet
40. I know that my Redeemer lives
41. I'll hear the trumpet sound
42. I'm a rolling
43. I'm a travelling to the grave
44. I'm going to live with Jesus
45. I'm going to sing all the way
46. I'm so glad (no. 32)
50. I'm so glad (no. 107)
51. I'm troubled in mind
52. I want to be ready; or, walk in Jerusalem just like John
53. In Bright Mansions above
54. Inching along
55. In the River of Jordan
56. In that great getting-up morning
57. I've been in the storm so long
58. I've been redeemed
59. I've just come from the Fountain
60. John Brown's Body
61. Judgement-day is rolling round
62. Judgement will find you so
63. Keep me from sinking down
66. Keep your lamps trimmed and burning
67. Listen to the angels
68. Love feast in Heaven
69. Lord, I wish I had a come
70. Lord's Prayer
71. Many thousand gone
72. March on
73. Mary and Martha
74. Move along
75. My good Lord's been here
76. My Lord, what a mourning
77. My Lord's writing all the time
78. My ship is on the ocean
79. My way's cloudy
80. Nobody knows the trouble I see
81. Now we take this feeble body
82. Oh! holy Lord
83. Oh, Brothers are you getting ready?
84. Oh, give me the wings
85. Oh, make a-me holy
86. Oh, wasn't that a wide river
87. Oh, yes! Oh, yes!
88. Old ship of Zion
89. O redeemed
90. O! Sinner Man
91. Peter, go ring them bells
92. Prepare us
93. Reign, Master Jesus
94. Reign, O reign
95. Ride on, King Jesus
96. Rise and Shine
97. Rise, Mourners
98. Rise, shine, for thy light is a-coming
99. Roll, Jordan, roll
100. Room enough
101. Run to Jesus
102. Save me, Lord, save me
103. Shine, shine (no. 28)
104. Shine, shine (no. 98)
105. Sweet Canaan
106. Show me the way
107. Some of these mornings
108. Steal away
109. Swing low, sweet Chariot
110. ' Tis Jordan's River
111.The General Roll
112. The Gospel train
113. The Rocks and the Mountains
114. The Angels changed my Name
115. There's a meeting here tonight
116.The Ten Virgins
117. The work's being done
118. They led my Lord away
119. This Old Time religion
120. Turn back Pharoah's army
121. Wait a little while
122. Way over Jordan
123. We are almost home
124. We are climbing the hills of Zion
125. We'll die in the Field
126. We'll overtake the Army
127. We'll stand the Storm
128. We shall walk thro' the valley
129. What kind of shoes are you going to wear
130. When Moses smote the water
131. When shall I get there
132. Wrestling Jacob
133. Zion's Children
All with musical scores. J. B. T. Marsh, The Story of the
Jubilee Singers with Their Songs. 1880s, Houghton Mifflin. Songs appear in
several editions, USA and UK, 1870s-1880s."...
-snip-
I added numbers to these songs for referencing purposes.
The songs weren't given in alphabetical order in that book which means that those songs didn't have the same numbers that I gave to them in that book.
Also, one comment in that Mudcat discussion thread mentions that there are 128 songs in that book. That number doesn't double count songs that have the same title.
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Visitor comments are welcome.
Here's the list of African American Gospel songs that were sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers that I'm familiar with.
ReplyDeleteNote: I'm a 76 year old African American woman from Atlantic City, New Jersey. I learned many of these songs from my Baptist church in that city.
1. A great Camp-meeting in the promised land
3. A little more faith in Jesus
15. Deep River
17. Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel
26. Go down Moses
29. Good news, the chariot's coming
32. Gwine to ride up in the Chariot [if this is the same song as "Gonna To Ride The Chariot In The Mornin Lord"]
36. He rose from the dead
37. He's the Lily of the Valley
42. I'm a rolling
46. I'm so glad (no. 32) [I'm not sure which of the two songs with
this title in that book is the song that I'm familiar with.]
52. I want to be ready; or, walk in Jerusalem just like John
56. In that great getting-up morning
60. John Brown's Body
70. Lord's Prayer
[to be continued in the next comment]
[continued] Fisk Jubilee Singers songs that I'm familiar with
Delete[To correct the statement that I made in my first comment, this list of Gospel songs that I'm familiar with not only includes songs that I remember from my Baptist church in New Jersey (from the 1950s to the 1960s), but also includes other African American Gospel songs that I've come across at other times in my life, including from hearing them online.]
71. Many thousand gone
76. My Lord, what a mourning [I always thought the title was "My Lord, what a morning".]
79. My way's cloudy
80. Nobody knows the trouble I see
84. Oh, give me the wings
88. Old ship of Zion
90. O! Sinner Man
95. Ride on, King Jesus
96. Rise and Shine [If this is the same song as "Rise And Shine And Give God The Glory' that is part of the song "The Lord Said To Noah/There's Gonna Be A Floody" (I doubt that those are the same songs.]
[continued, comment #3]
Delete99. Roll, Jordan, roll
101. Run to Jesus
106. Show me the way
[But-on second thought- this is probably not the Gospel song that I know from the 1970s or 1980s that begins with the words "If you think that I am going astray/Show me the way Lord". ]
108. Steal away
109. Swing low, sweet Chariot
112. The Gospel train
[I'm most familiar with the song "Get On Board, Little Children." I don't know if that is the same song as this song with the title "The Gospel Train".]
114. The Angels changed my Name
115. There's a meeting here tonight
119. This Old Time religion
Here's another song that I know that was included in that book about Gospel songs that were sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers:
DeleteSubject: Benediction
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Apr 10 - 08:18 PM
No. 128. Benediction
As sung by the Jubilee Singers.
T. F. Seward
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee,
The Lord make his face shine upon thee,
and be gracious unto thee;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, ....
and give thee peace.
Amen"
-snip-
The words for this song is from Numbers 6:24-26 King James Version.
I learned this song in junior high school music class. This was the first integrated school that I attended. .
.
Not counting that "Benediction" song, I know 33 songs out of 133 songs in the book that was published in 1880s about Fisk Jubilee Singers' Gospel songs .
That's not a great score (pardon the pun) for someone like me who thought I knew a lot of old time African American Gospel songs.
That shows me that I don't really know a lot of those types of Gospel songs.
However, maybe this also serves as an example of how most songs (and rhymes, singing games, chants, and sayings) that were commonly known at one point in time can sometimes be quickly forgotten or completely forgotten by a lot of people after a period of time.
I'm curious about how many of the songs in this Fisk Jubilee list of songs from the 1880s that you know. (Please add your general demographic information).