Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the African American early Gospel songs that are entitled "Where Shall I Be When That First Trumpet Sounds?"
This post presents selected comments from Mudcat folk music forum about examples of the religious song song "Where Shall I Be When That First Trumpet Sounds?"
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/05/where-shall-i-be-when-that-first_28.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a YouTube sound file of the African American Gospel song "Where Shall I Be When That First Trumpet Sounds?" by Blind Lemon Jefferson (1926) and showcases a YouTube sound file of that song by Rev. Edward W. Clayborn (1927).
That post also includes information about Blind Lemon Jefferson and information about Rev. Edward W. Clayborn. The lyrics for those versions of "Where Shall I Be?" are also included in that post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/05/eight-african-american-renditions-of.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents eight YouTube sound files or videos of examples of "Where Shall I Be When That First Trumpet Sounds?". These examples of that African American Gospel song were recorded or performed from the 1950s through 2019. The lyrics for these examples aren't included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for religious, historical, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown person/s who was (were) the first composer/s of this African American Gospel song. Thanks to all those who are showcased in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Comments from Mudcat member Q (Frank Staplin)* uses the term "Spiritual" for these songs. I prefer the term "early Gospel" and specifically African American early Gospel . By "African American early Gospel" I mean songs that were composed by African Americans after the end of the United States Civil War through the 1930s.
It appears to me that the lyrical structure of these African American old (early) Gospel songs are different from the lyrical structure of Spirituals. For instance, these songs don't have a call & response pattern, or at least the call & response patterns aren't the same as those that Spirituals have.
I'd love to read opinions from other people about how they categorize these particular African American religious songs.
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EXCERPT FROM MUDCAT DISCUSSION FORUM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=79315
Numbers added for referencing purposes only.
1. Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE SHALL I BE? (SPIRITUAL)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 04:45 PM
Several versions of this spiritual, which sometimes
incorporates verses from other songs.
Moses lived till he got old,
Whar shall I be?
Buried in de mountain, so I'm told,
Whar shall I be?
Whar shall I be when de first trumpet sounds?
Whar shall I be when it sounds so loud?
When it sound so loud that it wake up the dead,
Whar shall I be when it sounds?
Well, God showed Noar de rainbow sign,
Whar shall I be?
No more water but fire nex' time,
Whar shall I be?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Whar shall I be?
Tole me whar my Saviour gone,
Whar shall I be?
John declar'd he saw a man,
Whar shall I be?
Wid seben lamps in his right han',
Whar shall I be?
The authors consider this to be a later song, "a
general mixture of old songs and new songs, old traits and new traits, the
Negro sings a beautiful song which he has called "Whar Shall I Be?"
The usual imagery is seen."
Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson, 1925 (and reprints), The
Negro and His Songs," Univ. North Carolina (later Greenwood and Negro
Universities Press, 1976), pp. 134-135.
Lyr. Add: Where Shall I Be When de Firs' Trumpet Soun'?
Refrain
Where shall I be when de firs' trumpet soun',
Where shall I be when it soun' so loud,
Soun' so loud till it wakes up the dead,
Where shall I be when it soun'?
Solo
Moses died in de days of old,
Where shall I be?
Where he was buried has never been told,
Oh Where shall I be?
God gave de people de rainbow sign,
Where shall I be?
No more water, but fire next time
Where shall I be?
With music, p. 173. This song was not in the 1874 edition,
but was added in a later edition, probably that of 1909 (fifth ed.) when some
25 songs from Fisk and elsewhere were added. A new and enlarged edition had
previously been published in 1891.
Nathaniel Dett, 1927, "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute," Hampton University Press. AMS edition, 1972.
Johnson and Johnson, "The Books of American Negro Spirituals," Book 1, p. 136, includes the following verse:
Gwine try on my robe when de firs' trumpet soun'
Where shall I be
Gwine try on ma robe, etc.
Lyrics Add: WHERE SHALL I BE (Carter)
The judgement day is drawing nigh
Where shall I be
When God the work of men shall try
Where shall I be.
When east and west the fire will roll
Where shall I be
How will it be with my poor soul
Where shall I be.
Chorus
Oh, where shall I be
When the first trumpet sounds
Oh, where will I be
When it sounds so loud
When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
Oh, where shall I be when it sounds.
When wicked men his wrath shall see
Where shall I be
And to the rocks and mountains flee
Where shall I be.
When hills and mountains *flee away
Where shall I be
And all the work of men decay
Where shall I be.
Oh, where shall I be
When the first trumpet sounds
Oh, where shall I be
When it sounds so loud
When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
Oh, where shall I be when it sounds.
When the savior reigns from shore to shore
Where shall I be
**From God's angry presence thrown
Where shall I be.
Well, I'll be sleeping in my grave
When the first trumpet sounds
I'll be sleeping in my grave
When it sounds so loud
When it sounds so loud as to wake up the dead
I'll be sleeping in my grave when it sounds.
Repeat last chorus.
*wear, not flee(?). **When God's angry presence roars(?).
Their renditions varied slightly, also transcriptions sometimes in error.
Carter Family Songs, part Seven. Carter Songs
2.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 10:46 PM
"Does anyone have the Blind Lemon Jefferson version?
The African-American pastor and composer of more than 1000 gospel songs, Charles Price Jones, wrote a version of "Where Shall I Be When the Last Trumpet Sounds." A brief biography and some of his songs are included in the Cyberhymnal."...
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3. Subject: Lyr Add: WHERE SHALL I BE WHEN DE FIRS' TRUMPET...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 06:24 PM
From [This title will be added once the Mudcat site is available again]
by Thomas Putnam Fenner, Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (Hampton, VA: The Institute Press, 1905), page 172—where it appears with musical notation for 4 voices:
WHERE SHALL I BE WHEN DE FIRS' TRUMPET SOUN'?
CHORUS: Where shall I be when de firs' trumpet soun'?
Where shall I be when it soun' so loud,
Soun' so loud till it wakes up de dead?
Where shall I be when it soun'?
1. Moses died in de days of old.
Where shall I be?
Where he was buried has never been told.
Where shall I be?
2. God gave de people de rainbow sign.
Where shall I be?
No more water, but fire next time.
Where shall I be?"
This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
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