Two Examples Of The 1969 Gospel Song "Joy Joy" By The Edwin Hawkins Singers

Gospel World, Feb. 20, 2025
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First soloist -Tramaine Davis Hawkins
Second soloist - Ruth Lyons
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Unfortunately, the sound quality for this video isn't that good. However, Showcase Example #2 below in this pancocojams post has much better audio for this song. 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases two examples of the 1969 Gospel song "Joy Joy" by The Edwin Hawkins Singers. 

The lyrics for that song are included in this post along with information about Edwin Hawkins.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Edwin Hawkins and The Edwin Hawkins Singers for their religious and cultural legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-edwin-hawkins-singers-oh-happy-day.html for the 2013 pancocojams post entitled "Three Renditions Of The Edwin Hawkins Singers - Oh Happy Day"

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE #2 - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED “The Edwin Hawkins Singers” - “Joy Joy”

Trevon Dawson, Dec 7, 2019

Previously Unreleased audio of The Edwin Hawkins Singers Live in London 1970 @ the Royal Festival Hall Dec. 27, 1970
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Here are two comments from this YouTube sound file's discussion thread. I assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only.

1. @pacoflip1752, 2021
"The black and white photos were taken in the Netherlands. Beautiful rendition of the song. Thanks for this audio recording."

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2. @wchopkins6653, 2021
"This tune has such a beautiful setting of lead, background choir vocals and minimalist accompaniment. The rhythm makes this song powerful, as it evokes a classic  'slow bump' church mood, but it's entirely modern here. Now that this track is about 50 years old, it's interesting how it is now a timeless hit, even though it is quite vintage.  The chord structures the Hawkins employed were dynamic and groundbreaking at the time, and even now, we don't really use their complex harmonies as might have been expected for the wave of the future. No discussion of contemporary gospel should happen without mention of this beautiful hit.

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LYRICS- JOY JOY

(Edwin Hawkins)

Behind every dark cloud

There's a silver lining

And after each rain storm

There's a bright new sky

When troubles grieve you

And friends deceive you

Oh, don't worry

It will pass over in the morning

When trials pull your heart strings

Don't be discouraged

And even though pain and misery

Fill your eyes with tears

These trials will soon pass

And soon they will depart

Oh, Hallelujah

They will pass over by and by

And remember...

Weeping may endure for a night, but

Joy, joy, joy, joy

Joy, joy will come

Joy, joy

Joy, joy

Joy, joy... joooooy

Weeping may endure for a night, but

Joy, joy, joy, joy

Joy, joy will come

Joy, joy

I'm so glad joy is going to come in the morning (joy, joy)

Weeping may endure for a night (joy, joy)

But joy is going to come in the morning (joy, joy)

No sorrows have carried me back (joy, joy)

Oh and dawn we'll see it forever

Joy, joy, joy (joy, joy)

Oooo, joy joy (joy, joy)

Joooooy

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Edwin Hawkins

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Online source- Google search (lyrics for Edwin Hawkins "Joy Joy")

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INFORMATION ABOUT EDWIN HAWKINS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hawkins
"Edwin Reuben Hawkins (August 19, 1943 – January 15, 2018) was an American gospel musician, pianist, vocalist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He was one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. As the leader of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, he was probably best known for his arrangement of "Oh Happy Day" (1968–69), which was included on the "Songs of the Century" list. In 1970, the Edwin Hawkins Singers made a second foray into the charts, backing folk singer Melanie on "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)".

Biography

Hawkins was born in Oakland, California, on August 19, 1943.[1] At the age of seven, he was already the keyboardist for the family's gospel music band.

Together with Betty Watson in May 1967, he founded the Northern California State Youth Choir of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), which included almost fifty members.[2] This ensemble recorded its first album, Let Us Go into the House of the Lord, at the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley, California (on the Century 70 custom label owned by LaMont Branch). The choir used this LP to raise funds to travel to the 1968 Youth Congress for COGIC in Washington, D.C. to compete in the Congress' annual choir competition, representing the Northern California region. The choir finished in second place at the contest, and that was the first of many surprises coming their way. Upon their return to California, their LP found its way into the hands of a KSAN underground rock DJ in San Francisco who happened to pick "Oh Happy Day" to play on his station; the song became an instant hit. The soloists on the album were Elaine Kelly, Margarette Branch, Dorothy Combs Morrison (the original lead singer on "Oh Happy Day"), Tramaine Davis (Hawkins), Reuben Franklin, Donald Cashmere, Betty Watson, and Ruth Lyons.

Once "Oh Happy Day" received radio airplay in other parts of the U.S. and the ensemble learned of the song's rising success, they began to contact people in the recording industry who helped them obtain a major contract. The ensemble signed with the newly created Pavilion label (distributed by Buddah), and released a second LP, entitled He's A Friend of Mine, in 1969. But it was "Oh Happy Day" that rocketed to sales of more than a million copies within two months. The song crossed over to the pop charts, making U.S. No. 4, UK No. 2,[3] Canada No. 2, No. 2 on the Irish Singles Chart, and No. 1 on the French Singles Charts, the Netherlands [4] and the German Singles Charts in 1969.[5] It became an international success, selling more than 7 million copies worldwide, and Hawkins was awarded his first Grammy for the recording. His arrangement of the song was eventually covered by The Four Seasons on their 1970 album Half & Half."...

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