Rev. Utah Smith - Take A Trip
knfuj, Mar 30, 2010
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part IV of a four part pancocojams series about American religious songs with the titles "The Old Gospel Ship", "Take A Trip" or similar titles. This series traces the development of "The Old Gospel Ship" song to pre-Civil war religious songs, through The Carter Family's 1935 "The Old Gospel Ship" to the Rev. Utah Smith's 1953 Gospel song "Take A Trip" through B. Chase Williams' 1995 Gospel song "Take A Trip On The Good Old Gospel Ship" and afterwards.
This post showcases an example of Rev. Utah Smith's 1953 record "Take A Trip" and presents the lyrics to that version of that Gospel song. That post presents information about African American renditions of "The Old Gospel Ship" before B. Chase Williams' recorded his record "Take A Trip On That Good Old Gospel Ship" in 1995.
In addition this post showcases a 2010 Jamaican rendition of "I'm Gonna Take A Trip Of That Good Old Gospel Ship" and includes the lyrics for that version of that song. This post also includes the comments from the discussion thread for that YouTube video.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/lyrics-of-some-african-american.html for Part i of this pancocojams series. That post presents some comments from a Mudcat folk music discussion thread about several 19th century African American Spirituals that refer to Gospel ships sailing. These songs may be part of more well known "The Old Ship Of Zion" family of Spirituals/Hymns.
That pancocojams post also presents a comment from that same Mudcat discussion thread about African American composer and performer Sam Lucas who wrote a version of "The Gospel Ship" in the late 19th century. Information about Sam Lucas is presented in the Addendum of this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-carteer-familys-1935-record-gospel.html for Part iI of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a 1935 sound file of The Carter Family singing their version of "The Old Gospel Ship".The lyrics for The Carter Family's version of "The Old Gospel Ship" is also included in that post. That post also includes an auto-generated transcript from a YouTube video about the history of "The Old Gospel Ship" hymn.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/03/african-american-examples-of-take-trip.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post showcases six YouTube examples of 21st century African American singers performing "Take A Trip" (On That Good Old Gospel Ship). The lyrics to two versions of that Gospel song are included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, and socio-cultural purpose.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer/s of "The Old Gospel Ship". Thanks to the anonymous commenter who wrote in 2017 in the discussion thread for my 2024 psncocojams post on "Take A Trip On The Good Old Gospel Ship" whose link is give below for letting me know about Rev. Utah Smith's 1953 "The Old Gospel Ship" record. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this YouTube example that isAnonymou featured in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/04/five-examples-of-black-gospel-song-take.html for a 2014 pancocojams post on African American examples of this song. That post includes some videos and some information that aren't included in this 2026 post or in other parts of this pancocojams series.
Here's the only visitor's comment from that post's discussion thread:
Anonymous, January 23, 2017 at 10:31 AM
"The Reverend Utah Smith also recorded a version of this song for the Checker label, c. August 1953, as "Take A Trip." He is accompanied by an unknown female choir and his electric guitar. It was issued as Checker single #785, c. November 1953."
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LYRICS FOR REVEREND UTAH SMITH'S "TAKE A TRIP" *
I have good news to bring
That is why I sing
I thought with you I'd share
I'm gonna take a trip
In that old Gospel ship
And go riding through the air.
Oooh, I can't even wait
I know I don't want to be late
To spend my retire
When my ship comes in
I'm gonna leave this old world of sin
And go sailin through the air.
Chorus: [with women singing along]
I'm gonna take a trip
In that old Gospel ship
Far beyond the sky
(I'm gonna) Shout and sing
Till the heavens ring
When I sing these word on high
(Oooh) me oh my I will not cry
When I'll be there I will sing.
I'll be like the birds and sing
And I know my spirit will ring
When I go sailing through the air
It's now coming to noon
I should be traveling soon
At a day it's always time.
????
????
Oh, if you're shamed of me
If you have your own point of view
You better have a care
It's too much power to find
You don't want to be left behind
When I go sailing through the air.
Chorus: [with women singing along]
I'm gonna take a trip
In that old Gospel ship
Far beyond the sky
(I'm gonna) Shout and sing
Till the heavens ring
When I sing these word on high
(Oooh) me oh my I will not cry
When I'll be there I will sing.
I'll be like the birds and sing
And I know my spirit will ring
When I go sailing through the air
-snip-
This is my attempt to transcript this audio recording. Additions and corrections are very welcome.
Rev. Utah Smith's rendition or one similar to it were undoubtedly a source for B. Chase Williams' 1995 "Take A Trip On The Good Old Gospel Ship" record
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COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THE YOUTUBE REV. UTAH SMITH VIDEO THAT IS EMBEDDED IN THIS POST
These are all of the comments that are found in this discussion thread for that YouTube video as of March 26, 2026 at 7:10 AM EDT. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVRZHaSXBwU
1. @theplanetariumscene, 2010
"Just got the book & cd last weekend. One of my favorite tracks on it. The tune has been on my mind a lot today."
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Reply
2. @smallnail4104, 2018
"The electric guitar pioneer."
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3. @mrtheoneandonly83, 2010
"Rev Smith was in chare of the evangelistc department in COGIC."
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"COGIC" is the Christian denomination "Church Of God In Christ".
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2-I'm GOING TO TAKE A TRIP IN THE GOOD OLD GOSPEL SHIP-GOSPEL
TRAIN
Regina Thomas, Uploaded on Jan 20, 2010
JAMAICAN CONVOCATION 2009
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The choir and the congregation repeatedly sing these lyrics:
I'm gonna take a trip
In the good old gospel ship
And fly far beyond the sky,
I'm gonna sing and shout
until the heavens ring
And bid this world goodbye.
-snip-
In this video this song is sung during a church offering. As documented in YouTube videos of Black pentacostal church services in Jamaica and in the United Kingdom, most of the church songs consist of repeating the verses of a particular "old school" Gospel song as is documented in this video.
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INFORMATION ABOUT SOME 20TH CENTURY AFRICAN AMERICAN RENDITIONS OF "THE OLD GOSPEL SHIP" BEFORE G. CHASE WILLIAMS' 1995 RECORD "TAKE A TRIP ON THAT GOOD OLD GOSPEL SHIP"
From AI Overview write-up (as a result of my March 25, 2026 query on that subject.)
" "Take A Trip On the Old Gospel Ship" (or "The
Old Gospel Ship") is a traditional gospel song frequently attributed to
songwriter G.T. Speer and famously recorded by white country artists like The
Carter Family in 1939. Early recordings by Black artists include soulful
versions by artists such as Reverend Gary Davis and Sister Ernestine
Washington.
Key Early Performers: According to recordings compiled by
Smithsonian Folkways, artists like Reverend Gary Davis and Sister Ernestine
Washington recorded the song as part of classic African American gospel
recordings, often featuring in collections focusing on traditional and
soul-influenced gospel.
Cultural Context: The song is a staple of Southern gospel
that has been widely adopted across musical styles. While the 1939 Carter
Family version is widely known, the song existed in Pentecostal and traditional
settings beforehand.
Alternative Titles: The song is often recognized by its
chorus lines: "I'm gonna take a trip on the Old Gospel Ship," and is
sometimes confused with the traditional spiritual "The Old Ship of
Zion".
While early recordings are often fragmented in digital
databases, Reverend Gary Davis and Sister Ernestine Washington are among the
documented Black pioneers of this song."
-snip-
The Carter Family's first recording of "The Old Gospel Ship" is usually given as 1935.
Unfortunately, I haven't found any YouTube recordings of "The Old Gospel Ship" by Rev. Gary Davis and/or Sister Ernestine Washington. However, I found an audio recording of Rev. Davis singing "The Old Ship Of Zion" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHXX--sdjJo. That rendition doesn't include any of the lyrics for "The Old Gospel Ship".
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This concludes Part IV of this four part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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