"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual song, compiled by John Wesley Work, Jr., probably dating back to 1865.
It has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyrics celebrate the Nativity of Jesus:
| “ | Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born. | ” |
This carol was included in "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro as sung on Plantations" (1909)
published by the Hampton Normal and Agriculltural Institute in Hampton, Virginia
In the notes of "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro as sung on Plantations" Professor Frederick J Work of Fisk University is mentioned as one of the suppliers of 25 new songs in this 1909 edition.
Frederick Jerome Work was the brother of John Wesley Work Jr. and my guess is both brothers were responsible for adapting the song and first publishing it in 1909.
The version above contains the "When I was a Seeker" verse
Some sources state that this version was derived from an old Negro spiritual "When I Was a Seeker". The tune of the "When I Was A Seeker" verse has similarities to the verse of "Oh, Susanna".
Listen here: Oh%2C_Susanna%27_pentatonic_melody.mid.mp3
Many sources say "Go Tell It On The Mountain" was first published in Folk Songs of the American Negro in 1907. There were 2 volumes, compiled by the 2 brothers John Wesley Work Jr and Frederick Jerome Work.
But "Go Tell It On The Mountain" is nowhere to be found in both volumes.
Volume One:
Volume Two
John Wesley Work Jr. was from Nashville Tennessee, taught at Fisk University and directed and promoted the Fisk Jubilee Singers from 1909 till 1916.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers were probably the first act to perform the song in 1879, during their fund-raising concert tours in America and Europe.
So it's more likely John W. Work Jr. learned the song when he was an undergraduate at Fisk University in the early 1890s and a faculty member by the late 1890s.
In 1940 "Go Tell It On The Mountain" was contained in the book "American Negro Songs and Spirituals" by John W. Work III (the son of John W. Work Jr).
In this book "Go Tell It On The Mountain" was provided with a new verse, because the original ones could not be found (see footnote on the bottom of the page below)
In this book John Wesley
Work III, attributes the newer text to his father.
*These verses were supplied by John Work Sr. in place of the original ones which could not be found
John W Work III, recalled that when he was a child, the
students at Fisk University began singing this before daybreak on
Christmas morning, going from building to building. Later, his
arrangement for use in choral concerts by the Fisk Jubilee Singers
helped to popularize the spiritual.
But the exact origin of "Go Tell It On The Mountain" is impossible to determine
Dorothy Maynor might be the first one to have recorded this spiritual in 1941, probably copying the version from "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro as sung on Plantations" (1909), because she used the same title "Go Tell It On De Mountain" as was used in that book.
(o) Dorothy Maynor (1941) (as "Go Tell It On De Mountain") (with the "Seeker" verse)
Recorded November 14, 1941
Released in 1942 on record # 2211-B of the 4 record 78 RPM album-set "Negro Spirituals"
Listen here: Go Tell It on the Mountain - Dorothy Maynor.mp3
Or here:
"Go Tell It On The Mountain" was also sung with different verses, based on Luke 2:8-9.
Here are the lyrics of that version (for convenience I call it the "Shepherds" verse)
It's the version on the next site:
(c) Famous Jubilee Singers (1948) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Released on the Bullet-label (#294)
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) Mahalia Jackson (1950) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Mildred Falls, piano; Louise Overall, organ;
Recorded in New York City on October 17, 1950
Released on Apollo 235
Listen here:
(c) The Weavers (1951) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Lee Hays [vcl], Fred Hellerman [vcl/gt],Pete Seeger [vcl/gt/banjo], Ronnie Gilbert [bass vcl]
Recorded September 19, 1951 Decca Recording Studio, New York City.
Released on single Decca 27818 and LP DL-5373
Listen here:
(c) Golden Gate Quartet (1958) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Seeker" verse)
Orlandus Wilson (voc), Clyde Riddick (voc), Clyde Wright (voc), Julius Caleb Ginyard (voc)
Glenn Burgess (p), Pierre Culaz (g), Pierre Sim (b), Christian Garros (dms)
Recorded April 8, 1958 in Paris
Released on "Negro Spirituals Vol 2"
Listen here:
(c) The Staple Singers (1962) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain")
(with the "Seeker" replaced by "Sinner" verse)
Maceo Woods (organ) Al Duncan (drums) Mavis Staples, Purvis Staples, Yvonne Staples (vocals) Roebuck Staples (vocals, guitar)
Recorded in NYC, circa middle 1962
Released on album "The Twenty-Fifth Day Of December" (Riverside RM 3513)
Listen here:
(c) Kingston Trio (1962) (as "Tell It On The Mountain")
Released July 1962 on the album "Something Special"
Listen here:
On August 23, 1962, Rev. James Bevel, an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave a sermon in Ruleville, Mississippi, and followed it with an appeal to those assembled to register to vote. Black people who registered to vote in the South faced serious hardships at that time due to institutionalized racism, including harassment, the loss of their jobs, physical beatings, and lynchings; nonetheless, Fannie Lou Hamer was the first volunteer. She later said, "I guess if I'd had any sense, I'd have been a little scared - but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they'd been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember."
On August 31, 1963 Fannie traveled on a rented bus with other attendees of Bevel's sermon to Indianola, Mississippi, to register to vote. In what would become a signature trait of Hamer's activist career, she began singing Christian hymns, such as "Go Tell It on the Mountain" and "This Little Light of Mine", to the group in order to bolster their resolve. The hymns also reflected Hamer's belief that the civil rights struggle was a deeply spiritual one.
(c) Fannie Lou Hamer (1963) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (inc "Let My People Go")
Recorded fall 1963 in Greenwood, MS
Listen here:
According to Religious Studies professor and Civil Rights historian Charles Marsh, it was African American Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer who combined this song with the spiritual "Go Down Moses," taking the last line of the chorus, "Let my people go" and substituting it in the chorus of "Go Tell it on the Mountain"
In 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary, along with their musical director, Milt Okun, took the Fannie Lou Hamer adaptation of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" and rewrote it as "Tell It on the Mountain".
The song was recorded on their album In the Wind and was also a moderately successful single for them.
(c) Peter, Paul and Mary (1963) (as "Tell It On The Mountain")
Nr 33 Hit USA
Listen here:
(c) Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Waring And His Pennsylvanians
(1964)
(as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Listen here:
(c) Marie Laforet (1964) (as "Viens sur la montagne")
Using the PPM adaptation with French lyrics by Hubert Ithier.
Listen here:
(c) Simon & Garfunkel (1964) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Released on their album: "Wednesday Morning, 3 A"
Listen here:
In 1970 The Wailers recorded a version inspired by the 1963 Fannie Lou Hamer-version, except they sang: "Set My People Free"
(c) The Wailers (1971) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain")
Recorded in 1970 (sung by Peter Tosh)
Released in 1971 on the album "The Best of The Wailers"
Listen here:
(c) Dolly Parton (1990) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
On CD "Hymns For Christmas"
Here she sings it live at her home for a Christmas Special
(c) The Blind Boys of Alabama (2003) (featuring Tom Waits)
(as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Listen here:
(c) James Taylor (2004) (as "Go Tell It On The Mountain") (with the "Shepherds" verse)
Listen here:
Or here:
More versions here:
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