Where Could I Go ? (1940) / Where Could I Go But To The Lord (1946)

"Where Could I Go?" is a song composed by James B Coats, first published in 1940 in the Stamps-Baxter songbook "Golden Key".

In 1944 it was published again in a Stamps-Baxter Songbook "Grateful Praise".

Grateful praise : our second 1944 book for singing schools, conventions, etc : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Grateful praise : our second 1944 book for singing schools, conventions, etc : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

The Harmoneers Quartet were most likely the FIRST group to record the song:

(o) Harmoneers Quartet (1946)

(Charles Key: piano)

Recorded November 27, 1945 in Charlotte, NC
Matrix D5-AB-834-1
Released in 1946 on RCA Victor 20-1816

Praguefrank's Country Discography 2: Harmoneers Quartet

Southern Gospel History - Harmoneers

WHERE COULD I GO! : Harmoneers Quartet : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Listen here:  WHERE COULD I GO%21 - Harmoneers Quartet - J. B. Coates.mp3

Or here: 





(c) Sister Ernestine B. Washington with Bunk Johnson's Jazz Band (1946)
Recorded January 1, 1946 in New York City.

Released on Disc 6039.

Ernestine Washington Acc. By Bunk Johnson And His New Orleans Band - Where Could I Go But To The Lord? / God's Amazing Grace (Shellac, 10", 78 RPM) | Discogs

Also released on Disc album #712

Listen here:



Or here: Where Could I Go but to the Lord : Sister Ernestine B. Washington 



(c) Sister Marie Knight and The Sunset Four (1946)
Marie Knight , who had grown up in New Jersey, cut her first records just after WWII on Bob Thiele's New York based Haven label as Sister Marie Knight and The Sunset Four. She went on to have a total of thirteen records released on Haven and Signature, another of Thiele's imprints, as with The Sunset Four, Sister Marie Knight and Marie Knight , before teeming up with Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Released on Haven 502 in 1946  (as "Where Could I Go")

Listen here:



Re-released in 1948 on Signature 32006  (as "Where Could I Go But To The Lord")

(c) Blackwood Brothers (1948)

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1213285

http://countrydiscography.blogspot.nl/2010/12/blackwood-brothers-part-i.html

"WHERE COULD I GO?" : BLACKWOOD BROS. QUARTET : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Listen here: WHERE COULD I GO%3F" - BLACKWOOD BROS. QUARTET.mp3




(c) Red Foley (1949)

(with the Jordanaires)
Recorded on November 8, 1949 in Nashville, TN
Released in 1951 on Decca 14573 as the B-side of "There'll Be Peace In The Valley For Me".

Red Foley - Peace In The Valley / Where Could I Go But To The Lord (Shellac) at Discogs

45cat - Red Foley - Peace In The Valley / Where Could I Go But To The Lord - Decca Faith Series - USA - 9-14573

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(o) All American Quartet (1949) (as "Where Could I Go But To The Lord")
(Lane Shaw, Melvin Redd, C.R. Melton, Alvyn Moore, Elmer Childress)
Released in 1949 on (Sacred Records SS-537):
(Side A Re-released in Compilation “Close Harmony” on CD by Dualtone Records).

Southern Gospel History - All American Quartet

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(c) Sister Lucille Barbee (1952) (as "Where Could I Go")
Recorded in 1952  Nashville, TN
Musicians: Bill Beasley, Alan & Reynold Bubis
Released in June 1953 on REPUBLIC 7034

45cat - Lucille Barbee - Where Could I Go / Just Keep It To Myself - Republic - USA - 7034-45

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(c) Harmonizing Four (1957)
Recorded November 14, 1957
Released on Vee-Jay 854

45cat - The Harmonizing Four - Where Could I Go But To The Lord / Motherless Child - Vee Jay - USA - VJ 854

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(c) Rusty York (1961)

45cat - Rusty York And The Ky. Mt. Boys - If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again / Where Could I Go - Jewel [Ohio] - USA - EP-402

http://www.45rpmrecords.com/OH/pop/jew402a.php

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(c) Jesse Fuller (1963)

Recorded 1963 in Los Angeles

Released on the album "San Francisco Bay Blues".

Illustrated Jesse Fuller discography

Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues (1963, Vinyl) | Discogs

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Or here:





(c) Marty Robbins (1963)
Recorded July 3, 1963, Columbia Recording Studio, 804 16th Ave. South, Nashville, TN –
Marty Robbins (Marty Robbins [vcl], Grady Martin [gt], Jack Pruett [gt], Bob Moore [bass], Louis Dunn [drums], William Pursell [piano], Hoyt Hawkins [organ]. Producer: Don Law & Frank Jones)
Released in 1984 on the album "Long Long Ago"

http://www.martyrobbins.net/dscalbum.htm

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(c) Fred McDowell (1965)
Recorded Febuary 24, 1964 in Como, MS;
Fred McDowell, voc, g; Annie Mae McDowell, voc

http://www.wirz.de/music/mcdowfrm.htm

Listen here:






(c) Elvis Presley (1966 and 1968)

Elvis recorded "Where Could I Go But to the Lord" on May 28, 1966, at RCA's Nashville studios.

Vinyl Album - Elvis Presley - How Great Thou Art - RCA Victor - USA

Listen here:




Two years later, he incorporated the song into a gospel medley in his TV special, Elvis.






(c) Emmylou Harris (1987)  (as "Where Could I Go But To The Lord")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Band_(album)

Listen here:

Or here: 




More versions:
Faron Young 1955

Tommy Collins 1958
Eddie Bond 1962
Stanley Brothers 1964
Connie Smith 1966
Stonewall Jackson 1968
Bonnie Owens 1970
Merle Haggard 1971
George Jones 1972
Country Gentlemen 1978
Barbara Mandrell 1989
Linda Gail Lewis 2003
Glen Campbell 2004
Bill Anderson 2005
Brenda Lee 2007


And more versions:   Southern Gospel History - Where Could I Go

The Originals © by Arnold Rypens - WHERE COULD I GO BUT TO THE LORD

Cover versions of Where Could I Go (But to the Lord) by Roy Acuff | SecondHandSongs