Albert E. Brumley: "I was picking cotton on my father's farm and was humming the old ballad "Prisoner's Song", that went like this: "If I had the wings of an angel, over these prison walls I would fly" and suddenly it dawned on me that I could use this plot for a gospel-type song.
About three years later, I finally developed the plot, titled it "I'll Fly Away," and in 1932 it was published by Hartford Music Co in the shape-note songbook The Wonderful Message."
Brumley: "Those familiar with the song will note that I paraphrased one line of the old ballad "Prisoner's Song" to read Like a bird from prison bars have [has] flown. (SEE: Prisoner's Song (1924)
When I wrote it, I had no idea that it would become so unversally popular"
(Letter to Dorothy Horstman, Jan 10, 1973; reprinted in Dorothy Horstman, Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy, New York, 1976, p. 51).
First recorded in 1940 by the Rev. J.M. Gates.
(o) Rev J.M. Gates (1940) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded February 7, 1940
Released on Bluebird 8504 and Montgomery Ward 8773
Listen here: /cusb_bb_b8504_01_bs047591_01d.mp3
(c) Humbard Family (1940) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Clement Humbard, md ; Ruth Clement, ac/v ; Rex Humbard, g/v ; Leona Humbard, sb
Recorded April 17, 1940 in Saginaw, TX
Released on Okeh 05624
Listen here:
(c) Selah Jubilee Singers (1941) (as "I'll Fly Away")
John Ford (lead tenor vo), Nathaniel Townsley (tenor vo), Thermon Ruth (tenor vo),
Monroe Clark (baritone vo), prob Clifton Antley (bass vo), Andrew Antley (p, vo)
Recorded February 21, 1941 in New York
Released on Decca 7831
Listen here:
(c) : Maple Springs Baptist Church congregation (1941) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Performers: Rev. Silas C. Long and Rev. Martin Ribbins
Recordist: Alan and Elizabeth Lomax
Recorded August 26, 1941 in Medon, Madison County, TN
(c) Silent Grove Baptist Church Choir (1942) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded in 1942 in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
(c) Lincoln Park Singers (1943) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded June/July 1943 for the Library Of Congress in Fort Valley, Georgia
Listen here:
(c) Rev. B.C. Campbell and Congregation (1948) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded in 1947 in New York City
Released on Apollo 185
Listen here:
(c) Brown's Ferry Four (1949) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Grandpa Jones [vcl/gt], Red Foley [vcl/bass], Alton Delmore [vcl/gt], Rabon Delmore [vcl/gt]
Recorded October 1946 at Radio Recorders, 7000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA
Released May 1949 on King 785
Listen here:
(c) Chuck Wagon Gang (1949) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Rosa Lee Carter Karnes [soprano vcl], Effie Juanita Anna Carter [alto vcl],
David P. Dad Carter [tnr vcl], Ernest Jim Carter [bass vcl/gt]
Recorded December 16, 1948 in Dallas, TX
Released on Columbia 20599
Listen here:
(c) Maddox Brothers and Rose (1951) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded November 1949 at Radio Recorders, 7000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA
Released on Four Star X-27
Listen here:
Or here:
(c) James and Martha Carson (1951) (as "I'll Fly Away")
James (vcl/mand); Martha (vcl/rhy gtr)
Recorded June 18, 1950 in the Castle Studio, Tulane Hotel, North Nashville, TN
Released on Capitol 1415
Or here:
(c) Southern Sons Quartette (1951) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded December 4, 1951 in Jackson, MS.
Released on Trumpet 164
Listen here: I'll Fly Away - Southern Sons Quartette.mp3
Or here:
(c) Trumpeteers (1952) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded December 1951
Released in May 1952 on Okeh 6890
Listen here:
(c) Original Five Blind Boys Of Alabama (1953) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded June 20, 1952 at Universal Recorders, Hollywood, CA
Released on Specialty XSP 850
Listen here:
(c) Kossoy Sisters (1956) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Irene Kossoy: mezzo soprano vocal and guitar
Ellen Kossoy: soprano harmony and 5-string banjo
Accompanied by Erik Darling on guitar.
Recorded August 1956.
Released on the next album
The Kossoy Sisters learned the song from the singing of James and Martha Carson (see above). The sisters were introduced to a new audience when their version of "I'll Fly Away" from this album was used in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Listen here:
(c) Carolyn Hester (1961) (as "I'll Fly Away")
With Bob Dylan on harmonica.
Recorded September 29, 1961 in the Columbia Studios in New York
Released June 1962 on the next album:
Listen here:
(c) The Highwaymen (1963) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Released in January 1963 on the next album
Also released in September 1963 on the next single
Listen here:
(c) Pink Anderson (1963) (as "I Will Fly Away")
Recorded August 14, 1961 in Spartanville, SC
Released in 1963 on the next album
Illustrated Pink Anderson discography
Listen here:
(c) Mississippi John Hurt (1963) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded July 1963 on the stage of the Cooldge Auditorium, LOC in Washington, DC
Released in 2005 on the next compilation:
Listen here:
(c) Staple Singers (1965) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Released on D-Town 204
Listen here:
(c) The Hi Way Que C's (1966) (as "I'll Fly Away Pt. I and Pt. II")
On the first release in 1966 "I'll Fly Away" is credited as "traditional" !!!
On a later release "I'll Fly Away" is correctly credited to Albert Brumley.
Listen here:
(c) Dillards (1968) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded 1967 in the Gold Star Recording Studios in Hollywood, CA
Released March 1968 on the next album:
Listen here:
(c) Johnny Cash and June Carter (1971) (as "I'll Fly Away")
with Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, the Carter Family and the Tennessee Three
On the Johnny Cash Show, March 16, 1971
Watch it here:
(c) Bob Marley (1973) (in "Rasta Man Chant")
Bob Marley interweaves the chorus
of "I’ll Fly Away" in "Rasta Man Chant", a song from the 1973 album Burnin'.
One bright morning when my work is over,
Man will fly away home.
One bright morning when my work is over,
Man will fly away home.
Say one bright morning when my work is over,
Man will fly away home.
Listen here (at around 2 min and 20 sec in the YT below)
(c) Ace Cannon (1976) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Listen here:
(c) Survivors (1981) (as "I'll Fly Away")
(Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins)
Recorded April 23, 1981 live at the Sporthalle Boeblingen, Stuttgart, West Germany,
Released in 1982 on the next album:
Listen here:
(c) Aretha Franklin (1997) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Tribute to Princess Diana.
Listen here:
(c) Puff Daddy (1997) (in "I'll Be Missing You")
Puff Daddy interweaves the chorus of "I’ll Fly Away" in "I'll Be Missing You", a song from the 1997 album No Way Out. Puff Daddy's version was also included on the Diana Tribute
Listen here:
(c) Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss (2000) (as "I'll Fly Away")
In film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Listen here:
(c) Johnny Cash (2003) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Recorded October 12, 1993 in the Cedar Hill Refuge Studio, Hendersonville, TN
Released in November 2003 on the box set Unearthed, only 2 months after he had flown away from earth
Listen here:
(c) Kanye West (2004) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Released on his multi-platinum debut-album
Listen here:
(c) Bruce Springsteen (2008) (as "I'll Fly Away")
Performed in concert in Tampa as a tribute to Danny Federici.
Springsteen's album, Working on a Dream, is also dedicated to him.
Listen here:
More versions here: Southern Gospel History - Ill Fly Away
See also: I'll Fly Away — Hymnology Archive
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten