Posts tonen met het label Shine On Me (1923). Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Shine On Me (1923). Alle posts tonen

zondag 12 juli 2020

Shine on Me (1923) / Let Your Light Shine On Me (1929)


"(Let Your Light) Shine on Me" is a traditional gospel blues song, having been recorded by The Wiseman Quartet in 1923, by Ernest Phipps in 1928, and by Blind Willie Johnson in 1929. The song itself is also known as "Shine On Me", "Let It Shine on Me", "Light from the Lighthouse" and "Light from Your Lighthouse".
With yet another title "(Will the Lighthouse) Shine on Me" this hymn appeared in Songs & Spirituals (Chicago: Overton-Hygienic Co., 1921). 
In fact in this hymn-book it's a combination of the hymn "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" and "Shine On Me".









On December 29, 1920 the Fisk University Jubilee Singers recorded a version of this spiritual in New York, but it wasn't issued.


Nearly 20 years later the Fisk Jubliee Singers recorded the song again. This version was eventually released. See further on in this post.



The first released version of "Shine On Me" by the Wiseman Sextet is a combination of this hymn with another popular African-American spiritual "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone", which has a very similar tune.


This double-rooted gospel starts with "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone" and after 2 min and 30 sec flows over into "Shine On Me", using the same Maitland-meter.

(o) Wiseman Sextet (1923)  (as "Shine on Me")
Recorded July 1923 in New York City.
Released on Rainbow 1093


Listen here:






(c) Sandhills Sixteen. Solo by Thad S. Page (1927)
(without the "Must Jesus Bear The Cross" verses)
Recorded in Camden, NJ, on July 21, 1927.
Released on Victor 20903




Listen here:






(c) Rev E.D. Campbell (1927)  (as "Escape For Your Life")
Rev E.D. Campbell included one chorus of "Shine On Me" in his sermon "Escape For Your Life")
Recorded November 11, 1927 in Chicago
Released on Victor 21133




Listen here:



Or here:




(c) Rev Johnny Blakey and Congregation (1928)  (as "Let The Light Shine On me")
In combination with the hymn "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say"
Recorded October 11, 1928 in New York City
Released on Okeh 8758


Listen here:



Or here:




(c) Ernest Phipps and his Holiness Singers (1928)  (as "Shine On Me")
This version also contained some verses of "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone".
A.G. Baker, Minnie Phipps, Nora Byrley, unidentified others, voc group;
Ernest Phipps, Roland N. Johnson, f; Ethel Baker, p; Ancil L. McVay, md; Eula Johnson, bj; Shirley Jones, g; Alfred G. Karnes, unidentified others, clapping
Recorded October 29, 1928 in Bristol, TN
Released on Bluebird B-5540



This version was also contained on Harry Smith's "Anthology Of American Folk Music"





(c) Blind Willie Johnson (1929) (as "Let Your Light Shine on Me")
(without the "Must Jesus Bear The Cross" verses)
Recorded December 10, 1929 in New Orleans.
Released on Columbia 14490-D




Listen here:




(c) Rev. J.L. Hendrix (1930)  (as "Let Your Light Shine For Jesus")
Rev. J.L. Hendrix included one chorus of "Shine On "Me" in this sermon.
Recorded October 27, 1930 in Chicago
Released on Vocalion 1595


Listen here:





(c) Famous Garland Jubilee Singers (=Bryant’s Jubilee Quartet) (1931)  (as "Shine on Me")
(without the "Must Jesus Bear The Cross" verses)
Recorded March 19, 1931 in New York City.
Released on Banner 32433, Oriole 8135, Perfect 0204, Conqueror 8358 and Romeo 5135. 



Listen here:




(c) Cliff Carlisle Quartet (1936) (as "Shine on Me")
(without the "Must Jesus Bear The Cross" verses)
Cliff Carlisle + Bill Carlisle + Sonny Boy Tommy Carlisle and Louis Carlisle
Recorded June 16, 1936 Hotel Charlotte, 237 West Trade St., Charlotte, NC
Released on Bluebird B-6855



Listen here:





(c) Fisk Jubilee Singers (1940) (as "Shine on Me")
(without the "Must Jesus Bear The Cross" verses)
Recorded on May 26, 1940 in the WSM Radio Studios in Nashville, Tenn.

Listen here:




(c) Lead Belly (1940) (as "Let It Shine on Me")
Huddie Ledbetter: vocal and guitar.
Recorded August 23, 1940
Released on "The Library Of Congress Recordings Vol 3" (Rounder-label)

Listen here:




As you can hear Leadbelly includes a fragment of "Amazing Grace"
And as I said earlier on in this post, the tune of "Shine On Me" is very similar to the tune of "Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone". But "Amazing Grace" comes close too.

see what I said here about the similarity: Shine On Me / Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone 




(c) Silveraires (1950) (as "Shine on Me")
Released on Gotham G-668


Listen here:






(c) Lonnie Donegan (1959) (as "Light From The Lighthouse")


Listen here:




(c) Seekers (1965) (as "The Light From The Lighthouse")


Listen here:




(c) Ry Cooder (1977)  (as "Let Your Light Shine On Me")
Live in Hamburg in 1977.


Listen here:




(c) Mud Boy and the Neutrons (1992)  (as "Let Your Light Shine On Me")

Jim Dickinson and friends recorded this in 1992 and it was released in 2001 on the next album


Listen here:




(c) Nick Cave (2006)  (as "Shine On Me")
Following Ernest Phipps' 1928 version.
Released on "THE HARRY SMITH PROJECT: THE ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC REVISITED", 50 years after Harry Smith's original release of "The Anthology Of American Folk Music"


Listen here:




(c) The Fireman (=Paul McCartney and Martin Glover) (2008) (as "Light From Your Lighthouse")





On July 19, 2013 Bob Dylan played it live in Bridgeport, CT





(c) Maria McKee (2016) (as "Let Your Light Shine On Me")
On tribute album: "God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson"


Listen here:





MORE VERSIONS HERE:



dinsdag 2 september 2014

The Cross (1843) / Bearing The Cross (1846) / Cross and Crown (1855) / Maitland (1859) / Shine On Me (1923) / Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone (1926)

"Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone" is gospelsong made famous by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers.
Indirectly it was also the inspiration for Thomas Dorsey to write his song "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" (SEE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE)

"Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone" started life as a poem in 1693. It was adapted from Shall Simon Bear the Cross Alone, whose words were originally written by Thomas Shepherd in 1693.

Thomas Shepherd (1665-1739) wrote this poem about Simon of Cyrene who, according to Matthew 27:32, was compelled to carry Jesus' cross on the way to Golgotha.

Here's the lyrics of the original hymn:

Shall Simon bear thy cross alone,
And other saints be free?
Each saint of thine shall find his own
And there is one for me.
Whene'er it falls unto my lot,
Let it not drive me from
My God, let me ne'er be forgot
‘Till thou hast lov'd me home.


Shepherd's poem appeared in a collection entitled Penitential Cries (1693), a collection of thirty-two hymns that was authored by John Mason (1646?-1694). The subtitle states that the collection was "Begun by the author of the Songs of praise and Midnight cry; and carried on by another hand." The "other hand" was apparently Thomas Shepherd. His hymn appears as number III. under section "XXVII. For Universal Obedience".


Here's the online 1859 edition





The poem was highly modified over centuries to such a degree that Shepherd might be considered the inspiration for the hymn rather than the author.

Here's a publication of the poem (now called "The Cross") from 1843:
Published by N. Stevens and H.B. Skinner in Boston 1843






Many sources suggest that in 1844-1846 the tune of "Maitland" was linked to this hymn by George N. Allen in his Oberlin Social and Sabbath School Hymn Book, which Allen edited, but in this collection the hymn was called "Bearing The Cross".
This hymn does not contain music, at the most the meter (C.M.= Common Metre) is mentioned.




But a few years earlier the hymn (with yet another title ("Cross And Crown") was already published in the Plymouth Collection (1855) and shows that Allen was the author/adapter of the text, not the composer of the tune, and the tune itself (defined as "Western Melody") was printed without attribution for many years.





In "Songs Of Praise" (Lewis Ward Mudge 1890) it is suggested that the tune of "Maitland" was written by Amzi Chapin around 1820.

It also says Thomas Shepherd (1665-1739) wrote the 1st verse in 1692.
Prof George Nelson Allen (1812-1877) wrote the 2nd and 3rd verse in 1849. (this is not true as we see in the 1843 publication by Stevens and Skinner (see above))
And the Plymouth Collection (1855) delivered the 4th verse (which also isn't true, because the 1855 Plymouth Collection has only 3 verses (see above))






So, was the tune actually written by George Nelson Allen around 1846, or was it written by Amzi Chapin around 1820 ??

Could there be a third possibilty it was adapted from "Amazing Grace"  ??


"Amazing Grace" was written in 1779 by John Newton, probably as a poem, until 1835 when William Walker assigned Newton's words to a traditional song named "New Britain", which was itself an amalgamation of two melodies ("Gallaher" and "St. Mary") first published in the Columbian Harmony by Charles H. Spilman and Benjamin Shaw (Cincinnati, 1829). Spilman and Shaw, both students at Kentucky's Centre College, compiled their tunebook both for public worship and revivals, to satisfy "the wants of the Church in her triumphal march." Most of the tunes had been previously published, but "Gallaher" and "St. Mary" had not. As neither tune is attributed and both show elements of oral transmission, scholars can only speculate that they are possibly of British origin.


Further on in this post I have included some versions of "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone", containing a part of "Amazing Grace".


For the story behind "Amazing Grace:



The first recorded version of "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone" was titled differently though.

The Wiseman Sextet recorded it as "Shine On Me", because it also contained some verses of another popular African-American spiritual “Let The Light From The Lighthouse Shine On Me that was recorded many times during the last century.


"Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone" melodically is very similar to "Shine On Me"


This double-rooted gospel starts with "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone" and after 2 min and 30 sec flows over into "Shine On Me", using the same meter.

(o) Wiseman Sextet (1923)  (as "Shine on Me")
Recorded July 1923 in New York City.
Released on Rainbow 1093


Listen here:






(c) Rev S.J. Worell "Steamboat Bill"  (as "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone?")
Recorded December 17, 1926
Released on Vocalion 1071 and Supertone S2239


Listen here:



Or here:





In 1928 Ernest Stoneman recorded a different song, which contained the "Must Jesus Bear The Cross" verses

(c) Ernest Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers (1928) (as "There's a Light Lit Up In Galilee")
Recorded October 31, 1928 in Bristol, TN
Recorded during the famous Bristol Sessions
Released on Victor V-40078




Listen here:



Or here:




(c) Welling and Shannon (1928) (as "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone")




(c) Ernest Phipps and his Holiness Singers (1928)  (as "Shine On Me")
This version also contained some verses of "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone".
A.G. Baker, Minnie Phipps, Nora Byrley, unidentified others, voc group; Ernest Phipps, Roland N. Johnson, f; Ethel Baker, p; Ancil L. McVay, md; Eula Johnson, bj; Shirley Jones, g; Alfred G. Karnes, unidentified others, clapping
Recorded October 29, 1928 in Bristol, TN
Released on Bluebird B-5540



This version was also contained on Harry Smith's "Anthology Of American Folk Music"



(c) Soul Stirrers (1956)  (as "Must Jesus Bear This Cross Alone")
Included is one chorus from "Amazing Grace"
Featuring Sam Cooke and Paul Foster.
Recorded February 2, 1956 at Master Recorders in Hollywood.
Released in 1962 on the SAR-label (SAR 124)


Re-released in 1969 on Specialty 921.

Listen here:




(c) Caravans (1963) (as "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone")
Recorded ca December 1962



Listen here:





(c) Brother Joe May (1965) (as "Must Jesus Bear The Cross")






(c) Solomon Grant And The Dixieland Blind Boys (1968) (as "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone")



Listen here:





(c) Clarence Fountain (1971) (as "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone")
In a medley with "Amazing Grace".


Listen here:


And on the B-side is "Precious Lord", which has a tune, that was derived from "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone" and so from "Amazing Grace" ??






As I just said and in the beginning of this post Thomas A. Dorsey would use "Must Jesus Bera the Cross Alone" as the setting to his own hymn, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand", which became popular through its association with Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.
Sometimes Dorsey is shown as the composer, sometimes as the arranger or adapter of Allen's composition.


Listen here: