Afro-American Song in the Nineteenth Century: A Neglected Source
By Irene V. Jackson-Brown
The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Spring, 1976), pp. 22-38
[Marshall W. Taylor's hymnal, A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies is included in my book section. The first edition is from 1882, not 1883 as the article claims.]
AFRO-AMERICAN SONG IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: A NEGLECTED SOURCE
BY IRENE V. JACKSON-BROWN
AN IMPORTANT, yet neglected nineteenth-century anthology of Afro-American religious songs is Marshall W. Taylor's hymnal, A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies, which was published in 1883.[1] Perusal of the literature on Afro-American music reveals only two sources which refer to Taylor's collection. One source, John Lovell's The Black Song: The Forge and the Flame (1972), merely states that Taylor published the hymnal. While Lovell indicates the title and date of publication, he gives no indication that the publisher is a black minister.[2] A second source, Alain Locke's The New Negro (1925), includes Taylor's hymnal in a bibliography of Afro-American music. Locke's citation suggests that Taylor published two collections: one, A Collection of Revival Hymns, in 1882 and a second collection, Plantation Melodies, in 1883.[3] However, research to date does not support the idea that Taylor published the Hymnal in two separate collections.
Taylor's hymnal is cited in the extensive bibliography of black ministers compiled by Ethel L. Williams, entitled Afro-American Religious Studies: A Compiled Bibliography with Locations in American Libraries (1972). One entry there, The Greatest Bicycle Rider, has been incorrectly listed by Ethel L. Williams as Marshall W. Taylor's biography. [4] Actually, the book is a biography of Marshal M. ("Major") Taylor, who was the first black to participate in cycle racing in the United States in the nineteenth century, and not a biography of Marshall W. Taylor, whose hymnal is the focus of this present study.
Taylor's work continues a tradition established by Richard Allen, who compiled and published a denominational hymnal for the A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church in 1801. It is this writer's hypothesis that Taylor's hymnal is the second landmark in the history of Afro-American denominational hymnals and thus is of great significance. It appears that Taylor's collection was the first hymnal designed for use by Afro-Americans whose membership was in the predominantly white M.E. (Methodist Episcopal) Church.
Marshall W. Taylor was born 1 July 1846 in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of former slaves.[5] Little else is known about Taylor's parents, Samuel and Nancy Ann Boyd. His mother was anxious about the education of her children (all boys) and insisted that they receive a "city" education.[6] Apparently Taylor's mother bore the responsibility for bringing up the Taylor boys, their father having died sometime in the 1850s. Nancy Ann Boyd Taylor taught her son, Marshall, some of the songs that were later to be collected in his Hymnal.
In the Introduction to the collection we are informed that:
The hymns were obtained from his [Taylor's] mother, a most devout Christian woman who was set free, with many others, just before the time of her son's birth.[7] In 1866, at the age of twenty, Marshall Taylor began teaching in Kentucky and two years later was elected president of one of the educational conventions in Kentucky.[8] He was licensed to preach in 1868 and was ordained in 1872. During the 1870s Taylor held pastorates in Texas, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana in addition to holding several offices in the Lexington Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. William J. Simmons mentions in his book, Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising(1887), that Taylor was sent to Union Chapel in Cincinnati from 1877-78.[9]
No minister is listed for Union Chapel, however, in the Cincinnati directory for 1877.[10] In the Cincinnati directory for 1878 a listing appears for a Rev. Marshall Taylor at 92 Everett Street, but Taylor's name is not included in the directory listing for the church that Simmons claims was pastored by Taylor from 1877-78.[11] The church listing for 1878 appears as: "Union Chapel (colored) services morning and evening."[12] It was the practice to list the minister's name with the church listing.
During the 1880s Taylor became prominent in the M.E. Church as a result of his activities within the Lexington Conference. In 1880 he was a member of the delegation that represented the M.E. Church at the General Conference of the A.M.E. Church. He made the following report of this delegation to the Eighteenth General Conference of the M.E. Church:
We reached St. Louis, Missouri, and presented our credentials .... The day following was appointed for our reception. As soon as we entered the General Conference rooms we were escorted by the committee to the platform.... [and] we were most warmly received. We then presented the greeting of your body and made an address expressive of your brotherly affection for them, and of your deep interest in their welfare, concluding with the hope of a growing fraternity and a closer alliance between these children of a common parent .... [13]
Taylor resided in Cincinnati through the early 1880s and held an important post in the Lexington Conference. The Cincinnati directory listing for Taylor in 1881 reads, "Taylor, Marshall W. D.D., presiding elder, Ohio District, Lexington Conference, M.E. Church, 19 Noble Court."[14] It appears that Taylor moved to New Orleans probably in 1886, three years after the Hymnal was published.[15] In the Preface to his collection Taylor has written:
The melodies and songs have been gathered from every direction, and the music prepared by Miss Josephine Robinson and Miss Amelia C. Taylor. The arrangement and supervision of the work was largely done by Mrs. Kate Taylor, my wife, and the
copying by Miss Hettie G. Taylor.[16]
In the effort to identify those who helped in the preparation of the Hymnal, I have attempted to reconstruct a history of the Taylor family. The most useful source for reconstructing the history of the Taylor family was Wendell P. Dabney's book, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens, which was published in 1926, although the only explicit reference to the Taylors in the Dabney study is a brief biographical sketch of Mary E. Beckley Taylor, who was the wife of Marshall's brother, James Taylor.
But from this sketch, it can be deducted that Amelia and Hettie were nieces of Marshall Taylor, daughters of his brother James. No date is given for the marriage of James Taylor and Mary Beckley. It is of interest to note, however, that a Mary E. Taylor was listed in both the 1873 and 1874 Cincinnati directories as a teacher, but that James Taylor's name did not appear in the directory until 1876. His occupation at that time was listed as "huckster," which here is to mean a "seller of produce."[17]
Another revelation in the Dabney study of blacks in Cincinnati is that Mary E. Beckley Taylor was a member of the M.E.
Church and was an active member of Union Chapel until her death. [18] Union Chapel was Marshall Taylor's pastorate from 1877-78, according to Simmons. [19]
The James A. Taylor family was prominent in Cincinnati and this middle-class security continued through the 1920s. "Many market stands were owned by families of note, among them the Taylors." [20] Amelia C. and Hettie G. Taylor taught at the Douglas School in Cincinnati until 1925, the year of their retirement. Apparently they did not marry and were among the property owners in Cincinnati's west end. Less is known about Marshall Taylor's wife, Kate, who was also involved in the preparation of Taylor's song collection. We know only that Taylor's wife had been a slave.[22]
The music for the collection was prepared by Josephine Robinson, who is referred to as the "composer." In the Introduction we are informed:
The tunes accompanying these songs were caught by the musical composer as they were sung in her hearing. This composer was once a slave, and is well acquainted with all the characteristics of the music and the sons prevalent in the religious meetings of the colored people.
Little else has been disclosed about Josephine Robinson; her name does not appear in any of the Cincinnati city directories dating from 1873 to 1881. And her musical activities are not mentioned by James Monroe Trotter in his book, Music and Some Highly Musical People (1878), which offers extensive coverage of the musical activities of blacks in Cincinnati, Louisville, and New Orleans. These three cities, as has been pointed out, were focal points in Taylor's ministry.
The collection was published in 1883 by Marshall Taylor and W.C. Echols of Springfield, Ohio. The Hymnal was successful, and within a month after the first issue all copies of the first edition were sold.[23] A second edition was published and was distributed by several publishers in addition to Taylor and Echols: Walden and Stowe (Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis) and Phillips and Hunt (New Orleans). Echols, Walden and Stone and Phillips and Hunt generally published M.E. literaturein the late nineteenth century.
It is curious that Taylor's Hymnal was not indexed in The American Catalogue, 1876-1884 or The American Catalogue, 1884-1890 which supposedly lists all American publications for the years 1876 through1890. Another of Taylor's books, The Life, Travels, Labors and Helpers of Mrs. Amanda Smith, The Famous Negro Missionary Evangelist, published in 1886 by Cranston, was indexed in The American Catalogue, 1884-1890.[24]
The fact that the Hymnal was not indexed obviously is no indication of its lack of popularity, acceptance, or use. It is clear,
moreover, that though Taylor designed the Hymnal for use by a particular audience, it was widely accepted by both white and black clergy and laymen. The following excerpts from some of the testimonials that were appended to the Collection give evidence of its wide appeal:
The book very happily supplies a need long felt ....
There should be a copy in every household, because it contains the original
spiritual songs of our slave parents ....
It is a valuable contribution to the history of the colored race in America.[25]
In addition to receiving support from individuals, Taylor's Hymnal received the endorsement of the Louisville District Conference, the Ohio District Conference, and the Bowling Green District Conference of the M.E. Church.
Marshall Taylor's intentions in compiling the collection are explicitly stated in the Preface:
I propose to preserve the history .... My work is to rescue them, lest after all these good fruits they themselves perish from the minds of men .... This collection is no competitor with other books of songs; it fills a place and supplies a want wholly its own ....
And Taylor also advised that "almost any colored person can sing the pieces."[26]
The songs contained in the Hymnal are of two classes. One class is comprised of songs to which the author refers as "revival hymns." The second class is identified as "plantation melodies." The revival hymns were songs developed by blacks as a result of their participation in the camp meetings of whites, a phenomenon that began in Kentucky in 1801. The songs of the second class, the plantation melodies, are "the stuff of the slave experience."
Taylor writes that there was respect for tradition in terms of the use of certain melodies with certain texts, yet some melodies were "originally preparedfor use only in this book." With respect to the song texts Taylor writes:
Verses apparently meaningless have been given an interpretation which render them no less beautiful, but far more useful. The syntax has occasionally been corrected, but the dialect is left unchanged, as it was desired to preserve in their original grandeur the forms of speech.[27]
Of the 170 songs contained in Taylor's Hymnal, 150 include both text and music, while twenty of the hymns include text only. In addition to indicating in some instances an author's or composer's name under the title of each song, Taylor has provided the scriptural text on which the song text is based.
The songs, for the most part, have been notated in quadruple meter except for occasional instances of compound triple meter. The following keys are represented (the number following the key designation refers to the number of songs in the collection that are notated in that particular key): G (68); F (29); D (18); C (13); E flat (8); B flat (7); A(6) and E (1). All melodies are written in major keys. The hymns are arranged primarily for two voices, soprano and bass. The bass line usually consists of a I-IV-V-I root progression. There is occasional four-part writing and "European harmonic canons have been observed." [28]
Because many of the melodies were apparently notated during actual performance, variants were inevitable. In terms of actual performance, adjustments (i.e., fitting syllables or text to music) must have been difficult for the text is not indicated on the score. Consider, for example, the relationship between the words and melody for song No. 86, "Go Down Moses".
The first phrase of the text contains eight syllables and set syllabically would accommodate the first two measures. Since the second textual phrase of the text contains five syllables, presumably the word "go" is to be sung to the two quarter notes E F (m. 4). Some confusion arises in the text setting for the first phrase of the chorus. Apparently the second line of text in the chorus is to be sung to the notes beginning on the third beat of the third measure of the chorus.
We can only make educated guesses about performance practice in relationship to Taylor's Hymnal. More than likely the melodies were not sung as written, and probably the practice of lining-out was employed.
Example 1
86. Go Down, Moses.
Chorus: Go down, Moses, 'way down in
li:
Verse When Egy Ipstr alaenl wd,a s in
Let my people go,
Oppressed so hard, they could not stand,
Let my people go, etc.
Chorus: Go down, Moses, 'way down in Egypt land,
Tell King Pharoah, to let my people go.
Taylor's introduction gives just a glimpse of Afro-American folk-song tradition in the mid 1880s:
The songs and melodies, as we now have them are obviously the growth of many years and of a great variety of circumstances. At first ... spontaneous, unpremediated expression of aroused sensibilities ... they were ... repeated and rehearsed by multitudes of sympathetic souls .... That period of growth... has closed. For now a period of change, of schools and book-learning... has not only begun, but made considerable progress among the colored people of the South, which will
probably work as great a transformation in their musical tastes as in other matters.
The importance of Taylor's Hymnal is such that it must be brought to the attention of scholars. The present discussion suggests some of the merits of the collection and, hopefully, will provoke further investigation of Afro-American sacred song in the nineteenth century.
Yale University
NOTES
1. Copies of Marshall W. Taylor's hymnal, A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies have been located thus far at the following libraries: Howard University (Moorland-Spingam Collection); Schomberg Collection of the New York Public Library and Yale University(Sterling Library).
2. Alain Locke, ed., The New Negro (New York: Atheneum Press, 1968, c 1925), p. 435.
3. John Lovell, Jr., Black Song: The Forge and the Flame (New York: Macmillan Company, 1972), p. 425.
4. Ethel L. Williams and Clifton L. Brown, comps., Afro-American Religious Studies: A Compiled Bibliography with Location in American Libraries (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1972), p. 165; p. 250.
5. William J. Simmons, Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising (New York: Arno Press, 1968, ?1887), p. 733.
6. Ibid.
7. F.S. Hoyt, Introduction to A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies, p. ii.
8. Simmons, p. 934.
9. Ibid.
10. U.S. City Directories: Cincinnati, 0., 1877 (New Haven Research Publications, Inc.).
11. Ibid., 1878, p. 929.
12. Ibid., p. 32.
13. Journal of the General Conference (18th) of The Methodist Episcopal Church, 1-28 May 1880, p. 505.
14. Taylor received an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree in 1879 from Central Tennessee College (Nashville), which is now Meharry Medical College; see Simmons, p. 934; Cincinnati City Directory, 1881, p. 1076.
15. See Simmons, p. 935. Simmons published his study in 1887, and it is likely that he prepared the manuscript at least one year before its publication. This would suggest that Taylor moved to New Orleans between 1884 and 1886.
16. Taylor, p. 5.
17. Cincinnati City Directory, 1873, p. 819; Cincinnati City Directory, 1874, p. 880; Cincinnati City Directory, 1876, p. 934.
18. Wendell P. Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Dabney Publishing Co., 1926), p. 281.
19. Simmons, p. 934.
20. Dabney, p. 201.
21. Ibid., p. 110; p. 420.
22. F.S. Hoyt, Introduction to A Collection of Revival Hymns, p. ii.
23. From advertisement in the second edition of Taylor's hymnal.
24. A.I. Appleton, comp., American Catalogue 1884-1890 (New.York: Office of the Publishers'
Weekly, 1891), p. 510.
25. Rev. Daniel Jones to Dr. Marshall W. Taylor, 16 August 1882, A Collection of Revival
Hymns, p. 270; H.W. Tate to Marshall W. Taylor, n.d., p. 271; Prof. S.W. Williams to Taylor,
Collection, p. 268.
26. From advertisement in second edition.
27. Taylor, p. 7.
28. Taylor, p. v.
APPENDIX
Contents of A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies by Marshall W. Taylor, D.D. (Musical compositions by Miss Josephine Robinson; copied by Miss Amelia C. and Hettie G. Taylor)*
AUTHOR AND/TITLE OR COMPOSER METER**
1. Don't You Hear Jerusalem Mourn? W. L. Muir C.M.: common meter
2. I Want to be a Soldier. Unknown C.M.: common meter
3. I have a Little Time, 't ain't very Long. Kate Taylor P.M.: particular meter
4. He took my Feet out of the Mire and Clay. Unknown L.M.: long meter;
5. Let us Cheer the Wearied Traveler. [not listed] L.M.: long meter;
6. Go and Tell Jesus. Matt Owens P.M.: particular meter.
7. My Friends and Neighbors, Far and Near. Selected L.M.: long meter;
8. My Lord, this Union. Margaret Hines L.M.: long meter;
9. A Little More Faith in Jesus. America Bell L.M.: long meter;
10. He Set my Soul Free. H. Tolbert P.M.: particular meter.
11. Love-feast in Heaven To-day. W.H. Brown L.M.: long meter
12. Didn't Old Pharaoh get Lost? M. Macoomer C.M.: common meter
13. Out on the Ocean Sailing Selected L.M.: long meter
14. I'll Blow the Gospel Trumpet. Unknown P.M.: particular meter.
15. Our Lamps are Burning. Peter Macormick C.M.: common meter
16. Go Thou and Prophesy Samuel Kays C.M.: common meter
17. Sinners, Sinners, Don't You See. W.L. Muir P.M.: particular meter.
18. My God Delivered Daniel. Georgia Thornton
19. 0, You Must be a Lover of the Lord. Unknown
20. Why Gilead is a Healing Balm. G.W. Downing
21. 'Most Done Lingering Here. Geo. Martin
22. Come Now, My Dear Brethern. Selected
23. Little Children, You'd Better Believe. Chas. Coates C.M.: common meter
24. Don't You Grieve after Me. Scott Ward P.M.: particular meter.
25. Resurrection of Christ.
26. Christian Warfare.
27. Golden City.
28. The Martyr's Deliverance
29. The Old Ark.
30. The Tree of Life.
31. Perfect in Jesus.
32. Coming of the Savior.
33. Trust in the Promise.
34. Brethern, We Have Met to Worship.
35. Lis'ning all the Night.
36. The Lonesome Graveyard.
37. Sing It Out With a Shout.
38. Will You Open Your Hearts and Let the Master In?
39. The Holy War.
40. Make Ready.
41. Let Thy Kingdom, Blessed Savior.
42. What is it to be a Christian?
43. The Life-boat.
44. We are Toiling up the Way.
45. Shout, Shout, You are Free.
46. Missionary's Departure.
47. Christian Prospect.
48. The Dying Christian.
49. Beautiful Zion.
50. How Happy are They.
51. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
52. Silence in Heaven.
53. The Happy Man.
54. When the Tempest Passes Over.
55. I'm Just a-Going Over Home.
56. Go Bear Your Burden in the Heat of the Day.
57. The Rock that is Higher than I.
58. Come, Great Deliverer.
59. From Every Graveyard
60. Heaven Bells.
61. Hunting My Redeemer
62. God is Always Near Me.
63. Exile from Eden.
64. Washed in the Blood of the Lamb.
65. The Old Church-Yard.
66. Proud Babylon's Fall
67. Slavery is Dead.
68. A Little Talk with Jesus.
69. Come Ye that Love the Lord.
70. Walk Jerusalem Just Like Job.
71. Gideon's Battle.
72. Christ is all the World to Me.
73. The Book of Revelation.
74. Drooping Souls.
75. The Venturing Ground.
76. Song of the Hill.
77. Who Is He?
78. Will You Meet Me at the Gathering?
79. Get Ready, there's a Meeting here To-night.
80. The Resurrection of Christ
81. The Prodigal Son.
82. I'm on My Journey Home.
83. The Wandering Sheep Restored.
84. My Redeemer.
85. The Heavenly Railroad.
86. Go Down, Moses.
87. They say there's a Land o'er the Ocean.
88. The Mourner's Race
89. Rise and Shine.
90. Going to Wake up the Dead.
91. The Gospel Train
92. Look Away to Bethlehem.
93. The War, Christians, is 'Most over.
94. Jesus Loves Even Me.
95. Mercy's Free.
96. The Young Christian.
97. Joseph Made Known to His Brethern.
98. The Children of God.
99. The Dying Christian.
100. He Saves to the Uttermost.
101. What's the News?
102. Mixture of Joy and Sorrow.
103. It Is I.
104. When We've Nothing Else to Do.
105. The Cross and Crown.
106. Christian Liberty.
107. We'll Sing all Along the Way.
108. Dialogue between a Believer and His Soul
109. Come, Brethern and Sisters.
110. Jesus Knows My Heart.
111. What the Pilgrim Says.
112. Waiting To-Night.
113. Going to Rise A-shouting.
114. Methodism and Methodist Doctrine.
115. Steal Away Home to Jesus.
116. The Heavy Cross.
117. Keep Me from Sinking Down.
118. Sweet Heaven.
119. Been in the Grave and Arose Again.
120. Sweet Chariot.
121. Come Down, Angel, trouble the Water.
122. Jesus is a Rock in a Wearied Land.
123. Suffer Little Children.
124. Wondrous Love.
125. Over Me.
126. Keep A-praying.
127. Roll, Jordan, Roll
128. When the Bridegroom came.
129. The White Pilgrim's Grave.
130. The Church of God.
131. No One Like Jesus.
132. That Great Day.
133. Took the Lord Away.
134. Out on the Ocean.
135. Waiting on the Lord.
136. Remember Your Creator.
137. Jesus, Set me Free.
138. Honor the Lamb.
139. Going Home.
140. Feeble Man.
141. Let Me Die Like Simeon Died.
142. The Lamps all Lit up on the Shore.
143. Give Me More Religion.
144. Gone up Through Great Tribulations.
145. The Home Just Beyond.
146. The Hammers Ring.
147. Done Took the Children Out of Pharaoh's Hand.
148. Shouting on the Other Shore.
149. The Heavenly Choir.
150. Gim'me de Wings.
151. Death Stole My Mother Away.*
152.'Southern Home.
153. Christian Warfare.
154. Do You Think I'll Make a Soldier?
155. Ring Dem Charming Bells
156. Will You Go, Sinners, Go?
157. Consecration Hymn.
158. Over the River.
159. The Traveler's Farewell.
160. Death, the Monster.
161. Traveling through the Wilderness.
162. The Prodigal Son.
163. The Lord Will Provide.
164. Save Me, Lord, Save Me.
165. March On.
166. Wrestling with God.
167. The Judgment.
168. The Final Day.
169. Arise, 0 Zion.
170. Longing for Rest.
AUTHOR AND/
OR COMPOSER
W.L. Muir
A. Kemp
Kate Taylor
Margaret Hines
Selected
W.H. Vaughn
Selected
Selected
Grandfather
J.H. Parker
Selected
Unknown
A. Kemp
Hattie Hill
Selected
Josie Robinson
J. Courtney
Selected
Sallie Washington
J.L. Soward
Prof. Draper
Selected
W.L. Muir
J.J. W. Bowman
W.H. Vaughn
Selected
D. Tucker
Parker Brown
A.A. Whitman
Selected
Abe Booker
L. Facing
M. Macoomer
Wm. Polley
A.J. Warner
J. Battees
Mother
Hattie Hill
B.J. Carter
Hattie Steward
C.J. Nicols
Edw'd Nathan
W.J. Brown
S.P.M.
Geo. Martin
Selected
W.H. Vaughn
D.N. Mason
Aaron Jones
METER
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
C.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
C.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
C.M.
P.M.
C.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
30
A NEGLECTED SOURCE
TITLE
AUTHOR AND/
OR COMPOSER
D. Tucker
Chas. T. Jones
L. Facing
Selected
Geo. W. Leach
Selected
D. Tucker
Nancy Taylor
F. Minter
D. Tucker
D. Tucker
D. Tucker
Sallie Washington
A. Jamieson
A.A. Price
R.J. Coleman
Hatton
Lester
Chas. Munday
Selected
J.J.W. Bowman
J.H. Parker
Prof. Draper
J.L.H. Sweres
Selected
Selected
D. Tucker
Selected
D. Tucker
Jerry Washington
Selected
Selected
Edw'd Freeman
J.L.H. Sweres
M. Macoomer
Alex MacDade
Hatton
Margaret Hines
Geo. F. Carr
M. Gooseland
Geo. W. Hatton
H.C. Miller
Jessie Munday
W.H. Bowman
Margaret Nicols
Mrs. Kate Taylor
Selected
Julius Roberts
Maria Coward
Uncle Jordan
Margaret Lapsley
Selected
H.W. Tate
31
METER
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
C.M.
S.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
C.M.
P.M.
P.M.
C.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
L.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
P.M.
L.M.
THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE IN MUSIC
TITLE
AUTHOR AND/
OR COMPOSER
Original by W.H. Vaughn
J.H. Parker
W.H. Vaughn
W.M. Johnson
W.H. Evans
Walker Robinson
Jerry Washington
Patsey Nathan
Wm. Warrington
J.W. Penelton
W.H.J. Macdade
Jacob Hart
Mrs. EJ. Penelton
D. Tucker
Chas. Macpheters
Josephine Robinson
America Bell
J.H. Parker
E.W.S. Hammond
E.W.S. Hammond
E.W.S. Hammond
A. Kemp
Hatton
METER**
C.M.
P.M.
P.M.
*Nos. 151-170 have texts only.
Example 2
3. I have a Litle Time, 't ain't very Long.
KLTE TAYLOR. 2 Tiu. 4: 2. P. M.
"I have a Little Time, 't ain't very Long"
1 PREACHING soon in the morning,
Preaching soon in the morning,
Preaching soon in the morning,
I hope I'll join the band.
CHORUS.
I have a little time, 't ain't very long;
I have a little time, 't ain't very long;
I have a little time, 't ain't very long;
And I hope I'll join the band.
2 Praying soon in the morning, etc.
3 Seeking soon in the morning, etc.
4 Rising soon in the morning, etc.
5 Shouting soon in the morning, etc.
MUSIC
Example 3
4. He took my Feet out of the f/ire and Clay.
UNKxnow:n. l'sa. 40: 2. L. 3.
1fm---^! #'=I-'m4-'^ #v-A-i E -^e -^
cnonus.
Sometime fI- -- n--n -ou
..I. L .
ICj* .-l - --e- - -
"He took my Feet out of the Mire and Clay"
1 I'm sometimes up and sometimes down,
He took my feet out of the mire and clay.
Sometimes I feel I'm Heaven bound,
He took my feet out of the mire and clay.
CHORUS
I'm so glad, I'm so glad, yes, I'm so glad
He took my feet out the mire and clay.
2 I wish these mourners would believe
That Christ is waiting to receive.
3 Let every Christian trim his lamp.
Jesus is marching through the camp.
4 I have my breast-plate sword and shield,
Boldly I'll march through Satan's field.
5 O come, young converts, can't you tell
How Jesus saved your soul from Hell?
34
A NEGLECTED SOURCE
Example 4
29. The Old Ark.
KATE TAYLOR. Gen. 7: 18. L. M
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"The Old Ark"
CISI_ .---._-__-1~_~~ft
1 NOAH built an Ark, he built it on the ground;
My Lord sent rain, to move the ark along.
CHORUS
The old ark's a-moving, moving, children,
The old ark's a-moving right along.
2 Daniel in the lion's den
Sung and prayed in spite of men.
3 Hear me, brethren; hear me, Lord;
Hear me, brethren, serve the Lord.
4 When I was a mourner, just like you,
I mourned and prayed till I got through.
5 I come here to-night to sing and pray,
I hope it may last till break of day.
35
THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE IN MUSIC
Example 5
35. Lis'ning all the Night.
GRANDFATER. Johni 1: 29. P. NL
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"Lis'ning all the Night"
1 Go read the third of Matthew,
And read the chapter through;
It is a guide to Christians,
To tell them what to do.
CHORUS
I've been listening all the night long,
I've been listening all day;
I've been listening all the night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
2 In those days came John, the Baptist,
Into the wilderness,
A preaching of the gospel,
Of Jesus' righteousness.
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A NEGLECTED SOURCE
3 Then came to him the Pharisees,
For to baptized be;
But John forbade them, saying,
Repentance bring with thee.
4 Then I'll baptize you freely,
When you confess your sin,
And own your Lord and Master,
And tell you how vile you've been.
5 When John was preachingJesus,
The all-atoning Lamb,
He saw the blessed Savior,
And said: "Behold the man"
6 Appointed of the Father,
To take away your sin,
When you believe in Jesus
And own him for your king.
Example 6
45. Shouf, Shout, You are Free.
8ALLJT WASHINGTON. Zeeli. 9 9. L M.
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37
THE BLACK PERSPECTIVE IN MUSIC
Example 6 continued
CHORUl'S.
4^)r ----=i --*-. --S- ----=
hIe ard a mighty rumbling, I couldn't tell where;
-heard a mighty rumbling, etc.
CHORUS
I'm in a strange land,
And a great ways from home;
I'm in a strange land, my Lord;
outDon't taalbko ut sufferhinerge
1 SHOUTh, shout, f yotuh ink it best,
I heard a mighty rumbling, I couldn't tell where;
To carry the witness iyno uli berty,
I heard a mighty rumbling, etc.
3 I'll tell you what I mean to do,
inIh'mea rd am ightyr umlbalnindg, e etc.
Im eanto great ways from home;
heI ard am ightyr umblinglaentm, yLord;
Don't talk abountasiunfsf ering lahmerbes.,
2 Brother, don't you think it best,
mighty rumbling, To carry cthom ew itneGs odi'ns your breast?
I heard a mighty rumbling, etc.
you I heard a mighty rumbling, etc.
I mean to go to heaven too,
mighty rumbling, 4 Rocks and mountains skip like lambs,
I heard a mighty rumbling, etc.
All must come at God's command,
I heard a mighty rumbling, etc.