All God's Chillun Got Shoes- Dett 1927

All God's Chillun Got Shoes

"Goin' Shout All Over God's Heav'n" Dett 1927

Walk Over God's Heaven/I Got Shoes/All God's Chillun Got Shoes/All God's Chillun Got A Robe/All God's Chillun Got Wings/Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven/All Over God's Heaven/  

Tradtional Old-Time Gospel and Spiritual (Bluegrass- Allison Krause/Cox Family)

ARTIST: 1927;  R. N. Dett, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, p. 126-127.

Sheet Music: http://books.google.com/books?id=Qf6j-a90CuwC&pg=PA71&dq=All+God's+Chillun+Got+Wings&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&cd=11

CATEGORY: Traditional Gospel;

DATE: 1800s; Printed in 1907 (Work); First Recorded in 1909 by Fisk University Jubilee Quartet

RECORDING INFO: All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings

Winger, Betty. Folk Songs of America. The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection...., Library of Congress AFS L68, LP (1978), trk# 15b [1931-32ca]
All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings

Us - All Over God's Heaven

All Over God's Heaven

Solomon, Jack & Olivia (eds.) / Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p160
Leisy, James / Songs for Pickin' and Singin', Gold Medal Books, sof (1962), p202 (All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings)
Lynn, Frank (ed.) / Songs for Swinging Housemothers, Fearon, Sof (1963/1961), p313 (All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings)
Best, Dick & Beth (eds.) / New Song Fest Deluxe, Hansen, Sof (1971/1948), p149 (I Got Shoes)
Sing for the Fun of It, CSS, poc (194?), p52 (I Got a Robe)
Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p209 (I Got Shoes)
Rodeheaver, Homer (ed.) / Rodeheaver's Negro Spirituals, Rodeheaver, Fol (1923), #44 (Going/Goin' to Shout All Over God's Heaven)
Lorenz, Ellen J.(ed.) / Men's Get-Together Songs, Lorenz, Fol (1938), p 60/# 82 (Heab'n, Heab'n)
Oregon 4-H Sings, CSS OSC Extension, Sof (1946ca), p28 (I Got a Robe)
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), P178 (Going/Goin' to Shout All Over God's Heaven)
Leisy, James F. (ed.) / Folk Song Abecedary, Bonanza, Bk (1966), p 7 (All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings)
Herder, Ronald (ed.) / 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, Dover dn500/500, Sof (1998), p 8 (All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings)
Georgia Sea Island Singers. Southern Journey. Vol. 13: Earliest Times, Rounder 1713, CD (1998), trk# 12 [1959/10] (Everybody Talking About Heaven)
Hayes, Roland. My Songs, Vanguard VRS- 494, LP (1956), trk# B.07 (Heaven)
Jenkins, Ella. Long Time, Folkways FC 7520, LP (1970), trk# 3 (Heaven)
Joe & Eddie. Joe & Eddie, GNP Crescendo GNP #75, LP (196?), trk# A.02 (I've Got Shoes)
Teagarden, Jack. Swing Low Sweet Spiritual, Capitol T 820, LP (195?), trk# A.03 (Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven)
 

MORE RECORDINGS:  Louis Armstrong, "Going to Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Decca 2085, 1938)
Big Bethel Choir #1 "Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Columbia 14157-D, 1926)
Commonwealth Quartet, "I'm Going to Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Domino 0173, 1927)
Cotton Belt Quartet, "I'm Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Vocalion 15263, 1926)
Cotton Pickers Quartet, "All God's Children Got Wings" (OKeh 8917, 1931)
Elkins Payne Jubilee Singers, "Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Paramount 12071, 1923)
Lt. Jim Europe's Singing Serenaders, "Ev'rybody Dat Talks 'Bout Heaven Ain't Goin' There" (Pathe 22105, 1919)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Victor 16448, 1909)
Fisk University Male Quartet, "Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Columbia A1883, 1915)
Mitchell's Christian Singers, "Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven" (Melotone 6-04-64, 1936)
Dock Reed & Vera Hall Ward, "Everybody Talkin' About Heaven Ain't Goin' There" (on NFMAla5)
Southern Four: "Shout All Over God%:7s Heaven" %5Nmedley w. "Stmndin' in the Need of Prayer"] (Edison 51364, 1924)
Edna Thomas, "I Got Shoes" (Columbia 1863-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
West Virgibia Collegiate Ifstitute Glee Clqb, "Shout Adl Over God's Heab'n" (Brunswick 3497, 1927)
 

OTHER NAMES: "All God's Chillen Got Shoes/Wings;" "Walk Over God's Heaven;" "Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven"

SOURCES: Folk Index; Meade; Ballad Index

REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 550, "All God's Chillun Got Shoes" (2 texts plus 2 fragments)
Courlander-NFM, p. 67, "(Goin' to Shout All over God's Heaven)" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 359, "All God's Children Got Shoes" (1 text)
Johnson and Johnson, The Books of American Negro Spirituals, I p. 71.
R. N. Dett, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, p. 126-127
Roud #11826

NOTES: "All God's Chillun Got Robes/Wings is an African- American spiritual 
and a 1923 play by Eugene O'Neill which takes its name, All God's Chillun Got Wings, from the spiritual.

The All God's Chillun Got Wings play by Eugene O'Neill was written in 1923. Paul Robeson performed in the premiere in 1924, in which he portrayed the black husband of an abusive white woman who, resenting her husband's skin colour, destroys his promising career as a lawyer. Trish Van Devere played in the 1975 Broadway revival, along with James Earl Jones, Jimmy Baio and Kathy Rich.

Recent versions include a bluesy bluegrass version "Walk Over God's Heaven" by Alison Krauss and the Cox family from the CD: I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

Listen on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD6qWTeOYlo
 
Sheet Music: http://books.google.com/books?id=Qf6j-a90CuwC&pg=PA71&dq=All+God's+Chillun+Got+Wings&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&cd=11

All God's Children Got Shoes begins:  "I got shoes, you got shoes, All got's children got shoes; When I get to heaven, gonna put on my shoes, Gonna (shout) all over God's heaven." Similarly with robes, crowns, wings, harps, etc.

Ballad index says, "Courlander believes this song to be based on the Revelation to John. It appears to me that it is simply an exuberant expression of a poor, oppressed Christian hope in the afterlife."

There are many names and titles for this song but it's fairly similar in structure:

I Got Shoes/
All God's Chillun Got Shoes/
All God's Chilluns Got A Robe/
All God's Chilluns Got Wings/
Gonna Shout All Over God's Heaven/
All Over God's Heaven/
Walk Over God's Heaven/ 
Shout All Over God's Heaven/
Everybody Talkin' About Heaven Ain't Gwine There
All God's Children [Chillun] Got Shoes
All God's Children [Chillun] Got Wings
Everybody Talking About Heaven
Everybody Talkin' About Heaven Ain't Goin' [Gwine] There
Goin' to Shout
I Got a Robe
I've Got a Robe
I've Got a Shoes [sic]
Heaven [Heab'n; Heav'n]
Heaven, Heaven [Heav'n, Heav'n]
Shout All Over
Walk All Over God's Heaven

The song appears in Work 1907, p. 60. and other early collections including Brown and also White. A version was even used in the Zigfield Follies routine in 1927. According to the authors of Spreadin’ Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930, Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake performed the spiritual as a part of their vaudeville act, and a film clip of their performance was included in a Broadway show in 1923.  A jazz version was written by Walter Jermann, Gus Kahn and Bronislaw Kaperin for the 1937 Marx Brothers Film, A day At The Races titled "All God's Children Got Rhythm."

Everybody Talkin' About Heaven Ain't Gwine There is the title of a version collected by John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip.

I GOT SHOES- White 1925

I’ve got shoes, you’ve got shoes
All God’s chillun got shoes,
When I git to Heb'n goin’ to put on my shoes,
Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n
Heb'n, Heb'n, Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n.

I’ve got a derby, you’ve got a derby
All God’s chillun got a derby,
When I git to Heb'n goin’ to put on my derby,
Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n
Heb'n, Heb'n, Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n.

I’ve got a crown, you’ve  got a crown
All of God’s chillun got a crown
When I git to Heb'n goin’ to put on my crown,
Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n,
Heb'n, Heb'n, Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n.

I’ve got a robe, you’ve got a robe
All of God’s chillun got a  robe,
When I git to Heb'n goin’ to put on my robe,
Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n,
Heb'n, Heb'n, Goin’ to walk all over God’s Heb'n.

WALIKING OVER GOD'S HEAVEN- Mahalia Jackson
Clearly the Alison Krauss lyrics are derived from Mahalia Jackson's

I got shoes and you got shoes
All of God's children are shoed my Lord
When we get to heaven gonna put on our shoes
We gonna walk, we gonna talk
All over God's heaven
O Lord, heaven

I got a robe, and you got a robe
All of God's children are robed my Lord
When we get to heaven gonna put on our robe
We gonna shout, we gonna shout
All over God's heaven
Yes, heaven

Heaven, heaven
Everybody's talking 'bout heav'n aint going there
Well, we go walk, we go talk
All over God's heaven
O Lord, heaven

GOIN' TO SHOUT ALL OVER GOD'S HEAV'N- 1927 R. N. Dett, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, p. 126-127.

CHORUS: *Heav-n, heav'n,
Ev'ry-body talkin' 'bout heav'n ain't goin' there,
Heav'n, heav'n,
Goin' to shout all over God's heav'n, heav'n,
Goin' shout all over God's heav'n.

I've got a robe, you've got a robe,
All of God's children got a robe,
When I get to heaven goin' to put on my robe,
Goin' to shout all over God's heaven.

CHORUS

I've got a crown, you've got a crown,
All God'd children got a crown,
When I get to Heaven goin' to put on my crown,
Goin' to shout all over God's heaven.

CHORUS

I've got a shoes, you've got a shoes,
All God's children got a shoes,
When I get to heaven goin' to put on my shoes,
Goin' to walk all over God's heaven.
 
CHORUS

I've got a harp, you've got a harp,
All God's children got a harp,
When I get to heaven goin' to **play on my harp,
Goin' to play all over God's heaven.

CHORUS

I've got a song, you've got a song,
All of God's children got a song,
When I get to heaven goin' to sing a new song,
Goin' to sing all over God's heaven.

*Last syllable hummed rather than pronounced. Subject of verse sometimes carried over into chorus. **Take up my harp, in Johnson and Johnson.
R. N. Dett, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, p. 126-127. Also in earlier Hampton Institute editions prefaced by H. W. Ludlow and by R. R. Moton but not in Fenner 1874.
ALL GOD'S CHILLUN GOT WINGS

(Different verse only)
I got-a wings, you got-a wings,
All God's chillun got-a wings,
When I get to heab'n goin' to put on my wings,
I'm goin' to fly all over God's heab'n, heab'n,
Ev'ry body talkin' 'bout heab'n ain't goin' dere,
Heab'n, heab'n,
I'm goin' to fly all over God's heab'n.