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Beautiful River/Shall We Gather At the River?/At The River
Public Domain, Old-Time Gospel; Words and Music by Robert Lowry 1864
ARTIST: From Robert Lowry 1864
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel
DATE: 1864; First recorded George Gasking Columbia 1890s; Edison Male Quartet 1908; Chuck Wagon Gang 1949
RECORDING INFO: Beautiful River [Me III-E 13] - Lowry, Robert (Rev.) "Shall We Gather at the River" [Me III-E 13] - Lowery, Robert (Rev.)
At - Beautiful River
Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p 96
Boni, Margaret Bradford (ed.) / Fireside Book of Folk Songs, Simon & Schuster, Bk (1947), p297
Benziger, Barbara; & Eleanor Dickinson (eds.) / That Old-Time Religion, Harper & Row, Sof (1975), p 11 (Beautiful River)
Jackson, Richard (ed.) / Popular Songs of Nineteenth Century America, Dover, Sof (1976), p 26 [1866] (Beautiful River)
Herder, Ronald (ed.) / 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, Dover dn500/500, Sof (1998), p309
Carter Family. Border Radio, County 550, LP (1990), trk# 7 [1941]
Christmas Revels Chorus. Christmas Revels. Wassail! Wassail!, Revels RC 1082, LP (1982), trk# B.11
Dixie Sacred Singers. Classic Sides 1924-1938, JSP 7729A-D, CD( (2004), trk# C.04 [1927/05/10]
Johnson, Sam. Old Time Gospel, Vol. 2, J and J --, Cas (199?), trk# B.05
Leigh, Bonnie. Down in the Shady Grove, Maywind K56-03, CD (1998), trk# 25
Macon, Uncle Dave. Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy, Old Homestead OHCS 148, LP (1983), trk# B.06 [1927]
Phipps Family. Greatest Old Time Gospel Hymns. Featuring the Phipps Family, Pine Mountain PMR 125, LP (196?), trk# B.02
Simmons Family. Wandering Through the Rackensack, Dancing Doll, LP (197?), trk# B.08
OTHER NAMES: "At the River" "Shall We Gather At the River?"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Meade
NOTES: This song written by Robert Lowry (1826-1899) circa 1864 appears in the 1991 Sacred Harp under the title "Beautiful River." It better known as "Shall We Gather At the River?" It's been a favorite Southern gospel/country hymn and has been recorded by Tennessee Mountaineers in 1927 at the Bristol sessions and by the Chuck Wagon Gang in 1949.
Wikipedia: Shall We Gather at the River?
"Shall We Gather at the River?" (or simply "At the River") is a traditional Christian hymn, written by American poet and gospel music composer Robert Lowry (1826-1899). It was written in 1864.
An arrangement is included in Aaron Copland's Old American Songs. An arrangement was also composed by Charles Ives.
Its tune name is Beautiful River.
The song was often employed in Western soundtracks, particularly those of director John Ford (being one of his favourite hymns) and it features in many of Ford's most famous films. The melody is played parodically in Stagecoach, in the early scene is which Claire Trevor's character Dallas (a prostitute) is run out of town. It also appears in Ford's Three Godfathers, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers and in Tobacco Road, and in Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee and The Wild Bunch where it was employed as ironic counterpoint during an onscreen massacre; it was similarly put to use in such dark, late-period Westerns as Hang 'Em High.[1]. It features prominently in David Lean's Hobson's Choice and Richard Brooks's Elmer Gantry. Part of the hymn was sung in the Academy Award winning movie Trip to Bountiful (1985).
"Shall We Gather at the River?" was also sung at the funeral of American Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.
In Japan, the tune is adopted in 70s to a popular enka song. This enka song was soon parodied into juvenile song about the testicles of the tanuki, which goes, "Tan-tan-tanuki's testicles: there isn't any wind, but [they still go] swing swing swing". The parodied version of the song remain popular among Japanese children and adults to this day.
In Sweden, the 1876 hymn to the same melody O, hur saligt att få vandra ("O, how blessed it is to walk") became one of the most popular songs of the widespread Swedish revivalist movement. A drinking song to the same melody, Jag har aldrig vart på snusen, partly mocking the religious message of the Swedish original, is one of the most popular drinking songs at Swedish universities.
Robert Lowry: Lowry attended the University at Lewisburg (later renamed Bucknell University), where he became a professor of literature. He was ordained as a Baptist minister and pastored at West Chester, Pennsylvania; Bloomingdale Baptist Church, New York City; Hanson Place Baptist Church, Brooklyn, New York; First Baptist Church, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; and Park Avenue Baptist Church, Plainfield, New Jersey. He also worked as a music editor at the Biglow Publishing Company, and helped found the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church.
Beautiful River 449
Tune: Rev. Robert Lowry, 1864
Lyrics: Rev. Robert Lowry, 1864
Meter: 8s,7s (8,7,8,7)
Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal waters ever
Flowing from the throne of God.
Chorus:
Yes, we will gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river,
Gather with the saints, at the river,
That flows from the throne of God.
Ere we reach the shining river,
Lay we ev'ry burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver,
And provide a robe and crown.
(Chorus)
On the margin of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We will walk and worship ever,
All the happy, golden day.
(Chorus)
Soon we'll reach the shining river,
Then our pilgrimage will ceasr,
Then our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace.
(Chorus)
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