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Blessed Be The Name/Blessed Be the Name of the Lord
Traditional Old-Time Gospel;
ARTIST: Howard W. Odum, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern. Negroes " (American Journal of Psychology and Education, vol. iii, pp. 307, 364) 1909.
Clark and Hudson- 1891:
Wesley and Hudson version from 1894: http://books.google.com/books?id=kGyRyD5h07oC&pg=PA83&dq=%22Blessed+Be+The+Name%22+hudson&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&cd=3
Version from 1897 (Spiritual): http://books.google.com/books?id=e2zXAac0yb8C&pg=PA93&dq=revival+tent+songs&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; 1909 Odum; 1914 Journal of American Folk-Lore
RECORDING INFO: Blessed Be The Name
Blessed Be the Name [of the Lord]
Hurt, Mississippi John. Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings, Columbia Legacy CK 64986, CD (1996), trk# 10 [1928/12/28]
Hurt, Mississippi John. D.C. Blues, Vol 2. Library of Congress Rec...,, Fuel 302 061 495 2, CD (2003), trk# 1.13 [1963/07]
RELATED TO: "Blessed Be The Name" songs
OTHER NAMES: "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Ballad Index; Howard W. Odum, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern. Negroes " (American Journal of Psychology and Education, vol. iii, pp. 307, 364) 1909.
NOTES: "Blessed Be The Name" is a traditional African-American spiritual and revival hymn. Several spiritual versions, adapted by African-Americans, were collceted in the early 1900s and Mississippi John Hurt recorded a similar version. Today it's also used as a contemporary Christian praise song. The version found here in the Journal of American folklore, Volume 27 in 1914 is very similar to the one played by blues musician Mississippi John Hurt.
The chorus is an old revival hymn that was adapted by Ralph E. Hudson who wrote the music with lyric verses by William H. Clark. Their version was published in 1891. Another version after the hymn appeared with Hudson's chorus and lyrics by Charles Wesley (from 1773) with a date given as 1888. More accurate info is needed to confirm the dates and when Hudson adapted the folk hymn.
BLESSED BE THE NAME- Odum 1909 "Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern
Negroes" (American Journal of Psychology and Education, vol. iii, pp. 307, 364)
Another may illustrate further: "Blessed be the Name of the Lord", has a great many variations, some of which would never be recognized without considerable study and investigation. At first the searcher is inclined to wonder at the distance the singer has got from his original, but the evolutionary steps make the process quite clear. The negroes love to sing blessing to the Lord; much of the basic principle of their theology is based upon gratitude for the final deliverance of bondage from work and suffering. It is not surprising, then, that this song should become a favorite. One of the present versions, most commonly sung is:
If you git there before I do.
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Tell my God I 'm a comin' too,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
I turn my eyes toward de sky,
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
I ask the Lord for wings to fly,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And encouraged by the happy putting in to this new song an old verse, the singer proceeds to put in as many as he wishes ; then in his desire for rhythm and his habit of repetition, together with the cries of "amen " or "Lord " the chorus often becomes: "My Lord, blessed be the name of the Lord." The outcome of such a chorus may be seen in the song already cited: " Lor' bless the Name."
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