|
Blow Gabriel Blow
Tradtional Old-Time Spiritual rewritten by Cole Porter, 1934
ARTIST: from Cole Porter, 1934, "Anything Goes"
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Bluegrass Gospel;
DATE: 1800s;
RELATED TO: Blow Garbriel Blow
RECORDING INFO: Blow Gabriel
Georgia Sea Island Singers. Sounds of the South, Atlantic 7-82496-2, CD( (1993), trk# 3.11 [1959/07ca] Recorded in the field by Alan Lomax in the summer of 1959. Blow Gabriel - John Davis/Bessie Jones/St. Simon's Island Singers
The McIntosh County Shouters/Slave Shout Songs from the Coast of Georgia
Palmer, Nathan (Rev). Art of Field Recording, Vol. 1, Dust to Digital DTD 08, CD( (2007), trk# 2.22 [1982/01/01]
OTHER NAMES: “Blow Gabriel Blow”
SOURCES: Folk Index; Mudcat
NOTES: "Blow Gabriel Blow" is by Cole Porter, from his hit "Anything Goes." Cole Porter's song is original, but points of form suggest that he knew the older one.
“Blow Gabriel” is a form of the "shout spiritual" that's been collected on the Georgia Sea Islands.
"Shout Because You're Free: the African-American Ring Shout Tradition" Page 112 by Art Rosenbaum:
Calm and easy / Tell everybody /
My God say / That they got to meet /
Oh blow, Gabriel / Blow that trumpet /
Louder and louder / Got to wake my people ...
An early related version titled, "Listen to the Angels Shouting," comes from the Jubliee Singers in cicra 1880:
Where do you think I found my soul/Listen to the angels shouting,
I found my soul at hell’s dark door/Listen to the angels shouting,
Before I lay in hell one day/listen to the angels shouting,
I sing and pray my soul away/Listen to the angels shouting.
Run all the way, run all the way/ run all the way my Lord,
Listen to the angels shouting
Blow, Gabriel, blow,
Blow, Gabriel, Blow,
Tell all the joyful news
Listen to the angels shouting.
"Blow Gabriel Blow," by Cole Porter is an original song loosely based on this spiritual:
Blow, Gabriel, blow,
Come on and blow, Gabriel, blow.
I've been a sinner, I've been a scamp,
But now I'm willin' to trim my lamp,
So blow, Gabriel, blow.
In 1889 Frank Horn wrote a lyrically related minstrel/spiritual version in heavy dialect:
Blow Gabr'el blow yo' trumpet, wid all yo' might,
Fo' my long white robe am ready fo' de mawnin',
But I'll put it on tonight...
BLOW GABRIEL- Rev. Gary Davis
Blow Gabriel!
Blow Gabriel!
Blow Gabriel!
Blow Gabriel!
Gonna walk and talk tell it at the judgement
Gonna walk and talk tell it at the judgement God
What you gonna do at the judgement?
What you gonna do at the judgement?
No need to run at the judgement
No need to run at the judgement God.
The sun'll start running at the judgement
The sun'll start running at the judgement
No use to run at the judgement
No use to run at the judgement
Blow Gabriel!
Blow Gabriel!
Blow Gabriel!
BLOW GABRIEL- Georgia Sea Islands from The McIntosh County Shouters
"Shout Because You're Free: the African-American Ring Shout Tradition" Page 112 by Art Rosenbaum. The back-up vocal repesonse is the same throughout: (Judgement) then (Judgement bar)
Blow Gabriel (Judgement)/ Blow That trumpet (Judgement bar)
Calm and easy (Judgement) / Tell everybody (Judgement bar)
My God say (Judgement) / That they got to meet (Judgement bar)
Oh blow, Gabriel / Blow that trumpet /
Louder and louder / Got to wake my people
Wherever they be/ On lan' or sea
Tell everybody/ my God say/
They got to be/Blow Gabriel
Oh blow your trumpet/Louder and louder
Gonna see my mother/ my father too
Blow Gabriel/ oh blow your trumpet/
Louder and louder/Tell everybody/
Blow Gabriel/Blow Gabriel
(etc)
BLOW GABRIEL BLOW- Cole Porter, 1934, "Anything Goes"
(spoken)
There's a good lesson for ya, sinners!
Search your hearts!
Sign off with Satan and tune in with heaven!
Where will you stand on the day of glory?
Do you hear that playin'?
(Yes, we hear that playin',)
Do you know who's playin'?
(No, who is that playin'?)
Well, it's Gabriel, Gabriel playin'!
Gabriel, Gabriel sayin'
"Will you be ready to go
When I blow my horn?"
Blow, Gabriel, blow,
Come on and blow, Gabriel, blow.
I've been a sinner, I've been a scamp,
But now I'm willin' to trim my lamp,
So blow, Gabriel, blow.
Oh, I was low, Gabriel, low.
But now that I've seen the light
I'm good by day and good by night
So blow, Gabriel, blow.
Once I was headed for Hell
Once I was headed for Hell!
But when I got to Satan's door,
I heard you blow on your horn once more,
So I said, "Satan, farewell!"
And now I'm all ready to fly
Yes to fly higher and higher.
'Cause I've gone through brimstone
And I've been through the fire
And I purged my soul
And my heart too
So climb up the mountaintop-
And start to blow, Gabriel, blow,
Come on and blow, Gabriel, blow
I wanna join your happy band
Play all day in the Promised Land
So blow, Gabriel, blow!
Get up you scamps, get up you sinners!
Get up on your feet and sing!
Blow, Gabriel, blow (Blow, Gabriel!)
Come on and blow, Gabriel blow (Blow, Gabriel!)
I've been a sinner, I've been a scamp,
But now I'm willin' to trim my lamp,
So blow, Gabriel, blow!
Oh I was low, Gabriel, low (Low Gabriel!)
Mighty low, Gabriel, low.
But now that I have seen the light
I'm good by day and I'm good by night
So blow, Gabriel, blow!
Once I was headed for Hell.
Once I was headed for Hell!
But when I got to Satan's door,
I heard you blowin' on your horn once more
So I said, "Satan, farewell."
Satan, you stay away from me,
'Cause you ain't the man I wanna see!
I'm gonna be good as the day I was born
'Cause I heard that man on the horn-
Do ya hear 'im?
Blow, Gabe, Gabriel! (5x)
Blow, blow, blow, blow!
Blow that horn, Gabriel (5x)
Blow, blow, blow, blow!
Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel!
Blow etc.
|