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Cool Down Yonder/It's Cool Down Yonder
Traditional Spiritual
ARTIST: Spiritual from Marion Williams on the album Born To Sing The Gospel and also on the Album: Fried Green Tomatoes
SHEET MUSIC:
YOUTUBE: Marion Williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn4Ap3vIc6s
Fret Not: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxefLYSQ3Fk&feature=related
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel
DATE: 1800s; 1925
RECORDING INFO: Cool Down Yonder
Selah Jubilee Singers. (It's Cool Down Yonder) Decca 1944
http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/12383
James Reams & The Barnstormers Troubled Times CD; (Cool Down On The Banks Of Jordan)
Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz. Good Songs For Hard Times (Cool Down On The Banks Of Jordan)
OTHER NAMES: "It's Cool Down Yonder" "It’s Cool Down Yonder By Chilly Jordan" "It's Cool Down Here"
RELATED TO: "Cool Down Here" "It's Cool Down Here"
SOURCES: Wiki; Mudcat Discussion Forum;
NOTES: "Cool Down Yonder" or "It's Cool Down Yonder" is a traditional spiritual from the great gospel singer Marion Williams. Her version can be heard on youtube, link above. Titled "Cool Down Yonder" by Williams and the Dixie Hummingbirds, the song is better known as "It’s Cool Down Yonder" but was recorded as "Cool Down Here" by the Wright Brothers Gospel Singers. The Selah Jubilee Singers titled it "It's Cool Down Yonder, by Chilly Jordan."
White gospel versions include Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz, who recorded a version on Good Songs For Hard Times titled, "Cool Down On The Banks Of Jordan" and Fret Not who recorded "It's Cool Down Here" in 2006.
The following version was collected by Lomax in 1939:
IT'S COOL DOWN HERE AT THE RIVER JORDAN- Rev. John R. Gipson and Family, Merryville, LA. *Jordan usually pronounced "Jerdan" by Southerners, black or white.
John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip.
CHORUS: It's cool down here at the river Jerdan*,
Oh, it's cool down here at the river Jerdan,
It's cool down here at the river Jerdan,
But my Lord says come on anyhow.
Well, I went down in the valley,
And I did not go to stay,
But my soul got happy (in Jesus),
And I sure did stay all day.
CHORUS:
I would not be a sinner,
And I tell you the reason why,
I fear my Lord might call on me
And I wouldn't be ready to die.
CHORUS: (twice)
The group, Fret Not, did a version titled "It's Cool Down Here" and on their site they say it's traditional circa 1900 [no source cited], also named, "Cool Down by the Riverbanks."
It's Cool Down Here- from Fret Not; 2006 CD- Gloryland: American Funeral Songs
traditional, ca.1900 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxefLYSQ3Fk&feature=related
CHORUS: We'll, it's cool down here On the banks of Jordan -
It's cool down here - On the banks of Jordan -
It's cool down here - On the banks of Jordan -
My Lord says come on in - I'll meet you there
Teach me Jesus teach me -
Teach me just how to pray -
If my voice then should fail me -
Lord God teach me just what to say
CHORUS:
When I get to heaven -
When I get there I'll sing and shout -
I'll be welcome there in heaven -
No one's going to order me out
CHORUS:
I'll go up with the Father -
I'll go up and talk with the Son -
I'll tell Him about this mean world -
No more sorrow, my victory's won
Bio (wiki): Marion Williams (August 29, 1927 – July 2, 1994)
Early years: She was born in Miami, to a religiously devout mother and musically inclined father. She left school when she was nine years old to support the family. She worked as a maid and a nurse and in factories and laundries. Even then, she was singing before audiences. As was common in the area, Williams was exposed to African American blues and jazz, alongside Caribbean calypso. Poverty caused Williams to leave school at fourteen, working with her mother at a laundry. She was singing at church and on street corners, inspired by a wide range of musicians including Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the Smith Jubilee Singers. She stuck with gospel, however, in spite of pressure to switch to popular blues tunes or the opera.
In 1946, while visiting her sister in Philadelphia, she happened to sing before an audience that included Clara Ward and Gertrude Ward. They recognized her talent and offered her a job. A year later, she became a part of the famous Ward Singers. Her growling, hands-on-the-hips vocal style made her the group's undisputed star.
In 1958, she and other members of the Ward group formed the Stars of Faith. In 1965, began her solo career. For the next 15 years she toured the United States, Africa and the West Indies.
Williams was invited to join the Ward Singers when they heard her singing during a visit to a close friend in Philadelphia in 1946. Williams did so in 1947, staying with them for eleven years. Her first recording with the group was "How Far Am I from Canaan" (1948), followed by the breakthrough "Surely God Is Able", which launched Williams and the rest of the group into superstardom. Their concerts were mobbed by frenzied fans.
Stars of Faith: Dissatisfied with the low pay she was receiving while starring for the group, Williams left the Ward Singers in 1958, followed by most of the rest of the group, to form the Stars of Faith. The Stars of Faith was unable, however, to reproduce the success the Ward Singers had enjoyed, as Williams retreated from the spotlight to give other members of the group more opportunity to star. The group's career recovered, however, in 1961, when it appeared in Black Nativity, an off-Broadway production, and toured across North America and Europe.
Solo career: In 1965, Williams began a solo career but soon returned to Miami for her mother's funeral. While there, she felt reinspired to continue her career and began touring college campuses across the country. Her perhaps best-known hit is from this period -- Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go.
Cool Down Yonder- Marion Williams on the album Born To Sing The Gospel and also on the album: Fried Green Tomatoes
Cool down there along the banks, banks of Jordan
It's cool down here along the banks of Jordan
Cool down there along the banks, banks of Jordan
Jesus gonna meet me there-
He's gonna meet me there.
It's so cool down there- the chilly Jordan
Cool down there- the chilly Jordan.
It's cool down there- chilly Jordan
But Jesus gonna meet me there-
He's gonna meet me there.
Well I stepped in water up to my knees
I cried, "Lord have mercy, if you please,"
Stepped in water 'round my head,
Spirit make it but my, child is dead
And it's cool-----,
Yeah it's cool down there- the chilly Jordan
Chile it's cool down here- chilly Jordan.
Jesus gonna meet me there-
He's gonna meet me there.
I said,"Meet me, my Lord meet me,
Meet me in the middle of the air.
If these wings should fail me,
I'm gonna try me another pair.
Cause it's cool-----, the banks of Jordan
Cool down there the banks, banks of Jordan
Chile it's cool down there- the banks Jordan
Jesus gonna meet me there-
He's gonna meet me there.
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