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Down By the River Side/Down By the Riverside/Ain't Going to Study War/Study War No More/
Tradtional Old-Time, Gospel;
ARTIST: William Stickles, 1948
CATEGORY: Traditional Bluegrass Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; First Recorded in 1920 (recording, Fisk University Jubilee Quartet)
RECORDING INFO: Down By the Riverside [Me III-C 10]
Rt - Ain't Going to Study War No More
Mf - Gonna Lay Down That Limerick Nuke
Pb - Down on the Freedom Line
Snyder, Jerry (arr.) / Golden Guitar Folk Sing Book, Hansen, Fol (1972), p 44
Herder, Ronald (ed.) / 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics, Dover dn500/500, Sof (1998), p 83b
Belleville A Cappella Choir. Southern Journey. Vol. 11: Honor the Lamb, Rounder 1711, CD (1998), trk# 8f [1960/04/28]
Carawan, Guy. This Little Light of Mine, Folkways FG 3552, LP (1959), trk# A.08
Christian Tabernacle Church. Folk Box, Elektra EKL 9001, LP (1964), trk# 41
Lopez, Trini. Trini Lopez at PJ's, Reprise R-6093, LP (196?), trk# B.03b
McGhee, Brownie; and Sonny Terry. Walk On, Astan AST 20051, LP (1984), trk# A.01 (Gonna Lay My Burden Down)
McGhee, Brownie; and Sonny Terry. Walk On, Astan AST 20051, LP (1984), trk# B.02
Reid, Harvey. In Person, Woodpecker Wp 112CD, CD (1997), trk# 2.06b [1996/05/25]
Reid, Harvey. Chestnuts, Woodpecker WP 109, Cas (1994), trk# A.07a
Tharpe, Sister Rosetta. Sister Rosetta Tharpe / Complete Recorded Works, Vol 2, Document DOCD 5335, CD (1995), trk# 7 [1943/01]
Villagers. We Give a Hoot! Live Hootenanny at the Ice House in Pasadena, RCA (Victor) LSP-2821, LP (1963),
Dixie Jubilee Singers, "I Ain't Gonna Study War No More" (Banner 7237/Domino 4206/Challenge 937 [as Jewel Male Quartet], 1928)
Elkins Payne Jubilee Singers, "Down By the Riverside" (Paramount 12071, 1923)
Fisk University Jubilee Quartet, "I Ain't Goin' to Study War No More" (Columbia A3596, 1922; rec. 1920)
Jimmie Lunceford & his Orch. "I Ain't Gonna Study War No More" (Columbia 26938, n.d.; Columbia 35567, 1940)
[Lester] McFarland & [Robert] Gardner, "Down By the Riverside" (Brunswick 108/Vocalion 5127, 1927; rec. 1926?)
Golden Echo Quartet, "Study War No More" (Deluxe 1005, 1945)
Memphis Minnie [Lizzie Douglas], "Down by the Riverside" (Conqueror 9936, 1941)
Missouri Pacific Diamond Jubilee Quartette, "Study War No More" (OKeh 8472, 1927)
Morehouse Quartet, "Down by the Riverside" (OKeh 4887, 1923)
C. Mae Frierson Moore, "Going to Study War No More" (Paramount 12323, 1925)
Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, "Down by the Riverside" (Paramount 12445, 1927)
Oak Ridge Quartet, "Ain't Gwine to Study War No More" (Capitol 40057, 1947)
Pete Seeger, "Study War No More" (on PeteSeeger14) (on PeteSeeger15) (on PeteSeeger44) (on PeteSeeger48)
Pete Seeger & Sonny Terry, "Study War No More" (on SeegerTerry)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe, "Down By the Riverside" (Decca 48106, n.d. but probably 1950s)
Three Little Maids, "Ain't Gonna Study War No Mo'" (Bluebird B-5860, 1935; rec. 1933)
OTHER NAMES: "Ain' Go'n to Study War No Mo'," "Study War No More," "Down by de Ribberside," "Down By the Riverside,""I Ain't Goin' to Study War No More" "Old Satan's Mad (Brown)"
RELATED TO: We'll End This War; Down by the River (folk songs)
SOURCES: Folk Index; Meade
REFERENCES (6 citations):
BrownIII 624, "Old Satan's Mad" (5 texts, of which the short "A" text is probably "Free at Last"; "B" is a variation on "Down By the Riverside (Study War No More)"; "C" has the "Old Satan's Mad" stanza but a "climbing Zion's walls" chorus; D" is an unidentifiable fragment perhaps related to "I Belong to that Band; and "E" is also a fragment, perhaps of "Free At Last")
Sandburg, pp. 480-481, "Ain' Go'n to Study War No Mo'" (1 text, 1 tune)
BrownIII 566, "Down by de Ribberside" (1 text)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 50, "Study War No More" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 281, "Study War No More" (1 text)
NOTES: "Down By the River Side," is a tradtional spiritual arranged by composer William Stickles in 1948. It's closely related to the early spiritual versions by the Fisk Jubilee Singers and William Barton ("Old Plantation Hymns") titled "Down By The River" known under various titles. Most sources agree (Sandburg etc.) that the songs are derived from the white spiritual, 'We'll Wait Till Jesus Comes', published in an 1868 upstate hymnal "The Revivalist." It easy to see the resemblance to Stickles version (below- end of page).
We'll Wait Till Jesus Comes- 1868
My heavenly home is bright and fair,
We'll be gathered home.
Nor death nor dying visit there,
We'll be gathered home.
CHORUS: We'll wait, until Jesus comes
We'll wait, until Jesus comes
we'll wait, until Jesus comes
And we'll be gathered home
It's glittering towers the sun outshine
We'll be gathered home.
That heavenly mansion shall be mine,
We'll be gathered home.
Several related songs use the "down by the river" response for the verses. Most of these are older releated song but a different form. Here's a secular (not gospel version) that uses the old form:
Down by the River (traditional- not a gospel song) Fred Holstein: A Collection
CHORUS: Love, love me,
down by the river;
Love, love me,
down by the riverside.
Love, love me,
down by the river;
Love, love me,
down by the river side.
I got a letter from Shiloh Town
(Down by the river)
Sayin' Lewistown is a-burnin' down
(Down by the riverside)
CHORUS
Got a little lady, live in the pine,
(Down by the river)
Ain't good-lookin' but she takes her time,
(Down by the Riverside)
CHORUS
Hush, little baby, don't you cry,
(Down by the river)
You'll be an angel by and by,
(Down by the Riverside)
CHORUS
Chaw my tobacco, spittin' the juice
(Down by the river)
Love my sister, but it ain't no use
(Down by the Riverside)
CHORUS
The evolution form the early spiritual to the modern versions we know today is apparent in the song "Going to Pull My War-Clothes" collected by Carl Diton. In 1913, Carl Diton visited Frogmore (Island), near Beaufort, South Carolina. In the Foreward, he says "while there, Mr. J. E. Blanton (brother of Mr. Robert Moton, the present principal of Tuskegee Institute, AL), was kind enough to sing to me a number of plantation melodies peculiar to the people of that locality, and I carefully recorded them." "The inhabitants speak a peculiar patois, and their melodies, as a rule, sound somewhat different from those of other parts of the South." ... "Those who are at all acquainted with the history of that part of America will recall that its inhabitants are descended from a group of imported slaves who differed from the rest of their slave-kinsmen in that their contact with white civilization was far less."
Going to Pull My War-Clothes- Carl Diton, Published in 1930, "Thirty-Six South Carolina Spirituals," No. 12, pp. 24-25 with score.
1. Going to pull my war-clothes,
down by the riverside,
down by the riverside,
down by the riverside.
Going to pull my war-clothes,
down by the riverside,
Study war no more.
Mm--------------
Refrain: Yes, I'm going to study war no more,
Study war no more,
Mm-----------
Study war no more.
2. Going to meet my brethren,
down by the riverside,
down by the riverside,
down by the riverside.
Going to meet my brethren,
down by the riverside,
Study war no more.
Mm----------
Refrain
3. Going to meet my sister,
down by the riverside,
down by the riverside,
down by the riverside.
Going to meet my sister,
down by the riverside,
Study war no more.
Mm---------
Refrain
DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE William Stickles, 1948
Oh, hallelujah to the lamb
Down by the river
The Lord is on the giving hand
Down by the riverside
CHORUS: Oh, we’ll wait ‘till Jesus comes
Down by the river
Oh, we’ll wait ‘till Jesus comes
Down by the riverside
Oh, we are pilgrims here below
Down by the river
Oh, soon to glory we will go
Down by the riverside
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