Feed Your Ears

[Luigi]

Sallie Martin (1895-1988) was a friend of Dr. Thomas A. Dorsey, the Father of Gospel Music. She was never as famous as he was, or his student Mahalia Jackson, but she did collaborate with him in establishing a Gospel music convention, selling his music, and so forth. Here she sings "Little Wooden Church on the Hill." It features a recurring them in Gospel music, remembering the simple but honest church experiences of one youth - something we don't hear in Catholic music. Sister Shirley Caesar sings about it, and "Come to the Church in the Wildwood" is another example. Anyway, this is pretty rare because she didn't perform as much as others in her crowd. She starts with a short little preach and then segues seamlessly into the song. Also, there's a sound in here I can't identify - it could be a soprano singing "oooh," but I think it's actually a musical saw! 

 

[Luigi]

I know I've posted a number of songs by Sister Shirley Caesar, but I'm posting another. "Peace in the Midst of the Storm." I thought this was a pretty well-known standard song, and I looked for recordings by other people, but I found only one or two others, and they weren't nearly this good. I found other songs on the same theme, but I like this one much better. 

 

[Luigi]

"Wondrous Love" (also known as "What Wondrous Love Is This) is a very traditional hymn. The lyrics are from around 1811; the melody is a couple of hundred years older than that. It started showing up in the shape note hymnals in the 1820s and following. It's in the Dorian mode, which is a different scale than the typical one we use these days. This rendition is by Blue Highway, a group that is usually classified as bluegrass but which is really more like a roots group. They start with a mandolin intro and then go into a cappella singing, ending with a sort of an a cappella round. 

 

[Luigi]

I've already posted one song by Dorothy Norwood, but here's another, "Victory Is Mine." The words are very simple, the melody is very simple, but that means that everyone can sing along, and you can add your own verses as the spirit moves you. It starts with the chorus three or four times, then goes into verses (which follow the same melody as the chorus). But it's a very joyful song, You'll find yourself humming it. And it fits with today's first reading.

 

[Luigi]

Rosanne Cash signs "50,000 Watts of Common Prayer." The Book of Common Prayer is the standard missal of the Anglican/Episcopal church. Cash considers music a form of "common prayer" - we can be united by singing our hopes, dreams, problems, etc. The 50,000 Watts refers to WDIA in Memphis; it was the first radio station in the South that was intended for Black audiences, and their motto was '50,000 watts of good will.' The lines "son of rhythm, brother of the blues" refers to the kind of secular music they played. 

 

[Luigi]

In today's first reading, King Jehoiachin, his mother, his court, his soldiers, and his skilled craftsmen are carried into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Here's Boney M from 1979 - in some really creative outfits! - singing "By the Rivers of Babylon." 

 

[Luigi]

I don't post much in the way of Contemporary Christian music, but I like this one, "Clean" by Natalie Grant. And it fits with today's Gospel reading. Simple accompaniment - piano, and eventually cello - that sort of crescendos slowly throughout.