Feed Your Ears

[Luigi]

Here's another pop song that unashamedly features prayer - "This Is Dedicated to the One I Love." Written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass in 1957 and recorded by The 5 Royales (Pauling was their bassist); they re-released it in 1961 - it reached #81 on the pop charts; the Shirelles also recorded it and released it in 1961 - it went to #3; then the Mamas and Papas released their cover in 1967 and it went to #2. So it's been around for a long time and been up and down the charts. I post the Mamas & Papas version because I like their harmony and the piano - it sounds like a slightly out of tune piano in a high school gym.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUr5_QVPCAI

Edited March 12, 2024 by Luigi

[Luigi]

I really like Sister Shirely Caesar. She puts her whole self into every song she sings. So here's "I Found Jesus and I'm Glad." It's from 1967, but since it's in Gospel style, it doesn't sound dated. It relates somewhat to today's first reading of the river that is first ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep. But it's also about her conversion experience and baptism. And I love the high notes by the chorus singer at the end!   

 

Edited March 13, 2024 by Luigi

[Luigi]

Mahalia Jackson was one of the great Gospel singers of the 20th century. She had a big voice, she meant every word she sang (as opposed to some people who approach Gospel music as a business), and she worked very closely with Dr. Thomas A. Dorsey, who is known as the Father of Gospel Music. I hadn't planned on posting this song today, but I stumbled upon it while I was scouting up another song. I know the song, and I like it, so I gave it a listen. And some of the themes in it overlap with today's reading from Isaiah, so I decided to post it. The link didn't embed, so you have to click on the hyperlink. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_xXdU4L2Qw

Edited March 14, 2024 by Luigi

[Luigi]

Marty Stuart has been around Nashville for a long, long time - as a singer, songwriter, studio musician, producer, and husband of Connie Smith. Here, he and his group sing "The Unseen Hand," a song that comes out of the Primitive Baptist Church. A. J. Sims wrote it in 1927. Sims was a preacher and hymn writer, but his full-time job was in a cotton mill. Stuart's arrangement is somewhat unusual - only one guitar, very spare, and three voices in harmony. I especially like the green guitar, the glittering magenta ties, and the band's name "The Fabulous Superlatives."

 

[Luigi]

"Farther Along" was first published in 1911. Who composed it has never been nailed down definitively. Here, The Trio - Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt - sing it very much in the style of Harris' former lover Gram Parsons of Flying Burrito Brothers fame. The Trio's harmonies are terrific! Minimal instrumentation in the first half, but then that good ol' Gospel Piano kicks in. 

 

Edited March 16, 2024 by Luigi

[Luigi]

Paul Simon claims that he's not religious, but he's written a lot of songs that mention God, heaven, the sacred, etc. This is "Love Is Eternal Sacred Light." He summarizes The Big Bang to the present in four minutes. He sings in his 'God Voice' in the bridge. Interesting instruments and percussion. I like an awful lot of Paul Simon's music. I post the lyrics, too - most people can hear and understand most of them most of the time, but one wants to be complete sometimes. 

[Chorus]
Love is eternal sacred light
Free from the shackles of time
Evil is darkness, sight without sight
A demon that feeds on the mind

1. How did it all begin? Started with a bang
Couple of light years later, stars and planets sang
Fire warmed the cold, waves of colors flew
Moonlight into gold, earth to green and blue                [Chorus]

2. Earth becomes a farm, farmer takes a wife
Wife becomes a river and the giver of life
Man becomes machine, oil runs down his face
Machine becomes a man with a bomb in the marketplace
Bomb in the marketplace, bomb in the marketplace              [Chorus]

[Bridge]
Big Bang, that's a joke that I made up once when I had eons to kill
You know, most folks, they don't get when I'm joking
Well, maybe someday they will
Love me, love me, that's the main request I receive
Well you know I love all my children
And it tears me up when I leave

[Outro]
But sometimes you gotta fly down that highway
Free as a bird, knock on wood, thank the Lord
I am driving along in my automobile
It's a brand new pre-owned '96 Ford
Check out the radio, pop music station
That don't sound like my music to me
Talk show host, what's that boy's name?
Politics is ugly
At the end of the dial there's the gospel show
Maybe now I can exit and rest
There's a blizzard rolling down off the banks of Lake Michigan
Gonna cover the roads of the icy Midwest

[Luigi]

Another from Bob Dylan. Not from his 'religious period,' but prior to that. It seems to fit with today's Gospel (not the verses but the chorus) about Jesus getting ready for the Passion. I've heard a lot of covers of this song, but I consider the original to still be the best - the backup singers sound like a choir. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

 

[dUSt]

I love this thread!

[Hna.Caridad]

Indeed!  This thread is the reason Phatmass needs to continue for all eternity.  Sorry dUSt--no "retirement" for you!  Long live good music and good music recommendations!

[Luigi]

Well, thanks, you guys! Everyone is welcome to post their own contributions, whenever the spirit moves you! 

Today's selection is by Brother Joe May (died of a heart attack at age 60 in 1972). He was a protege of Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith; I've posted a couple of her songs previously. His first and biggest hit was Dr. Thomas A. Dorsey's "Search Me, Lord" which articulates very congenially with Lent. 

 

[Luigi]

Today being the feast of St. Joseph, I have to post a hymn for him. I was taught by Sisters of St. Joseph; my grandmother was born on March 19th, so her middle name was Josephine; and as someone who earned his first paycheck at age 15, and who worked all his life - including 17 years in a soap factory! - I simply have to post a St. Joseph hymn. No way around it. 

But there are no Gospel songs about St. Joseph - Gospel music folks don't honor the saints very much. And most of the Catholic hymns to St. Jospeh are pretty sappy. This one is called "Saint Joseph, Great Protector." Turns out it was written by Owen Alstott, who works for Oregon Catholic Press. I like the lyrics; I like them very well. The melody is called Thaxted. But this musical arrangement is pretty well over the top. Nonetheless, here it is. Saint Joseph, pray for us. 

 

[Luigi]

Today's first reading is from the Book of Daniel and tells (most of) the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (their Babylonian names, not their Hebrew names). So... here's the one and only, the late great Louis Armstrong with his 1958 hit that tells the same story musically. 

 

[Luigi]

The Mighty Clouds of Joy were formed in 1959 and remained active (with lots of changes in personnel) until 2012. Here they sing "I've Been in the Storm Too Long." It was written by James Cleveland, one of the great Gospel singers, but what I find interesting is that there are so few words in the lyrics. It's just "I've been in the storm too long; (please) let me have a little more time to pray." That's it! But the song is five minutes long. And it really doesn't get boring. It comes across as an expression of spiritual exhaustion. The lead singer is Joe Legon.

 

[Luigi]

Stuart Hamblen was a singing cowboy in 1940's Hollywood. After his conversion/reversion, he wrote "It Is No Secret What God Can Do." I've heard his original recording, and it's good. I've also heard Jim Reeves' cover, and Mahalia Jackson's interpretation (I recommend you look it up on YouTube and listen to it by way of comparison). But this is Elvis Presley's version - many people consider it the definitive version. And here's the link to "The Story Behind the Song" - it's very interesting. https://www.christianpost.com/news/the-story-behind-it-is-no-secret-what-god-can-do.html

 

[Luigi]

"(Plant My Feet on) Higher Ground" was written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. (1856-1922), a businessman and preacher. The Famous Davis Sisters were a Philadelphia group formed in 1945, recording from 1949 to 1970. They really were sisters, too - Ruth ("Baby Sis") was the lead singer, with Thelma, Audrey, Alfreda, and Edna singing backup. Oatman composed four verses and a chorus; the Davis Sisters sing the first verse and the chorus, then they ad lib for quite a while, and end with the chorus again. A choir could never ad lib the middle part! I include the lyrics for the first verse and the chorus because the words are rather 'old-time poetic' so they're not always easy to understand even when you hear them correctly. 

1 I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining ev'ry day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Refrain:
Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith, on heaven’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

 

[Luigi]

I think I posted this song at some point in the past on a different but similar thread. The song was written by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), blind, but one of the most prolific hymn composers of the 19th century. This is Alison Krauss singing "Near the Cross," accompanied by Ron Block, one of her band members and a very committed Christian, playing the simplest guitar accompaniment you'll ever hear. They must've been at a weekend retreat or something - it looks like they're on stage in a gym or auditorium. This is an amateur video - hand-held phone or something - but I like it because the whole crowd joins in on the last chorus or two, including the guy holding the camera. He has a very good voice and sings a wonderful harmony. The actual singing doesn't begin until 0:45 or so. 

 

[Luigi]

The psalm for today's readings is Psalm 27, The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation (whom shall I fear?). I remember the first time I heard this setting, composed by Andre Crouch, a leading light of current Gospel music and a  prolific composer. This is a stirring setting of the psalm. 

 

[Luigi]

Another Bob Dylan song - "Ring Them Bells" - sung by Joe Cocker. Everybody and his brother has recorded this song; I like Cocker's version. As with any Dylan song, it's hard to figure out exactly what he's saying. I think that's one reason everybody and his brother has recorded it - it feels "spiritual but not religious." But my analysis is that Dylan actually is being religious. Listen and decide for yourself. 

 

[Luigi]

I posted a song by Brother Joe May about a week ago. Here's another one, in pure blues format - "Don't Let the Devil Ride" (cause if you let him ride, he'll want to drive). 

 

[Luigi]

Here's the Taize choir singing "Stay with Me." As with most Taize songs, it's a few words, set to a simple melody, which is repeated. There's a more elaborate version (additional lyrics) out there, too, but this is the simple version.