Dream Variants: Sister Rosetta Tharpe

1. Beams of Heaven http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq6jRW2lPNA

2. My Journey to the Sky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIGqTMRQ3gA

3. This Train http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gFfCAjsfXA

4. Just a Closer Walk With Thee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xjh0e5WDVQ

5. Down By the Riverside http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xzr_GBa8qk

6. Up Above My Head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFe-B2v_Yk8

7. Didn't It Rain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0tnh0xeDzw

8. How Old Are You? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01yBt60u8NQ&feature=related

9. Shout, Sister, Shout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVXJAGrl3AU\

10. Strange Things Happening Everyday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9beFIankmBY

11. Rock Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjYBb51gXsI&feature=related

12. This Little Light of Mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDN-4Ryo0Cw&feature=related

13. Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVTthSWOmuI&feature=related

14. Stand the Storm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxDPICGVrtk&feature=related

15. When I First Sought the Lord http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-_B51ACv5Y&feature=related

16. Calvary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_guAbhRdBRo&feature=related

17. How Far From God http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYjD8kDB8wU&feature=related

18. How About You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRPDebKwBiI&feature=related

19. You Got to Move http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8y7UwBufog&feature=related

20. Savior, Don't Pass Me By http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEhJLKTaAZI&feature=related

21. Sit Down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJhgmtM3tOo&feature=related

22. Were You There When They Crucified My Lord http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN9C05EgHKY&feature=related

23. Stand By Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njp9krsh5JI&feature=related

24. Don't Take Everybody To Be Your Friend http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc95CGeR6wc&feature=related

25. I'll Fly Away http://grooveshark.com/s/Fly+Away/2IxHwh?src=5

26. Nobody's Fault But Mine http://grooveshark.com/s/Nobody+s+Fault+But+Mine/3puKBK?src=5

27. Jonah http://grooveshark.com/s/Jonah/2IF5RI?src=5

28. All Over This World http://grooveshark.com/s/All+Over+This+World/2IncNK?src=5

29. Precious Lord, Take My Hand http://grooveshark.com/s/Precious+Lord+Hold+My+Hand/2IEZgG?src=5

30. Jesus Is Here Today http://grooveshark.com/s/Jesus+Is+Here+Today/2IsQQ5?src=5

31. Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen http://grooveshark.com/s/Nobody+Knows+The+Trouble+I+ve+Seen/49OD0d?src=5

32. Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down http://grooveshark.com/s/Can+t+No+Grave+Hold+My+Body+Down/3UodG7?src=5

33. Amazing Grace http://grooveshark.com/s/Amazing+Grace/3KvwVW?src=5

34. Crying in the Chapel http://grooveshark.com/s/Crying+In+The+Chapel/3Kvv6f?src=5

35. What a Friend We Have in Jesus http://grooveshark.com/s/What+A+Friend+We+Have+In+Jesus/3KvxpR?src=5

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Spirituals and Gospel

I love me some gospel and Negro spirituals. Here is a long list of some of my favorite Gospel tunes.

Marvin Sapp's Never Would've Made It is a contemporary gospel masterpiece.

The Wailers recorded a couple of spirituals and gospel tunes as well. I really like their versions of Amen, Sinner Man, and This Train.

Let the Lord Be Seen in Me is a great gospel ballad. Jamaican interpretations of American gospel, spirituals, and R&B are fascinating and essential for understanding the evolution of ska, reggae and rocksteady.

Wings of a Dove is another interesting gospel/spiritual interpretation from Bob Marley and the Wailers

Tell Them Lord is a ska tune with Christian lyrics

This gospel tune was the inspiration for Ray Charles' I've Got a Woman, which was sampled by Kanye West for his hit, Gold Digger.

I'll Fly Away is another gospel fav of mine and one of Kanye's best moments on his first album.

Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? is one of the greatest spirituals. I first heard it during Easter season at Catholic mass in my youth. Robeson also has such an amazingly deep voice that captures the melancholy of this spiritual. Check out his Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child as well.

Oh Happy Day is a classic

Mahalia Jackson is a phenomenal gospel singer and her rendition of Amazing Grace is required gospel listening

Take My Hand, Precious Lord is a gospel standard composed by Thomas A. Dorsey, the 'father of gospel.' He brought blues and jazz influences into gospel. Jim Reeves was a country singer whose rendition of the song I find interesting.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was known for her guitar and singing skills. And she really knew how to play the blues and swing (some accused her of playing 'devil's music' because she always played in a bluesy or jazz-influenced manner)

Down by the Riverside is a classic

Up Above My Head

Another great Sister Rosetta Tharpe song, a duet

This Train

Classic gospel-blues

Peace in the Valley was composed by Thomas A. Dorsey, the aforementioned blues pianist who became the 'father of black gospel'

Jesus Gave me Water

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Oh, Freedom

That's Heaven to Me

Nina Simone's legendary recording of Sinnerman

First recording of Sinner Man by Les Baxter

Classic Gospel song

No More Auction Block For Me

Summertime is not a spiritual but Gershwin was trying to write a song that sounds like African American folk music so I'll include Robeson's version of summertime