"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child", also "Motherless Child", is a traditional spiritual. It dates back to the era of slavery in the United States.
An early performance of the song was in the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. [1] [2] Commonly heard during the Civil rights movement in the United States, [3] it has many variations and has been recorded widely.
The song is an expression of pain and despair as the singer compares their hopelessness to that of a child who has been torn from its parents. Under one interpretation, the repetition of the word "sometimes" offers a measure of hope, as it suggests that at least "sometimes" the singer does not feel like a motherless child. [4]
Mahalia Jackson was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world.
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. In 2011 Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music."
"The Cherry-Tree Carol" is a ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads. The song itself is very old, reportedly sung in some form at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century.
Poetic Champions Compose is the seventeenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1987 on Mercury Records. It received generally positive reviews from critics, most of whom viewed it as adequate mood music.
"Take My Hand, Precious Lord" is a gospel song. The lyrics were written by Thomas A. Dorsey, who also adapted the melody.
"Without a Song" is a popular song composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics later added by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu, published in 1929. It was included in the musical play, Great Day. The play only ran for 36 performances but contained two songs which became famous, "Without a Song" and "Great Day".
"Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known as In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by American blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940.
"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional African-American spiritual, first published in 1927. It became an international pop hit in 1957–58 in a recording by English singer Laurie London, which is one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time. The song has also been recorded by many other singers and choirs, including Mahalia Jackson, Marian Anderson, Judy Garland and Nina Simone.
Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding African American Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music. It is a form of Christian music and a subgenre of black gospel music.
"Gospel Plow" is a traditional African American spiritual. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index, number 10075. The title is biblical, based on Luke 9:62.
"Deep River" is an anonymous African-American spiritual, popularized by Henry Burleigh in his 1916 collection Jubilee Songs of the USA.
"Children, Go Where I Send Thee" is a traditional African-American spiritual song. Among the many different versions of the song, a defining feature is the cumulative structure, with each number accompanied by a biblical reference. Today, many Americans know it as a Christmas carol.
"Tomorrow Is a Long Time" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan. Dylan's version first appeared on the album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II compilation, released in 1971. It was subsequently included in the triple LP compilation Masterpieces.
Odetta at Carnegie Hall is a live album by American folk singer Odetta, recorded on April 8, 1960 and released later that year. It is now out of print.
The Essential Odetta is a live album by American folk singer Odetta, originally released on LP in 1973.
Maki Asakawa was a Japanese jazz and blues singer, lyricist and composer. She was an important voice of the Japanese urban counterculture.
Feelin' the Spirit is an album by vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon featuring that was recorded in 1957 and released by the HiFi label.
Sing! is an album by Israeli folk duo Esther & Abi Ofarim. It was released on Philips Records in 1966. The album was released as The New Esther & Abi Ofarim Album in the UK, Sing Hallelujah! in the Netherlands, and Das Neue Esther & Abi Ofarim Album in Germany.
Asakawa Maki no Sekai is the debut album by Japanese musician Maki Asakawa, released in September 1970 by Toshiba Records.
Mahalia Jackson was the preeminent gospel singer of the 20th century, her career spanning from about 1931 to 1971. She began singing in church as a child in New Orleans, then moved to Chicago as an adolescent and joined Chicago's first gospel group, the Johnson Singers. By demand, she began to sing solo at funerals and political rallies. For about 15 years, Jackson toured a circuit of churches and revivals spreading gospel blues throughout the U.S. working odd jobs to make a living. Her first recordings were made in 1931, produced by the owner of a funeral parlor in Chicago where Jackson often sang, although these have been lost.
